Univ. of Central Florida ARC Eviction: part 2

[kc4nus]

As thousands of readers of qrz.com are aware, the University of Central Florida evicted its Amateur Radio Club from its 31-year base of operations. As a result of many of you contacting the University about this action, the eviction situation has been put in the hands of the UCF Provost, Dr. Hickey.

Even with all the community and political support, the College of Arts & Sciences is unwilling to quash the eviction. They have told the Provost they want no interaction with UCFARC again. However, the Provost at least has a base understanding of the club's benefit to the students and the community at large and is willing to help UCFARC find a place to relocate on campus. The Provost's office is in process of compiling the expected relocation costs. Unfortunately, the Provost does not feel he can justify directly allocating money from the university's budget to fund the relocation process. As a result, funding will have to come from UCF’s Student Government, state and federal grants, and donations from the community.

For donations, the preliminary item UCFARC is asking for is help from anyone experienced in researching and writing proposals for state and federal grants. Once the relocation site is finalized, UCFARC will appreciate help from anyone professionally experienced and certified in designing hurricane rated buildings, building said buildings, installing plumbing, installing building electrical circuits, and erecting towers. UCFARC also hopes to find persons and companies who can donate the materials needed to raise the new building.

Any donations made in helping UCFARC are likely tax deductible. The UCF Foundation would be able to verify if the method a person or company plans to assist by does qualify as a charitable tax deduction and provide the paperwork for submission to the IRS.

Please refer to UCFARC's relocation webpage for additional and ongoing details: http://ucf.edu/~wb4tcw/relocation.html

[ka5s]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kc4nus @ Sep. 23 2003,07:49)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Even with all the community and political support, the College of Arts & Sciences is unwilling to quash the eviction. #They have told the Provost they want no interaction with UCFARC again.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
This is rather like ejecting the astronomy club and its telescopes, and refusing to have any interactions with it -- while still offering courses in the subject.

You have my sympathies.

As it happens, the College may decide it is better to "interact" properly than to put up with an adversary who exposes their dealings to public scrutiny.

Cortland.

[KB2SEO]

Gee Guys,
I am so sorry to see this go down like it is. What a shame that UCF shows IT'S lack of education, Ironic eh?

I can say ,as I said in the letter I sent to UCF"My Son and HIS radio's will not attend UCF,should they continue".... and I was a Cash paying Parent!

I bet they would not try crap like that with the "Teams" It is always the Same.... They circle the wagons around phony coaches, players and the Cash Cows they bring.
Let the music, theater, or Pursuits like this, things that can enhance people's well being go to the crapper. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[kc4nus]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ka5s @ Sep. 24 2003,20:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">This is rather like ejecting the astronomy club and its telescopes, and refusing to have any interactions with it -- while still offering courses in the subject.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I suspect in this particular case, because of their bad handling of the situation, there is no way for the parties from CAS to save face. #The only action left for them to try and clean themselves of the situation is to distance themselves as much as possible. #Since CAS will likely be managing the MAP building for some time to come, there is no way they could let UCFARC back in its original area and maintain the distance they are trying to achieve.

My main interest now is seeing if the hand off of the situation by CAS does produce a workable solution or if it will end up being a second front to bureaucratically finish the action CAS started.

[n4mwd]

I am a UCF grad (1985) and a former member of the UCFARC. #I am sure that things are a lot different than they were when I was a student, but it is definitely sad to hear that the politicians at the school have finally succeeded in evicting the ARC. #

When I was there, there was tremendous political pressure to shut down the ARC and evict WB4TCW from the loft in the engineering building. #(Now I think its called the math building.) #Fortunately for us, at that time, we had an ace in the hole. #The dean of the univeristy was a HAM and a member of the UCFARC.
Unfortunately, it would appear that our ace has probably retired and the anti-hams have overpopulated the college administration.

My best wishes for the UCFARC and their relocation. #The engineering building made for a really great spot to put an antenna. #Any other location is going to have to have a really tall tower to equal the range of the repeater. #I'm sorry to hear that the club is moving.

