CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, October 7, 1993
3
GMRTs tackle MacGyver roles
Maintenance workers handle minor repairs
By Brian James Kansan staff writer
A radio sits on Feggy Robinson's desk, across the room from a wall of tools.
The sound of classical music from her radio can be heard throughout the basement of GSP-Corbin Hall, where she works as a general maintenance repair technician, or GMRT.
"Sometimes I probably play it way too loud," Robinson said. "I get carried away. We all have our own style."
Robinson is one of 11 GMRTs in the KU
department of student housing who answers maintenance requests filed by students and staff in student housing buildings. Maintaining fire alarm systems, lights and plumbing systems is just one of the tasks GMRTs face each day.
But Robinson and other GMRTs said the job was not just nuts and bolts.
Robinson, who started working at KU in August, said she liked interacting with residents and staff.
Smiling at residents, she said, was part of that interaction.
"I think it helps because the residents appreciate the fact that you care," she said.
Bobby Joe Adamson, a GMRT in Oliver Hall, said he enjoyed his relationship with residents.
"It is professional, but if you become friends with a lot of them, they'll watch
out for you," he said. "But it's a funny type of role also, because after work you can't go out and party with them."
Ken Squires, a facilities maintenance supervisor, said GMRTs were first hired in 1986 to alleviate some of the workload for the Student Housing Maintenance Shop. GMRTs repair only the smaller, less extensive devices in student housing buildings. The maintenance shop works on structural damage or more difficult repairs.
"You just about have to be MacGyver," he said.
GMRTs must be to fix almost anything. Adamson said.
Adamson said he answered an average of 10 to 20 maintenance requests a day. The most common call is to fix plumbing or a light switch, he said.
But Squires, who has worked at KU for eight years, said he had seen many strange
maintenance requests.
"A few years ago, after a K-State football game, a skunk was let loose in Jayhawker Towers," he said. "One of the GMRTs was called to catch it, but I think an animal control officer finally, eventually got a hold of it."
Another year, after a football game, the elevator doors in the towers were removed and never found.
Repair costs of vandalism to student-houseing buildings increase every year, costing maintenance workers and GMRTs valuable time, Squires said.
According to student housing maintenance records, vandalism repair costs topped $80,000 in the 1992-93 school year.
"Our hope is if they see that we're taking care of the building and making it better, they will be less likely to tear it up and ruin it for everybody." Squires said.
Peggy Robinson, general maintenance repair technician for Gertrude Sellars Pearson-Corbin Hall, checks a battery pack in a sign above an emergency exit.
Susan McSpadden / KANSAN
ON CAMPUS
The Kansan prints a daily calendar of campus events as a service to the University community. Announcements must be submitted on forms provided at the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Forms must be submitted by 5 p.m. two days prior to desired day of publication. No submissions will be taken by telephone.
The Center for Community Outreach will set up recruiting tables for "Into the Streets" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in front of Wescoe Hall and the Kansas Union. For more information, call Shanda or Julia at 846-3710.
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center will set up an information table from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today on the 4th floor of the Kansas Union. For more information, call Meg or Wendy at 843-0357.
Canterbury House will celebrate Holy
Eucharist at noon today in Danforth Chapel,
KU Center of Latin American Studies will sponsor a brown bag luncheon and lecture at noon today at Alcove D in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Nancy Chaison at 864-4213.
KU Anthropology Club will meet at 5 p.m. today in 633 Fraser Hall. For more information, call Destiny Crider at 832-1469.
Latin American Solidarity will meet at 6:30 p.m. today at Ecumenical Christian Ministries. 1204 Oread Ave.
KU NOW will meet at 5:30 p.m. today at the Regionalist Room in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Shelly Witt at 832-0620.
KU Champions Club will meet at 6:30 p.m. today at Parlors A, B and C in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Erik Lindsay at 841-4585.
The Center for Community Outreach will meet at 7 tonight at the Oread Room in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Shanda of Julie at 864-3710.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship will
meet at 7 tonight at the International Room in the Kansas Union. For more information, call David Zimmerman at 864-7117.
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center will sponsor a study of the basics of prayer at 7 tonight at the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Road. For more information, call 843-0357.
University Chess Society will meet at 7 tonight at the Hawk's Nest in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Nathan at 842-049.0.
KU Triathlon and Swim Club will practice at 7:30 tonight in Robinson Center. For more information, call Sean Roland at 865-2731.
Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Services of Kansas will meet at 7:30 tonight at the Frontier Room in the Burge Union.
Amnesty International will meet for a letter-writing session at 8 tonight in the Glass Onion, 624 W. 12th St.
