/ NEWS / THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
VOLUNTEERS
Mentors teach kids to play music
BY SAMANTHA COLLINS scollins@kansan.com
The sound of little fingers playing the piano fills an auditorium in Murphy Hall. It doesn't matter if they miss a key, because without the KU Music Mentors, the children wouldn't even know how to play the instrument.
For almost 10 years, the oncampus group Music Mentors has served financially underprivileged children ages to five to 15 by providing free private music lessons. With more than 50 student volunteers, about 65 Lawrence children get the chance to learn to play an instrument.
Rebecca Lo, a senior from Coffeyville and co-coordinator of Music Mentors, said music provided her with a way to creatively express herself. She said she taught herself how to play the piano, guitar and flute. As a child, Lo said, she was shy around large groups of people. Being able to play an instrument gave her a confidence boost, which was one reason she wanted to teach other children how to play an instrument — to give them confidence in themselves.
"Music really helped me." Lo said. "I want to give others that same confidence."
HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH MUSIC MENTORS
Confidence isn't the only benefit children receive from playing music. Stephanie Jian, a junior from Lawrence and a co-coordinator of Music Mentors, said music helped children learn how to multitask and could even improve math skills. She plays and teaches piano. She said it also teaches the children about dedication. For her, music has been a constant activity in her life.
You can help out the Music Mentors by donating old music books or old instruments. They can be dropped off at the Center for Community Outreach office in the Student Involvement Leadership Center. The group will provide a form to make your donation tax-deductible.
To join Music Mentors,
e-mail the group at
mmentors@ku.edu.
"It's something I'll always be able to do," Jian said. "My skills will always come in hand."
However, even with about 65 Lawrence students participating in the program, there are about 40
children on a waiting list to be paired up with a music mentor. Jian said KU students don't have to be classically trained in order to teach. Any experience in music will do because she said the program wasn't just about teaching music, but it was also about building relationships.
"It's sort of like a Big Brothers Big Sisters but with music," Jian said.
Katie Oliver, a junior from Leavenworth and a co-coordinator of Music Mentors, said a KU student can benefit from participating as a mentor because he or she can make a difference in a young child's life. She said that not only does the child feel good about himself or herself, but also the KU student will feel good because he or she can make a difference in the child's life.
"It's an odd feeling because I am just a college kid," Oliver said. "It's the most rewarding experience."
Edited by David Cawthon
Former chancellor may be recognized
CAMPUS
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
When he died Nov. 24, 2009,
E. Laurence Chalmers left behind a strong history at the University.
Chalmers, who served as University chancellor from 1969 to 1972,
was an advocate for students during a time of great political unrest.
Yet despite his strong history at the University, Chalmers is the only former University chancellor without a building named in his honor.
He said he realized after reading it that Chalmers had served as a voice for KU students.
Seyool Oh proposed a resolution to Student Senate in November to support naming building after Chalmers. Oh, the Stouffer Neighborhood Association Senator, it was appropriate to honor Chalmers, especially given his relationship with students while he was at the University.
Last year Oh, a graduate student from Jinhae, South Korea, read a Kansan article about Chalmers, "Former chancellor remembered."
E. Laurence Chalmers is the only chancellor without a building named in his honor.
Spencer Research Library
After the Kansas Union fire in 1970, the city of Lawrence enacted a curfew for its residents. Students reacted with protests. As state, city and University authorities were punishing students for their actions, Chalmers served as an advocate for them.
"Many students and faculty believe his decisions helped quell further violence," Oh said in his presentation to Senate. "However, across the state, legislators, parents and the Board of Regents believed he was far too lenient on the student activists."
The Kansas Board of Regents voted to fire Chalmers from the role of chancellor because of his leniency with students, but the vote was not passed. Soon after the vote, Chalmers resigned from the University and accepted a job at the Chicago Art Institute.
"He followed the rules; he just
also supported the students," Oh said.
Once Oh realized that Chalmers was the only former University chancellor without a building, he began researching the options. Even former Chancellor Hemenway, who retired from the University in 2009, has a building at the KU Medical Center named in honor of him. On Dec. 1, Student
Senate passed Oh's resolution.
Now that Senate has approved the resolution, it's up to the Board of Regents to take next step.
"I know he's passed away," Oh said. "But now it's time to reconcile the Kansas Board of Regents to Chalmers."
Edited by Sarah Kelly
DOWNTOWN
Retail Task Force hopes to increase 'pull factor'
BY ALLYSON SHAW ashaw@kansan.com
It is always a chore to find a parking spot on Massachusetts street. Lawrence's downtown area seems to be thriving, despite the economic recession. But the City Hall 2010 Retail Market Report was full of troubling numbers that suggest Lawrence may not be as booming as it seems.
The report was conducted by the city's Retail Task Force, headed by City Commissioner Rob Chestnut. The report said that for nearly 10 years the city's sales tax collections have failed to keep up with the rate of inflation.
anything."
"We're very concerned," Chestnut said. "I've been in meetings talking about this for nine months now, if that says
From 2005 to 2009, the city's sales tax collections fell by an average of 0.9 percent per year. From 1995 to 2000 adjusted sales tax collections grew by 2.1 percent per year and by 3.7 percent per year from 1990 to 1995.
But that's not the only problem. The report also talks about the city's "pull factor" — its ability to draw in shoppers from out of town. In 2006, the city's per capita retail spending was 12 percent higher than the statewide average. In 2009, it had fallen to 1 percent below the statewide average.
Chestnut said the Retail Task Force wants to hire consultants to study the Lawrence economy and makesuggestionsforimprovement. He said he hopes to see more building and improvement in the area around downtown.
Kirk McClure,anurbanplanning professor at the University,said the city is going about fixing these problems the wrong way. He said the area outside of downtown is
overbuilt and the shopping areas at Sixth and Wakarusa streets and the south side of Iowa street are hurting the city.
"There is only so much spending to spread around," McClure said. "Our population is not growing rapidly and wages in Lawrence are falling behind the growth rate in Kansas."
McClure argues that to increase the pull factor, the city should encourage new vendors to open shop downtown.
"Nobody is going to drive to Lawrence to shop at Sixth and Wakarusa; it's just an ordinary strip mall." McClure said.
But it's a difficult balancing act because without developing areas outside of downtown to include stores like Victoria's Secret and Dick's Sporting Goods, Lawrence loses that business to surrounding cities.
Jackie McDonald, a sophomore from Colorado Springs, Co., said she sometimes visits the Oak Park Mall in Overland Park to shop at
Nordstrom. She said she wishes Lawrence also had a Victoria's Secret.
"I have to buy all of my makeup out of town because no one in Lawrence sells MAC," McDonald said.
But keeping downtown Lawrence locally owned is one of the priorities of Downtown Lawrence Inc. Director Jane Pennington said around 65 to 70 percent of the stores on Massachusetts street are locally owned, and that is something that keeps customers coming back.
"When you go into a shop and the owner is at the counter serving you, you know you're going to get good service," Pennington said.
Pennington said she often sees out-of-town license plates on Massachusetts street. She expects that the street will continue to grow, but that it will literally grow up. She said Massachusetts street businesses will have to expand upward in the future, using upper levels of buildings for retail space.