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news
Zoo-like atmosphere
at CSULB
By Greg Smith
Daily Forty-Niner
When classes kick
off Monday, many students may feel like cattle moving slowly
through an assembly line slaughterhouse as they mill about
the campus. The trick for all students is learning how to
get past the jam of bodies and into classrooms fast and easy.
Enrollment at Cal
State Long Beach is increasing steadily, according to figures
from CSULB's Institutional Research department. With registration
continuing, a final enrollment number for the spring 2002
semester has yet to surface.
But according to
Vincent Novack, a research analyst with Institutional Research,
the number won't vary much from the fall semester's final
enrollment figures. In the fall 2001 semester, CSULB had 25,592
full-time equivalent students enrolled, up from 20,745 students
in 1997. A full-time equivalent student is a student who takes
a minimum of 12 units per semester.
To students roaming
the campus, this means an increase in foot traffic in certain
areas. Some of these areas include the main walkway starting
at the escalators next to the University Student Union and
heading all the way to the library. Hot spots along this walkway
include the patio outside of The Nugget and the hallway alongside
the five Liberal Arts buildings.
An easy way to
forgo the traffic in these areas is to walk along the wider,
grass-lined path that moves through the center of South Campus.
This walkway is far less traveled and offers easy access to
almost all buildings on that end of campus.
Also adding to
the zoo-like atmosphere of certain parts of campus is the
construction taking place toward the center of campus. A new
science building is near completion and the renovation of
two fine arts buildings is under way.
According to Scott
Charmack, associate vice president of Physical Planning and
Facilities Management, construction on the new science building
has recently passed the halfway mark. He said that with most
of the steel framing done, noise should be down to a minimum
but there will be an increase in workers as the building is
finished.
Renovation work
on Fine Arts buildings 1 and 2 is expected to be complete
in early April, Charmack said. Major renovations on Fine Arts
buildings 3 and 4 will begin in June.
Additionally, work
is set to begin soon when CSULB begins the three-phase process
of updating the university's telecommunications network, Charmack
said. The first phase involves digging trenches to lay new
cable and fiber optics and building three small buildings
to act as telecommunications hubs.
"Virtually every
building will be [worked on],” Charmack said. "This
will greatly enhance the capabilities of the campus.”
Charmack said the
telecommunications update will continue day and night for
two years. He also said that similar work is being done on
all Cal State campuses so that in the near future they will
all be on the same system.
With the zoo-like
feeling, students should make sure that they give themselves
ample time to get to and from classes and they should make
sure that routes to classes are not closed or packed full
of other students.
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