By Cari Griggs, Staff Writer

Students in possession of their student I.D. have the option of seeing a free movie off campus.

The first Free Movie Night of the academic year is today. Movies will be shown from 8 to 11 p.m. at Harkins Bricktown 16, 150 E. Reno Ave.

Free Movie Night, a event planned by officials of Student Government Association’s Student Activities Council, gives students the option to attend a free movie of their choice at a set time and date.

Harkins was the theater of choice for a few reasons, said Kirsten Gannon, SGA secretary of marketing/communications.

“We got the most positive feedback when the movies were held at Harkins,” she said. “There was a big upheaval each time we tried to move it.

“People like to make a night out of it, and Harkins is good because there are places for dinner or ice cream, all in walking distance.”

Free Movie Night has been hosted at Cinemark Tinseltown, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Ave.; Harkins Bricktown 16, and AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial Road, in the last four years, according to Student Publications archives.

Wednesday nights were chosen deliberately, Gannon said.
“Thursdays often conflict with athletic events, and we didn’t want to discourage people from going to the games,” she said.

SAC has 1,100 tickets available for each Free Movie Night. If less than 1,100 tickets are used this month, the remainder of the tickets are rolled to the next month so SAC officials don’t have to repurchase unused tickets, Gannon said.

The university receives a discounted rate of $5.50 per ticket, but the amount the university pays Harkins is determined after the event and varies, said Dee Llanusa, Student Activities Coordinator.

Event attendance varies depending on what’s happening on campus and students’ workloads, Gannon said. “We are expecting a good turnout this time,” she said. “Not a lot of things are in rehearsal, and we are not too close to midterms so students’ workloads are a little lighter.”

Some students look forward to Free Movie Night. Sarah Shelton, dance performance junior, said she enjoys the intimacy of Free Movie Night. “It’s like going to the movies with 300 of your closest friends,”she said.

Contributing: Amanda Alfanos, Editor-in-Chief

A related editorial can be found here.

8:00, 10:05 & 10:45 p.m.– Devil

8:45 p.m.– Alpha and Omega

9 p.m.– The Other Guys

9:10 p.m.– Resident Evil: Afterlife

9:20 p.m.– You Again

9:30 & 10:30 p.m.– Wall Street: Money

9:40– Legend of the Gaurdians

9:45 p.m.– Machete

9:50 p.m.– The Town

10 p.m.– The Expendables

10:10 p.m.– Easy A

10:20 p.m.– Heaven’s Rain

10:40 p.m.– Takers

This article originally appeared on Page 1 of the September 29th, 2010 issue of The Campus.