By Adam R. Pearlman
Since its conceptual beginnings in 1978 and later its opening in
1983, the John R. Wooden Recreation and Sports Center has
continually given UCLA students access to top quality recreational
facilities and programs. While serving as a model to other
university recreational facilities throughout the U.S., the sad
fact is that the Wooden Center can no longer fulfill the demands of
its users.
At 96,000 square feet, it has become difficult over the years to
cater to the sheer volume of users. For example, our weight room is
painstakingly small, and the center must house its stationary bikes
in hallways and hold cycling classes on a racquetball court. Also,
with the introduction of a Tae Bo class last year, the center was
again jammed because of incredible student turnout. Simply put,
there’s not enough room, and, at present, funds don’t
exist to expand.
This situation will change, however, with the passage of the
SPARC (Student Programs, Activities and Resource Complex)
referendum on the ballot this week. The referendum calls for a
student fee of $28 per quarter to be added beginning in the fall of
2004, when the renovations and enhancements to both the Wooden
Center and the Men’s Gym are scheduled for completion. The
timing of the fee initiation is such that students will only be
paying an additional $13.50 per quarter more then we are now (the
seismic renovation fee expires in 2002).
The fee serves to promote two agendas. First, students will be
supplied with additional and enhanced recreational space in the
Wooden Center. There are plans for extra hardwood and multi-purpose
space for fitness, recreation and student group use for meetings
and other events. The weight room will also be expanded to
approximately three times its current size, which may allow space
for special group use, as in weightlifting-oriented fitness
classes. There are also provisions to build men’s and
women’s locker rooms in the north wing of the Wooden Center.
In addition, space is provided for growth of the Outdoor Adventures
program, which organizes and promotes off-campus high adventure
activities.
The second chief result of the SPARC fee is to benefit the
centralization of student services on campus. Through SPARC,
Student Psychological Services will receive 8,800 square feet of
office space on the west wing of Wooden and thus relieve the
injustice of placing the office in separated, sometimes obscure
parts of campus.
There are also provisions for fully renovating space in
Men’s Gym that is not currently usable, thereby providing
housing for many student group offices that are currently spread
out around campus. The student-majority committee that has
allocated this space has made sure that it includes
“something for everyone.”
Some of the groups scheduled to be housed in the gym, whose name
will be changed to the Student Activities Center, include the
Student Initiated Outreach Program, Student Retention Committee,
Fraternity and Sorority Relations, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Resource Center and several others.
The Wooden Center Board of Governors, the student majority
committee charged with operational oversight of the center, has a
great interest in the design and use of recreational facilities at
UCLA. At our April 27 meeting, we voted to fully endorse and
promote the passage of the SPARC referendum. We believe that the
proposed funding will greatly enhance student recreation facilities
and programs at UCLA and acknowledge its value.
If you have talked to your friends at other colleges and
universities, you know that they are paying a great deal more than
we do to enjoy recreation facilities on their campuses.
The students of UCLA are only scheduled to pay 56 percent of the
total cost of the project. The remainder of the money is coming
from the federal government and the university, as well as a little
from the state of California. Keep in mind that the cost to
students may be less if the university finds a private donor who
wants his or her name on the Student Activities Center.
Above all, the Wooden Center Board of Governors encourages all
UCLA students to vote in the campus elections on May 10 and 11. As
a body concerned with the quality of recreation at UCLA, we believe
that SPARC will allow the UCLA Recreation department to remain on
the cutting edge of recreation trends and thus continue to bring
UCLA students the best equipment and programs available.
Please consider that the temporary fee addition brought about by
the initiative is a worthwhile investment for making UCLA a better
school to attend.