As construction on campus continues, Penn State is not only creating new buildings, but also improving old ones.

Office of Physical Plant (OPP) spokesman Paul Ruskin said the OPP Design and Construction team is midway through a $769 million plan and all projects are currently on schedule.

A major renovation in North Halls will create four-bedroom suites clustered around a bathroom, with two students per room. Ruskin said the rooms would all be air-conditioned.

He added that construction on Leete Hall will be completed by fall 2005, and construction on Holmes and Runkle Halls will follow.

Ruskin said construction on the new Smeal College of Business Building, located at Park Avenue and Shortlidge Road, should be completed by July.

Another change was the installation of new wireless Internet technology in 15 buildings in the College of Engineering on campus.

Tom Long, Electronics and Computer Services senior systems analyst, said the Internet system took about a year to design and about two months to install.

Long added that although the Internet service is open to anyone at Penn State, only College of Engineering students can access certain resources.

"There are certain things that will only be available to students in the College of Engineering," he said. "But anyone at Penn State can use the wireless network to access services such as eLion and Webmail."

University Creamery manager Tom Palchak said construction on the new Berkey Creamery at Bigler and Curtin roads continued during winter break, and is moving rapidly.

"We are currently ahead of our expectations," Palchak said. "New supplies and equipment are arriving on a daily basis."

The construction has not affected residents in nearby East Halls, he added.

"Penn State has really bent over backwards to accommodate the residents," he said. "I'm confident that the temporary inconvenience for students will lead to a permanent improvement."

The White Building also underwent changes. Combination locks were installed to replace the key locks which were used in the locker rooms.

White Building Facility Coordinator Phil Keller said the change was made because of the cost of replacing keys.

"We have spent nearly $10,000 replacing keys," he said. "The process is also very time consuming; it usually takes about half an hour to replace a lock if a key is stolen."

Keller added that the new locks have re-settable combinations that can be changed by each locker user.

Only a few problems have occurred so far, Keller said.

"We have had a few incidents where people set the wrong combination by accident, and their belongings have been locked inside the locker," he said.