Bubble Bursting with People!

by Sean Carroll
edited by Erica Jordan

We all know that Rindge is not a huge metropolitan city by any means but why is it that the Bubble is always packed?

According to the 2008 estimate Census, the total population of Rindge, NH community is about 6,538. This number is not what many people expect from a college town but either way the number is staggeringly low. The University itself only has 1,500 students enrolled this year.

Being that there is not a great deal for someone to occupy themselves in the town of Rindge, NH it would make sense that the Bubble is the place to go. This would not be a problem if a membership to the Bubble was only given to students rather than everyone who wants one in the local community. The Bubble itself only covers 72,000 square feet.

I do realize that the school is trying to make some money by allowing the local community to use the facility and the Bubble is the only gym in the town of Rindge, NH. The fact of the matter is that the majority of the students go to the Bubble on a daily basis to work out and wind up waiting to use a piece of equipment.

“It is hard to get a solid workout in sometimes, especially when the gym and cardio area is so small,” said junior Patrick Smith.

Another reason why the gym is always busy is the amount of sports teams that are trying to share the facility. On campus alone there are seventeen sports teams who are all required at some point to be in the gym throughout the day.

“Being in the weight room is very important for our athletes and sometimes it is tough for them to get a quality workout as a team when they are competing to use the equipment,” said Jaymie Harrington, Head Hockey Coach.

There would seem to be two very reasonable options to fix this problem. The first, being that Rindge could provide another facility in which the non student community could join. The second, the University should build a gym for the use of the sports teams on campus. Without some sort of solution to this problem the overcrowding at the Bubble will continue to happen for years to come.