Letter to the Editor
April 28, 2006
To The Pleiad editors:
Ed Patton’s article, "Gendered space in weight room" (April 14, 2006) highlighted a very key point, but not the one that the article was portraying. Female students on campus have been asking for more weight machines to be put in the weight room, but the issue isn’t that there aren’t enough weights but instead that the women are afraid of using the free weights.
This situation should not be remedied by purchasing more equipment, but instead there should be instructional sessions on how to use the vast array of free weights. Knowledge of how to use the weights without hurting yourself would remove many of the fears that are so obviously present.
The issue of women feeling uneasy because of the intense atmosphere is something that cannot be changed unless we have gender-segregated weight rooms. Having 20-year-old male athletes working out in a weight room is always going to cause the atmosphere to be a little bit tense. As far as the music goes, I don’t really like it either but if you really dislike it enough, the staff member at the computer will most likely change it if you ask them.
Zach Dalton
Crystal Falls sophomore
