Should we really be paying for the gym?

[AndyL]

Should we be paying the fees we are at a top ranking university such as St Andrews, that provides us with extremely poor gym facilities and no swimming pool?

Is it acceptable to be queueing for a chance to go in to a small out of date and an under-equipped facility?

At many universities the student pays a nominal fee for state of the art equipment (see Bath Uni) full of treadmills, other fitness equipment and a swimming pool.

Perhaps all gym fees should be waived until some serious improvements are made.

Unless you like sitting and waiting for the workout you have psyched yourself up for to then impact on your study time!!!

[Power Metal Dom]

There is a swimming pool even if it's not a university pool. But at £3.10 per hour I stopped going

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Like flames on fuel...upon metal I drool

[Haunted]

Yeah this always bothered me.
Eventually I just bought or otherwise aquired my own equipment. Cheaper in the long run.

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Now with 100% more corn

[Icarus]

The facilities available at the gym are frankly woeful, especially in comparison to many other universities. There isn't nearly enough space or equipment to meet the demand placed upon it. God help you if you want to work out between 5 and 7pm and have access to the machines or weights you actually want to use, and often some of the rooms are either a.) so cold you can almost see your breath, or b.) so stifflingly warm and oppressive that an intensive workout is ten times harder than it should be.

That being said isn't the Sports Centre going to be developed in the future? I certainly remember last year there being plans on display on one of the notice boards outlining a phased development over the next few years, although I think they were stretched over such a long period of time that the only people who'll actually get to enjoy decent facilities are the class of 2020.

[fluffy]

isn't the swimming pool out of action for refurbishment?

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dev ksereis, alla eimai trella erotebmevei mazi sou..

[schmod]

Answer: Yes.
Can we do anything about it? Probably not.

[Mr Comedy]

The gym is fantastic value - isn't it a £1 a go if you buy say 20 visits at once? My gym in London is £86 a month, so I think you've got a pretty good deal.

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"I am in no way interested in immortality, but only in the taste of tea. " -Lu Tung

[DrAlex]

Quoting AndyL from 18:42, 19th Feb 2008
Perhaps all gym fees should be waived until some serious improvements are made.

Exactly how is limiting revenue going to improve facilities?

[hr]

The Sinner: Where no one ever learned "if you haven't got any thing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

[sqril]

Quoting Power_Metal_Dom from 18:48, 19th Feb 2008
There is a swimming pool even if it's not a university pool. But at £3.10 per hour I stopped going

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If you get a fifestyle card(for £5/year) you can then get in half price, very quickly worth it if you go often. Also if you buy like a 10 session tickit you get the 1/2 price discount and a firther discount for buying the 10 at once.

All of which i realise is no use whilst the pool is closed..

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...but mountains are holy places, and beauty is free...

[ascii]

Quoting AndyL from 18:42, 19th Feb 2008
At many universities the student pays a nominal fee for state of the art equipment (see Bath Uni) full of treadmills, other fitness equipment and a swimming pool.

When I was at Bath last year, gym membership was the best part of £200 a year for students. Hardly a nominal fee. The 50m swimming pool was free though.

[Mehmsy]

If you're worried about the money... jogging is free.

On the other hand, the university spends most of the money we pay it to hire and keep world-class lecturers. Frankly I'd rather have that than a treadmill that displays the time in Tokyo while I run backwards on my hands.

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http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37106593

[Euro]

People go to the gym for treadmills? Always thought that was pointless. They should scrap those and make the weights room bigger.

[munchingfoo]

To be honest, I think it depends on the year you started Uni. When I applied, back in the year 2001 A.D. one of the selling points in the prospectus was a well stocked gym/sport centre with no membership fee. To suddenly have membership fees thurst onto me made we quite angry. Out of protest I stopped using the facilities, but all that achieved was negative effects on myself (for what was only £25 at the time)

However, I feel that charging a fee is quite reasonable, and if you started after this came into place you can't really grumble.

However However, my girlfriend who likes to read the shit I type over my shoulder, and often comments on how wrong I am, has a different view. She thinks that in an age when the government is trying to get everybody fit, it should be their responsibilty to enure that facilities have enough funding. I think thats what she said anyway, I wasn't really listening.

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[s]Warning : The sinner is a plateau, with moral high ground manifesting itself as an optical illusion in the the bearers mind.[/s]

[minira]

The facilities are truly shocking: the number and age of the cardio and weight machines alone is more suited for a small motel than a good-sized university with an active student body. Before I came here, I was at a uni of similar size with a (by comparison) amazing gym: the workout space and number of machines was about 10x that here, there was a good (if crowded) pool and diving area, several courts, and one fee covered you for the whole year. None of this 'pay per visit' nonsense.

Admittedly the construction was covered by fundraising, but the upkeep and staff salaries were covered by student and local membership fees AND by running degrees in sports therapy, etc. that also used the facilities. Surely if so many other universities are able to build and maintain such facilities, it isn't beyond the capabilities of our institution.

[Guest]

I think the whole argument about the university paying all its money from fees to its lecturers is quite simply nonsense. The university coffers are clearly overflowing with cash, particularly at a time when they are selling buildings for 25 million, their estate value is mushrooming in value and they have gained a reputation amongst the fat and wealthy that it is the fashionable university to go to.

Having been to Edinburgh and Glasgow university myself in the past with facilities that are free for all after a nominal fee I think its a disgrace that we have to pay every time for such second-class facilities. I think its all about priorities and students at a university like this should be put first every time.

I am not sure what its like down south but in Scotland we usually pride ourselves on providing free sports facilities for all students so that they they are not costed out of remaining healthy. I think its time the university woke up to the people here who actually cant even afford to pay the 1.10 every time.

[Anonymous]

Try living in London. Every time you go to the gym... 2.50. Want to use a pool? 6.00.

Enjoy the cheap life while it lasts.

[nutzdiemachtluke]

is this london? No, it's Scotland. Ergo we should be following the Scottish mentality of 'our population lives off deep fried food, quick get them free access to fitness'

and i agree, for what you actually get in the sports centre, it's ludicrously overpriced. £50 a year at Edinburgh Uni gets you free access to all the facilities after that, which works out much cheaper, even if you only go once or twice a week.

[SCguy]

1) YES the sports centre has put in plans for development, BIG plans, but obviously this takes time and money.
2)if you buy a multi-pass of either 10,20,40 or 80 the cost can be dramatically reduced, which if you use the gym half as much as you should do.. is greatly beneficial.
3)If you really care that much, why don't you put the complaints in writing to the director of sport or hand it into the DSE and i'm sure they'd be happy to forward your concerns- as it would add together in favour of the redevelopment.

[777]

To pursue the point about finance. St A is a very small Uni, the fees are approx half that of English Unis, (and don't forget that a high percentage of St A students pay no fees) therefore Bath, with its larger roll and increased ready cash can afford to splash out. St Andrews has yet to catch up with the 1950s and 60s let alone provide a state of the art gym facility. TBH - I find that walking everywhere and using one's own body weight for resistance training is more than adequate for fitness. bloody shame about the pool though.

[Euro]

Just walk through the exit barrier if you don't wanna pay, half the time theres noone at the desk, especially early in the day.