why college is so expensive-Lazy Rivers

[tres3]

www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/fashion/college-recreation-now-includes-pool-parties-and-river-rides.html


Making a Splash on Campus
College Recreation Now Includes Pool Parties and River Rides
By COURTNEY RUBINSEPT. 19, 2014
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Students watching “Jaws” at a “dive-in movie” at Missouri State’s aquatic center in Springfield. Credit Dan Gill for The New York Times
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When Louisiana State University surveyed students in 2009 to find out what they most wanted in their new recreation complex, one feature beat out even massage therapy: a lazy river.

But with dozens of schools (including some of its Southeastern Conference rivals) building the water rides, the university had to do one better: When its lazy river is finished in 2016, it will spell out the letters “LSU” in the school’s signature Geaux font.

“The students involved in the planning process wanted something cooler than what anyone else had,” said Laurie Braden, the school’s director of recreation. “University relations said it was O.K. as long as it followed the font appropriately and didn’t take it out of scale.”

In the university recreation center arms race — with 92 schools reporting over $1.7 billion in capital projects, according to a 2013 study from the Nirsa: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation (formerly known as the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association) — the latest thing is to turn a piece of campus into something approaching a water theme park.

Photo

Floating on the “lazy river” at Texas Tech’s water recreation park. The $8.4 million complex includes a water slide and deck. Credit David Bowser for The New York Times
At Auburn University in Alabama, for example, students can soak in a 45-person paw-print-shaped hot tub or scale a 20-foot wet climbing wall before plunging into the pool. Designs for North Dakota State’s facility, on which construction is scheduled to begin next year, include a zip line that students can ride out over the water, a 36-foot-diameter vortex of swirling water and a recessed fireplace on an island in the middle of the pool that students can swim up to. A small “rain garden” is planned to mist lounging students.

Over at Clemson University in South Carolina, there’s talk of redeveloping a 38-acre property on Lake Hartwell, across from the current rec center. The project may include “blobs,” essentially floating mattresses placed so that students can jump from one to another. “It’s like an obstacle course, like ‘American Ninja,’ ” said David Frock, Clemson’s director of recreation, referring to the TV show “American Ninja Warrior.”

Meanwhile, a company called the Aquatic Development Group, a purveyor of pool climbing walls, has installed a $1 million wave rider at Pensacola Christian College in Fla., and is working with six other schools. So far, AquaClimb has placed 10 climbing walls at colleges, with another 35 in the works.

“Aquatics are a huge growth area,” said Jack Patton, who leads the sports-facilities group at RDG Planning and Design, an architecture firm in Des Moines. “A lot of students don’t want to swim laps, but a leisure pool is a great equalizer: I can get my toes wet, I can play, I can study or I can go full in.”

Per square foot, pools are the most expensive part of a rec center to run, so it makes sense that universities are looking for any way to lure more students to them, said Darren Bevard, a principal at Counsilman-Hunsaker, an aquatics design firm based in St. Louis that has designed the water portion of nearly every big new university project.

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The focus on pools for play comes with a shift in university rec centers from just places to sweat to more social spaces, complete with hangout areas. Sun loungers, water slides and projectors for “dive-in” movies at the pool are a part of that.

Ms. Braden, also the president of Nirsa, said today’s students are more sophisticated about health and well-being. “They come in and ask, ‘Do y’all have Zumba?’ but it’s not just about exercise anymore,” she said. “Students — I don’t know if demand is the right word — but certainly they expect that the amenities to help them have a balanced life will be in place.” To reflect the change, most collegiate rec facilities have been christened “health and wellness centers” — and students’ introduction to them is a social event.

Photo

At Texas Tech. Credit David Bowser for The New York Times
Texas Tech holds a pool party during the first week of school to show off two acres that include a Texas-size lazy river, water slide and terraced wet deck for tanning. (There’s Wi-Fi, too.) Amanda Cook, 20, a junior, said the $8.4 million complex, which students pay for with a $10-per-semester recreation fee increase, quickly becomes the place to go.

“As it gets warmer, you start seeing less people in class,” she said. “Everyone will say, ‘Let’s go float the river.’ There will be, like, 300 people there, and there won’t be any inner tubes or rafts left.”

With college costs climbing and outstanding student loan debt at a record $1.2 trillion, schools justify these facilities as important for recruitment and retention. Classrooms can look alike, but pools are a memorable tour stop for prospective students, especially, say, at the University of Missouri, where guides show off the indoor beach club’s palm trees, lazy river and waterfall, and coyly announce that the grotto was modeled after the one at the Playboy Mansion, something the firm that designed it, Counsilman-Hunsaker, confirmed. (A 2013 National Bureau of Economic Research study called “College as Country Club” found resort-style amenities have more impact on student enrollment at less-elite schools.)

In some cases, students vote to tax themselves for buildings that won’t be finished until long after most have graduated.

