Seventeen students worked for five weeks on a new baseball design for the athletics department, and they might have nothing to show for their hard work.
Architecture professor Tony Costello said he had a summer studio in which students created a design for a new Ball State University baseball field. At the time Costello told the students to work on a design, he said the designs would be sent to the athletics department to be considered.
"Right out of the gate, students knew this was all hypothetical - their projects may or may not be implemented," Costello said.
But because the athletics department has to go through a formal process for deciding a design, it doesn't look like the students have much of a chance at seeing their design actually being constructed.
"We would not take students' ideas and run with it," Associate Athletics Director Pat Quinn said.
These students went through a process that took them across parts of the country to examine baseball parks at other universities such as University of Dayton and the University of Miami of Ohio.
Scouting other fields is exactly what professional contractors would do as well. And the students looked at these fields with specific guidelines from the athletics department when on location. The students even used an $8,000 grant from the National Concrete Masonry Association.
They put in the time and effort; so, shouldn't the athletics department find it in their heart of hearts to consider the design. The quality of design, and not who did the design, should decide whether something is chosen.
But the students can help themselves be considered by creating a formal proposal for the design, which would include writing a complete budget for the project. And even if they are not selected, some of their ideas could be incorporated into the final design.
Doesn't the possibility of having students design a campus structure, which will last generations, support the idea of Education Redefined? It's another selling point for the university.
University Marketing and Communications would just eat it up. Picture it: billboards, commercials, orientation pamphlets. This idea can hit the big time.
And wouldn't the athletics department like to have a story about it that isn't negative.
Also, if the athletics department chose to build one of the student groups' designs, it could not be named after the students.
Afterall, Quinn adamantly stressed there would be no future plans to name such a facility after the students who designed it, but after a former university president or donor.
That's understandable because "important" buildings need to be named after "important" people who have donated time, energy or lots of money to the university.
But maybe the department can name a section of the park or something after the students. Who knows, maybe a concession stand could be named after the students.
Give them a little credit.
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