To the Editor:
Have any of you heard about the Student Assembly donation to the Kresge weight room? What's the big deal? I mean, what are we getting -- another stairmaster? Wow.
The truth is, in the scheme of things, the recent $8,500 improvement will barely have a noticeable effect on the existing weight room. In fact, the undermining problem of our weight room is that it is not only poorly equipped, but also too small. The cost of extending the weight room, with more space, longer hours and more equipment, is at least 10 times that amount.
Unfortunately, students have limited access and input regarding monetary dispersments of this size and, as students, we are relegated to adding a new sit-up board to an already over-crowded, tiny, little weight room.
Our current weight room would be sufficient -- if this was a community college, that is. But Dartmouth is arguably the most active undergraduate campus in the Ivy League. As a student, I enjoy this aspect of our reputation. We are designated as a Division I school. Varsity athletes enjoy this designation, and presumably the College does too.
But few other division one schools boast of a weight room as inadequate as ours.
We don't need just another sit-up board or an additional stairmaster. We need another weight room. The current system of dividing the weight room during peak hours is an insult to all students. I appreciate the recent contribution as a step in the right direction, but until Varsity teams and non-Varsity students can both fully work-out during the peak afternoon hours, the problem will not go away.
