8C
Monday, August 19, 1996
CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Music and education facilities to get facelift
$44 million given for Crumbling Classrooms plan
By Andrea Albright
Kansan staff writer
Although Rob Finch, Olathe senior, is majoring in biology, his heart is in the University band.
He is fortunate to be associated with one of the 30 largest music schools in the country.
The bad news is that the University of Kansas' facilities are less than desirable. The good news is that the Crumbling Classroom project will bring improvements.
Finch said the band rehearsal room in Murphy Hall is smaller than the one in his high school. When all 250 members of the band practice, the room is so full of chairs, people and instruments, no one can leave during rehearsal.
It's also loud.
"We're required to wear earplugs during practice," Finch said.
He played clarinet in the concert band and the University band, which created some logistical problems.
"The concert band practiced in Murphy, and the University band practiced in JRP," Finch said. "A lot of times I had five minutes to pack up my instrument, get to my car, drive to JRP and make it to the next practice."
Education students also must hike to class at the far ends of campus
because Bailey Hall only has two classrooms.
John Poggio, associate dean of education, said the logistics of getting from class to class were challenging.
"Our students have 10 minutes to get from Bailey to buildings as far away as Robinson, Learned and Lindley."
Students have coped with these problems for decades. But the Crumbling Classroom project aims to calm the chaos in Murphy and send the School of Education to Joseph R. Pearson Hall, which is north of Carruth-O'Leary Hall.
Murphy and JRP head the list of campus buildings to receive money from the project.
The 1996 Kansas Legislature allocated $44.2 million for renovation and construction on more than 60 buildings across campus.
Bud Stallworth, assistant director of design and construction management, said $12 million is earmarked for the transformation of JRP into the School of Education's new home; $7.7 million will be spent on rehearsal space and a new addition to Murphy.
"It will bring classrooms up to higher standards for better learning." Stallworth said.
When Murphy Hall was built 39 years ago, it was presented to the music department as an unfilled space. That unfilled space was overloaded long ago.
Steve Anderson, professor of music, said problems had plagued the music department for 20years.
"We used Hoch Auditorium until it burned." Anderson said. "We used
"Some of our instructors have experienced hearing loss due to acoustic problems."
Steve Anderson professor of music
the military science shooting range until it was condemned. Now you find students rehearsing in hallways and outside."
Finch said he was in a band that had practiced in the shooting range. Although the range was soundproof to the outside, inside the sound roared and echoed around the room, he said.
"At the time, you actually thought you might go deaf," Finch said. "After it was condemned, we all had to go in for lead poisoning tests, but everybody was okay."
Anderson said Murphy only had one instrumental rehearsal space large enough to accommodate concert bands. That space and others are acoustically unsafe.
"Some of our instructors have experienced hearing loss due to acoustic problems," Anderson said.
See Classrooms, page 13C
Consolidation of fees,services will take time
KU job placement offices lack unity, communication
By Pete Brumbaugh Kansan staff writer
They're not hard to find on the KU's campus — 22-year-olds not sure why they went to college, worried about the future, afloat in a shrinking job pool, with parents none too happy about spending $20,000 on a college education that isn't translating into a good job for their child.
In a speech to the Kansas Coalition for Mathematics and Science Education on July 12, Jordan said, "There is a strong national concern about higher education's role in preparing students for tomorrow's work force."
"Students and parents feel that some form of post-secondary education is imperative to succeed in life," said Steve Jordan, executive director of the Kansas Board of Regents. "They view it as a ticket to getting a good job. It's something we need to address, and the national statistics overwhelmingly support this perception.
College students are looking for skills which will allow them to compete successfully in a rapidly changing and increasing global marketplace, Jordan said, and they're looking to colleges to provide those skills.
with the current system of career services on campus — the offices that schedule interviews, deal with people who hire students and sponsor career fairs and workshops. They say that changes are necessary. But don't look for better services soon. The University has known about the problem for years and not much has changed.
Most of the problems stem from separate placement centers scattered across campus. There are five placement centers on campus and another office for career exploration. Many professional schools have a placement office, while others have offices in the University Placement Center in the Burge Union.
Employers say they are frustrated by traveling to several sites to conduct interviews. In fact, University Placement Center personnel said one regional recruiter withdrew an internship offer because of the University's decentralized office structure.
University of Kansas officials admit that they aren't satisfied
Just how much the University owes students in the way of getting a job isn't crystal clear.
What cost one student an internship may be costing other students jobs.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said, "The University doesn't necessarily make a promise to place every student. But it's true, we aren't totally satisfied with our placement services."
Ambler also said that his office plans to implement changes in the system during this academic year.
Some of the changes will involve how the offices communicate with each other. Now there is no real
networking between the offices.
Michael Heuring, assistant director for experiential education at the University Placement Center, explained the problem hypothetically: "If Sprint came to our office looking for a pool of applicants, we'd empty our data banks for them. But they wouldn't get a true representation of all applicants on campus, because our database isn't linked with other offices. It should be but it isn't."
In order for employers to get a comprehensive list of KU applicants, Heuring said, they would have to make four or five calls to different offices.
Students also encounter duplication of fees and services at different campus placement centers. They may have to pay fees at two or three separate offices to register for career fairs, set up interviews, get their resumes in a database and gain access to available job listings.
Right now, fees and placement services vary across campus. The School of Business charges students $75 for use of their Resume Expert computer program, interview assessment and analysis, and registration for a career fair. The University Placement Center charges $40 to $45 for the same services, while the School of Journalism charges about $20 for their placement services.
Consultants and administrators now want placement offices to begin consolidating some of their resources, services and fees. And that's not a popular decision.
See Placement, page 13C
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