Written by Dave Levy
The gym is one of the favorite, and most highly-praised, facilities on campus. It was completely overhauled a few years ago, and now it sparkles with two levels of machines and brand new locker areas, as well as all the other workout amenities. The library, too, is billed as one of the nicest buildings on campus, almost nice enough to make studying a pleasant experience. Combined with the stately academic buildings and red-brick dorms, UR is an aesthetically-pleasing place to live.
There aren't many negatives about most of the facilities at UR. The buildings are functional and eye-pleasing, and large lecture halls manage to fit, self-contained, into the buildings. The student union, however, is oddly constructed in the contemporary IM Pei-designed style of glass and weird angles, and thus not at all practical. It does not really do the job of uniting the students as much as one would see at other schools. People hang out in the coffee shop, but other than meetings, not many student-initiated activities go on there. Perhaps it's the uninviting design of the interior or the lack of lounges and comfortable areas. Whichever the case, the student union falls short of its potential. As the one weakness in a collection of otherwise first-rate facilities, though, UR averages out pretty well.