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THE BRUSH CREEK BULLETIN Volume
15, Issue 1
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BCCP
4743 Troost
Suite 200
Kansas City, MO
64110-1727
Ph: 816-523-2991
Fax: 816-523-2281
THE BRUSH CREEK BULLETIN
Volume 15, Issue 1
January / February / March 2013
COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER
CONNECTS RECIPIENT WITH DONORSSeven year-old Sierra Hitsman of Topeka suffers from Sickle Cell Disease, requiring her to come into Kansas City every month for a blood transfusion. In January, Sierra met many of the 25 donors whose blood she has received who come from around Kansas City and other points east and west to give blood at the Community Blood Center.
It is rare for blood donors to meet the recipient of their donation, but is something the Community Blood Center organizes every January to highlight National Blood Donor Month. Here, Sierra presents Darrell Rangel of Tecumseh, Kansas with a piece of artwork she made to say "thanks" at an event held at the center as her mother Sandra Hitsman looks on.
Sickle Cell Disease is a painful illness affecting one in 500 African-Americans that can cause complications such as strokes - even for kids. While people with the same ethnic, genetic and racial backgrounds as the patient are the best blood matches, only one in ten blood donors are African-Americans. Brush Creek Community Partners has been supporting the Community Blood Center's efforts to increase the number of African-American donors by connecting it with the health activities of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative in the Blue Hills and Town Fork Creek Neighborhoods.
SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
TO SAVE ENERGY AND CASH
ON SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATIONSecond Presbyterian Church has installed 102 solar panels on its roof that will produce 33,800 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, on average, reducing Co2 emissions by 26 tons annually. The system will cover approximately eight percent of the electrical needs of the church at 55th and Oak Streets, saving an estimated $100,000 over the next 20 years.
Energy output will be measured by a web-based monitoring system, and excess energy will be sold back to Kansas City Power & Light. The system has a 30 to 50 year lifespan. Second was able to pursue a tax incentive through the U.S. Department of Energy and a utility credit through KCP&L.
COMMUNITY ANTICIPATES STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS
The northwest corner of Emanuel Cleaver, II Boulevard and Troost Avenue now (left), and when it will be completed (right).
(Drawing courtesy of Bowman Bowman Novick, Inc.)Kansas City held a ground breaking ceremony to kick off construction of streetscape improvements along Emanuel Cleaver, II Boulevard between The Paseo and Oak Street in March. Plans include landscaping, the addition of bike lanes; new sidewalks, curbs, pedestrian lights and streetlights; and bus transportation improvements at this intersection. The $2.26 million project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
SAINT LUKE'S NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE
OFFERS THE LATEST
This biplane imaging system and neurointerventional suite is one of three in Saint Luke's Hospital's Neuroscience Institute that opened in January. It provides the ability to view blood vessels and potential clots from any direction without distortion and dramatically aids in clot removal and stroke treatment. Among the other state-of-the art investments made in the institute's $32 million development are four dedicated neurological operating rooms equipped for treatment of complex cases and a 13 bed recovery unit; an expanded epilepsy monitoring unit; an 18-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit; and 68 private patient rooms.
PARTNER UPDATES
Thomas M. Sack has been named MRIGlobal's interim president and chief executive officer. The appointment was made with Michael Helmstetter's resignation after 14 years with MRIGlobal, the last three as president, CEO, and director. Sack, who has been with the research organization 27 years, serves as MRIGlobal's senior vice president and director of Technical Operations. MRIGlobal's Board of Directors will conduct a national executive search for Helmstetter's permanent replacement.
U.S. News & World Report has listed Rockhurst University's Helzberg School of Management 21st among the best business schools for management in its 2014 Best Graduate Schools rankings. The rankings are largely determined by expert opinions on program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a university's faculty, research and students. In addition to
appearing in the top 25 among universities such as Harvard, Stanford and Cornell, the Helzberg School of Management is the only Management MBA in the region to be included in these rankings.The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has announced the appointment of Antonia Boström as director of Curatorial Affairs. Boström brings a wealth of experience from art museums in London and the United States, including her current position as senior curator and department head, Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department, at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She will begin her new post at the Nelson-Atkins in May.
