Memorandum

To:
From:
Date:
Subject:

Professor Malesh
Joshua Aden, Gloria Veneziale, Evan Young, Austin Morales
April 1, 2016
Project Proposal Topic

Introduction
This memos purpose is to outline the details of our groups project proposal. The
proposal focuses on making additions and amendments to the Mort Harris Fitness
Center at Wayne State University, specifically to the womens section of the gym.
A few issues with the womens section have been brought to our attention. We believe
that with the universitys blessing there is no reason that one or all of these couldnt be
fixed.
The issues we wish to address include:
1. The womens only area in the gym is very small compared to the whole
square footage of the gym
o

Sometimes it becomes crowded because its so small back there that

some girls have to work out in the little hallway area at the back of the
zone which isnt covered by brick

The womens section is important, especially at Wayne State,

because many girls for religious reasons cannot be seen by the
opposite sex without their full coverage hijabs and sometimes the
result is no space to work out in the sheltered zones

2. The cubbies in the womens section fill up quickly and girls have to put their
backpacks in the exposed hallway
3. There isnt a very good variety of machines
a. Theres not a single squat rack
i. A lot of females prefer not to do squats (for obvious reasons)
in front of the opposite sex and the basement is a male
dominated zone
- Moving one squat rack up from the basement costs
the university practically nothing
b.

Few strength training machines and an excess of cardio machines

i. Most machines dont have real weight gauges and are

weighted by pushing buttons labeled 1-12 that change the
resistance
ii. More strength training equipment (and a bigger, better gym
overall) could make the school more attractive for female
athletes
Methods
Primary research is necessary to have a full understanding of the problem and possible
solutions. For this, we will be using three different forms of data collection:

Head count
o Counting the number of students that use the gym, noting gender to
compare male to female ratios.
o Counting the number of females that enter the women-only section of the
gym, so as to compare the amount of females that use this section to the
amount that does not.

Survey
o Posting a poll on Wayne States social media site, Academica, regarding
the interests of the students to institute new equipment or other
installments into the female-only section of the gym.

Personal Interview
o Questioning women who both do and do not use the women-only section
of the gym on what improvements can be implemented and noting their
responses. Example questions could include Why did you/did you not
use the female-only section of the gym, or What piece of equipment do
you think should be in this section the most.

Sources
To bring ethos into our project where we cannot we will be using several outside sources
that will enhance the need to reassess and revamp the womens only section of the gym
at the Mort Harris Fitness Center at Wayne State University.
1. Research article: Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to
Womens Weight Lifting
Four studies were conducted by Salvatore and Marecek (2010) within the research
article and examined why women were less likely lift weights having known the great
physical benefits that result from such exercise.
Furthermore, a study of women in a university in the mid-Atlantic United States who
envisioned lifting weights in public expressed greater evaluation concerns than those
who envisioned doing aerobic exercise...and reports of psychological discomfort in gyms

(Study 3b). This work begins to illuminate the sociocultural context of womens
avoidance of certain types of exercise (Salvatore & Marecek 2010).
2. Newspaper article: Harvard provides womens-only gym hours
Harvard began this trial of running womens-only hours in one of their many gyms after
six Muslim women requested such hours so that they could work out without men
present allowing them to not have to cover their hair and most of their skin- which is
highly uncomfortable to do when working out.
Some argue that the policy benefits many women. "It's about expanding the range of
choices," said Hussein Ibish, director of the Foundation for Arab-American Leadership.
"Women, for all kinds of reasons, don't want to exercise in front of men." (Women in
Higher Education 2008).
Info is from www.msnbc.com on March 10 and The Chronicle of Higher Education on
March 21, 2008.
3. Interviews and personal responses
The who, what, and why is further explained in our methods section but we will be
personally talking to and interviewing women who use the gym and the womens only
section at Wayne State. The publics opinion is important in finding out whether gym
goers think Mort Harris could implement simple changes for a beneficial outcome to
those who use it.
Responsibilities
Throughout the project, there will be various responsibilities that need to be fulfilled.
Each member of the group will be given different responsibilities that they need to
complete over the course of the project. Josh will create a survey on Academica asking
if the womens section of the gym is adequate enough for use. This will be sent to each
Wayne State student through their school email.
Evan and Gloria will be conducting a face to face survey on gym members, questioning
their opinions on the womens section of the gym. Evan and Gloria will also be counting
participants in the womens area of the gym and analyzing those results as well. Austin
will be performing the statistical analysis on the data provided by Evan and Gloria.
Conclusion
All of the issues addressed are quite feasibly fixed with assistance from the university.
The most important factor will be in polling the student body to make sure that these
really are issues that matter to the students, and being able to prove it with evidence that
can be provided to the school.
Some of the issues, like moving a squat rack or other strength equipment upstairs, will
cost the university nothing and thus is a very attainable goal. The other issues, which

require financial investment, will need to be well researched and well favored by the
student body to have any chance of success.
At this point, our group may still choose one or all of the issues outlined to strive for.
Keep in mind that this memo only details our plan as of today. The project is open to
amendments and adjustments, so any feedback or recommendations are absolutely
welcomed.

References
Salvatore, J., & Marecek, J. (2010). Gender in the gym: Evaluation concerns as barriers
to women's weight lifting. Sex Roles, 63(7-8), 556-567.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9800-8
Harvard provides women-only gym hours. (2008, April). Women in Higher Education,
17(4), 3+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CA178220656&sid=summon&v=2.1&u=lom_waynesu&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=e
ae7f32bb805243ba0eb93d007b791a1