Dennis Hawkins
Former UCFARC Director of Public Relations (1985)

[k4iii]

Ashame. Don't feel obligated to pay out of pocket or seek donations for something someone else or another organization is going to take credit for... (Write articles in the local newspapers about the situation if you want to flame, it works! Operate HF from the dorm, when I operated RF for an EE experiment once, I knocked out all the phones in the facility with just 1 watt! Maybe this will convince them about requiring your own facility!http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

You did your best, I'm sure, in convincing the administration. Get on the local repeaters and nets, find others with HF, you really don't need a school repeater/club, start your own groups. Let them try to shut down other groups and see how far they get!

Although, profs sometimes use students work for their own research projects and articles, don't waste your time unless you will get paid or other benefits from the facility.

Good luck in future endeavors, take this as a learning experience of how politics and power can influence others and those non-associated in society and remember the situation in case you are ever caught "on the other end"

Good Luck : )

[KD7WHQ]

For what it's worth, this issue made newsline this week.
I suspect it will be followed, and reported on when something changes.

At any rate, more now know than did..

[K9TOD]

I'm not quite sure I understand what the "buildings" are for. UCF is a tiny school. Much smaller than the town I live in which doesn't even have an ARC. And the next town over does but they don't have their own building.

Once again, I see something being blown out of proportion. Take whatever equipment is there, put it in someone's dorm room. There. Problem solved. Invite everyone to join the club which meets in some common area. Or build a friggin emergency communications trailer, put the equipment in it and have people meet there. Some club member who lives off campus gets elected to house the trailer.

You can whine and cry all you want and write letters until you're blue in the face OR, you can just find the next best solution. What am I missing?

[k4ucf]

This just in…October 1, 2003… University of Central Florida … Population 42,000 students …Orlando, Florida… I was walking up the stairs of the Math and Physics building to check out what had been done to the Ham Shack, low and behold, I find the door to the Roof of the building unlocked. The Amateur Radio Club has been evicted from that space since January 6, 2003, so, it was not the club that unlocked the door. According to Physical Plant there are only 2 people in the University that can open that roof. Of course we never had a key to that roof, but if we did anyhow, the locks had been changed on the roof so our “alleged key” would not work. Besides our keys to the shack do not work anymore.

I head on over to the Radio Club’s advisor, Mike KC4NUS, office and tell him. He reported the incident to Physical Plant. Physical Plant admitted that there were contractors on the roof bidding to remove our towers. After the report of the incident a Physical Plant employee went up and locked the door. Bottom line, Physical Plant left the door open. We have known that the doors to the roof stay unlocked for months at a time and have reported it but sometimes it would get locked sometimes nothing would happen. The roof would wind up being open a month later unlocked.

My fellow Ham’s, this one of the reasons that the Amateur Radio Club was evicted. Physical Plant blames us for the roof door being unlocked while we occupied that space. Today’s incident illustrates Physical Plant’s negligence.

Also, as you know we have been blamed for a lightning strike destroying Physics Department computers. (Never saw a charred and fried computer) Upon further investigation Math and Physics Building has a faulty grounding system according to a contractor that did a survey on the building.

As you know we are blamed for not having a smoke detector in our shack. I never knew a Ham radio license had a Fire Alarm System Installer endorsement. I think the FCC should replace the 5wpm code with a Fire Alarm installer test. (hi,hi) Life Safety devices like that is the responsibility of the Physical Plant not us.

We got kicked out for the other violations that Physical Plant and College of Arts and Sciences would not share with us. Still if we had known what the violations were we couldn’t have done anything because Physical plant likes contractors. It has taken them 4 months for them to bring out contractors to rebid the removal of the towers and antennas. We even offered to bring out our own independent tower professional to look over and fix our equipment if anything was wrong with it. That request was denied.

On a positive note congratulations to the new Miss America who is also a UCF student. I would also like to thank all the support from the Amateur Radio Community, including the local, state and national clubs. I would like to thank the local and state ARRL leaders for their support. Thank you to our friends in Engineering for helping us out at this time. I am sorry we have not answered all the emails and suggestions the club has been overwhelmed with this situation. I do apologize for not sending our QSL Cards out in a timely fashion, I think all our QSL cards are in a member’s garage in a box somewhere--please be patient. Our QSL Cards will be collectors items now since it has a photo of the Math and Physics Building on the front.

I think I will write my memoirs of the UCF ARC. Here are a couple of bits.

