New building

A $682 000 low oval structure on the east campus of the University of California at Berkeley went into full operation in May as a new physical‐sciences lecture hall. Facing the 550‐seat auditorium is a circular rotating stage with three lecture‐hall fronts, each with benches, sinks, blackboards, and other demonstration paraphernalia. The rotating stage enables continuous use of the hall throughout the school day, and allows a total accommodation of up to 4000 students. A further feature of the building is the use of sixteen large television monitor screens distributed throughout the hall for closeup viewing of the finer points of experiments. Harvey E. White, professor of physics at Berkeley, and Richard Powell, chairman of the Chemistry Department, were the principal faculty consultants in planning for the new lecture hall.