Massive doesn’t even begin to describe the new student center. The Sam Rayburn building, scheduled for a sof opening Dec. 1, is on its way to completion. Rick Miller, MSC director, is delving through punch lists this week with the contractor and designers, making sure each and every angle is up to par.
“There’s just so much to it,” Miller said. “It’s hard to tell you everything about it.”
According to Miller, the new student center will have everything from a student club similar to Dave and Buster’s Miller says, to trivia games and weekly themeNights.
“We have 16 42-inch flat panel televisions that will have satellite and trivia; we even have a 20 foot screen for theme nights, such as Monday night football … Project Runway night, whatever the students are into.”
The center will also house a food court, sporting a Einstein’s Bagel and Grill 155, with a third restaurant at the students’ discretion.
“If the students want Chinese, Mexican, whatever, the food service will let that be the other restaurant,” Miller said.
The cafeteria alone will be immensely improved, boasting an open-hearth wood stove pizza oven.
Students can also count on privacy, if needed, with convenient pocket lounges located throughout the center for studies. For a quarter, students can get a locker with a power outlet to recharge laptops, MP3 Players and other electronics.
Also, security will not be an issue. With a massive CCTV system in place, Miller assures the campus that there are plenty of cameras for safety and security.
“We don’t want any mishaps in a building this size,” Miller said.
Students shouldn’t be concerned about getting lost either, as there will be a touch screen campus concierge, complete with a daily schedule of campus organization meetings. It will give directions three-dimensionally to any building on campus.
“There’s even offices for major campus organizations,” Miller said. “Such as Relay for Life, for the three months they operate, they would have a central location. Even SGA will have what you call a fish-tank meeting room where you can kind of see what’s going on.”In addition to all of these aspects, there will be various meeting rooms, a graphic design department and monster studio.
“The entire building is a showcase for media and mass communication students to display student art and photography,” Miller said.
John Francis, a graduate student who was on the breakout team, joined Miller on a walk-through of the center.
“It’s awesome,” Francis said. “It’s going to be the most technologically advanced building we have.”
Francis explains how the new building is easier to get around, and how maintenance will be done “behind-the-scenes.”
“There will never be carts being pushed through the center, food service will be able to perform without interrupting traffic.”
“It’s very interactive,” Francis said. “I even got the opportunity to buy the equipment for the club, so for open mic nights there will be drums and amps and everything on stage.”
“There is state of the art sound and lighting here,” Miller said.
According to Miller, all the meeting rooms in the building are smart rooms, where students will be able to bring in their laptops and sign onto the wireless network without any hassles.
Most room names will be changed from those at the current MSC, including the Vision Room, Integrity Room and Pride Room.
“This center is a reminder to every single student that they have the capacity and ability to change their world,” Miller said.