THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501130248
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
When classes started early this month at the new Suffolk campus of Paul D. Camp Community College on Kenyon Road, biology instructor John Patterson was as eager as his students - perhaps more so.
``I haven't been this excited probably since my first year teaching, and that was 28 years ago,'' Patterson said the week before classes started.
``I have never taught in a lab like this before,'' he added, looking around the new, 30-station laboratory that has been equipped for not only biology and physiology classes but chemistry and physics as well.
The new, $3.5 million facility, triple the size of the school's former home on Pinner Street, has 34,000 square feet of classrooms, offices, labs, a library and a student lounge. The one-story, red brick building has walls of windows overlooking its 25-acre site that borders wooded wetlands and a man-made lake.
In addition to spacious classrooms, the building includes a large lecture hall that will be the receiving site for courses beamed by satellite from the Franklin campus as well as from other originating sites. As many as 70 students at once will be able to participate in long-distance learning programs via several monitors in the lecture hall.
Focusing on the need for all graduates to be computer literate, the building also houses a state-of-the-art computer laboratory with stationary and mobile computer stations.
A comfortable student lounge offers a respite between classes, with vending machines, dining tables and cozy seating areas with a view of the campus.
A second, future phase of construction will add a multilevel facility of about the same size as the current building to the Oliver K. Hobbs Campus, named for the man who donated the building site.
As classes started, the smell of fresh paint still hung in the air, paper signs temporarily marked room numbers, and one stubborn door handle kept falling off, but no one seemed to mind.
``I just love it,'' LaVerne Eure said as she registered for her first nine credits toward a GED, and eventually, a degree in nursing. ``This is like a new start for the college and for me.''
Her reaction was typical, especially from students who had previously attended classes in the old Pinner St. building. ``They walk around here in awe,'' said W. Ross Boone, director of academic programs.
``I am quite impressed, especially with the layout of the structure,'' Jean Cisco agreed. Cisco, 29, has completed one semester at PDC toward an associate's degree in education.
Thomas Robinson, a 20-year-old Lakeland High School graduate, was happily surprised when he came in to register for his first classes toward an accounting degree. ``I would have gone to the old campus, but this one is a whole lot better,'' he said.
Although many students like Robinson and Cisco drive to school, others like Eure are happy with the convenience of TRT express bus service to the campus from downtown Suffolk. Buses run non-stop from the TRT transfer point on Commerce Street to the campus four times a day (7:40 a.m., 10:40 a.m., 4:40 p.m. and 6:40 p.m.) with three return trips. The fare is $2 for a round trip. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MICHAEL KESTNER
Michelle Lowe, from left, and her mother, Susan Lowe, get some
pointers from Cindy Money of Paul D. Camp Community College as they
register for classes in the new building on Kenyon Road.
Students head for the new TCC building. The $3.5-million facility is
triple the size of the school's former home on Pinner Street.
by CNB