School's best buildings hidden
THE MISANTHROPE By ETHAN CHATAGNIER
Walking fifteen minutes each way to my French class which, naturally,
is in a science building, gets me to the campus less traveled by, where
I get to see Fresno State’s newest secret.
Though not very creatively named, Science II is actually a nice-looking
building. Even with ongoing construction and an inner courtyard full of
mud and only mud, it still tops most of the other structures around campus.
The education building and the newer end of the music building also show
some interesting design but unfortunately are overshadowed by such architectural
travesties as McLane Hall and the Peters Building.
Peters, which rumor has it is a converted penitentiary, is one of the
most distinctive landmarks on campus. Sadly, though, it is just a hulking
five-story U of solid concrete. The bleak gray tower does little to brighten
our foggy Valley winters.
For a break from that unforgettable monument, though, take a walk through
McLane. If you're not familiar with it, it's the one the color of old
gym socks smack dab in the middle of campus. I can only assume that Mr.
McLane did something very bad to have this building named after him.
If our lay of land didn’t have as much potential, the problem might
not seem so bad. The path from the rose garden to the Free Speech Area
is attractive, but edged on one side by the group of Psychology, Family
and Food Science, McKee Fisk and Social Sciences, and on the other side
by the Peters Building and the Learning Resource Center trailers.
Those four buildings on the western side of the Free Speech area, as out
of style as shag carpet, surround what would make a nice quad if the trash
were cleaned out of it and the buildings weren’t so nasty.
The new construction, the new installation that might actually make our
campus look good, should be made highly visible. Instead, it’s tucked
away in the back corner of campus.
Unless you have French in Science II, or some other class equally unrelated
to science, you aren’t very likely to see it.
Instead, we plop trashy portables down in some of the most visible and
highly-trafficked areas on campus: the Peters Building lawn and Music
Building amphitheater.
Those designing our campus have apparently forgotten how to put our best
foot forward. But lets hold out and hope the next time the school invests
in a building, they take care to place it somewhere people will notice.
|
