MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 50
Demolition
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students thought about a demolition job. It includes excavating, landfilling, asbestos removal, recycling metal and specialized rigging, which is the transportation of large objects such as tanks, vessels and paper mills.
Steven McCabe, chairman of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, said he had never known any KU students interested in demolition.
"The only people I've known in the demolition industry were a couple people in the military who liked the idea of blowing things up." he said.
McCabe said average engi
neering students were not attracted to jobs in the demolition field; instead most graduates he knew went into bridge and road design and construction.
in an attempt to create interest in the field among college students, the contractors association has sent information about the industry to 100 colleges and universities throughout the country. The association is primarily targeting schools with prestigious construction management and civil engineering programs, but Taylor said demolition contracting was a good career for any college graduate.
Entry-level positions in the industry usually offer insurance, 401(k)s and about $30,000 a year, and the career track to
"The only people I've known in the demolition industry were a couple people in the military who liked the idea of blowing things up."
Steven McCabe chair of civil, environmental and architectural engineering
higher pay is fast, Taylor said.
Justin Milburn, Derby civil engineering graduate student, said demolition contracting interested him after hearing the contractors association was looking to recruit college graduates.
Jim Thompson, owner of Dependable Hauling and Demolition in Kansas City, Mo., said he liked his job because of the sense of accomplishment he felt after finishing a job.
"It sounds like a fun job to me," Milburn said. "Who wouldn't want to demolish things?"
"A good thing about the job is that it's a new task every day, so it doesn't get repetitions," he said.
But demolition contracting can be dangerous.
Bill Bowles, owner of Bowles Excavating in Osawatomie, said there were always potential dangers when wrecking structures and working with chemicals and asbestos.
Scott Gibson, who worked in
demolition contracting in the Kansas City area for more than 50 years, said demolition contractors also had to be careful around paint and nails. He said the only work injury he ever had was a hit on the head from a board that fell from a seven-story building.
Taylor said demolition contracting was a lucrative way to make a living. Pay depends on the size of the company and the location, he said, but large companies in major metropolises can make millions of dollars.
"You don't have to wear a tie — instead you wear a hardhat — and you get to spit and say bad words," he said. "But the bottom line is, you can get rich."
Taylor will be hosting a ses
"You don't have to wear a tie — instead you wear a hardhat and you get to spit and say bad words."
Michael Taylor
Executive director of the National Association of Demolition Contractors
sition titled "Demolition as a career choice", Oct. 9 at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Mo. All students are welcome and admission is free.
For more information, go to www.nadc.org.
- Edited by Amy Schmitz
Sorority
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what the sorority is about," she said.
Rossow said one of the things she was looking forward to was learning from what the other women had to offer.
Friendship, community
involvement and being a founding member were attractive to Cassie Sandidge, Olathe junior.
"There was a girl in one of my classes and we would have never met if not for both of us being part of ZTA," Sandidge said. "We have spent a lot of time together since we met. I have some other friends in the chapter and we all hung out Friday
night. We couldn't talk about anything other than Zeta."
The next step for the sorority's charter is initiation, which is scheduled for January, Millsap said. The women began the new member education program yesterday with ZTA's formal pledging, in which the women committed to becoming a member of the sorority. The
program will run for the duration of the semester. ZTA traveling consultants and local alumni are coordinating the education program.
The sorority also has an agreement with the University to rent or build a house within the next five years and the ZTA National Housing corporation is currently working on a location.
The sorority's first chapter meeting will take place tonight. ZTA also has a Panhellenic adviser and a traveling consultant representing it at weekly Panhellenic Association meetings until the colony elects officers.
"There was a girl in one of my classes and we would have never met if not for both of us being part of ZTA."
Edited by Lauren Beatty
Cassie Sandidge
Olathe junior