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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2000)
Rally informs students of substandard building ■ I neater students and faculty argue for much needed improvements to aged Villard Hall By Lisa Toth Oregon Daily Emerald Cramped spaces, poor ventila tion, outdated technology and flooding bathrooms are only a few of the complaints of students and faculty in the theater arts depart ment at the University. Villard Hall, the second build ing erected on campus and com pleted in 1886, is the home of the Robinson Theatre, the Pocket Playhouse and the Arena Theatre. An informative rally on Friday, April 7 addressed concerns with the facility. The meeting was moderated by senior theater ma jor Rhaetia Hanscum and stage manager Jackie Jacobs. A proposal for a new $5 million theater and facilities adjacent to the Robinson theater was rejected this year by a planning committee headed by Vice President for Administration Dan Williams and Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost John Moseley.. The proposal has been left off the bienniums priori ty list. The rally on Friday stemmed from a written response by tech nical director and acting depart ment head Janet Rose to the pro posal being turned down. The response addressed the problems with the theater arts building. Rose said she has been fighting these issues for more than 13 years. She wants students to con tact the administration and let them know how important the ater education is and how impor tant theater facilities are to that education. Rose also plans to meet with Joe Stone, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, to discuss making theater arts a priority. Williams and Moseley could not be reached for comment. Students brought up other solu tions to the problem during the Friday rally, including generating {{it is notan unsafe place, but it has inherent problems due to its age. JimTrubia 44 University 7 7 fire protection manager petitions and letter-writing cam paigns to University administra tion. The students plan to gather more information on the prob lems with the facilities to make the University aware of their frus trations. ASUO Vice President Mitra Anoushiravani said that while letter writing is effective, so is stopping by and talking to admin istration. “Frohnmayer is an excellent president in his fund raising abili ty. He can find money anywhere,” she said. Hanscum also said hazards in Villard Hall currently include set pieces lined up in hallways and a movable sound booth during per formances that blocks an emer gency exit. The theater students refer to the clanking ventilation system in the pipes as a ghost Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald Sophomore Windy Borman, a journalism and theater major, (left) speaks about the poor conditions of Robinson Theatre. named “Bob” that poses as a dis traction during classes and per formances. Jacobs said performers are not content with the acoustics in per formance areas or the lack of enough seating for shows. She said that without up-to-date tech nology it is difficult to create an exciting show. Theater arts professor Sandy Bonds had complaints with the costume shop in Villard Hall. She said there is no natural lighting and no ability to dye costumes and paint scenery and props be cause of the lack of proper venti lation for chemicals. Bonds said the building was not designed as a theater building. “My biggest concern is health and safety,” she said. Jim Trubia, the fire protection manager at the University, said af ter a second inspection of the building that the issues he ad dressed with the buildings unsafe standards have for the most part already been fixed. “It is not an unsafe place, but it has inherent problems due to its age,” he said. Trubia said the buildings on campus have been kept up through the City of Eugene Fire Department. He said the codes are a rigid system that must be up held. “Overall, besides the small problems, I wasn’t shocked,” he said. However, Rose said she feels the students deserve better. David George, a freshman and theater major is the master electri cian for an upcoming production called “Nicholas Nickleby.” George came from working in high school and community the aters that had better equipment with better systems. He plans to eventually become a lighting de signer. Because of this pursuit, he said it is hard for him to learn and advance in professional and tech nical theater with equipment that would be considered sub-stan dard in any professional theater. Hanscum said the lab, rehearsal and performance spaces in Vil lard Hall are overused daily. The 148 theater majors are not being trained for when they leave and have to use equipment in the pro fessional world. “This is our chance now to re alize what is going on and to take a stand,” Jacobs said. Take the Test [It's free, and you don't have to study!] Practicing safer sex includes knowing your HIV status. 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