6A the university daily kansan
friday. september 19,2003
news
Regents vote for Corbin sprinkler system
By Maggie Newcomer
mnewcomer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Corbin Hall could be getting its first emergency sprinkler system as soon as this summer.
The Board of Regents passed an amendment yesterday allowing the University of Kansas to spend about $303,000 to install sprinklers in north and south Corbin.
Ken Stoner, director of student housing, said the last fire
safety improvements in the building were smoke and heat detectors installed more than 10 years ago.
The Lawrence City Commission passed a law to require fraternities and sororites to install sprinkler systems several years ago.
Bob Rombach, University fire marshal coordinator, said the state's primary concerns were keeping exit paths clear and evacuating buildings, which sent funds to stairwells and fire alarms and didn't leave much for sprinklers.
"It's lower priority because it's considered property protection." Rombach said.
While the state requires smoke detectors, it does not require sprinklers, unlike the city.
"Corbin was just next on the list." Stoner said.
Residence halls were not included in the law because they are state-owned and supported by tax dollars, unlike the privately owned houses.
Sprinklers have been installed
in all scholarship halls and Templin, Lewis and Ellsworth halls
Gertrude Sellards Pearson, McCollum, Oliver and Hashinger halls all still need sprinklers as well.
The sprinklers are part of the ongoing residence hall construction that included Ellsworth Hall's renovation last summer.
Rombach said to retrofit Corbin with sprinklers would be a challenge because crews
would have to work around existing structures and leave the pipes exposed when they were finished.
It is nearly twice as expensive to install sprinklers in a finished building than one that is being renovated. Rombach said it could cost up to $4 per square foot in Corbin because crews would have to repair the damage the installation caused.
He said it took two months to retrofit the three-story scholarship halls, but the seven-story.
two-winged Corbin could probably be done in three months.
"It would be a struggle," Rombach said. "But it depends on the manpower."
Until then, Rombach kept the fire safety advice simple.
Stoner said that as soon as the design was finished and contractors submitted bids, construction would begin.
"If the fire alarm goes off (leave), he said."
Collage Concert to showcase student performances
By Alex Hoffman
ahoffman@ku.edu
Kansas staff writer
Shannon Kroh, Silver Lake sophomore, played her baritone during a rendition of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band last night in the Lied Center. Kroh and the rest of the Marching Jay Hawks practiced for tonight's Collage Concert, an event that will showcase performances from all the Fine Arts school's departments.
The power and virtuosity of an orchestra, the grace of ballet and the uniqueness of performance art will all be featured in one performance.
The School of Fine Arts hosts its fourth annual Collage Concert at 7:30 tonight in the Lied Center. About 300 students, including the University of Kansas Marching Jayhawks and the symphony orchestra, are scheduled to participate.
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
"What the Collage Concert presents is a wonderful opportunity for people from campus and the community to have in a 90-minute span—a wonderful sample of many of the kinds of art we have in the school." said Steve Hedden, dean of fine arts. "So the event is a remarkable resource for us."
The 18 performances in the lineup present a wide range of artistic expression. The KU Jazz Combo, the KU String Quartet and the KU Chamber Choir are among the smaller ensembles that will display their talents.
installation art, brainstormed ideas in August for a performance piece in the concert.
Besides the music and dance presentations, a performance art piece called By Friday is on the program.
"It's inspiring," said Rachel Elts, one of the By Friday performers and a 1998 graduate of the University. "I love to experience other ideas and the ways other people approach performance art."
Although performance art takes on an array of definitions, much of its focus is expressing emotions through various media. Four performers and Maria Velasco, associate professor of
Dreams as a metaphor for life serve as the theme of the piece. Through body movements, Elits said she and her performing partner, Keiko Kira, represent the push and pull, or the pressure and release, that situations in dreams and reality share. A video runs during the piece that enhances the idea of dream states.
"It's like a painting that happens in this particular space for a specific amount of time," Elits said.
