Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 139
them in the market. We decided that it would have been a case of pouring good money
after bad and decided to close them down. In less than two years we were out at a
considerable loss, which was ultimately subsidized by Aerofit. It was another lesson to
be learned in the sui generis market of health fitness clubs. The most significant gain we
obtained from this adventure was the business experience accumulated by Dr. Kathy
Langlotz PhD, who had been with us practically since Aerofit opened and by Larry
Isham, who had just graduated from TAMU but had been working with us since his
student days.
The darkest threat to Aerofit was gathering in Austin. The Texas Legislature meets for
about five months every two years, which appears to be a short time for lawmakers to
pass their laws, but in reality is long enough to be dangerous for the economy of the
state and the population at large. Before its 1991 session convened, I received
warnings that the Legislature would be considering a bill submitted by Texas A&M to
provide for construction of a health fitness center that would be bigger and better than
similar facilities in the country. TAMU’s administration claimed that such an attraction
was needed because, although it was not directly related to its constitutionally
mandated core functions of higher education and basic research, it would help the
university recruit more students and better faculty.
As is often the case for small businesses into which TAMU decides to enter, the
consequences for Bryan-College Station health fitness clubs were not taken into
account. The principal users of Aerofit and of six other competing clubs in the
community were students and faculty. Without them our businesses were not viable.
Consequently, I swung into an energetic effort to limit the damages. It took me four
years of almost constant presentations to lawmakers at state and national levels, Texas
A&M regents, university administrators and to public opinion media such as newspapers
and magazines to wage the war. My efforts earned me the distinction of having my
picture on the front cover and be the lead story of the January 1995 issue of the
international magazine for the industry, called CBI (Club Business International) with
global distribution, as well as in several articles by The Eagle newspaper from Bryan.
I must sadly admit that none of the self-styled stalwarts of free enterprise that I had
supported as candidates found the inner fortitude to keep a tax-exempt government
agency from trampling on small businesses. They all commiserated with me but, to my
knowledge, not one clearly and unequivocally expressed this position to the decision
makers at TAMU. The biggest concessions I could extract were that the University
would not sell memberships to non-students, although visitors could use it at will; that it
would limit membership sales to a set number of faculty and staff; and that it would
make these sales at a price at least equal to what students paid, which was much lower
than our own rates. TAMU’s heavily subsidized palace of fitness finally opened in
August 1995. The university adopted a policy to force every student who enrolled for the
semester to buy a membership, whether or not he or she ever used the facility.
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