U Magazine, Spring 1987

Marie Lalas and Susan O 'Keeje, both comm uter stu– den ts, are spending more time on campus since th e Center opened.

Open less than three months , the Center already has a ltered the daily h abits of students and faculty. The change is particularly evident at midday, when the building acts as a magnet, attracting h ungry students, faculty and staff from all d irections of campus. Other examples abound. Professors stop by the Mar– ketplace for a cup of coffee before class. Students fill the music listening lounge from early morning to late evening. Commuter students spend more time on campus, adop– ting the Center as a home away from class. "Commuter students now have their own territory,"says Burke. "That makes them happier, which means they're "I find myself a lternating back and forth from classes to the center, " says Su san O'Keefe , a junior English major who commutes to USD from her San Diego home. She feels the Center is a good meeting place, attracting a variety of on and off campus students. O'Keefe's favorite area of th e building is the Marketplace, a re-creation of a Spanish ··rambla" housing a bakery/ice cream counter, deli, grocery and sundries store, and indoor and outdoor eating areas. "The divers ity of people and the services available make it a good place to go any time of day," she says . Marie Lalas, another commuter, echoes O"Keefe. "Ifs easy to meet people here. I find myself spending more time on campus ," says th e soph omore accounting major. "I think the Center is going to dramatically improve the social interaction among the student body," observes Trifiletti. "Now we have law students and graduate stu– dents regularly mixing with undergrads. That in itself adds a whole new dimension to student life." Trifiletti sees other, more subtle, changes occurring due to the Center's opening. In the student dining room, for example, students now sit at round tables that seat six. Formerly they dined at rectangular tables pu shed together in rows . "Now it's more like a family dining together, " he says . "People have a better opportunity to carry on conversa– tions with their friends. " more likely to stay at USD." Commuter students agree.

The studen t Dining Room .

"From the moment a student walks into the building he knows it's a totally unique place on campus. It's a place Jorleisureandfun,aplacefor extracurricular activities." - John Trifiletti '78

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