1
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2009
O
NEWS
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MAJORS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
clivities, it'll wear you down," McCarthy said.
"Before coming to school, stu
McCarthy said that students' perspectives and interests could change in a short amount of time. coming to school, stu
"Before coming dents are asked
dents are asked to just put something down as their major but from the time students fill out their application to the time they arrive at school, students make a lot of decisions," McCarthy said.
"It's hard to know when you're 18, or 19 years old, what you most want to do..."
BEVIN FATH
Fort Wayne, Ind., graduate student
On page 51 of the academic catalog, at the end of the list of majors offered at the University, is a quarter-page section describing the option to create a special major. This option allows students to group together courses, name their major and petition the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for its approval as a degree.
Aaron Olsen, Overland Park graduate in biochemistry, took advantage of this option. He took several lower-level language courses, including Spanish, German and
French, along with his biochemistry curriculum during his freshman and sophomore years. When he found out about the special major option, he listed them, along with upper-level courses in anthropology and sociology, and submitted it to the college. He called his special major "Languages in Humanitarian Aid"
"People usually find something very specific," Olsen said. "It's usually something the University should offer but
doesn't. Usually, you use it as a second major, because the first major adds legitimacy."
To apply for a special major, students must submit an endorsement from one or more of the college departments involved, along with a petition and a list of classes they wish to include in the major, to a Committee on Undergraduate Studies and Advising. If the committee accepts the petition and the student fulfills the 30 credit-hour requirement for a major, the student will receive a Special Major degree at graduation.
Students who select a major early in their college careers can sometimes find themselves changing their minds later. Bevin Fath, Fort Wayne, Ind., graduate student, said she knew exactly what she wanted to do when she started her undergraduate studies at Syracuse University. She said she loved working for the student newspaper in high school.
"I knew I wanted to go to communications school, so I took a journalism major." Fath said.
But after graduating and finding work in public relations, she realized it was not the career she wanted. Thinking back on her undergraduate involvement in student organizations, she decided to apply to graduate school in higher education and was accepted at the University.
life," she said. "People who are 30 or 40 still don't know that. I think they should keep an open mind, and try classes that interest them."
She said it was best for undergraduates not to stress too much about picking their majors early.
"Students need to think about what they want to do with their lives and work back from there."
David Gaston, director of the University Career Center, said students with real-world experience had a better idea of what classes to take at the University.
It's hard to know when you're 18, 19 years old, what you most want to do with the rest of your
"Students need to think about what they want to do with their lives and work back from there," Gaston said. "If they find a path they'll be happy with, they'll have
DAVID GASTON UCC director
For more information on the special major option, visit the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences office in 109 Strong Hall.
the best careers."
He said the UCC offered resources for undecided students to explore their interests. He advised students to visit the Career Center Web site at www.kucareerhawk.com to learn more about internship opportunities.
— Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph
student interest surveys and networking events.
MTV (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
party in their video. However, they were forced to get creative to make their video look realistic within the contest rules.
"The problem is you can't have a party with only 10 people, so we decided to double each of us up to make it look like there were actually 20 people," Reynolds said.
The video features an unusual type of party, where people from two different walks of life come together to share a good time.
The group had each person play two characters: a nerd and a rock star.
The party-goers can be seen performing Litis "My Own Worst Enemy" and downing plenty of Pepsi in keg-party fashion.
Reynolds said the main message of the video was there could be unity between two cliques of different people, such as rock stars and nerds.
In some of Reynolds' more memorable scenes from the video, he pours soda over his head and rides a child's bicycle into a pool.
Brian Harmon, Ormaha, Neb.
freshman, lives near Reynolds in McCollum Hall and has been
voting for the video multiple times every day.
Harmon said he knew other students who had been voting for the video.
"It would be the coolest thing ever if he won, so we've been telling everybody about it," Harmon said.
As far as plans for the Moonman award, Reynolds said he planned to bring it back to Lawrence and keep it in his dorm room.
"I'll polish it up and put it in a trophy case, that's for sure," Reynolds said.
Reynolds said his friends had initially worried there would be too many good submissions for them to win the contest, but decided to enter it anyway.
"The broadcasting teacher just came to us and said, 'You're very talented at what you do and there's a contest coming up and I think you have a good shot at winning it.' Reynolds said.
The judges for MTV agreed. Now it's time to see whether the rest of the country does as well.
Edited by Abbey Strusz
CAMPUS
Despite state grants, limited funds hinder expansion
Andrew Hoxey/KANSAN
Lindley Hall, erected in 1943, is one of the buildings with outdated equipment and laboratories.
Schools, departments turn to private donations to finance new projects
BY JESSE BROWN jbrown@kansan.com
The University of Kansas continues to expand despite the state of the economy, but finding the money to pay for new growth is proving to be difficult.
Almost every school at the University is looking to expand or update its facilities, said Don Steeples, senior vice provost for scholarly support.
The University announced last May that the School of Pharmacy would receive a new building and an expansion of facilities at the University's Wichita campus.
Funding for the upgrades came from bond legislation passed in the state.
Through a loan from the Kansas University Endowment Association, the School of Architecture
Architecture
that money for expansion is limited.
The School of Business and the department of geology are working to expand their boundaries with fundraising campaigns.
"It creates difficulties with interaction with students. We are divided.
Luis Gonzalez, department chair of geology, said the department was fractured into separate buildings, which created problems for students and faculty. Currently, faculty and students work in Lindley, Nichols and Moore halls and the Multidisciplinary Research Building.
But in a suffering economy, some KU departments are finding out
"It creates difficulties with interaction with students," Gonzalez said. "We are divided."
acquired a new building in the East Hills Business Park off K-10 this month.
MARINA SUAREZE San Antonio graduate student
Marina Suarez, San Antonio graduate student, said the division of the department was somewhat inconvenient.
"I't hard when you work with students and faculty across the campus," Suarez said. A new building.
A new building would make simple
things like going to class more efficient, she said.
which he said was a big reason why he refused to have a lab there. He works at the Multidisciplinary Research Building instead.
The geology department has been trying to find a way to expand its facilities for the past two decades. The multiple buildings and the need for updated laboratories led the department to implement more aggressive fundraising tactics, such as asking for donations from successful alumni and soliciting corporate sponsors.
Gonzalez said the expansion project would cost more than $20 million.
"We are talking a substantial amount of money," he said.
The need to acquire private donations is also a high priority in
the School of Business.
Frank Marshall, assistant dean for development support at the School of Business, said the school had been conducting a fundraising campaign for more than a year. The private money the school has been lobbying for has come from business alumni, companies that recruit business students and individuals and organizations.
Marshall said that the economy was holding back the school's expansion hopes, and that it wanted to raise about $53 million to finance the project.
"Everybody has been affected by this financial downturn, so were just being cautious," Marshall said.
Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
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