On a stormy Sunday evening in April, only a few students ventured out to the fourth floor of Downing University Center.

Some were playing ping pong or pool, a few were watching TV and some wandered into the bowling alley.

Laughter and random conversations were heard over the constant sound of bowling balls rolling down the lanes and colliding into the pins.

Sunday is Super Bowling night at REDZ, where students can bowl all they want to from 7 to 10:30 p.m. for only $3.

Although student activities have always been a part of DUC, some activities like Friday nights at REDZ have only been around since last semester.

“The student center is for the students,” said Kristen Sand, program assistant at DUC. “We wanted to try to provide opportunities for them to utilize it.”

The activities

Student Activities sponsors several weekly activities at DUC. On Monday nights, wrestling is shown on the fourth floor television.

“There’s always a group of students that comes and watches it,” Sand said.

The Campus Activities Board shows movies on Tuesday nights and Wednesday is dollar night at REDZ. On dollar night students can play pool or bowl for $1 per student from 6 to 10:45 p.m.

Friday nights at REDZ offers different activities each week. This Friday will be “Country Night” and on May 2 Campus Activities Board and DUC will co-sponsor an end of the year bash featuring a performance by local band FLOORD.

There are also several monthly activities, including discussions of current issues.

“We try to have hot topics once a month, usually with about four faculty and staff presenters,” Sand said.

Other monthly activities include a career development series sponsored by the Career Services Center, and “Passport to Wellness,” a series of presentations on health issues sponsored by Health Services.

“A lot of the developmental programs are topics of interest or topics of concern, and I think there is definitely a core group of students that wants to take advantage of those opportunities,” said Director of Student Activities Scott Taylor.

More activities are being planned for next semester.

Taylor said he is working on bringing in students from the music department to play at DUC during lunch time.

Another program in the works is bringing in students and musicians on Wednesday evenings to play improv music in DUC lobby.

How many are involved

Attendance at each program varies depending on the activity, Taylor said.

“The Friday night programs have been growing,” he said. “They vary depending on what’s going on any particular weekend, but we are getting quite a few regulars for Friday nights.”

Taylor said they still need to do a better job promoting activities and events, as well as providing a greater variety of opportunities.

“We’re trying to broaden the things that are offered,” he said. “We’ve partnered with a lot of university offices and so many events are co-sponsored.”

Sand said that while some programs are co-sponsored by the different departments on campus, some of the money for the activities is drawn from the student activities fee.

Who is going

While a majority of the students participating in activities live on campus, many also travel from off campus to join in the fun.

“It depends on the program and what else is going on,” Sand said.

Richardsville freshman Anthony Atchley said he usually drives down on the weekends to bowl or play pool.

“It’s something to do other than sit around the house,” he said. “I come just about every weekend now.”

Atchley said he found out recently about some of the deals offered by DUC, including Super Bowling at REDZ.

“I think that’s pretty cool,” he said. “It beats any bowling alley in town.”

Bowling Green freshman Mike Crabtree usually comes once or twice a week to bowl or play pool.

“It’s a good place to come and blow off steam and it doesn’t break your bank,” he said.

Taylor said student response has been mostly positive.

“The evaluations have been pretty good but we still need more information about activities that students would like to see in the student center,” he said. “We welcome people contacting our office and saying, ‘Have you thought about doing this?’ We’re very open to suggestions.”

Reach Jocelyn Robinson at [email protected].