USD Magazine, Winter 2000

The old chemistry labs in Camino Hall make for some cramped conditions to conduct exper– iments. Giving it their best try are students (from left to right) Matthew Harrison, Denise Dunn, Hailey Russell and Robin Bareng.

Professor Leigh Plesniak and student Kevin Campos find experimenting much easier in the Science Annex's sleek labs, which serve as the prototype for the planned Science Center.

those involved in the sciences make due with less time for their teaching and studies, pri– marily because of space issues. Facilities are so heavily used - the lab in Serra 106, for example, is occupied from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each weekday - that professors must coor– dinate their work weeks, sometimes months, in advance. Dwyer, for example, often prepares experi– ments for her chemistry class in a lab when it's not being used, and moves ro another classroom as students from the prior class are heading out the door. There are no storage facilities for chemicals, and ventilation usually means opening windows. Lack of space also presents pedagogical problems. USD's labs are so cramped, it's difficult for people to move around safely, and classroom discussions are makeshift affairs around a few chairs.

aquariums, an astronomy deck, an aviary and a greenhouse for the Spanish Renaissance– style building, to be located in the parking lot below Olin Hall. Construction could begin in as little as 24 months. "If we're going to go al1ead with the study of science, we must build this," says trustee Anita Figueredo, a physician who earned an honorary doctorate in 1985. Figueredo, who has four children and a daughter-in-law who graduated from USO, said the board was unanimous in its approval of the facility. "It will cement USD's outstanding reputation for graduating top undergraduate and gradu– ate science students. " Dissected Departments Despite antiquated facilities, USO has earned a reputation for producing highly competent, successful science graduates who

are recruited as heavily as graduates from renowned science institutions such as the University of California's San Diego and Irvine campuses. USO graduates land jobs with some of the leading high-tech companies in the world, including San Diego-based companies like Qualcomm and ISIS Pharmaceuticals. 'There are a couple of reasons why USO graduates are so successful," says Kenn Garrett '75, a chemist with pharmaceutical giant Dura. "Nowhere else are you going to get the personal attention from faculty that you do at USO. And that's partly due to the facilities. Professors and students just have to work so much harder. " Faculty and students routinely pitch in to solve problems posed by the aging facilities , creating future scientists who can think quickly and make due with less. Currently,

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