The following editorial, written by Will Dendis, is reprinted from The Saugerties Times, 02-07-08 A Sports Community By: Will Dendis, Saugerties Times , February 7, 2008   Over the past few weeks, a debate has been simmering among parents, staff and administration here in Saugerties. At question is the layout of the technology wing at the high school. Without rehashing the square footages of the competing proposals (we did that at length a couple weeks ago and the numbers reappear in this week’s guest column), the nut of it is the administration wants to reduce the technology department’s space to make way for a large “adaptive physical education” room; namely, a weight room. Members of the technology department have also submitted a proposal which will not cut back the department’s space, though it will change the layout.  It’s hard to look at the question as anything but a “sports versus technology” question, especially in Saugerties. I’m not a native resident, but I quickly learned that, compared to most of Ulster County, Saugerties is a sports community.  Why do I say that? The girls’ lacrosse team is hoping to travel to Florida for spring training. The adult athletic league draws participants from miles around, and the resources of the Cantine Sports Complex outstrip those available to most districts in the area. The section of the school’s website pertaining to the sports program is by far the most rigorously maintained.  When the school board addresses issues concerning the athletic program, people pay attention. Last fall, amid the sea of details in the ongoing building project, just one provoked raucous debate, often stretching meetings deep into the night: adding two lanes to the new track.  So when a proposal comes down the pike prescribing a 3,000 square foot new weight room as an improvement over the current 1,700 square foot “auxiliary gymnasium,” some parents, particularly those who aren’t particularly interested in sports, feel like the district is putting sports above academics. (After all, Kingston has only a 528 square foot weight room.)  District superintendent Richard Rhau doesn’t look at it that way. In a presentation last month, he showed photos of the current shop classrooms, which he said are underutilized, with almost 40 percent currently cluttered with the storage of lumber and other materials. “We are running our current program with far more space than we need,” he told the board.  The administration’s proposal speaks to this demonstrable lack of utilization. The technology’s department does not. But really, how can it? The technology curriculum (you might remember it as shop class) has suffered a long and slow decline in Saugerties and elsewhere, paralleling the decline in good manufacturing jobs in the country thanks to globalization. 40 years ago, a high school graduate could get a union card and go to work for the town’s big industry (most had at least one), and the family would be just fine. That’s not the case anymore.  The school district needs to stress the changing methods engineers use. Both proposals call for a new computer aided design classroom. That’s a good start. In this week’s guest column, engineer John Emerick writes about the importance of having a strong hands-on foundation for any student who plans to pursue a college education in the field. I’m no engineer, but I’ll take his word for it.  Maybe it’s possible to do this right in less space, but I doubt it. The school should be working on ways to improve its technology program, not using the space its decline has created for other pursuits. It may not be the popular choice, but it’s the right one for students preparing to enter the highly competitive (and highly paid) field of engineering.  The Sawyers will still be in tip top physical condition. And some of them might get into MIT.