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Students welcome end of campus construction

Fields and Schoenfeldt are the latest living quar-ters on the UP campus and provide housing for around 240 students. The resident halls were named after Su-zanne Fields and Rev. Ar-thur Schoenfeldt, who was a long-time university priest and passed away in Decem-ber 2007. The buildings will be dedicated on Sept. 13, but students have already moved in and made the hall their home for the year.

Fields and Schoenfeldt are actually two separate wings of one building. Fields is for the women and Schoe-nfeldt houses the men. The

building has four fl oors, and sophomore students Heather Bladek and Marshawna Wil-liams say it is higher class overall, simply because it is brand new.

Amenities to the hall in-clude air conditioning, wire-less Internet, a fi tness center, multiple large commons and lounge areas, a basketball court and views of Mt. Hood, St. John’s Bridge, and the Willamette River.

Unique to these halls is their layout, designed with upperclassmen in mind. Ac-cording to the residents, it is a cross between Shipstad and Corrado – the layout sharing

similarities of Shipstad, but the feel is like that of Cor-rado. According to Bladek, the more spacious lounge areas make it easier for peo-ple to and talk. The goal of the residence hall was to re-tain more upperclassmen on campus, resulting in suites where four students can live in a large area that includes a kitchenette, shared bath-room, and separate living spaces. There are traditional doubles available as well. “Eventually, we’d like to see 75 percent of students living on campus,” said Michael Walsh, director of Residence Life. “It’s a residence life

director’s dream come true,” said Walsh of the new build-ings. To help with the new hall’s community feel, vet-eran staff members were pur-posely placed in the halls.

From the fresh paint on the walls, to the new furni-ture, Fields and Schoenfeldt didn’t skimp on anything. The residence hall is about a half mile away from the Commons. “It’s just long enough to be annoying,” said Bladek. However, the walk is a small price to pay for the spaciousness and luxury this new hall offers.

- Elizabeth Tertadian

It’s the bell tower on The Bluff. By far the tallest structure on campus, the 106-foot tower in the new Marian Garden outside the Chapel of Christ the Teacher is visible from the downtown Portland waterfront, and likely to be-come to UP what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.

UP Board of Regents Chairman Allen Lund and his wife, Kathleen donated the money to build the $1.4 million tower, he said, to en-hance “the spiritual ambience of campus.” During con-struction last spring, some students questioned whether that was money well-spent. But there’s no question the bell tower has its fans.

Among them is UP alum George Galati (1954,1960), who takes daily walks around campus. Galati was among the donors who sponsored one of the fourteen imported bells in the tower. The ninth bell, which rings in F sharp was dedicated in memory of his beloved wife, Ann.

Each bell contains sym-bols from UP within its metal. The Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, C.S.C, the University’s Ex-ecutive Vice President, was there when the bells were forged in The Netherlands, and dropped a University of Portland medallion into the molten metal while praying the Magnifi cat and Angelus. Each bell has been given a Saint’s name and a dedica-

tion by its respective bene-factor.

The fourteen bells are automated, and the tower can ring over one thousand tunes. It is projected that the bells will chime hourly and play the Angelus twice a day. Each night, the bell tower will ring out the Alma Mater, signaling the day’s end. Sea-sonal tunes may also be add-ed with the onset of Advent.

The Plaza on which the tower stands was created with specifi c iconography in mind. The designers were asked to incorporate the ex-isting Marian Garden, and they did so through the use of concrete, stone and sym-bolic vegetation. A radial pattern surrounds the tower at its base, with seven rays representing sacraments of the Catholic Church: Bap-tism, the Eucharist, Rec-onciliation, Confi rmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick. Each part of this Plaza, down to the living ray that leads up to a statue of Mary, is a remind-er of the deep Catholic roots which spurred the growth of UP.

On Sept. 18th, Portland Archbishop John Vlazny will visit UP for the dedication of the bell tower. The ceremony will include a public recita-tion of the rosary.

- Olga Mosiychuk

As part of the slew of summertime up-grades, The University has built a new ad-dition to The Commons, complete with a lounge area, wireless Internet, and outdoor patio seating. Constructed at the cost of around 3.2 million dollars, the new space almost doubles the size of the original build-ing and can accommodate an additional 300 people, according to Bon Appetit’s Kirk Mustain.

“We’re going for a sort of Cove-meets-Whole Foods vibe,” Mustain said.

New entrances on the South side of the building will help manage the fl ow of stu-dents in and out as The University looks to get a handle on the largest freshman class ever to attend The Bluff, and a discreet pas-sage in between the two areas will help keep students and Bon Appetite employees from impeding each other as much as possible. And, according to Mustain, the school is looking to entirely re-do the original Com-mons dining space as early as this spring.

“We’re hoping for more resident dining programs to be held here,” Mustain said. “And we want the whole Commons to be on the same level.”

- Elliot Boswell

For an entire year engineering students from civil to mechanical were “home-less.” While business students had Franz Hall and nursing students had Buckley Center, these engineering students had to look to the South and watch as concrete and dust fell from their recently-gutted home.

“It was noisy and dusty and loud. We didn’t even have a bathroom,” said Kitty Harmon, the engineering program counselor. Harmon was one of a handful of faculty members who stayed in Shiley throughout the entire renovation. “But all I have to say is hallelujah. H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H.”

Shiley Hall was named after Donald Shiley, a UP graduate who made a 12 million-dollar donation to the School of Engineering two years ago. According to UP’s Web site, when Shiley came to UP in 1951, he fell in love with the engineer-ing building. Fifty-eight years later, he wants current students to have the same experience.

The building has been enlarged by 28,000 square feet and entirely refur-bished. One of the fi rst changes to be made was to the technology available. Brand new computers fi ll three computer rooms. A conference room has also been added, giving the faculty and staff the ability to teleconference into meetings via a four screen TV set.

Another noteworthy addition to the building is the state-of-the-art Dyson Airblade hand dryers in the bathrooms. These hand dryers are the fastest in the

industry, use 80 percent less energy to run and actually clean the air before blowing it onto your hands.

In order to commemorate signifi cant donors, the elevator doors have several well-known patent ideas etched into them. One describes Shiley’s patent for heart valves. Shiley helped invent the Bjork-Shiley valve in 1971 and it has since been used to replace aortic and mi-tral valves.

Another change to the building’s de-sign is to the main entrance which is now wheelchair friendly. Two ramps lead up the side of the main staircase into the fi rst fl oor.

The expansion of Shiley Hall is be-ing used for new classrooms, offi ces and study areas. Of the new classrooms, two of them are fi ve-tiered rooms that are almost twice the size of the three-tiered rooms in Franz Hall. These rooms will be used for several classes and events such as ASUP meetings. The study areas range in amenities offered. Some are full of plush couches, while others have tall tables and desks.

An added bonus of the expansion of the building is that not only engineering students will be using the building. Stu-dents taking science and English classes will also be able to enjoy Shiley’s reno-vations.

“All of this was worth living in a hole for a year,” Harmon said.

- Rosemary Peters

The Commons

Fields and Schoenfeldt Hall

The Bell Tower

Shiley Hall

Photograph by Andrew Wade. All other photography by Erica Ellingsen | THE BEACON