Introduction
 

Situation

 

Problem
 

Solution
 

Benefit
 

Conclusion
 

Links

 

Site info.

 

*Appendix

*Appendix

 

1. Interview questionnaires

 

Because of the nature of this kind of problem, we would better know what the students who are being affected by the renovation actually think about this problem.  First of all, I preformed a survey for 20 students and staffs, include lecturers, who are taking classes on basement floor.  I also interviewed several UT staffs below by email (Appendix 1.1).
 

[Construction workers]

- What is these all vinyl wraps you taped on the walls for?

- Do you have any rules you have to keep in mind when you make big noises?

- Does having people (students) around the site make you work difficult?

- If so, what do you think we can minimize the problem?

 

[Students]

- What do you think about the campus constructions or renovations during the

    semester?

- How do you feel about the construction in FAC?

- Why do you think UT gives higher priority on constructions than on-going classes

    around these sites?

- If you think we (students) need to do something about it, what is that?

 

[UT Staffs]

Patricia L. Clubb, Ph.D., UT Vice President for Employee & Campus Services

John L. Rishling, UT Associate Vice President for Campus Planning & Capital Projects

Steve Kraal, Ph.D., UT Associate Vice President for Facilities management

Ernest R. Hunter, UT Physical Plant Director

David Rea, UT Capital Project Associate Director

 
1.1. Email interview questionnaires

Dear *,

Good morning, Mr. *.
My name is Hyundoo Shin.  I am a senior in ECE department.
This semester, I am taking a RHE306Q, Rhetoric and Composition for Non-native speakers, and I would like to get some help from you for the last  assignment.
    For the paper, I am writing a Proposal Argument paper, and my topic is "A Proposal for campus building renovations and constructions: FAC basement floor renovation," and supposedly, you are the audience of my paper, and I am going to propose you the better way to perform constructions during semesters.
    I know you are very busy to deal with all important issues, so I decided to interview you via email.  Please reply this email with your comments.  I composed these questions based on the result of my survey on students and lecturers who have been using FAC facilities during this semester.  Even short comments will be helpful, and if you have any question, please feel free to ask me.
Good bye and Thank you in advance. 
 

Shin, Hyundoo


[Email interview questionnaires]
 - Why we have to have campus constructions and renovations in the middle of the semesters?

 - Is it impossible to hire any construction companies which can work at night or holidays?
(Especially for campus renovations which mainly disturb office workers and lecturers near the site)

 - Do you have any methods or channels for getting comments/reactions from people who have to bear the difficulties, for example, noises, from the renovation/construction sites?

 - In case we have that kind of program,

   1. How do you respond for these comments or complaints?

   2. And later, do you contact with those people who commented and let them know how would you respond?

 - Let’s say. I am having a class with 40 other classmates and the tapping and drilling noises from the construction site right next door even overwhelms my poor lecturer’s  shouting voice from her agonizing efforts.  What can be the best thing she (the lecturer) can do other than glancing her students’ eyes hopelessly?   And, what can be the best thing we (students) can do other than thinking that we are desperately unlucky to have a classroom right next to a construction site this semester?

 - Do you have anything to say to the people who have to bear all the noises right next to the construction sites?
 
2. General Notes for site constructor on Contract documents


 
2.1. Contract Documents Addendum for FAC ADA Renovations (Whole)

  American Constructors, Inc. internal documents.
 
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"The future plan has very definite goals: the building of the best possible undergraduate library, not just in adequate book support of class assignments -- a center for independent work, for discussion, a place for reading-for-pleasure; a place where study won't be punishment."


Harry Huntt Ransom (1908-1976), Letter to Daily Texan reporter (Dec. 9, 1958)

 

 


A Proposal for FAC Renovations

 

    Introduction

 

With the largest student body with more than 52,000 enrolled students and the campus buildings which are as big as medium sized museum, my school, the University of Texas at Austin, became the one of the biggest university in the U.S.  Yes.  Everything is BIG in Texas!

