Cue Club

Despite taking 17 credits this semester and his track championships coming soon, student Sean Cooper is trying to fullfil a dream. He plays pool whenever he has the chance in the UAlbany Campus Center. But, like others he noticed that the one pool table they do have is falling apart in too many ways.

The pool table along side several ping pong tables.

When you lean against the cloth it nearly comes up and the table is worn in many places causing everyone's shots to not be accurate. Most students supply their own sticks because the school only supplies a few worn ones.  The blue bed is fading and the wood is unfinished.

While the pool table continues to fade, the university has recently received new ping pong tables and equipment.

Ade Gibson-Eleshin says it's unfair that they too can't get new equipment and tables.



For a quick Storify version of this story's introduction click here. 

Cooper and his friend's dream is to have their own pool table club, The Cue Club. But the whole process is difficult.

"To become a group here there is a lot of red tape you have to go through because they want to make sure your not just doing this on a whim," says Cooper. He wasn't kidding either.


Step 1 : Write a club constitution consisting of what you plan to do as a club, who can join, academic value if any, and what it brings to the UAlbany community.

Step 2 : Elect board members (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer).

Step 3 : Submit an application to be reviewed by the president of student affairs with the names of board members and a club constitution.

Step 4 : Interview with member of student affairs.

Step 5 : If they approve of the club then they send the application to the president of student affairs who reviews it and gives temporary status.

Step 6 : A member of the group must attend a seminar on what a club should do, how to go about posting flyers, fund raisers, etc. then must hold three meetings with minutes taken at each and a student affairs official has to be present at one of them.

After all that they can apply for permanent club status and then apply for funding. That being said here is the constitution :



Student, Sean Owens, only plays occasionally but when he does he notices the many flaws of the table.

"The corners aren't proper, the fabric is awful, it falls apart, and it'd be a lot better if the balls all went to one location instead of individual pockets," said Owens.

Sean agrees that we need a new table and a nice one too. "Not one mass produced, but a pool table that was made by skilled craftsmen would be nice." A few companies like Wilderness Pool Tables are still putting their best men to work on finely crafted tables.

The art is not dead.

Check out my Cue Club Pinterest Board 
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Michael Baptiste is currently the vice president of their future club. He plays everyday for 4-5 hours and is constantly frustrated by broken and cheap equipment provided. But, sadly he will graduate before they become an official club and before they get funding.

"I won't be here, but if I do visit, I'd wanna see new equipment, and hopefully a new table." Baptiste and his friends all pooled their money together to buy the new things they do have now because they "just want to play."

That's all they're asking for.