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ALSO
IN THIS ISSUE Beyond Books Designer's Challenge Improving Mother Nature Bach to the Future Chancellor's
Page Development News Factoids More Factoids Accidental Heroes Newsmakers |
Miscellaneous tidbits of information Factoids BIRD'S EYE VIEW. These birds know how to get the best view of the game. Last year a pair of ospreys built a nest on the southwest light pole at Mesa College’s football field. That’s not the safest place to live, with flammable nesting material so close to high-powered floodlights, but these large fish-eating hawks, with wing spans of 4-5 feet, like to live up high surrounded by open area. Many ospreys have adapted to urban environments and are found nesting atop man-made power poles, and radio and light towers. Since the osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is on the Endangered Species List, the Department of Fish and Game said the nest couldn’t be moved until the one chick had left the nest. There were still two football games left to be played in the stadium, so Facilities Services worked with the athletic department to turn off the power to this pole so the nest wouldn’t catch fire. The athletic department rented temporary lights to complete the season. Once the birds had left the nest, Angelo Pellegrini, a district electrician, climbed the pole and removed the nest material in the hope that the ospreys would find a new nesting site this year. But word had spread in the avian kingdom about this prime perch and, in December, the ospreys were back beginning to build a new nest. Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Robert Renfro, a district electrician, suggested a way to make co-habitation with the birds work: build a nesting platform for them high enough above the lights so the heat would not be a problem. Jason Botticelli designed and built what looks like a satellite dish and put it on a pedestal; a district painter Dane Lindsay painted it; and Pellegrini went up in a rented crane to install the platform and move the nesting material into the dish. A little bird tells us the ospreys have accepted the new and improved nest, so the gridiron lights can go back on. NEW HOME FOR HUMANITIES, MULTICULTURAL STUDIES. Mesa College has yet another dramatic landmark. This spring semester a new, three-story classroom building opened for Humanities, Languages and Multicultural Studies (HLMS) students and faculty. The $10 million structure more than doubles the capacity of the single-story, 40 year-old building it replaced. And for first time, the School of Humanities and Languages, by far the largest of the college’s six schools, is housed under one roof. The new facility features three much needed theater-style lecture halls that can accommodate 100, 150 and 200 persons. Two of the lecture halls were designed with special events in mind, such as guest lectures and community forums. The 43,000-square-foot building also contains 91 faculty offices, five classrooms, three faculty conference rooms, three faculty workrooms, a work area for adjunct professors, a dean’s office and a student newspaper production office. Plus, there are lounges for faculty and staff, an art gallery office, and a classroom and office for the self-paced instructional program. “In addition, the building houses and celebrates the black studies and Chicano studies programs, as well as other ethnic studies programs,” says college president Constance Carroll. Designed
by the architectural firm of Delawie, Wilkes, Rodrigues and Barker, the
HLMS structure complements the curved concrete style of its neighbor,
the college’s Learning Resource Center, which opened in 1998. Kvass
Constructors, Inc. was the general contractor. The HLMS building is the first Proposition S construction project completed. Although construction was near completion before the bond measure passed in November 2002, the San Diego Community College District is permitted to roll the cost of the building into the Prop. S funding source.
Mesa College's new Humanities, Languages and Multicultural Studies buiding. BREAKING GROUND AT MIRAMAR. On Nov. 5, Proposition S, the $685 million bond measure for the San Diego Community College District, passed with a two-to-one margin, confirming the public trust in its local community college system and belief in the importance of area community colleges. Exactly one month later, Miramar College celebrated construction starts for the college’s first new facilities to be funded by the impressive victory of Prop. S. The 42,000-square-foot Science/Technology Building, designed by Tucker, Sadler, Noble, Castro Architects, will house 12 general purpose classrooms, eight science labs with related prep areas, 10 faculty offices, four tech offices and a service core area. Located in one of the fastest-growing areas of San Diego, along the I-15 corridor, Miramar enrolls more than 12,000 students each semester, but has a projected master plan build-out that could serve 30,000. With only two science labs, hundreds of hopeful students are placed on waiting lists each semester. The lack of college science facilities has forced the college's biotech program to be held at neighboring Scripps Ranch High School. Completion of the Science/Technology Building will enable the college to expand science/technology offerings and bring the biotech program to the campus. The Advanced Transportation Technology Center will bring another college program currently offered off-campus at Mira Mesa High School to the college. College industry partners Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda have been waiting for several years to realize their permanent new training home on the Miramar campus. The 10,000-square-foot center will include two general purpose classrooms, seven stall interior auto bays, three storage rooms, faculty offices, a tool room, library, clean room lab and service core area, as well as more than 10,000 square feet of exterior work area. This new facility, designed by district architect Bryan Adams, will accommodate the high-demand workforce training needs of the automotive industry. Kvaas Constructors, Inc. is building both new facilities at a cost of $11,115,000. Completion is expected in 16 months.
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