The Hansel E. Tookes Recreation Center, once available 6 days a week and with late hours, is now open only Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. The hours have changed because the center has yet to receive money to pay student’s working under Other Persons Services.
Associate director of campus recreation, Gei-Nam Lim, said that students OPS funding comes from the university.
“We’re an auxiliary program, and normally what happens is that when you pay your fees, the money has to be collected,” said Lim. “So our fees are collected, then money is given to us. So normally it’s about two weeks late.”
He adds that this problem is nothing new, and has been happening since 2007.
The student employees are either working under work-study or volunteering. Some OPS students have even decided to volunteer until they can officially begin working.
Among the student employees is floor supervisor Ciera Reed, a senior who’s studying elementary education.
“It’s not so bad because I’m not left to be stuck at the gym with closing hours 9 and 9:30 till late at night, so it sets the standard,” said Reed. “At 7:00 it’s safe to be on campus or to walk to your car, versus 9:00, 9:30 or 10:00 at night. So I think it’s perfectly fine for myself.”
Aurea Powell, a first-year pre-med biology student, agrees with these new hours.
“It usually works for me because I’m out of class before then, and usually [my group’s] routine is Tuesday, Thursday and Friday,” said Powell. “We’re never here after 7:00 so it never really bothered me.”
Yet some students, like Brandon Drake, a senior business student, find these new hours to be a huge inconvenience.
“I don’t like the new gym hours. I like to start my day at the gym at like 6 or 7 a.m.,” said Drake. “It’s good because it does not interrupt anything I am doing for the day.”
Lim said these hours are temporary. He added that once the funding becomes available to pay the OPS employees than there hours will change to 6:30 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, then Friday 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday the gym will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Currently, there are no group exercises scheduled. However, once the OPS students come back to work, group exercise along with the spinning programs will resume.