To the Editor:
I am writing to express a persistent complaint with the maintenance in the Mueller Center. In any facility filled with athletic equipment, safety should be a high priority. I feel that safety may be threatened.
The most recent problem, which prompted me to write this letter, has to do with the "FocusMaster" martial arts apparatus on the ground floor. As I was working out, my friend threw the barest tap at it and it literally fell off the wall. Had he or anyone thrown a real strike at one of the side pads, this large piece of metal would have spun around and struck him square in the head.
Downstairs in the free weights room, more things are left in poor shape. Pads on the decline presses and abs incline are just short of falling off. Pads on the squat machines are pinched through to the metal bar, and if you can put up with that, they squeal their need for lubrication all through the exercise.
Months ago, my friend and I personally brought a bent clip on the downstairs lat pulldown to the attention of the staff, and it still has not been fixed. We have put in "comment cards" about this and the need for simple grease and replacement pads; none of it gets done.
Any of these things should be picked up by a rudimentary inspection. Nor do they seem like particularly expensive or time-consuming fixes.
Now, I enjoy working out in the Mueller Center, and I know I’m not alone. Overall, it is an excellent facility: Poor maintenance is precisely the way to ruin that.
Eric Caraszi
CSCI ’02