I helped out the United Nations and U.S. State Department with Amateur Radio Communications during the situation in Liberia. I personally was on the phone with the United Nations and the U.S. State Department relaying important information. Our club didn’t just work 4U1UN we were 4U1UN. We also got some press coverage from a local TV station

I also helped out with the UCF ARC and local ARES/RACES Emergency communications at the UCF Arena during Hurricane Floyd. I was in charge amateur radio communications for 1300 people housed in the shelter.

Back to my studies, and finding a new place for the ARC.
Eric – KU4TF
Graduate Student Member, UCF ARC http://ucf.edu/~wb4tcw

[kc4nus]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (K9TOD @ Oct. 01 2003,22:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I'm not quite sure I understand what the "buildings" are for. #UCF is a tiny school. #Much smaller than the town I live in which doesn't even have an ARC. #And the next town over does but they don't have their own building.

Once again, I see something being blown out of proportion. #Take whatever equipment is there, put it in someone's dorm room. There. Problem solved. Invite everyone to join the club which meets in some common area. Or build a friggin emergency communications trailer, put the equipment in it and have people meet there. Some club member who lives off campus gets elected to house the trailer.

You can whine and cry all you want and write letters until you're blue in the face OR, you can just find the next best solution. #What am I missing?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
1) As Eric said, over 42,000 students this term. #In the time I've been at UCF (15 years) over 25 buildings have been built and the student population as doubled. #If you want to get an idea of the land area the UCF is currently using, please refer to http://ucf.edu/~wb4tcw/relocation.html. #There are links to aerial photos of UCF.

2) Exactly how can public safety be blown out of proportion? #Florida is one of the top 3 states to be directly impacted by tropical weather. #Central Florida has a number of places that are considered potential terrorist targets. #With UCFARC's station shutdown, a hub of communications that was housed in a fairly hardened location is now missing. #Depending on the cause for the call to service, there is the potential for its "out of service" state to affect a majority of UCF's 42,000 students as well as the over 56,000 residents of East Orange County.

3) UCFARC is working on the next best solution. #The UCF Provost has stated he is willing to assist in UCFARC's relocation. #We are pursuing that. #We are also pursuing any assistance we can find from the ham community and community at large of central Florida. #Besides providing a point for emergency communications when the need arises, UCFARC is also a point for Ham students to gain more experience and practical knowledge in conjunction with earning a college degree and it serves as a point of recruiting and licensing new hams.

[WB0DRH]

Students: This is a lost cause... just move on and disassociate yourselves from that rediculous place. Remember, there is no noise on IM, and everyone is 60 over.

KC4UNS ... if you had any nads this would never have gone this far. Get in the game pal. It's fourth and long and it looks like you already punted. Drag the offending bozos together and make them explain their actions. Better yet, do it in public.

[kc4nus]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (WB0DRH @ Oct. 03 2003,01:11)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Students: This is a lost cause... just move on and disassociate yourselves from that rediculous place. #Remember, there is no noise on IM, and everyone is 60 over.

KC4UNS ... if you had any nads this would never have gone this far. #Get in the game pal. #It's fourth and long and it looks like you already punted. #Drag the offending bozos together and make them explain their actions. #Better yet, do it in public.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Over the course of the ham community campaign supporting UCFARC, all the local TV News outlets as well as the main newspaper have been alerted multiple times of the situation. #Unfortunately, none of them have considered the general story interesting enough to cover at all. #And apparently, they too have fallen victim to the apathy generated by Central Florida luckily not having any incidents happen needing emergency communications in years. #So its diminishment has not warranted a story either.

Of course, the media is where I expected the ARRL would be able to generate the most assistance for UCFARC’s cause. #But the ARRL President feels there is *nothing* they can do to help.

Anyway, thank you for your supportive, informative comments within the failed attempt at a useless personal attack.

[N7AAO]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kc4nus @ Oct. 03 2003,05:34)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Anyway, thank you for your supportive, informative comments within the failed attempt at a useless personal attack.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Heh... Mike... don't bother feeding the trolls... they only multiply (like tribbles).

--David, N7AAO

[KG4JYD]

Hey Eric..... forget the ARC, I want to hear more about Miss America!!! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

~Matt

[n4ndr]

Truthfully, did you ever expect ARRL to do anything? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[kc4nus]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (n4ndr @ Oct. 08 2003,19:15)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Truthfully, did you ever expect ARRL to do anything?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yeah, I had the illusion that they would. #Partly because of the reports that get posted on arrl.org of when the organization backs individuals and groups on causes. #Partly because it was what I expected from a national organization.

