PHOTO BY Napolean Lherisson/The Hoot
The renovated weight room, which opened last week just in time for the beginning of the Spring semester, was funded by $100,000 in Student Activity Fees rolledover from Spring 2008.
The new weight room features a full set of Cybex weight machines purchased by Brandeis Athletics through Gym Source, a new set of free weights and a new set of dumbbells—something the previous weight room had been lacking.
However, many of the gym-faithful were disappointed by the new facilities.
John Homans ’12 was frustrated because some machines that he considers to be staples of the weight room were missing..
“They left out some of the essentials,” he said. “The gym needs a lat pull-down and seated row machine to be complete…any improvement in the quality of apparatuses is negligible compared to the absence of necessary equipment.”
The lack of specific machines, considered essential by many users of the weight room, was pinpointed as a break down in communication between students and the Athletics department staff.
Jacob Bockelmann ’09 agreed.
“What is most upsetting about the weight room is how the equipment selection process was closed to students. [Athletics] was all to eager to take the [SAF] money but were not willing to listen to students,” he said.
Additionally, many students felt that the weight room could have been completed during the summer break.
However, Union Treasurer Max Wallach ‘09 explained that “it wasn’t a realistic goal” to have the weight room completed during the summer.
Student Union President Jason Gray ‘10 added that attempts to finish the weight room early would have resulted in the acquisition of inferior machines, and ultimately an inferior facility.
Homans and Bockelmann both noted that in neglecting the student voices the weight room was unable to be as good as it could have been.
Bockelmann commented, “I think we ended up with a decent commercial weight room…[not a] stellar collegiate weight room.”
