THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2008
NEWS
3A
FITNESS
More KU Fit passes help more students get in shape
BY JOE PREINER jpreiner@kansan.com
New fitness classes available at the Student Recreation Fitness Center are helping more KU students stay in shape this semester.
As the name entails, Turbo Kick, one of the new classes, is a form of cardio-based kickboxing. The exercises are accompanied by hip-hop music used for dance classes, combining two of the recreation center's most popular activities.
for Recreation Services, said the increase in class enrollment was due to the availability of KU Fit
Amber Long, coordinator
passes as an optional campus fee. She said recreation services had seen class attendance and sales increase, with about 800 students having
The classes, of which there are 55 weekly, range in focus from cardio and strength to yoga and
@ KANSAN.COM
See a video of the Turbo Kick class online at Kansan.com/videos
bought KU Fit passes already this semester. Students also can buy single-session passes for $3.
dance. The variety helps students find a class that fits their fitness needs and busy schedules. The recreation center posts the schedule
of classes online for students who may be interested in enrolling.
Hollie Swindler, Mott, N.D.
graduate student, attends Turbo Kick classes each week. She said the timing of the class fit in well with the rest of her schedule. Swindler, who is also a KU Fit instructor, said group fitness classes like Turbo Kick helped motivate participants.
"I like the atmosphere of group exercise," Swindler said. "It's a lot harder to quit halfway through when there are other people going through a tough workout with you."
Maggie McCormick, Turbo Kick's instructor, said the class had
been popular in part because of how it was structured. The pre-chooregraphed routines the instructor uses in Turbo Kick are presented in rounds. Each round of the class lasts six weeks. McCormick said it allowed students to memorize the movements, which then allowed them to push themselves harder.
The Turbo Kick class meets every Monday and Thursday afternoon in the exercise room at the recreation center, McCormick said turnout had been good so far, and no one had been turned away from
the 45-person class.
Katie Phillips, Buhler junior, began attending Turbo Kick last week after a friend told her about the class. She said finding time to work out in between her classes was difficult, but she went whenever she could spare a moment. She said setting a routine helped keep her organized and focused.
The recreation center plans to add more Turbo Kick classes next semester, when more certified instructors are available.
Edited by Arthur Hur
ELECTION 2008
Vice presidential candidates exchange points in debate
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Under intense scrutiny, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin stood her ground Thursday night against a vastly more experienced Joe Biden, debating the economy, energy and global warming, then challenging him on Iraq, "especially with your son in the National Guard."
The Alaska governor also noted that Biden had once said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wasn't ready to be commander in chief, "and I know again that you opposed the move that he made to try to cut off funding for the troops and I respect you for that."
Biden responded that John McCain, too, voted against funding, and said the Republican presidential candidate had been "dead wrong on the fundamental issues relating to the conduct of the war."
country demanding it.
The clash over Iraq was the most personal, and pointed, of the 90-minute debate in which Palin repeatedly cast herself as a non-Washington politician, part of a "team of mavericks" that she said was ready to bring change to a
From the opening moments of the debate, Biden sought to make McCain out as a straight-ahead successor to an unpopular President Bush. "He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget, which put us a half-trillion dollars in debt and over $4 trillion in debt since he got here," he said of McCain.
Palin merely accused Biden of reciting the past rather than looking to the future. "Americans are crazyn' that straight talk" that McCain offers, she said.
The two running mates debated for 90 minutes on a stage at Washington University, their only encounter of a campaign with little more than one month to go.
Recent polls show Obama with a small but perceptible lead, and Republican officials said earlier in the day that McCain had decided to pull out of Michigan, conceding the state to the Democrats. At the same time, his own aides said the campaign may soon begin to advertise in Indiana — a state that has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1968.
Palin faced enormous challenges of her own, though. After five weeks as McCain's ticket-mate, her poll ratings had begun dropping and even some conservatives have questioned her readiness for high public office.
Her solo campaign events are few, and she has drawn ridicule for some of her answers in the few interviews she has granted — including her claim that Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her an insight into foreign policy.
After intense preparation — including two days at McCain's home in Sedona, Ariz., there was only one obvious stumble, when she twice referred to the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan as "Gen. McClellan." His name is David McKiernan.
Biden's burden was not nearly as fundamental. Although he has long had a reputation for long-windedness, he is a veteran of more than 35 years in the Senate, with a strong knowledge of foreign policy as well as domestic issues.
For much of the evening, the debate unfolded in traditional fashion — the running mates praising their own presidential candidate and denigrating the other.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Republican candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin shake hands following their vice presidential debate in St. Louis Thursday night. It was the first time the two candidates crossed paths on the election trail.
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