Let's clear up one thing right away: Cheer leading has come a long way since the days of pompoms and bobby socks.

Over the past two decades, its physical demands have spiraled upward, making it more about muscle than megaphones - and forging squads that are often more athletic than the teams they're cheering on. But as the focus shifts from boosterism to circus-style feats, with regulations not always keeping apace, safety and liability have become huge issues. Increasingly, high schools and colleges are "grounding" teams, battling lawsuits, and changing the landscape of the sport.

The latest team to take stunts out of the mix is Prairie View A&M University, which grounded its squad after a "basket toss" left cheerleader Bethany Norwood with a broken neck. The team will stay off the field for the rest of the year, as administrators weigh the rules and risks that left Ms. Norwood in rehab in Houston.

"It's a really hot issue right now," says Doris Price, interim vice president for student and enrollment services at Prairie View. "And we're not the only school looking at it.

Administrators are having to stop and take a real hard look at cheerleading because of the potential for injury and even death."

Here in Texas - a powerhouse in churning out national competitors, and a place where cheerleaders' popularity matches football players' fame - the growing hesitation is especially controversial, with fans and athletes alike decrying the prohibitions. As more colleges offer cheerleading scholarships, tougher regulations can feel like an economic loss, too.

But while the new wariness may be most striking in Texas, the last decades have seen it take hold nationwide. In California, San Jose State University grounded its squad after an accident in January. The University of Nebraska took the same route last year after agreeing to a $2 million settlement with a squad member who fell on her head in 1996. And Duke University has forbidden stunts since the 1980s.

Sarah Stogner, for one, found it hard to adjust to Duke's prohibition. An active cheerleader in high school, she was tossed and tumbled, she flipped and flew. But once she came to Duke, the athletics of cheer ended for her.

"The first year was really hard," says Ms. Stogner, a 2004 graduate who co-captained this year's squad. "It took some getting used to because stunts are fun. But the longer you cheer without them, the more you realize that it's really about getting the crowd involved."

Still, plenty of cheerleaders refuse to consider Duke because of its policy. These days, yelling into megaphones, shaking pompoms, and holding signs on the sidelines can seem as dated as cheerleaders' knee-length skirts.

Because cheerleading is not considered a sport in most states, it's not subject to the safety regulations that govern activities like football and basketball. That means schools can have squads without coaches, or coaches without safety certifications.

At Prairie View, for instance, there was no cheerleading coach, and the adviser wasn't there when Norwood fell. Also, Norwood was considered a "base," someone who supports "fliers" when they perform aerial flips and tosses, and was inexperienced at the basket toss.

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