For CSUN Campus, New Life Begins at 40

By ANTONIO OLIVO and NANCY HILL-HOLTZMAN

Aug. 31, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

NORTHRIDGE — Students flocking to Cal State Northridge today for the first day of fall semester classes will find a school entering the year aggressively--and searching, like them, for a fresh start.

As the university that opened in 1958 prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary, faculty and staff hope to launch a new era for CSUN.

No longer does the San Fernando Valley’s only public university want to be recognized as the school that was devastated by the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Administrators say CSUN is ready to assume the role of a premier learning facility in the region.

With an unusual boost in the school’s budget of 7.1%--to $182.5 million--granted by the state this year, the university may well be on its way.

More than ever, said CSUN President Blenda Wilson, the earthquake-born school motto--”Not just back. Better”--applies.

“This is one of the first years I can remember where we are not poor or broke. It feels nice,” she said.

With the extra state money, the university anticipates hiring 71 full-time faculty members. Plans are also underway to begin nearly $89.4 million in building construction--a good portion of which will create new services for students--using state and federal disaster relief funds.

“From the rubble of the earthquake, we are emerging as a 21st century institution,” said Wilson, whose office is still located inside a trailer after the quake destroyed her former headquarters. She will remain there for the next two years.

Accomplishments to Come

Wilson expects the school to be celebrating many accomplishments before the yearlong 40th anniversary observance is over, she said.

One will likely surround the $80-million biotechnology park complex being developed by Sylmar-based MiniMed Inc., on the university’s North Campus.

The project, which broke ground in July, temporarily ended the controversy surrounding the location of CSUN’s new 15,000-seat football stadium. Northridge residents living near the North Campus strongly opposed the proposed stadium site, but that option was superseded by the MiniMed development plan.

Other projects this year include a student services center to be built in the renovated university administration building and a community service center for Valley residents to be located in the soon-to-be repaired Monterey Hall, administrators said.

The university expects to begin reconstruction on the Oviatt Library on Sept. 9. Art department, College of Media and Communication and College of Health and Human Development buildings are also scheduled for construction this academic year.

Campus ‘Getting Better and Better’

Students moving into university-owned apartments or taking care of last-minute scheduling details on campus last week were impressed with the anticipated construction.

Campus conditions “have been getting better and better since I started here,” said Stephanie Herrera, 19, a junior.

“When I was a freshman, my classes were stuck in trailers, and I had to walk so far to get to them, it was frustrating,” she said.

Aaron Syvertson, 18, one of the school’s 2,300 entering freshmen, said: “I figure the earthquake is no big deal here anymore. They’ve had their big one, so I’m not worried.”

That attitude among new students is welcomed by CSUN administrators.

Memories of the 6.7 magnitude temblor in 1994 that turned CSUN into a tent city scraping for bare necessities have haunted the campus ever since.

Only recently has the student body begun to rebound from the large dip in enrollment caused by the inconvenience of trying to study amid the rubble of 107 damaged buildings.

Since 1995, when enrollment dropped to a 27-year low of 23,600, the student body has steadily grown to nearly 26,000.

“We were in survival mode for years afterward,” remembered Ron Kopita, vice president of student affairs. “We were concerned about getting more students to come here.”

Now, with most of the earthquake damage repaired and enrollment back at healthy levels, the university is again confident of itself as an academic magnet, Kopita said.

So confident that CSUN implemented tougher enrollment guidelines this year for entering freshmen.

Tough Enrollment Guidelines

In an attempt by the university to boost the academic quality of its first-year students, CSUN freshman testing below the college level for math and English are now required to sign up for remedial classes in those subjects when enrolling at the university, Kopita said.

Previously, remedial classes were optional.

“We want a higher achieving student,” Kopita said.

That is fine by entering freshman April Micu, 18, of Burbank.

Already set on biology as her major, Micu said, “I just want to get to work,” she said. “I came here to study.”