Velasco also was involved in a special video for a retiring art professor that will be presented at the concert. She co-produced Roger Shimomura: A Legacy in Art. She started working in March and gathered slides, raw footage of the performances Shimomura directed and did scripts with his own narration.
Velasco tried to think of how many hours it took to complete.
"In the beginning I was sort of keeping track," she said. "Then I sort of gave up."
Another video will show images of students' artwork from the design department. These
videos are ways to recognize the art and design students and faculty because there is no exhibition space at the Collage Concert. Velasco said.
Hedden said he was looking forward to seeing the variety of the program in his first Collage
Concert as dean.
"It is going to be 90 minutes of non-stop fun," he said.
Tickets for the concert cost
$10 for the public and $5 for students.
Edited by Erin Riffey
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
Matt Norman, Detroit senior, says his two passions in life are soccer and conservative politics, and he takes in as much as he can of each from the couch in his living room.
Soccer, Republicans inspire senior
By Zack Hemenway
zhenwenway@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Every face in the crowd and every name in the phone book has a story behind it. Every week, Kansan staff writer Zack Hemenway tells the story of a randomly selected KU student.
Colliding with a defender in the air, Norman was knocked to all fours as the ball sailed by. At this most vulnerable position, another defender tanded on Norman's back with full force, fracturing his vertebrae. The scholarship and any chance at a soccer career were gone; Norman spent
It was the second half of the Michigan state high school soccer championship, and Matt Norman's team needed a goal. His team's other forward sent a cross floating into the box, and Norman went up, trying to use the skills that made Michigan State offer him a scholarship to head the ball into the net.
He had no idea the next moment would change his scholarship, his college choice — his life.
the spring semester of his senior year in a back brace.
Four years later, Norman, Detroit senior, said he rarely thinks about that fateful moment.
"Stuff happens," he said. "You just have to deal with it."
Dealing with the injury didn't mean any change in Norman's love for soccer. While a return to his previous form is not possible, he's still able to play on a recreational basis. He and his friends "kick the ball around" at least once a week, and he said his apartment carpet is often the site of impromptu dribbling practice.
"He talks about soccer all the time, every chance he gets," his friend Karo Akpolo, Dodge City senior, said.
Norman's two younger brothers are often the focus of his soccer talk. Luke, 14, plays for the second-ranked club team in the nation, and Nathan, 18, starts for Notre Dame and the under-19 U.S. National team. Norman said following his brothers' exploits has taken the place of his aborted soccer dreams.
"I can almost live through them on the field," he said. "I love to watch my brothers play."
Matt Norman talks to Nathan after almost every game, and plans to travel to see two of his younger brother's biggest matches this year.
If Norman isn't talking about soccer, it's a pretty good bet the double major in journalism and political science is talking about politics — right-wing politics, to be exact. Norman, a self-proclaimed "politics junkie," calls Rush Limbaugh his hero.
"Being a Republican — it's just the logical thing to do," he said in lieu of explaining his beliefs.
Not all of Norman's friends agree with his simplified explanation, but most of them have strong political beliefs. Norman said his group of friends usually spent the few hours before going out on weekend nights embroiled in political discussion.
"We like to argue," he said. "Whenever we get together before we go out, it turns into a two-hour debate."
The television in Norman's apartment is usually tuned to a
channel with Fox in its name. He loves the Fox News Channel, and is a daily devotee of its conservative commentary programs like The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and Combs. Hannity's book, subtitled Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism, occupies a prominent spot on Norman's living-room table.
Another Fox channel, Fox Sports World, feeds Norman's obsession with soccer, showing European league matches daily. Most weekday nights his framed "Quiet: football on TV!" sign speaks the truth most weekday nights.
"It's awesome to be able to watch soccer on TV so much," he said. "It's definitely a bonus having this on cable."
Matt Norman won't be taking the field anytime soon, but he still has a big game circled on his calendar — Nathan's Notre Dame team heads to Storrs, Conn., to take the 12th-ranked Connecticut Huskies Oct. 18 and Matt will be in the stands.
- Edited by Shane Mettlen
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