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Show 6 Summer Signpost-Thursday, July 12, 1984 . - , - J Roughing Out A Name By Remember that dusty orange room, lined with backpacks and skis? A dull gray canoe, suspended over its door announced, none too subtly, the Outing Center's entrance. Did you ever peek your head into the dimly lit room, call out hoarsely, "Hello" only to be answered by silence? All that has changed. Under the direction of Nancy Stephenson, the Outing Center has evolved from a dusty, ill-used storage room into the Wilderness Recreation Center, a well-organized recreational resource facility. The center, a division under the Department of Student Life, offers everything from backpacks and canoes to canteens and collapsible water bottles all at very reasonable rental rates. You can, for example, rent a canoe complete with paddles all in all $600 worth of equipment for an entire weekend for just $22. And if they don't have what you need, the center will be happy to special order it for you, be it special backpack, climbing gear or outdoor clothing. The center, although used primarily by students, faculty and staff, is also open to the community. Church and civic groups frequently rent recreational equipment from the center. "Our goal is to simulate a family of outdoor friends." Nancy Stephenson Wilderness Recreation Director Currently the center is subsidized by college funds. "Our goal, however,' is to be self -supportive," said Stephenson. Right now it takes about two years to recoup original expenses. Stephenson hopes to decrease that time "in the red" by additional revenues from increased usage. "We've also begun to expand into the retail business," she added. In addition to offering rental equipment, the WRC organizes year-round recreational outings, all geared to the beginner level. Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Wilderness Center, in conjunction with BYU's Outdoors Unlimited, organized a backpacking trip to Robin's Roost, a rough, desert terrain just outside of Hanksville. And that was just the beginning. Backpacking, kayaking, canoe and windsurfing outings have been planned for the entire summer. A kayaking run has been scheduled for this weekend at Flaming Gorge. Windsurfing caught your eye? A sailboard clinic at Pineview Reservior is on this summer's agenda. The weekend of July 20-21 will see a white water rafting trip down Idaho's Snake River. Backpacking more your style? An outing to the Tetons is being planned for the week of August 13-18. For those with strong nerves and an adventurous spirit, a week-long rafting trip down the Salmon River, the "river of no return," is in the planning stages. The cost has yet to be announced, but Stephenson believes it will be in the $150-175 range, well below the $600 rate a commercial outfitter would charge. This winter promises a wide range of recreational outings. Ice climbing, winter camping as well as alpine and cross-country skiing excursions are all in the planning stages. Stephenson looks at the center as being much more than a mere business. It is, rather, a "center of activity." College life, she believes, can be a lonely experience. The WRC can do much to allay those lonely times. "Our goal is to stimulate a family of outdoor friends," said Stephenson. Yet more changes are on the planning board. In the future you'll be able to mend or make your own equipment at the center. Does the thought of bike-touring in Europe or climbing in Mexico excite you? Stephenson believes the center will be organizing international outings within five years. . Photo by Matthew Brown Plans are also in the making for a bike shop as well as a bike club on campus. Eventually, Stephenson hopes to organize a team of intercollegiate windsurfers at WSC. From an educational perspective, Stephenson sees the WRC operating as a educational co-op facility. Open to public relations, marketing and physical education majors, internships will be made available through respective departments, each individually tailored to provide participating students with "definite educational experiences while benefitting the center." Stephenson has been working hard at developing a positive image of the Wilderness Recreation Center, as a place of many resources and new ideas. Her efforts appear to be paying off. r Ad Lib Researchers may be on the verge of a breakthrough in the treatment of migraine headaches. Headaches are the result of constricted blood vessels which when they open again fill too rapidly with blood. Calcium ions are at least partially responsible for these constricted vessels. A class of drugs known as calcium channel breakers stop the movement of calcium ions across the cell membranes of smooth muscle tissue in the blood vessels. The use of these, drugs could stop migraines before they get started. Omni Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved. D.H. Lawrence J Editor: Stephanie Chamberlain |