Instinct tells us that Harvard undergraduates have too much on their plates and that something's got to budge--such as their waistlines. After all, a diet of Tommy's and Cheese Nips, combined with hours of mime-like stasis in Lamont, doesn't exactly produce bodies to rival Chuck Norris.

But then there are the students who frantically pump iron at 1 a.m. in the house gym. And sing along to Motown hits of the 1960s at the top of their lungs. Many Harvard students, it seems, are as obsessive about Stairmasters as they are about Sartre.

Even if they don't all end up participating in varsity or junior varsity athletics, approximately 700 first-years come in for the athlete-mandatory sports physicals every year, according to David S. Rosenthal '59, director of the University Health Services (UHS).

"Students are much more perceptive about the need for physical activity than ever before," Rosenthal says.

But if administrators recognize the increase in exercise, students find Harvard's resources for recreational athletes are geriatric.

The Facilities Gap

Rosenthal insists that the University is committed to providing all students with the opportunity to stay fit. But undergraduates tend to complain about a gap between rhetoric and resources, particularly the gloomy Malkin Athletic Center (MAC).

"I'm not too impressed with the MAC at all," says Charles B. Watson '03, who plays intramural volleyball. "I've seen better in high school, and I feel like Harvard can afford to buy better equipment for students that can't go to the Murr [Center]."