Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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A Tale of two Communities Many students take in a movie often at the Mall IV Theater in Pitts- burg. This old building located in downtown Pittsburg was once a movie theater where many stu- dents took in a movie. No town would be complete without an old distinguished hotel. The Hotel Stilwell no longer houses travelers, even though the building is still a distinguishable land mark in Pittsburg. Is Pittsburg State Universi- ty's life dependent upon the city of Pittsburg's economic success, and what does the city's economic future look like? Ed Roitz, mayor of Pittsburg, said: '‘Communities seldom ei- ther succeed or fail- What you find are a continuum be- tween fast growth and deterio- ration. Obviously, the college could not survive without a community, and if Pittsburg did not exist, the college wouldn't be here in the first place. If Pittsburg went com- pletely out of business, it's un- likely the college would re- main in this location. The funding patterns of the university are likely to parallel the growth pattern of Pittsburg fairly closely - maybe not year- to-year - but that doesn't mean that a small increase in Pitts- burg's population will auto- matically mean a small in- crease in university enroll- ment, or a small decrease in Pittsburg economically will mean a decrease at the univer- sity, but I think if you look at a long-term trend over 10 to 15 years, you'll see that the faster the town grows, the faster the university's going to grow.”' In a Pittsburg State Universi- ty newletter dated Aug. 1, 1986, Dr. Richard Hay, direc- tor of PSU Business and Eco- nomic Research, was quoted as saying: The university is very much involved and con- cerned about economic de- velopment in Southeast Kan- sas. Concerning the university and the city. Dr. Donald Wil- son, president of Pittsburg State University, said: The university only suc- ceeds as the community suc- ceeds, and the community only succeeds as the university succeeds. We're both linked together. In other words, if you have a town that is not well maintained, students aren't go- ing to enjoy coming here and being a part of it. The commu- nity is very important from a recruiting and retaining point of view, not only for the stu- dents of a university, but also for the faculty. Wilson said that there are really two major areas in the university that are contributing to the economic development of Pittsburg. One is the School of Business, and the other is the School of Technology. The School of Technology mainly takes research and makes it applicable to a manu- facturing process extending from plastics to woods to elec- tronics to construction to print- ing, encompassing a whole range of programs that are crucial to the economic devel- opment of Pittsburg, this re- gion, the entire state of Kansas, and beyond, he said. The Architectural Wood- working Institute of the United States located its national train- ing center for its 750 firms at PSU. Wilson said that Pitts- burg State was chosen be- cause it combines the theoreti- cal and the practical in the best way. A third purpose is that the university will have a very di- rect link with business and in- dustry. This link will keep aca- demic programs current with up-to-date, state-of-the-art equipment, he said. Wilson said that the School of Business is concerning with job creation and economic re- search. Dr. Hay's new role is to focus on this concern. Also, a center for economic development will be estab- lished, and under that center in the O. Gene Bicknell Cen- ter of Entreprenuership which involves itself with business ex- pansion, the development of academic curricula, research and other activities. The Small Business Devel- opment Company will ad- vance or assist entreprenuers or business people who start a 18 College Without A Town

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1 Cooperation benefits PSU and Memorial Auditorium Pittsburg State University doesn't have a large auditorium to hold large per- formances, The newly remodeled Pitts- burg Memorial Auditorium worked with the University to hold several perfor- mances at the auditorium. There is no PSU facility which accomodates big events and concerts, but the universi- ty does have the cooperative effort with Pittsburg's Memori- al Auditorium, Since November 1984, the auditorium has been provid- ing a place for PSU to have events. According to audito- rium manager Cliff Rippetoe, the relationship has been fruit- ful for both. We know their system and they understand ours. We both cooperate very well. Ev- ery time PSU wants to have an event here, we don't have to have a meeting to discuss building policies. They're re- gulars. Rippetoe said he has a good working relationship with all departments of the university which use Memorial. I am a theater buff and know all of the people there. 