A grand scale

This looks sweet.

“The sheer size of MSU’s campus can be a daunting sight for incoming students, Frewen said. But with recent changes, MSU officials hope to make students feel more at home and attract more students to the university.”

Isn’t that a bit contradictory? Isn’t MSU big enough? Do we really want to “attract more students” here?

The point of Frewen’s comment was likely that students will be able to make the size of the University feel less daunting when living in the Neighborhoods on campus, thus increasing the attractiveness of the University to those people who would generally shy away from such a large university for a smaller one.

Attracting more students to the University because of the above benefits is a bonus, and if you look in the article Frewen also says MSU needs to remain competitive locally, nationally and globally. And since attracting more students means remaining competitive, The Neighborhood Concept and Engagement Centers allow MSU to do just that.

… until you live in brody and have a class in hubbard.

Brody to Hubbard is a quick bus ride… even after they change the routes it won’t be bad

Perhaps it has escaped the notice of the State News that we who live in the dorms (myself included) pay for this? Obviously, even Michigan State has to compete with other universities, but – here’s an idea – we can do it like any reasonable business would compete: by lowering prices. At some point, universities are going to price themselves out of range for all but children of the rich. It has to stop somewhere, and when it does, MSU be sitting pretty with sparkling facilities and a public persona of “you’re too poor to come here” (Eastern Michigan, on the other hand, knows what it’s doing). I don’t disagree that the ongoing budget mess is mostly the fault of inadequate funding from the State of Michigan, but that’s all the more reason to watch the expenditures column closely, as the side of the equation the University does control. Instead, Michigan State splurges on an whirl-a-way extravaganza of capital projects.

It would be one thing if all these “improvements” were halfway tasteful, but from what I’ve seen of the new renovations, the architects take their idea of a color palate from a bird-of-paradise and their idea of a straight line from the walking path of a guy on Grand River at 2:00 AM. Just look at the new Hubbard (and the new Holden. IT LOOKS LIKE A CHUCKY CHEESE. You walk in, and expect to see hyperactive children dropping their pizza slices on the overenthusiastic carpeting to the tune of bells, whistles, and whack-a-mole impact sounds. What’s more, I think MSU is actually incapable of getting anything built on the cheap. It’s almost as though, after going to the trouble of getting quotes from all the contractors and ranking them in order of expense, they pick from the top of the list. Every time on every issue, from the new Brody to the new Farm Lane, Michigan State inevitably chooses the Cadillac option.

I hope that MSU can learn the lesson of thrift in these next difficult years. I doubt it ever happens.

Perhaps it has escaped the notice of the State News that we who live in the dorms (myself included) pay for this? Obviously, even Michigan State has to compete with other universities, but — here’s an idea — we can do it like any reasonable business would compete: by lowering prices. At some point, universities are going to price themselves out of range for all but children of the rich. It has to stop somewhere, and when it does, MSU be sitting pretty with sparkling facilities and a public persona of “you’re too poor to come here” (Eastern Michigan, on the other hand, knows what it’s doing). I don’t disagree that the ongoing budget mess is mostly the fault of inadequate funding from the State of Michigan, but thatâs all the more reason to watch the expenditures column closely, as the side of the equation the University does control. Instead, Michigan State splurges on an whirl-a-way extravaganza of capital projects.

It would be one thing if all these “improvements” were halfway tasteful, but from what I’ve seen of the new renovations, the architects take their idea of a color palate from a bird-of-paradise and their idea of a straight line from the walking path of a guy on Grand River at 2:00 AM. Just look at the new Hubbard (and the new Holden. IT LOOKS LIKE A CHUCKY CHEESE. You walk in, and expect to see hyperactive children dropping their pizza slices on the overenthusiastic carpeting to the tune of bells, whistles, and whack-a-mole impact sounds. What’s more, I think MSU is actually incapable of getting anything built on the cheap. It’s almost as though, after going to the trouble of getting quotes from all the contractors and ranking them in order of expense, they pick from the top of the list. Every time on every issue, from the new Brody to the new Farm Lane, Michigan State inevitably chooses the Cadillac option.

I hope that MSU can learn the lesson of thrift in these next difficult years. I doubt it ever happens.

MSU wastes money by awarding contracts to union contractors. Every project is significantly too expensive because the University chooses union contractors even if a non-union alternative is cheaper. Also, our incompetent purchasing people have no sense of conservative design or spending. Just look at the hideous monstrosity that Brody became.

