Students and faculty have gym pass, but many don't use it
Denise Nosko
Issue date: 3/9/09 Section: Features
Matthew Marini, a second year student at Mercer puts it into perspective; "the luxuries private gyms offer are nice, but I can just as easily get a coffee at Dunkin' Donuts down the street with my $35 membership, rather than pay much more a month and have the convenience of getting coffee immediately after I work out."
If this is the attitude some students adopt, it is still easy to wonder why more students don't take advantage of the cheap membership Mercer has to offer. Perhaps it is because many students aren't aware that the gym is accessible to them for such a low fee. Out of the 15 afore-mentioned surveyed students, only five said they knew about the cheap fee for the Mercer gym and still chose to go elsewhere.
Perhaps Mercer isn't doing enough to encourage students to use their facilities. Mike DeAngelis, the fitness coordinator said that its "silly to go elsewhere" considering the cheap price of membership, yet he also says that "membership could be higher."
Ultimately, he has plans to advertise the availability of the gym in the future, and hopes to encourage more members of the outside community to join,
However, it's lucky for those who do choose to use the gym that not everyone who can takes advantage of it. If every student at Mercer, an estimated 8,928 used the gym, it would lose its appeal as an uncrowded, relaxed environment. This is without factoring in any number of the 365,449 county residents that also have access to the gym.
It goes without saying that much of the appeal of the gym would vanish if everyone who could use it, did. So while it may seem as if the gym is never the hottest spot on campus, according to , Blake Marshall, a Mercer alum works out at the gym about three times a week, the gym is "not too busy, you never have to wait for a machine," and that may be the most convenient aspect of the gym out of all of them.
If this is the attitude some students adopt, it is still easy to wonder why more students don't take advantage of the cheap membership Mercer has to offer. Perhaps it is because many students aren't aware that the gym is accessible to them for such a low fee. Out of the 15 afore-mentioned surveyed students, only five said they knew about the cheap fee for the Mercer gym and still chose to go elsewhere.
Perhaps Mercer isn't doing enough to encourage students to use their facilities. Mike DeAngelis, the fitness coordinator said that its "silly to go elsewhere" considering the cheap price of membership, yet he also says that "membership could be higher."
Ultimately, he has plans to advertise the availability of the gym in the future, and hopes to encourage more members of the outside community to join,
However, it's lucky for those who do choose to use the gym that not everyone who can takes advantage of it. If every student at Mercer, an estimated 8,928 used the gym, it would lose its appeal as an uncrowded, relaxed environment. This is without factoring in any number of the 365,449 county residents that also have access to the gym.
It goes without saying that much of the appeal of the gym would vanish if everyone who could use it, did. So while it may seem as if the gym is never the hottest spot on campus, according to , Blake Marshall, a Mercer alum works out at the gym about three times a week, the gym is "not too busy, you never have to wait for a machine," and that may be the most convenient aspect of the gym out of all of them.
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