Rick Rieder has joined the Kansas City Art Institute as vice president for Administration. He replaces Ron Cattelino, executive vice president of Administration, who retired in February after 42 years with KCAI. Rieder comes to Kansas City from Milikin University in Decatur, IL, where he was vice president for finance and business affairs and board treasurer.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank have announced a two-year partnership in which The Private Client Reserve will be the presenting partner of the Society of Fellows, the upper level individual membership group at the Nelson-Atkins. Formed in 1966, the Society of Fellows offers members of the patron group programming that includes exhibition openings, intimate conversations with curators and exclusive behind-the-scenes access. This partnership between the museum and The Private Client Reserve is the first of its kind for the Nelson-Atkins.
KANSAS CITY STRONG,
UNIVERSITY PROUD.
UMKC OBSERVES 80th ANNIVERSARYThe University of Missouri Kansas City-Kansas City (UMKC) is making a special celebration out of its 80th anniversary this year. As one of the founding members of Brush Creek Community Partners, UMKC has played an important role in the revitalization of the Brush Creek Corridor, both through its educational programs and through its activities in the community. As the university looks forward to its next decades, it hopes to grow and to strengthen its partnerships with individuals and neighborhoods within the Brush Creek Corridor as documented in the following articles.
October 1, 1938 - The University of Kansas City opened its doors to 264 students.
This photograph includes the entire student body, faculty and staff on that day.A Message From UMKC 80th Anniversary Co-Chairs
UMKC leaders admit it is more common to celebrate 75 or 100 years, but they say special circumstances convinced them to crank up the festivities after eight decades.
The university was founded in the Great Depression, they point out. As today's economy limps along, it might be a good time to reflect upon the commitment community leaders made to Kansas City's university even during that financially rough period.
UMKC has also, according to its anniversary materials, "recently staked a name for itself as a university with nationally and
internationally ranked programs, a place where arts and culture are valued and cultivated, and where community service and scholarship meet alumni and civic pride to make the city and region a better place.The final reason to celebrate now, they say, is to set the stage for the university's next 20 years and a major new fundraising campaign.
Peggy Dunn, a UMKC alum and mayor of Leawood, and Jim Steele, a Pulitzer Prizing winning journalist and UMKC graduate, are serving as the co-chairs of the UMKC 80th anniversary celebration. We asked them about the anniversary, the history of the university, and how they see the school's role in the Brush Creek Corridor and the community.
Q: UMKC is planning a really big celebration for its 80th
anniversary. Why is 80 years such a milestone?
A: The times are very reminiscent of the conditions that led to our founding. In the 1930s, visionary leaders viewed a university for Kansas City as a key driver of growth to lift the community out of the Great Depression. Today, community and civic leaders are again turning to UMKC as a lynchpin of efforts to stimulate growth. Another important reason is that we have a lot to celebrate right now. Many of our academic units are earning high national rankings. Our faculty are earning awards and substantial research grants. Our enrollment is growing and we have several major building projects underway. And we've recently set records for philanthropy - our largest gift ever, from Henry and Marion Bloch; and our biggest fundraising year ever.Q: UMKC serves not only its students, but also the entire Kansas City community. What changes do you see ahead in how it contributes to important issues across the city?
A: Chancellor Morton talks often about how he views the university's role as being a convener as well as an educator. His vision for UMKC is as an institution that produces knowledge through research, and shares knowledge through teaching, but also one that brings people together so that we can all learn from each other. That applies to how we interact with the local community, and how we interact at the national and international level as well. We have alumni in significant global leadership positions in business, in academics, in medicine, in the sciences and in the arts, and they are impacting institutions, and people's lives, around the world. In the long run, that benefits Kansas City, too.
UMKC announces the Digital Sandbox KC
to civic leaders in February.One example is a very exciting new project that UMKC is leading, a high tech entrepreneurial center known as Digital Sandbox KC in which several major corporations like Sprint and Hallmark, multiple colleges, universities, and government agencies are all coming together to support high-tech startups. It's a magnet for inventors and entrepreneurs from across the globe, drawing them to Kansas City. We're going to see a lot more of that kind of activity in the future - projects in which the university brings multiple players together on an ad-hoc basis to tackle problems and seize opportunities.