As an MSU Alum and Resident of Armstrong A427 for 3 years, this is sad to see. It looks like an IKEA and Airport collided. As a student I liked the old Brody. It gave me a sense of tradition that thousands of future doctors, lawyers, engineers, chemists and politicians passed through Brody eating in the same cafeteria and going to class in the same rooms. Sure I had to deal with 14.4 modems and today its all WiFi, its understandable that things change and get better… But what about tradition in architecture and building something that we could have been proud of. Something that took the old and mixed it with the new, instead of obliterating it.
To say it bluntly:
In 1995 = Bogus
Now in 2010 = Fail

Christ, those colors in Hubbard look like a daycare center.

Hmmmmmm…..

SIGP226 Please don’t use the Lord’s name in vain. HE isn’t a swear word. HE is my Savior.
Thank you, I am not trying to be harsh, just trying to show my love and respect for HIM.

Sorry, Chrissy, but the Christian religion gets no quarter. That mercy is only reserved for Islam, or haven’t you been reading the State News editorials?

but we need to take a leaf from U of M’s book. I was floored to see that, when they too needed a new building, they put up something halfway tasteful (the new North Quad) that shows respect for the past. The fact that a college, somewhere in the country, built something nice, should not be a surprise, but MSU is doing its best to ruin its campus at every turn. The whole crop of currently practicing architects, and whomever trained them, should be deported.

So you think so do you, hahaha! Just please do me that one favor and do not use Jesus name as a swearword, thanks:)

It does look like a day care! Wow, freshmen are the new 3 year olds!

This might actually be fitting considering the reputation of helicopter parents and millenials right now!

One, everybody’s insane who thinks Brody looked, from the exterior, “Nice.” It’s a 1950s eyesore of vastly simplistic and cheap architecture, and, not to mention, it had no visual appeal. Brody essentially looked like seven brick boxes – nothing of note. Not to mention, Brody’s so far from central campus that it really can’t detract from the scenery within the area.

Two, as somebody who lived in Brody for three years, this change was very , very needed. Just about everything within that building went unchanged for over 50 years, including the asbestos.

I’m fine with everything about the new Brody.

Again, please. Who had the brainstorm to “help” incoming freshmen by turning Hubbard into a Chuck E. Cheese? Same group that signed off on this nightmare being coughed up next to Berkey?

Why, exactly, did the main Brody building need to be renovated? Is there an annual union contract going for this kind of stuff?
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Brody building. Mary Mayo hall, for example, needed to be renovated because it’s an old dorm. This is just squandering funds. Do we have a recruitment problem? Last I checked, we fill to capacity every semester. If you want to bring in better students, raise the acceptable ACT score/GPA to be admitted.

Oh, and the new interiors in Hubbard and South Complex are absolutely gaudy. They look like some second rate architect ate a bag of Starbursts and threw up. The only way these designs could be viewed as “great” in any sense of the word is if you mowed down a bunch of mushrooms/ate a few squares of acid and went on a walk through those prison-like dormitories.

“The sheer size of MSU’s campus can be a daunting sight for incoming students, Frewen said. But with recent changes, MSU officials hope to make students feel more at home and attract more students to the university.”

I think more of the renovations should be done along the lines of Mary Mayo. Elegant, classy, respectable. It’s somewhere that you can relax while still feeling like an adult and a respectable member of society.

None of this bright in your face mess like you see in the article photo. That just reeks of late 80s/early 90s overload and it will look incredibly dated in a short time.

The whole campus is going to look like a day care or a Chuck-E-Cheese. From Hubbard – to South Complex – to Owen’s Lobby/E 2nd Floor (yes they only remodeled 1 floor and spent a ton of money doing so)/Cafeteria —— it has no connection with each other, looks like someone gave the color pallet and a paper (for the blue print) to their younger child and had them draw on it. For example – Owen wasn’t suppose to be remodeled and then the higher ups took a trip to a few western universities, and over dinner one night before they came back to MSU – they came up with the whole design on a napkin. Yo – just because Pixar did it with their big 5 movies – doesn’t mean you can. And get this —- I was told the color and stuff was picked out by one of the higher up’s daughter….. who was going to be an incoming freshmen. Don’t ask the current full time workers and residents what needs changed — just go with a design made over night and have your daughter go shopping with MSU’s money. So ya – the point of the story — MSU is becoming a daycare —— for adults.