By Ethan Smith, Sports Editor

sports.inkwell1@gmail.com

Recently, the ideas about the improvement of recreational facilities on this campus has drawn some interesting concepts and ideas from higher-ups as well as the students here at GSU-Armstrong. The survey was taken in March of 2016, so it mildly outdated but still brings up numerous and very interesting ideas that could come to GSU-Armstrong in the coming years.

I think I have had this drilled into my head since I began writing about sports here at the Inkwell, and because I am a freshman, I don’t understand the pain. All I hear, all the time, “I wish we had a pool back!”, “The pool was so amazing.”, etc. Well, according to the recreational center survey from 2016, students and others voiced that opinion soundly.

Out of 226 comments, which also to note, 248 suggestions due to some students making multiple comments within one response, 44 suggested the idea of some kind of pool, the second highest quantity answer in the survey behind being against athletic and recreational fees and additional weight equipment/workout space.

So roughly 19% of students who took the survey were in favor of a pool, and they may not sound significant, but the next highest suggestion involved a cardio room, which only got 11 votes, so roughly 4%. That’s a 15% difference between two different additions, so obviously a pool is a huge deal within the student body.

Due to the lack of a swim team on this campus, a pool is highly unlikely. The reasoning for losing the pool in the first place was because the pool was not maintained well, so it is not on the record. Also, according to the Georgia Board of Regents, a pool within new concepts and other outliers would not be worth the time, space or money to bring back, even with the overwhelming interest from the student body to bring one back.

This survey brought up some interesting topics. The ideals throughout the Athletic Assessment prove reliable if the funds can be found, yet that still seems to be the main problem. It would not surprise me that any student on this campus will not see these changes come into effect before they graduate. So, most of these surveys will affect the future of GSU-Armstrong, which, in hindsight, starts with us. The pool and other things may or may not happen, but regardless, time will tell what GSU decides to do.