COLUMN: Too many peeps to play pool
The game of pool. It’s definitely a popular past-time; whether in bars where pool sharks take advantage of unsuspecting drunks, or in the safety of the fieldhouse on campus. A recent article in this very newspaper informed me that there are 324 USU students enrolled in billiards classes. The article details how the school’s PCI compliance policy is making two of the pool tables in the fieldhouse unavailable, awaiting a possible relocation. This has caused a relative uproar amongst the members of the billiards club, who are threatening a petition. Their grievance? The classes are too crowded.
Upon hearing this, I thought of my physics lab, where there are not enough stations for everybody to share. Last time I checked, I attended a university. I assume it is a place of higher education where the priority is placed on preparing students for a life in the world’s workplace. So, upon hearing that a physical education class that provides no actual exercise was being cut back and consequently was experiencing overcrowding, I felt nothing.
Not only is their complaint invalidated by their perceived right to avoid crowded classrooms, but the reason for the tables being moved is completely understandable. The tables in question are situated behind the welcome desk in the fieldhouse, a place where credit card transactions are performed. This is one place where access needs to be restricted. Identity theft is a serious threat, and we cannot afford to take any chances when it comes to preserving privacy. Furthermore, the two tables were separated from the main block of tables. It was an inconvenience either way.
The members of the billiards club probably understand the reasoning, but they demand that the tables be relocated so as to be used for classes. While I am not opposed to this, what irks me is the fact that they seem to feel cheated at the prospect of overcrowding. They cite such reasons as having paid their $50, assuming they would not have such overcrowding. Well, I didn’t expect to be in a physics class with 150 other people trying to wrap my head around a circular aperture either.
While overcrowding is the main concern, there are still quite a few slots open in the 19 sections of billiards that the school offers. With 20 available slots in each class, that would make 380 openings. However, only 324 are filled. This hardly seems like overcrowding … at least on paper. It’s true, I have never attended a billiards class. I wouldn’t know what it is like to have to share a pool table. I imagine, however, that there are worse things in this world.
So to anybody who still thinks the overcrowding is unfair, think of your own classes.
Overcrowding is a fact of life at USU. All we can do is make the best of what we have, and hope that the precious funds go to further our education. Not that billiards is less important than physics or English … oh wait, it is! If you want to play pool, go to the institute, or better yet move a few members of the class to the Gutter downtown since they are obviously used to seclusion. There are several tables there, and they were typically empty when I was there for my bowling class, also a Utah State University physical education course. In that class there was even a semblance of exercise. But who am I to judge? I may very well take a billiards class next semester to see how it is … to each his or her own!
Tyler Barlow is a sophomore majoring in computer engineering. He can be reached at tyler.barlow@aggiemail.usu.edu