Intended as an experimental effort to deter crowding in the Campus Recreation Center weight room, the movement of some weight machines to a racquetball court has met with disapproval from the SA Recreation Committee.

Betty Montgomery, director of the Office of Campus Recreation, said the machines were placed in one of the racquetball courts to relieve crowding in the weight room. She said the office distributed a survey to see how people felt about the change.

The OCR survey found that 88 people liked the hydrafitness mchines in the weight room, and 13 people did not like the new location. The survey also states that 230 people liked the hydrafitness machines in the racquetball court, and 115 did not. Montgomery said these results show that 71 percent of the respondents preferred the change.

Huda Scheidelman, chairman of the SA Recreation Committee, said the Office of Campus Recreation should have consulted the committee before moving the equipment.

Scheidelman said the committee felt moving the hydrafitness equipment is not a “feasible solution.” She said that between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m., the racquetball courts are always filled and moving the equipment into this area creates additional space problems.

“We are looking into other alternatives,” she said. She would like to work out a proposal between the physical education department and the rec center for the use of the Gabel Hall weight room, she said.

“The rec center was not built to accommodate the amount of students they would have or could have,” said Scheidelman. She proposes to offset some of the cost that would go into keeping the Gabel Hall weight room open by making the Office of Campus Recreation pay a percentage of the maintenance fees for its use.

The committee also is planning to make an addition to the rec center weight room that would take space away from the lounge next to the weight room.

The SA Recreation Committee also distributed a weight room survey which found that:

F 63 percent of the survey respondents use the weight room between four and seven times a week,

F 36 percent use the weight room between two and three times a week,

F 74 percent feel the amount of equipment available is not adequate,

F 69 percent feel there is not enough space in the weight room for the number of participants who use it,

F 86 percent feel the hydrafitness equipment is not essential, and

F 90 percent feel the hydrafitness equipment could be better utilized.