[5] Additionally, the lack of on-campus social space contributed to the fact that nearly 60% of UC San Diego students at the time commuted to school.

[8] The ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 21, 1989 was interrupted by protestors who called the $19.6 million structure the "High Price Center", but the game room and circular plaza were met with enthusiasm.

The expansion was to be anchored by a 24-hour study lounge surrounded by late-night fast food restaurants, as well as a grocery store, post office, and retail services.

[12] The design for Price Center East featured a central four-story atrium which connected to the exterior of the university through a series of plazas and staircases.

The adjacent Town Square and shuttle loop, too, were redesigned to create a downtown for UC San Diego students.

Former UC San Diego faculty member Barbara Kruger's Another is a 74-foot long mural installed upon the completion of the Price Center East expansion in 2008.

The mural, located behind Dlush on the first floor of Price Center East, is supplemented by a set of 23 tabletops which highlight the various individuals depicted.

This was because the fires occurred the same day that the University Centers Advisory Board voted to replace Espresso Roma with Starbucks Coffee, angering campus fair trade activists.