Lauren Hayes, the 2008-9 Auburn student government president who campaigned to upgrade the university’s recreation facilities, said her platform was an obvious choice, given that the school’s “kind of ’80s dark basement” was ranked among the worst in the SEC at the time. A week before she left office, 74 percent of students voted to raise their activity fee from $7.50 to $200 to fund the $52.5 million project.

Administrators also like to point to studies conducted at Purdue University and Michigan State, which have shown that students who hit the gym do better academically than those who don’t. Floating down a river is not exactly a major calorie burn, but that’s not the point.

“When you think about our sedentary lifestyle today, if you can get some kid out on a zip line instead of playing video games and eating pizza, that’s a huge win,” said David Greusel of Convergence Design, whose projects have included a water slide at the University of Toledo. “It’s also the logic of the grocery store: Once you get them in the door, they’re going to buy something else. Once you get them in the rec center for the pool, maybe they’re going to sign up for a yoga class.”

With resort-style facilities, though, comes the fear that an institution of higher learning sounds too much like a four-year vacation. Missouri State University, whose new pool opened in 2012 with a zip line and a lazy river, has tried to prevent that problem by calling the water ride a “current river” or a “bear river” (the school’s mascot). Brandon Eckhardt, an assistant director of recreation at the school, said, “We don’t like to use the term lazy because we’re not lazy in our institution.”

Some schools are trying to sidestep the image problem altogether. Arizona State, which frequently shows up on Playboy’s annual list of top party schools, had little desire to burnish that reputation when adding a leisure pool to its west campus in 2013. “They went so far as to say they weren’t going to have lounge chairs because they didn’t want people sunbathing,” said James Braam of 360 Architecture, who worked on the project. “They didn’t want the lazy river. They wanted a serious pool.”

[IIOY]

Sept 21, 2014 6:19:25 GMT -5 tres3 said:

When Louisiana State University surveyed students in 2009 to find out what they most wanted in their new recreation complex, one feature beat out even massage therapy: a lazy river.

I already hate this story.

ETA: and now that I've finished it, the intellectual dishonesty of the administrators trying to justify this makes me want to add these schools to my never-gonna-happen list. It's embarrassing.

[LoveTrains]

Wow. This trend has not yet reached my area - probably because there would never be time to use outdoor pools during spring or fall semesters.

[lg28]

I expect to find a lazy river at a 5-star in Mexico. Not a fucking school.

[spidervain]

This trend is nationwide and not really that new. It was definitely happening here in the typically-behind-the-trend Midwest more than 5 years ago. It's absolutely insane when you think about the fact that students are voting to add the fee to their bill for future facilities. I can also see the schools' position. Just like fancy dorms, if everyone else is doing it and you don't, declining enrollment is an issue.

Edited to add: these are indoor facilities here.

[tres3]

My HOA has a lazy river... but I think it is ridiculous for a school.

[NewOrleans]

No.

NO.

[secretlyevil]

Sept 21, 2014 9:37:57 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

No.

NO.

this

[penguingrrl]

That's just ridiculous. College shouldn't be a freaking resort.

[emilyj]

You know what's worse? When you are in desperate need of a new classroom building, but you can't get it because the University went overboard borrowing $ to build the resort style lazy river nonsense.

Priorities, indeed.

[Saint Monica]

[blink]

So how will the students health and wellness be affected when they are no longer in school and can go to these lazy rivers and "dive in" movies? I'm so glad the most ridiculous thing (and it's not even really ridiculous) my school has done was build a new Outdoor Adventure Center because more and more students were using the climbing wall and they wanted a dedicated space.

[mouse]

How bad is it that my second thought* was "well, at least this doesn't just benefit the athletic teams"?




*the first was "are you fucking kidding me?

[5thofjuly]

IMO students really shouldn't get to make these kinds of decisions that affect the fiscal health of the institution long after they're gone. Annual giving tends to love these things- if you keep students on campus and they have a blast there, they're more likely to donate as alumni. But professors tend to loathe them because they take money away from the academic mission in many instances.

There are some decisions students can make- What night should be pizza night in the cafeteria? Which speaker should we bring to campus out of these three? Which professor should get a pie in the face if we raise $X from the local charity? What should our class project be?
Multimillion dollar extras that affect the bottom line for years to come? No.

[stealthmom]

I need that office gif of steve carrell screaming no. Because no

[summer]

IS THIS WHAT THOSE DAMNED REAL WORLD HOUSES HAVE DONE TO US?!

Dammit, no. Between this and those luxury dorms. Just no. This is school, not a vacation resort that needs to cater to your whims and fancies. You study and workout and do what the fuck you are supposed to do because you are an adult lucky enough to be able to go to college in the first place.