1 really hit it off with Larry Mc- Coy (Student Activities Pro- gram Director) the first time I met him. I also get along with Gene Vollen (music depart- ment chairman) very well. That all really helps us ' Rippetoe said. The university is charged a standard discount rate of $500 per production, play, SAC event or lecture and $250 is taken off of that fee through payment in kind. Students and other coordinators of PSU events volunteer their time as support staff for the production and the $3.50 they make an hour is automatically trans- ferred to the $250. Rippetoe said this is a way to encourage PSU to use the auditorium. This gives us a stock of vol- unteers who we trust and know to help us with future events, even events which are not sponsored by PSU, Rippetoe said. He said Memorial was unique in that it was the only facility in this area which pro- motes payment in kind in ex- change for discount rates. We have a sincere interest in PSU. We give 110 percent to the events. We're not going to say 'ii can't be done' be- cause this promotes stagnation and that results in the death of policies, though, he said. Rippetoe said one type of event Memorial is not geared for is a rock concert because food, drink and smoking are all prohibited in the main audi- torium. Rock concerts, he said, promotes all three. Rippetoe said he does not like to hear there is nothing to do here . It's amazing what kinds of events the college and other civic organizations can bring to Pittsburg. We are an indi- rect benefit to the community both culturally and financially. The more interesting things there are to do, the more stu- dents will want to come here and promote the economy. We are part of that circle. We just add to the flow of things ' Rippetoe said. - Trish Hollen- beck. Memorial A uditorium 17

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It's nol unusual to drive down the streets of Pittsburg and see aban doned buildings like this one, Pitts- burg used to be a thriving mining town many years ago. business. Mid-America, Inc., of Parsons, the 10-county de- velopment agency, and the Kansas Department of Eco- nomic Development are con- nected to this center which will be situated in Shirk Hall. The university has estab- lished an economic develop- ment coordinating council to coordinate the activities of the university so that we make the maximum impact and can integrate the efforts of those two areas (business and tech- nology) to that particular pur- pose, Hay said. The employment situation in the city of Pittsburg is not as strong as we'd like it to be. Economic development is a major concern that the univer- sity has for the community, he said. Regarding Pittsburg's econ- omy, Linda Ham, executive di- rector of the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, said, We're just going through a changing period, and I feel optimistic that we are heading the right direction, but improv- ing the economy will take time. When the farm economy is bad, it's hard to just change overnight, she said. Ham said the chamber is of- ten asked why it cannot bring new industry to town. She ex- plained that Kansas state taxes hamper this. The city and state need to be able to offer lower state taxes and portions of funding for new industries. Not being able to do so, I think, has hurt the state of Kansas. Pittsburg's growth will come from existing businesses in- creasing in their size, Ham said, and Wilson agreed, say- ing that creating jobs from within reather than without is the best hope for the economy. Examples of existing busi- ness expansion should be evi- dent by the Fall of 1987, Marie Packaging Company relocat- ed in Pittsburg this past year, and employs approximately 35 workers with plans of increas- ing to approximately 90 work- ers in a couple of years, Roitz said. Regarding McNally Pitts- burg, Inc., Ham said approxi- mately 80 people have been let go in the recent layoffs, but “we are very optimistic that when they do start getting con- tracts in other areas that they will be hiring back, One of the positive things is the strengthening of the rela- tionship between the commu- nity and the university by the two working together toward a bright economic future. Hay thinks there is a very strong interrelationship be- tween any university and its community. That's particularly true for Pittsburg State University, he said. Besides many of the stu- dents coming from the com- munity, the university buys services from the city police and fire protection, and ihe streets which are almost exclu- sively city streets, Hay said. Student involvement in community activities has al- ways been an important role in developing a working relation- ship. The fact that students play a part in, for example, fund drives that benefit various causes such as the United Way, shows citizens of the community that students care about more than studies and good times. Hay said. Roitz said that some citizens, mainly blue collar workers, are taking advantage of night courses, and educational and entertainment activities of- fered by the university. He said it is true that Pitts- burg is not a university town like Lawrence or Manhattan, but, on the other hand. I've seen very startling differences in progress on making it more compatible - more of a college town. Roitz credited some of this progress to former PSU Presi- dent Jim Appleberry, and to President Wilson, saying that both have been concerned with making the relationship stronger. Ham said; Dr. Wilson and the Cham- ber of Commerce and the City of Pittsburg all have a really good working relationship, and the lines of communica- tion are always open. We help each other and support each other because we know lhat if one improves, the other one's going to improve. It's walking hand-in-hand. - Bonnie L Taylor 19