LETTER: Recreation areas needed

To the editor:

    I find it hard to understand the point of the ARCC.  What the students of Utah State need is a place to recreate.  USU already has great resources for the services listed: dining, parking, the bookstore, housing, and conferencing. 

    The point of a recreation center is to get away from the academic side of a university and recreate.  Recreation centers should include things like gyms, climbing walls, pools, hockey rinks, dance studios, cycling rooms, aerobic areas, fitness centers and so on. 

    Some may point out that students have the HPER and Fieldhouse.  The HPER is an educational building and the recreational space allotted is not nearly big enough for growing needs of USU students; and the Fieldhouse is old, outdated, and too small as well.  This semester over 20 intramural teams were turned away due to lack of space.  In September alone over 4,000 people used the HPER pools.  Recreation is a huge part of campus life.  The problem with recreation at USU is that it needs room for expansion.  USU needs a building just for students, away from academia.

    Students need to put forth their voices for a new recreation center, not just a place to go study or park.

McKell Blake