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