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The Rice Thresher
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by Meghan Miller Thresher staff Mandatory Autry Court uniforms are finally gone. After nearly six months of discussion, uniforms in the recreation center, which encompasses Autry Court and other athletic facilities, will no longer be required beginning Monday, the Office of Student Affairs announced this week. A series of other administrative changes in the recreation center will also be implemented. People using the weight room and gym facilities will be required to check in at the desk and wear either a light blue uniform shirt or a shoe tag. Uniforms will still be available for those who want them. Right now, check-in will involve signing a sheet of paper at the equipment room desk, but people will soon have to swipe a Rice ID card or a recreation center membership card to use the facilities. The sign-in sheet will monitor the numbers of people coming through the center. "Hopefully, students will appreciate the fact that they don't have to use the facility uniforms anymore so they won't mind taking a few seconds to write their names down," Student and Recreation Centers Director Boyd Beckwith said. Beckwith was placed in charge of the recreation center earlier this semester. "I like to run and lift weights after [running]," said Tiffany Bludau, a member of the Student Association Uniform Policy Committee and a Sid Richardson College sophomore. "It discouraged me when I'm already working out and then I have to go change to work out [at the gym]. It'll be nice, you can come in from a run and then lift weights or whatever." The UPC, headed by Beckwith, examined Autry Court's identification and safety policy when discussing uniform alternatives. To identify people who should not be using the facilities, staff members will make rounds and record activity levels in the recreation center every 30 minutes. The committee hopes this will allow closer monitoring of the facility than uniforms alone. Other administrative changes will accompany the uniform change. There will be job openings for students in the recreation center. Positions for lifeguards and equipment room attendants are available immediately, and the center will need weight room attendants and facility managers as soon as the program is fully in place, Beckwith said. Facility manager duties will be similar to those of Student Center managers, including opening and closing the center, answering questions and assisting patrons. Architecture students will design signs to direct people to the facility. The signs will be put in place outside the recreation center, visible from the Inner Loop and inside the facility, by the fall. "I'm hiring student architecture majors to design those, and none of them have any time until after school is out," Beckwith said. He also said that he is working with Orientation Week Student Director Shannon Scott, and next year the recreation center will be open during O-Week for the first time. "Incoming new students will have a chance to tour the facility," Beckwith said. "I'm working with Shannon and the other advisers to arrange activities and maybe a pool party or something." He is also trying to establish an aerobic fitness room by the fall. Plans are in progress to eliminate either a racquetball or squash court to create space for the treadmills and bicycles that are currently in the weight room. The new room will have more equipment than is currently available as well as televisions. Beckwith is accepting suggestions from students for additions to weight training and aerobic equipment. Eventually, an advisory council will examine recreation center policy to make improvements. The council, which has not been formed yet, will meet four times a year, Beckwith said.
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