Campus Life Goes On, Sort Of : Progress is remarkable at quake-torn Cal State Northridge, but the struggle remains

To gain a sense of Cal State Northridge’s earthquake-related woes, one need only note that one of its most impressive art exhibits ever is currently on display at the university . . . in a trailer.

CSUN suffered more damage than any American university ever had in a single natural disaster. According to officials of the California State University system, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the restoration price tag stands at $350 million and may yet rise.

The damage undoubtedly contributed to the fact that the university now has its smallest enrollment in 21 years, down 10% from last fall. Certainly fee hikes were a factor, but so was the knowledge that CSUN students had to travel to UCLA to get to a library last spring, and drive as far as the College of the Canyons in the Santa Clarita Valley to get to a science lab.

Matters might have gotten even worse if round-the-clock efforts had not been made to restore the campus to at least a semblance of working order. Given the circumstances, progress has been remarkably swift.

For example, the centerpiece Oviatt Library (the San Fernando Valley’s largest repository of books and periodicals) has been returned to service. All science classes are back on campus, and CSUN officials hope that 50% of the university’s classrooms will be back in use by the end of the semester. Some administrative offices, last on the list of priorities, may not be ready for two years.

In a sense, CSUN is a microcosm of the region’s unexpected seismic problems related to structures. The concrete center of the Oviatt Library was not supposed to do very well in a major quake; it did just fine and is open to students. The steel-frame wings of the library were supposed to do well in a quake; they did not do well. The wings remain closed, and the cost of rebuilding them is unknown because engineering experts are still working out new earthquake tolerances and standards for steel-frame buildings.

About one-third of the $350 million needed to rebuild the campus has arrived or is on the way. FEMA has generously promised to come up with 90% of the cost.

In a natural disaster so costly that it is rewriting the record books, it’s difficult to know exactly what the rebuilding priorities ought to be. But CSUN deserves at least a fairly high priority. Some California campuses that suffered quake damage years ago still have not been fully rebuilt. CSUN should not suffer that fate.