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tion, outdated technology and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.
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