Beginning this quarter, football enthusiasts and trivia aficionados can sit down and enjoy a cold one by partaking in one of the Hub’s many After Hours activities.

Funded by the Students’ Initiative, a lock-in fee approved last fall during an Associated Students special election, the UCen’s “After Hours @ the Hub,” offers various free late-night events on campus. The new schedule will serve as a supplement to events hosted by other on-campus groups like A.S. Program Board and the Office of Student Life’s After Dark Calendar. Events now hosted in the Hub include Monday Night Football viewing parties, DJ dances, concerts and a movie-trivia competition.

According to Hub Manager Jill Singletary, the venue hopes to attract a diverse crowd.

“We are looking to target all age groups to revitalize the Hub,” Singletary said. “For most of the events, we have Chilitos open so you can drink beer if you want to.”

So far this year, the Hub has hosted Welcome Week activities aimed mainly at freshmen, including an 80s-themed dance, a concert last weekend and Hermanos Unidos’ annual PRE SHOCK dance, which drew about 850 students.

Despite the successful PRE SHOCK, Singletary said most of the other activities were “mildly attended,” noting extra competition from I.V. during the first few weekends of the year, especially for freshmen.

Janette Beach, a second-year biology major who attended the 80s dance, said the events were a fun alternative to I.V. parties, but that more advertising was needed to boost attendance.

“I think the events are great, but it doesn’t seem like there was enough publicity about it, so there weren’t as many people as there could have been,” Beach said.

The venue also has events planned on a regular basis. Mondays from 4 to 8 p.m., the Hub will screen ABC’s Monday Night Football games on newly installed flat-screen televisions, complete with social hour specials at Chilitos. Thursday nights at 7 p.m. will feature Cinemania, a movie trivia game culminating with a tournament on Oct. 18.

That same day, the Hub will present “Shout it Out Bingo,” featuring hosts William and Bingo Boy.

Singletary said he hopes the Hub’s events will provide a nice alternative so that students are not frequently forced to drive downtown to find entertainment.

“When A.S. or another group is not having an event, I will put one on,” Singletary said.

Student groups looking to put on their own events can also use the Hub, and may even receive potential funding from the After Hours calendar. The UCen will not fund events promoting or limited to a specific group, but will consider co-sponsoring clubs putting on charity events, Singletary said.

Students interested in learning more about events in the Hub can look online at the UCen website at http://www.ucen.ucsb.edu/index.html or the Hub group on Facebook.