The Bakersfield College student lounge is almost open.
“It’s almost ready,” said Dean of Students Don Turney. He said the lounge, located in the cafeteria, was scheduled to open last semester but some of the equipment hadn’t been delivered.
Turney said the Student Government Association has to adopt a policies and procedures manual before the lounge can be opened to establish a set of rules.
The lounge will include an air hockey table, Ms. Pac Man, House of the Dead, and board games such as chess and checkers. Pointing out the Ms. Pac Man game, Turney said, “I can’t tell you how many people have an affection for this game that borders on surreal. We figured old school games are proven winners.”
Turney said those games are not the finished product, but with those, the lounge is close enough to being opened.
He said the cost to use the games would be nominal. He said that students would be required to present some form of identification, either their drivers license or student ID card, in order to be given entrance to the lounge.
“It’s a little ragged,” Turney said of the lounge. “It needs ceiling tiles replaced, but where do you find 1958 ceiling tiles?”
He said student government members could have given up on the lounge idea, but they did not.
“These kids stepped to the plate and got it done,” he said.
The total cost of the student lounge was between $5,000 and $6,000.
He said SGA hopes to add an Internet cafÇ in a room adjacent to the student lounge in the future.