Construction ongoing

The university is upgrading information network on campus, but some students say the project is a big disruption

By NYRIE KARKAZIAN / The Collegian

Wide and deep holes in the ground surrounded by wire fencing, long cables and work trucks have appeared all over campus this semester.

While most would consider this a distraction, according to the school, it is actually a campus-wide telecommunications upgrade.

“Obviously there is going to be a lot of inconveniences, just like any construction project,” said Gary Wilson, director of facilities planning. “How you deal with it is the key.”

The Telecommunications Infrastructure Initiative (TII) project may seem like a disaster at the moment but will actually be beneficial to everyone on campus when completed, campus officials say.

The project provides funding for the construction of new computer and networking infrastructures on all 23 CSU campuses. According to the TII Web site, this will improve classroom network connectivity, increase options for faculty teaching, provide safe and effective telecommunications areas and allow for future upgrades to improve network electronics.

The upgrade does not necessarily mean faster computers, but data will be able to pass through the network much faster.

According to the TII information on the Fresno State Web site, the upgrade will make the network up to 10 times more efficient. The computers will remain as fast as each machine’s individual capacity.

But business administration major Rami Gabriel said the project was disruptive to the campus.

“I think they should stop the construction and continue during the summer, or at least at night,” Gabriel said.

Wilson said a large part of the construction is in fact being done at night, and that is what most people do not see.

Another benefit of the project is video services. The upgraded system will include an updated broadband cable television system, which will add new services to the classrooms.

Seventeen underground Telecom vaults have been completed along Barstow, Campus, San Ramon, San Bruno, Keats, Barton and Maple avenues.

There has already been about 3,000 feet in trenches dug up around Campus and Barstow avenues.

“We will go through the parking lot and the main roads,” Wilson said, “whichever is basically the easiest.”

One of the more visible inconveniences of the TII project is that the roads around campus are being dug up because the conduits that house the wiring are laid underground.

“It’s taking up our parking spaces,” Gabriel said. “Unless they’re building a new parking structure, I don’t care.”

The $18 million project will last about two years. The buildings have been divided into 11 groups, and each will be worked on sequentially. Work on the Family and Food Sciences building began on Oct. 1, and work has now moved on to the Lab School, Psychology and Human Services, and Education buildings.

The schedule of work on the classrooms is posted on the campus Information Techno-logy Services Web site.

“The good news is we are going to end up with a real nice service to the university; that is what we have to focus on,” Wilson said.