Letter: SUB gym waste of space; Johnson good enough

Editor,

After reading Caleb Fort's article in Tuesday's paper about the SUB fitness center, I became filled with rage. Even though the Associated Students of UNM has been talking about this new fitness center for about three or four months, it looks like the subject is still fresh in the news.

Not only did ASUNM decide to replace one of the only three galleries or museums on campus, but they replaced it with a fitness center. The last time I checked, the closest facility to work out for free was Johnson Center.

Now if some of you are asking yourselves, "Wait a second, isn't Johnson Center just across from the SUB?" I will congratulate you, because you are correct. I think that if we had a contest to see who could throw a rock from the SUB to Johnson Center, everyone would win.

Students are complaining there is not enough free time in their schedule to work out when they want. Since when does anything in life work out the way you want? Maybe some of these students should take a time-management seminar the University offers.

I just checked, and there are more than 50 classes in the non-professional physical education department that are not full. Just think: Johnson Center supplies a plethora of options for everyone. Just close your eyes and imagine: They have yoga, jogging, karate, weight training, aerobic dance and even bowling. They also have a cardio room equipped with machines and treadmills for those times when you just want to run really fast.

The time has come that Johnson Center is no longer sufficient, but a 10-foot by 20-foot room would be much more convenient for students to work out in. The room comes equipped with about three elliptical machines, some weight machines and free weights. This would be an improvement, except for the part about the 25,000 students on campus every day.

Oh, and to comment on Mahad Ahmed's remark about the fitness center being art, he is sorely mistaken, and I am sure he could not imagine what the student gallery was like before because he never took the time to look.

Sarah Hager

UNM student