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 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee is presenting their Second Annual Alternative Spring Break in New Orleans, LA. The application deadline is Feb. 11, a one to two page typed essay and a $97 deposit are due with the application. The cost is $193. For more information call 502-852-6656 or email [email protected].
National Public Radio host Farai Chideya to speak at the Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, on Belknap Campus Tues., Jan. 27 at 1:30 p.m. It's free and sponsored by The College of Arts and Sciences Diversity and Community Outreach Department. Chideya will speak about "The Color of Our Future: Race and the Media" and sign her book "The Color of Our Future." Chideya has worked as an ABC News correspondent, an anchor on Oxygen's "Pure Oxygen", and has contributed to CNN, Fox, MSNBC and BET.
USA today and The New York Times are available to University of Louisville students. They can be picked up at both the Belknap and Health Sciences campuses. They are available Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
"To say that we are on the brink of a historic occasion by now is cliché. Nevertheless, cliché though it may become, the election of an African-American as president is a stunning fact, with all matters of implications, even globally," said Milton Metz, retired radio personality.
Metz moderated the event, "On the Eve of a Historic Inauguration: Covering Race and Politics in 2009," which was held at the Chao Auditorium Thurs., Jan. 15.
The panel included Al Cross, University of Kentucky communications professor; Betty Bayé, columnist for The Courier-Journal; and Ricky L. Jones, University of Louisville Pan-African Studies associate professor.
With a bumper sticker on his wheelchair that reads "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" Michael Utter grimaces as he hears the intricate details of a partial-birth abortion.
The details, discussed by Michael Janocik of Kentucky Right to Life Association, were part of a panel discussion called "Abortion: Constitutional Right or Moral Wrong" held on Thursday, Jan. 15 at the Red Barn. Along with Janocik, Dr. Paul Simmons of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, discussed the issue of abortion during a two-hour event in front of about 150 people.
After being eliminated from "Bromance", University of Louisville student Chris Purcell strapped on a neon orange lifejacket and paddled his way in a raft across the ocean.
"Bromance" is a show that involves Brody Jenner trying to find a new friend, after he was no longer best friends with Spencer Pratt from "The Hills."
"A Bromance is a bond between you and your go to guy," Jenner explained on the show's first episode, which aired Dec. 29.
About a dozen of the University of Louisville College Democrats will be heading to Washington, D.C. to join in the celebration they worked to make happen, according to Joanna Erny, president of the chapter.
"We are so excited," said Erny, a junior political science major. "I get chills when I think about it."
Erny and her cohorts, several of which are McConnell Scholars, will be loading into two vehicles for the 12 hour drive to be witness to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.
"We face a very challenging time," University of Louisville President James Ramsey said in an e-mail to his colleagues. This e-mail was sent in regards to planning for a potential budget cut for the next fiscal year.
"The state revenues have been falling in recent years, to where the revenue projections are less than what the actual revenue is taking in. Therefore, higher education as a system has been requested to make budget reductions," Vice President of Finance Michael Curtin said.
Since 2002, there have been over $100 million in budget reductions at U of L.
"We've handled that in many different ways," Curtin said. "In some cases, we have made expenditure reductions in the various colleges and schools. In other cases, we have used over-realized revenue to replace the state dollars. In some cases, tuition was increased to offset the state reductions."
It was good news for commuter students and faculty of the University of Louisville when on Monday the Federal Transit Authority decided that the Transit Authority of River city (TARC) may continue to operate its shuttle service for U of L.
Miller Transportation had challenged the shuttle service, TARC Route 94, the "Cardinal Shuttle," claiming it constituted a "charter service." This action would require U of L to open it to private transportation services.
Last year, U of L athletics embedded many memorable moments into the minds of several Cardinal fans. Who could forget when then freshman Stewart Lijames hit a two-run double to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning of the Big East Championship game to seal the win over Cincinnati? Although that's a great moment, it just missed our top 10.
