When East Halls Gym memberships were made available last fall, the line extended throughout Findlay Commons.

"We had to turn a lot of people away," said Scott Etter, liaison from East Halls Gym to the East Halls Residence Association.

Besides East Halls Gym, five other weight-lifting facilities are available on campus. They are all struggling to accommodate the multitude of students wishing to use them.

Two of the five, East Halls Gym and its new satellite room in North Halls, are organizations run by students. The staff of the gym hopes to expand into other areas. The other three facilities, located in Rec Hall, White Building and IM Building, are supervised by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Assistant Athletic Director Herb Schmidt said lack of space and money makes the expansion of the three current athletic department facilities unlikely.

"We have no plans to expand simply because we have no available space . . . And our operational budget in the area of strength training is tight. We are budgeted to maintain and staff equipment, not expand," he said.

The student weight room in Rec Hall is the largest on-campus facility and the most overloaded.

"The worst thing about Rec Hall is waiting in line," Chris Harter (freshman-accounting) said. "It's usually about a 20-minute wait, but I've waited as long as 35 minutes before. Since it's free, I don't really mind the wait. If I had to pay to come here, it wouldn't bother me."

Andy Schmitt (junior-agriculture marketing) said the lines and the hours of the room made him quit using it.

"I joined an off-campus gym not because the equipment was better, but because the hours were far more convenient to my schedule," he said. "Plus, there's no waiting in long lines like Rec Hall's."

The room is open for an hour at lunchtime and from 3-10 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is also open from 12-5 Saturday afternoon and 5-10 Sunday evenings. The room includes a variety of free weights -- spot racks, dumbbells and approximately 15 benches. It also has a full line of Nautilus equipment.

However, Chris Edwards (freshman-marketing) said the equipment could be better. "Most of the weights here are pretty old. I'd like to see them get a better variety of dumbbells, too."

According to Chip Harrison, the strength training specialist for the athletic and weight rooms in Rec Hall, Rec Hall is doing all it can to accommodate those wishing to lift. But, because of safety regulations and classes, the room can only take only 55 students at a time.

Harrison said that he is almost in a catch-22 situation; while he tries to meet student demand by keeping the room open for more hours, he must also respond to the ever-increasing demand for weightlifting classes. Any plans to expand the facility are unfeasible because it is bordered by two other rooms and a hallway.

Harrison said Monday is the busiest day of the week and the opening hour and after-dinner hour are busy times every day. He estimates that the wait can average 15-20 minutes during these periods.

"(But) most of the time, the line is generally not that long because the turnover rate of people leaving is fast," he said.

In the future, Harrison would like to see more money given to make more space available to students. He also hopes to work with East Halls Gym to provide convenient open hours for all students.

Vance McCulla, the director of club sports, oversees the weight room in IM Building. He tries to keep the room open as much as possible while staying within a limited budget. The room stays open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. It is composed entirely of durable Nautilus weights and needs no supervisors.

While the room does cycle some new equipment, large purchases are generally avoided. McCulla said only genuine, branded parts from the Nautilus company are bought for the machines. Because those parts are expensive, repair is infrequent.

Eunice Hudzik supervises a small weight room consisting of primarily free Universal weights in White Building. Like the IM weight room, it is open for a good portion of the day. Its hours are from 7 a.m. to 12:35 a.m.

While McCulla, Hudzik and Harrison all report to the Athletic Department, East Halls Gym is a student-run organization. Formed below Fisher Hall in 1986, it has grown rapidly. In response to student interest, the staff founded a weight room in North Halls this past year.

Jim Vercellotti, vice president of the organization, said that when it bought new equipment for East Halls this year, it donated the old equipment to the room in North Halls.

A group of students in South Halls is planning to open a weight room there. East Halls Gym is hoping to provide this group with funds by Fall 1990, Vercellotti said.

"We are a service organization," he said. "In expanding, we're trying to provide a service that is greatly demanded by Penn State students."

Expansion is taking place within East Halls Gym, also.

The gym currently offers 350 male memberships on a semester basis, and those who sign up have the option of joining for the year. The cost stands at $40 per semester and $70 per year.

To increase participation from female students, their memberships are unlimited and are offered at a reduced price of $15 per semester, $25 per year.