Last year, Alisha M. Quintana '99 made a pilgrimage to Loker Commons every other night.

Drawn by the fast times, cheap food and fun crowds, Quintana decided very quickly that Loker had accomplished the goal set for it by the administration: to be a true student center.

But for Quintana, and many students at the College, the novelty of Loker has worn off.

Now, just 10 months after opening its doors to overwhelming fanfare and a true cult following, Loker Commons is in trouble.

"I never come here this year," Quintana says.

"The two times I have come here, nobody's been here, and none of my friends ever come here either," she says, gesturing vaguely to the nearly vacant chairs and booths around her.

What has happened to the facility center that Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 once said would be a "focus of undergraduate life in a way that we've never had"?

First, Loker's popularity among students is lower than expected, and perhaps waning even further. Not viewing it as the student center they were anticipating, undergraduates are staying away in droves.

Second, Loker appears to be racking up a pile of debt. All four of Loker's eateries are losing money, and a newsstand in the commons closed in the spring for financial reasons after only a few months of operation.

As a result, even the very administrators who were hailing Loker just one year ago appear to be conceding defeat: in interviews, they uniformly ask the student body for suggestions on how to make Loker the true student center it apparently never was.

The Problems

At night, the contrast couldn't be greater. From the main Yard through the gates to Memorial Hall, a pedestrian is surrounded by the dark vortex, another rainy autumn night.

Amid psychedelic "light brites," predominantly clean gray architecture, and kitschy cafe-style eateries, students mingle in the Loker Commons complex.

Most conspicuous of all, though, is emptiness. There's a lot of empty space in these commons, too much empty space for a Friday night at a college student center. This is the source--and the result--of Loker's woes.

Loker's problems apparently began right when it opened.

Despite its much-hailed opening and the $100 in Crimson Cash awarded to each student for expenditures there, the commons was losing money from the start.

Administrators anticipated that the Crimson Cash would draw students to Loker, attract them to its other features and keep them there.

But then students stopped showing up, so administrators scaled back the other features. And when the administrators scaled back services, students continued to stay away. Now caught in a vicious cycle, students and administrators fear that the $25 million commons will become simply an over-priced and underutilized basement.

"If we continue to trend the way we have been trending in September and October, we could stand to lose a substantial amount of money," said Leonard D. Condenzio, acting director of Harvard Dining Services.

"What we're finding out is that with the level of service and also the hours of service, that there's simply not enough volume to warrant the expenses," Condenzio says.

To these ends, Harvard Dining Services has cut the number of employees working at Loker Commons as well as its hours, according to Condenzio.

The coffee shop now opens at 11 a.m., as opposed to last year when it opened before 10 a.m.

The entire Loker complex currently ceases service at 12:30 a.m. instead of staying open until 1 a.m., as it did last year.

Prices have also increased noticeably at Loker Commons. According to Condenzio, prices have risen by an average of 4.5 percent from last year to this.

The student newsstand also closed, a decision made by Eric C. Engel, the director of the Memorial/Lowell Complex.

Although Engel refused to comment for this story, Undergraduate Council member Rudd W. Coffey '97 says the newsstand was a "big loser" financially because few students were using it.

Condenzio also blames generally low turnout on the commons' location, despite Loker's proximity to the Science Center, Annenberg Dining Hall, the Yard dorms and most Harvard classrooms.

Student Opinion

Some students, on the other hand, generally attribute Loker's decline to the administration's misguided vision of the space.

"The administration approached Loker from the beginning wanting it to not be a student center," says Coffey, a four-year member of the Undergraduate Council who has worked on the Loker project for several years.

Early on, administrators wanted Loker Commons to be an informal, quasi-academic setting where people could meet with TFs and classmates, according to Coffey.

But Coffey has insisted publicly since before the commons opened that this approach would not draw students to the commons.

And the students--including the ones who frequent Loker--seem to agree.

"[Loker Commons] is not the booming social center that the administration thought it would be," says Dunster House resident Michael P. Spence '99, who had dropped by a sparsely-populated Loker on Friday night to grab pizza with his roommate.

Students say the problem is that there simply isn't enough to do at Loker aside from eat--and, of course, study.

In general, there's too much studying at the commons, students say, and the space runs the risk of becoming the latest addition to Harvard's world-class library system.

"The administration needs to decide whether or not [Loker Commons] is going to be a social center or a study center," says Aaron D. Rosenberg '99, a Lowell House resident.

Rosenberg says he sometimes observes situations in which people who come to Loker Commons to study become perturbed with people there socializing.

One of Rosenberg's friends, who declined to give his name, was even less generous in his critique.

