Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Houstonian: Professors estimate KSHUs listening audience

The Houstonian has an interesting article about geography professors calculating the listening audience of 90.5 The Kat (KSHU-FM), housed in the Rather Communication Building.

Thursday, September 18, 2003

Houstonian: Donation sparks new recreation for students

From the Houstonian:
A $6.5 million HKC renovation and a university campground on 345 acres of land topped the agenda during the SGA meeting Tuesday night.

"These are two projects that are geared toward the students," said Dean Keith Jenkins, director of recreational sports.

The construction of the addition to the HKC will begin in December 2003 and will take 12 months to complete. The new recreational sports building will encompass a 10,000 square foot weight room, two new pools and a climbing wall and boulder.

Dean Jenkins also showed the proposed plan for a university campground to the SGA body. The campground will be located 10 minutes away from campus in Riverside.

"In 1989 the Board of Regents voted for the campground, and we have had student organizations ask for a place to retreat," said Jenkins. He said, the price of the campground varies from the degree of facilities the SHSU student body wants out there.

"It just depends on how much we want to do. The sky is the limit. The price could range from one dollar to a couple million."

The land was donated to SHSU a couple of years ago by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "The school is not paying anything to maintain it now."

The plans for the campground include a clear water pond, outdoor pavilion, ropes and challenges course, dorm-like housing, boat launches, outdoor tennis courts and a Native American Cultural Center. "A lot of details have not yet been worked out."

Tuesday, September 9, 2003

Houstonian: Kirkley Floods

The Houstonian reports that the ground floor of Kirkley Hall flooded recently and some of the students affected were less than impressed with Residence Life’s response.

Thursday, September 4, 2003

Houstonian: Signs point to clearer path

From the Houstonian:
Students attending SHSU this fall will notice a multitude of new signs surrounding the campus concerning directions and parking.

John McCroskey, the Physical Plant assistant director for facilities and construction, said the total cost of the project is about $500,000, which includes design, construction and installation of the signs. The project was financed through the university's General Use Fee Fund and took approximately six months to complete. Construction was handled by Intex United, which is based out of Houston.

McCroskey said the school sought to replace the old signs in order to enhance the campus's appearance. "Partly because we were trying to improve the image of the college to make it more attractive to new students," McCroskey said. He said the old signs, which were brown with white lettering, were boring and contained inaccurate information about the buildings. The goal of the new signs is to improve finding one's way around campus.

Along with the new signs, the university will also be installing three new entrance gateways made of stone and wrought iron beginning on September 15. The main gateway will be at the corner of Bowers Blvd. and Sam Houston Avenue, with the secondary gateways at Sycamore Lane and Bowers Blvd. and Montgomery Road and Bearkat Village. The cost of the new entrance ways is included in the price for the new signage.

Houstonian: Broken pipe sends Bearkat Village residents to University Hotel

From the Houstonian:
Three apartments flooded at Bearkat Village I last Wednesday. Of the three apartments, only one bedroom in each unit was affected. Ron Pettitt, Facilities Manager at SHSU, said Friday, "a pipe broke and got carpet wet in three apartments." Pettitt further explained that the pipe ran through the walls next to the affected apartments.

Pettitt said the cause of the pipe breaking is simply "one of those things with new construction." He said the contractor, C.F. Jordan, was repairing the apartments on Friday. They will have to replace the carpet in the apartment and sheetrock in the three bedrooms.

The three students whose apartments were flooded are staying at the University Hotel while the repairs are being made.

The primary maintenance issues with Bearkat village has been plumbing problems. "We've had some problems, most of them seem to be plumbing," JoEllen Tipton, Director of Resident Life, said.

Houstonian: Garage to open mid-October

From the Houstonian:
With four stories, 490 available spots (100 of which are open for reservation), and a tentative opening date of mid-October, the new parking garage is nearing completion with hopes of alleviating a portion of the growing parking problem.

"It will provide parking for students who would prefer to have covered parking and I think that it will help students who only need to park on campus for a few hours of class each day," said John McCrosky, assistant director for facilities and construction.
The use of bonds provided financing for the construction with the intent of parking fees paying off the debt, though it may take quite a while for it to all be paid off. "We hope to have it paid off in 20 years or so," said John McCrosky, assistant director for facilities and construction.

Major construction began last spring and is expected to be completed mid-month, though McCrosky mentioned some loose ends needing to be tied up such as striping the spaces. "In addition to the 490 spots in the garage we are also looking at putting in an addition 45 new spots in the area right next to the garage," said McCrosky.