Photo tour of the Graffiti Tunnels

Who would think....

Doors of Perception

Life?

niceee

Observation is the key to man's innovation

Decades of expression

Stairway to high

Sex machine

'Pain is weakness leaving the body'

Photo Tour of Che Cafe

Took a couple of pictures last night. Most of the graffiti pictured here is in the inner courtyard. Great kickback to the seventies. Recently, I've heard that the school is trying to shut Che and other student run co-ops down. They have lists of ways you can help out on Che cafe's website.

Visualizations! Ideas?

Probably tomorrow I will try and head out on a picture run to see if I can get pics of everything I've posted so far and maybe a couple for my future posts. Now that I'm reaching 500 people a day, if anyone is in on places, ideas, myths etc. I haven't heard of yet, please post them as a comment and I promise I will put it up. With your name if you like it that way. I've removed restrictions on comments so you don't have to register to post comments. Check back for pictures tomorrow.

UCSD Veggie Patch

This isn't really a spot that people may be missing out on, but since most people have never heard about it I though it required a mention. UCSD has its own little garden on campus and a good part of the fruits and vegetables available in the dining halls come from here. They grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The last time I made a trip there, there were carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, peaches etc. I tasted a couple though I'm not sure if you are allowed to. Check it out sometime, and maybe if its the right time of year you might find some fruit. The gardener is this really chill dude and he answers most of your questions. The guy knows a lot so if you have questions bout that garden in your closet fire away. The last time I was there, there was a hammock and a few benches. Guerrilla.

Where is it -

Its right behind Che Cafe. If you take the little path that leads from the parking lot in front of Che and follow it to the back, it should lead you directly into the gardens.

UCSD Tunnels

The one thing that freshman hear when they come to UCSD is the existence of an elaborate system of tunnels that run throughout the university linking most of the buildings. Luckily for you new freshmen this is true. Since this school was built in the 60s, it was under constant attack by the resident hippies. To provide the staff members with an escape route incase things got out of hand, these tunnels were constructed linking most buildings to an escape route. I managed to find a map detailing the routes and possible entry and exit points. This map is just a rough guide but has been tested and is considered accurate.

Most Convenient Entrance

The best possible entrance is by far the manhole on the little hill, facing Main Gym in Revelle. On the map it is the little blue dot right next to the Student Center.


DISCLAIMER: I do not advocate the doing of anything listed or stated on this blog. I myself have never entered the tunnels and do not encourage anyone else to do so either. This site is meant to be a source of information.

Che Cafe

Che Cafe is one of those crazy places left standing after the dust settled from 69. Its eccentric, colorful and has a cause for everyone. Officially it is a vegan food joint and has some decent food, but it regularly has indie and punk bands that come and play in the little cosy studio like room. Admission is generally free but the bands request you support them by buying some merch. The place is old and it shows. It has probably never been repaired but thats what adds to the ambience of the place. Every now and then, goths have mysterious conventions there and you see them congregated outside. Most people in Revelle and Muir should already know about Che, since you guys pass it on the way to the Revelle parking lots. For everyone in other colleges, you should check it out if only once. Look up showtimes and you should enjoy the weird music. This one time I saw this band that didnt know the words to their song. So they made it up as they went with the audience helping them make up some of their rhymes. So yeah, i'm going to post a map so its easy to find and a link to their website.

Che Cafe - http://checafe.ucsd.edu

The Hood

On campus, there are many spots that are meant to be off the radar and one of them is 'The Hood'. It's right behind Warren College apartments towards the canyon. The 'Hood' isn't the most comfortable place to light up in, but if you are looking for a spot away from the constant harassment of the RSOs, then the hood is the place to be. They have a bench and a couple of chairs overlooking the canyon, the highway and the rest of La Jolla. Its perfect to just kick back and light up or take a couple of swigs of some good, old-fashioned beer.

How to get there -

To get there, take the little path that leads down into the campus behind Canyon Vista (Warren dining hall). Once you are on this path keep following it. It dips down and then back up again seemingly heading back up into the apartments. Right at the top, there should be a little hidden path in the bushes that should lead to the left and back down again. Follow this path and keep to the right. It loops around, to the right, and then opens, leading directly into 'The Hood'.

