Following Thursday's announcement by the University Board of Trustees that next year's total student charges will include a mandatory recreation fee to be paid in lieu of a gym membership fee, some students are expressing dismay at the new charges.
Currently, students who want access to the Katz Fitness Center in Gimbel Gymnasium pay $75 for an annual membership, but under the new system, $200 will be tacked onto the bills of all undergraduates, whether or not they are interested in joining the gym.
Starting with the introduction of this fee in the fall, all students will have access to the brand-new Pottruck Health and Fitness Center. However, instructional programming, such as aerobics classes, will cost extra.
Some students at Gimbel Gym yesterday expressed outrage at the new fees.
"I think it's scandalous," Wharton sophomore Giulio Rocca said. "We're already paying so much."
Others were even sharper in their criticism, maintaining that Penn should charge nothing for gym access.
"I think they shouldn't charge us anything for the gym," Nursing senior Katie Foster said. "I think it's a joke that we have to pay to use our own school's gym."
Construction on the $23 million facility began last April, but at the time, the University was still $11 million short in its fundraising effort for the gym. In April 1999, University Trustee and College alumni David Pottruck gave the $10 million naming donation for the building.
The new facility is scheduled to open in September 2002.
However, University President Judith Rodin said the new recreation fee will not go toward paying for the gym's construction, but rather maintaining its facilities.
"What we looked for was a number that was the lowest to maintain a facility that would provide what the students wanted," Rodin said.
University officials are also stressing that, although students will have to pay more for the gym, they will get more for their money as well. Pottruck will consist of 65,000 square feet of brand-new space and 80,000 square feet of renovated space and will include new exercise equipment and fitness offerings.
Athletic Department spokeswoman Carla Shultzberg said that the fee is justifiable since Penn is currently "building the newest [fitness center] in the Ivy League."
Furthermore, Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said yesterday in a prepared statement conveyed by Shultzberg that the fee represents the smallest amount of money the University could possibly charge students in order to keep the new facilities in top shape.
"The $200 fee for undergraduates was enacted as the lowest fee possible to ensure a quality facility with proper staffing and state-of-the-art equipment while allowing for proper maintenance... of equipment over time," Bilsky said.
Bilsky and Vice President for Budget and Management Analysis Michael Masch both emphasized that the decision to institute these new charges came after the University brought in a consulting group to determine how students would react to the increase.
The company convened focus groups and conducted e-mail surveys of thousands of students back in 1997.
The research revealed a "strong desire on the part of students for expanded campus recreational and personal fitness facilities," Masch said, and most students indicated that they would be willing to pay between $300 and $400 per year for such amenities.
University administrators have also met with student leaders, whom Bilsky said reacted very positively to the idea of the new fee. Penn's Committee on Recreation Intercollegiate Athletics also supported the proposal.
And Undergraduate Assembly Chairwoman Dana Hork said Provost Robert Barchi approached the UA Executive Committee with two options, both of which would cost students significantly more money to use the new facility.
"The provost presented us with the option -- would you rather have a $200 fee spread out or charge a higher fee for gym membership," Hork said.
Masch compared the $200 pricetag to the general fee included in student charges, which goes to fund many kinds of groups and services, like performing arts groups and Counseling and Psychological Services. Some students will participate in the groups which receive money from the general fee and others will not, but everyone must pay.
"In that sense, it's going to be much more like the other things that students fund out of the general fee that they pay," Masch said.
Masch said he anticipates that more students will use the University's fitness facilities when they do not have to pay a separate fee to do so.
Masch sees this as a good thing, but College junior Jonathan Nguyen disagreed, expressing frustration that all students, whether or not they want to use the gym, will have to pay the $200.
"Everyone ends up paying more," Nguyen said. "Only people who are serious about it should be paying."
College freshman Neha Sachdev said the new fee will likely encourage students to go to the gym, but "it's not fair... for those people who don't have any time or interest."
Masch said no students or parents have complained directly to him yet, though bills for the fall semester do not go out until May.
And at least one student at Gimbel yesterday praised the new measure for its convenience and because it will go towards supporting better facilities.
"If the facilities are nicer, it'll make a big difference," College freshman James Freeman said. It will also be "less of a hassle" than standing in line and paying out of pocket for a gym membership.
