Clackamas Community College
Vol. XII, No?9
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 1978
Game room: more
than playing games
The controversy surrounding
the College game room has
centered on whether the best
use is being made of the
designated space.
students involved in the
Association of College Unions
International (ACU-I) tour­
naments,” Baker said.
physically, Roberts said. “Jack
White, professional billiards
player,, said that billiards is the
second most popular par­
One of the functions of the
ACU-I “is to provide a cultural,
social
and
recreational
Of The Print
program, aiming to make free­
In an effort to benefit the time activity a cooperative fac­
total campus community, tor with study in education.”
many departments have ex­ The ACU-1 was designed for
pressed their desire to make students who wish to demon­
practical usage of the game strate their expertise in chess,
room location. Yet, thoroughly
backgammon, billiards, table
criticized since its inception, the tennis, etc., Baker said. “If not
game room benefits the faculty for the funds from game room
and students both directly and revenue, many of these
indirectly.
students would not be able to
ticipantsport. He (White) could
not have come to the College
and set up his tournament if
not for the pool tables in the
game room,” Roberts said:
“We have such a low student
By Scott Starnes
Photo by Kelly Laughlin
■ snow last week seemed a pain to many but not to this
Biographer who found beauty in the beast.
There are many positive
facets to the game room which
many people are not aware of,
said Debbie Baker, Student Ac­
tivities counselor. “A generous
portion of the revenues ob­
tained from the game room are
allotted to many of the College
Lid staff feels concern
ver student response
I By Elena Vancil
■0) The Print
| A light initial response from
Kudents, after the recent raise
lin work study wages awarded
King the fall term, concerns
wiembers of th College Finan-
Icial Aid Department.
Mick Thompson, financial
laid officer, espressed concern
Ki a “surprisingly minimal”
■response from
students
■lowing the recent raise in the
■work study budget. This raise
I results in an additional $100
per term, available for all finan-
II aid recipients.
»‘Mv reaction is that, either
the need isn’t as critical as we
■might it was, or it is just too
Kar., to expect a response.,”
| Thompson
said.
“More
■dents may decide to take
Wantage of the available fun-
Ks in December or January. I
Kn a little disappointed that we
Kidn’t draw more interest from
■the students.”
■Another topic of speculation
■ concern is a notable
■cline in the amount of Basic'
Educational Opportunity Gran-
I ts (BEOG) awarded during the
Ell term, as compared to
■vious years. According to
Mrds, this decline accounts
■•25,000 less than last year
H|n out, Thompson said.
“We have declined 22 per­
cent from what we .were, at this
time last fall,” Thompson said.
“This decline is not typical of
other colleges, arid it is only the
basic grant that has decreased.
All other forms of financial aid
have stayed at the same ap­
proximate level.”
Confusion
and
discouragement on the part of
the student, during the ap­
plication process, has been
considered a factor to the
decline.
According to Thompson,
many students encounter
problems with the BEOG com­
puter repeatedly writing backto
them for additional infor­
mation.
This results in
discouragement
and
in-
timidataion. According to
records, 75 percent of the
requests for additional infor­
mation, nationwide, are not
returned.
“We have calculated that
there are 65 to 75 students on
campus that are eligible for
funds, and not aware of it,”
Thompson said. “If students
ahve been discouraged by red
tape, or have applied for a
BEOG and been turned down,
we encourage them to bring
their forms to the financial aid
department and let us look into
it.”
On the national scene, the
Middle Income Assistance Act,
a new program, is “accounting
for the biggest influx of financial
aid dollars ever,” Thompson
said.
Effective for the 1979-80
school year, a $.1.2 billion fund
was signed by President Jimmy
Carter this month. Results will
include an increase in the
family income limit for BEOG
eligibility. The present ceiling
stands at $15,000 a year. It will
be increased to $25,000,
Thompson said.
The original $25,000 a year
eligibility limit on student loans
is also no longer in effect as a
result of this action. Effective
immediately, there is no in­
come ceiling on student loans.
“The result of this budget in-
’crease, will be greater ac-
cesibility for middle, income
students far beyond most
students’ expectations,”
Thompson said. “I would en­
courage all students to watch
for the January applications.”
input in outside activities that
by losing such a show as that of
Jack White, there would be lit­
tle outside of academics for the
students to do.”
continue to the regional tour­
naments.”
Besides the funding of the
ACU-1 tournaments, the game
room also provides revenue for
the bowling team, he added.
But the main purpose of the
game room is “to provide a
service for students,” said Jim
Roberts, director of student
activities. “It is an academic
and social rpedium in which the
student can relax and com­
municate with other students.”
Outside sources have ex­
pressed their dissatisfaction in
the game room and have
suggested relocating it. To
move the room elsewhere,
whether off campus or to
another location would be
taking away from the total
“Many people, when they
decide to enroll in College, do
so not solely for the sake of
going to school, studying, then
'going home, but to meet new
program,
Mike McCarty,
president of ASG said. “This is
a place for the students to be
themselves. By moving, for in­
stance, the game room off
campus completely, many
students would seek the game
room activities elsewhere. This
people, become up to date on
current subject matter and
make new friends. The game
room was designed specifically
for this purpose and has
proven effective in this way,”
Roberts’said. “Friendship is the
key part to the game room en­
vironment.”
According to JoAnn Mc­
Cauley, ASG secretary, the
game room is a place for the
athletic as well as the non-
athletic
person.
“Many
students don’t care to par­
ticipate in physical sports and
therefore enjoy playing billiar­
ds, foosball or chess. The
students need this diver­
sification,” she said.
Julia Chitty, ASG senator,
said that the game room is a
great tension release for the
students who use it'and said
that it develops the students’
motorskills which will benefit
the student in the classroom.
“In billiards, various forms of
mathematics are used along
with skilled hand-eye coor­
dination,” she said.
“I want to stress that a
student with any problem or
question concerning financial
Many outside. College ac­
aid, bring it to us. We make a
special effort to be accessible to tivities depend on the game
room both financially and
students for this purpose.”
means that many students
would have to go into town to
play billiards or foosball which
really gives them no incentive
to return to the College and at­
tend their classes,” McCarty
said. “A retent survey of
student and faculty opinions of
the game room concluded that
the game room is a relaxing,
competitive atmosphere which
acts as a good influence on
sportsmanship conduct.” *
“Students need to be com­
petitive,” McCauley said.
These students who frequent
the game room need to par­
ticipate in a competitive at­
mosphere.
The game room is not just at­
tended by the same old
students, but by students
ranging in age from 16 to
whatever, Chitty said. “It is a
mixture of all ages.”
Problems do exist with the
game room as with all depar­
tments, but the positives ap­
pear to outweigh the negatives
in the game room controversy,
Roberts said.
I