I know they don't have the power to tell the UCF President what to do, but I would hope with their affilations and personal contacts with lawmakers, they would know the people to speak with who the UCF President would take seriously.

If nothing else, I would have hoped they would have been contacting the media on our behalf. #I expect the media would take the words of a national organization more seriously than what could easily be perceived as a handful of disgruntled students.

At no point, did I expect us to be told there was *nothing* the ARRL could do. #Hearing that, I am left wondering what is the point of paying dues to them or being affilated with them. #I guess it's just a $35 dollar per year subscription fee for QST.

[KG4JYD]

Yes.... they should've done several things:
1) Written letters on your behalf to all parties involved
2) Sent out press releases on the situation to local and national media outlets
3) Started a PR campaign (or at least advised the ARC on how to launch an effective campaign)
4) Possibly lobby lawmakers and other officials or at least brief them on the situation

Even if they didn't actually DO anything, at the minimum they should've at least been able to advise the UCFARC on how to handle a situation like this from a PR standpoint.

Options #1 and #2 would've cost them virtually nothing.

I agree with your $35/year statement. If I were in your situation I would give them the Polish Salute and then move on with life. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Speaking of which, does anyone at UCF have Miss America's e-mail address handy? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[KG4JYD]

I see the new info on your website... Would an "office trailer" structure be suitable for severe weather applications?

Having to evacuate the shack each and every time severe weather is on the horizon kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

[K3FU]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (K9TOD @ Oct. 01 2003,19:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Once again, I see something being blown out of proportion. #Take whatever equipment is there, put it in someone's dorm room. There. Problem solved. Invite everyone to join the club which meets in some common area. Or build a friggin emergency communications trailer, put the equipment in it and have people meet there. Some club member who lives off campus gets elected to house the trailer.
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

I'm sorry, but that post is so flip and unhelpful, it might be considered a troll. #The point of having a club is to have some degree of permanence beyond the attendance of any one student. #Dorm room assignments can change as often as once per semester, hardly a place to have regular meetings, install proper antennas, or have noisy equipment and visitors at all hours of the day and night. #Consider also that with the proliferation of cell phones, cordless phones, and wireless net routers, schools are starting to come up with all sorts of Draconian rules about the use of RF in dorm rooms.

Add the requirement of public service, and you need something that is survivable in that area's severe weather, and has permanent antennas and towers.

I wish the UCF club the best of luck, but I am concerned that they are biting off on a project that will take years and run well into 6 figures. #Are you sure that there isn't a room somewhere in an existing building that has roof access? Even if the building has to be properly grounded, that might still be cheaper than constructing a standalone building from scratch.

Consider also that at a public institution, you may be required to subject the work to a "competitive" bidding process, which is an ironic way of saying that it will cost top dollar, take forever, have numerous defects and omissions, and likely not meet commercial building codes. In his book "Death of Common Sense" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446672289/qid=1068660704/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-9890313-2360859?v=glance&n=507846), author Philip K. Howard notes that in most bids for government work, the contractor will show up with two sealed envelopes. #One contains a competitive bid. #If no one else shows up (which is common, considering the complexity and rules of the bidding process), the other envelope, containing a bid that will put the contractor's children through college and buy his wife a fur coat (or a diamond ring if she is anti-fur), is submitted instead.

I can offer two anecdotes from the club at the University of Maryland, W3EAX (http://w3eax.umd.edu). #In one, the club was attempting to re-site the repeater to a better location atop one of the high-rise dormitories. #It could be done, but (surprise! ) the 30-year old building had never been properly grounded against lightning and the club was expected to shoulder the entire financial burden of correcting this dangerous omission. #Bids were submitted that all ran well into the tens of thousands of dollars, effectively quashing the project. #In another, a research group (with some hams, which is why I heard about it) needed to have some guys and supports replaced on a short (non-ham) tower atop the Space Sciences building. #Again, bids were submitted that all ran well into the tens of thousands of dollars. #The group decided to do the work themselves, unauthorized, for free in less than half a day.