LETTERS: Tuesday, December 7, 1999

Empty hoops courts The UA argues that the existing basketball courts are over-crowded, so additional courts are needed to relieve the over-crowding. But in fact, Penn's existing basketball courts are nearly deserted. The three courts at Hutchinson Gym average 2-3 players each hour from early morning until 5 p.m. During the peak hours of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. the average number of players is in the range of 10 to 20 players. And last Wednesday night, not a single player used the courts between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Since Hutchinson has three basketball courts, these usage numbers suggest the basketball courts are extremely under-used, and thus the UA argument fails. Secondly, the period of peak usage occurs in the winter when the weather is too cold for outdoor basketball play. The usage numbers above refer to the year's period of highest usage -- late November and early December. During the rest of the year there are far fewer players on the courts. Given the weather, the outdoor courts would only be available for use during two or three months of the year, and these availability periods do not correspond to the peak usage period. Third, consider that almost all of the court usage occurs at night, when an unstaffed and unsecure outdoor court at the edge of campus would be most dangerous. And the UA estimates the price of new outdoor courts at $100,000 ("UA pushes plan for courts on U. garage," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 11/2/99). Wouldn't $100,000 be put to better use in the weight or cardio rooms, where there really is over-crowding? Ryan Little College '01