Students will be sitting more comfortably in some of the classrooms and labs in Mulvane Hall thanks to new desks and chairs that were purchased over the summer.

The old, wooden, graffiti-ridden relics are gone and in their place are 160 new desks and 85 new lab chairs for the second and third floors of the building. The total cost for the new furniture was about $30,000.

Judy Smrha, assistant dean of institutional effectiveness, said the pieces were purchased from the same vendor that sold the university the new desks that went into classrooms in Case Hall. The seats in Mulvane are a pale grey so they will match the building’s upcoming renovation.

“We had to acknowledge the necessity to make everything look good,” Smrha said.

Professor of Biology Darcy Russell said the new furniture is much more comfortable. Russell said bigger students such as football players were having a hard time fitting their legs under the desks while seated in the old lab chairs. The new seats are adjustable, she said.

“When you’re uncomfortable, you’re not learning,” Russell said.

Russell said many of the desks were covered in graffiti, which contained obscene language that may offend some students. She said the new desks would also look good for the visitors.

"This is the first new furniture Mulvane has seen in two decades," