University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, March 3, 1992 The doors 7 Decorations on office doors reveal little-known facts about instructors. By Janet Rorholm Kansan staff writer When students desperately need to talk to professors who are not in their offices, frustration can set in. The office hours posted on the door say the professor should be there. So the student waits. And waits. And waits. The trick is to keep from getting too bored. Glancing at the walls, the students toss a wall covered with cartoons, newspapers and other eye-catching paraphernalia. To help relieve this boredom, many teachers at the University of Kansas decorate the outer doors of their offices with cartoons, pictures, postcards, articles, headlines and announcements. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the basement of Wescoe Hall knows the Tracy Floriane, Austin, Texas, graduate student, said she read like the office doors while she waited for her professor. "A lot of the time it reflects their political beliefs," she said. "For instance, you can tell if a professor is a feminist." "Sometimes it's almost an inside joe if you know them well enough," he said. All of his professor's cartoons were based on a classical theme. One cartoon was of an architect sitting at a drawing table thinking of an idea for a Brian Lipscomb, Olathe sophomore, was waiting for his English teacher Wednesday on the second floor of Wescoe Hall. He said the cartoons and pictures meant more to him if he knew the teacher. "Who could spend eight hours a day in this office? It could be deadly." Donald Watkins associate professor of German building. He started first with a definite Roman design, but gradually his ideas changed until he thought about money. The end result was a skyscraper. "She has a good sense of humor and appreciates it in other things," Lipscomb said. Although some students said they enjoyed the decorations, teachers said they put up the art to amuse themselves. Some teachers do not spend much time decorating, but others make sure to decorate their doors once a week. Max Sutton, professor of English, said he had not changed the pictures on his office door in years. A child's drawing of a happy lion standing next to a tree and of a smiling sun in the sky fills his office window along with drawings and postcards from 19th century artists he picked up in England while on sabbatical in 1978 His daughter drew the picture when she was about seven years old, he said. She is now 25. Sutton said he kept the pictures there because they come across so well. "This looks so unrushed." Donald Watkins, associate professor of Germanic languages and literatures, has four colorful scenes of the Southwest and of rain forests. The pictures are supposed to help keep him from going crazy in his windowless office, he said. "It's a contrast of KU life," he said. "My motivation was to bring something lively and green to the middle of this barren building." he said. Watkins said the lack of windows showed a high disregard for human needs. "Who could spend eight hours a day deadly?" he said. "I could be death." Wescoe Hall is not the only building whose walls and doors are lined with door art. Dennis Saleebey, professor of social welfare in Twente Hall, said he enjoyed changing the art on his door when he could find the time. Saleebey is from California, but he came to KU from Texas. He said his door reflected his disbelief that he was now living in the Midwest. Besides his cartons, Saleeby also puts up different games outside his The game up now is called daffynitions. He posts words and people can make up a definition for the word. For instance, someone defined converse as prison poetry. Salebey said he sometimes awarded a prize to the best definition. "I'm a firm believer that a little fun at work is essential to survive," he said. Phil Wedge, lecturer in English, decorates his office door and window in Wescoe Hall with pictures and samples of poetry and stories from a book he edits called "Cottonwood 45." EARN EXTRA CASH PARTICIPATE IN A PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH STUDY! Clinical Research Foundation has just opened a new contemporary internationally qualified pharmaceutical research facility in Lenexa. If you meet the following criteria: - MALE - MALE • NON-SMOKER • PHYSICALLY QUALIFIED • 18-65 YEARS OLD • CLOSE TO IDEAL WEIGHT Call us at (913)749-3695 and ask about earning up to $300 for an approximately 4 day study! SHORTER STUDIES AVAILABLE! 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