Physical fitness is becoming less accessible for the average Dartmouth student. A friend and I were recently on our way to the Kresge Fitness Center when we met two people returning from the fitness center. Rather than being pink from healthful exertion, they were crimson with anger.
These two individuals had been turned away from the free weights because they were reserved for varsity athletes.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the free weights are available from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. The schedule is the same on Tuesdays and Thursdays, except it opens at 10:00 a.m.
The only viable solution to this problem is to create a separate facility with reasonable hours. Varsity athletes obviously need adequate weight facilities to remain competitive.
Balancing practices, classes and other activities is difficult enough, and they need to be able to move through their routines without waiting in long lines.
The College cannot afford to alienate 75 percent of Dartmouth students who do not participate in intercollegiate athletics. The few brief hours during the day that students and staff can use the facilities conflict with classes. Many students use the evening hours for studying.
The most convenient time to work out is between 3:00 and 6:00 in the afternoon. After a full day of classes, I am ready to stop sitting on my butt and to start using my body instead of my mind. The new hours are a disincentive to stay in shape.
Of course no easy (i.e. cheap) solution to this problem exists. But the facilities already exist for another weight room. The Leverage weight room, which is an old doubles squash court tucked away in the catacombs behind the intramural basketball courts, currently holds fossils of prehistoric nautilus equipment.
Leverage is open from five until six in the evening. Students who take body shop for physical education credit also use it in the mornings. To most of the student body, it serves about as much purpose as a parka in Death Valley.
Leverage could be renovated and the College could replace the old equipment with free weights and some more contemporary nautilus equipment.
Most students who are serious about exercising on a set schedule would probably be willing to pay a small fee for the convenience of good equipment at accessible times.
