Welcome Back Sec rets of Do ul g la & Col leg e By Mark Fisher and Matthew Steinbach Ey College can seem like a boring place sometimes, but if you like to explore or wander around aimlessly, there are some things you can find that just might surprise you. Some will enhance your student experience and some are just interesting tidbits that most students never find out about. Floor Zero Like a secret labyrinth beneath the college, Floor Zero of the New Westminster campus is a place that most students never set foot upon. If the legends are true, it is home to the freshest drinking fountain and the cleanest and most private washrooms of the college. If you can’t stand being around other people, this is definitely the place on campus where you belong. Fifth and Sixth Floors If you take any computer course at New Westminster, then this area is common knowledge, but a surprisingly high number of students— mainly arts students— don’t know about the two extra floors that are full of open-use computer labs. Find a stairwell on the northern side of the building and you’ll find your way up there. Anytime a class isn’t in session you can go one of the many computer labs to work on assignments, check your e-mail, or surf the net. Much better than the crappy computers in the Library. CAVE Need a job to help keep you out of student loan debt? You’re in luck, because Douglas College runs its own employment center that specializes in finding jobs for people ages 15-30, though most Douglas students don’t realize this. The CAVE resource centre is located at 4250 Kingsway (one block from Patterson Station). Drop-ins are welcome, no appointment necessary. Just show up and get to work! They’re also hosting a huge career fair on September 16"-17" at 6515 Bonsor St. (near Metrotown). Jobs for everyone, even English majors! The Surrey Campus How many Surrey girls does it take to milk a cow? At the Douglas College Surrey campus, they spend their days pondering the answers to this and other deep questions. As the newest addition to the Douglas College umbrella, the Surrey campus exists in order to make sure that there’s a place for future baggage checkers, road builders, and interior decorators to learn their craft. Ample parking day or night, people shouting “howdy stranger!” Head on down to Surrey and meet some friends of mine. The Secrets of the Douglas College Theatre Department Revealed! If you’re ever curious about a play at Douglas College but you’ re not sure if you'll like it, walk to the far north end of the 3" floor and turn to your right. There you'll find the wall where the theatre department keeps the rehearsal schedule for their plays. This will give you a rundown of what the plot is about, as well as clue you in on which characters die during the play, so you can spoil it for the rest of the audience just before it happens. The theatre department also has a habit of not locking the secret door into the theatre— probably because it’s so secret they don’t think that they have to. On the fourth floor stairwell leading up to the fifth floor (making this a secret within a secret), there’s a door that opens to a staircase going down to the back of the theatre. This door is there in order to allow the performers to make surprise entrances on the audience, but now with this knowledge you can turn the tables and @ make surprise entrances on them! Since the fall semester’s production is the Obie- award winning When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?, | dare all of our readers to open it and yell a random date like “November 6"” or “Sylvia Plath Day” sometime during the performance. The Concourse Is A Street Little do many know, but technically Agnes Street runs through the Concourse at Douglas. During its construction, originally there was to be no cover and two separate buildings, but at a later time before the College was complete they were able to add the glass roof in. But to this day, the concourse is still considered to be apart of Agnes. Which explains why there is no heat, and the outdoor auditorium feel that the College went for at this Campus. iz Student Services Wondering where your services are? Well they are on the fourth floor in a portion of the building that has no classrooms. Aboriginal Student Services are nearby, and there are computers to use for job searching with the Student Services Centre as well. Student Services used to include Peer Mentoring, which is why there is an office at the front that is currently unused. The Centre for Students With Disabilities is also housed under its confines. You Can Write On The Walls at the David Lam Campus Well, sort of. In the health sciences area in Building D, there are chalkboard walls, which anyone can write on. In fact, just using your finger will leave a slight impression on these walls. This was included in the building because it was there to aid health science students working in the halls or in groups. This college spared no expense on the newest building to be added to ensure that our health sciences program remained one of the best for years to come. Study Space There is study space at the David Lam Campus within the separate buildings. There are enclave’s set up with couches to ensure students are comfortable. This was to correct one of the drawbacks many saw within the New Westminster Campus, that there is nowhere to sit. Currently, there is some space within the new building for studying as well, but some tweaks are still underway. The Third Floor At David Lam Ever wonder why there are three floors at the David Lam Campus and only two of them include classes? The third floor is all of the administration for the campus, including teacher’s offices, Senior Administration, a boardroom, and Alumni offices. It houses everything except for services, which are mainly along the same hall now in the original building to allow for easy access. Unlike the New Westminster Campus, many facets of the Coquitlam campus are in fact centrally located.