THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN NEWS NDAY. AUGUST 17. 2009 9A KU on Wheels, The T offer students free rides to class See where your house, apartment or residence hall fits into the bus routes Maps courtesy of M. Seybold/City of Lawrence, Kansas CAMPUS Raise the roof: Older buildings slotted for shot of stimulus BY JESSE BROWN jbrown@kansan.com Some of the oldest buildings on campus are in need of repair and maintenance, and, according to Jim Modig, director of design and construction management, help is now on the way. In June 2009, the Board of Regents requested two-thirds of the federal stimulus money the University received to go to the Deferred Maintenance Program. The program, which has a backlog of $200 million for projects in need of repair, usually relies on state dollars the Kansas legislature approves and University interest funds. Despite the annual funding the program receives, the backlog continues to increase. The federal stimulus money will help to lessen the deficit. Modig said Dyche Hall would receive some of the biggest repairs mechanical improvements. β€”the south part of the building is more than a century old. Other than simple yearly maintenance projects such as replacing air filters, Modig said the building didn't receive special attention in more than nine years, when some classrooms were crumbling. The building, which holds the Natural History Museum and lab space for graduate students to conduct their research, is estimated to need about $1.15 million in repairs. Most of the repairs will be electrical and Jordan Yochim, associate director of the Biodiversity Institute, said he knew the extent of the repairs needed. "It's great. We're in a part of the building that's 100 years old and the other that's four years old," Yochim said. "We're in dire need of repairs." Yochim said one of the main problems has been the heating, venting and air conditioning system because of the older technology used in 1901 to 1903 when the building was under construction. "The fluctuations in temperature and humidity can harm the biological systems in this building." Yochim said. "The more stable, the better." Lori Schlenker, assistant to the director of the Biodiversity Institute, said she was happy about the repairs. "We're thrilled about any such upgrades to make people more comfortable and more importantly take care of the research collections," Schlenker said. Yochim said there were more petology, and his six full-time graduate students construct long computational sequences trying to estimate the evolutionary history of amphibian DNA. All it takes "We're in a part of the building that's 100 years old ... We're in dire need of repairs." than 8 million research specimens being studied in Dyche Hall. Rafe Brown, curator of her JORDAN YOCHIM Biodiversity Institute jeet Sukumaran, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, graduate student, said. is one minor glitch, which tends to happen in severe weather, to ruin hours of research. "Some of these runs go on for weeks and just a millisecond of a glitch could stop the whole process and we have to start from scratch" Some of the other buildings that will receive attention are Wescoe Hall, which needs mechanical system and fire code improvements, and Haworth and Malott halls, which will receive mechanical and fume hood improvements. For the last three years, $13.1 million has been used for tunnel repairs to hold the campus' foundation intact. Annually, the Deferred Maintenance Program receives $4 million from the Regents and an estimated range of $6 million from the state. The University interest funds differ from year to year depending on the market, but the deficit for repairs still grows each year. Edited by Abby Olcese BUSINESS SUA discount card sales drop this year BY JESSE RANGEL irangel@kansan.com A name change and a troubled economy might have decreased the sales of one optional campus fee: Student Union Activities' Student Saver Card. Susan Hoffman, assistant director for Union Programs, said SUA has sold 243 fewer cards than last year. Optional campus fees, which students can add to their tuition bills through the University's Enroll & Pay system, fund organizations such as the Student Alumni Association, Student Union Activities and the Board of Class Officers. Hoffman said SUA needed to do a better job of conscious on what they're going to use," Hoffman said. "If you're only going to have so much money, you're going to have to pick and choose what you're going to do." Justin Sailer, El Dorado senior and vice president of administration for SUA, said there was additional confusion on the Enroll & Pay Web site because the fee is labeled as the SUA movie card. Hoffman said SUA's efforts to reach freshmen were dampened this year when New Student Orientation was restructured to pitch the card to incoming students at the beginning of the orientation instead of the end. "People think that all it is is a movie card." Sailer said. "It offers so many more perks than that." "You had these folks who are brand new to campus and you had 20 seconds," Hoffman said. "If you're only going to have so much money, you're going to have to pick and choose what you're going to do." Hoffman also said she thought the economy may have had a role in the decline in sales. reaching upperclassmen in its marketing of the $30 Student Saver Card, previously called the Preferred Student Card. The card gives students admission to more than 20 movies shown by SUA during the year and also gives discounts at the KU Bookstore and at some campus dining locations. SUSAN HOFFMAN Assist. dir., Union Programs "I think people are being more Stefani Gerson, coordinator of student programs at the University of Kansas Alumni Association, said sales of the Student Alumni Association card are similar to last year, with about 1,300 cards sold. The card has benefits such as a T-Shirt, pint glass, study space at the Adams Alumni Center and a finals dinner. She said the Alumni Association was probably more successful in signing freshmen up for the card. She also said she thought students aren't cutting back on their college experience. Students can purchase the Student Saver Card online at suaevents.com through Aug. 19 and at the SUA office on the fourth level of the Kansas Union through Aug. 31. Students can purchase the Student Alumni Association Card at the alumni center through the end of the school year. "You still want to make sure you can make the most out of it," Gerson said. Edited by Samantha Foster ECONOMY ASSOCIATED PRESS Workers assemble 2008 Ford Focus as they roll down the assembly line at Fords Wayne Stamping and Assembly plant in Wayne, Mich. Ford Motor Co. recently announced it would build more of its popular focus and Escape vehicles this quarter to meet growing demand from the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program Ford will boost production this fall BY KIMBERLY S. JOHNSON Associated Press DEARBORN, Mich. β€” Ford said Thursday it would build more of its popular Focus and Escape models and boost total vehicle production later this year to help dealers restock depleted showrooms. Ford Motor Co. needs to keep up with demand for its Focus compact and Escape crossover, both ranked as top sellers under the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program. It also wants to maintain a reasonable level of cars and trucks so its dealers won't run short on hot models. Cash for Clunkers, which kicked off last month and has revived industry sales for the moment, uses rebates of up to $4,500 to entice drivers to trade in older, gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient vehicles. To be eligible, vehicles must have combined city/highway mileage of 18 mpg or less when they were new. While funding for the Clunkers program is likely to run dry by September, the company said, the additional vehicles produced in the quarter will go to replenish dealer stocks. Ford is struggling to keep up with demand after paring down inventories earlier this year. Vehicles that roll off assembly lines as part of the production boost should reach showrooms by early September, Ford said. Ford's overall vehicle production will be 2 percent higher than it expected in the third quarter. It also plans to boost its fourth-quarter output of cars and trucks by 33 percent from a year earlier. "That should give us some time to reload before 2010 begins," said George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst. "Dealers will be dealing with historically relatively low inventories for some time to come." small kick-start to the economy. Pipas said there would probably be some drop-off in sales when the program ends, although Clunkers will have succeeded in providing a The automaker, which has steadily been gaining sales since GM and Chrysler took government aid and went through bankruptcy proceedings, reported a year-over-year sales increase of 2.4 percent in July, the first such jump since November of 2007. Ford is the latest automaker to raise production. Foreign automakers with U.S. plants are taking similar steps Honda Motor Co. is also adding Saturday overtime shifts at its auto assembly plants in East Liberty, Ohio; Lincoln, Ala.; and Greensburg, Ind. Toyota Motor Corp. last month began increasing production of "core" models such as the Corolla sedan β€” the best-selling new model for traders of clunkers β€” the RAV4 crossover and the Tacoma truck at its U.S. plants. And Hyundai Motor Co. is recalling more than 3,000 employees at its plant in Montgomery, Ala.