Although many campus visitors are going back to their places with good impressions about UT campus from its clean and huge campus buildings and wide campus roads, if they stop walking on the Speedway, a road which passing through the middle part of UT at Austin, I am pretty sure that they will witness more than two or three construction sites with some warning signs and several construction workers with their yellow hardhats.  This is a snapshot of the University of Texas at Austin Fall 2003.

Among many UT's construction projects, I would like to talk about the renovation site in FAC, Peter T. Flawn Academic Center, building on the ground floor in here. 

 



UT FAC, Peter T. Flawn Academic Center, outlook

 

 

 

 

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Situation

 

Let me introduce FAC in depth to those who happen to read this article and are not familiar with it.  FAC located right next to the UT Main building and also hosts the UGL, Undergraduate Library, and many resource centers.  With these all inter-departmental resource centers, FAC became one of the most popular buildings in UT at Austin.  Especially on the basement floor which has the renovation site we are going to talk about, there are many various leaning resource centers with colorful interests.

Here are the list of the various centers on the basement floor in FAC:
 

According to the data from the annual report of the UT at Austin, the Facts 2001-2002, the University of Texas Learning Resource Centers, during the full semesters, more than 200 students are using those facilities, and more than 8 regular classes are using those facilities in regular basis as their main classrooms. 


 

 

 

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Adolfo Yunes

(Mechanical Eng. Graduate)


"When I'm in class, I feel like I'm one of the construction workers and waiting for my shift."

 

 

Problem

 

 

"Safety:  The safety of the community and the men and women working on our projects is top priority to American Constructors."

 

Section: About our company, American Constructors, Inc.,

the FAC renovation contractor

 

The renovation site is located right next to the offices and labs I listed above.  Apparently, the ground floor contains English rhetoric and composition courses and English writing learning resource centers which require quiet studying environment. Regardless of this situation, the renovation site on ground floor brings intolerable noises, so all the students and lecturers are being affected by it, and some kind of chemical smells with the cloud of dust from the site also brings health issues as well.

Especially, FAC 7, one of the largest computer lab, is scheduled to be used for regular courses, such as RHE306 and RHE306Q and RHE306Q is the  class I am taking.  From time to time, we were forced to stop discussing because of the noises from the site, so we had to wait until they cease out. 

I asked several classmates and they said they expected our course instructor cancel several lectures on noisier days, and felt reasonable when she actually cancel one of the lecturers later.  The people in the resource centers were having the similar experience, too. 

Francisco Morales, a graduate student in the Electrical Engineering Dept., shared his agonizing experience with emotional voice, and he said that he is taking three courses for this semester and two of them are English courses because he is a international student and this fall semester is his first semester in the U.S.  Because both of his English courses are using two different classroom in FAC on the same floor, the ground floor, he had to spend 2 to 5 hours a day and bear all the noises and annoying chemical smells while he is in FAC.  He said, "One day, I covered my ears with hands to mask the noises, but I still could hear the annoying tapping sound.  I soon realized that my whole body was trembled by the noise."  For him, being in a classroom near the renovation site was a physical punishment, and I could meet more people who think this way in the hole way.

Adolfo Yunes, a graduate student in the Mechanical Engineering, thinks that real problem is the fact that the noise distracts instructors.  Lecturers are often forced to stop lecturing and wait until the noise goes away.  And it seems like their minds are also distracted and lost the place they should be back after each noise.  He said, "We have very serious potential problem here.  Even though the problem is not revealed right away at the moment it happens, it will dilute the density of lecture and affect students and lower their academic achievement at last."  I interviewed 15 students on the hole way, and more than half of the students said they witnessed this moment as many as 5 times during this semester.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bubbled classrooms??


More than 100 students in a day are passing through this tunnel to get to their classrooms.

