tnursday, december 11, 2003
news
the university daily kansan
5A
Not all students satisfied with new fitness center
By Danielle Hillix
dhillix@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
It took four years and $17 million dollars, but the University of Kansas got its Student Fitness Recreation Center.
Aaron Showalter/Kansas
The highly anticipated center opened its doors Sept. 29. Since then, more than 100,000 people have used the facility. Surveys indicate that most students are satisfied with the center. But some are not.
Kelly Flientie, Sabetha, senior and Brandon Lukert, Sabetha senior, played ping pong at the Student Fitness Recreation Center in October. Since it opened in late September, more than 100,000 people have used the recreation center.
Rec Services has heard a variety of responses to the center, said Mary Chappell, Rec Services director.
This is similar to what Chappell has heard from students. But she's not ready to say the center is perfect.
"We haven't had a ton of negative comments," she said. "But we've definitely had mixed reactions."
Much of the dissatisfaction with the recreation center centered on the racquetball courts. There are two racquetball courts at the new center, compared to six courts at Robinson. When the racquetball courts at the new center opened, students were no longer allowed to use Robinson's courts. This created long waits for the two available courts.
Though the majority of comments have been positive, Chappell said she knew her office still had work to do to improve the center.
"We're still working out the bugs," she said.
Throughout November, students in Maria Len-Rios's journalism marketing and media research class surveyed students about their thoughts on the new recreation center.
Mixed reactions
Of the 391 students polled, 84 percent said they were satisfied with the center.
Rec Services recently worked out a deal with Robinson that
Open court hours
After hearing student complaints, free Services made a deal With Robinson to use its reusable courts during certain times of the day.
Monday through Friday:
5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.; three open courts
7.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; six open courts
Robinson's basketball courts are also available to students.
Mooday through Friday; 5 p.m.
to 9 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday; 2 p.m.
to 5 p.m.
allows students to use the Robinson courts first come, first serve during designated times of the day.
One of the new center's racquetball courts requires reservations, but Rec Services made the other court a challenge court, which allows for a higher level of competition with a play-until you-lose rule, Chappell said.
Another source of dissatisfaction is the free weight area. The center allotted 2,000 square feet for free weights, compared to 10,000 square feet for cardiovascular machines. This has some lifters up in arms.
Keyarash Iahanian, Kansas City, Kan., freshman, spent the first month of school lifting weights at Robinson.
After hearing all the hype about the new recreation center, he said he couldn't wait for it to open.
But the lack of free weight space has disappointed him. He said the whole building was overrated.
Jahanian said that for lifters, the new center offered no advantage over Robinson.
The small area makes power lifting with barbells impossible because a large space is necessary, he said. And the area tends to get just as crowded as Robinson did.
"I'm severally offended by this monstrous piece of crap," he said.
Free weights have been a touchy subject, Chappell said. The area was simply not designed for serious lifters. But Rec Services is looking for ways to improve it.
As far as making the area bigger, that is basically impossible, Chappell said.
Instead, some equipment might be eliminated to create additional room for the more popular items. In addition, the space will probably be reorganized to accommodate traffic, Chappell said.
The cardiovascular area will also be tweaked, but not quite as much as the free weight section, Chappell said.
The changes will come after winter break, Chappell said.
More than 100 cardio machines are available to students. That number seems to be just about right, Chappell said.
The cardio area is the most popular feature of the center. No matter what time of day it is, there is someone on the cardio machines, Chappell said.
"They're here when we open, and they're here when we close," she said.
She does cardiovascular and
Jessica Fergen, Belle Plaine sophomore, is one of the students who takes advantage of the cardio equipment.
weight training exercises at the center six days a week. Fergen said having all the equipment in one place made working out easier and more efficient.
"I miss it so much when I'm not at school," she said. "I always joke with my mom that we should get a fitness center at home."
Fergen said the center kept her motivated. She said was always too lazy to brave the crowds at Robinson, she said.
Even though the new center gets crowded as well, the wait for a treadmill isn't nearly as bad as it was at Robinson, she said.
The history
What is now a 100,000 square-foot recreation center began as a petition in 1998.
Unhappy with the facilities and availability at Robinson Center, a group of students did some research.
They found that the University's recreation facilities were at the back of the pack compared to other Big 12 Conference schools.
Instead of improving Robinson, the students fought for a new recreation center.
Kevin Yoder, then student body president, and other students resurrected a failed 1996
"This was a students' grass roots movement," Yoder said in a press release at the time.
referendum for a new center. Yoder and his group collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition in order to bring the referendum to a vote before students.
The referendum went before the KU student body in April 1999 and passed with more than 70 percent of the vote. In May 2000, the Kansas Legislature approved $17 million of bonds to be used for the center. As part of the referendum, all funds were to be paid through student fees.
Administration first increased campus fees in the fall of 2001 to reflect the change made by the referendum.
This semester, $62 of each student's campus fees goes towards the recreation center.
—Edited by Katie Bean
Because their money was used to build it, anyone who paid campus fees after the fall of 2001 is eligible to use the recreation center. Chappell said that so far 180 former students have activated an account with the center.
"They all want to know why we didn't have this when they were at the University," Chappell said.
2 bodies of teens found in cement
The Associated Press
HAMMOND. Ind. — A search for three missing teenagers uncovered at least two bodies buried beneath freshly poured concrete in the basement of a house, authorities said yesterday.
Both were wrapped in plastic and duct tape. Authorities have identified the corpses as white males. Pathologists did not immediately release the results of an autopsy on the first body
"The person took a long time in doing this," Lake County Coroner David Pastrick said. "It took awhile for our pathologist to remove all that was around the body."
Additional remains, possibly those of a third victim, were found yesterday morning, and investigators were working to collect them. Police Chief John Cory said an anthropologist was being brought in to examine the remains.
Investigators had searched the two-story house for about 10 hours Tuesday and removed two body bags. Cory said a tenant he described as "a person of interest" had been taken into custody and was being questioned.
He would not identify the person in custody. No criminal charges were filed.
On Wednesday, officers used ground-penetrating radar equipment and a dog trained to search for bodies, Cory said.
Officer Michael Jorden, a city police spokesman, said three male teenagers have been reported missing in the past several months. Michael Dennis, 13, was last seen Sept. 10 at a home near the one that was searched. Names of the other two, ages 19 and 16, have not been released.
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