Update on the campus master plan

[Pudge]

Yeah, I agree. All college kids are now spoiled. One of the reasons it cost much more than it should is that these facilities are much too lavish. In the mid 80s it never seemed unpleasant, and none of us were uncomfortable. College shouldn't be luxurious.

Also, I find it strange that Hilltop gets tons of foot traffic now, it was the edge of campus and nobody went up there except residents back in my day. South, West and Alumni were the most popular dorm complexes (location and in the case of south, abundance of females). But because the small dorms had a much different dining model, it really depended on whether you were more a small dorm or big dorm person. I thought he family dining system in the small dorms was tremendous for meeting people and making friends.

This is funny.

It's us. College is luxurious because ... parents have changed and now go way beyond giving Johnny & Jenny everything ... EVERYTHING ... they desire. We can see, in new student residence, a level of opulence (Every kid gets their own bathroom?) with big screen TVs, Stacked Washer/Dryers, Granite all over and plush patios with high end Grills. Parents stop having 3-6 kids and putting 2 in every bedroom; hence, we had to give EACH kid everything. Everyone gets a Trophy. They all have a nice car. etc.

I listen to the complaints of College going up. Damn right ... I lived in some staid Spartan conditions. I don't see my daughter having the same next year.

 

[SubbaBub]

This is funny.

It's us. College is luxurious because ... parents have changed and now go way beyond giving Johnny & Jenny everything ... EVERYTHING ... they desire. We can see, in new student residence, a level of opulence (Every kid gets their own bathroom?) with big screen TVs, Stacked Washer/Dryers, Granite all over and plush patios with high end Grills. Parents stop having 3-6 kids and putting 2 in every bedroom; hence, we had to give EACH kid everything. Everyone gets a Trophy. They all have a nice car. etc.

I listen to the complaints of College going up. Damn right ... I lived in some staid Spartan conditions. I don't see my daughter having the same next year.

I don't think the post WWII dorms with surplus furniture is a result of helicopter parenting. Yes, people demand more for their money and it is a competative market for students. The old buildings simply outlived their useful life. With the technology requirements of today, new dorms were necessary to carry the wiring. HVAC systems are more energy efficient. TV's are cheap.

If it helps, they are being built with the cheapest Home Depot materials available, so in about 15 years that crummy dorm vibe will return.

 

[UCFBfan]

The what?

It was the stadium style class room annex behind Montieth. I had maybe 6 or 8 class there over my 4 years on campus.

Holy crap! That room/building will forever be etched in my memory. On a few occasions, we literally would have a waterfall running down the staircases when it rained. They even put sandbags up at the top once. It felt like we were in a Natural Disaster zone! I hope AS 55 is no longer in use/existence! I graduated in '03 so this wasn't even that long ago....wait that was 11 years ago?!? How come I don't feel like it was that long ago! lol!

 

[CTMike]

Yeah, I saw Eraserhead there. And I just noticed p o r n o s gets auto-corrected to smutos. Say what?

Close - p0rn for smut... Same idea though.

 

[Husky25]

Wait another 4-5 years. I graduated in '99. Marriage and a child later, college seems like eons ago.

Holy crap! That room/building will forever be etched in my memory. On a few occasions, we literally would have a waterfall running down the staircases when it rained. They even put sandbags up at the top once. It felt like we were in a Natural Disaster zone! I hope AS 55 is no longer in use/existence! I graduated in '03 so this wasn't even that long ago....wait that was 11 years ago?!? How come I don't feel like it was that long ago! lol!

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is funny.

It's us. College is luxurious because ... parents have changed and now go way beyond giving Johnny & Jenny everything ... EVERYTHING ... they desire. We can see, in new student residence, a level of opulence (Every kid gets their own bathroom?) with big screen TVs, Stacked Washer/Dryers, Granite all over and plush patios with high end Grills. Parents stop having 3-6 kids and putting 2 in every bedroom; hence, we had to give EACH kid everything. Everyone gets a Trophy. They all have a nice car. etc.

I listen to the complaints of College going up. Damn right ... I lived in some staid Spartan conditions. I don't see my daughter having the same next year.

That is part of it. But it is driven by competition for students among the schools as well, and by federal and state policies that pumped money into student hands, which allowed schools to continue to raise tuition at a rate much faster than the normal inflation rate.

