By Brandon Davis
A common dilemma many students face when beginning their college careers out of high school is figuring out how to stay in shape while adjusting to a new schedule.
The Student Activities Center’s fitness center offers a variety of different activities to help keep students in shape, including an accessible weight room stocked with treadmills, free and machine weight systems and other cardiovascular equipment.
“In the Louisville Metropolitan area, this [SAC] is one of the best facilities around,” Ken Carey, gym employee, said. “The vast array of equipment and stuff that this facility has here along with the facilities at the Crawford and Humana, it can’t be beat.”
The SAC is open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and is free with an active student ID.
The SAC fitness center also provides five racquetball courts, two squash courts and complete locker room facilities along with four multi-purpose gym floors which are used for basketball, volleyball and badminton.
“It offers pretty much everything you want,” Greg Welsh, junior nursing major, said. “They have a gym, basketball courts, racquetball and they’re always open when you need them to be so it’s pretty convenient.”
For those looking to keep themselves occupied in some competitive form or just looking for a way to blow off some steam without all the sweat, the Cardinal Corner might be the answer. Also located in the SAC, the Cardinal Corner provides an assortment of free games for students to compete in, including pool, ping-pong, air hockey and foosball.
The Ralph Wright Natatorium, located on the corner of Warnock Ave. and Floyd St., is one for the newest facilities on campus and allows students a chance to swim in an Olympic-size pool. The Natatorium is also home to the U of L’s men’s and women’s swim teams and is complete with an eight-lane, 50 meter competition pool with depth ranging from four feet, six inches to 18 feet.
“It’s really a great facility,” Matt Blanford, graduate student and lifeguard, said. “It’s brand new and I think students are surprised when they find out that it’s even here and they’re allowed to use it for free.”
The Natatorium is open from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and is also open at various times on weekends.
The Humana Gym is another facility available for students looking to work out. Located on Bradley Ave. and Eastern Pkwy., the Humana Gym offers complete weight and cardiovascular rooms, dry heat saunas and gym floors are available when not used for club practices. Free for students, the Humana Gym is open from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
U of L also offers a variety of different sports clubs and intramural league sports which provide students looking for a more structured plan to help maintain a healthy lifestyle, a solid solution while satisfying their competitive juices.
With clubs like badminton, fencing, gymnastics and many others, students are given the opportunity to compete while receiving a chance to learn a new sport or continuing to play a familiar one. There are also many different intramural league sports students can play including football, basketball, and soccer.
The University of Louisville's Board of Trustees made their way through a busy meeting on Thursday, Nov. 13, with issues of Robert Felner, the mandatory meal plan controversy and possible budget cuts from the state weighing heavily on everyone's minds.
As Barack Obama took the stage in Chicago's Grant Park on Tuesday, Nov. 4, having just secured enough votes to be declared president, many citizens, both white and black, took to rejoicing in the streets or sat with their eyes glued to the television, anticipating Obama's first address in his new position of leadership. For many, it was a time to rejoice. For others, it was a moment to reflect on just how much America had changed.
Many in the University of Louisville community were no exception.
"I am inspired by [Obama's] great example," sophomore communication major Jaison Gardner said. "The tide is shifting in the right direction. He is definitely a black person to look up to."
Victoria Wright and Drew Park spent the last few minutes finishing up their biology test on the floor near the classroom's entrance due to a brief power outage at the University of Louisville today.
With the campus clock tower gleaming in the clear, moonlit sky, University of Louisville senior Andrea Tucker steps onto the outdoor dance floor, overwhelmed by a large tent filled with cheap decorations and tone-deaf musicians, and struggles to balance herself.
A recent order by the Federal Transit Administration has put the University of Louisville shuttle service in danger.
The service, which is provided by Transit Authority of River City, is said to qualify as a charter service under FTA regulations established in April and must cease operation so that private transportation providers can bid on it.
For University of Louisville students like Levon Thomason, the rising cost of college and various built-in costs have required many cost cutting methods.
Thomason, a freshman undecided major, said he is thankful for his KHEAA Cap grant, but hopes it will cover additional fees in the future, such as the meal plan. Thomason is also trying to sidestep the cost of commuting, using his U of L ID to ride TARC for free while trying to save up for a car.
University of Louisville students are not the first to become frustrated about a mandatory meal plan offered through Sodexo.
Other schools in North America that have implemented the new mandatory meal plans have experienced similar responses from their students.
The University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, Arizona State University, and Texas Christian University, among others, all have mandatory meal plans for freshmen.
For University of Louisville Professor Dewey Clayton, Barack Obama's victory in the Nov. 4 election was not only a historic moment in American history, but a moment of personal catharsis.
"It was only 43 years ago that African Americans could not vote," Clayton said. "Now we have elected the first African American President of the United States."
The Club Programming Committee had a successful first year at the University of Louisville.
The committee, formed last year through collaboration between the Student Government Association and Student Affairs, allocates money to Recognized Student Organizations to host events.
It saw an increase in funding from roughly $30,000 in the spring semester to $41,485 for the fall.
After weeks of heated debate, concern from University of Louisville students over the new mandatory meal plan requirement is not dying down.
After the Student Government Association Senate meeting on October 21, another meeting was held for students to address their concerns with the meal plan.
Demetrius Gray, president of the Association of Black Students and a junior finance major, said that this meeting was productive, but was not satisfied with how visiting students were treated by the senate when discussing the meal plan.
