By the end of this semester, Ventura College students will have a casual place on campus to play online games, visit MySpace, listen to music, and simply hangout without disrupting others trying to study.

The Ventura College Internet Café is slated for the much-needed modernization beginning as early as March. The renovation comes in concord with a new policy currently in effect in the library’s open computer lab, which restricts computer use to academic purposes.

Associated Students President Jeff Matt agreed that the Internet Café needs an upgrade.

“It would benefit the students,” said Matt. “The computers that were originally given to us were second hand. There’s only about three that still work.”

After using the Internet Café for the first time to register for classes, VC student Jimmy colomer noticed an upgrade was needed.

“It looks like it’s not being maintained properly for the students,” said Colomer. “It’s not like the library.”

The Learning Center, also known as the beach, was filled wall-to-wall with computers. The computers were intended for college-related work, including lab access for English, Reading, and English as a Second Language classes. But ASVC Advisor David Bransky said many students have turned it into their hang-out and disrupt the study climate by using the computers for gaming or browsing interactive websites like MySpace. The new Internet Café is to eliminate the problem.

The Internet Café upgrade would not exceed $40,000. The money will come out of the Student Center Capitol Purchasing fund, the same budget used to upgrade other student amenities like the VC Fireside Lounge. The Associated Students are considering hiring students for upkeep to eliminate potential issues of maintenance and security. The modernization is expected to be completed before the end of the spring 2006 semester. For more information contact the VC Student Activities Center at 654-6487.