Many people today are really focused on being in shape and enjoy going to the gym. Some people even use the gym as a way to get away from reality and go into their own little world. Moorpark College offers a variety of classes that promote exercise and fitness for students that are Kinesiology majors, as well as students that are interested in fitness.

What if Moorpark College were to make some of the equipment ,and technology available to the general student public to create a Student Recreation Center?Classes like Body Conditioning/Free Weights, Body Conditioning Boot Camp, Body Conditioning/Fitness, Core Stability and flexibility are all classes that have been offered to students for this Fall semester.

Options like these, and even being apart of any of the college’s athletic teams are the only way for students on campus to access the fitness equipment and technology available to them. If Moorpark College were to create some sort of Student Recreation Center, this would benefit students immensely. Students could use areas such as the weight room to lift weights before classes, after classes, or in between.

According to Athletic Director Howard Davis, Moorpark College had a community service option which was setup as an open lab until, 2010 or 2011. The open lab was open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. where members of the community, along with students would pay a $50 flat fee to gain access to the facilities.

Davis continued to explain that due to a change in state funding for a program like the community service option Moorpark had to stop offering it in open lab form because the state wanted students signing up for labs and classes at set times and in set places.

Nowadays many students pay a monthly fee to belong to gyms such as 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness and some of those monthly fees are a little outrageous. Hillel Carmi, a 21-year-old, third year student at Moorpark pays around $30 a month for his membership at LA Fitness in Northridge and when asked if Moorpark were to have it’s own gym with a one time flat fee per semester to gain access; would he pay?

“Yes, who wouldn’t?!” Carmi said.

Instead of paying $30 per month adding up to $360 per year, the students would pay a flat fee per semester as part of their student tuition when registering for classes.

The Fitness Lab is located above the basketball court in the gym. Davis explained, that the previous community fees for the fitness lab at that time was $50 per semester

Ethan Beard, a 21-year-old third year student at Moorpark explained how he is really starting to get fed up with paying a monthly fee for access to a gym, and would much rather pay a flat fee as part of his tuition to get unlimited access to a gym on Moorpark College campus.

“I would much rather prefer being able to have access to the Fitness Lab on campus,” said Beard.

Beard is on campus four days a week and has a substantial amount of time in between some of his classes.

“I would devote some of my time, to working out and getting in better shape.” Beard said.

There are talks about bringing the community service option back to Moorpark College but there is no timetable, if at all for it’s return because logistics are still trying to be worked out.