Pointing out that the intent with which Loker Commons was created was wonderful, this student says, "Loker is just one more piece of evidence of how out of touch the administration is with its student body."

Cillin J. Perera '99 touches upon a popular topic of discussion regarding Loker Commons: the idea that it doesn't appeal to the entire student body.

"[Loker Commons] is mainly a Quad hang-out," observes Perera, a Winthrop House resident who says it might be more convenient for students in the Quad to catch the shuttle there and back.

Other students say that because of its proximity to the Yard, Loker Commons functions primarily as a first-year hang-out.

Spence complains that, in addition to its lack of musical stimulus outside of the coffee shop and its lack of entertainment outside of the light board, Loker Commons is "filled with mostly first-years."

Another student says Loker appeals to a more diverse set: "It's an interesting dichotomy between grad students and freshmen," says Spencer G. Rhodes '00.

Asked about the stereotypes often associated with the Commons, Condenzio replies, "Loker can be a center for students, faculty, staff and grad students. There's room for everyone to be a part of the space down there."

In addition, a number of students say they have noticed changes in the variety of services as well as the open hours of this alleged campus hot spot.

Students cite the reduced hours, increased prices and scaled-back services as problems.

Of course, students aren't entirely displeased with the commons.

Rhodes, who says he studies in Loker Commons "morning 'til night," was overflowing with praise for the student center.

"There's a low roar of activity here...whereas in a library it's too quiet almost. [This atmosphere] keeps me awake if I'm studying something boring," he says.

But while students aren't entirely displeased with the commons--citing its convenient location, relaxed setting and decent food--a substantial portion of students in dozens of interviews say that the commons is broken, and an even more substantial portion believes it needs to be changed.

"If we can make it a true student center, then students will hang out there and the food will only complement the rest of the action, which would hopefully be enough to create an increase in food business," Coffey says.

Changes

The greatest concern Condenzio and others have about Loker Commons is not necessarily its debt, but rather its appeal to students and its function as a campus social center.

"Dining Services planned [for Loker Commons] a vibrant space that would have lots of activities. For example, more poetry readings, jazz bands in the coffee house, and more group meetings in the booths," Condenzio says.

The more recent implementation of "Happy Hours" at Loker, during which students perform for audiences in the coffee shop in evening hours, has been an attempt to not only raise Loker's revenues but also to promote the gathering of students there.

Meanwhile, the Loker Commons Advisory Committee--which includes four student members, one of whom is chosen by the Undergraduate Council--has been meeting once a month recently with Condenzio and other administrators to do just that.

Coffey, Vikaas S. Sohal '97, AnnElizabeth F. Stuart '97 and a soon-to-be-selected student serve as the student representatives on this committee, which has been active since the spring of 1995, according to Coffey.

Lewis says the committee is working to improve the commons.

"Though I don't think it's correct to say that Loker was designed as a 'student life center,' the Memorial Hall/Lowell Hall advisory committee was concerned at its last meeting about the degree to which Loker is seen as an attractive and entertaining place for students to gather, and the costs of maintaining its operations as they are now being carried out," Lewis wrote in an e-mail message on Thursday.

"As a result of discussions in that group, we are looking at the operations there in search of ways to make the space of greater utility," Lewis continued.

The student patrons of Loker already have their share of ideas.

Spence suggests a capitalist route for improvement for Loker Commons.

"They should contract out these services--have a Starbucks, Taco Bell and other well-known restaurants," he says.

Others suggest improving the commons by installing arcades and a television and having jazz music.

Coffey himself has many ideas about how to change the focus and spirit of Loker Commons, including televisions, DJs, areas with couches and pool tables, and a student resource center.

On Sunday night, Coffey introduced a proposal to the Undergraduate Council to convert the commons' former newsstand space into a resource center that would be staffed by council members and other student groups. His proposal was subsequently approved.

Coffey told The Crimson that this proposed "information center" would function to distribute publications, tickets, and other information about Harvard resources and student groups.

"We hope to be coming up with ideas on how to improve Loker Commons and will be soliciting input from students on how they would improve the Commons," Coffey says.

Administrator Response

Most administrators agree that changes are necessary.

"I think students want an institution that increases the sense of coherence and community at the College," says Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III. "We, therefore, have to strengthen student use perhaps by giving the entertainments of the coffee house a higher profile. I hope then that they will draw students to it."

Some are even pleading for input from students.

"We are struggling with finding the answers [to Loker Commons' financial/social problems]," Condenzio says. "My message is: it's expensive. We're open to any ideas, thoughts and comments that may help us."CrimsonMelissa K. CrockerSAM D.G. ROBBINS '97 and CHARLES L. BARZUN '97 in Loker.