Journal

Journal

Academic Building Garners Design Award
	U of L’s Academic Building received an Award of Excellence in Architectural Design from the Kentucky Society of Architects. A panel of architects chose six winners from a field of 39 projects. The Louis and Henry Group of Louisville designed the building, which houses classrooms, offices, and labs for the College of Arts and Sciences and Speed Scientific School.

A U of L treasure celebrates its 25th anniversary this April. The Black Diamond Choir, the university’s first and only black gospel choir, performs numerous concerts in the Louisville area each semester and offers academic credit to its student members. The choir’s April 19 anniversary gala will feature current and former members in a reunion concert. Contact Phyllis Webb in U of L’s Office of Minority Services at (502) 852-6656 for more information.

A newly-implemented reciprocity agreement between Kentucky and Indiana now gives students on each side of the Ohio River access to programs at U of L and Indiana University Southeast at in-state rates — nearly two years ahead of schedule. It allows Kentucky residents living in Jefferson, Oldham, and Bullitt counties to enroll at IUS and still pay in-state fees. Students living in the Indiana counties of Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Crawford, and Scott can do likewise at U of L. Beginning in 1998, all programs at IUS and all at U of L except the master in social work and master in physical therapy programs will be open to residents in the eligible counties. The program will be fully implemented by the 2000-2001 academic year.

A new digital satellite uplink will increase U of L’s capacity to send distance education programming via the Kentucky Educational Television network. Currently, all public universities in the western half of Kentucky must use the same land-based microwave delivery system to transfer programming to KET, where it is then sent for delivery nationwide. With so many schools offering courses at the same times, the land-based system can no longer adequately provide the required simultaneous access to several universities to the KET satellite. The uplink, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications Information Administration, will allow U of L to send individual courses directly to KET’s satellite, freeing up its terrestrial microwave system for other tape-delayed programming or to use as a back-up system.

New, High-Tech Planetarium Planned

In order to make room for a four-level, 340-space parking garage for the J.B. Speed Art Museum, U of L will replace the Rauch Memorial Planetarium with a larger, high-tech facility on Belknap Campus. Officials from the Gheens Foundation stepped forward with a gift of $1.1 million to fund the new planetarium; approximately $500,000 must be raised to round out the cost. The new facility, with its tilted-dome design and upgraded equipment, will improve planetarium programming and allow for classroom instruction and other multimedia uses. The new planetarium will seat about 200 people, more than twice as many as the current facility. Rauch Planetarium, which opened on U of L’s Belknap Campus in 1962, is funded through an endowment in honor of Rabbi Joseph Rauch, a former U of L trustee.

The university has initiated a graduate program that leads to a certificate in women’s studies. The certificate program does not involve the award of degrees, but women’s studies program chair Nancy Theriot says she hopes U of L will eventually offer a master’s degree in women’s studies. U of L, the first university in Kentucky to adopt a women’s studies major, began offering courses in the discipline 26 years ago.

State of Affairs, the public issues radio call-in show produced by WUOL, gained a new audience when it made its television debut on KET2 in January. KET2, the cable network of Kentucky Educational Television, takes State of Affairs into about 60 percent of the state, mostly in urban markets. "The State of Affairs team is thrilled that the program will be aired on KET2," Executive Producer D. Cameron Lawrence said. "I think we’re tackling some important issues that are of interest to Kentuckians and also to our listeners and viewers in southern Indiana." State of Affairs is produced in the studios of WUOL and filmed by U of L Television Services for KET2. The taped broadcast of the live radio show airs each Saturday at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. central time). The radio show is broadcast Thursdays at 1 p.m. on WFPL-FM 89.3. During the live radio broadcast, listeners may call in with questions or comments to (502) 852-3993.

Contributions from employees and students to the 1997 fund-raising campaign of Metro United Way put U of L among the top 20 institutional contributors for the first time. Not only did U of L surpass its original goal of $210,000, but also topped a "stretch" goal of $235,000, putting the university 19th on the roster of local support with a final tally of $244,061. Locally, Metro United Way supports nearly 100 human service agencies.

A global studies program initiated last year is continuing in 1998 in an effort to facilitate better learning among first and second year students. The "cluster classes" are linked by a common theme and culminate with a trip to a locale related to the theme. For instance, the fall 1997 cluster classes involved a comparative study of women in the United States and Latin America and ended with a trip to Bolivia. Students enrolled in the spring 1998 session are studying the history and art of Venice, as well as the physical damage the waters of Venice have created for the city, and will travel to Venice at the semester’s end. Topics for future cluster classes include the English monarchy and the birth of the modern age, with a visit to London; and the tropical rainforest in global perspective, with a trip to the Amazon River Basin in Peru. For more information, call (502) 852-6490.

Commemorating Armed Service Training at U of L

To recognize the university’s long-standing tradition of armed service training, a Navy V-12, V-5, and ROTC memorial was recently erected in front of Schneider Hall, near the former site of the V-12 dormatories. The memorial, funded by former members of the training programs, was designed by Mark Trier of the Johnson Romanovitch architectural firm. A dedication ceremony is planned for the 1998 Homecoming festivities.

In an effort to address pressing social service and economic needs in the community, U of L and the Urban League of Louisville have formed the University Partnerships for Urban Development, an initiative that will offer programs dealing with housing, pollution prevention, technology, health, career development, and family stabilization. Pilot projects include a computer lab, evaluation of a mentoring program for young African-American males, and a library of information about local environmental hazards.