Multimedia Reporting (Bradford)

The university campus has many structures designed with the idea that they will serve as areas for students to congregate. Wescoe Beach is a popular gathering point with its numerous stairs and concrete seating. The Underground and the Union provide students with an air-conditioned locale with the luxury of having food readily available. However, there is one building on campus that has more to offer than just gathering space or food.

The Spencer Museum of Art, located on 1301 Mississippi St, is a place that ordinarily is not frequented by many students outside of the art history or art programs. A trend that Saralyn Reece Hardy, Spencer Museum of Art director, wants to see change.

“I like to think of the museum as being a form of a public square; it’s a place where people can come together and wander around and see things,” Hardy said. “It’s one of those little treasures on the KU campus where you can come and see something new. We want to create a place that can be kind of like a gathering place for students.”

Knowing that most students not on class assignments or fieldtrips venture to the museum, possibly because of the design of the building Bill Woodard, Spencer Museum of Art director of communications, offered a different approach to the architecture.

“Maybe people are intimidated by the temple-looking building,” Woodard said. “It shouldn’t scare people; it is a temple in a sense, for the protection of art.”

Woodard also offered the museum as therapeutic, to an extent.

“Students can come take a break from classes and tests to come see a painting or a sculpture and just chill,” Woodard said. “If you really open yourself up to what you are seeing, it can really help “free” your mind.”

Sharing Hardy’s public square consideration, Woodard adds that it is a public square for thought that can contribute to scholarly research.

“Two people can stand and look at the same work and come up with completely different perspectives,” Woodard said. “The different experiences people encounter will produce different ideas and you can say, ‘oh I hadn’t thought of it that way.’”

Possibly the most important function served by the museum is educational, Hardy said.

“Students and faculty use our collection as material for research,” Hardy said. “We are very responsive to students and faculty who are interested in trying to arrange exhibitions and programs to meet the needs for their educational work.”

Hardy said there are two floors of galleries: some displaying portions of Spencer Museum’s permanent collection and the other galleries displaying traveling or “changing” exhibitions that are out for a short period of time, usually two or three months.

Hardy said there are some things involving change affecting the museum’s permanent collection.

“One of the things that we’ve been doing recently is trying to be sure that every time you come to Spencer you’ll probably see something a little different, a little new,” Hardy said. “While everything isn’t changing all the time, some things are changing.”

Hardy said another change the museum will shortly find itself undertaking is the reopening of the 20/21 gallery.

“A number of our permanent collections from the 20th and 21st centuries in that gallery,” Hardy said.

Hardy said the museum is also very involved in the care and stewardship of objects.

“One of the roles of the museum is to make sure that the art collections are well cared for, for future generations, especially future students at the university.”

To help foster an interest in art at an early age, Spencer Museum has children’s art appreciation classes, funded by an annual grant from the Kansas Arts Commission, offered during the summer, Kristina Mitchell, Spencer Museum of Art director of education, said.

“The kids combine art study with hands-on activities,” Mitchell said. “Each week students investigate and discuss a selected group of works of art. Then they create a work of their own based on the techniques, media, and traditions they discover.”

Woodard offers a final bit of advice as to why students should visit the museum.

“The collegiate experience is about expanding horizons,” Woodard said.

Natural disasters can strike when least expected. Sometimes they are localized, the March 2006 microburst and sometimes they are distant, the May 4, tornado that destroyed Greensburg. Regardless of locale, they can still serve as learning tools, bring about change and provide important lessons to neighboring communities.

The university campus suffered more than $6.5 million in damages as a result of the microburst, Teri Smith, emergency management acting director said. Some of the damage has yet to be repaired, over a year later.

“There are still ongoing repairs up at the university,” Smith said. “They’re still working on some of the roofs.”

Erin England, Cottonwood Falls, Kan., a former resident of Gertrude Sellards Pearson Dormitory, suffered through the spring semester from the aftermath of the microburst.

“My room’s window was messed up,” England said. “KU never fixed my window. I wasn’t able to open the screen because bugs would get in.”

Smith said when a natural disaster strikes everyone wants it to be over quickly. This way damages can be assessed and repairs can begin as soon as possible. Unfortunately such is not always the case.

