Month: September 2018

By Elizabeth Green

The Razorback Reporter

 

Nearly 100 high school students traveled to the UofA campus to attend the Fay Jones School Summer Design Camp, where they engaged in extensive hands-on projects geared toward encouraging careers in design.

Weeklong camps take place each summer in four cities across the state, from the Delta town of Wilson to the busy city of Fayetteville.

“Students will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty and collaborate with peers in a fun and creative studio environment while they walk with you through the design process,” according to the Fay Jones website.

Senior Andrew Wright was one of several teaching assistants at the Fayetteville Design Camp this summer.  

“My duties mainly included marketing the camp in schools and other educational facilities across Arkansas and preparing materials for the camps themselves,” Wright said.

The Fayetteville camp had two classes, one geared toward beginner architecture and design students, and another for more advanced students, Wright said. Design Camp I students worked to develop a pavilion that would be placed on the Old Main lawn, while Design Camp II students developed a proposal for a permanent farmer’s market pavilion behind Chipotle near the Fayetteville Greenway.

Josephine Boynton is a former Design Camp student; she is now a freshman in the Fay Jones School.

“Design Camp was what made me decide to come to University of Arkansas,” Boynton said. “It allowed me to fall in love with both Fayetteville and the Fay Jones School, and it’s also where I met some of my best friends and my roommate.”

As the camp continues to grow in popularity, it is being modified to draw more students’ interest.  

“The camp has made some major strides in the past few years and the success is discernible,” Wright said.  

These changes have included offering more challenging projects for advanced students, creating additional camp locations and even offering an overnight option at the UA campus.

This summer 145 students attended the camps, the largest number of campers in the program’s history. Ninety-eight students attended the Fayetteville camp, compared to 80 students last summer.

The 2019 Design Camp will have more changes after the record attendance this year; the Fayetteville camp will offer two weeklong sessions, and another camp will be added at a fifth location Alison Turner, the Director of Community Education and Clinical Assistant Professor of Architecture, said

“We are already planning for next summer and will add two more camps – a second camp in Fayetteville and a new camp in El Dorado,” Turner said.

Camps are located in Fayetteville, Hot Springs, Little Rock and Wilson, with Fayetteville being the only overnight camp.

By Kristen Phantazia Smith

The Razorback Reporter

 

Flu shots are now available for UA students, faculty and staff at the Pat Walker Health Center, officials said.

The start of the flu season can’t be officially pinned down to a specific date because of its unpredictability, but the sooner individuals can get flu shots the better, said Zac Brown, assistant director of communications for the Center. Flu season generally lasts through March.

Flu shots will aid in protecting students, but don’t guarantee a perfect bill of health, Brown said.

“I say protected loosely,” he said. “It’s not a sure thing that if you get the shot you won’t get the flu, but it can help to reduce the severity and length of it.”

Walk-in clinics will be open from 3 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Shots for insured individuals are covered in full by their health plan. This is true on campus, and if students, faculty or staff seek medical care off campus from a health-care and health services provider.

In the last two years the campus health center has seen fewer flu cases than in the previous year, Brown said.

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to take their health into their own hands and not solely depend on the flu shot to keep them healthy. Health officials recommend that persons should avoid contact with sick people, cover their mouth and nose when they cough or sneeze and wash their hands and other surfaces often and effectively before touching their eyes, nose and mouth.

By Katie Beth Nichols

The Razorback Reporter

 

Forty incoming UA freshmen came to the University of Arkansas without campus housing because of record freshman enrollment.

“There are currently 26 students in temporary living situations, but nine will be moved to permanent solutions this week,” said Christopher Spencer, assistant director for Marketing and Strategic Communications for University Housing.

“In general, oftentimes they really enjoy living in study rooms and petition to stay there,” Spencer said.

In the rare case of students living in temporary housing for the full year, they would not have to pay the same amount as a student living in a regular dorm room, Spencer said. For example, a Yocum Hall resident would pay $6,388 for a year, but $3,194 in temporary quarters.

This is a perennial problem because of record UA freshman enrollment since 2009. This fall, 60 fewer degree-seeking freshmen enrolled than the fall of 2017, but enrollment continues to hover around 5,000 students, making it difficult for the university to house all of them in addition to nearly 1,000 returning students who live on campus this year.

The U of A is getting new housing, the Stadium Drive Residence Halls. The dorms are projected to house 708 students and could have plenty of space for students to get acquainted with university life. The hall will accommodate students who have similar interests; they’ll reside in what officials call a living-learning community. Recording studios, project spaces and other amenities are perfectly suited for disciplines such as architecture, art, theater, music and computer programming.

In addition to the community aspect of the hall, the Stadium Drive Residence Halls are being built using a process called cross-laminated timber, a more sustainable option than the customary materials used to build similar residence halls such as concrete and steel.

“We just don’t see that sort of material on large buildings,” Spencer said. “This is new for Arkansas and new for the United States.”

With the building of the Stadium Drive Residence Halls, two of the older housing options, Buchanan-Droke and Gladson-Ripley will be closed. These two halls house a total of 202 students, creating a net-gain of 506 beds when the Stadium Drive Residence Halls open in the fall of 2019.

Freshman Allen Amuimuia is one of the male students in a temporary living situation at the university. Amuimuia lives with two other roommates in a room that is normally a study room in Humphreys Hall.

“I was originally going to the Air Force Academy for football, but after two weeks there I decided to transfer back down here,” Amuiamuia said. “I guess because I came so late I got pushed to the bottom of the housing list.”

When Amuimuia arrived to move in, he was informed that he would not be living in a traditional room. He said that he has not experienced many issues with living in the study rooms.

“The only thing is I don’t know when I’m going to be moved into somewhere permanent. It’s all just a waiting game,” Amuimuia said.