Being among the many commuters at Cal State Long Beach, I often have spare time in between classes to hang out in the University Student Union whether it is watching some TV or listening to music. But one day I decided to try something different and use the bowling lanes I always see unoccupied. Then I learned exactly why they are unoccupied.
I consider myself a somewhat avid bowler, but when I got to the lane to find only a pencil and score sheet, I was in utter disbelief. It is amazing how much longer one game can take when you have to count all of the pins and add up your score figuring in the strikes and spares. Maybe for some extra math practice this would come in handy, but otherwise it’s just a nuisance.
This might not have bothered me so much if it weren’t for the fact that the lane broke several times while a friend and I were playing on it, and the employee simply told us to move down to the next one. A couple of times we had to start the frame over because when we moved lanes the pins were reset.
I came back another day to find out more about the state of the bowling alley and I talked to Jeannie Wu, a junior industrial design major and employee at the bowling alley. She told me that some lanes do have certain problems, but they know what they are and how to fix them when they come up. Pretty much, there are only short-term solutions rather than long-term repairs.
One would think that for what we’re getting it would have to be pretty cheap. It is definitely a good deal in comparison to any off-campus bowling alley with the student union only $2.50 per game and $1 for shoes. But compared to other campuses, it doesn’t look like such a bargain.
At Cal State Fullerton, they charge $1.75 a game and $2.50 for shoes while San Diego State charges $1.75 a game and only 75 cents for shoes. It is just around our price range, but unlike our school, they have new lanes with the scores kept on-screen; they don’t have to count the number of pins they’ve knocked down and they can leave their addition skills in the math classrooms.
With all the new activities that will be available once the rec center is finished, if the bowling alley stays in the condition it’s in, it will soon be obsolete and the clubs that meet there for parties may realize how poor the atmosphere really is.
New buildings and renovations are popping up all over campus. We can build three more coffeeshops so students have a place to hang out, or we can improve the old things we already have.
Personally, I would take a nice new bowling alley over another Starbucks any day. And with a bowling alley, the money put into it will eventually come back as business grows.
In an effort to form a campus community and make students want to be at school, we should be creating these places for them to hang out and bond after class. Fixing the bowling alley and the University Student Union is definitely a good place to start.
Christi Sabodos is a sophomore journalism major and a copy editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.
