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  • #31
    Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

    Originally posted by JackJD View Post
    Julian Hall residents would turn their noses up at Scobey.
    Ahhhh Scobey Hall.......................... Scabby Hall....... Home of the annual sewer backup, and that strange funky smell that will, for me, be forever linked to the philosophy and linguistics courses I took there..... They could bottle that smell and market it as "Tenure -- the scent of academia"

    Also, there was once (and perhaps still is) a small cottonwood growing on the roof.

    The BoR has, as I've mentioned earlier, not been particularly generous to the liberal arts at SDSU, and in spite of that (or perhaps because of it?) they've thrived.

    Worst repurposed classrooms and offices during my time at SDSU ('94-97)

    1) Geography labs in the Wecota basement -- You could hear and smell residents doing laundry during classes.

    2) Scobey Hall -- The sewers did backup every spring into the men's room in the basement. During my time at SDSU a small cottonwood was growing on the roof and you could see it from the bench on the S. side of the building.

    3) Harding Hall -- Marginally, but just marginally, better than Scobey Hall. Had that same funky smell to it. As with Scobey, some department offices were in rooms that resemble hotel front desks (math in Harding, sociology in Scobey). This arrangement lent a real formality to any interaction with the department secretary--on the order of a bank transaction or checking into a motel room.

    4) Grove Hall -- the Art Department gets College of Engineering hand-me-downs again. The kitchen is now the painting and printmaking studio.

    5) West Hall -- Student Death moves out of the old hospital, liberal arts moves in. Kind of like a hermit crab.... Or an opportunistic infection.

    6) Alvilda Myre Sorensen building -- Now home to the UPD. Previously home to dozens of varieties of toxic mold. It's also the only building on campus with a hole in it.

    7) Old Shepard Hall --- Yeeks. Okay that building wasn't 'repurposed' but it had the worst classrooms on campus except for.....

    8) The Barn. Woe betide anyone who had to take a class in the Barn, in that weird green room at the one end of it. It smelled, it was hot, it was stuffy, and it was green.

    9) Pugsley Center. Go up to the second floor. Note the flight of stairs to the third floor that dead-ends about six steps up (if it's still there). That dead-end flight of stairs sums up Pugsley perfectly.

    10) It hasn't been repurposed, but let's have a round of applause for the non-trad students living in Wecota Annex. If there's a stranger assortment of people under one roof on campus--without tenure--I'd like to know where you'd find it.

    ---

    And a brief statement in support of my two favorite places on campus: Peterson Recital Hall and the reading room on the second floor of the Briggs Library (on a sunny day). Both were done by Harold Spitznagel.

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

      Originally posted by JackJD View Post
      I take it your kids are 10 or younger.
      If you by younger you mean non existent then yes

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

        Originally posted by zooropa View Post
        Ahhhh Scobey Hall.......................... Scabby Hall....... Home of the annual sewer backup, and that strange funky smell that will, for me, be forever linked to the philosophy and linguistics courses I took there..... They could bottle that smell and market it as "Tenure -- the scent of academia"

        Also, there was once (and perhaps still is) a small cottonwood growing on the roof.

        The BoR has, as I've mentioned earlier, not been particularly generous to the liberal arts at SDSU, and in spite of that (or perhaps because of it?) they've thrived.

        Worst repurposed classrooms and offices during my time at SDSU ('94-97)

        1) Geography labs in the Wecota basement -- You could hear and smell residents doing laundry during classes.

        2) Scobey Hall -- The sewers did backup every spring into the men's room in the basement. During my time at SDSU a small cottonwood was growing on the roof and you could see it from the bench on the S. side of the building.

        3) Harding Hall -- Marginally, but just marginally, better than Scobey Hall. Had that same funky smell to it. As with Scobey, some department offices were in rooms that resemble hotel front desks (math in Harding, sociology in Scobey). This arrangement lent a real formality to any interaction with the department secretary--on the order of a bank transaction or checking into a motel room.

        4) Grove Hall -- the Art Department gets College of Engineering hand-me-downs again. The kitchen is now the painting and printmaking studio.

        5) West Hall -- Student Death moves out of the old hospital, liberal arts moves in. Kind of like a hermit crab.... Or an opportunistic infection.

        6) Alvilda Myre Sorensen building -- Now home to the UPD. Previously home to dozens of varieties of toxic mold. It's also the only building on campus with a hole in it.

        7) Old Shepard Hall --- Yeeks. Okay that building wasn't 'repurposed' but it had the worst classrooms on campus except for.....

        8) The Barn. Woe betide anyone who had to take a class in the Barn, in that weird green room at the one end of it. It smelled, it was hot, it was stuffy, and it was green.

        9) Pugsley Center. Go up to the second floor. Note the flight of stairs to the third floor that dead-ends about six steps up (if it's still there). That dead-end flight of stairs sums up Pugsley perfectly.

        10) It hasn't been repurposed, but let's have a round of applause for the non-trad students living in Wecota Annex. If there's a stranger assortment of people under one roof on campus--without tenure--I'd like to know where you'd find it.