Help out -

It used to be a great place to be in, but recently people that have begun to leave a lot of trash around the hood, so don't be surprised if you find a lot of empty water bottles and other random trash around the benches. Someone help out, maybe clean the place up. Take a drag. Watch La Jolla go by.

Which Buildings Are Connected?

Some more info about the tunnels -

The UCSD utility tunnels are in 2 distinct sections. These are simple enough that they can actually be described pretty easily in words. (something which could not be said for many other colleges!) I figured a textual description would be interesting and useful to some.

• The first, older & smaller section is Revelle. These tunnels start at Anchorview (the old Physical Plant), connect to all of the mud huts (through tiny, unlit, dirty crawlspace tunnels exiting into the Laundry Rooms) , continue to Galbraith Hall (UGL), branch to York, branch to the current Physical Plant, continue on to Bonner, then they become basically "public", crossing under the Revelle walkway over to Urey. By "public", I mean you can see this section any time, as it is part of the Urey basement (the part with the huge pipes on the South side of the hall) The section of these tunnels after Galbraith is round, unlike most of UCSD's tunnels.

• The main section of the UCSD tunnels basically does a loop around the Eucalyptus grove/Sun God in the center of campus. It starts from the East side of the Physical Plant. After a short stretch it branches (at an outside vent which can be seen on Gilman Drive) into the loop. Going clockwise around the loop, the tunnel continues for a long, straight stretch, turning almost directly beneath the Grove Caffe. It turns towards the Gym, which is connected through a small branch. This is also the location of the most well known Tunnel entrance, the manhole on the hump (the one with "UCSD" on it, light can be seen through it at night). Just north of this corner is a branch to Mandeville. The tunnel continues and branches to the Biology building. (this entrance can be walked up to in the basement of Biology.. you can look in, but the door is heavily chained/alarmed) Continuing on, the tunnel splits at AP&M, which has a tunnel entrance in the basement. The branch here goes west to Muir, ending at McGill hall/the Rat. There is a vent here, right next to the stairs going beneath TOQ. Contnuing around the loop, the tunnel turns east at the Muir Booster Station, which is the loud set of fenced-in pipes next to Campus Loop Drive and Petersen Hall. The tunnel then heads towards Cog Sci, where there is a loud vent fan that can't be missed. It continues east under the walkway at a steep down-grade and passes another vent next to the library. Beneath the concrete area in front of the library there is a 3-way junction, with a manhole out (again, the one with UCSD on it.) The left branch leads into the library, apparently into the utility room inside the music listening library. The right branch goes south, almost prefectly straight, for the entire length of Library Walk, past a loud fan in the middle of Gilman Dr., and to the quad next to the Medical Library. Here is another manhole, and a branch left (East) over to the Basic Sciences Building. The tunnel continues south after this for a bit, then it angles back to the Physical Plant, meeting the beginning of the loop along the way.
• There is also a "Miscellaneous" tunnel, unconnected to any others, which crosses underneath the "ridge walk"-from the bottom floor of Cog Sci over to Chemical Research.

Source : Ben-Net (Ben Hines) - http://members.tripod.com/~tunnels/ucsdtunn.html

UCSD's Emergency Capsules

Most people haven't heard about this, but I knew this person who happened to have the blueprints of UCSD. Apparently, UCSD has between 8-10 Emergency capsules that are 40x40 feet which is huge. These are scattered all over campus and can be accessed only through UCSD's tunnel system. These were initially built to protect teachers and staff from student protests in the 60s and 70s. Six of these capsules are stocked up with food and water to last the staff an entire week. So if you are ever hungry at four in the morning, try and figure out where they are. I know there is atleast one in every college. I will try and come up with a map and post it up here for you guys to see.

Spot of the Day -

Go down into the tunnels on the hump across Main Gym, and walk towards the Biology Bldg. Now between the Bio bldg. and Peterson Hall, there are a couple of right turns. On one of these right turns you will find 4 chairs around a 420 game. Play it!