By
Ayse Guner
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Facility helps attract, keep students at UA, officials say
Once only a wish, the UA Student Recreation Center now serves the entire university community and employs more than 500 people.
University of Arizona officials complimented the impact the center has made since it began during a 10-year anniversary reception yesterday.
Many parents when evaluating the UA for their children are impressed by the recreation center, said Saundra Taylor, vice president for campus life.
In 1983, there was no place for students to spend their free time which led student leaders to develop a plan for a recreation center.
Doug Woodard, vice president for student offices in 1983, and Mike Proctor, former Associated Students president, realized the need for a student recreation center and developed a key plan, said Brian Carswell, associate director of campus recreation.
After Woodard and Proctor developed the plan for the center, student leaders spread the word and did all the work to ensure the student requirements would pass, Carswell added.
"The student recreation center is one of the examples that students can create something," said Ben Graff, Associated Students president. "Students wanted, fought for and received."
In August 1990, the student recreation center was officially opened to students and the faculty.
"It looks as good today as the day we opened the doors," Carswell said.
From aerobics to yoga, underwater diving to swimming, the center provides both outdoor and indoor activities.
Taylor said she sees this as an opportunity for students to keep up with their academic life.
"If students are able to find a place (to become healthier), students are more likely to stay in school and graduate," Taylor said.
Every student pays a $25 fee to enter the recreation center each semester.
Juliette Moore, director of the campus recreation, said students misunderstand this fee by thinking it is a fee that goes to the recreation center itself.
Instead, the fee is used to pay back the bond taken out to build the facility, which must be fully paid off by 2011.
About 70 percent of the annual budget goes to student salaries and the remaining budget is divided between the maintenance and equipment reserve.
Moore said student input will play a key role in the center over the next few years.
"Students need to tell us what direction they want us to take for the future," she said.
During the reception, awards were given to honor the planners and the supporters of the center.
Lisa Geisler, a finance senior, said the ceremony was put together well.
"All the people that were here today represented the hard work that went into making this facility what it is."
