In light of COVID-19, USU is requiring masks in all the campus buildings, including at the Aggie Recreation Center, or ARC, where students work out. Student views vary on wearing a mask at the gym with some saying they agree that masks should be required.
“I am a big believer in the mask,” said USU student Natalie Duke. “And I'm very grateful that the ARC has a mask mandate. I've been very impressed with the employees going around reminding people to pull up their masks when they're not wearing them correctly.”
Others have a different opinion.
“It's hard for me to breathe so I really don't like this rules,” said Tonghao Wan, another student.
“It can be annoying, and it's no fun for us telling people to wear them,” said Rachael Rayburn, who works the desk at the ARC and enforces the mask mandate.
“We understand it's not fun when you're doing cardio,” she said. “No one enjoys that.”
“During cardio when you have the mask on, it's kind of hard to breathe and it gets down your face, so then you always have to worry about putting it back up and it's just kind of a hassle when you're working out and it just kind of gets in the way in my opinion,” said student Tim Goodale.
“Overall, it's protecting everybody, it keeps it so I have a job and people can come work out.” Rayburn said. “If we didn't have it, the whole building would have to shut down and thousands of people come every day and every week and it just keeps everything rolling.”
“Everybody needs to do everything they can to ensure the health and safety of everybody around them,” USU student Zack Boyd said. “We have to realize that we're lucky enough to be able to be participating in activities at the gym, when truly the gym could still just be closed down.”
“Face covering is important because we need these face coverings to keep our employees and our patrons that attend our facilities safe” said Cassidy Hayden, the coordinator of aquatics and safety for Utah State recreation. “Without face coverings the risk of the spread of the virus is higher and so in order to have our facilities open and available for patients to use face coverings have to be worn.”
Students may disagree about the gyms requiring masks. However, one thing's for certain they are grateful to have a place to work out during the pandemic and they are hopeful things will return to normal soon.
