The Daily published an article on the Terrace room last Thursday, Sept. 12 on the Terrace Room in Friley Hall.

I would just like to clarify how the idea of revamping the Terrace Room came about. A misunderstanding caused the article to state that the suggestion of converting the Terrace Room into a commons-type area “arose because of the now famous coffee shop ‘Central Perk’ on the television show “Friends.” I’m afraid that’s not quite what happened.

When a student at the University of Iowa died from alcohol-related problems last year, the incident heightened the Board of Regent’s concern over alcohol problems in the universities. This concern rippled out and touched our university.

The Department of Residence began looking into ways of curtailing alcohol abuse in the residence halls. Resident assistants were consulted, as they were seen as a sort of go-between between the department and their residents.

While the discussion was going on, the point was raised that there weren’t many places for people in the dorms to go in town that didn’t have alcohol involved in them. Then someone thought about the big empty room in Friley Hall and suggested that something be done with it.

And that, folks, is my perception of how we started thinking about what we should do with the Terrace Room.

Some might disagree on the finer details, but I don’t think anyone would disagree that “Friends” had nothing to do with it.

Right now, there are no solid conceptions of what the Terrace Room should be. The biggest consensus is that it should be used, it could use some refurbishing, and that its lights should be fixed (and the floor!!).

People have thrown in ideas about a weekend night club, a simple commons with a juke box, a cappuccino bar, even move the pool tables in there.

The Terrace Room committee realizes that some of these options won’t be feasible.

One of the first goals of the committee will be to determine what the students want in there, and how feasible each option will be. So keep an eye out. You’ll be hearing from us again.

Crispina Chong

Public Relations Representative

Terrace Room Committee

Senior

Journalism and Mass Communication