Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1978)
The games people play: College game room draws crowds ... and criticism By Scott Starnes Of The Print It is debatable what campus area lures the most people. Some say the cafeteria, while others vote for the financial aid office. But the game room is a close competitor as it attracts hundreds through its open por tals each day. College students have been accused of negligence by skip ping classes in favor of wiling away their hours within hearing distance of the addictive "ping-; ping-plunk" of the game room machinery.. One college faculty member labeled the game room as a "teen-age tavern." Another staff member, Kent Heaton, counse lor, said the College is turning into a "sleazy joint" because of the activities associated with the game room. Located in the Community Center adjacent to the cafeteria, the game room offers a myriad of mind teasers and dexterity- testers from pinball and pool to foosball. All of the "games" are coin-operated and an attendant distributes pool cues and over sees minor "policing" of the area. Dave Simpkins;,) department chairperson for adult basic edu- cation/general educational devel opment program (ABE/GED), felt that it is not the instruc tors concern to retrieve his or, her students from the game room during their class time, although several instructors have been making serious efforts. One evident problem,Simp kins said, is that many students financially funded by such pro grams as the Comprehensive Em ployment Administration (CE- TA), GED and WIN, a federal work incentive programi, have been skipping from mandatory classtime and retreating to the game room instead. "My General Education De velopment (GED) students are expected in class from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and 12 to 2 p.m. They should not be involved with the game room during these designated hours," Simpkins said. According to Simpkins, the GED program is federally as well as publicly funded. "As of now, our federal bud get has been used up and we are entirely dependent upon finan cing from local contributors in terested in the College's pro gram." Many of these local contri butors frequent the College's campus and immediately see the game room, Simpkins said. Therefore, what these people see at the game room reflects an undesirable attitude and could possibly hurt the College finan cially. "I feel these people have a valid concern," Simpkins said. Photo by Ted Me Heaton agreed by indicating the game room as "not good for public relations." Another problem arising is the visiting of non-college stu dents in the game room. Heaton said that junior high school stu dents as well as others have been tempted to the College's ‘ a game room. It's the stufl own discretion as to whethB or she attends classes or not, j According to Roberts n Simpkins, measures are beii taken to regulate the flow oi students in the game room! "Any student enrolled in my program that is attending thi . the College is turning into a ‘sleazy joint'l because of the activities in the game room . . .1 campus for the sole purpose of using the game room facilities. Stan Johnson, chief of se curity at the College, said, "If we could keep the non-students out of the game room, we could solve a lot of immediate pro blems." After counseling with various students, Heaton said that they reported a number of drug trans actions going on in or around the game room. As for drugs, Johnson said that no apparent drug problems existed except for casual usage of marijuana. It's been said that the game room lures the high school stu dents to enroll at the College. One college faculty member said that many high school students think the College is a leisure resort and a place to socialize because of the game room. "In contacting various high schools in the area, they ex pressed disfavorable reactions to the College because of the game room," said a faculty member. According to Jim Roberts,' Page 2 director of student activities at the College, the game room is a big revenue maker for Associated Student Government. "Gross annual earnings last year for the game room were approximately $9,500 to $10,000," Roberts said. Half of this income is deposited into the ASG revenue fund while the rest is paid to the companies who rent the pinball machines to the College. "Two flipper machines and one race car driving machine reportedly made $208 in one week and a half", Roberts said. Roberts said that he has been notified that financially-aided students have been neglecting mandatory classtime and spend ing this time in the game room. Therefore, stricter supervision will be administered to the game room, he said. Roberts expressed concern that the game room is a good facility and "not a havenfor students to cut out of class." The general concensus is that the game room should be reg ulated rather than abolished. Heaton said he would rather see the game room strictly con trolled than totally abolished. Johnson agreed, and said that the outcome of the game room should be decided by a vote of the student body. Ellie Headrick, college stu dent, said she "liked the idea of game room during design! hours will be asked to leave th« game room premises and the! names will then be forward! to me by game room monitors, 1 Simpkins said. Simpkins said that they lil have to resort to police H disciplinary actions in ord!to| control the game room J'I'll cheating the students in my classroom by constantly trying to retrieve my other student! out of the game room," he salt! Evidently, similar problem! are occurring at various others college game rooms through® the state, Johnson said. Only] their problems are more ad vanced and drastic, he added. 1 Heaton said solutions to th! problems arising from the game room should be determined by; the student body. "If the students have any; concern for the College's repu tation as an academic instituW they should take some time® analyze each problem created by the game room and express their attitudes by taking some sort of action for or against it." Clackamas Community Coll