Trying to have fun with small town options

by Jaclyn Roco
Arts & Entertainment Editor

Beautiful trees, warm weather and quiet atmosphereah, the comforts of the University of La Verne, the school where everything is just a few steps away.

Or is it?

Although the university does not lack in safe and pretty surroundings, the shortage of activity available outside of the university frustrates many students.

Once the university buildings close down, students face a standstill as to what to do.

Food runs are limited to Applebee's, Heroes, Alberto's and Chili's, as well as various fast food chains, since everything else closes before 11 p.m.

The local bar, Nick's Place, provides the nearest entertainment past the midnight hour.

Lack of choices led many bored students to become creative in their plans on how to have fun after school hours.

Adam Raymond, 20, as with most other students, tries to make the best of the situation, by spending free time with his friends and his fraternity brothers. He admitted that although there was definitely nothing to do at La Verne, one other choice remained:

"Go somewhere else," Raymond suggested.

Going "somewhere else," seems to be the theme for those in the university.

"I try to get out of La Verne for fun as much as possible," Geraldine Bumanglang, 19, said. "If it means walking up to Foothill Blvd., then that's what I'll do."

Both Raymond and Bumanglang said they try to go to other universities or parties for fun. Cities such as Irvine and Los Angeles are not far on the list of places to go to either.

Shannon Nicholas, 20, who moved to La Verne at the age of three, complained that even parties would break up early.

Hunting for something to do was hard, she said, even when she was younger, so she is fairly accustomed to finding fun in small towns.

"I walked to the movies when I was young," she said. "It's pretty much we would go anywhere but La Verne."

A tip given by 21-year-old Eric Conley, from New York, was to explore the cities at hand before giving up on finding something to do.

"In the afternoon when I'm bored, I just drive around for new things," Conley said. His explorations led him to discover several bars, adding variety to his former choice of Nick's.

Not only was the new bar, "Our Place," cheaper, it was also different, Conley said. Although La Verne is short on things to do during the after hours, Raymond and other students said they agree that the university is not lacking in at least in one thing: friends.