“We want a disaster to be over fast,” Smith said. “But the recovery is not always quick. A lot of the homes that were damaged last year are just now getting roofs.”

A year may seem a long time to wait to get a roof repaired, but Smith said it is because of the application process to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) that repairs are still being made.

“It takes time,” Smith said. “You have to have a presidential declaration to receive funding from FEMA.”

While the tornado in Greensburg may have been far enough removed to not directly affect Douglas County, Smith said that her department has been affected, indirectly.

"You learn lessons from a disaster," Smith said. "Your people that have gone give you their perspectives about what they think could benefit us. When a disaster happens you always review your policies, your procedures, your plans, the Douglas County emergency operations plan is being rewritten as we speak.”

Those perspectives have resulted in the Douglas County emergency operations plan currently being rewritten, Smith said.

Jillian Blair, homeland security coordination assistant, was sent to Greensburg to respond to the tornado, Smith said.

Blair was part of a Louisiana hurricane research team that studied hurricanes: Ivan, Dennis, Katrina and Rita. Because of her past, Blair said she understood what she would encounter going into Greensburg.

“I’m used to seeing damage, to understanding the fact of what it feels like to come back and not have much left,” Blair said. “Going to Greensburg helped me get a better perspective of why we prepare early and how my job works to serve other people.”

In the event of a disaster, it is emergency management’s task to ensure the safety of residents and assure them that the situation is under control.

“We have guidelines in place for when a disaster happens,” Blair said. “Because there is no if, they happen and there’s no way to change that.”

Blair said her experience in Greensburg served two functions. First she got the opportunity to help others in the recovery process and second it allowed let her see how important emergency plans are.

“The reason there weren’t as many deaths as there could have been with an F5 tornado is the fact that they prepared beforehand,” Blair said. “So when the tornado warning went out they knew what do to.”

Blair said Douglas County is lucky to have a strong emergency management department.

“We have a county that learns from what has happened before and they take that and they put it into the plans and make sure that they are updated,” Blair said.

With plans in place and changes in the works to the emergency operations plan, Blair said there is one area she would like to see change.

“People have to take what goes on seriously,” Blair said. “You can’t think, ‘well the sirens have gone off three times this month and nothing happened.’ It only takes once; it only took one tornado to wipe out a whole town.”

Dewey Decimators play a game of softball against the T-Bats at Hobbs Field on Monday 25. Click the image above to view an audio slide show of the game.

Working out can be great for the body but it can also bring trouble.

Jet engine temperatures reached 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit
Photo: Daniel Reyes

Click here to view a slide show on the KU Engineering: Survivor Outback camp

When summer arrives most students are eager to get as far away from school as possible. This summer a group of guys broke with the stereotype and returned to school.

Twenty-seven high school students attended the second KU Survivor: Engineering Outback camp from July 22-27.

The purpose of the camp was to expose the guys to engineering, Dawnelle Prince-Parks,
director of recruitment, said. Prince-Parks has been involved with the summer camp since it began in 2006. It serves to show the guys different aspects of engineering they may not be familiar with.

“We’re breaking the stereotype where they think engineers are nerds,” Prince-Parks said. “We want them to see the fun stuff.”

The engineering department hosts three camps during the summer, two for girls and one for guys. Prince-Parks said the department hosts two camps for girls in order to attract more girls to pursue a career in engineering. Currently the engineering program is made up of 20 percent females. The groups are split up by gender in order to better fit the needs of each group. Prince-Parks said the group of 27 guys was manageable and any more could have made things interesting.

“The guys are a little restless,” Prince-Parks said. “You definitely have to keep them occupied with activities.”

The jet engine showcase took place at the Garrison Flight Research Center north of Lawrence near the regional airport served as an opportunity for the students to get a glimpse into aerospace engineering.

Students got to tour the hangar, learn about the planes housed there, see some remote-controlled aircraft and roast marshmallows. But these were not campfire roasted marshmallows, these were jet engine roasted.

Dr. Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, associate professor of aerospace engineering was in charge of getting the fire roaring. The engine metal reached a scorching temperature of 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit with the core reaching 3,600 degrees.

The intense heat was not the only thing the engine offered. All in attendance were required to wear ear protection.

