Around Campus
Rec Center expansion
Summer is here, and after nearly two years in the making the long anticipated Recreation Center expansion is ready to begin. Students voted in February to pass a $65/quarter fee increase and since then ASI has been working around the clock to plan what will be arguably the largest construction operation on campus in recent years.
“We’re really excited that students voted to self-impose the new fee,” said Michelle Broom, public relations and marketing coordinator for ASI. “In the CSU system we often have to institute fees as soon as the project is set in motion but for this project the CSU system has gone with a policy that has been popular with its cousin, the UC system.”
Broom stressed that the renovated facility will be more than adequate to alleviate the crowding issue at the current Rec. Center, particularly during peak hours. ASI has been able to accomplish a lot without increasing fees to current students by making use of funds set aside for such a project.
With the close of spring quarter, work is set to begin with the main gym receiving a reinforced floor to accommodate exercise equipment. This work will go until September 15th; during this time it will serve as the primary exercise room with a 3000 sq. ft. advantage over the Rec. Center’s second floor room. The interior of the Rec. Center will receive such amenities as upstairs bathrooms and improved air conditioning, however students won’t need to pay a visit indoors to notice the changes taking place.
The fields located behind the gym (on Slack St.) will be converted to a leisure pool and three sand volleyball courts. No longer will those seeking a laid back afternoon by the pool have to compete with swim team and water polo practice for space. On the other side of campus the upper soccer fields will be converted to artificial turf, which won’t turn into mush when winter rolls around, affording Cal Poly’s rugby and soccer teams valuable practice time. Turf haters worry not; the lower fields (near the baseball diamonds) will remain "au natural."
Broom even hinted at a few new additions to campus that should follow shortly after the Rec. Center expansion. The UU is to receive quite a bit of attention, and will certainly be the subject of more discussion as the project develops. Also, ASI has recognized the need for more bicycle parking on campus (just when campus police were warming up to their bike boots too), and hopes that both the Rec. Center and UU projects will address this issue by installing multiple new parking areas for students who pedal to school. So come back soon class of '09, you won’t even recognize the place!
Greek life recommits to core values
Over the past few months the leaders of the Greek community of Cal Poly have seriously evaluated the value of Greek life on campus. Regrettably, the incident that sparked this change from within was the death of Carson Starkey, a Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge who died taking part in an alcohol related activity on December 2 in a routine commonly known as hazing.
In early January, Cal Poly administrators and members of its Greek leadership met in Cambria for Greek Summit, the annual weekend long retreat. Alcohol abuse and hazing were the main topics of discussion. Nearly 70 Greek leaders were in attendance and agreed to vigorously guard against hazing, ban alcohol from all pledging activities and suspend the winter recruitment process.
"It's going to be tough, but the way I see it, with every great challenge comes great opportunity. And, I feel like we can make a difference now and hopefully better our Greek community in the future," said Anton De Leon, the Interfraternity Council president at Cal Poly.
On February 7, the executive board members of all three governing bodies of the Greek community—Cultural Greek Council, Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association—came together for the first ever Greek Academy. The Greek Academy was a daylong discussion about safety, risk management and recruitment and functioned as an extension of the Greek Summit. The approximately 300 attendees analyzed what is valuable about each of their organizations, what is hazardous and formed action plans to change unsafe aspects.
Greek Academy II was held in early March as a follow-up to Greek Academy. Attendees discussed their action plans and were able to speak with other fraternities about issues within their organization and ways to solve them. Greek leaders left with a new perspective of how Greek organizations are viewed in the community. Through these discussions Greek life aims to restore its core values of leadership, philanthropy and lifelong friendship at Cal Poly.
Construction at Cal Poly
While there have been no new buildings added to the journalism department, it still might interest you to see what has changed at Cal Poly over the last year…
Poly Canyon Village:
Poly Canyon Village, Cal Poly’s newest student housing complex, was recently completed. Poly Canyon Village provides housing for 2,700 continuing students. The complex is created like an apartment-style village with a market square that includes a Village Market, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Peet’s Coffee and Tea, and Jamba Juice. The complex also includes a recreation center, swimming pool, study rooms, knowledge center and conference room.
Library Renovation:
Just prior to the start of fall quarter 2008 the renovation project at Robert E. Kennedy library was finished. The second floor of the library has been turned into a new kind of study space, including; eight new glassed-in study rooms, each with flat screen monitors and white boards; new group seating stations and tables; and Julian’s Patisserie, where students can purchase coffee and snacks. The old Julian’s Patisserie, located in the University Union, is now Starbucks. 
Construction Innovation Center:
The Construction Innovation Center was completed on September 22, 2008. This project included a new building (46,000 square feet) for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design as well as renovation of the existing CAED building.
Anderson Pool Replacement:
A new stainless steel pool is replacing the existing pool located behind Mott Gym. It features 19 lanes, 25 yards in length and eight lanes, 50 meters in length, as well as a new 15 by 30 foot therapy pool. The pool should be finished and open by early summer.
Also, students can look forward to renovation of the UU plaza (beginning June 2009), the Recreation Center expansion (construction planned for September 2009) see previous article for more details, a new technology park (beginning January 2009), and a new Center for Science to replace Cal Poly’s Science building.
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