Gamers on the Bucks Campus
will have to find somewhere else
to practice their hobby after the
game lounge was shut down two
weeks ago following complaints
from the Student Services department.
Student Services, located near
the game lounge, said there was
loud noise coming from the area.
Matt Cipriano, director of Student
Life, said there is still plenty
of room on the campus for socializing.
“They have all the tables and
chairs they need [in the cafeteria].
The cafeteria and the Gallagher
room are our biggest spaces on
campus, besides outside. There
are couches, wireless Internet, and
hopefully the TV will be working
soon.”
“In this situation we made a
compromise. We moved the students
to a place where they could
socialize, and out of a place where
they were taking a lot of heat,”
Cipriano said.
“I wish I had a more practical
solution.”
Until the Fireside Lounge reopens
in a couple of weeks, students
will have to work with what
they are given. “Space is at a premium
right now because of enrollment
and construction,”
Cipriano said.
Cipriano and Student Life Support
Specialist Dave Colello have
also received complaints from students.
Both insist that they are
“pro-student,” and are doing their
best to help.
“They have this perception that
we don’t like them, and that’s not
true at all.We renovated this space
for them,” Cipriano said. “They
felt like they were being singled
out because they were from a specific
group. But that’s not the case.
I like the group, I like that they’re
getting together and interacting
and hanging out on campus.
That’s what I want.”
Colello has similar feelings and
has been very involved with the
situation.
“I gave the students warning
after warning to keep it down.
That didn’t happen, we got more
complaints, so we had to shut it
down,” he said.
Colello has felt like there has
been some miscommunication between
Student Life and the students
themselves since the closing
of the Fireside Lounge.
“When the game lounge
opened, some students started
using it, and it was fine for those
few students to use that space,”
Colello said.
“I had one complaint from a student
who said that we told these
kids to go in [the game lounge]. I
just said they
couldn’t be
in Fireside
because of
the construction.
They
kind of naturally
started
going in
there. Before
you knew it,
you had 50
people in a
room that
holds 20,” Colello said.
The need for communication
between Student Life and the students
is deemed crucial to Cipriano.
He wants to help this group
and to know exactly how they
feel; yet, that connection hasn’t
been made.
“I would want them to be more
organized, like a student organization.
This would be a great leap
so that I would have people that I
could talk to,” Cipriano said.
Looking forward, the completion
of Fireside Lounge will vastly
change the outlook of the entire
situation.
“The game lounge is still going
to be used down the line. It may
open up once Fireside is open;
once Fireside opens up, it should
provide ample space for everyone,”
said Colello.
“The lounges right now are a
matter of trial and error,” he continued.
Colello knows that errors
have resulted from the game
lounge.
“We’ve had issues from below
the game lounge with the noise
created. Now, we need to figure
out what is the best use for the
space.”
One possibility is to move
things around to create a different
atmosphere in the game lounge.
“To give the lounge more of a
study feel, we could move the
games to a different area. As long
as the place has outlets. I’m up for
entertaining all ideas,” Cipriano
said.
“We’re dealing with these issues
as they come, and then we judge
what works and what doesn’t,”
Colello said.
“There will be challenges with
Fireside when it opens as well.
The lounge will be a popular
place, and there will be noise.
There’s a study hall next to Fireside,
so there could be issues
there.”
Despite some unrest about what
has happened with lounges and
uncertainty with what will happen
in the future, Cipriano confidently
reassures students, “Things will
get back to normal.”