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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Group discusses dorm exercise equipment

A lack of sufficient voting members to hold an official meeting did not dissuade the Campus Life Council from discussing a perceived lack of exercise equipment in the dorms and delivering committee reports on Monday.Wyatt Maxwell, a member of CLC and the Hall President's Council, read members a letter from HPC Athletic Chairmen Erinn Rigney and Bill Bonner, outlining what they perceive to be a lack of sufficient exercise equipment in the residence halls - particularly within female dorms. The letter also noted that equipment present in the dorms is often in poor condition and that a lack of usable equipment hinders the well-being and fitness of residents. "[The HPC Chairmen] would like to see more invested in this," Maxwell said. "It might be something for the CLC to look at next year."Kathy Brannock, rector of Howard Hall, and Heather Rakoczy, rector of Pangborn Hall, said that residents have asked for additional exercise equipment in the past for their respective dorms but that space constraints made such requests difficult to address."I wouldn't mind buying the equipment but we have no room to put it," Brannock said. "In Howard Hall it's just not feasible."The debate expanded into one focusing on gender inequalities in general within the dorms and led Jeremy Lao, chairmen of CLC, to suggest the possibility of introducing a resolution at the next meeting requiring next year's council to form a committee on the issue.Rectors present along with David Moss, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, encouraged students to voice their opinion on these and other issues by completing the annual rector evaluation forms - an opportunity that students often fail to take advantage of, they said."We take these [the evaluations] very seriously," Moss said. In other CLC news:u Work continued on CLC's attempt to implement a mandatory social awareness course into all students' schedule in the future. Lao informed members that he met with Eileen Kolman, dean of the First Year of Studies, to discuss the proposed requirement."She gave me ideas on how we can approach this from different angles," he said, adding that Kolman suggested the possibility of identifying existing courses that could fulfill such a requirement.Lao said that he plans to meet with Ava Preacher, assistant dean of the College of Arts and Letters, and Carolyn Woo, dean of the Mendoza College of Business, to solicit additional advice and support. The committee plans to introduce a resolution on the issue at the next CLC meeting Lao added.u CLC will hold its final meeting of the year on April 19.