<Back

Staying fit at Grinnell

When well-administered, intramural sports offer a chance to keep healthy amid winter's woes

S&B Editorial Staff

Last finals week, when classes were supposed to have ended, Grinnell enticed hundreds of students to take a course left unlisted by the registrar called "Eating Your Way to Happiness."

It began with the Pancake Study Break and its glut of whipped cream, powdered sugar, and chocolate syrup.

As the week progressed, the courseload kept getting heavier as SAs, RLCs and student groups flooded South Lounge and residence halls with junk food and pizza.

Homework, in the form of care packages filled with Snickers bars and super-duper buttery popcorn, awaited many students in the mailroom.

Most Grinnellians passed the class by putting on extra pounds, but probably didn't do so well studying for their real exams.

It's revealing that so many people at Grinnell believe eating sugary and greasy foods somehow improves student life or functions as an appropriate study break.

The phenomenon of viewing these junk foods as a cure-all is contagious.

After all, throughout the year, we act like Rush Limbaugh in a pharmacy aisle when the tray of cookies arrives at a Rosenfield symposium.

In truth, the cookies and pizza make our heads hurt and leave us lethargic.

When junk food is coupled with winter weather, an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle for students is often the result.

Recently, however, there has been a glimmer of hope from the likeliest of places, the new PEC, but from an unexpected activity: dodgeball.

Intramural dodgeball has turned out to be one of the Grinnellianest of Grinnellian sports.

It's egalitarian: since most haven't played since fifth grade, there is tremendous parity among teams.

Even if you generally stick to Dungeons and Dragons, you may find dipping, ducking, dodging and diving to be a fun, easy and, most importantly, healthy activity.

Dodgeball, which was just introduced this year, nicely complements other popular intramural offerings in football and basketball.

We encourage intramural organizers to offer one more first semester sport so that students can remain active year round by playing intramurals.

Of course, to be effective, the sports have to be properly administered.

Unfortunately, this year, the intramural football season started late and was cut short because of poor planning on the part of organizers.

Intramural organizers should be credited for redeeming themselves with dodgeball.

The sport was well-publicized and has run smoothly thus far. Hopefully, we will be able to say the same for basketball come spring.

<Back