I just wanted to give you all a quick update on the status of the plans for the musical institute.
I have completed my initial pre-construction review of the plans and have recommended changes that I think will help make the campus one of the best-sounding places around.
As you know, the challenge here is in working with a group of buildings that were built at different times using different materials.
That, plus the fact that we are working with a budget, means this is a project we'll all remember. Just making the two brick-and-stone buildings on campus worthy of being part of a musical institute will keep us all on our toes.
Due to budget constraints and because several of the buildings are unique, I've limited my proposed changes to the minimum necessary to obtain good acoustics.
Still, despite the limited scope of the work, I have managed to account for 50 percent of the overall budget. Since this is going to be a musicians' institute, I felt sound would be one of the most important considerations.
Although we are trying to complete the pre-construction phase as quickly as possible, I will be reviewing the plans again after the interior designers and electrical and electronic consultants have taken a look at them.
It won't be long now before work is underway. Not long after that, we'll be hearing the sweet sounds of music.
Dana Hougland is an acoustician with an extensive engineering and physics background. How much is she communicating from day to day? "Constantly. Writing, constantly. Writing reports. And you have to be able to communicate to people that are non-technical. You are going to be writing -- not a report every few weeks -- you're writing one to two reports a day. This whole writing business is your livelihood," says Hougland.