        ---

        And a brief statement in support of my two favorite places on campus: Peterson Recital Hall and the reading room on the second floor of the Briggs Library (on a sunny day). Both were done by Harold Spitznagel.
        Those stairs are still there

        Comment


        • #34
          Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

          Originally posted by JackJD View Post
          USD has a campus architect who knows preservation (I think she came to USD from either U of Nebraska or U of Kansas)
          If its KU then she will for sure. I am not being a homer here I promise. When I moved to Lawrence I knew almost nothing about KU's campus. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, that is including Notre Dame (#2 that place is amazing), Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, University of Colorado (#1, not even close. No place can top that), Denver University (gorgeous law school and the campus is very nice), University of Washington (football stadium has a great view), University of Maryland, UVA (#4, unbelievable aesthetics), USC (just drove by it) and KU. KU is #3 on my list and if USD got a campus architect from KU they are in fine shape. You think KU you think basketball probably, but I can tell you, think aesthetic beauty. Place is great. JimmyJack can probably give us some info on other Big 10 schools. I am sure there are some great ones.

          Wow, long winded. Sorry I talked so much. Aren't we supposed to be smacking here?
          "All I know is what I read on the message boards."
          "Oh, well, there's your problem, then."

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

            Originally posted by KUlawJack View Post
            If its KU then she will for sure. I am not being a homer here I promise. When I moved to Lawrence I knew almost nothing about KU's campus. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, that is including Notre Dame (#2 that place is amazing), Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, University of Colorado (#1, not even close. No place can top that), Denver University (gorgeous law school and the campus is very nice), University of Washington (football stadium has a great view), University of Maryland, UVA (#4, unbelievable aesthetics), USC (just drove by it) and KU. KU is #3 on my list and if USD got a campus architect from KU they are in fine shape. You think KU you think basketball probably, but I can tell you, think aesthetic beauty. Place is great. JimmyJack can probably give us some info on other Big 10 schools. I am sure there are some great ones.

            Wow, long winded. Sorry I talked so much. Aren't we supposed to be smacking here?
            Iowa is nice, mainly because the campus is mixed in with downtown Iowa City. Purdue is just huge, with a lot of pavement because there are so many students, but with some nice architecture.

            The University of Oklahoma has the by far the prettiest campus I've been on. They have a huge endowment just for planting flowers. It's Oklahoma, so with the long growing season, they can grow pretty much anything. There are magnolia trees everywhere. The university has its own architectural style they call "Cherokee Gothic" with bright red bricks and gargoyles and flying buttresses. There are British-style red telephone booths all over. It's just a really beautiful campus.

            Here's the Great Room at the OU Library:

            Holy nutmeg!

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

              Originally posted by AnimalHouse83 View Post
              kulawjack speaks the truth!
              He is being educated to be an attorney. We never speak the truth.

              KULawJack you are right about KU being a beautiful campus. It truly is. Hilly to for those of you that think Kansas is flat. But again I remind you not to make fun of the Dome when you have CAS. Take a photo of each and put it to a 3rd and independent blog site, and let fans with no interest cast their votes.

              I have been on every Big 10 and Big 12 campus for athleti events. Here is my pecking order for beauty for top 5.

              #1) Colorado (only because God blessed the surroundings of the campus with natural beauty. Remove the mountains and the campus is average)

              #2.) Penn State ( Happy Valley is flat out gorgeous and has the coolest campus of anybody else in either league)

              #3.) Wisconsin (bodered by 2 lakes this is a really cool campus with the #1 campustown business area)

              #4.) Oklahoma (someone earlier in this thread described it correctly)

              #5.) Iowa State ( chose this because I don't think there is a clear cut #5 and this is a pretty campus with alot of charecter)

              Question for State fans. Going back to the former NCC, rate the campuses in order for the following schools. Caution: be fair, and remove your biases.

              UND
              NDSU
              SDSU
              AUGIE
              USD
              UNO
              MSU
              UNC

              How would you prioritize these schools in terms of campus beauty?

              Good luck today to both your teams. See ya there.

              YFE

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                Just drove around Michigan State this week. Big campus, spread out with a mix of old traditional buildings and new. Spartan Stadium on campus looks nice, Breslin Center kind of blaw from the outside. Doesnt look like a basketball arena. Pretty campus overall but the old power plant beside Spartan Stadium look really out of place. U of Michigan has the feel of the old University. Gothic buildings spread out with pretty much two campuses. Upper for academics and lower for sports related. the Big House and Crisler Arena being lower. Lack of parking close to the stadiums. A plus, the U of Michigan has the Naked Mile every April 1st.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                  Originally posted by mango4 View Post
                  That's a lie, I'm going to tell my kids pretty much the same thing my dad basically told me, you can go anywhere you want for school as long as it's not USD

                  Ah, be cautious when making such claims. My little girl grew up wearing blue and yellow but some ambitious recruiter convinced her to change to red and white. It broke my heart. Fortunately, being bred from SDSU grads she became one of their best and brightest, often having her picture on USD's home page. It also didn't cost me any money. That would have been a real slap in the face to have to send checks to USD. It really did work out ok. With her little brother now attending South Dakota State she has reverted to wearing yellow and blue at least part of the time . . . mixed in with her University of Texas burnt orange.
                  Finding is never about seeking. It is about opening yourself to what is already there. - Henry Meloux

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                    I've said it before, I like that SDSU avoided the 'collegiate gothic' movement. It seems a little forced, a little too backwards looking.

