It may be near the end of the academic year, but Bakersfield College Architecture Club members say that they already have special designs for next fall.
Club adviser and BC architecture professor Duane Anderson said the club is currently hashing out its mission statement, scheduling a guest speaker and arranging fundraisers for field trips to colleges such as Cal Poly, San Luis and Pomona.
The club is especially interested in educating BC architecture students that there are a lot of four-year institutions that offer degrees in architecture, and that Cal Poly, San Luis and Pomona are not the only schools for that.
According to the current club president, John Green, 21, who is bound for the University of Oregon next fall, other architecture schools include the New School of Architecture in San Diego and Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles.
There are many private institutions of architecture, according to both Anderson and Green. The club also believes students need to know about the prerequisites for getting into colleges and their architecture programs, said Green.
According to Anderson, prospective architecture students need to know that because Cal Poly, San Luis and Pomona have so many students in their respective architecture programs, students must have really high GPAs in order to get in.
Green mentioned that a student needs a GPA of 3.75 to get into the Pomona architecture program.
“If you don’t have a 4.0, Cal Poly won’t even talk to you,” said Anderson.
According to Anderson, the club will look into gaining internships for architecture students, and the club will possibly seek the sponsorship and assistance of the local chapter of A.I.A. or the American Institute of Architects.
But the club members say that they are also interested in public service and not just internships and colleges. Helping the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity build houses is a yearly activity, said both Anderson and Green.
The club has never designed houses for Habitat for Humanity, but Anderson said that the club would someday like to design a special structure for the BC campus such as a water fountain or memorial. Green would like to see a newly designed Campus Center at BC and thinks it would be a good idea for BC architecture students to assist in redesigning the Campus Center.
Club member Jeanna Difede, 18, said that she would like the club to design an eye-catching structure like one of the sculptures found on the Cal State Bakersfield campus.