Got a competitive or artistic itch to scratch? Students can meet friends with just about any special interest through an array of chartered organizations for various games and hobbies ranging from the weird to the wonderful.
The UNM Gamers meet several times a week to get away from school and play a variety of games from chess and checkers to Dungeons and Dragons and computer games.
"We just got tired of the, `Hey what do you want to do, lets order a pizza' thing," said Elliot Hobbs, the organization's president. "It just got boring after a while."
UNM Gamers have more than 20 active members.
"We don't talk about classes, we just put together a game and for the entire time our minds are totally set on that game," Hobbs said. "It's a nice way to get away from it all."
Not into Dungeons and Dragons? The Spades Association meets every Thursday for a round of Spades - a complex card game similar to bridge.
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The club now has about 13 members.
"We want to get more so we can get several games going at once," organization president James Trey Smith said.
The UNM chapter of the Society for Creative Anacronisms - also known as the College of Blaiddwyn - is for anyone interested in any aspect of Medieval life.
"Basically it's a combination of arts and crafts, social interaction and people interested in dressing up in armor an hitting each other with sticks," said Jeff King, the group's Seneschal, or president.
The society holds regular meetings in Dane Smith Hall, as well as battle reenactments in front of Carlisle Gym.
"Just look for people dressed in Medieval clothing," King said.
Those looking for a more laid back experience might want to try the Sociedad del Cigarro de la Universidad de Nuevo Mexico - the University's only cigar-appreciation club.
"It's a great social atmosphere - we use cigars as an excuse to enjoy others' company," president Simon Goldfine said. "It's an opportunity to learn about something on par with tasting different wines."
He said the society got its unofficial start two years ago when he started hanging out with friends to smoke cigars as a freshman in Hokona Hall.
The group became knowledgeable about what makes a good cigar and chartered the club this semester.
Students looking for an alternative to high profile religious groups such as the Campus Crusade For Christ and the Christian Student Association might try the Pagan Association of UNM.
"It's a place where students who have alternative belief systems can get to know one another's own belief systems," president Shannon McCabe said. "We're not much into the proselytizing, people find us - we're not actively recruiting members."
She said most of the roughly 15 current Pagan Association members are practice Wicca - which she called an earth-based polytheistic religion that predates Christianity.
The association has tentative plans this semester for a film festival featuring occult and magic themes.
Students who want to learn more about Japanese animation can attend weekly screenings sponsored by the UNM Anime Club.
Anime and Japanese culture in general is increasing in popularity, said Paul Starr, the organization's vice president.
He differentiates between anime and cartoons in general.
"This encompasses both what's aimed at children to what's aimed at a wider audience," he said. "Well show anything from `Ghost in the Shell' to obscure stuff that's only been shown on television in Japan. Nobody's collection is identical, there's stuff to see that I haven't. I like to introduce people to things they haven't seen."
The Anime Club meets every Sunday in Regener Hall.
