Imagine this: You’re ready for a night drama and gossip watching Laguna Beach with your fellow University of La Verne TV junkies. The Leo’s Den has the perfect big screen for the job. As your group approaches the hang-out spot, you notice it’s closed – and it’s only 10 p.m. Or picture this: Aiming to go pump some iron, you head for the newly renovated Fitness Center. You feel pretty good about yourself getting up at the crack of dawn to do your body good on a Tuesday morning, but wait, the center is not open til 6 p.m.

Students all over campus are noticing a certain scarcity to the operating hours of the University’s most populated student programs. Not to mention, fewer workers buzzing around these facilities.

Many of these programs are suffering from low student staffing from the ever-present hassle of cuts to the federal Work-Study program.

And if students using these facilities think they are frustrated, imagine the former Work-Study students denied the opportunity to work.

The recent Work-Study cuts on this campus have trickled down from the federal government and have meant many students are scrambling to find work off campus. Programs all over campus seem to be feeling the pinch and coping in different ways.

The Leo’s Den, in previous years open from 8 a.m. to midnight, has reduced its hours based on fewer student workers.

“It hurts that we can’t be open as much as we want to be,” said Chip West, assistant dean of student affairs and director of student life. “We try to be open as much as possible for the students to have their hang-out spot.”

As funds shrink fewer students are receiving money. Education remains ULV’s top priority, and student workers do only what they can to still succeed academically. The directors of stressed campus programs all understand students’ first responsibility. Given what they have, these programs are open and operate within their means.

Another venue on campus, the fitness center, has suffered from low student staffing.

The center’s hours have gone through radical changes as workers come and go. The facility has recently posted operating hours on ULV’s Athletics Web site under “Athletic Strength & Training,” and to say the least, they are a far cry from the daily 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from previous years.

“The hours are very awkward,” said Matt Durant, director of the fitness center. “But we do what we can, and take what we are given.”

Especially with the fitness center’s renovation, many are flocking to the center only to find it closed.

“Every department is understaffed,” said Stephanie Escalante, student employment named scholarship coordinator. “Departments are used to more workers to run the programs, but it’s just not possible. There are not enough students with government funding,” she said.

The federal government’s cuts to Work-Study hurt student pocketbooks as well as their quality of life here.

And while many of us feel frustrated with the University for eliminating our work and recreation opportunities, these very problems are going on at campuses across the nation.

We have the Bush Administration to blame and if students want a change, their efforts should go straight to Congress.

As the situation has gotten worse for the past several years, it is essential for the ULV community to become active in demanding a change.