Taking a break from the stress and anxieties of finals is important for students and their mental health. Fortunately, Associate Student Productions (ASP) held their last free bowling night of the semester at Double Decker Lanes, on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. 

The theme of the night was “Ugly Sweater,” which celebrated the holiday season and gave students the chance to look their best while wearing their worst. 

ASP hosts free bowling on the first Thursday of every month. The only thing students need to participate is their SSU Student ID.

Friday night was filled with laughter and cheers as the sorority Alpha Xi Delta - the Theta Beta chapter,  supported the organization Autism Speaks by holding their annual Xi Man event. 

Xi Man is a male pageant where one male represents each participating fraternity. Alpha Epsilon Pi was the proud winning chapter in last year’s competition. This year’s Xi Man pageant was hosted in the Cooperage on Friday Nov. 30. All of the proceeds were donated to Autism Speaks. 

Autism Speaks is an organization dedicated to promoting solutions and offers advocacy and support to families who have member with Autism. They work to increase acceptance and understanding of people on the Autism spectrum. 

Associate Students Productions, more commonly know as ASP, spooked students with it’s second Haunted House for Halloween. 

It was hosted on the third floor of the Student Center in the ballrooms. Sammi Glatt, graduating Senior Communications major, was in charge of this year’s event. 

“We do everything for the students by the students. Halloween is a huge thing on campus and we feel the students really appreciate it when we do the Haunted House,” Glatt said. 

The HUB is most famous for its safe space and accepting environment, which is something they pride themselves on. This year, they added a new Crochet Night to their Self Care program. Everyone sat in a circle and began crocheting. 

The supplies were all in a table in the middle of the room so everyone could reach them. For the students that didn’t know how to start or what to do, there were a few experienced students that walked around and helped. They were more than happy to help anyone who was having difficulties, as it hard to get at first.

As a student, sometimes juggling everything that life throws at you can be challenging. Classwork on top of work, internships and other activities can be daunting. We wanted to know what students choose to do with their free time while on campus, what helps them during the week to relax and breathe and how they prefer to spend their time on campus.   

Most students are unaware of what Late Nite Art is. Many walk into the room expecting to have a casual craft night with friends. In fact, it is a facilitated experience that uses art to communicate and break through walls and express yourself. Thursday Oct. 11 was the first Late Nite Art of the year on Sonoma State campus.   

Kathryn Conklin, a senior at Sonoma State University, is  one of the students that’s fallen in love with roller derby. Conklin plays for Rohnert Park’s very own team: The Resurrection Roller Girls. “Our league provides opportunities for athletes to achieve their maximum potential through the sport of amateur roller derby while remaining active in our local community,” their website states. Their home rink is Cal-Skate.

The gentlemen of the fraternity Phi Delta Theta, or more commonly known as “Phi Delt,”  are very passionate about their philanthropy. They will be bringing back their 19th annual charity event, Teeter Totter, on Oct.15 through 19. It is a 104 hour long event. All of the chapter’s proceeds will be donated to The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Greek life organizations have the opportunity to win money for their philanthropies as well.

Lobos Open Mic night is a great place to get an opportunity to perform in front of an audience, to be yourself and just have fun. Laura McLaren, transfer Senior and Business major, experienced her first Open Mic night playing the guitar and singing two of her favorite songs. “It was my first time ever playing guitar in public and it was really good,” McLaren said.  “I’ve been practicing a lot since I’ve only been playing for about six months. I would love to play at every Open Mic night and even try learning another instrument,” she said.

If you want to meet new people that come from different backgrounds and have diverse ideals, go to The HUB. The HUB stands for Honoring the past, Uniting the present, and Building the future. Their mission is to celebrate everyone despite their differences and to create a safe, comfortable space. They are located on campus on the second floor in the Student Center.

One of the Hub’s attractive events every year  is their movie nights on the Green Music Center lawn. Friday, Sept. 7 was the first event of the year for the Social Justice Film Series introducing the film “The Black Panther.” Hanna Green, a senior majoring in Kinesiology, said, “I think one thing to take away from the movie is when they were debating on whether or not to help outsiders and have it backfire. But in the end, they help people that are outside of their community. A lesson that although there are risks that accompany integration of different cultures, the collaborative benefits outweigh those risks.” 

Campus Movie Fest is a student film competition festival that travels around to different colleges and universities. It was started in 2001 by four students at Emory University, and since then has assisted more than 1,000,000 students, providing them with training and vital technology. Campus Movie Fest has teamed up with Amazon Prime Video to stream student films from all around the world. They selected the top 25 short films out of thousands of submissions from the past school year to be streamed online. The students had only one week to create the film using all their own ideas and skills. The 25 films chosen came from 19 universities and colleges from all around. Sonoma State’s very own Sam Malcolm Houser and Bria Kathryn Gabor were amongst those lucky winners. Their short film is called “Still Around”, which won the Silver Tripod Award for Best Director, and is currently available online for viewing now.