Issues arise over Wellness and Recreation Center

Approximately 3,200 students have registered to use the newly finished Wellness and Recreation Center. The opening day was Oct. 24 and since then, issues have come to the forefront over rules and regulations of the facility. One of the dilemmas is over the dress code inside the Center.

“The other day I had on a no-sleeve shirt specifically made for working out and I was trying to run on the treadmill when a staff member came and told me that I could only run on the track because of what I was wearing,” Hannah McFarland, senior management major, said. “I worked at a gym for five years and I’ve never been to a gym that had a rule like that.”

“What we’re trying to do is prevent MRSA, which most people know as staph infection,” said Dave Terrell, director of the Wellness and Recreation Center. ”It is very resistant to anti-bacteria, and once you get it, it is very hard to get rid of.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MRSA is usually spread through contact with someone’s skin infection. The infections are most likely to spread in places where people are in close contact, such as locker rooms.

Another rule that was questioned is the no gum policy.

“We made this rule to prevent choking incidents and for cleanliness,” Terrell said. “One center we visited would close down one day a year just to clean gum out of their facility and we want to prevent that.”

Another safety restriction is the use of the diving boards in the aquatic area. There are two boards, a one-meter board and a three-meter but only the smaller board is available for use by members.

“The three-meter board will only be used when we get an NCAA swim team and they are trained to use it,” Terrell said.

As of now, outside community members are

not allowed to use the Wellness Center. However, Terrell says that they are hoping to allow a limited number of community members in the near future.

“We don’t allow them now because of some of the language in the bond we have to pay for the building,” Terrell said. “We will be enrolling alumni soon and then eventually we’ll allow a certain number of community members that won’t interfere with the number of students using the facility and they will have to pay a fee that is higher than the student fees.”

Terrell, who taught in the health promotion program for 15 years, explains that in  2003, wellness was established as a cornerstone of the university but not much was done. In recent years, the Student Government Association and Sandra Gangstead, dean of the College of Health Sciences, started visiting other wellness centers in the state to get ideas for the one that now exists at Georgia College.

“We are planning on building two more parking lots but SGA is aware that we have to generate some revenue to support our budget,” Terrell said.

The 3,200 students who have already registered to use the facility did by completing short paperwork, providing finger prints and a photograph.

“About a 1,000 members come in each day to use the facility at the beginning of the week and it usually drops off as the week goes by to about 250 a day on Saturday and Sunday,” Terrell said. “The amount of use is meeting the expectations I had.”

Despite the issues that have been brought to light, students still express their excitement over the new addition to campus.

“I think the Wellness Center is awesome and it has so much more to offer than the Depot did,” sophomore early childhood education major Mary Saba said.

Posted by CourtneyCoile on Nov 17 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.