12B SATURDAY. AUGUST 17, 1996
KU EDITION
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
Wilcox Museum gives good view into ancient life
- The Wilcox Classical Museum at Kansas University has pieces that have traveled across campus from site to site in its 100-year history.
BY GWEN OLSON
SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL-WORLD
Students and visitors at Kansas University can explore the beauty of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture in a small museum in a corner of Lipincott Hall.
The Wilcox Classical Museum provides an academic and cultural resource with its examples of the art and times of the classics. The collection includes sculptures, busts and reliefs of
mythological and historical characters ranging from Venus de Milo to Sophocles. Most of the collection was acquired by KU in 1888.
"The museum provides a general appreciation of being able to see some real pieces of the ancient
other classes such as Western Civilization and many classes from the School of Fine Arts."
world," said Betty Banks, professor of classics and curator of the museum. "Students can get a sense of scale and the three-dimensional aspects of the pieces."
In 1965, the collection was
The second room of the museum features display cases containing many ancient artifacts, including ancient coins, lamps and painted vases. Some of these pieces date back to second to first century B.C.
Although the collection of the main room is in good condition now, it went through its share of problems. When the collection came to KU, it was housed on the second floor of Old Fraser Hall.
One of the cases holds some of the oldest artifacts in the collection: ancient lamps.
"We have had a lot more students than we ever expected when we first opened. We're a small department, and it's a great plus to have these two rooms for students to learn more about the ancient times."
in the main room, the museum displays numerous plaster casts of real Greek and Roman sculpture. This portion of the museum is used widely by many departments at KU for research and art appreciation.
"The museum is used mostly by classes in our department," Banks said, "but we do often see
- Elizabeth Banks, curator of KU's Wilcox Museum
Elizabeth Banks is the curator for the Wilcox Classical Museum.The museum was dedicated in 1888 and features items from the Greek and Roman culture. The museum is located in Lippincott Hall on the KU campus.
moved and stored in various places off campus so that Old Fraser Hall could be torn down. The casts sustained a great amount of damage while being stored for 20 years.
"In the case of one cast, an entire arm had to be com-
plettely remade, and many of the casts had large cracks and discoloration." Banks said.
After 20 years of storage, the collection was not fit to be displayed at KU without restoration. Ahmad-Raee, a recent KU graduate of the master's program in sculpture, restored the casts so they could move to their permanent home in the Mary Amelia Grant Gallery.
Joseph Hawkins, museum guard, said the museum was used frequently by students.
"It's used for classes almost
RENÉE KNOEBER/IOURNAL-WORLD PHOTO
every day," he said. "I think it's an important learning tool."
The museum has been successful since it opened in 1988, Banks said.
"We have had a lot more students than we ever expected when we first opened," Banks said. "We're a small department, and it's a great plus to have these two rooms for students to learn more about the ancient times."
Students and visitors are welcome to view the collection from 8:15 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
KU recruiting goes online
- Kansas University's admissions office is using Internet technology to attract students.
BY DAVE TOPLIKAR
JOURNAL-WORLD WRITER
Interested in attending Kansas University?
Thanks to the Internet's World Wide Web, potential students have an electronic way to check out the school through a computer.
The traditional way to check out KU is to get some brochures, talk with alumni or make a personal trip to Mt. Oread to meet the folks in the admissions office.
And it has the potential to bring KU more students from far flung areas, says Scott Dold, an assistant director of admissions who is in charge of his office's home page.
But not quite yet.
"The vast majority of students you still do the old fashioned way," Dold said. "Mail, visits to campus and college fairs are still the nuts and bolts of recruiting."
But more and more students are checking out KU through the use of its home page.
You can check out the admissions office's home page on the Web by first calling up the main KU home page at http://www.cc.ukans.edu, then finding the admission office "link." The admission's office was to get a new mailing address on the Web this summer, so it could be more easily accessed. Dold said.
"It's something you don't want to be left behind," he said. "No, it's not a primary source for our students at this point. You have to develop it and it has to evolve over time."
being on the World Wide Web is important to KU, he said.
However, it already contains much information for the potential Jayhawk.
Dold gave praise to University Relations and KU's Systems Development office for organizing the admissions office material
"It's a small piece of a very very huge KU Internet pie," he said.
Dold said visitors to the admissions home page will be asked if they are interested in graduate school or if they are an international students. Links will take them to the appropriate page to get information.
The admissions site on the Web also has an academic calendar, links to the admissions recruiting staff, links to University Relations about a variety of KU facts, a link to KU's freshman summer institute, a link to student employment opportunities on campus, and a link to the student handbook.
"Assuming you haven't been directed as a grad or an international student, you're on the meat of the admission home page," he said.
Visitors can get general information about undergraduate admissions.
"If you're a high school senior and want specific information on electrical engineers, you will skip past the others and go directly to that. They would tell you all about electrical engineering," he said.
Or they can go to links that will give them information on specific schools and departments.
"When you get onto that page, there is a photo gallery to look at pictures of KU," he said. "There is a speech from Chancellor Hemenway that you can listen to, a welcome."
And there are video clips that you can download to watch on your computer at home about kU.
The main admissions recruiting publication, the Viewbook, is on the home page, he said.
You can also download, with the proper software, an application form for KU admissions and scholarships. Or you can download a budget worksheet and campus map.
Other links take you to such topics as "Why KU?" "Studying at KU," "Applying to KU," "Affording KU," "Living at KU," "Getting Around" and a feedback page to ask questions through electronic mail.
Questions come in regularly from students and from counselors at high schools and other colleges.
Students can also find links that give them access to more than 100 undergraduate brochures, from aerospace engineering to women's studies, he said.
"The Net is another way for students to access us," he said. "It's not done at the exclusion of brochures or face-to-face contacts. It's just another tool."
"It's a link to all of the majors that are offered here," he said.
If students don't want to download an application form, there is a spot for them to go to request an application form be sent to them through regular mail.
He's noticed that international students or students from other states will correspond electronically to learn more about KU.
Another link from the admissions page is for transfer students from other four-year college and from community colleges. Potential students will be able to find out, unofficially, which of the courses will transfer to KU.
The admissions site on the Web also has an academic calendar, links to the admissions recruiting staff, links to University Relations about a variety of KU facts, a link to KU's freshman summer institute, a link to student employment opportunities on campus, and a link to the student hand-book.
Dold said he enjoys having the new tool to help him in his recruiting efforts.
"I love it," he said.
The Jayhawk Club Card is good at over 150 local businesses Just Call 832-7136
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