Even back in the 80's there was a disaparity. Some small private schools were already putting in lavish dorms and dining halls. I recall several wealthy but not that smart kids from Simsbury (younger sister went to SHS, I was in Manchester a few years earlier) went to Bucknell, and the dorms sold the place in a big way. UConn was a better school even then, but we had a cinder block rectangle and generally a matress on a loft we built ourselves. UConn even gave you paint if you wanted to paint your own room.

 

[Husky25]

That was an HDFR class. Yup, it was there. Solid elective for a business student. Rumor was Spring of '99 was the P o r n proffessor's last class. Got it in under the wire...so to speak...

Close - p0rn for smut... Same idea though.

 

[Excalibur]

That was an HDFR class. Yup, it was there. Solid elective for a business student. Rumor was Spring of '99 was the P o r n proffessor's last class. Got it in under the wire...so to speak...

I took that class the same semester . . . Spring '99. Karen McDaniel was the professor, if I recall correctly. And yes, it was the last time the course was offered.

I had finished almost all of my requirements by that time. I had only two "real" classes my final semester -- German politics with the husband of a good friend of my mother, and criminology with an insanely easy TA. My final credits consisted of that HDFR class, then one credit each for Pep Band, Golf, and Tennis.

 

[upstater]

Federal and state policies that pumped money into student hands, which allowed schools to continue to raise tuition at a rate much faster than the normal inflation rate.

In 1986, my max federal loan was capped at $2,900 a year. The cap now in 2014 is $5,700. That's a 100% rise in 28 years. That's not bad.

When people look at tuition rising much faster than inflation, they fail to take into account the fact that the cost of attendance is subsidized in the first place. This has little to do with actual expenditures. Are expenditures rising much faster than inflation? No. So why is tuition rising? Look at the subsidy. It's not what it used to be.

Take California. In 20 years, tuitions there have risen 1000%. Expenditures? Tracking inflation. State subsidies? Cut by 50%.

 

[Waquoit]

I remember I was considered lucky because my 12" B&W TV could pick up channel 8 when patched into the dorm antenna. And at night, I kinda-sorta could get 5 out of Boston.

 

[upstater]

I remember I was considered lucky because my 12" B&W TV could pick up channel 8 when patched into the dorm antenna. And at night, I kinda-sorta could get 5 out of Boston.

No one had a TV set on my floor at PSU. I remember us scrambling to watch a World Series game in 1986 because the TV in the lounge on the first floor had hundreds of people around it. It's funny, I grew up watching a lot of TV, but by the mid-1980s, almost no one my age was watching it.

 

[RMoore1999]

The campus probably bottomed out in 1994. The construction boom started the following year with the new chemistry building, updates to Towers and the new student gym in the Field House. Students graduating in the late 80's through about 1995 really got the worst of it in terms of decaying infrastructure and outdated facilities.

True enough, but being there for the Dream Season and the birth of college basketball's greatest dynasty in the modern era was a worthy trade off...

 

[UCFBfan]

Wait another 4-5 years. I graduated in '99. Marriage and a child later, college seems like eons ago.

Oh I just celebrated my 3 year wedding anniversary on Wed and have a 20+ month old and another daughter on the way in July. I feel like college was a distant memory!

 

[NHUConnfan]

Since 2010? You guys were spoiled.

If I hadn’t been to campus several times in the last few years, I would get lost trying to figure things out since I graduated in the mid 90’s. The was a building boom in Storrs in the 70’s because of the surge in enrollment due to the baby boomers; but, little was added from the 80’s through the mid 90’s. I think only Gampel, Sherman Field, the Dodd archive center, and Babbridge Library (and then rebuilt several times) was built during that 15 year period. Alumni and McMahon were considered the nicest dorm complexes (Hilltop was nice, too, lots of singles; but, it was a hike, especially in the winter). Old South was knocked down and was still an empty field when I left. My favorite was the student weight room when I was in Storrs. It was a smelly cage under an old section of bleachers in Greer Fieldhouse.

Well. I was a music student. And I haven't been back to Storrs since construction started on the center. I would imagine I wouldn't recognize the area very well since that's where I spent the vast majority of my time.

 

[UCFBfan]

Well. I was a music student. And I haven't been back to Storrs since construction started on the center. I would imagine I wouldn't recognize the area very well since that's where I spent the vast majority of my time.

You would be shocked! I lived in Buckley for two years and was in the UCMB so I too, spent most of my time across the street from the music building. There is nothing that you would have remembered there anymore. Store 24....gone! The whole plaza with Blimpies and all that....gone! It's amazing really.

