For athletes, icing after a tough workout or after competition is essential to the recovery process and injury prevention. As a distance runner on the track team who was managing an injury during the beginning of this season, icing was a necessary part of my routine so that I could compete at the best of my abilities.
I did not ice as much as I should have in the past, but when injury started to become a problem, I iced after every practice. I found that since I’ve added icing into my after-practice routine every day, the pain I felt went away and I was able to fully participate in my training again.
After a tough workout on the indoor track, the last thing I want to do is walk all the way to the athletic trainers to get a bag of ice. But, since the ice machine by the track has been broken all semester, that’s exactly what I must do.
It’s even worse for athletes that are dealing with a severe injury, walking to the athletic trainer’s room for ice is a difficult task when you are dealing with a severe injury.
There are so many reasons why having another ice machine, besides the one in the athletic trainer’s office, is a necessary option for athletes, especially cross country and track and field athletes. Having an ice machine close to where the track team had our practices and did our recovery made it easy for the athletes to get ice, allowed us to get out of practice sooner so we aren’t getting to the cafeteria late and made icing a more enjoyable and convenient task.
Having another ice machine for athletes also made it possible for the distance crew to have ice after a Saturday long run, since the athletic trainer’s office is closed on weekends, unless there’s a football or basketball game going on, who apparently are the only athletes who need ice.
While Red 101 students are riding around in limos, construction projects are being started but not finished, and we all get free movie tickets, the broken machine remains ignored. This is so frustrating to see. Why is our college doing all this unnecessary spending, and why are we putting up with it?
It’s not like the ice machine is the biggest issue here, it’s just one thing that I believe needs done and one thing that effects my day to day routine.
Why is that giant ugly piece of wood still in front of the LC, but we are spending money on limos for RED 101 students? Why do work studies pay so little, but we spend money on every college students’ ticket to a movie? Why are there multiple things that are broken and damaged in the RSC (showers in locker rooms, tiles on the floor, wood on different seats and benches, an awful pool table, etc.), but we can afford a giant shiny science building? Why is my tuition so expensive, but the track and field teams must rake yards and do other fundraising just to afford basic needs for the program?
Do you understand my point? Why is the college charging me so much money and then putting it into useless projects and impulsive purchases?
Moral of the story and really the reason I wanted to write this article: Dear Northwestern, fix the ice machine. Stop renting limos.
