COVER STORY : DESTINATION: Cal State NORTHRIDGE : The commuter campus, open to the public, is chock-full of resources. There’s a gym for workouts, a swimming pool, even a job counseling center. Don’t forget the library, the largest in the Valley.

There’s a bar here where last call is usually before 3 in the afternoon, even on Fridays. It’s not even open weekends.

Maybe that’s why residents of the upscale neighborhoods surrounding the joint barely know it exists--although it is the only bar with a 91330 ZIP.

The Pub, as it is called, is hidden inside the Cal State Northridge campus. Students are its main clientele, but manager Kevin Davenport says even the lure of beer--an assortment at that--is not enough to keep most of the over-21 crowd from fleeing school right after class.

Some days, the place looks as deserted as the chem lab over vacation.

“People who aren’t students are intimidated about coming to campus,” he says.

They shouldn’t be. Besides its regular art, theater and music offerings, the school is not a bad place to eat, drink, do a little shopping, have some fun, even raise some Cain. There are sporting events, art exhibits and, if you know where to look, free movies twice a week.

Although Cal State Northridge has a well-deserved reputation for being a no-nonsense commuter school--with most students juggling classes and jobs--it offers a wide range of diversions for those who no longer worry about trading shifts at Burger Village during finals week.

The campus and even classes are open to the public.

“There’s a lot going on behind these walls,” says Peter Holmes, coordinator of the school’s institutional and guest relations. “The public sometimes has a misconception about what really goes on here. And I think they would be amazed at the facilities. . . . These are your tax dollars at work.”

For those seeking a formal introduction, Holmes and 27 student volunteers, acting as campus docents, conduct free weekday tours for groups or individuals, generally between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

About 5,000 visitors take the tour each year, Holmes says. They are mostly prospective students and staff, but anyone who calls (818) 885-2879 can arrange a tour. For the hearing-impaired, signers are available.

San Fernando Valley residents worried about ridicule--or worse--from roving gangs of kids with pierced body parts and Frankenstein shoes ought to know that about a third of CSUN students are older than 30. In fact, ticket sales for school events on average are split roughly between 40% students and 60% everybody else. Athletic events have a 50-50 split, campus officials say.

Taxpayers reluctant about going back to school, if only to ride their bikes or skateboards through the nicely landscaped grounds and cement pathways, should consider that the campus spends about $100 million a year in public money. Millions more will be spent to rebuild portions of the campus damaged by the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake.

The more adventurous visitor can strike out without a guide, simply by plunking down $1.75 for a parking sticker at either the Prairie Street or Lindley Avenue entrances. Parking attendants sell the passes, which provide an opportunity to hunt for a parking space, and provide maps of the school.

Street parking can be impossible. But for real-life drama, the payoff is watching the fleet of tow trucks haul cars off Nordhoff Street during morning and afternoon commute hours. Show times vary.

Once parked, pick up a campus shuttle bus that runs through the campus mornings and afternoons during the week.

It’s easy to kill a day hanging out at CSUN’s Student Union. Students do it all the time. Join them dropping quarters into pinball and video games at The Game Room. It’s open six days a week, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Billiard tables there rent for $2.50 an hour for two players and $3 an hour for up to four players. Ping-Pong tables are $2 an hour, plus a 25-cent ball deposit. House rules require that patrons be 13 or older to play video games, 18 or older to shoot pool. Any age for Ping-Pong, though.

Next door is the Spokeworks, the bike and wheelchair repair shop. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Across the breezeway is counseling services, which later this month will include The Relaxation Room. Inside will be a recliner with a built-in massager, a TV and videocassette player with specially designed videotapes on relaxation techniques and relationship problems. It is supposed to be just for students and staff, but it’s worth asking for a tryout. They probably won’t ask for student ID.

If stressed--and turned away from the Relaxation Room--there is always The Pub, which is just around the corner.

Beer-drinking there can start as early as 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, featuring 12-ounce draft beers for $1.49, 12-ounce bottles for $2.17 and 22-ounce bottles for $3.25. The bar is open until 3 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks to its big-screen TV, the bar gets busier Mondays during Monday Night Football, and is open until 10 p.m.

Thursdays, another happening night, is Jazz Night, where music and beer are served until 10 p.m.

A weekly rock music night is being planned. The bartender’s name is Johnny, and food also is served. For information, call (818) 885-3616.

The Pub has an outside balcony, with tables and chairs overlooking the Student Union Pool. The pool is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. It costs $2.25 for adults, 50 cents for kids 17 and younger.

Real fitness buffs should consider joining CSUN Fitness Center, operated by the Kinesiology Department. For $70 a semester, members can use the school’s weight room from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and join aerobics classes. Membership includes use of the P.E. Department pool from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays. For Fitness Center membership, call (818) 885-3200.

Of course, anyone can jog or walk through the campus, which is about two miles at its widest point, between Devonshire and Nordhoff streets.

