A student bowling in TerpZone.
Offering billiards, bowling, video games and 50-inch plasma screen TVs, this university’s TerpZone possesses several integral elements of the collegiate hangout spot of fantasy. Located on the basement level of Stamp Student Union, TerpZone attempts to provide an entertainment-fueled safe haven for the overstressed university student in their minimal, seemingly non-existent downtime. For Skippy Dunbar, a freshman in the engineering school, TerpZone succeeds in this mission.
“It’s a good place to relax,” Dunbar said. “I just come here in my free time.”
Antonio Sierra, a sophomore mechanical engineering major who said he visits TerpZone four out of five weekdays on average, enjoys the atmosphere.
“It’s not super quiet like a library, but, I mean, I don’t mind all the noise,” Sierra said as he sat in one of TerpZone’s many cushy black lounge chairs. “I think this is probably where I do most of my work.”
However, TerpZone often carries a negative connotation among students at this university. There is a sentiment around the campus that TerpZone is, well, kind of lame. So why does a place that receives endless praise from the majority of students who frequent it still continue to get such a bad rap among the university population? Suhayla Ahmed, a junior finance and government and politics major, said she has had “a lot of fun” in her four visits to TerpZone, but has an idea on where it gets its reputation.
“I think it might be because it fits the scope of ‘good, clean fun,’” she said.
Alec Taylor, a senior economics and finance major and TerpZone regular, similarly feels that TerpZone doesn’t allow for college’s idealized illicit adventures.
“It’s not the typical bar scene or whatever, the typical college social scene,” Taylor said while playing a game of billiards with his friends. “College kids don’t like to hang out and play pool. College kids like to go out and drink.”
Senior communication major Ryan Welwood said his lack of appreciation of TerpZone stems from his time as a resident assistant in on-campus housing.
“As an RA, I was ‘strongly encouraged’ by the Department of [Resident] Life to bring new students to TerpZone and I felt compelled to act like it was the best place to be on a Friday night,” Welwood said.
Welwood also describes TerpZone as “the JaMarcus Russell of Maryland facilities,” a reference to the untapped potential of both the hangout spot and the former first overall pick in the NFL draft who is considered to be one of the biggest busts in history.
“While TerpZone definitely has potential to be a good hang out spot for on-campus students, it simply hasn’t gotten there yet,” he said. “Hopefully in the future they can reach the level of chill that the school thinks they’re already at.”
Among those who hold a positive view of TerpZone, Dunbar, Sierra and Taylor all mentioned the price of billiards and pool as another negative.
“If you’re a regular, then I would assume that you’re being charged too much,” Sierra said.
During the midday special, billiards costs $2.50 per hour, bowling costs $1.75 per player per game plus $1.00 for shoes and video games cost $2.50 per hour. For students like Sierra who visit multiple days a week, those costs start to add up, and it seems unfair to charge regular users the same amount as someone who comes in on an infrequent basis. A possible solution, explained by Sierra, would be a sort of subscription service, “where you get access to all the things but you’re only paying for one price.” The plan could work sort of like a gym membership, where a monthly or yearly rate provides access to all equipment.
While there certainly are polarizing opinions on the validity of TerpZone as a desirable destination, many seem to be indifferent about the subject. Several of the students present during my trips to TerpZone declined an interview, usually saying that it’s somewhere they almost never go and that they just happened to be there on that day. With TerpZone, this university might have a hidden gem, but the existing negative connotation still keeps this diamond very much in the rough.
