Revlon Center may be smaller than plan

The Revlon Campus Center may not be as large as originally planned because of budget constraints, a student on the Campus Center Building told the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly last night. Stressing that "nothing is written in stone," Annenberg graduate student Pamela Ingelsby said the committee is moving closer to deciding what to include in the center, and added some things will have to be left out to save money. Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson, who chairs the committee, said later last night that the committee is "not really at the point where we've made firm decisions." "[The committee is] trying to cut down the cost and trying to identify priorities," Morrisson said. The committee is currently in the process of deciding "what goes on what floor," but that "floor plans are changing all of the time," Ingelsby said. Ingelsby said the current plans call for the construction of a parking garage at the corner of Walnut and 38th streets. The garage, she said, would have more parking space than the current lot on Walnut Street between 36th and 37th streets, where the center will be built beginning in 1993. The center itself will be comprised of four main sections, three of which are connected. The fourth will be attached only by a plaza and a glass sculpture. The new Book Store will tentatively be located in the bottom of the main "circular" area at the center of the building. The store will also spill over into part of an outlying "rectangular" area. The remainder of the circular area will contain lounge space and eating areas. Part of the outlying "triangular" portion of the building will contain student activities and student government offices and other meeting space. "All students groups who want space can apply for it," Ingelsby said, adding that the groups will be "fighting for office space." A possible banquet room, that has to be "bigger than Bodek [Lounge in Houston Hall]", is also in the planning stages, Ingelsby said. Two elements currently missing are a previously proposed computer lab and library reserve room. "Anything that costs money has been cut out of the plan," Ingelsby joked. But Morrisson insisted that while leaving out those two facilities is one of the ideas under consideration, "nothing is definite." And any cost-saving changes made to the original proposal will be changes to the design without "doing damage to the core elements," she added. "I think most of the [original] program remains intact," Morrisson said. Ingelsby said she addressed GAPSA last night to get suggestions on what graduate students would like in the new Campus Center. Students suggested that the Center be open 24 hours a day, serve as a place for students to wait for Escort Service and SEPTA, and should even contain lockers and showers for commuting students. In other business, GAPSA members unanimously passed a resolution calling for the deans of the University's twelve schools to "turn over the entire amount" of student activities funds distributed to them by the VPUL's office "to the student governments in their schools." Student activities money for the goverments of the individual graduate schools is funnelled from the VPUL's office through the deans of the schools, and ultimately to the students. The resolution did not accuse the deans of withholding money, but GAPSA members said all of the money has not reached the students. GAPSA Chairperson Michael Goldstein said that while the failure of the deans to turn over the money is a problem, he thinks that the deans are just unaware of proper procedure. GAPSA members also passed a resolution demanding that "the School of Arts and Sciences renounce immediately any intentions to cancel, curtail, or suspend the graduate program in Japanese Studies." SAS officials gave conflicting reports earlier this week on the future of the program in wake of the school's decision to suspend admissions to it.

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