Student fees are up a whopping 32 percent. Classes have been slashed and graduation requirements have been lowered.
Yet you’d never know it from our student union. The A-level of Ackerman Union boasts a packed Cooperage with a new Carl’s Jr., a humongous TV, a swamped Jamba Juice and a jammed Post Office Express.
Then there’s Game On! and Coinz, two large rooms stuffed with high end video game equipment ““ and both remain dead empty.
While the bright, neon screens cry out for customers, the abundance of empty chairs proves the lack of student interest. These services continually drain UCLA energy and funds, a huge waste of cash at such a financially straining time.
Both Game On! and Coinz are owned and operated by ASUCLA. Game On!, a computer and video game center featuring 12 giant LCD monitors and 10 supercomputers, opened at the beginning of last quarter.
Scott Alexander, manager for UCLA Student Union Operations, described the difficulties with opening Game On!.
“A third party was going to come in and run Game On!, but the contract didn’t work out so ASUCLA decided they could use their resources to run it.”
Because UCLA proceeded with this gaming idea even after the contractor backed out (seemingly for good economic reasons), we incurred higher than expected construction expenses that were higher than expected and we continually lose money due to minimal patronage.
As we speak, ASUCLA persistently pours scarce resources into this neglected service. While library hours are being slashed and student services are merging, the UCLA arcade remains open fifteen hours each day.
The idea behind these facilities isn’t the problem. ASUCLA aims to create a space in the student union where students can relax and enjoy friends in between classes. Game On! is “an extra avenue for mental release” as Alexander put it.
Both Coinz and Game On! are listed alongside Post Office Express, Campus Cuts and STA travel as student union services.
ASUCLA Executive Director Bob Williams sees Coinz as “well positioned to enhance the food and recreation atmosphere” on Ackerman A-level.
Alvin Li, a second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student who works at Game On!, appreciates the benefits of public gaming.
“It’s a nice way to relax, and it doesn’t detract too much from your studies. It’s nice to find people who share your interests and to play together,” Li said.
This is all fine and commendable. But amidst a disastrous budget crisis, if your contractor flakes, you must proceed extremely carefully with ASUCLA funds. I truly wish UCLA could afford to provide these resources right now. But we can’t. Coinz and Game On! are underused and overpriced, and simply aren’t sustainable.
Alexander said, “We have a very “˜break-even’ mentality” at Game On! and haven’t even reached that number.”
Meanwhile, students pay.
Game On! provides cheap Internet and gaming opportunities charging between $2.50 and $4 an hour. The problem is that very few people seek out these services. Internet cafes died many years ago alongside the development of increasingly powerful and economical PCs.
Tim Huang, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, said he thinks internet cafes are on their way out.
“Internet cafes were really big in the early 2000s, in middle school. I used to go to play “Counter-Strike” because I didn’t have a good computer. Now I would much rather play at home or at a friend’s place. Internet cafes have kind of phased out.”
Internet cafes are a dying trend. Yet somehow one landed in the lap of UCLA students, and we are now forced to pay for it. For our money, we receive a massively overstocked room completely loaded with 102 PC, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 games, including all the games we never were interested in buying ourselves.
Incredibly, ASUCLA spent loads on these services instead of on a Kinko’s or public computer lab to replace the suddenly absent computing terminal across from the bathrooms. Now we have to deal with it.
When you look at UCLA’s resources, cutting Coinz and Game On! must top the list of expendable amenities. Their lack of profit, high energy cost and minimal student interest prevent them from remaining viable services.
I’m confident that ASUCLA truly acts according to their motto, “It all comes back to you!” I would just much rather it come back in the form of reduced fees than an extra unnecessary 42″ LCD screen.
If you’ve stared inside Game On! and wondered what ASUCLA was thinking, e-mail Pearring at spearring@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.