Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Recreation Center
The vote for building the Student Recreation Center was taken before the recession.
Another alternative for students to find parking on campus.
This is an example of how the adminstratives allowed this irresponsibe vote decision of building the SRC.
An example of students with permits share this kind of emotion (not actually do it) when looking for parking.
This is an example of students not able to get the classes they need instead, receive the ones that are available. Students tuition fees increased for the SRC.
An example of uncomfortable overcrowded classrooms and makes
learning harder to process.
Migdal Garcia
Professor Slobod
English 113 B
14 March 2012
The Student Recreation Center
California State University of Northridge
has many features to offer to their students. From programs that help students
exceed with their education, to outdoor activities that can help students relieve
their stress from schoolwork or work. Furthermore, CSU Northridge has been
working on constructing a new structure building for almost two decades. In
2007, the project was voted on and approved by students on making the Student
Recreation Center for the future. Students then believed that it would be a great
source of investment because it would be a great motivation for future
undergraduates to workout with one goal: keep students active while learning. Although
the motifs are great, was it a good idea to have spent around sixty two million
dollars on making the Student Recreation Center? Even though tuition was going
to increase either way, could it have been used for something more productive
like modern buildings for classrooms and parking structures? The overlook of
the Student Recreation Center was a good idea, but it was not an excellent use
of CSU Northridge’s money. Within all the budget cuts that the state of
California made, the Student Recreation Center was money used for irresponsible
reasons.
When students visit the Student
Recreation Center, they are required to register through a computer and scan
their hand onto a machine to be able to enter. The machine will determine if
the person is a student or not, as for the membership is available to CSU
Northridge students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Alumni Association Members
only. The Student Recreation Center (SRC) is a 170,000 square foot that will
provide modern technology areas of health and
fitness. It features “…a three-court gymnasium, one multi-activity-court (MAC),
a 18,500-square-foot weight and fitness space, three multi-purpose rooms for
aerobics, martial arts, spinning, and dance. The facility will also feature a
rock climbing wall, a drop-in childcare room, a 5,000-square-foot pool with
showers and lockers, outdoor recreational equipment and storage, and a lighted
outdoor field complex for various activities including, soccer, football, and
softball” (CSU Northridge…). There is
also an indoor running track, basketball, volleyball, and other sports for
students to intentionally engage themselves.
The facility holds many astounding
features and the architectural building is something that students and faculty
should be proud of. The folding of the building allows ninety percent of the
natural daylight for usable space and native landscape. “Some of the
sustainable building features provided in the schematic design include:
integration with campus stormwater management systems, a green roof, "cool
roof" systems, optimized energy performance through high performance
envelope, mechanical, and electrical systems, water efficient landscaping with
reclaimed water for irrigation, access to daylight and views to the exterior,
and use of recycled content and locally produced materials” (CSU Northridge…).
The facility is operated from inside and out with a guarantee of efficient
light saving, recycled water and water efficient landscaping, and modern
technology for thousands of students attending.
Another similar situation is the Student
Recreation Center of CSU Fullerton. In March of 2008, the Student Recreation
Center opened on campus to offer students the overall physical fitness and
wellness. Like CSU Northridge, the total construction cost was borne entirely
through campus-based student fees, with no state funds used to build the center
or finance ongoing operations (Recreation…). Though CSU Fullerton has gone the extra
step of constructing more parking structures for students as well as modern classrooms,
building the recreation center was the next step in the plan (Recreation…). CSU
Fullerton prioritized their selections with sufficient technology, spacious classrooms,
and enough electronic equipment. Parking structures were also constructed for students
to have more opportunities to park, although not always guaranteed.
Due to California’s budget cuts, the
Student Recreation Center did not help nor ruin CSU Northridge’s budget cuts.
It was simply just money spent that could have been funded on more electronic
equipment, additional classrooms, healthier choice of food, and new parking
structures. As of 2010, the University has over thirty-five thousand students
enrolled. A faculty member holds the minimum of twenty students per class. According
to the Student Recreation Center website, “…the total USU fee for the 2006-2007
school year was $120 compared to $250 for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year, a
108 percent increase over four years”(Brian De Los Santos). Tuition for
undergraduate students increased a little over a hundred percent, meaning that students
had the burden to pay extra included in their tuition. Tuition was going to
increase either way, so why not pay for an effective and productive cause that
would benefit students with their learning. The project coordinator, Bryan
Knight, states that the Student Recreation Center membership is free of charge.
“Once they pay tuition and student fees, they have
access to use it,” (Brian…) said Knight.
Though students have the
choice of paying for parking permit, the Student Recreation Center fee was
already included in every student’s tuition. The students who decide on paying
for parking permits have the
choice to pay each semester, which is about one hundred fifty dollars. Alternatively,
the whole year is roughly about three hundred dollars. Students know that paying
for a parking permit is pricey, but looking for parking without a parking
permit is heavily hectic. Parking can become quite a hassle for students and
overwhelming to notice a parking level after parking level full. Not finding
parking on time also creates delays of coming to class on time as well as timed
breaks. It challenges students to get to school earlier in order to find a
parking space.
