V V V V V V w w w V -i v -W v 0 w w w v w v - - . '" II WenedyAri 1,00.. TeMihia*Diy. g new rules the rule 200: If graduation day is the expiration date for your Magazine Editor: relationship, Jessica Vosgerchian break up with Editor in Chief: class and grace. Gary Graca rule 201: The Managing Editor: financial crisis is Courtney Ratkowiak actually a Photo Editor: fantastic excuse Sam Wolson not to do Multimedia Editor: anything David Azad Merian productive this The Junk Drawer: summer. rule Brian Tengel 202: If you don't Center spread design: do a background Lan Truong check on your Cover photo:y Sam Wolson subletters, you can't really blame them when their crackhead friends trash The Statement is The Michigan your place. Daily's news magazine, distributed every Wednesday during the - E-mail rule submissions to academic year. TheStatement@umich.edu ;Hablas espanol? ** Do you want to share your Spanish skills with kids?* ' Here's an opportunity to excite local 3rd graders about Spanish language and Spanish-speaking cultures! Ann Arbor Language Partnership " Course begins Summer term '09 * Examine issues of literacy and educational psychology * Learn to teach Spanish & create meaningful learning experiences for elementary students " Co-teach 3rd grade classes in Ann Arbor during Fall/Winter '09-'10 Info sessions: April 15, 28 & May 7 7 pm - Room 1322 - School of Education ** email mariaic@umich.edu to reserve a space ** FITNESS From Page 6B ELLIPTICAL INEQUITY Canning said that the philoso- phy in creating modern fitness cen- ters demands more natural lighting and larger windows in order to make the space seem more open. He added that .the state-of-the- art technology for cardiovascular machines includes individual mul- timedia stations with each piece of equipment so that users can enter- tain themselves without worrying about dropping iPods or balancing textbooks. If you'd like to see a modern weight room and gymnasium for students on campus, venture to the basement of the new Ross School of Business. The center features brand new equipment and nine large flat-screen TVs lining the wall in front of the elliptical machines. Of course, you can only go here if you're in the business school and pay the $100 membership fee. Kine- siology students must be scratching their heads in frustration. r At the three facilities open to all students, the atmosphere of the weightrooms is thesame. No televi- sions, music playing or windows - just musty air filled with the smell of sweat and the sound of weights dropping on the rubber floors, punctuated with a few grunts. At many times during the day, people wait in line to use 25- and 30-pound dumbbells while heavier weights remain untouched. Cardiovascular rooms at cam- pus's main buildings differ a bit more. At times in the IMSB, a pleas- ant breeze and the sound of birds permeates from outside. But the main room at the CCRB resembles a sweaty, windowless dungeon, and many of the cardiovascular machines are in a former racquet- ball court. The NCRB is perhaps the most pitiful - space is so lim- ited that elliptical machines stand in the front hallway. For some of the common use equipment, it's only a matter of time until upgrades will be unavoidable. Canning said that some tread- mills in the IMSB are approaching 120,000 miles of usage. He estimat- ed that the lifetime of the average treadmill is roughly a third of that and credited an outstanding main- tenance crew for getting the most from the machines. Although the . maintenance workers should be commended for lengthening the lifespan of equip- ment, the statistics from the report scream for the revamping of fitness centers across campus. With ellip- tical machines on their last legs, campus gyms exemplify the "high school gymnasium and weight room" atmosphere that the task force alluded to in its report. The task before the administra- tion, should they choose to go for- ward with the recommendations, is immense. But the University of Michigan is a massive institu- tion with excellent resources, and many smaller schools with fewer resources have been able to pro- vide top-notch facilities for their students. Listed in the report as schools with admirable, contemporary facilities were nearby Oakland Uni- versity, Miami University in Ohio and Saginaw Valley State Univer- sity, a Division III school. "In terms of lifting and total workout space, it was actually larg- er at Miami, a school less than half the size of Michigan," said Kend- all, who spent his freshman year at Miami. While the endowment is not where funding would come from for new facilities at the Univer- sity of Michigan, it is worth not- ing that its endowment of $6.5 billion is approximately 20 times that of Miami - which illustrates a huge disparity in overall financial resources between the schools. The pool in the CCRB is open for lap swimming during set hours IS IT FEASIBLE? Allocating more funds toward recreational facilities as outlined in the report recommendations would mean either cuts to depart- ments or a tuition hike, Provost Sullivan told The Michigan Daily in an article published Mar. 31. Because of that, Sullivan wasn't sure to what extent the adminis- tration would adopt new projects for improving facilities. On the other hand, the task force ,seemed to already have found the answer. "A majority of students said they would easily pay a $100 fee for new recreation facilities at U of M," the task force wrote in its Recreation Feasibility Study after consulting their focus group. Within the same study, one student was also quoted saying, "This is Michigan, and we don't do things halfway! We have the Big House; we should also have the Big REC!" Still, with the national economy in shambles, there is the question of whether taking on more proj- ects at this time really the respon- sible thing to do. While many schools have cut new projects and spending, Can- ning proposed that conditions are actually quite favorable for the University to take on such a proj- ect. "There are lots of people - architects, planners, suppliers, trade skill workers - who are look- ing for work right now," Canning . said. "That becomes a very advan- tageous time to have a project go out for a competitive bid." Even if prices for such a project don't come at much of a discount, there is also the positive external- ity of creating jobs through the project. The University applied this New Deal strategy with the $108 mil- lion purchase of the Pfizer facility in January, where it aims to cre- ate more than 2,000 jobs over the course of a decade. Sullivan also told the Daily that the proposals to fund recreational facilities do fit wellwith recent Uni- versity initiatives. She described one as promoting "active lifestyles for students and faculty," appar- ently referencing the MHealthy campaign begun in 2005 by Presi- dent Mary Sue Coleman. The link between new fitness facilities and more active lifestyles doesn't need too much explaining. Sullivan also saw new facilities helping admission, another aim of MHealthy. Improving recreational sports and fitness facilities is something students and faculty both want. The studies presented also show that students are willing to pay for it, and it's something that lines up perfectly with the priorities of the University's administration while aiding the economy. In short, the time is now. "The statement that keeps ring- ing in my hear is, 'Why can't our facilities be better?"' Canning said. "Because we have the leaders and best. And that's an expectation." WRITE FOR THE SUMMER DAILY E-mail jamblock@umich.edu The outside of the CCRB is much more open and welcoming then its cramped and stuffy workout rooms.