Spring Break
Unfinished Business
Editorial Board
Issue date: 3/4/05 Section: Ed-Op
- Page 1 of 1
We have all seen the 70-foot-tall glass pyramid take shape on our campus over the past few dozen months. Major construction of the Edmund D. Bossone Research Enterprise Center has ended and touch-up work was completed to a degree that allowed the dedication of the structure to occur, just after the end of National Engineer's Week.
Bossone himself refused to comment on specifics about the structure, saying "The building speaks for itself." We feel that it does as well.
With a campus that has invested time, money and resources into this project, along with many others, we can be proud of our accomplishment and take a day to admire our glory.
However work for the University is far from complete. There are still a lot of projects that need to be completed. Even as the net assets of the University reached and surpassed the $1 billion mark, and even as the Wall Street Journal has reported on the leadership tactics of University President Constatine Padapakis, we all see what still needs to be done.
With construction resources freed from Bossone, we can now concentrate on the problem of housing. Currently the University is lacking housing for the influx of freshmen, having to shift upperclassmen around into fewer and fewer remaining dorms. New housing is needed and plans are being made, but the idea must become a reality and soon.
Another construction project is the additional two levels of the parking garage. Now currently our garage is slightly shorter than Penn's, but this step toward getting one up on them will benefit everyone, especially the students with the additional 270 parking spaces. No longer will cars have to be cramped along side streets across the University City District. With more space to secure vehicles, theft and break-ins should be reduced.
Granted security has done a job in reducing crime, there is still, and always will be, a risk to the campus population.
Looking through the agenda of the recent Board of Trustees meeting, we see appropriations for roofing projects on campus, in an effort to ensure that our buildings last longer. This is a positive step as well, but a reminder of the age of some of ours structures. With new buildings being built, we sometimes forget that the older ones need maintenance and upgrades. Hopefully the work on the Academic Building will finish.
One down side to having continuous construction on our campus is supplying the workers with parking spots. Granted the aforementioned work on the parking garage can achieve this, we all long for the day when we can reclaim our basketball court and play a game there without having to move around the van with the Kraft logo painted on it.
All-in-all, construction is a good sign. It shows that a campus is growing, which indicates that resources are increasing. With $1 billion in net assets and a sound business strategy that has been Wall Street Journal approved, we should consider ourselves lucky to be at this University at a good time in its history.
Lest we forget that 10 years ago the student population was half as what it was, most of the buildings we see were nonexistent and the entire University was on the brink of bankruptcy.
This is not the end of the book, but the Bossone Center marks the end to one big chapter for this institution.
Bossone himself refused to comment on specifics about the structure, saying "The building speaks for itself." We feel that it does as well.
With a campus that has invested time, money and resources into this project, along with many others, we can be proud of our accomplishment and take a day to admire our glory.
However work for the University is far from complete. There are still a lot of projects that need to be completed. Even as the net assets of the University reached and surpassed the $1 billion mark, and even as the Wall Street Journal has reported on the leadership tactics of University President Constatine Padapakis, we all see what still needs to be done.
With construction resources freed from Bossone, we can now concentrate on the problem of housing. Currently the University is lacking housing for the influx of freshmen, having to shift upperclassmen around into fewer and fewer remaining dorms. New housing is needed and plans are being made, but the idea must become a reality and soon.
Another construction project is the additional two levels of the parking garage. Now currently our garage is slightly shorter than Penn's, but this step toward getting one up on them will benefit everyone, especially the students with the additional 270 parking spaces. No longer will cars have to be cramped along side streets across the University City District. With more space to secure vehicles, theft and break-ins should be reduced.
Granted security has done a job in reducing crime, there is still, and always will be, a risk to the campus population.
Looking through the agenda of the recent Board of Trustees meeting, we see appropriations for roofing projects on campus, in an effort to ensure that our buildings last longer. This is a positive step as well, but a reminder of the age of some of ours structures. With new buildings being built, we sometimes forget that the older ones need maintenance and upgrades. Hopefully the work on the Academic Building will finish.
One down side to having continuous construction on our campus is supplying the workers with parking spots. Granted the aforementioned work on the parking garage can achieve this, we all long for the day when we can reclaim our basketball court and play a game there without having to move around the van with the Kraft logo painted on it.
All-in-all, construction is a good sign. It shows that a campus is growing, which indicates that resources are increasing. With $1 billion in net assets and a sound business strategy that has been Wall Street Journal approved, we should consider ourselves lucky to be at this University at a good time in its history.
Lest we forget that 10 years ago the student population was half as what it was, most of the buildings we see were nonexistent and the entire University was on the brink of bankruptcy.
This is not the end of the book, but the Bossone Center marks the end to one big chapter for this institution.
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