Veritas, Vol. 33, No. 02, November 1992

              For the Faculty and Staff of the University of Miami
Hurricane Andrew puts new spin on teaching
Ask most economics professors the best way to illustrate the basic elements of supply and demand and they’ll tell you commodities. Standard basics bought and sold—eggs, books, newspapers, computers.
Ask UM economics professor Pat Fishe about supply and demand, and he’ll say “ice.”
For many faculty members Hurricane Andrew has provided the quintessential classroom laboratory or case study, offering countless examples of real-life illustrations of academic principles.
The immediate need for basic supplies in the aftermath of Andrew brought new meaning to classroom economics.
“It’s beautiful for showing the shifts in supply and demand,” says Fishe. “It’s real straightforward, and my students understand it right away.” Fishe has incorporated examples of basic products, such as roofing tiles in Dade County—or the lack thereof—to demonstrate supply and demand issues in his graduate introductory economics course.
In the School of Architecture, the upper-level fall semester design studios are focusing on South Dade. The studios, which require students to create working solutions to architectural problems, generally are based on theoretical situations. Andrew, however, deposited a living architectural laboratory in the school’s backyard.
“Refocusing on South Dade seemed to be such a natural thing to do,” says architecture professor Thomas Spain. “We thought that some of the images students might produce, coming at it with a new look, might result in some creative alternative solutions for the area.”
Initially students will photograph and record the effects of Hurricane Andrew on South Dade as part of an archive to be kept in the school’s library. The remainder of the semester students will concentrate on research-
Ice has become one of the new examples economics professor Pat Fishe uses to demonstrate the shifts in supply and demand.
ing and designing alternatives for residential and commercial redevelopment of the area, particularly migrant and manufactured housing, as well as civic and business structures.
Students enrolled in a senior business consulting course hope to provide free consulting services to South Dade business owners. The students, who usually offer accounting, finance, marketing, strategic planning or management advice to local businesses, will now work in conjunction with management students and faculty from Florida International University and representatives of Miami’s Beacon Council.
“There are a lot of South Dade businesses in need of help, and we have students willing and able to help. It’s a natural to put the two together,” says Bill Ross, instructor and a management consultant.
Michael Levy, professor and chairman of marketing, says Hurricane Andrew has brought his students face-to-face with critical business issues, such as how companies respond to a crisis.
“Students are seeing firsthand the need for firms to sometimes sacrifice short-term profits and tolerate hassles to maintain long-term customer satisfaction,” Levy says. “I’ve tried to
“Students are seeing firsthand the need for firms to sometimes sacrifice short-term profits and tolerate hassles to maintain long-term customer satisfaction. ”
Michael Levy Marketing Professor
help students understand that this is just good business.”
Graduate journalism students have spent the last several weeks canvassing South Dade businesses along U.S. 1 from the Last Chance Bar in Florida City to Cutler Ridge Mall as part of a special project for The Miami Herald. Journalism instructor Tsitsi Wakhisi, managing editor of the UM News Service, says students are surveying businesses for a series of Herald articles to see which ones are still up and running, which ones are not, which ones are coming back, and what kinds of damage they have suffered.
“I think working on this story gives the students a chance to not just view tragedy,” says Wakhisi, “but to understand the journalistic impact of the tragedy and how it’s covered.”
Students from the Schools of Medicine and Nursing are gaining valuable patient contact experience at South Dade clinics in courses and programs newly revised since the hurricane.
The School of Education’s counseling psychology program has added a special section to prepare students registered for field experience in Dade County’s public schools. The extra session will help them deal with Dade County students who have lost their homes or suffered major disruptions.
For their senior design projects, 40 students in architectural engineering and civil engineering will be working on how to improve the wind resistance of buildings and structures.
During the fall semester, the students will photograph and collect data on damage to eight residential buildings with both gabled and hip roofs, four low-rise buildings, four commercial buildings, and four high-rise buildings. Next semester the students will present recommendations for improving such structures.
“Hurricane Andrew provided immediate and relevant engineering problems,” says Michael Phang, professor of architectural engineering and civil engineering, “and students will benefit from working on real-world situations.”
—Cheryl Chapman
November 1992 Volume 33 Number 2
UM architects join forces to rebuild S. Dade
Architects, landscape architects, engineers, government officials, members of civic organizations, and residents will all work together to create a new plan for rebuilding South Dade during a two-week workshop this month, sponsored by the Innovation Committee of We Will Rebuild.
The workshop, or charrette, is a cooperative venture of the UM School of Architecture and College of Engineering; Florida International University School of Design and College of Engineering; and local chapters of professional architectural and engineering organizations.
The charrette will open with a town meeting in South Dade on Saturday, November 7. The participants will identify issues such as transportation, affordable housing, zoning, and environmental concerns; discuss current problems; and propose strategies for solutions. From this discussion will come a list of topics for detailed study, such as development of parks, schools, shopping areas, or low-income housing.
The final plan will be presented to the public on November 21, and the results will be published in early 1993.
—Rosemary Sullivant
Sign up for health-care plan by November 16
Because of the many changes in the health-care options for 1993, all employees must submit an enrollment form during the open enrollment period, November 1 to 16—even those who wish to remain in the same plan. Enrollment packets have been sent to all employees, and further information will be available at scheduled information sessions and the Open Enrollment and Benefits Fair.
See calendar on page 5 for details. For further information, call the Employee Benefits Office, 284-6830.