Agnus FarrantIt was hard to miss: the influx of letters to the editor describing a classroom in the Engineering West building as “a Third World learning environment” in the “crown jewel” of the California State University system, Cal Poly.
The room was described as “(comparable) to a prison cell due to the fact that there are no windows” and the majority considered it “a nightmare.”
Letters focused on the renovation of the floor’s only bathroom, which is next door to the classroom. The lack of windows, construction noise, poor air circulation and high temperatures were addressed in the near dozen letters written by freshmen in an English class.
Instructor Carson Medley said the assignment for the ENGL 102 class, basic writing II, was spontaneous.
“It wasn’t premeditated. I’m teaching writing and it was an exercise to teach students to write a good, convincing, compelling argument,” Medley said.
Medley’s ENGL 102 class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m.
Communications professor Bill Ausmus teaches COMS 101, public speaking, Mondays and Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m. near the construction. He said the environment is particularly distractive.
“It becomes extremely hot in this classroom to the point where it interrupts with the learning process,” Ausmus said. “Look at the desks: small, cramped and not for modern college students. To me, that’s the travesty. Why don’t we have a better place?”
Medley has not sent a formal complaint to the head of his department. Ausmus said he had but to no avail.
“Sometimes those making the big decisions don’t look at all the aspects. They’re tearing down more classrooms than they’re constructing,” he said
Even Charles Burns, a current Cal Poly custodian who was formerly responsible for Engineering West for 12 years, joined the debate. In an online comment response to an ENGL 102 student’s letter, Burns wrote: “Other than the current construction woes, I had to endure all of the other shortcomings described in the letters. (The building) is over-utilized. I feel bad that students have to endure this nightmare, especially when some of the misery could have been avoided by planning for room use and timing the construction.
“The bathrooms that are currently under construction should have been fixed long ago as they were inadequate for the volume of people the building hosts each day.”
Associate Director of Facilities Planning and Capital Projects Johan Uyttewaal said construction in the Engineering West building was scheduled to be finished during the summer but negotiations with contractors pushed the date back to November.
“We have received a few calls about the building and everyone is concerned. Inconveniences brought on by construction are disturbing and unfortunate but not unusual. Our top priorities are the safety and well being of the students and improving technology. What we do here is for benefit of the students,” Uyttewaal said.
The disturbances during classes were noticed but not as disconcerting for some.
Daniel DeKlotz, a computer science sophomore, attends a Monday class across from the purported ENGL 102 classroom.
“It doesn’t really bother me. It was really hot the first day but I haven’t heard construction noises,” DeKlotz said.
Upon reading a few of the letters written to the Mustang Daily, DeKlotz laughed.
“I don’t think people here really know what Third World living and learning conditions are,” he said.
Though there were not guidelines for the assignment, the infamous terms “Third World learning conditions” and “crown jewel” originated from Medley.
“Students were to take the question of how the classroom was similar to a Third World learning environment and why a classroom like this exists in the “crown jewel” of the CSU system, and turn it into a statement,” Medley said.
“That day it was probably 95 degrees; we were sweating and there was a construction worker cursing right outside the door. Instead of grumbling about it, I told my students to write a letter to be proactive and reactive. It’s impossible to teach in those conditions.”