By Krista Daly
A Daily Trojan article featured the technology that will be included in Wallis Annenberg Hall, the new USC Annenberg building under construction near the Pertusati Bookstore on the corner of Watt and Childs ways.The building is on track for completion in May 2014 and set to open in fall 2014.
Assistant Dean of Operations James Vasquez told the Daily Trojan that all student-run programs, such as Neon Tommy, Annenberg TV News, Annenberg Radio News and Impact, will be converged into the new 88,000-square-foot, five-story building.
Charles Peyton, manager of facilities operations and management, told the Daily Trojan that one of the main programming goals of the project was to make it as unique as the students it will house.
“The idea is that not all programs are alike and not all students are alike, and that’s a really positive thing,” Peyton said. “We really expect to have spaces that encourage students to come in and configure the spaces as they need or move from a space to another that is more conducive to what they’re working on or who they’re working with.”
To meet these goals, the project includes plans to build laptop lounges for group and project meetings as well as a series of study rooms and lobbies with movable furniture available for students to reserve. Angela Blakely, a second-year master’s of journalism student, told the Daily Trojan the renovations will provide a more realistic experience.
“Since it will look more like a newsroom, I think more incoming students will feel that they are actually going to a school that’s putting them in the real life experience of being a journalist,” Blakely said.
