U Magazine, Spring 1987

The Deli offers a salad bar.

Bob Fink, who manages the music checkout desk and the typing/computer room on the Center's lower level, speaks from past experience when he calls the Center's facilities "wonderful. "Fink is former director of the college center and student activities at Stonehill College near Bos– ton and a current student in USD 's doctoral program in educational leadership. "The food service options are great, " he points out, not– ing the variety of menu choices available from the Deli, Grille. Bakery and Dining Room. "Graduate students can come to the building to get a bite to eat before, between or after classes. I see a lot of older students in the Center." In order to meet the diverse needs of the student body, the Center is open from 7 a .m . to midnight Monday through Friday and from 10 a. m . to midnight on weekends. The Center alone , however, won 't improve student life - a point Burke stresses . "It's only a vehicle for conducting student activities," he says. "It's up to us to develop the type ofactivities and prog– ramming in the building that enrich the educational pro– cess. " Burke's commitment to additional and better quality student programming was one of the reasons he added several new administrative positions to his staff last summer. Each of the new administrators is assigned to specific programming areas. Val Pearson joined the student affairs staff in August as director of student activities. Her prime responsibility is the development of educational, social and recreational programs for students . Providing students with leadership opportunities is one of her primary goals, she says. "Involvement in student activities and with student organizations is a laboratory– type experience. Students manage budgets, plan and pro– mote activities and supervise events. They learn skills they can apply elsewhere. "Right now, we have a good group ofstudents involved in student activities ," she says. "But we should have more. And the Center will enable us to do that." The building will help in that regard because of the space it provides for activities. The Forum, located on the Center·s upper level, can seat 500 auditorium-style. When the dividing wall between it and the student dining area is open, more than 800 can be accommodated.

Two stairways as well as an elevator connect the Center's two levels.

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"It's a place for students to have fun, to learn something; a place where someone can discover the opportunity to belong." - Val Pearson

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