<p>I am a freshman at Cornell and after my experiences this semester, I have come to the conclusion that Cornell's athletic facilities really suck. I am not talking about the facilities that varsity athletics use, but rather the ones that are open for everyday recreation. Take basketball for instance (the one thing that I actually enjoy and helps relieve stress). There is basically only one open indoor court to play in for the entire campus (20,000 students +?) Helen Newman has two courts, but one is reserved for volleyball/badminton. The outdoor courts are not an option because there are no lights and of course it gets really cold and rainy up here. The only other courts are in Barton and Bartels, but
1. they are too far away
2. Barton is not really made for basketball and besides it is mostly used to house other activities and the ROTC program
3. Bartels has a lot of really nice courts, but Cornell is gay and afraid of damaging them or of a lawsuit from injury. So, one can't even use all those courts; they just sit there wasted.</p>
<p>So, you can imagine how busy that one court is and besides half the time the people there are all giants. You can imagine how difficult it is for someone like me who is mediocre to find a chance to play.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, Cornell has no baseball fields you can play on, one track that's really far away, and the fields are never lit unless for intramuerals, club, or varsity sports.</p>
<p>PLEASE, if you are thinking about going to Cornell BE WARNED!</p>
<p>you spent all of that time complaining about a lack of indoor basketball courts??? I took a class in Hellen Newman and there were small games always going on, and I've never seen any of these "people there are all giants" ... however, every tuesday night I do enjoy watching the chubby asian dude who always wears a "Caltech Soccer" shirt. Surely this doesn't scare you away. </p>
<p>"Cornell has no baseball fields you can play on, one track that's really far away, and the fields are never lit unless for intramuerals, club, or varsity sports."</p>
<ul>
<li>the baseball field is on central campus next to the main athletics facilities.<br></li>
<li>if you're complaining that the track is too far away (it's on central campus), you shouldn't be training on a track in the first place</li>
<li>there's constantly people using the fields on north campus for non-Cornell sanctioned events. Even I have done that before!<br></li>
<li>If you're complaining that intramural sports teams use up the facilities too often, make right and join a team! What were you planning on doing in a soccer field by yourself?</li>
</ul>
<p>
[quote]
you spent all of that time complaining about a lack of indoor basketball courts??? I took a class in Hellen Newman and there were small games always going on, and I've never seen any of these "people there are all giants" ... however, every tuesday night I do enjoy watching the chubby asian dude who always wears a "Caltech Soccer" shirt. Surely this doesn't scare you away.
[/quote]
If basketball is his passion, who are you to judge him for that? If you took a class at Helen Newman, it most likely wasn't at night time, which is the best time to play. Obviously there are few people in the afternoon because most people are in class at that time. There are so many people trying to play at night and there are tons of big guys there.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Cornell has no baseball fields you can play on, one track that's really far away, and the fields are never lit unless for intramuerals, club, or varsity sports."</p>
<ul>
<li>the baseball field is on central campus next to the main athletics facilities.</li>
<li>if you're complaining that the track is too far away (it's on central campus), you shouldn't be training on a track in the first place</li>
<li>there's constantly people using the fields on north campus for non-Cornell sanctioned events. Even I have done that before!</li>
<li>If you're complaining that intramural sports teams use up the facilities too often, make right and join a team! What were you planning on doing in a soccer field by yourself?
[/quote]
-Too bad you can't play on the baseball field unless you're an athlete. They don't even have baseball intramurals. It's impossible to play a pickup game with your friends.
-I agree with you on that.
-The No Trespassing signs are up almost every day on the field @ Triphammer and Jessup. I don't think I've ever been able to play on them at all this semester.
-If they haven't allowed an intramural baseball team by now, there's no way we're gonna be able to start one.</li>
</ul>
<p>But be honest. For the amount of students that Cornell has, they really could use another athletic facility.</p>
<p>"they really could use another athletic facility"</p>
<p>tell me your idea for a location. There's a large gym (where the most demand was for the fitness department) and a smaller (but nicer) one no more than 2 minutes from the freshmen dorms. An indoor facility for basketball courts isn't feasible for any location on North - there's at least 2 outdoor courts, use them as it just got cold 2 days ago, after classes ended already. They're building more out on west as well.</p>
<p>"My class was from 9:30-11 at night. "
I have been to Newman during those times a lot. It is almsot ALWAYS crowded meaning 15+ people on one court.</p>
<p>"intramural softball replaced intramural baseball to keep an "even playing field" for those w/o much experience."
Baseball is an entirely different game from softball, and anyway softball is only available in the spring. There are still no playable baseball fields.</p>
<p>playing outside is very difficult considering it gets dark and cold by around five and there are no lights, not to mention it is impossible to play a pickup game there and i have class until 4 most of the time.</p>
<p>I am sure there are places to expand the facilities, but one suggestion would be to allow people to use the many courts at Bartels for recreation when practices are not going on.</p>
There probably isn't anywhere, but Helen Newman should definitely be expanded or renovated. Outdoor courts are useless now because it's absolutely freezing outside and there are no lights at night.</p>
<p>If you think that there is a lack of facilities, and especially since there seems to be a facility underused, you should do something constructive about it. Perhaps you could write a guest column for publication in the Cornell Sun - which would bring attention to this issue. Or, organize a group of students and try to meet with Skorton. He comes off as interested in what is going on at the student level. At least, write him a letter explaining the problem and get other students to sign it. You might not get any resolution any time soon, but then again, something postive may come from your efforts.</p>
<p>Helen Newman is going to be renovated soon. The plans are in the works. No dates scheduled yet though. You can find info on it somewhere on Cornell's website.</p>
<p>I have balled at Helen Newman and it can get crowded at night. But it's not like there's hundreds of people waiting to use the court. There's usually a 5 on 5 or 6 on 6 game going on and then maybe around 10 people waiting to play.</p>
<p>there are several pools on campus, never been to any of them though. 'Gorge jumping' is quite a fun activity, though people are technically not suppost to swim in the lake next to campus. there's plenty of other places around ithaca for that</p>
<p>Too bad you're already in college, because you sound like the kind of person that would really enjoy the athletic facilities at Princeton. The varsity gym is completely separate from the student gym, and the entire first floor is basketball courts (I think there are 4 or 5 of them). Club basketball is huge here, and many people on club basketball are members of the Varsity Fan Squad "Jadwin Jungle", so there are always people around at games that you know. The gym is open quite late, and the courts are never particularly crowded. </p>
<p>I don't know much about Cornell's facilities, but as a member of the Princeton Band we have visited Cornell before, and Schoellkopf Field was surprisingly small for such a big school. It just didn't seem right (then again, there were only about 100 Big Red fans total when we visited, so maybe they weren't off target).</p>
<p>and furthermore, giving insight on a school that doesn't take transfer students. Why don't I just go to the graduation ceremony of a few schools with notoriously bad food and say "look guys, too bad you've already graduated, but you would have really loved the food at Cornell. It's among the top-5 in the US plus always has a great variety of things to eat with 8 main dining halls and 17 individual ones located throughout various parts of campus." </p>
<p>secondly, how is it that threads this old come back up? They're dozens and dozens of pages back, how in god's name do people get to them? Also, why?</p>
<p>come on, there are half a dozen full gym and workout facilities on campus. If you're anywheres on or even near the campus, there'll be one at most a 5 minute walk away.</p>
<p>yes, a full fledged gym with weights, treadmills, trainers, dance studios, and a few have basketball courts and so forth. There are dozens and dozens of classes that are free to gym members. </p>
<p>Tennis courts are right next to the freshmen dorms.</p>