If you’re spending the day on campus because of a job loss or corporate downsizing--or just undecided about what to do for work--counseling services also offers a career evaluation. For $295, career counselors will match an individual’s skills and interests with the marketplace.

Or stop by the personnel office, located in one of the new temporary buildings, Administration Park 702. It is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For a diversion from everyday matters, the CSUN Art Gallery has an exhibit of Greek artifacts called the “Cypriote Antiquities in Southern California.” Beginning Oct. 17 is “The Connective Thread: Textiles of Thailand and Laos,” which is more interesting than it sounds.

Sheila Allen-Weiss, curator of the exhibit, says, “Life, death and politics provide the context of traditional textiles worn in Asia. A person’s status, religious or clan affiliation or economic wealth were literally worn on the sleeve or other parts of clothing.”

Entrance is free to the gallery, open noon to 4 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. It is in temporary quarters at Art Annex 116, 18111 Nordhoff St. Coming Dec. 4 is “The World of Puppets,” featuring a display of puppets and live performances by puppeteers.

Music performances this fall range from the CSUN jazz band to the CSUN symphony to the campus wind ensemble’s performance of “The Music for the Coronation, Marriage and Funeral of Napoleon” on Oct. 14.

Four performances remain in the school’s 1994-95 American Guitar Society Concert Series, which are $12 each. These are unplugged, classically oriented music events.

And at noon every Wednesday, bands perform in the Student Union. In the past they have included Red Hot Chili Peppers, Digable Planets, Mary’s Danish, Leaving Trains and Bone Thugs N Harmony. Coming are The Rugburns on Oct. 12, and on Nov. 2, John Easedale of Dramarama.

The earthquake has temporarily knocked out the school’s largest theater, the 400-seat Campus Theater, so music performances are being held in the Student Union, the Little Theater, as well as a pretty hip off-campus site, the nearby privately owned Mission Theater, which looks like a Spanish rancho. The annual May Music Festival will be May 5 to 7 and 12 to 14. For other music events, times and prices, call (818) 885-3180.

The Theater Department is staging several productions this fall, including a Mozart opera, “Cosi Fan Tutte,” in the Little Theater, as well as “Microwave Drama: Theater in Five Minutes”--short, original plays--to be presented at The Pub later this month.

Theater tickets usually range from $5 to $11. Call (818) 885-3091.

All tickets, for entertainment or sports, are sold through the CSUN ticket office in the Student Union. It’s open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and also sells discount movie theater tickets for $4.50 ($5 for Cineplex Odeon), as well as discount admissions to Magic Mountain, Sea World and Universal Studios.

Sales are strictly cash, and student ID’s are not required. The ticket office phone number is (818) 885-2488.

CSUN’s Oviatt Library is, by far, the largest library in the Valley, with more than 600,000 volumes. It has dumped the card catalogue--the cards themselves are being used for scratch pads--in favor of a computerized system. The instructions are fairly easy, and there is usually a student willing to explain them.

Lending privileges for non-students can be purchased for a $40 annual membership in the Friends of the Library. Or patrons can read there for nothing. Unlike the billiard tables, there is almost never a line.

If you grow tired of the cloistered life, there is always the gridiron. Tickets to CSUN home football games cost $7.50. Homecoming is Oct. 22, against San Luis Obispo. The game starts at 7 p.m., and an on-campus carnival will precede it.

Other fall sports--men’s soccer, and women’s volleyball--are $5 a ticket. Season tickets for basketball season--which kicks off Oct. 15 with a midnight practice season and party at the gym--cost $50 for 11 homes games. This season, home games will include University of Nevada, Las Vegas, UC Berkeley and University of Alabama.

The sports office number is (818) 885-3215.

You also can visit the campus without leaving home. CSUN’s radio station, KCSN (88.5 FM), features classical music Monday through Friday. Weekends are an eclectic format of bluegrass, contemporary jazz and radio dramas. For a schedule, call (818) 885-3089.

Movies are Tuesday nights in the Student Union Theater for $3. In October, the lineup includes “This Is Spinal Tap” and “Clockwork Orange.” Even better are the free, mildly current movies shown Thursdays and Sundays at the Satellite Student Union. Under an arrangement with local theaters, the school is prohibited from advertising titles, but call (818) 885-2491 to find out.

The CSUN Women’s Center has its own lending library of mostly hard-to-find volumes about and by women. It’s in a 50-year-old converted house at 9520 Etiwanda St. The center puts on lectures and exhibits, including on Oct. 17, “The Clothesline Project”--a display of T-shirts with messages from abused women and children.

Finally, if spending time on campus is not enough, go ahead and try a class or two. Under the CSUN Open University program, anyone can take a class for credit--without formally enrolling--by paying a $135 per unit fee, if there is room. The catch: You must sign up by the fourth week of class. It’s too late for this semester but for next, call (818) 885-2644.