Public Leisure Service: Muir Woods National Monument

by Frances Ha

Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the U.S. National Park Service located in Marin County, California. It is a part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), which surrounds the San Francisco Bay area and is one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States with over 13 million visitors a year. The monument consists of 559 acres of land, of which 240 acres are old-growth Coastal Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) forests.


The ancestors of redwood and sequoia trees grew throughout the United States from 150 million years ago, but today, the Sequoia Sempervirens can be found only in a narrow coastal belt from Monterey to Oregon. There were about 2 million acres of old-growth redwood forests in California, but since the logging industry came to California, most of them had been cut down by the early 20th century.
In 1905, An U.S. Congressman William Kent and his wife purchased 611 acres of land, only areas with old-growth redwood forests remained uncut, to protect the redwoods of Sequoia Canyon and the mountain above them. In 1907, a water company in Sausalito planned to flood the valley to dam Redwood Creek. To prevent this, Kent donated 295 acres of his property to the federal government.
On January 9, 1908, the land was declared as a national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt, becoming the 7th National Monument and the first created from land donated by a private individual. The original suggested name of the Monument was the “Kent Monument,” but Kent refused and requested it be named after a noted conservationist John Muir.




There are various employment opportunities at the Muir Woods. There are jobs with the National Park Service, such as a visitor use assistant, park guide, biological science technician, park ranger, and etc. You can find job openings and apply on the USAJobs website (http://www.usajobs.gov), the official job site for the United States Federal Government, by clicking “Basic Search” and typing in “NPS.” You must be a United States citizen to be eligible for employment. Working with the National Park Service, you can play a vital role in helping to preserve America’s natural, cultural and historic resources.
You can also find a job as a clerk at the cafe or gift shop in Muir Woods. Also, there are many internships and volunteering opportunities available at Muir Woods National Monument.

The current issue for the Muir Woods is protection and preservation of plants and animals at the Monument. The trees in Muir woods are known for their height and age. The tallest one is 258 feet. The average age of the redwoods in the Monument are between 500 and 800 years old, and the oldest one is at least 1,200 years old. The National Park Service used to remove all dead material from this forest to keep it clean and reduce fire threat until not a long ago, but not anymore. The trees that fall to the forest floor help keep the soil moist by soaking up rainwater and also serve as a shelter for many of the insects and mammals in the forest. The dead trees that remain standing are called “snags.” They provide home and nutrients to many insects, birds and mammals.
Muir Woods is home for over 50 species of birds. The number is relatively low because of the lack of insects due to the tannin in the trees and limited volume of flowers and fruits due to the shade of the redwoods. The Northern Spotted Owls and Pileated Woodpeckers can be seen occasionally in the forest, while their numbers decrease elsewhere. The National Park Service keeps monitoring the owls within the Monument.

Meaning of leisure defined by the Muir Woods National Monument is relaxation. The fresh air and quietness in the forest can relax you, getting rid of your stress.
Also, the Monument can be a great place for kids to meet the nature and learn about forests, especially for whom grew up in urban setting. That is why many students visit the Muir woods for their school field trip.










Overall, I really enjoyed visiting the Muir Woods.
The fresh, cool air gave me relaxation, and also I enjoyed looking at the old, huge trees.
The Muir Woods National Monument is a public leisure service. It is funded by tax dollars even though there is entrance fee of $5. Also, it is protecting and managing natural resources.
There are many pros for working at the Muir Woods National Monument. You can work in a beautiful, scenic place, and also the job is interesting and meaningful, giving you the pride of serving your nation and protecting the nature. Since it is a government job, there are many great benefits, such as tuition assistance, retirement benefits, excellent vacation and sick leave benefits.
The cons for working at the Muir Woods is that you might get paid lower than working at commercial leisure agencies. Also, people who do not like quiet environment or those who like urban settings might not like working at the Muir woods, getting bored soon.