Many activities are held at the
recreation center therefore help is wanted. There are about two hundred to
three hundred openings available for both students and staff at the recreation
center. Instead of those openings at the Student Recreation Center, there could
have been less crowded classrooms, more professors rehired, and more attention
span on the connection between the student and professor. Some over crowded
classrooms include unstable furniture and equipment needed for labs are not
always available. In addition, students at times need to wait for their turn
when using technology on campus. The wait may take up to half an hour to
forty-five minutes in order to use a computer. Some of the technology on campus
are indicated to have existed for a long time and sometimes do not function
properly. The overall equipment on campus is diminutive and modern technology
would benefit students in gaining knowledge in so many different ways.
Students’ health should start on campus. Usually students lack exercise and blame schoolwork or
their job for it. Therefore, students create excuses of being unhealthy while
eating unhealthy on campus. Of course, almost more than half the food on campus
is not healthy. When students walk in food market places, chips are first
visible rather than fruits, or pizza is self served rather than chicken salad,
and students are prone to buying unhealthy food. The money could have also
funded on promoting healthier breakfasts, lunch’s, and dinners, instead of
serving hamburgers and pizza’s for lunch. Students who dorm are required to
spend a few thousand dollars on something called “meal plans”. Meal plans are
for students who do live in a dorm but without a kitchen. The overall experiences
of the repetitive meal plans seem less appetizing and unhealthy. Sometimes
students are forced on skipping their “meal plan” and instead find the easy
excessive way of eating unhealthy on campus. CSU Northridge’s food markets
gives the fundamentals choices for students to eat unhealthy. The Student
Recreation Center is overall promoted to motivate students’ fitness and health,
while the campus fails to have enough nutritious supplement to support their
concept and
CSU Northridge wants to promote the
Student Recreation Center as a source of motivation towards students by
providing healthy tips, fitness, and wellness. Working out may be a way to
unwind stressful situations that school makes students experience through many
levels of stress due to tests, projects, etc. CSU Northridge’s ultimate goal is
to help students reach their educational goals. The journey to achieve that
goal may seem unbearable with not enough professors, uncomfortable classrooms,
and not enough required lab and technology equipment’s. The tools needed in
order to achieve the ultimate goal are disregarded. If students had the
implements to acquire their education, then their ambition to study harder
would eventually increase the rate of students achieving their ultimate
educational goals and the Student Recreation Center would be the alternate along
the process.
Overall, the Student
Recreation Center at CSU Northridge is an astounding building filled with amazing
advance technology features. Although, there are alternatives as to working out
such as clubs and teams that students can join. Students can also empower
themselves from the daily activities of independently working out by motivating
each other to maintain condition. However,
the university’s main concern should have been to fund on what students need in
order to succeed their ultimate educational goal. The idea of the Student
Recreation Center was great, but given the student’s financial situations,
faculty members could have been more financially responsible and should have
prioritized on what was more important, no matter what the students in 2007
voted on. Now students have a new and advanced recreation center and currently
overcrowded classrooms, not enough technology for students to use, unhealthy
food choices on campus, parking spaces that may take up to four blocks away
from campus due to not enough parking structures, and a numerous amount of
professor’s still unemployed. The Student Recreation Center is a great
motivation for students, but the best inspiration would be to help students
exceed in their classes with comfortable classrooms, additional electronics, and
the connection between students and a professor is priceless.
Work Cited
“CSU Northridge Student Recreation Center” Cal State Northridge
Student Recreation Center (SRC).
Web. 1 March 2012.
De Los Santos, Brain. “CSUN’s Student Recreation Center to Open
Spring 2012”. Daily Sundial. 26 January 2011. Web. 1
March 2012.
“Recreation Center”. Associated Students, Inc. California State
University, Fullerton. History of ASI.
Associated Students. 2012. Web. 1 March 2012.
“Statistics” California State University- Northridge. College
Prowler. 2012. Web. 1 March 2012.
“Student- Funded Rec Center at Cal State Northridge”. PRWeb:
Online Visibility from Focus. 9 February
2012. Web. 1 March 2012.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Amber
Greenwood
6
March 2012
Professor
Slobod
English
113B
When entering college, there is a
vast majority of students who plan on living in the college dorms. These
students chose to live on campus because of multiple different reasons; they
want to experience the full college life so that includes living in the dorms.
Not all students share the same belief about living in the dorms though. While
there is vast majority who do, there is also an enormous minority who chose not
to live in the dorms also for different reasons; (1) being that they see CSUN
as the commuter college. “On-campus living offers
special academic support, leadership opportunities and individual attention,
all in an environment conducive to classroom success and personal growth” (What
Does Housing Offer?). There are many benefits to living in the dorms but just
as there are benefits there will always be a downfall; majority of the time
there are more benefits to living in the CSUN’s dorms. College students who
commute should be required to live on the college dorms for two reasons: (1) they have easier/quicker access to the
campus facilities and (2) they learn to cope with other different people and
make new friends and (3) you have a little more freedom.
