Happy Thursday, Terriers!
I know we here at FYI are wicked excited about the launch of our new site, but that’s not the only cool and secret information we have up our sleeves. At the Dean of Students office we often get wind of big events, news and changes going on around campus, and today I have some to share with you. Yup, with Dean Elmore’s consent I have the scoop on some serious upgrades and construction projects that have completed/started up during the summer, so let’s discuss what awesome, what’s lame, and what you might have otherwise overlooked.
“At BU, the excitement is building.”
Center for Student Service
It’s official, folks. The rumored “GS2” is underway at 100 Bay State Road and is bound to be the new focal point of BU’s east campus. The massive complex will rearrange some of the universities scattered offices and make them more accessible to students as well as provide a new, updated dining hall (say bye bye to your former nom-spots down east!). The project is due to end by August 2012, so we seniors are getting the shaft… but hooray for all you underclassmen! Living down by Kenmore is about to get a little bit nicer.
Residential Facelifts
If you live in a West Campus dormitory and you were jealous of Claflin’s upgrade, you’re in luck. Sleeper Hall is getting a much needed touch-up and Rich is due for the same next summer. You’ll see new wardrobe units, lights and floors, but sorry guys, no a/c for you. 203 Baystate Road and the Graduate Housing at 815 Albany Street are also underway for improvement.
Academic Enhancements
Just when you thought the Law Building was getting uglier, BU is getting it a complete and total makeover. The design phase for an updated Law school is almost done and after an estimated 4 years, we might have a place to study that doesn’t make the list of top 10 ugliest buildings in the nation (ouch). COM kids will be pumped to know that COM101, a room nearly all of us sit in at some point in our college careers, will be getting a bit of a remodel as well, complete with new upholstery and other cosmetic touches. Another well-known room on campus will be revamped for the school year: B50 of the Stone Science building, aka: the wifi-less dungeon. Project specs describe new screens and audio, but I don’t see anything about internet upgrades. Please, BU… help us out!!
Going Green
For all the environmentally friendly people on campus (ehem, that should be all of us by now…), you’ll be happy to hear BU is focusing a lot of attention on green initiatives. New windows in all of CAS, MET, STH and SED will more eneergy efficient than the ones they are replacing while still maintaing the building’s classic design. The university is also increasing the use of clean gas instead of oil at a number of campus sites, including 808 ComAve, 575 ComAve, 42 Buswell, 1 University and 712 Beacon. Aside from a few other lighting improvements, BU will be turning much of it’s attention on a project at Walter Brown Arena, where a new low-emissivity ceiling will be installed above the ice rink to save 30% a year in ice-generation costs.
As you can see, Terriers, BU is doing it’s best to improve our quality of living and learning on campus. Let’s be bold here and leave our comments, critiques and reccomendations for what this university needs. More green initiatives, improved wifi capabilities and better control systems on heating in brownstones are my biggest concerns. But I’m a senior guys. I’ll be gone soon. We need your help to make BU even better. More information will be posted for public display soon, and I’ll be sure to link you.
Until next time, keep being you BU!
