Want to make good on your New Year’s Resolution of developing a healthier lifestyle?  The Department of Athletics and Recreation would like to help out by providing longer hours to come to the recreation centre. The new 7:00 am openings that commenced on January 3 were created in response to requests from our staff and faculty members who wanted to make fitness part of their daily routine. Come in for the first part of the day and still manage to get to your 9:00 am commitments with time to spare!

All fitness needs can be met at the recreation centre. Shoot some hoops, take a stroll on the treadmill, lift weights or participate in one of the more than 50 group classes from archery to yoga. Breakfast club members can even participate in 7:00 am Cycling and Zumba classes! The faculty and staff ‘Active Lunch Series’ continues on Wednesdays from 12:00–1:00 pm.

BOHJ (pronounced bow-d-ge), an authentic Indian cuisine specific to UTSC, has opened in the H-Wing Café. While BOHJ is an arm of Aramark, our very own UTSC chef’s are responsible for the creation and branding of this new food choice. A meat and a vegetarian selection will be available daily. If the meat is halal, it will be indicated. 

In other food news... Pizza Pizza has been relocated from the R-Wing cafeteria to the H-Wing Cafeteria... And Spring Rolls will be replacing the Miso station in the H-Wing Cafeteria. This new addition will take place this semester. For any feedback or suggestions contact Billi Jo Cox and ext. 2719 or bcox@utsc.utoronto.ca. 

The old cafeteria space in the R-Wing has been transformed into a much needed flat programmable space for student activity. This space can be booked for studio space (dance, fitness etc.), for banner making or for other student group needs that require a large open space. We are working with the SCSU and Department of Student Life to ‘NAME THAT SPACE’. Students can enter their name suggestions online at www.scsu.ca before February 14, 2011 to win a gift card to Rex’s Den. 

Parking Lot 3 (located parallel to Ellesmere Road) has been divided into a Visitor section (accessed by the Ellesmere Road entrance located east of the intersection of Military Trail and Ellesmere), and a permit-holder section (accessed as always from the Military Trail entrances).  

Visitors may enter and exit Lot 3 via the Ellesmere Road entrance, and turn left into the parking lot after passing the entrance islands. Four pay-and-display parking meters have been installed in convenient locations within the Visitor lot, allowing visitors to pay by Visa, Mastercard, American Express or coin.  

Please be mindful of the barricade dividing Lot 3 and drive slowly. This barricade is needed in order to allow un-gated access to the east portion of Lot 3 for visitors and construction personnel.

Also, at this time of year when we have a fresh snowfall, a situation may arise when drivers may not see the yellow lines designating parking spaces, causing rows of parking to begin in non-designated areas. At these times, we would like to ask drivers to be cautious of where they park their vehicles, even if they are parking within an established row of cars, to ensure that there is only one car in front (or behind, if backing into a space) of their own. If there are already two cars parked bumper-to-bumper, we ask that drivers find another space in which to park. By doing so, they’ll avoid triple parking which blocks vehicles and prevents other drivers from leaving.