1 13 15 quadToday classes began, and about the only way it could be a drearier day would be if it was a full-on rain.  As it were, it’s grey with an occasional very light mist.  It was 41 degrees when I left the house this morning, and it is to get progressively colder today and into tonight.  Some possibility of ice tomorrow, depending on which weather forecast you consult.  (As a reminder, here are the ways weather delays are communicated).

1 13 15 zsrI had a meeting in the ZSR Library today and got a chance to see the campus fully populated and in normal operating mode.  For those of you who feared that the equestrian boot trend for women is over – fear not.  It is alive and well.  For guys, I saw a fair number of LL Bean ‘duck boots’ as we used to call them.  Back in the late 80s/early 90s, we all wore those in rainy weather too, guys and girls alike.

Starbucks was not nearly as busy at 1 pm as I thought it would be.  Which either means that the students do not yet have a desperate need to be caffeinated, or the weather kept them home.  Sitting at one of the tall tables, I saw two adorable young women at another table.  They sat down and clinked their coffee cups as if they were wine glasses and smiled.  I have no idea what they were toasting, but it was a gesture full of panache, so hats off to them.

But today’s Daily Deac is about the action on the East Side of campus.

1 13 15 tri deltComing back from ZSR off the Quad, I passed Kitchin Hall and the Tri Delta sorority lounge.  They were all decked out with two big banners welcoming their new pledges, as sorority Bid Day was yesterday.  (Aside, the gloomy weather did not deter the sororities from gathering on the Quad with lots of yelping and squealing in the 3:30-4ish timeframe yesterday).

1 13 15 gym 2 1 13 15 gym 1As I walked down the hill, I peeked over the fence into what had been the former tennis stadium.  They have been *busy* working there.  A shell is starting to emerge from the site and you can see the start of the framing of the building.

In the distance, as you look toward the Miller Center, you can see the clearing and work that has begun on the Sports Performance Center.

Moving toward Worrell Professional Center and Alumni Hall, there is a long sheet of black fencing in what had been a sort of coutryard on the side entrance to Worrell.  They have cleared out the trees to make way for a building addition that I believe will one day house the department of Health and Exercise Science – a fantastic department, by the way, one that does a tremendous amount of research on health and wellbeing; their facilities are in the old gym and with the upcoming renovation they will be moved.  The area will be re-treed later after construction is finished.

1 13 15 miller additionMany years ago I was lamenting what appeared to be a lot of construction projects at once.  A wise colleague told me (I’m paraphrasing) ‘I love orange fencing – it shows that the university is alive and active, growing.’  And I believe he was right.

1 13 15 worrell tree stumps 1 13 15 worrell front

— by Betsy Chapman

 

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