Centering on expansion

Deirdre Newman

Groups that want to meet in the Student Center on campus have as

much chance of obtaining space as winning the lottery.

Because the demand for conference space exceeds supply, the groups

go through a random drawing every semester.

But that will most likely change in 2006, now that the University

of California Regents have approved the university’s expansion plan

for the center. The proposal, approved last week, calls for three

times as much meeting space.

“One of the reasons we’re expanding the Student Center is to meet

this tremendous demand for registered clubs and meetings and special

events,” said Marc Tuchman, center director. “My hope is once all the

new meeting facilities come on line, we will no longer have to have a

random room assignment procedure.”

The university just experienced the largest enrollment increase in

its history -- an 8.7% jump, with the total number of students just

shy of 24,000. More students means more participants in the

extracurricular groups that use the center.

The Student Center, which opened in 1981, has already undergone

two expansions. The one in the works will add 85,000 square feet of

usable space to the center and the separate Cross Cultural Center.

Since student fees mainly fund the Student Center, it was up to

the students to put their imprimatur on the expansion first. They did

so in spring 2001, voting to approve an $89 per quarter fee increase

that won’t kick in until the expanded portion of the centers are

occupied.

Since the fee increase was approved, university officials have

been developing expansion plans by consulting with student groups,

staff and faculty.

The expansion also calls for enlarging the Student Center’s food

area by 75% and the study and lounge space by 50%. The Cross Cultural

Center, across from the student center, will also double in size.

The food court on the second floor of the Student Center will be

expanded and another food court area will be built on the east side.

The Anthill Pub & Grille, now housed on the third floor, will be

relocated to the east food court to open up more room for office

space.

Students noshing at the Cornerstone Cafe in the center on

Wednesday agreed that more food space was essential.

“I think the student body is growing and resources need to be

expand accordingly,” said grad student Matt Barreto, 26, who was

working on his laptop on the outdoors patio.

In addition to providing room for student groups, the Student

Center also plays host to university administrative conferences. This

year, there will be between 6,000 and 7,000 events in the building,

Tuchman said.

More events will be possible with the addition of two large

multipurpose facilities included in the expansion -- one that seats

about 500 and one that can hold about 900, Tuchman said.

In addition to creating more meeting and eating space, the

expansion will also increase the opportunity for just hanging out and

interacting informally, “things that are hard to put a value on but

are so important in terms of rounding out the experience of a

college-age student,” Tuchman said.

The next step is for university officials to begin the design

phase of the expansion. The new portions of the center are expected

to open in the winter quarter of 2006.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.