SFAC should increase the BDAC funding
Alejandro Rodriguez staff writer The Student Fees Allocation Committee sent out its proposal recently and…
Alejandro Rodriguez
staff writer
The Student Fees Allocation Committee sent out its proposal recently and recommended to add a $5 line item funding for the Desert Wave Pool, while leaving the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center the same and giving a measily $2 extra to the athletic department.
The athletic department requested more, but were denied. However, the wave pool was granted $5, really, how many students use the pool compared to how many athletes are there on campus? The BDAC has roughly 300 people using its facilities every day. People are using it for everything from the weight room to the cardio machines and other amenities. Out of the $260 student fee each semester paid, $20 goes to the BDAC, or 7.7 percent of the budget.
There is a list of things that a larger budget could help to improve in the BDAC. More equipment, repairs to the sauna, stationary exercise bikes, more machines for better back workouts and more space in the weight room, an electronic sign in instead of paper and pencil, an athletic hot tub, or even pay.
people to supervise the BDAC past 9 p.m. on weekdays and more hours on weekends.
If you really think about how many students go into the wave pool vs the BDAC, you can see upgrading the gym would be the smartest thing to do for the majority of students.
The old equipment in the BDAC such as the treadmills and bikes constantly have broken signs taped to them, you would think having locals pay $30/month, the staff could afford better and new ma- chines rather than paying to keep repairing the old ones.
At times during the day there are more locals working out than students. Not only will everyone love going to a nicer gym, but a newer workout facility can attract future college students. Attracting more people means more talent coming into USU Eastern. Why not make the BDAC one of the committee’s top priorities for the budget in the upcoming year? The BDAC is the most used building on campus and a fourth of all students attending USU Eastern are student athletes. SFAC should provide the most funding to events that the majority of student will attend or use.
Three Price gyms compete with the BDAC: Tougher, Fitness World, and. Tougher only allows females and is $35/month. Fitness World charges $35/month and the gym is probably a quarter the size of the BDAC. Eastern’s BDAC needs a major upgrade to attract students and the community. Survey the students and community on what they want to see on campus, especially the BDAC The athlete department request- ed an additional $5, the SFAC gave it $2. Eastern’s athletic department is the lowest funded in the SWAC, and desperately needs more funding, especially when one quarter of the athletes make up the student body. How can coaches be expected to compete and win, if the budget is so small? The college of Southern Idaho has three times the budge of Eastern and look at all the national championship titles its program has won.
When the SFAC convenes next year there should be as many student athletes as student representatives so that voices are heard from both point of views.
Lastly, start a phase-two fund- ing for the BDAC expansion. The $40 student project funds could more wisely be used for future athletes who all share one gym. Most high schools have more than one gym. SLCC has too many gyms to count. Eastern needs another indoor practice facility and the SFAC committee could help make that happen. USU students funded a state-of-the-art exercise facility for its athletes, why can’t Eastern?
