|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Campus kicks into high
gear in preparation for fall semester 2000
From
painting and remodeling to creating new cuisine, Berkeley
readies itself for students' return
By D. Lyn
Hunter and Diane Ainsworth, Public Affairs
16 AUGUST 00 | The countdown has begun. Within a few days, the relative quiet of summer will give way to frenetic activity as tens of thousands of students stream onto campus for fall semester.
Few departments and units will be caught off guard.
From housing and dining to health services, athletics to the faculty senate, campus employees are gearing up for Berkeley's 132nd academic year. Here is some of what is in store for fall:
• University Health Services: Tang Center nurses are processing incoming students' Hepatitis B immunization certificates. Because of a new state law, students must prove they've been vaccinated in order to enroll. The requirement affects approximately 3,800 Berkeley freshmen 18 years old and younger.
An expanded service for staff, faculty and students is HIV testing offered on a weekly, rather than monthly, basis. The free, anonymous test will be offered at the Tang Center each Thursday evening, courtesy of the city of Berkeley and University Health Services.
• Student Dining: Dining Services Executive Chef Jean-Pierre Metivier and his staff spent the summer creating new dishes and developing a new system for serving food in the dining halls.
Instead of using traditional steam tables, much of the food will be prepared right before students' eyes at food stations located throughout the dining hall.
"Students won't settle for mystery meat anymore, they want to know what they're eating," said Metivier.
Each station will offer a unique food item -- such as pizza, pasta, international cuisine or freshly carved roasted meats -- giving students, including vegans and vegetarians, a greater variety of meal options.
• Learning Technology: The Office of Media Services has been busy equipping classrooms to meet the increasing demand for technology. About 735 courses will be held in rooms with state-of-the-art projection capabilities; all 240 general- assignment classrooms now have Ethernet connections.
More courses are going to video as well. Media Services originates video streaming for about 10 classes currently aired on the Berkeley Internet Broadcasting Service and puts an additional 20 courses on videotape. Additionally, Media Services is devoting increasing resources to preparing new or existing audio and video clips for inclusion on Web sites.
And DVD (digital video discs) has come to a classroom near you. Three lecture halls in Wheeler and Tan Halls have new built-in DVD players. Six DVD tape players will also be available for short-term loans to faculty beginning this fall.
The campus Greek community is gearing up its technology as well. This summer, several chapter houses installed Ethernet connections to provide fraternity and sorority house residents with faster and more efficient computer connections.
• Student Housing: Life in the classroom can be stressful, so the folks at Housing and Dining Services want to make sure students can retreat to a comfortable and functional living space when the school day is done.
Over the summer, a number of residence halls got new carpet, fresh paint and remodeling. New lounge furniture, mattresses, curtains, china and flatware were also purchased.
Unit 3 housing unit will unveil its newly refurbished computing center, remodeled and expanded to include 15 new computers for a total of 45, all featuring the latest hardware and software. Software at all residential computing facilities has been upgraded as well.
• Recreational Sports Facility: Beginning next month, RSF patrons may stow gear in new and improved locker rooms. Full-size lockers are now available for RSF members, in addition to half-size and box-size lockers.
According to RSF Director Mike Weinberger, the new lockers are stronger and have a simpler design, making them more secure and less prone to jamming. There are also more of them, he said, for a total of 4,480 lockers. Other RSF improvements include an expanded women's locker room, featuring a new vanity area, improved floor coverings and easier locker access for those with disabilities.
• Cal Football: Cal's football team also is revving up for the 2000 season at a training camp in Turlock. Head Coach Tom Holmoe and his crew are hoping their 24 new recruits, 14 of whom received all-American or all-region honors, will boost the team's performance.
Inside Player's College Football magazine rates Cal's slate as the third toughest in America. The Bear's grueling schedule will be a definite challenge, however. The season opens with a home game against Utah at 3:15 p.m., Sept. 9, but six of the team's next 10 games will be played in enemy territory.
Fans
may meet the team at the annual KGO/Cal Football Funfest
from noon to 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 27 at Kleeberger Field.
Admission and parking is free. A FunZone tailgate party
precedes the Utah game at 12:30 p.m. The event includes
food, drink, live entertainment and interactive games for
kids. For season ticket packages, call 800-GO BEARS.
[HOME] [SEARCH] [ARCHIVE] [ABOUT] [CONTACT] [MORE
NEWS]
Copyright 2000, The Regents of the University of
California.
Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at
UC
Berkeley.
Comments? E-mail berkeleyan@pa.urel.berkeley.edu.