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First-year art student Carlos Rogel plays pool in the X-Cape Arcade, which recently moved to its

When third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student Jieshan Lin makes it to UCLA in the mornings, he’s usually stuck on campus all day – it’s too inconvenient to drive back to his Sepulveda Boulevard home between classes.

Most days, Lin kills time before his next class by camping out in one of the study lounges on campus, especially the Ackerman Viewpoint Lounge, where students commonly study, relax or take power naps.

So when Lin made his usual walk to the Viewpoint Lounge on Tuesday morning, hoping to spend his free time preparing a pre-lab for his afternoon chemistry class, he was startled to find that the X-Cape Arcade had replaced the study area.

Other students like Lin may have noticed X-Cape’s change of venue from its former location near the Cooperage to the room previously known as the Viewpoint Lounge.

The arcade has been relocated in preparation for Jamba Juice’s arrival in spring quarter.

The Associated Students UCLA first developed the plan to bring Jamba Juice to Ackerman at the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year.

Now the construction for the smoothie vendor – which will replace the services provided by Tropix in the first-floor Ackerman food court – will begin in a matter of days, said Jerry Mann, the director of the ASUCLA student union and student support services.

The venue for the new Jamba Juice will be fairly unique, in that it will include a lounge area in addition to the typical Jamba Juice store configuration, Mann said.

This lounge area will be separated from the counter and the store’s tables by some physical demarcation, such as a railing, but will not be removed from the Jamba Juice area by a wall.

Students have expressed concern that the noise created by Jamba Juice may eliminate the lounge as a possible study area.

For students like Lin, the loss of a quiet study space in Ackerman removes another option from what is already a dearth of possibilities.

“There are so few study lounges on campus, and most of them are so crowded that it seems a shame they’re removing one of them,” Lin said.

With the noise of X-Cape in the background, students who need absolute quiet when studying may find that the A-level lounge of Ackerman is not the place to go anymore.

“If I wanted a quiet place to study, I wouldn’t come to Ackerman. I’d go to Powell,” said third-year biology student Taera Robbins.

But Lin feels that Powell is not as ideal a place to study as the Viewpoint Lounge once was.

“I never study in Powell because it’s always so crowded and I can never find space,” Lin said.

If a quiet place to study or sleep is what students are looking for, there are other study lounges available to students – such as those in Kerckhoff Hall and on the third floor of Ackerman, Mann said.

“We’re also hoping the design of the Jamba Juice lounge will incorporate some treatment to help mitigate the sound,” he said.

As part of this design, the new Jamba Juice will not have any noisy entertainment, such as televisions or music. Mann expects this reduction in noise will create a quieter atmosphere.

Regulars and occasional visitors of the X-Cape Arcade have also expressed regret that the arcade was moved to a more brightly lit area.

“The new X-Cape room has too much light,” said Carey Shenkman, a first-year business economics student.

Lin, who comes to play games at X-Cape once or twice a week, also said the new location seems misplaced.

“It’s just not the right arcade atmosphere. The light from the windows keeps hitting the screens and producing glares that can be really irritating,” Lin said.

For now, the X-Cape Arcade will remain where it is, though it is uncertain for how long. The fate of the arcade rests in its performance over the next few months.

“We will either keep the arcade or remove it, depending on how successful the arcade is in the Viewpoint Lounge,” Mann said. “The ASUCLA board of directors may make the decision to relocate it, remove it or keep it.”