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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday. February 21, 1997
5A
Create your own major
By Nicholas C. Charalambous
Kansan staff writer
If choosing a major wasn't enough to scare the bejeezus out of some students, just think what it would be like if you could build your own major.
Actually, you can. It's called a special major. And the option is open to all students through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
DeeDee Jones, Blue Springs, Mo. senior, is a special major in sports color commentary — telling viewers and listeners the how and why about a play in sports.
"The play-by-play announcer tells you what is on going at that moment — exactly what you see," Jones said. "My job is to fill in the holes."
Parm Houston, director of the college's undergraduate services, said the special major option had been established more than 20 years ago for students who had particular interests not met by existing majors.
Special major classes replace those of a regular college major's, she said.
To petition the college for a special major;
A student must list 20-40 credit hours of courses that form a coherent plan of study. Two-thirds of the courses must be in the college.
The student selects a threemember faculty committee. Two faculty members must be from the college.
The student writes a justification for the major, including why the student wants to study the major and why an existing major cannot satisfy the student's needs.
Houston said the special major was not a loophole for students who had enough credit hours to graduate but hadn't been able to choose a major. Students must know what they want to accomplish ahead of time, she said.
Houston said that about 30 students were pursuing special majors at any given time. But in Houston's 11 years at the University, only six students have chosen a special major other than crime and delinquency.
Jones said that, despite initial
problems finding an adviser who knew about the special major option, it was an easy process.
"It gives me a lot of flexibility." Jones said. "I needed to get the degree and do it as efficiently as possible."
Jones had professional experience in sports broadcasting with KSHBTV in Kansas City, Creative Sports in Lawrence, and as a radio color commentator for the Kansas City Attack, an indoor soccer team.
Jones didn't think pursuing a major in journalism would be useful enough for her career, so she tailored 20 credit hours of classes in health, physical education and recreation, psychology, journalism and communications.
Houston said special major candidates had to be exceptionally motivated.
"It ites someone who is selfdirected and willing to do a lot of work on his or her own," she said.
For more information about special majors, contact College Undergraduate Services, 109 Strong Hall, 864-3500.
Spring cleaning
Tyler Wirken / KANSAN
Dennis Consolver, Lawrence graduate student, washes off his 1969 Chevelle on Wednesday. Many people took advantage of the warmer weather and cleaned their cars until the rain arrived yesterday.
Equipment designed for blind too complicated to use
Bv Gwen Olson
Special to the Kansan
A $6,000 machine that reads aloud. A computer program that recognizes and responds to a human voice.
KU libraries are trying to help students with visual impairments, but few seem to be taking advantage of the technology.
"We don't have that great of use of that equipment," said Johnnieque Love, librarian at Watson Library. "We provide the space for the students to use it and make sure that it's available."
One KU graduate said she thought the
equipment wasn't frequently used because it could be difficult to use.
"Part of the reason not a lot of people use it is because there is not a whole lot of training," said Heather Kirkwood, Lawrence resident.
An example of this complicated technology is the Kurzweil Image Scanner with Dec-talk. The machine scans a page and puts it on a computer screen. It then can read the material to the user.
"Some people use the Kurzwell reader, but it depends on what they prefer," said Michael Shuttle, assistant director of the Student Assistance Center. "It often can
take a lot of time to learn how to use it, and students often have trouble getting used to the voice. It can get cumbersome also if you're trying to read a book because only one page can be scanned at a time."
Kirkwood suggested utilizing technical support from the company that makes the Kurzwell and other hard-to-use equipment.
"The technical-support people are usually blind and can work on it," she said. "It's easier to get training from somebody who has to use it."
One program that will be available soon to students and may also require training is Dragon Dictate. a voice recognition computing system.
Users will be required to go through a voice imprinting process so the computer can recognize and apply what the user says.
Dragon Dictate is expected to be working after the new online catalog system at the libraries is operational. Students will be able to use the program to search the catalog.
"Hopefully, when the new online system comes up, we'll have a PC set up for students with visual impairments," Love said. "When it's up and operational, the network will be able to accept this kind of program."
The assistance center is in charge of acquiring the equipment, some of which will be available to students in the near future.
"We have been jointly using the Braille printer with the School of Education," Shuttic said. "We're in the process of getting one for Watson, but for the moment there is not one available."
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