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volume 138, Issue 5 • wednesday, September 21, 2011
1700 S.W. College • topeka, kan. 66621
WU not concerned by parking lot situation Rob Burkett
WASHBURN REVIEW
Gridlock. Running late. Creeping through the parking lot. These are all things that students tend to associate with going to school at Washburn. Recently, the university has been undertaking a systematic approach to repairing facilities around campus. Among those projects has been the largest of the parking lots on the east side of Petro Allied Health Center. At an estimated cost of over $1 million dollars for the entire campus wide project, the Petro parking lot was targeted as the first in a series of infrastructure improvements. Students however wonder why Washburn decided to undertake the project at the time that they it did. “What students don’t realize, is that the campus continues to run even though they’re not here in the summer,” said Rick Anderson, vice president of administration and treasurer. “Petro in general has a lot of particular activity; Sunflower State Games, basketball, volleyball camps etc.” While all of those facts are true, the question still remains. Why now as opposed to earlier in the summer? According to Anderson, the process for beginning the infrastructure improvements began back in May of this year. As the system currently stands, Washburn administration cannot spend more than $50,000 on a project without Washburn Board of Regents approval. With that in mind, the initial process of submitting a bid for a contract began at the beginning of the summer. After going through the approval process, the board of regents approved the bid in June at the end of the month. As a result of this, the absolute earliest that the university could have moved on the project would have been July 1. With the consideration of the busy schedule during the summer, the administration took a look at the schedule
and tried to determine a period of time in which the project could be completed without undue inconvenience to the campus community. Towards the end of July was when the project was started. Since then the project has met with some adversity due to weather conditions keeping crews from being able to stay on schedule. “Right now I expected two-thirds of [the parking lot] to be open,” said Anderson. “Really not quite half yet is and they’re still pouring concrete. Twothirds will be open in another week.” Students however, still feel that Washburn needs to build at least a small amount of more parking on campus. “On Monday, Wednesday, Friday I have to park all the way out on Boswell [street],” said Ryan Caldwell, junior art major. “Its just nuts. I mean I think they should have started working on the parking during the summer.” In response to many students grumblings about the lack of space and availability, Vice President Anderson expressed his view that many students were reacting early on in the year to the first week of classes in which many more students are on campus than will be seen throughout the bulk of the semester. “Clearly the first week on campus, everyone is trying to figure out things,” said Anderson. “Even if we had the Petro lot, we would still have parking issues. This is natural to every campus. New freshman, everybody coming to campus start of the semester, between [9 a.m. and 1 p.m.] everybody descends.” While some students might complain about the parking, Anderson feels that Washburn is really giving students a privilege for free that other universities take advantage of students on. “You know its an interesting perspective,” said Anderson. “I’ve been on a lot of campuses and this is the easiest campus to park on that I’ve ever been on. Students don’t know any different.
Photos by Rob Burkett, Washburn Review
What parking problem?: With construction on the parking lot near Petro Allied Health Center running behind schedule, students at Washburn have faced a daily challenge of finding a place to park. Rick Anderson, vice president of administration and treasurer, calls it a “walking problem, not a parking problem.” All they know is what their situation is here. We don’t charge for it and in most cases, other than certain narrow windows, [parking] is not a problem on this campus.” In fact according to Anderson, students don’t have a parking problem as
Sports
much as they have, what he terms as “a walking problem.” “Even from 9 a.m. to noon, it’s a walking problem not a parking problem,” said Anderson. “In reality you can find a space over near the [Washburn Village], you can find a space
over by the tennis courts, but thats a ways away if you’re coming to Morgan Hall.” Rob Burkett is a senior mass media major. Reach him at robert.burkett@washburn. edu.
Arts & Entertainment
Lady Blues win, flawless victory Burger Stand opens Jordan Loomis and Brad Pechanec WASHBURN REVIEW
Photo by Tesa DeForest, Washburn Review
Defense ready: Breanna Lewis, junior outside hitter and Mollie Lacy, senior middle hitter guard the net against Missouri Southern last Wednesday.
With the bleachers quickly filling up and the student section growing by the minute, Lee Arena was anything but quiet last Wednesday night. A large crowd had gathered to cheer on Washburn’s very own Lady Blue Volleyball Team as they faced their fellow MIAA opponent, the Missouri Southern Lions. Match one started out with a bang right from the opening serve, with both teams going point for point in the very beginning until halfway through the match, when the Lady Blues took a commanding 18-11 lead. The Lady Blues then moved on to take match one in a standing score of 25-15. At the start of match two, both teams came out struggling as they both made early mistakes. However, the Lady Blues ended up using MSU’s errors against them to bust out a 1713 lead. They then added three more points to make the score 20-13. The Lion’s head coach, Trish Knight, concerned that her team was losing momentum, called a timeout to try and
talk things out. After the timeout, the Lady Blues came out confidently, with swagger, and junior captain Jessica Fey responded with a ferocious kill that echoed through Lee Arena. MSU reacted quickly to that attack and put two more points on the board, nevertheless, it was not enough to diminish the burning confidence of the Lady Blues as they took the second match 25-15. “We came out excited for our first home game,” said Fey. “Sure, we didn’t play as well as we initially wanted to but we ended up with a win—which is always good.” Senior captain, Courtney Wallman, agreed with her teammate. “Jessica is right,” Wallman said. “Last week was a good experience for everyone in learning about where we’re at as a team—it gave us a good feel of who much we need to improve on and what we still need to practice before our game against Northwest Missouri State next week.” After the 15-minute break,
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Michelle Boltz
WASHBURN REVIEW
The Burger Stand made their Topeka debut in the College Hill development, and has been hopping since they unlocked their doors for business Sept. 10. The Burger Stand, owned by native Topekan Simon Bates, also has two locations in Lawrence. The Burger Stand not only features burgers, but Hawt Doggz (featuring Nathan’s Famous hot dogs), eight custom-made dipping sauces, six varieties of French fries, and more. One of the dipping sauces available is the Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Aioli. “It’s like mayonnaise in texture and creaminess, only better,” said Pedro Concepcion, The Burger Stand’s executive chef. One of the most popular burgers ordered is Smoke, which includes applewood-smoked bacon, smoked Gouda cheese, and chipotle-cocoa ketchup. The Ichabod Dog is one of the most ordered Hawt Doggz with whiskey caramelized onions, bacon baked beans, and cheddar cheese. Duck fat fries are also well liked, and are made to order fresh. “The trick is to eat them fresh out
Photo by Jordan Loomis, Washburn Review
Eating out: The Burger Stand, 1601 S.W. Lane St., recently opened with a menu of upscale burgers and other offerings.
of the fryer,” said Concepcion. “Everything is made fresh.” What sets The Burger Stand apart from other places is they try to please everyone, including vegetarians and
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