By Ann W. Parks

Law Center students join Kait O'Hara for a warmup before a sports conditioning class.

As if law school weren’t exacting enough, members of the Law Center community are being challenged by Dean Alex Aleinikoff to shape up, trim down and spend some time with a bike or a treadmill — all in the name of good health.

The 2008 Dean’s Challenge, which kicked off January 23, is a six-week program of fitness and wellness events designed to help participants keep the pesky New Year’s resolutions they may have abandoned three weeks ago. With a menu of physically demanding and mentally rewarding activities, the Dean’s Challenge makes it easy to stay motivated and to turn resolutions into reality.

"It’s about getting everyone up and moving," said Karen Pierce, the director of Wellness Promotion and Club Athletics in the Office of the Dean of Students. She first dreamed up the concept of a post-holiday wellness program years ago — back when the fitness center was housed on the lower level of Gewirz. And Dean Aleinikoff, she said, has been completely supportive of the challenge.

Marina Veljanovska collects healthy recipes from Wellness Director Karen Pierce and Mike Barker (L'08).

Points are earned for various events from water fitness to an indoor cycle challenge — with an extreme event for the more ambitious that consists of a running-biking-swimming or -stepping triathlon (be warned: Dean Aleinikoff came in first last year in his heat). There’s also a special boot camp with two Sport & Fitness Center trainers, who promise to give you a grueling workout after constitutional law on Friday, February 15.

"It’s a great opportunity for the fitness center to serve students, faculty and staff better," said Kait O’Hara, the fitness center’s specialty program manager, who is happy to report that enrollment in the challenge is up this year (29 percent). "We have been working hard on offering classes and programs that energize them."

And if being pushed and stretched to your body’s limits by others doesn’t appeal to you, you can get five points per day for exercising on your own. Couch potatoes can take heart; points are also awarded for giving blood, getting a massage and learning healthy cooking tips from Chef Jay in the courtside café. You even get points for exchanging healthy recipes (not to be confused with the February 13 "Love of Chocolate" event).

Marina Veljanovska, the law library’s administrative assistant for collection services, said the library is preparing a team for the February 8 dodge ball tournament. "I know we’ll have a lot of fun participating and winning," she wrote in an e-mail.

Winners of the Dean’s Challenge will receive prizes including a mountain bike and helmet, personal training packages and massage packages, at a ceremony to be held in the Sport & Fitness Center lobby after spring break (date and time to be announced). But if you make the healthy changes recommended in this program, say the folks at the Fitness Center, you too will be a winner, regardless of your number of points.

"By participating in this program I’m provided with some structure and a goal, and that helps when it gets tough and you don’t feel like exercising," says Veljanovska, who says she hasn’t missed any of the scheduled activities so far. "I hope I continue to do so until the end of the challenge — and that I will develop a habit of regular exercise when it’s all over."

February 1, 2008 (AWP)