It has been almost a month since the new Stinger Pub opened up on January 14. Previously, we had gone without a bar on campus for one and a half years, and many of us were excited.

Since the opening a month ago, many students have offered analysis on the changes.

Upon first entry, The Stinger has completely lost its vibe as a bar. With bright-colored seating and paintings on the wall that don’t relate to AIC, it feels as though you’re entering a hotel lobby.

The previous Stinger actually felt like our school’s bar. It had darker colors and AIC memorabilia hung up everywhere.

“When you walk in, it just doesn’t feel like AIC anymore. It feels out of place on this campus,” said senior Corey Momsen,

Another issue with the new Stinger is that features just half the space of the old one (and just about half of the fun).

The old Stinger housed pool tables, shuffleboards, and a video game room that were all used regularly by the student body. The new Stinger doesn’t feature any of these and doesn’t appear to have the room to either.

Sophomore Malik Webb offered his thoughts on the new Stinger.

“They need to take those seats out of the corner and put in a pool table,” suggested Webb. “It would increase the entertainment factor to the room even if only for a couple of people.”

Now while it can be argued that a bar doesn’t need those things to be successful, it certainly needs to be able to sell beer. Within the first days of its opening, the staff took away the option to buy pitchers in fear that underage drinkers were getting their hands on it. While this is a simple solution to protect against underage drinking, the legal adults suffer for their inability to watch the bar. This also means having to buy an individual beer every time.

This would be okay if they could keep tabs, but that’s not allowed either. Every time you buy a beer, the system has to swipe your card creating multiple charges on the account. The system is flawed and could use changes in procedure.

“It’s just inconvenient, nobody wants to swipe their card all night long when we could just have a pitcher or keep a tab,” said senior Deshae Edwards.

The one saving grace for the new bar on campus has been the events they’ve been able to host. With events ranging from karaoke night to movie night, events are hosted down there every week to draw students in. Some events have been major successes where the bar was packed while others events nobody showed up at all. The efforts being made to make this a fun space for students is evident, but a little lackluster.

The bottom line is that we as students miss the memorabilia and the fun we had in the old Stinger. The addition of a pool table and perhaps decoration changes would surely help this.

I also believe more student involvement on the events hosted in The Stinger would surely bring about a positive change in The Stinger’s attendance. Bringing back pitchers as well as the ability to create tabs would also add to the convenience of drinking in the stinger.

These minor things are holding back older students, like me, from letting go of the old and accepting the new. Maybe these changes are permanent and nothing can be done. My hope is it’s not too late.