 

[dbmill]

It seems to me Storrs and UConn has always been in a state of constant change. My last year at UConn was 1985, but over the years I have always been in the habit of returning to campus to attend concerts and games, and visiting the odd friend while they were still there. I've been watching the campus reshape itself ever since. One of my favorite places on campus was the old movie house across the street from EO Smith. For a few years they a had very eclectic movie schedule, similar to Cinestudio at Trinity College. They presented a great assortment of foreign, silent, cult, and classic films, absolutely wonderful stuff that I just ate up. I always wish that I had spent more time there, but money, time, and studies had a habit of getting in the way. It closed down a year or two after my last semester at UConn, and it is something that I have always missed about the place ever since.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

It seems to me Storrs and UConn has always been in a state of constant change. My last year at UConn was 1985, but over the years I have always been in the habit of returning to campus to attend concerts and games, and visiting the odd friend while they were still there. I've been watching the campus reshape itself ever since. One of my favorite places on campus was the old movie house across the street from EO Smith. For a few years they a had very eclectic movie schedule, similar to Cinestudio at Trinity College. They presented a great assortment of foreign, silent, cult, and classic films, absolutely wonderful stuff that I just ate up. I always wish that I had spent more time there, but money, time, and studies had a habit of getting in the way. It closed down a year or two after my last semester at UConn, and it is something that I have always missed about the place ever since.

I remember getting stoned and watching Disney's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with some friends in that place. It turned me on to classical music, which I still enjoy today.

 

[dbmill]

I remember getting stoned and watching Disney's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with some friends in that place. It turned me on to classical music, which I still enjoy today.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is one of the segments of Fantasia. I saw it there as well. Yes, I can imagine it would play very well for a stoned college crowd.

 

[junglehusky]

This is funny.

It's us. College is luxurious because ... parents have changed and now go way beyond giving Johnny & Jenny everything ... EVERYTHING ... they desire. We can see, in new student residence, a level of opulence (Every kid gets their own bathroom?) with big screen TVs, Stacked Washer/Dryers, Granite all over and plush patios with high end Grills. Parents stop having 3-6 kids and putting 2 in every bedroom; hence, we had to give EACH kid everything. Everyone gets a Trophy. They all have a nice car. etc.

I listen to the complaints of College going up. Damn right ... I lived in some staid Spartan conditions. I don't see my daughter having the same next year.

Good post, although the names Johnny and Jenny were in college in the 80's, I think. Now it's Jacob and Emily, and when today's babies are in college 20 years from now it'll be Mason and Sophia.

 

[Drew]

Here is the approval of the Hillside Road Extension project: http://www.envpolicy.uconn.edu/UConn_NHR_ROD_with Appendix.pdf

Also does anyone have the link that was posted about widening 195 to two lanes on each side? I vaguely remember someone posting a document that had outlined this as a possibility but I can't seem to find it anywhere

 

[CL82]

As a Freshman, half our classes where there. Too big, bad acoustics...but the worst was crossing the mud-pit between them and the old Co-op. It would suck boots and shoes right off of people's feet. At least they fixed that.

Campus is already so much nicer than it was in my time. I hope they keep some character though, and don't make it too sterile.

I lived in South so Arjona and Montieth were easy to get to. I didn't mind having classes there as a freshman.

For what it is worth, among the many things being talked about, one is unifying the architecture. IMO this is an often forgotten or ignored element of master plans. If your design is pursuant to a single concept there really is a better sense of identity and cohesiveness. You'll still have your odd pieces, like the School of Business, but overall things will look much better. Of course writing a Master Plan is one thing. Sticking to it is quite another.

 

[hardcorehusky]

When I went to UCONN - drinking age was 18. No alcohol restrictions whatsoever. Fundraising options included watching Deepthroat at the Life Science Building. Best damn lesson I got in that building!!!

 

[RioDog]

When I went to UCONN - drinking age was 18. No alcohol restrictions whatsoever. Fundraising options included watching Deepthroat at the Life Science Building. Best damn lesson I got in that building!!!

Kinda puts a different spin on your handle...

 

[Alum86]

AS 55?

Remember that room. Had so many gut courses there. Thank goodness for those or I'd still be there

 

[Drew]

Also what's happening with the hockey arena? Last I heard they wanted to put it at Mansfield Appts but the town of Mansfield opposed because of a reservoir nearby or something?