                    I mean, the reading room at Oklahoma does look cool, from a certain standpoint, but (and perhaps this is my Modernist sensibilities) it also seems completely contrived. Norman ain't Oxford and it ain't Cambridge, and that building ain't 300 years old, so why should it look it?

                    ----

                    The problem with SDSU ain't the buildings, it's the lack of respect that the physical plant & admin have shown to the green space. I mean to start with, but certainly not to finish the list of abuses perpetrated on campus greenspace, there's the monstrous A/C evaporator stuck in the middle of Liberty Grove on the north side of Lincoln Music Hall...

                    Then there's the college's decision that, in effect, "we don't need an east side quadrangle" so they've filled up the green between DePuy, Briggs, the Union and Frost with all manner of crap.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                      Originally posted by yoteforever View Post
                      He is being educated to be an attorney. We never speak the truth.

                      KULawJack you are right about KU being a beautiful campus. It truly is. Hilly to for those of you that think Kansas is flat. But again I remind you not to make fun of the Dome when you have CAS. Take a photo of each and put it to a 3rd and independent blog site, and let fans with no interest cast their votes.

                      I have been on every Big 10 and Big 12 campus for athleti events. Here is my pecking order for beauty for top 5.

                      #1) Colorado (only because God blessed the surroundings of the campus with natural beauty. Remove the mountains and the campus is average)

                      #2.) Penn State ( Happy Valley is flat out gorgeous and has the coolest campus of anybody else in either league)

                      #3.) Wisconsin (bodered by 2 lakes this is a really cool campus with the #1 campustown business area)

                      #4.) Oklahoma (someone earlier in this thread described it correctly)

                      #5.) Iowa State ( chose this because I don't think there is a clear cut #5 and this is a pretty campus with alot of charecter)

                      Question for State fans. Going back to the former NCC, rate the campuses in order for the following schools. Caution: be fair, and remove your biases.

                      UND
                      NDSU
                      SDSU
                      AUGIE
                      USD
                      UNO
                      MSU
                      UNC

                      How would you prioritize these schools in terms of campus beauty?

                      Good luck today to both your teams. See ya there.

                      YFE
                      Out of all the former NCC campuses I've been to, I would rank them as follows:

                      1) UND
                      2) NDSU (It's getting close to UND, give it five years)
                      3) Augie (I only drove next to campus, but it looked pretty good, Above SDSU because of urban integration)
                      4) SDSU (Getting better, probably soon the best campus in SD)
                      5) MSU-Mankato (Just a cluster of bland brick buildings connected by walkway)
                      6) USD (Uglier than sin)

                      USD, at least when I took a look at that place, didn't even seem to me to look like a top-5 campus in the Dakotas. SDSU's campus looks to me like NDSU's without the urban integration. If SDSU's campus was located adjacent to a Brookings retail strip, it could compete with NDSU and even UND. UND's campus is #1 in my opinion on its own merits, not any surroundings.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                        Originally posted by TheBisonator View Post
                        Out of all the former NCC campuses I've been to, I would rank them as follows:

                        1) UND
                        2) NDSU (It's getting close to UND, give it five years)
                        3) Augie (I only drove next to campus, but it looked pretty good, Above SDSU because of urban integration)
                        4) SDSU (Getting better, probably soon the best campus in SD)
                        5) MSU-Mankato (Just a cluster of bland brick buildings connected by walkway)
                        6) USD (Uglier than sin)

                        USD, at least when I took a look at that place, didn't even seem to me to look like a top-5 campus in the Dakotas. SDSU's campus looks to me like NDSU's without the urban integration. If SDSU's campus was located adjacent to a Brookings retail strip, it could compete with NDSU and even UND. UND's campus is #1 in my opinion on its own merits, not any surroundings.
                        We spend money on quality professors.......not buildings. haha

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                          Originally posted by yoteforever View Post
                          We spend money on quality professors.......not buildings. haha
                          Professors generally make about the same at SDSU and USD. As a professor at SDSU, that's a subject I know pretty well.
                          Holy nutmeg!

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                            Originally posted by KUlawJack View Post
                            , University of Colorado (#1, not even close. No place can top that),

                            Stanford's campus does.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                              I've heard the Cal & UCLA campuses are quite nice as well.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: USD makes list of worst dorms by Princeton Review

                                I hear Oral Roberts' campus has this ginormous praying hands statue or some such thing . . . must be glorious!
                                "I think we'll be OK"

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