For UMKC Dental School, Partnerships With Community Are VitalOne of the ways UMKC serves the community around it is through its dental school.
For the past forty years, the UMKC School of Dentistry has been located at 650 E. 25th, on Hospital Hill. But the dental school's roots go further back. The Kansas City-Western Dental College was founded in 1881 and joined UMKC in 1941. In those early days, according to Dean Marsha Pyle, dental schools were not so scientifically oriented; in fact the early dental schools began as apprenticeships.
Jeremy Frith, left, and Robert Patton, right, both DDS class of 2013,
observe as Dr. Derek Williams treats a student at the
University Academy Dental Clinic.Today, it is the only dental school in Missouri and two-thirds of the dentists currently practicing in the state received DDS degrees from UMKC. And while dental students come to Kansas City to learn their profession, the school is also focused on serving the community around it. All students, Pyle says, provide care in community centers.
"Community folks can come in to get care here. Our fees are substantially discounted," she says.
Pyle says the students learn from working in the Kansas City community. For instance, a partnership with the University Academy charter school improves the oral health of the students while giving students experience with child patients. Pyle also hopes the program will inspire the academy students to think about careers in the dental professions.
Another program, Give Kids a Smile, teams dental students with the practicing dentists to "do more than look for cavities," Pyle says. The dentists and students also do restorative work, dental screenings and evaluation. Last year the program treated 128 children and provided $38,000 worth of care.
Pyle says the school is continually looking for needs in the community and when it sees one, it's inclined to take action. She says
partnerships with the community are an important part of professional training for students."It gives them a different perspective about the health care economy, disease, and what it means to be a professional and give back to the community," she says.
Urban Planning and Design Program Sneeks Out Community Partnerships
From it's very beginning, the focus of the UMKC Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design has been urban issues,
making the relationship between the program and the community around it important to its success.Department Chair Joy Swallow says the 100-plus students in the department are interested in the public realm and policy issues around urban planning and design. The department was started, she adds, with an intention to be involved in the community.
Architecture, Urban Planning and Design students invite community members to work
on a project to spark investment around 31st Street and Troost Avenue.Today, a walk through the department's studio spaces illustrates that relationship: models of buildings and streetscapes along Troost, maps of the neighborhoods surrounding UMKC and design ideas for the Kansas City urban core fill the classroom spaces. The department often has one or several classes working on a project that both allows students to learn and offers something back to the community.
"What we're trying to do is train planning professionals to be comfortable within the community context, "Jacob Wagner, associate professor and director, Urban Studies, says. "The students respond to the community and the community responds to the students."
For example, the students have recently been working on a project around 31st and Troost, looking for ways to spark reinvestment there. One class was assigned to compete on the best idea for an art space that could build the capacity of the people who live and work in the area. Another project focused on Troost and Linwood and coordinated with the Urban Neighborhood Initiative in that area.
Michael Frisch, an Urban Planning and Design professor, says neighborhoods may know what they want, but they don't have the tools to design it themselves.
"The students are fresh eyes on a community. They can look at an area and conceptualize it so that the community can take it further. They can set the stage for reinvestment of a place," he says.
Frisch adds the department is constantly looking for new partnerships with the community, because that's part of the mission of an urban university.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF UMKC
The University of Kansas City (UKC) was chartered. Kansas City businessman and philanthropist William Volker donated 40 acres to the university. The donation included the Dickey mansion, which would house the first library, classrooms, cafeteria and administrative offices. Classes began with 17 instructors and 55 students. First student council formed. 80 students made up the first graduating class. Manheim Hall, Newcomb Hall and Haag Hall were built. Kasey the Kangaroo became UMKC's official mascot. Kansas City School of Law merged with UKC to form the Law School. Kansas City-Western Dental College joined UKC. Fine Arts Center built. Intercollegiate athletics, fraternities and sororities were approved by the trustees. The Kansas City Conservatory of Music joined UKC. Performing Arts Center completed to house the UKC Conservatory of Music and the Missouri Repertory Theater. UKC joined the University of Missouri System. Construction of Katz Hall, Miller Nichols Library, Royall Hall and the Education Building. UMKC School of Medicine founded. UMKC Foundation established.