The Student 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 faculty were irresponsibe of priortizing the 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. 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.

Article on the Grand Opening for the SRC

http://blogs.csun.edu/atcsun/photo-essay/student-recreation-center-grand-opening/

Images of the SRC

View from the Outside

View of the Inside Cardio Machines

View of the Upstairs Indoor Jogging Track

View of the Pool Outside

View from the Top of the Rock Climbing Walls

Video About the Opening of the SRC

Where Matadors Play!

Sioneh Melkonian

Professor Slobod

English 113B

16 March 2012

Where Matadors Play

            $62,354,790 is a lot of money to fund for a university recreation center. With this in mind, it is crucial to make sure that large amounts of money like this are spent with the students being the number one concern. The Student Recreation Center at California State University, Northridge has been in the making for the past two decades. The actual idea was conceptualized in 1992, and in 2002 it actually started to take off. It was not until 2007 that students started to vote on whether or not they would be in favor of the Student Recreation Center being built or against the idea (Nesbitt). It was the students who were attending the university in those years that laid down the groundwork for the future students. Finally, in the spring of 2012, it was at last ready to be in use. The Student Recreation Center was a good investment because it gives students a place to relieve their stress, encourages physical activity, and gives students an extra opportunity to meet new people.

            Going into college, most students feel overwhelmed with their workload when they first begin this new chapter in their lives, causing them to constantly be stressed out over diverse situations ranging from financial issues to the constant pressure to receive good grades. There are many different ways that one can relieve stress; exercising is actually the most beneficial and efficient. According to Fleur Hupston from NaturalNews.com, “Exercise essentially burns away the chemicals like cortisol and norepinephrine that cause stress” (Hupston). This systematically proves that exercise does, indeed, eradicate stress. When students have midterms and finals that cause them to panic from the excessive amount of studying and work that needs to be done, going to the Student Recreation Center can be the eliminator of the stress. Not only does it scientifically eliminate the stress, but it takes ones mind off of school for a little while as well. By doing this, it is a form of relaxation for the student without the time being wasted. Hupston also states that stress relating to school or work is called external stress, which cannot be avoided. “Since they can't be avoided, the exposure to stress needs to be managed by avoiding situations that will cause stress as much as possible, like going for a jog” (Hupston). Like the author states, since the stress cannot be avoided, a healthy alternative would be to exercise.

Alongside the fact that exercising relieves stress, it is also constructive to your health because it prevents rapid weight gain that is caused when a student stresses out. If one does not manage their stress, it can lead to unhealthy dieting. With the obesity rate rising in the United States, it is crucial to find a healthy way to manage ones stress with something as healthy as exercising (“Obesity..). Dr. Kalvin Chinyere states on his website for “Weight loss Tips” that “two out of every three adults are either overweight or obese” (Chinyere). That is quite a high statistic, and surely an unhealthy one. If exercise is formulated in the lives of the students of California State University, Northridge by using the Student Recreation Center, it will reduce the risk of one becoming either overweight or obese, while living a stress-free life. Whereas some may say that there are other ways to relieve ones stress like listening to music, exercising would be more advantageous due to the fact that it is also a healthier alternative. A university surely would not want to put a price tag on the wellness of its students.

            With the hectic schedules that many scholars reluctantly have, students often avoid physical activity without really noticing it; however, the Student Recreation Center makes it convenient for students to attend by providing an easy access to a gym. Because the location is on campus, students are able to find time for a quick workout at the gym even if it is in between classes or homework breaks. It is common for a student to have an irregular class schedule with several breaks that are not long enough to leave campus for. This makes the location even more suitable since it would not be a hassle at all. On the other hand, if there were no Student Recreation Center provided on our campus, students would have to resort to having an outside gym membership, which causes an inconvenience due to having to drive there and back to get to school to be on time. This may lead to students being late to class because of street traffic, or lack of finding a parking space. Professors also put a high emphasis on being punctual to class, therefore, having the slight chance of being late to class can cause a student to lose points in the classroom and affect their grade. Since there is that extra hassle, students will not be as encouraged to exercise, fearing for the consequences of possibly not being able to arrive to class on time. Although some may argue that students may attend local gyms that are not on campus, the Student Recreation Center offers much more variety compared to regular gyms. What separates our Student Recreation Center from other local gyms in the area is that fact that there is the variety of physical activity options. A student can get the physical activity he/she needs without working on traditional cardio machines. For instance, our Student Recreation Center offers gymnasium courts, multi activity courts, fitness zones, indoor jogging track, outdoor pool, rock climbing walls, etc. This variety customizes a physical activity workout for all kinds of students’ interests. Whether you are in the mood to go running on the indoor track, or do a few laps in the pool, the Student Recreation Center has it all for you.

            A gateway to success in one’s life begins in college. Choosing to go to a University opens many doors of accomplishment. A very popular phrase is “Education is a great investment for your future.” Most job offers nowadays are usually through networking. The Student Recreation Center is another way to meet new people. Students’ who attend the gym begin to see the same familiar faces over and over again; hence, they eventually form friendships, which can lead to a form of networking. Moreover, it gets students involved with the campus. One of the many benefits is that one gets the occasion to meet people with the same hobbies as he/she has. These may include swimming, or dancing. Furthermore, the Student Recreation Center gives students who wish to become athletes an opportunity to “participate in national and regional competitive sports” which is described by the Associated Students of Cal State, Northridge. (“Sport..). Some of the sports clubs they offer are archery, women’s rugby, ice hockey, ballroom dancing, boxing club, etc. With this broad range of activities it makes it rather difficult for someone to not meet new people! Although people may argue that there are clubs and sororities/fraternities to network with, they do actually require additional money in order to be a member. On the other hand, the Student Recreation Center does not require an additional payment. All the funding that went into creating the Student Recreation center is similar to a down payment for contributing to a student’s success by means of networking.

            Looking at a large number like $62,354,790 may seem intimidating, but looking at all the benefits for such an investment makes it all the more worth it. Because of the new Student Recreation Center, students now can relieve stress in a healthy way, encourage students to participate in physically activity, and have more opportunities to network! Just a small investment for a successful future.

Works Cited

Chinyere, Dr. Kalvin. "Obesity In America." Dr. Kal's Weight Loss Tips. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

Hupston, Fleur. "How Exercise Relieves Stress and Anxiety." NaturalNews.com. 06 May

 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

Nesbitt, Irene. "SRC to Celebrate Its Grand Opening." Daily Sundial, 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 26

Feb. 2012.

"Obesity Rates Rising: 10 Fattest Countries In The Developed World." The Huffington

            Post, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

"Sport Clubs." Csunas.org. California State University, Northridge. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.