So gas prices have fallen, but who’s to say how long they will stay down? My suggestion to you guys is pocket that 40 dollars and just stay on campus this weekend. You’ll meet new friends, have a good time with you current friends and you won’t have to put up with any traffic! Lucky enough for everyone, there’s plenty going on this weekend, so keep your keys in your pocket and check out some of this weekends events!

Thursday the 13th is a night of endless options. I wish the times were at least a little staggered so I could tell you to skip around events but the three big ones are all happening at 8PM. For all of you music lovers, Stuart Saunders Smith will be performing original compositions in the FA Recital Hall for a whopping admission price of free. If you want to see a more amateur-type act, then check out the Best Original Song competition at Open Mic Night in the Sports Zone. Having seen a bunch of Open Mics along with the Homecoming talent show I know for a fact there’s a lot of musical talent at UMBC, so don’t miss this opportunity to see them all perform live! Finally, the Senior Dance Concert will be held in FA Studio 317 (third floor of the Fine Arts building) for anyone interested in dance. The admission price for that show is $5 for students but will include performances from UMBC’s top-notch dancers. This is also the only event of the night that will continue through Friday and Saturday as well. All three of these events start at 8PM so whichever you choose, make sure you show up early to get good seats, and if you want to compete in the Open Mic, show up early for a good time slot!

After all of those events, The Dark Knight finally arrives at UMBC with the first showing in LH1 at 10PM. And the best part about is that all of the showings this weekend are absolutely free to all students, a full 100% off of your typical movie admission price. If you can’t catch it then, it will play again on Friday at 8PM in LH1 and one final time on Saturday in the Sports Zone. This movie won’t be out on DVD for a while so definitely make sure you catch at least one of these shows and see some crazy Joker antics.

The 14th is a Friday and that means Every Freakin Friday, this week featuring The Silver Lights performing live in lower Flat Tuesdays at 9PM. Also at 9, War Game Night will be going on up in the Gameroom (playing off of the Tropic Thunder theme…that is no longer the weekly movie…) if you feel the need to vent by way of table top game playing. Also, if you missed the Senior Dance Concert on Thursday, it will be happening again at the same time, same place (FA Studio 317, 8PM). If you can’t make it to any of those events, make sure to at least head to the RAC at 7PM to support the Women’s Volleyball team take on Stony Brook in one of the last regular season matches.

Continuing with a weekend full of events, Saturday the 15th is full of events, activities and sports. First, the UMBC Swimming and Diving Team will take on Towson at 1PM in the UMBC Natatorium (pool area.) After that, the UMBC Men’s Basketball team kicks off its season at 7:05PM in the RAC facing Stevenson! (see giant countdown ticker above) Make sure you show up early and get tickets so you don’t miss out on the first step towards another potential America East title! Finally, if basketball isn’t your thing, you can either catch the final performance of the Senior Dance Concert at 8PM in FA Studio 317 or you can come play bingo on Mainstreet also at 8PM. I don’t know about you guys, but bingo is the sh*t, however no matter what you feel like doing, you’ve got plenty of options, so put down the books for a minute and get out this weekend!

Last but not least, the Womens Volleyball team wraps up their regular season on Sunday the 16th at 2PM in the RAC against Hartford. It’s been somewhat of an up and down season for the lady retrievers, so go out and support them for their final regular season match.

I hope by reading these articles you guys are finding out about all of the things UMBC has to offer not only during the week but on the weekends too. I know we don’t have a great reputation for being a big weekend school, but I’m sure if you look hard enough you’ll be wanting to stay on campus each weekend. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find a club to get involved in. At least you’ll save some gas money.