EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS: The new space race
The current boom in campus construction will bring about a domino effect of shifting departments:
*1996: Just before the beginning of fall semester, the Computational Engineering Building opens. The Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAAM) and Computer Science departments move in from Herman Brown Hall; the dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering gets new quarters, and the Computer and Information Technology Institute and Center for Research on Parallel Computing come from Fondren Library.
Around winter break, the Space Physics and Astronomy Department moves into the second and third floors of Herman Brown.
The vacated space in Fondren , meanwhile, becomes a reading room.
* 1997: The Baker Institute building opens in the spring; the Institute (now in Fondren), the Political Science and Economics departments and the dean of the School of Social Sciences move, making room in Sewall Hall for other departments.
The new Nanotechnology Building opens in time for the fall semester. The Chemistry Department office and storeroom move into the remodeled (and presumably renamed) Space Science building. Research groups move into both buildings. The dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences moves from SPAC to the new building.
Butcher Hall, the Chemistry Department's current home, has long been troubled by inadequate ventilation and is in violation of current building codes, according to Bill Mack of Facilities and Engineering. Once chemistry is out, it will probably be gutted and its interior almost completely rebuilt. What will move in is still an open question; Humanities offices and classrooms or perhaps even Fondren Library stacks have been considered.
* 1998 onwards : The next academic building project is a major expansion of Fondren Library. The library is already out of space, and many consider its collection to be inadequate. The solution might be an addition or a separate science/technology library. In any case, the History Department will almost certainly move out.
At first glance, it seems easy to sort out the winners and losers in the whole process. The departments getting new buildings clearly benefit. The other Social Sciences departments and Fondren get some more breathing room.
But even the displaced departments benefit. Consider Space Physics, which is moving from a building built and named for it.
"At first it was a big concern -- `They're doing what ?' -- but once the shock died down, people realized they were getting better space," said Distinguished Faculty Fellow Ken Smith of the Space Physics Department.
The department's current space was designed as a laboratory and a fabrication shop for building satellites. Now the department uses computers, not lathes, and the space has become unsuitable.
"It's a maze," Sid Richardson College senior Bryan Dunne said. "The hallways snake every which way, and they're so tight that there are mirrors at corners to avoid collisions. The floor steps up in parts to make room for computer cables. The walls are held in place with prominent bolts -- it feels like a temporary space."
The department's new quarters in Herman Brown, by contrast, will be roomy and well-lit, with windows in every office.
Space has always been a contentious issue on campus. Three new buildings, though, seem to be offering enough space to please almost everyone involved.
For each department moving into new quarters, though, there are two more outgrowing their current space, and classrooms are still in short supply.
An online feature, Educational Foundations, provides more information about new buildings on the Rice campus.
This item appeared in the News section of the February 9, 1996 issue.
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