The Valiant Effort at CSUN : Educational gem struggles to shake loose from quake disaster

California college campuses are exempt from earthquake safety standards, a fact that allows college officials to keep using dozens of old, sometimes historic buildings like UCLA’s Royce Hall. That policy is sure to be reconsidered in light of the damage that the Jan. 17 Northridge quake inflicted on several colleges, particularly the California State University campus nearest the epicenter.

However, whatever else California’s leaders decide to do about college earthquake safety, a primary order of business must be to get Cal State Northridge rebuilt and back in full operation. This is vitally important not just to the San Fernando Valley but all of Los Angeles.

Officials of CSUN--where the start of the spring semester has been delayed because of the quake--estimate damage at between $250 million and $350 million, the heaviest loss on any Cal State campus in the system’s history. Virtually all of the 53 buildings were damaged; even some relatively new structures will have to be razed. Still, CSUN officials are making a valiant effort to resume classes by Feb. 14, ordering about 300 modular buildings for use as classrooms and offices.

Clearly, before any decision to rebuild is made, a detailed analysis of the stability of the ground beneath CSUN must be done. If it is deemed unwise to rebuild in Northridge, another site in the Valley, or close to it, must be used. Most of CSUN’s 25,000 students come from the Valley or nearby, as do most of its 2,000 employees. Moving CSUN to a distant site would be another economic and psychological blow to the Valley.

Although it lacks the visibility of older, better-known schools like UCLA and USC, CSUN is cherished as a regional gem by Valley residents and alumni. The Northridge quake has only deepened their appreciation of a campus that now is gasping for breath as the damage grows with every aftershock. CSUN must not be allowed to die.