Bowed over

by Bernadette Smith staff writer

Concentrate, keep your eye on the lane, take a few small steps, release the ball...strike! The game, the sport, bowling. To some, bowling is just a fun activity to occupy time on the weekends but to many it is a professional sport, which takes much time and dedication. Anyone can become a good bowler with practice and that is why bowling alleys offer bowling leagues for men, women and children. This gives mediocre bowlers the opportunity to improve their bowling skills as well as win cash awards for placing in the top five, for improvement over the season and even for the most dedicated bowler.

Bowling is not a complicated sport but one that requires concentration and dedication. In order to improve your bowling skills you need to practice and be able to take corrective criticism from other, more experienced bowlers. There are a few rules to keep in mind while bowling as well. Never step over the foul line, which is the point where the alley begins. Not only does it bring everyone's attention to you with the buzzing noise, but it is also cause for penalty when playing in a league. An.other rule when playing in a league is to alternate lanes. This means to switch between your lane and your opponent's lane with each new frame. Most bowling alleys supply enhanced monitors, for score keeping, which displays your name on the lane you should bowl on for each frame. Another minor rule, but one which most leagues enforce, is a weight minimum for your bowling ball. The normal bowling ball weight for a league bowler is no less than 10 pounds and as heavy as 15 pounds. The reason for this rule is that the lighter the ball, the less control you have over its direction. It is more of a safety measure for bowlers.

The scoring process of bowling can be complicated to understand but can be picked up quickly. Some symbols to become familiar with are the X, which indicates a strike, the /, which indicates a spare and the S, which in- dicates a split. With a single strike you will receive points for that frame from your total pins knocked down in the next frame. With a spare you will receive points for the first amount of pins you knock down in the next frame. So let's say you get a strike in frame one and in frame two you get eight pins down. For frame one you will get 18 pins and frame two will give you a total score of 26, 18 plus eight. After playing the game a few times you will quickly pick up on the scoring process. The split symbolhas no relevance to scoring but lets you know that you had a hard shot in that frame because your pins were split apart.

After playing in leagues for a while, one can become skilled enough to compete in professional tournaments. That is where the real money and excitement is for bowling. Competing in tournaments allows you to travel to different cities to enter different tournaments.

"It gave me a chance to meet different people," Ruth Richardson, technical services library associate said. "Going to a tournament was like getting a vacation and seeing people I'd normally not get to see."

There are championship trophies to win as well as large amounts of money. Becoming a professional bowler

Everyone can enjoy the sport of bowling can be a lot of fun, but also require much work and dedication. Having fun with bowling can be lost when competing in tournaments, but the thrill of the game is always there.

Speaking of the fun in bowling, haveyou ever heard of cosmic bowling? It is a way bowling alleys have drawn more attraction to the game. they turn the bowling alley into a club-like atmosphere with music, disco lights, black lights making the pins glow and prizes for getting a strike when there is one brightly colored pin in the rack. It is held on the weekends and runs usually from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., depending on the bowling alley. Anyone can go, but it seems to attract the younger crowd of 14 - 25 year olds. It is a great way to liven up the sport of bowling to young people.

"I wupped some ass," junior Azeen Keramati said, in reference to her romp at the Facenda Witaker Bowling Lane in Norristown.

So the next time you are looking for something to do on the weekends or even during the week, consider going bowling and have a blast.

Devon Bowling Lanes

Sun. - Thurs. - Open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Fri. - Sat. - Open 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.

300 Lancaster Ave., Devon

610-688-1920

$3.00 per game before 6 p.m.

$3.25 per game after 6 p.m.

Shoe rental $1.75

Facenda Whitaker Bowling Lanes

Open 24 hours, seven days a week

2912 Swede Rd., Norristown, PA

610-272-6547

$2.65 per game before 6 p.m.

$3.30 per game after 6 p.m.

Shoe rental $1.75

Editorial

We are payingfor their lack of planning

About a week ago, the students and faculty members of Cabrini College received notice that two of the parking lots for residents would be closed for construction. Since then, the parking situation, which has been a topic of concern for some years now, has reached a new low.

With the construction going on, the resident students are forced to park behind Founders Hall, in turn forcing the commuters to fill the Dixon Center parking lot.

The administration says that they are open to suggestions, and they probably are. The sad truth is that they should not have to be.

866 parking passes have thus far been issued for a total of 814 parking spaces. This stat does not even include unregistered vehicles, of which we know there are many.

Now we realize the probability of all of the registered cars being on campus at the same time is pretty miniscule. Yes, some students are complaining for no good reason, as the extra walk is only a minor inconvenience during the day.

The real cause for concern comes later at night. Public Safety vows to provide an escort service, but the quickness of their service is questionable.

Until Public Safety can offer more satisfactory service from the far away parking lots, those students forced to park there have every right to be concerned with their safety.

In the future, we only hope that the school will plan things out before they further inconvenience the students, rather than apologizing after the fact.

Attention!

This editorial represents the combined views of the Loquitur's student editorial board. It does not represent the opinion of any one individual writer or any member of the faculty, staff or administration.