Program Board to the Rescue on Your Lame Friday Night
It has been an exhausting week and finally it is Friday night. It is your chance to kick back and relax. You are sitting in your dorm room by yourself, all of your friends went home for the weekend and you are simply beside yourself without them.
By Tara Freeland/The Voice
It has been an exhausting week and finally it is Friday night. It is your chance to kick back and relax. You are sitting in your dorm room by yourself, all of your friends went home for the weekend and you are simply beside yourself without them.
You do not want to do homework, because it is a Friday night and you do not want to be classified as a “nerd.” What are your other options? Well, you could stay in your room all night and watch another rerun of “Family Guy,” the same episode that you have already seen nine times within the last month, but you rule that option out as well. Finally, you realize you have to eat dinner, so you make your way to the union, and on your way up the stairs, something catches your eye. A brightly-colored flyer on a bulletin board jumps out at you, and suddenly, you know what you will be doing tonight.
The flyer says that the movie Twilight will be showing at 7 p.m., sponsored by Program Board. You rush to the Huskey Lounge to get food so that you can make it in time. You have been dying to see it, but had neither the money or the time to go when it first came out.
After Twilight ends, you realize that most of your fellow movie-goers are waiting around and when you ask, they tell you they are all waiting for Black History Month Bingo to start at 10 p.m., another activity sponsored by Program Board. Upon calling out “bingo” and winning money, you realize that Program Board is saving not only your wallet, but your Friday night. Alas, one more activity awaits you as you realize that Program Board is sponsoring Midnight Pizza. If there is one way to get a college student anywhere, it is to offer free pizza. After stuffing yourself with pizza , watching a free movie, and winning some prizes, you head back to your room. Is this a college campus, or heaven?
Program Board is a student-run organization which sponsors various activities on campus. They work in conjunction with the student activities office and meet once every month to plan all of the activities you see brightly advertised all over campus. Program Board’s eight committees meet more frequently to discuss their specialized programs. The activities that Program Board plans and schedules monthly are too numerous to name in one mere article, but some of their more notable activities include bingo, movie nights, and Midnight Pizza.
Bingo nights in the past have ranged in themes from Safe Sex Bingo to Black History Month Bingo. If you think that there is no payoff in attending one of these bingo nights, you are sadly mistaken. Not only is bingo night filled with enthusiastic game players who provide comradery, but there is the possibility of actually winning a cash, or another prize. In the past an iPod was even given away.
Bingo is not the only game night the bingo/games committee of Program Board plans. Past game nights have also included poker tournaments, Dance Dance Revolution contests and billiards tournaments. This year’s new and anticipated “Are you Smarter Than a Professor?” is also something the games committee is working on for Ballroom Blitz coming in March.
If you missed that movie in theaters that you desperately wanted to see, make sure you keep an eye on campus events, because most likely, Program Board will soon be featuring that flick. Every week, Program Board offers a free movie that has been recently released from theaters. This cost-efficient activity offers college students a great night “out” with friends and a movie-going experience that requires no driving. And best of all, it is free! The films shown by Program Board are chosen by the films committee, who generally please all different audiences with their eclectic choices of films.
If you enjoy a free movie, as most do, you would probably also enjoy a free meal. Program Board is known for their Midnight Pizza party, which offers free pizza and soda for a simple flash of your student ID. You might be asking yourself how it could get much better, but just you wait. Program Board offers karaoke and late night pool as another incentive to get people to come eat free pizza (not that you should need much more than free pizza).
Remember, when you are sitting at home on a Friday night with nothing to do, Program Board is there to help. They offer free activities and a chance to participate in fun-filled nights with your peers; nights that you most likely will not be able to participate in again until you are in a retirement home. Go out there and take advantage of the wonderful opportunities presented by Program Board.