 

 

The one thing I think funny is the plastic tunnel which slightly cover the renovation site from the passage.  I asked one of the constructors in the site whether it is for them or us, and he smiled and said, "Well, both?" 

I think they -- construction workers or staffs in the UT Employee and Campus Service Dept., or both -- realized possible health issues because if it is for covering the bathroom renovation view which is not really decent, they might used black plastic rather than that transparent one.  Why they  had to cover the site with some plastic though it is still revealed? 

I stayed right next to the plastic wrap for 5 minutes and could notice the gray cloud of tiny particles are moving out from the site through the gap between the plastic wall and the ceiling.  I tried to take a picture of it, but I've got dust covered lens of my camera instead of getting the image. 

It is really hard to guess their purpose of this plastic bubble which roughly taped on the walls, however, no matter what it is for, they need to have some answers about the ugly gray cloud, and the plastic tunnel cannot be the answer by any chances.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Inside of the Bubble


One of the possible theme for next special featured show on the Discovery channel.

"Mystery in 21st century: What is this Plastic wraps for?"

 

 

Actually this renovation is not even in the Current Construction List on UT web site.  To get a whole picture of this incident, I visited the UT Employee and Campus Service Dept. which is located by the San Jacinto Boulevard at the 24th street.  I asked one of staffs in the office and got the contact info. to the American Constructors Inc., the contractor of this renovation on FAC.  I have sent an email and the company kindly sent me back the contract documents. (Appendix 2.1)

I was shocked by the fact that there is no single line of instruction that the contractor and its workers should concern about the on-going classes and offices around the renovation site. 

It can be the out of this proposal's scope, however, I think UT should add some documented concern about the classes and the students and staffs who would be affected by the construction or renovation in the future contracts.

 

 

A Partial Enlarged Plan in the contract document

 

 

 

 

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Francisco Morales

(Electrical Eng. Graduate)

"Alright.  The tuition has been increased.  Am I free from the noises now then?  If not, how much money should I pay more to be away from all the drilling and tapping noises at least during semesters?"

 

 

Solution

 

1. UT should modify current working schedule for construction workers to reduce the number of people who are being affected.  Start working after 5 P.M. or doing major renovation works which bring major noise and smells on weekends or holidays is recommended.

 

2. UT should install a effective fence for blocking the noises and chemical smells for the students and workers.

 

3. UT should put the top priority on securing reasonable environment for studying, and schedule building renovations during the term breaks.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International exchange students

 


Since they will stay only a semester or two, what they see during the semester forms whole image of UT.  Or, the whole image of the universities in U.S.

 

 

 

 

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Benefit

 

1. By modifying working schedule, because the construction workers do not need to concern bypassing people around the renovation site, the efficiency of renovation will be improved, and as the result, it can complete this project with lower final costs.

 

2. By isolating the renovation site from classrooms and offices, UT can minimize the possibility of being caught by lawsuits for neglecting health codes.  It will save possible enormous amount of money.

 

2. The one of the most important benefits UT can get is that it can minimize the complaints from students and staffs include librarians, lecturers and advisors in learning resource centers.  Even though reducing complaints are not directly beneficial as reducing fees, the level of annoyance is quite high, so it will bring more severe concern if it does not handle properly right now.

 

 

 

 

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Conclusion

 

As we have been through this issue, the current renovation site in FAC on ground floor has many problems.  It is not only for the noises which bother the classes near the site, but also the health problems for the students and staffs in the floor.  There can be many other solutions, but I think changing the working hours and installing noise and dust fences will apparently improve the site to be a community-friendly renovation site.

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

 

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Links

 

 


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Site info.

 

Title:

"A Proposal for FAC Renovations"

 

For:

RHE306Q

Mariela Hristova

MTWThF 14:00-15:00, Fall 2003

University of Texas at Austin

 

By:

Sundew (Shin, Hyundoo)

Senior, Electrical & Computer Engineering

University of Texas at Austin

 

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(Last modified: December 2nd, 2003)