Is UW-Stout actually aiding obesity?
Ryan McGlennen
Issue date: 1/28/10 Section: Opinion
The University of Wisconsin-Stout seems to be upholding a form of hierarchy when it comes to student athletes, or lack thereof. Since I enrolled at UW-Stout in 2005, it wasn't my lack of motivation that got me out of shape; it was the lack of locations to burn off the calories. Luckily, I found out that my North Hall dorm provided a weight room in the basement…Boy, was that a disappointment.
Multiple dorms at UW-Stout provide a "weight room" for students in their respective dorm's basement. Realistically, these are not weight rooms. All of the equipment is outdated or useless. Most of these weight rooms don't even have the pins to manually adjust weight levels, essentially leaving people to rep the lowest weight as many times as they can.
So, where do I go to burn off a few pounds? I quickly learned that any realistic place to work out at UW-Stout comes with a price tag. Unlike most universities, gaining access to a set of dumbbells at UW-Stout requires the payment of a "minimal" fee. However, these fees are not so minimal. On a college student's salary, a lofty $80 fee for a semester membership to the local weight room seems staggering. Can't afford it? Don't worry, there are other options…right?
Unfortunately, those outlets have also been foiled. What once seemed to be an area for the average Joe, the Multi Purpose Room, has been predominately monopolized by intramural and varsity sports. In fact, out of 15 hours of availability each day, the MPR is available to non-student athletes for a mere six hours. To make matters even worse, the one available basketball course is regularly taken over by yoga and pilates classes that usually average an attendance of about two or three people.
Besides the lack of areas to work out, diet plays a huge role in overweight individuals. In the few places on campus that food can be purchased (besides vending machines), prices seem to be skewed towards unhealthy diets rather than healthy ones.
The Pawn, located in the Memorial Student Center, offers a wide variety of food choices. Unfortunately, foods found at this location cater to the needs of a multi thousand-calorie diet. Although healthy foods are readily available, the price of healthy foods compared to unhealthy foods seems overwhelmingly lopsided towards those that are healthy. This begs another question: is UW-Stout actually aiding obesity? In my honest opinion, UW-Stout may be in cahoots with obesity, but I don't think it is directly aiding it.
Sure we are all lazy, at least a little. But when people finally get the urge to get off the couch and do something active, shouldn't we be providing them with that service free of charge as their reward? The fatties that sit on the couch all day are the ones who are already paying the price with their massive grocery bills, lower quality of life, shorter life span and susceptibility to life threatening diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
In a state widely known for cheese production and brewing beer, I personally think that UW-Stout needs to take a head-on approach to tackling obesity on campus.
Multiple dorms at UW-Stout provide a "weight room" for students in their respective dorm's basement. Realistically, these are not weight rooms. All of the equipment is outdated or useless. Most of these weight rooms don't even have the pins to manually adjust weight levels, essentially leaving people to rep the lowest weight as many times as they can.
So, where do I go to burn off a few pounds? I quickly learned that any realistic place to work out at UW-Stout comes with a price tag. Unlike most universities, gaining access to a set of dumbbells at UW-Stout requires the payment of a "minimal" fee. However, these fees are not so minimal. On a college student's salary, a lofty $80 fee for a semester membership to the local weight room seems staggering. Can't afford it? Don't worry, there are other options…right?
Unfortunately, those outlets have also been foiled. What once seemed to be an area for the average Joe, the Multi Purpose Room, has been predominately monopolized by intramural and varsity sports. In fact, out of 15 hours of availability each day, the MPR is available to non-student athletes for a mere six hours. To make matters even worse, the one available basketball course is regularly taken over by yoga and pilates classes that usually average an attendance of about two or three people.
Besides the lack of areas to work out, diet plays a huge role in overweight individuals. In the few places on campus that food can be purchased (besides vending machines), prices seem to be skewed towards unhealthy diets rather than healthy ones.
The Pawn, located in the Memorial Student Center, offers a wide variety of food choices. Unfortunately, foods found at this location cater to the needs of a multi thousand-calorie diet. Although healthy foods are readily available, the price of healthy foods compared to unhealthy foods seems overwhelmingly lopsided towards those that are healthy. This begs another question: is UW-Stout actually aiding obesity? In my honest opinion, UW-Stout may be in cahoots with obesity, but I don't think it is directly aiding it.
Sure we are all lazy, at least a little. But when people finally get the urge to get off the couch and do something active, shouldn't we be providing them with that service free of charge as their reward? The fatties that sit on the couch all day are the ones who are already paying the price with their massive grocery bills, lower quality of life, shorter life span and susceptibility to life threatening diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
In a state widely known for cheese production and brewing beer, I personally think that UW-Stout needs to take a head-on approach to tackling obesity on campus.
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