Summer 2002 brings changes and challenges
for students

Jacob Shellabarger, Corner Post staff
(photos courtesy of the University and the author)

Students returning to MU for the start of Fall Semester 2002 can expect several things on campus to be different. Campus-wide tension surrounding state budget cuts continues, and "Building a Better Mizzou" signs are almost as visible as Truman the Tiger. Here's a look at some changes on campus.

Major Campus Changes

1. Closing of Taco Bell's Brady Commons location

Corporate restructuring by Pepsico,the parent company of
Taco Bell, means that another campus icon has closed forever. According to a statement by Taco Bell's district manager, Cameron Donefon, in the Columbia Missourian, the store's closing was based on its lease expiring this summer and changing corporate practices. Campus Dining Services will be replacing Taco Bell in Brady Food Court with Potato Ben's, a hot potato bar, set to open with the start of classes.

2. "Trading Spaces"

The opening of Cornell Hall, the new home for the School of Business, means that other departments once cramped for space can now expand into Middlebush Hall, the former home of the School of Business. New tenants of Middlebush Hall include the Harry S. Truman Graduate School of Public Affairs and the Department of Sociology, which was forced to leave the Sociology Building on Francis Quadrangle after its closing.

3. Tiger Plaza

Tiger Plaza is currently under construction on the South Quad on Rollins Road, between Cornell Hall and the General Classroom Building. When completed, the plaza will feature a cascading fountain surrounding a bronze Bengal tiger statue and will offer a place for meeting, relaxing and outdoor studying. The bricks and benches will be adorned with names of alumni who donated to the project. Tiger Plaza was funded entirely from corporate and alumni contributions.

4. Parking: Friend or Foe?

Construction was completed in June on the Virginia Avenue parking garage, located between Virginia Avenue and Hitt Street, south of the Baptist Student Union. Although the MU Police Department has been in its offices in the garage's lower level since May, the garage opened for parking for faculty and staff on July 8. The new parking garage features approximately 1,900 spaces for residential life students, faculty and staff.

Parking continues to be a sore spot for many MU students, as the number of on-campus parking for off-campus students dropped to approximately 100 spaces, according to a Parking and Transportation Services source. Students with commuter passes will lose around 2,000 spaces at the Hearnes Center because of construction of the new MU basketball arena set to begin this fall.

5. The Providence Road Pedestrian Overpass

Another major construction project is the addition of a pedestrian overpass across Providence Road by Memorial Stadium. Intended as a way for MU's football team and fans to get across busy Providence Road, the overpass has been a cause of controversy recently - because it's shorter on one end than the other. Missouri Department of Transportation rules require that pedestrian bridges be no shorter than 16 feet, six inches from the road, and the new MU pedestrian bridge is 16 feet, three inches at its shortest point, on the east side of the bridge near the Dan Devine Athletic Pavilion.

The bridge's construction firms will absorb the cost of raising the bridge to meet the state's standards, and the bridge remains on schedule to open Sept. 7, before the Missouri football team takes on Ball State in its home opener Sept. 9.

6. Budget Cuts Mean Less Hours for Ellis Library, Student Recreation Center

The Missouri State Legislature's cuts to higher education budgets across the state mean that students will have less time to spend at the library studying. MU's budget cuts decrease the Ellis Library hours nine hours each week, with most hours coming where student demand is the lowest - on the weekends. Budget cuts will also mean the Student Recreation Center will have to trim its hours, despite overcrowding problems.

Ellis Library will open at 7:30 a.m. - a half hour later - this semester. On Friday nights, the library will close at 8:00 p.m., and on Saturdays, it will stay closed until 1:00 p.m.
MU Director of Libraries James Cogswell said that the cuts will save MU approximately $400,000.

Major Changes in CAFNR

1. The Gary Dickinson Student Achievement Center

Construction began as soon as the Winter 2002 semester ended on the new Gary Dickinson Student Achievement Center in the Ag building. Vice Chancellor and Dean Tom Payne announced in an e-mail to faculty and staff in late May that Ann Dickinson and the Dickinson Family Charitable Foundation would fund the construction of the Center with a $500,000 gift. The Academic Programs office and Student Services offices moved downstairs as soon as finals wrapped up in May to make wayfor the new Center, which will open in early September, A grand opening celebration is scheduled for Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 25 - 27.

2. New Classrooms in the Ag Building

Although the hard, wooden chairs remain the same in 2-7 and 2-15, classrooms in the Ag building received a much-needed facelift this summer: new ceilings; lighting; and redesigned walls and black/white boards. Projectors and Internet/ethernet ports are two other significant additions to the classrooms, which are complete and ready for the start of classes.

3. Leslie Hired As CAFNR Director of Recruitment

The College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has a refocused recruitment effort, thanks to newly hired Director of Recruitment Cecelia "Ce Ce" Leslie. Leslie, an MU alumna, joins CAFNR after her two daughters, Maureen and Erin, graduated from the School of Natural Resources. Leslie has traveled extensively with her husband, a member of the U.S. Air Force. She hopes to bring excitement and a renewed focus on quality students and outstanding education in CAFNR.

"I think it's working with faculty and staff that I'm most excited about," Leslie said. "I think they do a great job in Missouri and beyond building a demand for the quality programs and education here in CAFNR. I'm excited to join a team that's in a good mindset: students are extremely important to CAFNR."

4. Rural Sociology, Atmospheric Sciences Find New Homes

The closing of the Sociology Building on the Quad affected the Sociology and Rural Sociology programs and their related offices. While Sociology found new office space in Middlebush Hall in June, Rural Sociology did not have an official home until early August, when CAFNR officials announced that the Department of Rural Sociology will move into Gentry Hall, next to Memorial Union.

The Department of Soil and Atmospheric Science's Atmospheric Science division will move into new offices in McReynolds Hall, allowing Rural Sociology to move into its former offices in Gentry Hall. The two programs should be in their respective new homes in early September.

5. Life Sciences Center Construction Continues

Construction continues on the MU Life Sciences Center at the corner of College and Rollins Avenues. Contractors have started foundation work for the east wing of the building, as the structure for the west wing towers over most of east campus. The construction works in two phases - as contractors finish work on the west wing, they move to work on the east wing. An atrium will connect the two wings and will be among the last items to be finished in the building.

Funding for the Life Sciences Center came from the federal government, a large private donation and other funds available on campus, so the Center and its construction will not be affected by MU's budget cuts.

Note:  Some quoted material was previously printed in the Columbia Missourian


Story originally posted on 8/20/02


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