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Marissa Villa | For the Wichitan Motor oil, fluorescent bulbs, lead-based paints and asbestos are some of the hazardous materials generated by MSU. It’s Flint Skaggs’ job to get rid of them. “The physical plant handles the larger quantity of special waste such as motor oil and lubricants,” Skaggs said. When handling such waste many precautions must be taken, Skaggs said. “Anytime we handle waste, we isolate the area and personnel wear protection such as respirators and decontaminated suits,” Skaggs said. He has to wear this personal protection gear anywhere from 10 to 12 times a year, he said. Typically, he is the one who handles all the waste, including the 700 gallons of motor oil MSU uses a year. Anyone who handles such waste has to undergo special training and physical monitoring. During this special training, personnel are taught specific practices for the work area. “These must be taught so they don’t expose themselves or others to this material” Skaggs said. These precautions have paid off since there have been no reported accidents in the five and one-half years Skaggs has been at MSU. “Our staff is very conscious and we strive to minimize exposure of hazardous waste to our personnel,” he said. The physical plant also has many different procedures for disposing any type of chemical. For example, motor oil and antifreeze and things of that nature are sent back to the distributor for recycling or incineration. Asbestos is taken to the IESI, Buffalo Creek landfill in Iowa Park. The asbestos that remains on campus is located primarily in the older buildings in the form of floor tiles and in pipe insulation in mechanical areas and tunnels, Skaggs said. According to Skaggs, there is asbestos in approximately 50,000 square feet of floor tile and associated adhesive; 23,000 linear feet of pipe insulation; 110,000 square feet of a textured paint; 10,000 square feet of sprayed on ceiling material; 6,000 feet in ceiling tiles; and 23,000 square feet of miscellaneous. Though these sound like large numbers, Skaggs said MSU has far less than most universities of similar size. Another type of dangerous waste that is on campus is lead-based paint. This type of paint is located in the original walls of the Beawood and O’Donahoe buildings. But during the last renovation, this paint was stripped and is now encased in sheetrock walls. The only other place this paint is found is in outdoor metal poles and some of the older parking lot lines. “I would advise people not to go around licking poles,” Skaggs said, laughing. Even though paint and asbestos are a couple of wasted items that can be hazardous, pigeon droppings are the most hazardous things that Skaggs has to work with. “The reason is pigeon droppings have a pathogenic fungus,” he said. Another hazardous item at MSU that he deals with is mercury. “I definitely have to wear personal protection equipment when handling mercury,” Skaggs said. “Right now, we’re in the process of trying to phase out and replace old mercury thermometers with non-mercury ones.” Though handling such waste is part of Skaggs’ job, he is also in charge of taking care of worker compensation files and indoor air quality. He also receives contracts for fire alarms, elevators and pest control. In addition, he is the fleet manager and is in charge of making reports to state and federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. “I wear many hats,” he said.
Of the many things that affect how a teacher interacts with his or her students in the classroom, tenure is perhaps the most overlooked. Tenure is an assurance to the professor that he or she cannot be fired except for extreme circumstances. Tenure was originally established to ensure that professors would not be fired on the basis of their opinions alone. “Tenure makes a great deal of sense,” professor of English James Hoggard said. “It is not just a protection of the individual but a protection of the culture. It serves as a guard against irresponsible people who can get more excited than they should.” Even a teacher who is not tenured does not necessarily have to reapply for his or her position, but technically he or she is on a yearly contract instead of having a continuing contract, but tenure is just an assurance of job security. “It is to assure the professor that they would not be dismissed based just on their opinions,” said Ranette Halverson, a member of the tenure committee and chair of computer science. The tenure committee looks over the applicant’s abilities and records and decides if he or she meets the requirements. “I feel my lack of tenure makes it more difficult to do my job,” said Carla Bennett, chair of mass communication. “For example, there are some committees that non-tenure professors cannot serve on, so I have limited input on those issues.” One of the requirements is that the professor be a doctor in his or her field. Except in a few special circumstances, this is a must. Some professors have been denied tenure based only on this. “I have never let my lack of tenure bother me,” Bennett said. “I come from the private sector where the idea of a life job is laughable. