Earlier this winter I was at Sac State's track for a fitness event. I was surprised to see the magnitude of the new Wellness Center that had been in the planning stages when I was there as a grad student a few years ago. As a graduate of UCLA, I have a scale of comparison to what I experienced returning to Sac State. I had also attended Sac State for one very mediocre year after high school so I was interested in seeing what had changed. I can only speak about the Art Department and can't say enough great things about the faculty. About the facilities? Shockingly underfunded and at times, pathetic, with students having to do work that facilities should do. The Art Dept. is split into two areas on the campus. The original building exists just as it did in the 60's, and the other building, far across campus, occupies what I told was the former fish and game facility, a corrugated, dirty peeling hulk with noisy, retrofitted air and heat. By comparison, a new, very expensive book store was recently built and now, back to the sports facility.

On that first day, I noticed a banner sagging sadly on a fence near the new building. It read, "Wellness Center, opening Fall 2010." I noted the irony of the elaborate building compared to what had happened to the student experience in the last several years. Two Saturdays ago I returned to the track for another event and was surprised to see the construction site crawling with workers. I was annoyed, so I asked a "hardhat" if they were getting paid overtime. He gave me a thumbs up.

Now I'm not here to whine about the state of the art facilities verses sports. It's all critical. I am here to comment on the priorities of the physical plant verses providing a full selection of classes for a full-time talented faculty, five days per week, all day, at reasonable costs, without the burden of overloaded administrative costs.