“This is probably the loudest sound these young people will ever hear,” Barrett-Gonzalez said. “Until you get to the likes of a Led Zeppelin concert and stand at the peak of the speaker bank. This is 128 decibels.”

Although in charge of teaching the students about aerospace engineering Barrett-Gonzalez was still amazed by the opportunity presented to the campers.

“I love this camp,” Barrett-Gonzalez said. “I wish I had been able to attend it.”

The week-long camp saw students participate in activities that ranged from marshmallows, to building model rockets to climbing the rock wall at the Student Recreation Fitness Center.

“We have jet engines that are belching smoke and flames here!” Barrett-Gonzalez said. “If kids around Lawrence knew about this camp, they’d be out here in droves.”

Austin Drake, 14 from Overland Park said he was able to learn about the uses of engineering and how they impact everyday life. Drake said he was most impressed by the jet engine.

“It shows you how far we’ve come,” Drake said. “To think that we’re able to make thing that powerful is just amazing.”

On Friday the guys ended there stay at the camp with group presentations about their activities and experiences while at the University.

The school of engineering offers 29 advanced degree programs in 15 fields. For more information about the school of engineering contact Dawnelle Prince-Parks, director of recruitment, at 864-3622.

New computers installed
Photo: Daniel Reyes

Click here for a slide show about the recent installation of computers at Watson Library

With few students on campus during the summer, academic computing services has had the opportunity to install 120 new computers in Watson, Anschutz, Spahr and Thomas Gorton Music and Dance libraries.

The computers in these libraries were entering their fourth and final year under warranty,
Thomas Roderick, student technology coordinator, said. However, the older computers will still be useful.

Once a warranty expires the computers are put into a “recycle” cycle, Roderick said.

“When we recycle machines out of another library or lab on campus we take the machines and put them on the fourth floor of Watson,” Roderick said.

Once transferred, the computers will stay there for one year before being cycled out. This practice gets additional use of the computers and prevents the University from needlessly spending money to replace a large number of computers at once. The new computers were purchased on two separate orders and cost between $800 and $900, but the University did receive a discount for buying them in bulk, Roderick said.

Students visiting Watson Library may notice the 35 new Dell computers on the third floor. Roderick said computing services changed from Gateway personal computers to Dell PC’s, but that the model will remain similar. Like its predecessors the new Dells are all-in-one PC’s, which means that the LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors are attached to the computer, forming a single box.

“With these types of computer and monitor stand you have a lot more space on the desk,” Roderick said.

According to Roderick the Gateway computers began to cause problems two years ago.

“The LCD monitors and the hard drives were burning out,” Roderick said. “We went through 70 of the hard drives and 30 of the LCD screens.”

Roderick said the reason they went with Dell was because a large portion of the University’s computer were already Dell.

Even with new computers in Watson there is one thing that Kent Miller, assistant dean of libraries, does not think will change quickly.

“Occasionally there is a problem in Watson with computer availability,” Miller said. “However, the problem in Watson pales in significance to the competition for equipment in Anschutz Library. Money and space have been the major limiting factors.”

In order to ease the strain on students frantically searching for computers, Miller said the Clark Instruction Center, with its 30 computers was opened to students.

The lab on the fourth floor of Watson also arose from the need for a large number of computers on the eastern side of campus Roderick said. Two years ago computing services was approached by Watson officials about opening up the fourth floor for a lab. Since then Roderick said out-of-warranty computers have been cycled into the fourth floor.

“Every year those computers will get replaced,” Roderick said. “But it won’t be with the newest technology.”

With the replacement of the 120 computers nearly complete, Roderick said they can now focus on meeting additional computer needs in the Clark Instruction Center, located on the third floor of Watson, and room 419, located on the fourth floor of Watson.

The CIC recently got new furniture which has increased the computer capacity in the room from 16 to 32 and they will all be brand new, Roderick said. The computers from the CIC will be moved into 419 where older Gateways are currently used.

Once these replacements are made Roderick said the next thing to work on will be a software upgrade that is slated to be done sometime over winter break. A need for more computers will arise with the completion of a new computer lab, which will be situated in the Burge Union. Construction is scheduled to begin Sept.1.