Canopy Club

The Canopy Club first opened in 1998, and refers to itself on its website (www.canopyclub.com) as the “only true concert venue in Champaign-Urbana”. While that may be a bold statement, and one I am not willing to fully support, they do have the most diverse set list that I have seen in Champaign-Urbana. Named as an allusion to rainforest canopies that cover the most diverse bioregions, the Canopy Club is committed to covering a diverse array of music. Whether you’re taste is rap or rock, indie or pop, this place has got something to please anyone’s personal tastes.

The Canopy Club has a great location for University of Illinois; it sits just over a block east of the quad on Goodwin Avenue in Urbana. Upon talking to Ben, a doorman at the Canopy Club, I learned that the head employment of the privately owned business includes owner Anthony Rossi, head talent buyer Ian Goldberg, and the head of advertising Seth Fein. Canopy Club also serves up Manolo’s Pizza and Empanadas, which is located right around the corner from Canopy Club on Oregon Avenue. While Canopy Club is mainly a place to listen to live music, they have so much more to offer. They are also committed to positive social and environmental change through hosting different benefits and informational gatherings. They have every amenity of the campus bars, with a completely different atmosphere. Canopy Club is a haven for students tired of watching drunken students grinding and fist pumping on the dance floor to pounding Top 40 hits.

The combination of great atmosphere and location would make almost any student happy to work at the Canopy Club. When I talked to Canopy Club employee Ben about how he got his job, he told me he applied at the beginning of the summer, because that is when Canopy Club does a lot of hiring. He said other popular times for hiring are at the beginning of each semester, and that they normally hire more people first semester than second. It seems that the application process is pretty standard; one must fill out an application and cross their fingers for an interview. Different jobs include, bartenders, security, and people to check i.d.’s.

The Canopy Club’s current trends include Sunday night’s “Pizza + Pitcher and a Movie”, Tuesday night’s “Piano Man”, and Wednesday night’s “Physical Challenge”. Every Sunday night Canopy Club plays a different flick and customer’s can pay ten dollars for a large Manolo’s Pizza and a domestic pitcher of beer. On Tuesday nights Canopy Club becomes one of the most crowded bars on campus, as the “Piano Man” sings and plays almost any song you could ever think to request, anything from Billy Joel to Britney Spears. Wednesday night’s “Physical Challenge” is a newer happening at the Canopy Club, and is a dance party as indie-rock D.J.’s play music similar to the styles of “Girl Talk”. As a commercial form of leisure, Canopy Club’s main issue is competition with other bars. However competition is not as much of an issue, as they offer a unique atmosphere, and it doesn’t hurt that they are the only bar on campus that 18 year olds can enter.

When I asked Ben what he thought Canopy Club’s definition of leisure would be he told me he thought that “leisure would be chilling with good people, good drinks, and good music”. Canopy Club’s main benefit is that they have such a wide variety of music to offer people in the area. When bands that have performed in the past include Lucky Boys Confusion, Umphrey’s McGee, Motion City Soundtrack, Girl Talk, and Flogging Molly, you just know there is something for everyone.

Overall, I was extremely impressed by the Canopy Club. There are many pros to working at Canopy Club; I even wish I would have applied to work there at the beginning of the semester. It seems like a very fun and exciting atmosphere to work in. There would always be great music to listen to, and you would get to listen to some great concerts without having to buy a ticket. No two nights at work would be the same, as there is always something new going on every night. The only downside I can think of to working at a place like Canopy Club would be the late hours, but let’s face it, we are college students, if you aren’t up until two in the morning most nights, you must be doing something wrong. The Canopy Club is a great example of a leisure-service system as it is a commercial recreation business that enables the facilitation of special events that provides a wide variety of entertainment for young adults in Champaign. While it obviously yields economic benefits, its commitment to social and environmental change also yields benefits for the community and environment.

