Pool Cash Elsewhere
Staff Editorial
By: Editorial Board
Issue date: 3/31/06 Section: Opinions
- Page 1 of 1
An oasis for sunbathing and swimming adjacent to North Village Apartments: sounds like a positive addition, right? On the surface, one wonders how we could disagree with such a proposal, but a deeper examination of the ramifications reveals unaccounted for problems likely to arise.
Going by Emory's numbers, the $30,000 "pledge" that the three student organizations will together make, assuming AFS decides to support the pool, will not even cover one year's maintenance costs. Considering how much students are screaming about tuition increases, we doubt a tuition hike in order to "build community by creating an outdoor swimming facility" is the best solution. With fickle South Carolina weather, the pool would only be utilized during the summer months when few students are on campus. Only May would perhaps be warm enough, but with the calendar change imminent, students will no longer be in class in May either.
We must also consider the utter disaster of bringing the community into Furman to help mitigate costs through pool memberships. Toddlers and cannonball contests don't mix. There is also the liability issue that having a pool near the party scene that is G and K will bring. You can't build fences tall enough to stop drunk college students, unless you want to use barbed wire.
Finally, there is the issue of an outside lifeguarding company providing lifeguards. These are not going to be tanned 20-somethings looking to chill; think teenagers from TR instead.
An outdoor pool is an idea that simply doesn't hold water. If FUSAB, RLC and AFS want to do something to help the student body, work on speeding up the PAC renovations and putting money into that facility. Students can use the PAC every day all year, including the PAC pool. Maybe it's not outdoors, but you can still swim there and you certainly don't need a pool to tan.
We applaud FUSAB, RLC, and AFS for listening to student concerns and trying to remedy the concerns raised. We just wish a better cause had been found to try to unite all three organizations. Please don't pour our money down the drain.
Going by Emory's numbers, the $30,000 "pledge" that the three student organizations will together make, assuming AFS decides to support the pool, will not even cover one year's maintenance costs. Considering how much students are screaming about tuition increases, we doubt a tuition hike in order to "build community by creating an outdoor swimming facility" is the best solution. With fickle South Carolina weather, the pool would only be utilized during the summer months when few students are on campus. Only May would perhaps be warm enough, but with the calendar change imminent, students will no longer be in class in May either.
We must also consider the utter disaster of bringing the community into Furman to help mitigate costs through pool memberships. Toddlers and cannonball contests don't mix. There is also the liability issue that having a pool near the party scene that is G and K will bring. You can't build fences tall enough to stop drunk college students, unless you want to use barbed wire.
Finally, there is the issue of an outside lifeguarding company providing lifeguards. These are not going to be tanned 20-somethings looking to chill; think teenagers from TR instead.
An outdoor pool is an idea that simply doesn't hold water. If FUSAB, RLC and AFS want to do something to help the student body, work on speeding up the PAC renovations and putting money into that facility. Students can use the PAC every day all year, including the PAC pool. Maybe it's not outdoors, but you can still swim there and you certainly don't need a pool to tan.
We applaud FUSAB, RLC, and AFS for listening to student concerns and trying to remedy the concerns raised. We just wish a better cause had been found to try to unite all three organizations. Please don't pour our money down the drain.