Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Vincent Beiderbecke Gayan Amarasooriya, senior, communication science major, studies around midnight at the AIRC. [Click to enlarge]

The 24-hour Hornet Lounge, located in the Academic Information Resource Center at Sacramento State, has been in operation for three weeks now. But already, it has come upon some issues: Low student turnout, lack of promotion of the facility and fuzzy estimates for its funding.

Associated Students Inc. President Jesus Andrade, who has collected data on the attendance of the facility, said he is satisfied with the numbers.

For the first eight days the center was open, the average turnout has been more than 25 for the midnight hour, then dwindled slightly to 20 for the 1:00 a.m. hour, then it dropped off, but picked up again around 6:00 a.m., Andrade said.

"I don't want people to get the impression that it's not working," Andrade said. He said he anticipates more students using the facility in the weeks to come.

He said he expects attendance to grow after an upcoming marketing effort, and that the center should be especially busy during midterms, dead week and finals.

The facility costs $2,000 to operate each week due to cost of air conditioning and lighting for the building. However, Andrade said he does not think Computing, Communications and Media Services calculated five days and instead may have calculated the whole week.

Computing, Communications and Media Services would not verify the estimate.

Even though the Hornet Lounge is only on the second floor of the AIRC, ASI and CCMS will have to pay for heat and air conditioning for the entire building.

Since heat and air conditioning were not budgeted for this fiscal year through CCMS, the Hornet Lounge will be without them for the remainder of the semester. If students find the building gets too hot or too cold, Andrade said he will have to take some kind of emergency action.

Andrade said the facility will be in operation next semester and beyond. By next spring semester, the numbers will pick up to around the 80s or 100s for the week, he said.

He said between 3 and 5 a.m., the number of students is less, in comparison to the first three hours and last two hours the lounge is in operation, saying this time is when people "call it quits."

Unlike a previous 24-hour lounge in Tahoe Hall that closed in 2002 because it was not often used, Andrade said the AIRC is different.

It is more than just a computer lab - it is also a place where students can lounge, he said.

"That lounge (in Tahoe Hall) was just a computer lab," Andrade said.

He said the lounge in Tahoe Hall was unattractive and uninviting for students. The hall was inconvenient. Students had to trek outside to use the restroom and get water.

Another reason it failed, Andrade said, was because there were student assistants who were working there. They fell asleep around three or four in the morning, tended to leave, or complained they had class several hours later.

"These hours didn't work for students, period. Ours will work because we have security," he said.

He acknowledged many students are not informed about the 24-hour lounge, when reflecting on the low attendance.

To spread the word, ASI will pass out bookmarks, banners and posters, as well as place them at different places on campus such as the Hornet Bookstore and the University Union. They will also be out in the Library Quad promoting it.

In the second week of April, Andrade said ASI is planning to have a "give-away ceremony" where KSSU will play music, free pizza will be served and T-shirts will be given away to promote the Hornet Lounge.

"I don't see (the Hornet Lounge) being huge for the rest of the semester. Like I said, it's a culture; it will grow," Andrade said.

Andrade said if the amount of students does not pick up, he thinks ASI will still continue to go on with the program. It is "not really a costly program," he said.

Andrade said he and the board are not looking at the numbers as a way to determine success.

"If the 30 or 40 students that use it are happy, then that's good for us," he said.

Junior sociology major Courtney Smith, who was found studying late Sunday at the lounge, said she is extremely excited about the AIRC now being a 24-hour facility, and feels it is accommodating to students.

"(The lounge) accommodates large study groups and offers resources to students. It's a positive environment," Smith said.

Smith said she is at the Hornet Lounge five days a week. She said on average, she usually sees about 20 to 30 people after midnight.

"I am very excited about it, because I find my friends and I actually study more," Smith said.

Sophomore business administration major Moises Rocha also said the lounge is beneficial.

"At my house, I do not have a quiet place to do my homework," Rocha said.

Studying until about 2 a.m. around four times a week, Rocha said there are not many people who come late to study as he does.

On Sunday, there were about 50 students in the AIRC just after midnight.

Jacqueline Tualla can be reached at news@statehornet.com

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