I'm convinced this is what happens when everyone gets a trophy.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Sept 21, 2014 11:37:10 GMT -5 mouse said:

How bad is it that my second thought* was "well, at least this doesn't just benefit the athletic teams"?




*the first was "are you fucking kidding me?

Yup.

My school is not known for athletics. Except that all teams are pretty terrible. They had a new athletic complex built 2 years before I got there (so mid-90s or so) and built a new 2 years ago. Meanwhile, the music students are still using what was supposed to be temporary space set up in the 1940s.

[blink]

Can I also just add that I don't think I would ever want to use any of these aquatic facilities if I were a student at one of these schools? College students can be so gross and I don't know if there would be enough chlorine to clean these lazy rivers.

[summer]

Sept 21, 2014 6:27:40 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Sept 21, 2014 6:19:25 GMT -5 tres3 said:

When Louisiana State University surveyed students in 2009 to find out what they most wanted in their new recreation complex, one feature beat out even massage therapy: a lazy river.

I already hate this story.

ETA: and now that I've finished it, the intellectual dishonesty of the administrators trying to justify this makes me want to add these schools to my never-gonna-happen list. It's embarrassing.

This is one of those stories that will have me heated and pacing around YEARS from now.  

[msmerymac]

Sept 21, 2014 8:30:19 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Wow. This trend has not yet reached my area - probably because there would never be time to use outdoor pools during spring or fall semesters.

That was my thought - you MUST be in a place where it doesn't freeze to make use of a lazy river. 

But still, there are plenty of ridiculous add-ons. When I was in college (almost 15 years ago), just state-of-the-art fitness centers were seen as marginally inappropriate, but at least those have some kind of function.

[Velar Fricative]

Here's where I admit I had never heard of a lazy river before this thread.

[ringstrue]

Sept 21, 2014 15:43:45 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Sept 21, 2014 8:30:19 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Wow. This trend has not yet reached my area - probably because there would never be time to use outdoor pools during spring or fall semesters.

That was my thought - you MUST be in a place where it doesn't freeze to make use of a lazy river. 

But still, there are plenty of ridiculous add-ons. When I was in college (almost 15 years ago), just state-of-the-art fitness centers were seen as marginally inappropriate, but at least those have some kind of function.

See I dunno though. I think you could look at a lot of university modern enhancements and make the same argument. Not to mention those enormous stadiums? If the question is "what is my $$ REALLY going towards", I think we lost the practicality aspect decades ago. 

[heyjude]

"“As it gets warmer, you start seeing less people in class,” she said. “Everyone will say, ‘Let’s go float the river.’ There will be, like, 300 people there, and there won’t be any inner tubes or rafts left.”"

What the fuck is this?

Are the ivies doing this? Maybe these schools should focus on being more like an ivy and less like a 3rd tier Vegas casino.

[penguingrrl]

Sept 21, 2014 16:11:03 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

Sept 21, 2014 15:43:45 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

That was my thought - you MUST be in a place where it doesn't freeze to make use of a lazy river. 

But still, there are plenty of ridiculous add-ons. When I was in college (almost 15 years ago), just state-of-the-art fitness centers were seen as marginally inappropriate, but at least those have some kind of function.

See I dunno though. I think you could look at a lot of university modern enhancements and make the same argument. Not to mention those enormous stadiums? If the question is "what is my $$ REALLY going towards", I think we lost the practicality aspect decades ago. 

When I was at Rutgers I was pissed that my tuition dollars were helping pay off a very expensive stadium for a shitty-ass team. From what I've heard they ca at least fill it now. They couldn't fill it with students going for free when I was there.

[heyjude]

I wonder what the salary and job breakdown is for 22 year olds who come out of colleges that focus on "putting in a lazy river" and those that don't.

[bronxgirl]

I am split between thinking "this is fucking ridiculous" and "why didn't MY college have a lazy river??" I find lazy rivers the most awesome thing ever.

[irishbride2]

I skimmed. I will go back and read in a bit.

I LOVE lazy rivers. Love. And I think this is ridiculous , especially at state run schools. As a tax payer I would be ticked.

[cville]

I'm about to hulk out reading this. Wtf.

[NewOrleans]

It's like a tiny little cross-section showing what's wrong with education in society.  Higher education is viewed as just another market, and people are drawn in as mere consumers, not scholars.  So they act like consumers rather than scholars.

[LoveTrains]

Sept 21, 2014 16:26:41 GMT -5 heyjude said:

Are the ivies doing this? Maybe these schools should focus on being more like an ivy and less like a 3rd tier Vegas casino.

I certainly haven't heard of this at any of the Ivies. Nor would they be practical outdoors due to climate as I mentioned in my earlier thread. Plus I imagine it takes a big chunk of land to build a lazy river - even indoors - and most are pretty built up already. For example the brown football stadium is already in a residential neighborhood across town from campus. They do not have available land for such a boondoggle.


outdoors (as I mentioned