 Editor's
Note
An Eye for Improvement
By Marion Harmon
Probably one of the best recognized features of the Chico campus
-- and certainly the one generating the most double takes -- is
the trompe l'oeil mural on the side of Taylor Hall at Salem and
First Streets. Alumnus and highly regarded muralist John
Pugh was inspired after completing the work to begin a career
creating other illusionary murals. Greg Francis, campus director
of planning, says Pugh has returned to campus at least twice to
do a touch-up at no charge.
Taylor Hall itself is in need of a "touch-up," and that could
take place if voters approve upcoming bond measures. Proposition
47, on this year's fall election ballot, would provide $13.05 billion
for K12 and college facilities. Included in the measure is a new
student services center for CSU, Chico on the site of the late,
but not lamented, Sutter Hall. If Prop. 47 is approved, a ballot
measure in 2004 is slated to include a major renovation and addition
to Taylor Hall. New classrooms, dance and music practice rooms,
recital halls, lecture halls, faculty offices, and recording studios
for the College of Humanities and Fine Arts would be part of the
project. Opponents of Prop. 47 argue that taking on more bond debt
could harm the state's finances and that the state's school construction
process takes too long. We'll find out how the vote goes Nov. 5.
While it wasn't an official vote, our office did hear from some
of you this past spring regarding your thoughts on Chico Statements.
We sent a 14-question e-mail survey to about 10,000 alumni,
and 793 alumni responded. The high number of respondents alone was
great to see -- thanks to all of you who took the time to give us
feedback. Here are some of the results:
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88 percent said they read "some," "most," or
"all" of Chico Statements. |
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On a scale of 15 (5 tops), 67 percent rated
the overall quality of the magazine a "4" or "5." |
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Class notes and our main feature stories, respectively,
were the best-liked contents. |
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Asked what they wanted to see more of, respondents said
alumni profiles first, followed by university news, then university
history. |
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General appreciation of the university continues
to be very high -- answering the question, "How satisfied
are you with CSU, Chico as a whole?" 62 percent said they
were completely satisfied, and 99 percent said they were either
completely or pretty satisfied. In 1996, our office did a
phone survey of alumni and asked this same question. Among
the 507 alums responding, 46 percent were completely satisfied,
and 97 percent were either completely or pretty satisfied.
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The full survey results are available to download from the Web
at www.csuchico.edu/pub/Survey/Results/Results.xls.
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