When Rick Platt started SkyZone three years ago, he couldn't get a bank to back the project. Platt approached lenders with a plan to link trampolines to form an enclosure the size of a small basketball court -- something that had not been done before. His idea was to develop a game using the SkyZone court and charge admission fees. "I thought it would be cool to own my own sport," he said.

Some just bounce up and down. Others do zigzags across the unstable surface, while others do drills designed to get their hearts racing. Finally, some, quite literally, jump through hoops.

No time for breakfast and too much TV time are among the factors that can raise the risk of diabetes, Fitness magazine re- ports. In an article in its April is- sue, the magazine outlines nine surprising risk factors for the dis- ease, which affects about 21 mil- lion people in the United States.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is the quintessential commuter school, boasting 28,000 students — only about 2,000 of whom actually live on campus. This fact presents campus recreational services director Jeff Wells with the sometimes daunting task of persuading students to participate in intramural programs.

The nation's second all-trampoline SkyZone Recreational Center is scheduled to open in Chesterfield Commons in June.

Richard Platt, owner of SkyMania FunCenter, 4915 Steptoe St., does not like to let anyone leave his building without trying out his one-of-a-kind trampoline course.