Jayhawkier Campus Fellowship will meet at 8 tonight at the Pioneer Room in the Burge Union. For more information, call John Dale at 864-1115.
KU Libertarians will meet at 8 tonight at the Walnut Room in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Allen Tiffany at 842-2411.
KU Young Democrats will meet at 8 tonight in the Kansas Union.
Icthus Christian Outreach will meet at 8:30 tonight at the Big Eight Room in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Mark Winton at 843-2260 or Noel Storey at 749-5848.
KU Fencing Club will meet at 8:30 tonight in 130 Robinson Center. For more information, call Jen Snyder at 841-6445.
KULacrosse Team will have a mandatory team meeting at 9 tonight at the International Room in the Kansas Union. For more information, call Joe Neasd at 841-7271.
Workshop addresses STD problem
By Liz Klinger Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
In a workshop titled "An M.D. Looks at STDs", John Saxer, Kansas City, Kan., family practitioner, will offer advice on how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, at noon today in room 156, Robinson Center.
At the workshop, sponsored by Robinson's Wellness Center, Saxer will outline some common STDs, their signs and symptoms. He will discuss primary and secondary prevention, which deals with diagnosing and treating a problem before it becomes severe. He also will discuss tertiary prevention, which deals with
chronic problems and their consequences.
"My biggest concern is that I see some sort of STD every day," Saxer said. "I'm hoping that through education that they will be able to pick up one or two pointers to help prevent contracting infections."
Saxer said that most of his patients with STDs were between the ages of 20 and 30 — the age bracket with the highest number of sexually active people. Statistically, Saxer said, the group also has the highest number of infections.
The annual STD/HIV Prevention Report, compiled by the
Centers for Disease Control, estimated that 12 million people contracted an STD last year. About 8 million were acquired by people under the age of 25.
Denise Monroe, assistant professor of health education and director of the Wellness Center, said Saxer's presentation would show students what a physician sees in patients diagnosed with STDs. This approach, which will include slides and patient case histories, will give students a more realistic view of how STDs affect patients' lives, she said.
Monroe said students face a lot of media-generated pressure to be sexually active and that the pressure often misrepresented the realities of sex.
"They show the sex in the soap operas and television shows — the passion and the pleasure along with sexual activity that's not protected — but they don't show the consequences," she said.
"The whole reason that I'm giving the presentation is to reach one or two people to perhaps prevent some lifelong problem that may be averted," he said.
Saxer hopes to provide students with the knowledge necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Escaped robbery suspect is still at large
By Scott J. Anderson Kansan staff writer
robbery of Checkers
Foods,
2 30 0
Louisiana
St., bolted from
a deputy
about 4:30
p.m. Tuesday.
The deputy was unlocking
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office continued to search yesterday for a robbery suspect who escaped from custody Tuesday.
The sheriff's office followed several leads but was unable to focus its search for Chad Beers, Sheriff Loren Anderson said. He said Beers had been entered into the National Crime Information Computer, a database that helps officials find and recover missing people and lost or stolen property.
Beers, arrested Friday in the
Chad Beers
the passenger door of his patrol car when Beers escaped and ran from the parking lot, Anderson said. The deputy chased Beers to a trailer park at 101 N. Michigan St. Beers was last seen leaving the trailer park at 5 p.m. He
was wearing a blue jail uniform shirt and red shorts.
Anderson said Beers had been complaining of stomach problems, which prompted his trip to the doctor. He said Beers needed assistance getting into the car at the Douglas County Jail. Beers' condition appeared to worsen during the exam. Anderson said the deputy unlocked one of Beers' handcuffs at the doctor's office to facilitate the exam. The cuff was not relocked after the exam because Beers still appeared to be in pain.
"I don't think it was all a fake, but obviously, he saw an opportunity and took it," Anderson said.
Anderson said that when a prisoner was taken out of jail, the number of officers escorting the prisoner depended on the availability of personnel and the prisoner's condition.
Beers has been charged with aggravated robbery, felony theft and obstruction of the legal process.
Anderson said the department was issuing a warrant for Beers' arrest. He said the warrant would be necessary if Beers was caught outside the county.
Anyone with information about Beers is asked to call the sheriff's office at 843-0250.
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STUDENT EXHIBIT
May pick up Applications at SUA office from 9-5pm, level four of Kansas Union.
Exhibited in Kansas Union Gallery
ALL STUDENTS WELCOME TO APPLY
Applications due Mon., Oct.11 by 5pm.
Awards given in three categories:
painting/drawing
photography
3-dimensional art
For more information call 864-3477
For more information call 864-3477
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