At Monday's Faculty Senate meeting, the UW Division of Recreational Sports proposed an immediate update to the Natatorium, and a renovation of the SERF by 2017. According to the board, both facilities are outdated and too small to meet student demands. The estimated cost of renovating the Nat alone is $60 million dollars, and the proposal calls for a $60 increase in student's segregated fees for an undisclosed period of time.
While this proposal has yet to be approved by the Campus Planning Committee, such a request is not feasible at the current time. UW-Madison faces growing financial woes - which will likely be solved with tuition increases - and charging students extra for athletic facilities will only aggrivate students.
Aside from anticipated tuition increases, segregated fees continue to rise. Starting next year, the Student Union Initiative will charge students and extra $48 per semester for two years, and $96 dollars per semester after that until the bond is completed. Seg fees for the Fall 2009 year were $445.04, and tacking another $60 dollars - in addition to increased tuition and union renovation fees - makes the cost of attendance unnecessarily more expensive.
Additionally, Recreational Soprts director Dale Carruthers told the Wisconsin State Journal a 2005 student survey about the SERF referred to it as dungeon-like"" and behind in current fitness trends. To tax students for fringe benefits such as facility aesthetics is a frivolous expenditure. Furthermore, when the SERF was built, racquetball courts were in high demand, and there is no guarantee that current demands - such as ellipticals, treadmills, or spinning classes - won't be considered out-of-date in 20 years.
While exercise machines and spinning classes make exercise easier for some students, many are content running outside or at home. Most students unhappy with the services offered at the SERF or Nat will likely adapt and find new ways to exercise if they're serious about staying or getting in shape.
For the time being, students will continue to use the facilities, and the Recreational Sports Board should be creative with the space allotted to keep students there. Until these facilities are structurally flawed and students are not paying extra money for other renovation projects, this proposal must be shelved until later.
