Students looking for nighttime entertainment on campus, duringweeks filled with classes and other daytime happenings, have twonew options: 3140 Café and SMU Movie Nights.
Both programs debut this weekend in a renewed effort to bringafter-dark activities back to the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The3140 Café will have its doors open tonight from 9 p.m. to 2a.m., while SMU Movie Nights marked its first weekly screeningThursday night in the Hughes-Trigg Theater.
Several years ago SMU had a similar program, but the filmshowings slowly lost popularity and eventually ended altogether. Ina combined effort with the Program Council films committee,Hughes-Trigg Technical Manager Shawn Remek has worked to give theconcept—and night-life at Hughes-Trigg—newvitality.
“We wanted to give the students something to doafter-hours at Hughes-Trigg,” Remek said. “This issomething to do on campus at night, and it’s convenient forpeople who maybe don’t have a vehicle so they can see newmovies, too.”
With funding from the Student Senate, 3140 Café hasbecome a reality. Student Body President Chip Hiemenz, who haswatched the café concept develop, feels good about itspotential.
A growing trend at other college campuses soon developed intothe idea for 3140 Café, a late-night venue forentertainment, conversation, food and drink, said Tim Moore,Director of Hughes-Trigg.
“Tim [Moore] has worked really hard to make thishappen,” Hiemenz said. “I think it’s a greatidea, an alternative for students to interact at night oncampus—that’s the key.”
Opening night at 3140 Café will include performances bylast year’s Mustang Idol finalists as well as the chance toenter into a drawing for gift certificates for the iTunes onlinemusic store and a drawing for a new, 20-gigabyte Apple iPod. Forthose wanting food and drinks, the new Subway shop in Hughes-Triggwill stay open late tonight.
Though entertainment will vary, Moore said he intends forstudents to be the main providers. “We’d love to hearfrom them, whether it’s poetry, spoken word, acting, music orstand-up comedy,” Moore said, encouraging anyone interestedto attend.
Movie-going students will find their share of evening amusementat Hughes-Trigg as well. SMU Movie Nights began its weekly filmscreenings in the Hughes-Trigg Theatre with Thursday’sshowing of Van Helsing.
“There were really a lot of other schools with late-nightevents like this,” said Moore, citing Northeastern, ColoradoState, and the University of Florida as examples. “So Italked with some student leaders and then we talked to the StudentSenate, and everyone responded positively to the idea.”
Though students watched the vampire movie in the Hughes-TriggTheatre, Remek said the location for viewing can be flexible,moving indoors or outdoors. Remek also said on-campus organizationscan work with Program Council or him to either request certainlocations or to request that certain films be shown. ProgramCouncil rents each film from the distribution company for one weekat a time.
For now, Remek said he and Program Council choose movies fromthe options given by the distributor, trying to find the newestmovies not yet released on DVD. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26 in theHughes-Trigg Theatre, the group will show the filmSaved!
In an additional effort to attract people, both events are at nocost to students with an SMU ID. Guests are permitted when an SMUstudent accompanies them.
