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LAWRENCE -- Saturday, Oct. 5, is a day for kids of all ages to come to the University of Kansas campus for a festival of activities from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., come rain or shine.
"We had great attendance last year," said Margey Frederick, KU Visitor Center director, who is coordinating the Open House. "Faculty and students seemed to have as much fun as the visitors, and we have added more events and activities this year."
Highlights include a parade celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, starting at 2 p.m. on Jayhawk Boulevard and featuring flags from 100 countries.
Food merchants will provide samples in the Alumni Association parking lot from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., while Hotsauce, a band of 15 KU students specializing in rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel and funk, entertains munchers and munchkins.
The new Main Stage will be in the heart of the campus, on Jayhawk Boulevard in front of Wescoe Hall. Events will include:
• American Sign Language at 11:30 a.m.
• Crimson Girls at noon
• Random Harmony, student group, at 12:30 p.m.
• ROTC drills at 12:50 p.m.
At 1 p.m., three KU professors will portray historic figures and ask the audience to vote for their survival in a Chautauqua program. Jonathan Earle, history, portrays John Brown, and Suresh Bhana, history, appears as Ghandi. Dorthy Pennington, African and African-American studies, will appear as Sojourner Truth.
The Spencer Art Museum and Natural History Museum will be open for tours, and the KU Visitor Center will offer campus tours throughout the day. Tours of the construction site of the Dole Institute of Politics will be conducted every 45 minutes starting at 10:30 a.m. on West Campus. Bales Recital Hall in the Lied Center will be open for a mini-concert and tours at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Maps of the campus with a full schedule of events will be distributed on the shuttle buses on campus. The schedule is also online at http://www.openhouse.ku.edu/scheduleofevents.html. Parking is free.
Here's the Open House A to Z guide:
• Applaud a parade (2 p.m., Jayhawk Boulevard)
• Bone up on Blackboard software used to teach archaeology (Wescoe Hall, anthropology)
• Check your blood pressure, bone density or cholesterol (Malott Hall, pharmacy)
• Dedicate a peace pole (1 p.m. Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.)
• Edit a news story (Stauffer-Flint Hall, journalism)
• Flicker at a shocking, possibly hair-raising, electricity demonstration (noon-12:30 p.m., Malott Hall, physics)
• Glide to a ballet exercise (10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. & 2:30-4 p.m., Murphy Hall)
• Hike through the McGregor Herbarium (Bridwell Botany Research Laboratory, West Campus)
• Imagine with student architects and artists (10 a.m.-2 p.m., Marvin and Fine Arts halls)
• Jog around a robot (Learned Hall, engineering)
• Keep quiet at a silent auction of theatre costumes and props (10 a.m.-3 p.m. Murphy Hall)
• Lighten up at a physics demonstration that explains, among other things, why the sky is blue (11-11:30 a.m., Malott Hall, physics)
• Munch on free food samples and sip free soft drinks (lots of places)
• Nestle in a Jayhawk's nest for a free photograph (Alumni Association)
• Observe the sun (telescope on lawn between Malott and Wescoe)
• Park free and ride free shuttle buses around the campus
• Quench a thirst at a water exhibit (Natural History Museum)
• Race around a Formula One car (Learned Hall, engineering)
• Step back in time with John Brown, Sojourner Truth and Mahatma Gandhi (1 p.m., main stage at Wescoe)
• Sprechen Sie Deutsch (German Dialect Atlas of Kansas -- Sudler House)
• Tap your toes with street musicians (several spots)
• Unravel math riddles (10 & 11 a.m. Snow Hall)
• Vault to the top of a rock-climbing wall with ROTC cadets
• Whack a pi–ata -- that may resemble a rival mascot (Alumni Association)
• [e]Xplore the campus and some of the world all in one day
• Yell when you win a prize, maybe two or three (lots of places)
• Zoom through a simulated 3-D fly-through of Lawrence by computer (Lindley Hall, geography)
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