When you’re injured and you need medical attention, it’s always good to have a place where you can be easily treated for anything from a cut on the arm to a sprained ankle.
There’s a room located on the bottom floor of the South Physical Education Building, (the same building that also contains the dance department dance rooms), called the Athletic Training Office that has facilities available to treat such injuries.
Bandages, crutches and ointments, among other things, line the walls ready to help. However, there’s a limitation placed upon them.
Apparently, even though these facilities are located in the building housing primarily dance classes, dance students are not allowed access to the services.
The office is restricted to athlete use only and it has also come to my attention that they are even reluctant to give out simple bags of ice to injured dancers.
As a student of the dance program, I am quite aware that injuries stemming from dance are high in probability.
So how, may I ask, is this restriction fair?
In theory, these students should have equal rights to use the office as much as the athletes do, however, many of my dance peers have specifically been told by those in charge of the office that they were not allowed to be treated because they weren’t athletes.
To this remark, many students in the dance program have expressed the same upset opinion.
Many believe that even though dancing isn’t considered a sport at EC, it doesn’t mean what dancers do isn’t athletic. In fact, I’ve seen dancers do things athletes couldn’t ever hope to do.
Recently, two colleagues of mine were involved in an accident during rehearsals for our yearly spring Dance Concert. This accident resulted in two swollen ankles for one person and about eight stitches for the other.
Refusing treatment to injured persons is a very unsafe practice that must be put to a stop.
I believe that dance students should be allowed access to this office when injured.
My reasoning being that these students work just as hard and are prone to just as much injury as athletes are. They shouldn’t have to travel somewhere else to be treated if adequate resources are present in the same building they get hurt in.
If the sports department is so adamant about having specific facilities to treat their athletes, then they should have it in one of “their” buildings near “their” offices and not take up space in the dance building that we could have for our own uses
The views expressed in Campus Insight are those of the author’s. They do not represent the views or opinions of the Union, its staff, editorial board, or advisers