
DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706200091

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH BLUEMINK, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  100 lines

FITNESS PROGRAMS ARE WELCOME IN COLLEGE SCHEDULE

IT'S A SUNNY Saturday afternoon at the University of Virginia, and the school's new 100,000-square-foot aquatic fitness center is packed.

Twenty-year-old Mary Rose Emig just finished several minutes of floor exercise on the third floor. Now she is leisurely making her way over to the free weights.

One floor below, Gerard Alexander, a 31-year-old government instructor, grunts and straightens his arms as he releases a pair of 30-pound barbells.

And 20-year-old junior Patricia Harley bounds toward the building's exit, her adrenaline pumping and ponytail bobbing after a two-hour aerobics workout.

The activity isn't restricted to indoors. Outside, at least 50 joggers are stomping down the sidewalks of U.Va.'s Central Grounds and residential areas.

``Exercise is a really big thing here,'' Emig said.

At U.Va. and nationwide, college officials are taking notice. They're adding classes and personal fitness programs that cater to a wide variety of students and faculty. And college gyms, once meeting grounds for male muscle-builders and competitive intramural sports teams, now are alive with aerobics classes and instructional recreation programs that attract a diverse population.

``Just a couple years ago, I would see virtually all of the women on the aerobics side of the gym, and once in a while, a lone woman would venture over to the free weights section,'' said Robert Canevari, dean of students at U.Va. ``Now when you walk in, you don't just see men anymore.''

You don't see as many intramural teams, either. Instead, personal fitness classes abound, and students are driving the change. At schools with aging recreational centers, students have pushed for updates and improvements. Some have even helped pay for new buildings, said Will Holsberry, executive director of the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA).

``Texas A&M opened a $40 million rec center, and students voted to assess themselves to pay for this,'' Holsberry said. ``They know that if they went out and joined a regular club, they would be paying more.''

At Old Dominion University, there is no tab for many of the personal fitness classes, said Sherri Crosson, director of recreational sports. The school has seen a significant increase in fitness and wellness classes since 1990.

``Students are getting out of more competitive sports and into lifetime wellness,'' Crosson said.

To keep up with the demand, ODU steadily has added aerobics classes. Instead of the two classes a day that were offered in the mid-1980s, students now can choose from six to 10 classes offered daily at the university. They can also choose a variety of aerobic workouts, including step, slide and water aerobics.

Additionally, ODU has augmented its personal fitness options so that students can select from four program areas, including nutritional training, fitness for the disabled, aerobics and ``Partners and Play,'' an innovative program that matches students needing exercise buddies.

With the construction of the $18.5 million Aquatic Fitness Center in June 1996, recreation facility usage at U.Va. jumped about 50 percent to a record 800,000 visits. The spacious sunlit center is replete with an Olympic-size pool, whirlpool, snack bar, gift shop, instructional classrooms and two floors of exercise equipment. It was designed to attract a larger, more diverse crowd.

The strategy seems to be working. Exercisers often have to wait in line for popular equipment such as treadmills.

``It's really crowded all of the time, but this place is great,'' said Harley, a former field hockey player. She said she uses the center to help her stay in shape. ``Plus, I feel so great after I work out. I have so much energy,'' she added.

Although personal fitness achieved mainstream popularity about 10 years ago, colleges and universities have been slow to catch up with the trend. It's not that college officials didn't notice; it just takes time to get things done at the university level.

At U.Va., for example, plans for new tennis courts, a ropes course and construction and renovation of four recreation facilities were laid out in the late 1980s, but completion of those projects came only within the past two years.

Meanwhile, student involvement in personal fitness programs and the number of classes offered has increased. Mark Fletcher, director of U.Va.'s intramural recreational sports program, attributed the rise to students' attitudes about careers and personal health.

``It's the whole dress-for-success mentality,'' he said. ``We have lots of people going into competitive careers who recognize the connection between physical and mental health.''

Social pressures play an important role, too. Masloff and Emig said exercise is a ``very big thing'' at college.

``Exercise became important to me really for the first time living in the dorms. I would always go to the gym with my friends,'' said Masloff, who makes time each week to exercise with other nursing students.

Alexander said, ``Exercising is a good reminder that there is more to us than our minds. We are also physical beings, and it's a wonderful thing to develop this part of our bodies too.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEPHANIE GROSS

[Color photo]

Rachel Burnette, a third-year student from Morgantown. W.Va., works

out with weights at the University of Virginia fitness center.

STEPHANIE GROSS

[Photo] At the University of Virginia fitness center, Joanne Bowen,

a third-year student from McLean, works out on a treadmill while

Mike McMaken, a first-year student from Richmond, uses a rowing

machine.