CSUN has three
different housing options: (1) the apartment with kitchen (2) apartment without
kitchen and (3) the suite without kitchen. “One of the most exciting aspects about living on campus is
the apartment-style housing of the dorms. All rooms have a large bathroom, two
large bedrooms, kitchen, TV room, and dining area. These spacious dorms make it
easier to have roommates since you aren’t cramped” (College Prowler). Living in the apartments is good if you
don’t like cramped areas and like to have space; also they are good if you don’t
want a meal plan then you chose to have a kitchen. Even though there is a
plethora of people who live in the apartments there is still a good handful of
people who live in the suites; actually there have been plenty of people who
said that it is better to live in the suites because you meet more people and
hang out with more people on a daily basis. The atmosphere in the dorms is very
relaxing.
“On-campus residents enjoy access to special academic
programming and facilities beyond that available to their peers who live off
campus. These programs and facilities include study skills workshops, dinners
with faculty members, study jams during midterms and finals, a 24-hour computer
lab and private study lounges”(What Does Housing Offer?).How can you get
quick access to CSUN’s facilities if you don’t live on campus? It may become
difficult through out the school year for a student to gain immediate access to
CSUN’s amenities if they commute. These students who commute majority of the
time are always in such a rush to get home because they want to be traffic or
have an engagement that they are rarely able to use the school’s library,
tutoring labs and office hours. Students often only have time use these
facilities when they are in between campus. If these students were to live on
campus they would be able to get a better use of these amenities and they will
also be able to find easy study groups with other classmates who live on
campus.
On
the other side, the students who don’t commute majority of the time have two
reasons. The main two reasons those students don’t live in the dorms is because
of: (1) financial reasons (2) they feel that they may not be able to adapt to
living with a complete stranger and (3) majority of the people that apply to
CSUN know that this school is a commuter college. There are students who may
want to live on campus but they are unable to because it may be too expensive
for them and they may not be able to afford it. To live in dorms is between
$7,000-$9,000 for the whole year; for some of those students who don’t choose
to live a dorm with a kitchen they still have to pay for a meal plan, which is
around 5,000 all year round and for the students who chose a kitchen they have
to buy groceries each week so that they don’t spend as much money out buying
food. So when you add up everything to live in the dorms your probably going to
spending around 12,000 dollars; for students who didn’t get enough financial
aid they may not be able to pay for that because it is so expensive.
Additionally, when
people apply to CSUN they figure that there is no point in applying for the
dorms because of the fact that it is so close to people’s homes and they can
easily drive to school rather than paying for the dorms and/or maybe a meal
plan. With the gas prices raising as fast as they are these students don’t
realize that they are spending more probably the same amount on gas each month
as they would on living in the dorms. The other thing to think about is how
much damage they are putting on their car driving back and forth. Driving from
school can be a big hassle on your car and can mess with the condition of some
people’s car.
Another thing that
may prevent students from wanting to live in the dorms is living with someone
they don’t know and not being able to adapt to the person. From personal
experience I know what this feels like because at one point I was not very
comfortable living with my roommate and that brought issues between us and I
wanted to move out and go back home but I knew that if I did that, I would
regret it at the end but not all students are as strong as me to just suck it
up and stay in the dorms. Some students just might not be able to handle there
living conditions in the dorms and feel like they have to move back home.
“On-campus
residents report that one of the most rewarding aspects of residential life is
the opportunity to live among people from all walks of life. Because this type
of living environment may be new for some students, housing staff members
regularly invite groups of students to get together for guided dialogues on
issues surrounding diversity” (What Does Housing Offer?). When you live in the
dorms you have the opportunity to meet so many people that you never thought
you would get along with. You learn that some people may have the same interest
and views as you. Living the dorm life helps you get to know people who are
from different cultures little more; rather than going off of what somebody
else says you are able to know the real deal about a person and their
background. “A word of caution: get to know your roommates in the beginning and lay
groundwork, because it can save you trouble in the long run working out nasty
arguments” (College Prowler). Truth be told when you set
out ground rules for you and roommates in the living space it makes everything
a whole lot easier and it makes happy living. All around living in the
dorms is fun and helps you meet fun people. Anybody can drive to school and
meet people then go home but it’s a totally different story when you living in
the dorms and meet people because that person can become a true good friend.
If students who commute were
required to live on campus they would they will not only be able to gain
quicker access to the schools many facilities but they will also be able to
learn different things about themselves that they never know. The student would
be able to live under new comfortable living conditions and have a more sense
of independence. “Research shows that students living on campus are more
satisfied with their living environment and college experience, earn higher
grades, have a more satisfied social life, and participate in more student
activities” (Ask Matty).
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