Students who resolved to work out in the new year may have to fight for a treadmill.

Traditionally, over 3,000 students flock to the Student Recreation Center daily during the first week of classes, said Ken Baker, director of campus recreation.

“This place is busy all the time, no matter what time of year it is,” Baker said of the Rec Center.

However, Baker accredited the after-break rush in part to students eager to fulfill New Year’s resolutions.

Losing weight is one of the most popular modern resolutions, www.wilstar.com’s New Year’s page stated, but the tradition didn’t start out this way.

When the early Babylonians began celebrating the new year some 4,000 years ago, creating the oldest of all holidays, the most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment, the Web site stated.

The Babylonians’ new year was observed in the spring, and the holiday, complete with vows of self improvement, lasted 11 days.

“Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year’s Eve festivities pale in comparison,” the Web site stated.

By the time the ancient Romans were on the scene, the party was still around, but the date had changed.

The Roman calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors until the Roman senate

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declared Jan. 1 to be the beginning of the new year in 153 B.C., the Web site stated.

Many early Christians denounced New Year’s celebrations as paganism, and the holiday has only been celebrated by Western nations for about the past 400 years. The Web site stated the early traditions were centered around the belief that what a person did or ate on the first day of the year could affect the luck they would have throughout the year, which carried over into the current practice of making resolutions.

New Years has since evolved into a time for not only making resolutions, but breaking them as well.

A USA Today poll in 2001 found that 115 million people vow to change one or more aspects of their lives each year, but 80 percent will not succeed.

Baker predicted the Rec Center will be packed with students fulfilling new year’s resolutions for three to four weeks, but attendance usually dwindles as personal goals fall short.

“By the time we get back on the 13th, a lot of resolutions are already broken,” Baker said.

Several students returning to school were still attempting to stay true to the various resolutions they made.

Erika Sundheim, a senior fashion merchandising major, said her goals for the new year are to graduate and to get in shape before entering the “real world.”

Exercise was also a top priority for Rachel Atwood, senior speech communication major. In addition, Atwood said she wants to quit drinking as much so hangovers won’t impede her from attending class, but she doubts she’ll be successful at either venture.

“I make (resolutions) as a joke,” she said. “Who really sticks to them anyway?”

Jayson Johnson, a speech communication graduate student, doesn’t have to worry about sticking to his New Year’s goals. Johnson refuses to follow tradition and make resolutions.

“I don’t think you need to have a certain day to make a goal,” Johnson said. “The opportunity is always there.”