After a summer dedicated to both expanding UCSD’s existing facilities
and constructing new ones, a total of 27,500 students — including 4,100
freshmen and 1,650 new transfer students — will arrive Sept. 27 to test
the limits of the already cluttered campus.
In John Muir College, 452 out of 585 housed students will be living in
a triple room, a fact that was met with mixed reactions by students.
“I was originally on the waiting list, so I was pretty happy about
being put anywhere [even in a triple],” Muir freshman Michelle Sorochan
said. “I’ve had my own room my entire life, so I’m not used to cramped
spaces, and sharing a bathroom will probably be inconvenient. But I am
an only child so I want to be around as many people as possible.”
Muir sophomore Jeremy Gabriel, who signed up for a double last year but
was assigned a triple due to an influx of freshmen, said that rooming
with two students in a triple was not as bad as he thought.
“When I first realized that I had two roommates, I was annoyed,”
Gabriel said. “I went [online] to see if I was the only one, but
apparently every other person had two roommates too, so I didn’t feel
so bad. I think my biggest worry was privacy and space. Turns out, it
wasn’t so bad.”
Much like the undergraduate dorms, new graduate housing facilities is
also in popular demand, with the 800 new beds completely filled and a
waitlist of about 900 graduate students, according to Housing and
Dining Services Director Mark P. Cunningham.
Overall, UCSD houses just over 10,100 students, which is approximately 37 percent of the campus’ student population.
Students and staff on campus during the summer may have noticed that
construction has impaired access to some areas, particularly in the
cramped Student Center.
According to University Centers Director Paul Terzino, access through
Student Center has been cut off since the middle of June in order to
accommodate construction to create a courtyard. He said he hopes to
offer limited access during Welcome Week so students can pass through
the new central plaza.
Terzino said that the first stage of the Student Center facelift is
complete, which includes the renovation of the General Store Co-op,
A.S. Soft Reserves, A.S. Lecture Notes, the UCSD Bike Shop, the Food
Co-op, KSDT Radio, Student-Run Television — which will be ready in a
few weeks — and two unisex bathrooms on the second floor.
The second stage involves the creation of the central plaza, the
renovation of the General Store’s old site to create a permanent space
for Groundwork Books and creation of additional indoor seating at the
Grove Caffe. The second phase is nearing completion and should be
finished by October, Terzino said. Additionally, this stage includes
the renovation of the UCSD Craft Center classroom and the area between
the grassy “hump” and Student Center.
Terzino said the job should be completed during Winter Quarter as part
of its final, and shortest, stage, which involves utility work along
the breezeway running from the Food Co-op to the parking lot as well as
final landscaping and cleaning.
The goal for the completion of the much-anticipated Price Center
expansion is also winter quarter, although there is no definitive date
set, he said.
“With such a large-scale construction project, it is very hard to pin
down an exact date until you’re within a month or two of completion,”
Terzino said.
Although the project itself is not yet complete, many construction
sites have already finished, including the new ATM pavilion and
repaving of adjacent Mandeville Walk. Such changes will allow students
better access to Price Center, the UCSD bookstore addition and Perks,
the new coffee shop located inside the bookstore.
Price Center Expansion Project Manager Jay Smith said that construction
delays usually happen on a weekly basis for comparably large building
projects, but having a good team of architects and designers has helped
to resolve any problems.
“[Our construction team is doing] an outstanding job of keeping the
project on track, schedule-wise, and helping to solve any big
problems,” he said. “I would say that the university’s vision of the
project has actually not only been maintained, but also improved
through everyone’s efforts during construction.”
The Stuart Collection is adding a large mural art piece to Price
Center’s central atrium, and the Student Affairs Office is also working
on a “Triton Sculpture” to add as a campus mascot near the grand stairs.
Smith also said that the university events and Student Affairs offices
are working on adding an intimate music venue similar to a restaurant
or nightclub. The space will be outfitted by some of the people who
have created the hippest restaurant interiors in town, he added.
Although no major obstacles have occurred amid construction to hinder
the project, Smith said that the biggest problem — industry inflation
that forced them to limit the expansion of the Price Center ­— that
happened at the very beginning. However, he said that things have gone
much more smoothly since then.