Senators
kick rec center idea around
By
Kristen Force
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Associated Students Inc. Student Senate
received information and ideas for the proposed
student recreation center at their meeting
Wednesday.
ASI President Danny Vivian opened the discussion
with an explanation of how the idea for
a recreation center began.
“We started thinking about this in 2000,”
Vivian said. “We looked at rec centers all
around the state and found out what was
good and bad in each. This project has been
worked on diligently for a few years.”
The main purpose of the center is to give
students more activities to participate
in on campus, according to Robert Lara,
associate director of the University Student
Union.
“Many students see the campus as a school,
not as a community,” Lara said. “We want
them to be able to do more of their daily
activities at school.”
The Student Union conducted focus groups
to decide the need and amount of interest
existing among students for a facility of
this type.
Lara admitted that the three focus groups
combined only totaled 18 students, but supported
the data gathered.
“The goal of qualitative research is to
achieve consistency and redundancy amongst
the focus groups,” Lara said. “All the groups
were consistently saying the same things.”
Students surveyed are willing to pay between
$25 and $150 in additional student fees
for the construction and maintenance of
the center, Lara stated from his data. If
the proposal is passed and voted for, students
will pay an extra $75 per semester.
Many senators raised concerns about the
fee increase for a project that current
students will not be around to use and the
validity of an 18-person survey intended
to represent the entire student body. If
approved, the center will be complete in
2007.
Citing the fact that recreation centers
are becoming popular on college campuses,
Greg Hamilton, vice president of the Cannon
Design architectural firm, presented drawings
and layouts of the structure to the Senate.
“Rec centers are an increasingly common
structure on campuses today,” Hamilton said.
“They have been very well received at other
schools.”
Vivian and a committee of students traveled
to campuses around the state to get ideas
for the center. Their visits included UC
San Francisco, UC Irvine, San Diego State,
UC San Diego, UC Berkeley.
The design that the Los Angeles-based firm
created includes climbing walls, basketball
courts, an indoor track, locker rooms and
a weight and fitness area.
The center will be located between Palo
Verde and George Allen Field, adjacent to
the existing tennis courts. A new parking
structure is also part of the suggested
plan.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the proposal
at next week’s meeting.
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