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.” There are three basic headings that come into play in tenure: professional development, continuing professional development and university service. Professional development deals with teaching procedures. Once a professor has been teaching for at least four years, and has been a professor at MSU for at least two, and he or she meets the other requirements, he or she can apply for tenure. “There are university wide standards: teaching, service and research are reviewed, and if you meet the requirements you get it. If you don’t you don’t,” said Samuel Watson, chair of political science. “It is about academic freedom so that professors are not penalized for what they are researching or how they are teaching.” Continuing professional development is the continuing research that a professor conducts. University service is the committees and other groups the professor is involved in. “The only thing that sometimes bothers me about tenure is that some professors may take tenure as job security and stop their development as a professional,” said Magaly Rincon-Zachary, associate professor of biology. “That is a risk we take. Fortunately not every professor takes that route.” Once the tenure committee has decided if a professor meets the requirements, they make their recommendation of whether or not they believe the professor meets the requirements. After that the vice president of Academic Affairs, the President’s Office and finally the MSU Board of Regents decide who is granted tenure and who is not. “There are different levels of review, but we (the tenure committee) are not responsible for budgets. We just look at what a record says. It’s more at a senior administrative level that if—and I stress if—there are budget concerns that that would be addressed,” Watson said. Since tenure is a guaranteed job it allows the professor to take some more risks in the classroom and not worry about being reproached for their opinions. “Once you are tenured, you are a little more free to take chances and do different things,” Watson said. “You can go into research areas you wouldn’t before. It is a reassurance, and it is up to you and you can investigate and inquire into what you want and not what you are told to.” “Tenure shouldn’t relieve professors of the obligation to continually strive in the classroom,” Bennett said. “My overall attitude is I’m going to give the university 200 percent, and if they don’t like it they can fire me.”
Ranch_______________________________continued from Main a little abuse with their adventure,” Crumpler said. “There is just a certain romance to the cowboy mystique that people want to experience.” People can reserve a trail ride on a horse, canoe down the Wichita River, or have a chuck wagon campout. They can even mix these up and do them all in one day. “If someone wants to come out and ride at midnight, I could set it right up for them,” he said. The Chaparral has two huge party barns where anyone can plan a party. The barns have dirt dance floors. One has a stage for a band. Crumpler said many MSU fraternities and sororities have thrown parties in his barns. About 20 percent of Chaparral’s customers go to MSU. “After the parties a lot of the fraternity guys will get out their bed rolls and sleep on the ground,” Crumpler said. Crumpler also has an arena where he entertains his guests. He does rodeo tricks and gets the audience involved. One of his favorite games is to get a lot of participants out of the audience and then pull out a pair of panties and see who is the fastest at putting them on a calf. “When people get to running around and rolling in the dirt, that’s when they’re having fun,” Crumpler said. “When these people head back to the party they come alive and start talking to people they wouldn’t talk to before. That’s when I know I’ve done my job.” Crumpler urges all guys to take his next date or girlfriend on a trail ride. “When I found out that I could have trail rides and 85 to 90 percent of my clientele were women, I knew exactly what I wanted to do,” Crumpler said. “Girls just love horses.” The Chaparral Ranch is an experience you won’t find anywhere else, he attests. “There are a lot of places that try to do what I do, and they just can’t match it,” Crumpler said. Even if people don’t know how to ride, Crumpler can show them the ropes. He said someone will come out everyday and not know how to ride. He said he’s seen a huge range of people from different states and even foreign countries. “Once a man from New York (who had never ridden) came to ride and was wearing some designer jeans. He got his jeans caught in the briars and ripped them to the crotch,” Crumpler said laughing. Crumpler credits the rodeo for being able to put on the show he does now. He emcees all the parties and interacts with the audience. He walks around to make sure everyone is having a good time. The rodeo turned him into a people person. “When I was younger I had trouble talking to people, but now it’s a piece of cake,” he said. “I put on a better show when there’s a bigger audience.” Crumpler looks like he would fit in on the set of an old western movie. He seems to have been born about 100 years too late. “I missed out seeing things when times where tougher,” he said. “I never got to see a big cattle drive.” Sometimes, Crumpler likes to take bring his cowboy style to the city, but he would much rather have you come to hang out in his backyard. So next time you’re out on the freeway keep your eyes peeled for a horse and buggy. It’s probably Brady Crumpler coming to town.
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