Spring Break
Passage of Prop. 55 would allow for new science building at SJSU
Daniel DeBolt
Daily Staff Writer
- Page 1 of 1
Plans are currently underway to build a six-story, 120,000-square-foot building attached to Duncan Hall behind the University House, according to Jim Zavagno, associate director of planning, design and construction at San Jose State University.
The building would be allocated $24,676,000 from the state and include modern biochemistry, chemistry and molecular biology laboratories, according to the university. It was determined that the new building would be cheaper than renovating or rebuilding all or part of existing Duncan Hall.
"We're kind of putting the program together right now," Zavagno said. "Theoretically, the money is there."
The Science building on Fourth Street would eventually be torn down and phase two of the project would include renovation of Duncan Hall, according to Zavagno.
"Our dean isn't holding his breath," said interim Facilities Director Ted Santos. "We were promised a building back in the early '80s. They drew up plans and everything."
The Science building on Fourth Street, also called the "old Science building," was built in the 1920s, according to Santos.
Duncan Hall is considered the "new Science building," even though it was built in the 1950s, Santos said with a laugh.
Senior chemistry major Amy Ahrendt said the buildings need major work, especially the "old Science building."
"That one is scary, really scary. Nowhere I have ever been has steam lines in the labs. Last summer, the ground floor was 100 degrees. It was insane - the way they heat anything is with steam."
Safety technician Randy Kirchner said that nothing in the building was unsafe but mentioned that past employees complained about chemical odors that get pulled into the building's ventilation system.
Ahrendt said the odors were a problem.
"I always felt faint," she said. "You always have to go outside to get a breath of fresh air."
George Castro, associate dean of the College of Science, said the current science buildings are "just not suitable anymore, especially for biology and chemistry."
Castro mentioned that "there have been a lot of environmental laws passed" since the buildings were built.
"We just need adequate laboratories we can count on," Castro said. "A modern science building uses chilled/distilled water, gasses like nitrogen and compressed air. A really good one has those things. The old one has none of them."
Santos said the science departments get by because "a lot of faculty are very conscientious."
Referring to an incident she witnessed in the "old Science building," Ahrendt said, "In the basement it was raining, actually raining. I have never seen so many professors with mops."
On the second floor of the "old Science building," in the science club room, a group of card-playing students joked about the condition of the current buildings.
"If we had a new building, people might actually want to do some research," said Jeff Perkins, a senior physics major.
Not everyone in the room agreed.
"I don't think having a new building is necessarily the answer, but it would be nice," said John Old, a senior physics major.
Santos said the College of Science, with its current, older buildings, is the most "maintenance-intensive college on this campus" and uses "60 percent of the campus facilities people with repairs and maintenance."
A new building is "very sorely needed," he said.
If it makes the university look better, the new building would be a good thing, Perkins said.
Ahrendt said the SJSU College of Science has a poor reputation among other schools. She said she was having trouble getting into the graduate school of her choice and her friends were having trouble getting into medical school as well, despite good grades and letters of recommendation.
"I do think it's actually a good school," Ahrendt said.
Castro said a new Science building has always been a priority for the school but has been put off repeatedly because there wasn't enough money.
When there was, it was used to build the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Joint Library, he said.
