Editor comments on lack of student activities for students

posted in: Opinion | 0

Weekends at Pacific University are filled with idle boredom and frustration. When students are not doing their homework, they are looking for entertainment or a way to destress and forget about school.

Despite the occasional student activity, the university lets students fend for themselves when it comes to activities outside of class time. Some may say this is the nature of attending a small school. The reality, however, is Pacific does not provide its student with enough to do.

Students living on campus, without any form of transportation, are at the mercy of what the university provides. While the performers brought to campus are quality entertainers, the frequency of these events are not enough to support the needs of the student body.

The Activities and Cultural Events (ACE) board, the student organization responsible for large scale activities, puts on seven to ten events every semester. According to ACE board Advisor Pete Erschen, the board coordinates one to two major concerts, three to four open mic nights, two to three movies and at least one other variety act each semester.

At best, with 15 weekends in the semester, students are left with five empty weekends. At worst, students have eight. Five to eight weekends of little to no activity is too much for a college campus. When a campus fails to engage its students, then alcohol, drugs and house parties become easy alternatives to empty weekends.

It is Pacific’s responsibility to provide students with activities. With the exorbitant tuition and the $124 activity fee, students should not have to struggle to find entertainment. Though there are other non-ACE board events planned on weekends, they often do not appeal to the general student body.

By looking at Pacific’s online master calendar it becomes clear just how few student activities the school offers. All too often, weekends are devoid of student entertainment. Events like the Boxer III Dedication or the Blood Drive are not events students typically want to attend. While these events are valuable, students need activities that allow them to escape from homework and stress. At the very least, students should have a place to socialize.

“I’d like to see a student lounge where people can just hang out and relax,” sophomore Gavin Calhoun said. Calhoun also said he and his friends struggle to find things to do on the weekends, especially because they do not have a car.

A lounge would allow students to order food, play pool, watch sports or just give them a place to be. The University Center (UC) tries to be a hub for students, but by nine o’clock on the weekends, unless there is an event, the UC is empty.

Unfortunately the UC is really only a place to eat or do homework. It is convenient during the week when a student needs to study, but it is not a place students are drawn to in their free time.

Ultimately, students need distractions from their homework and responsibilities. But because the university provides such a limited amount of entertainment, students are largely on their own.

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