Assignment #2:ARC-Campus Recreation. (Min Jun Kook)

The Acitivities and Recreation Center(ARC) is certainly the biggest and the most comfortable campus recreation building in the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. This building is recently renovated to provide dynamic opportunities for students of UIUC to enjoy variety of recreation programs in any sizes of crowds. The Arc provides primarily six different rec programs to students; such as indoor basketball courts, swimming pool&sauna, fitness centers, indoor squash courts, meeting rooms, and other facilities. The ARC building is located on 201 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL, and it usually opens at 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

At first, the ARC has total of four gyms that have minimum of 3 full basketball courts in each one. Especially, the Gym #1 has 6 basketball courts and it also includes score boards, so if some private teams or official teams want to have a real basketball game, they can use this gym to enjoy their recreational leisure. Moreover, those basketball courts are also flexible to be transformed into courts for volleyball, indoor soccer, badminton, and martial arts. Therefore, as long as they have proper place and their leisure members, they can joyfully enjoy their rec programs in the ARC.

Secondly, the ARC has huge indoor and out-door swimming pool that are opened for students and UIUC swimming team. Personally, this facility is the most favorable part of the ARC for me, and I occasionally visit both of in and outdoor pools. Indoor pool is opened temporarily in every morning and noon, and it opens from 5 to 10PM on weekdays. On weekends, they open at noon and closes at night. The time is flexible according to UIUC swimming team and ARC's private events. They always put the schedule at the entrance of swimming pool, and students can always when they are able to use swimming pools. Furthermore, ARC includes Sauna facilities and Shower Boothes right next to the pools, so swimmers can enjoy their hiegenical and healthy rec programs.

Thirdly, there are three floors of fitness center. Basically, the basement of fitness center is for weight lifting, and the first floor of it is for running, and jogging, and the second floor of fitness center is for bicycling and stretching. Most of the equipments are prepared in multiple amounts, so the huge size of fitness center can bear huge number of students at the same time. Furthermore, they provides multiple restrooms and service centers with multiple officers on each floor, so student can get exercise comfortably and safely. Furthermore, those equipments are very good in conditions because they are quite recent products. Therefore, students can enjoy their rec programs safely, comfortably , and joyfully.

Fourthly, in the lowest level of the ARC, there are total of 8 squash courts. Two of them includes seats for audiences, so many people can even enjoy games at the same time. If the students does not have squash equipments, they can easily rent them at the front desk as long as they return them. The squash courts are always opened, and ready to serve any leisure groups which wants to play squash games. Therefore, the ARC can provide dynamic and variety REC programs to the

students.

Fifthly, there are multiple meeting rooms that can be used by any people with appointments. In addition, when I was exploring the ARC, I could find people with formal dresses were gathered at the meeting room, and discussing about some kinds of materials that seemed to be relating to their lectures. Thus, I thought if any of leisure groups want to have formal meetings in quiet and neat places, the meeting rooms must be the perfect place to be. While the students are enjoying dynamic and active rec programs in the ARC, they can also have formal and calm rec programs in here.

Lastly, there are also a lot of other facilities that are always welcoming students. For example, there are cooking room which is also an actual classroom for cooking classes. Everyday, students are learning how to cook with the instructors, and on some holidays and special events days, there are special events held in the coooking room. Moreover, there are U of I wellness centeer and Body Work Associates that support students to gain better physical achievements. In addition, one of the most popular facility in the ARC is the climbing wall. It offers any students to experience climbing wall with safe equipments and great enthusiasm.

The ARC also has Cafe and Convenient stores near the entrance, so any leisure members can enjoy peaceful rest after their rec programs. The ARC is not the only one gymnasium in the University of Illinois but it is certainly one of the best gymnasium that provides great, extensive, and comfortable recreational services to the students in the campus. Therefore, I am sure that the ARC is great example of Campus Recreation, and if anyone is interested in leisure of Sports, the ARC must be the first and the best place to visit for their RECREATIONAL PROGRAMS. THANK YOU.

Leisure

Leisure in our opinion, is what people do in free time to rest, relax, etc. The things people do for leisure are then recognized as leisure activities. We would say that those activities would consist of any small things that bring about enjoyment during one's spare time, such as going to the beach, going hiking, watching a movie, playing video games, etc.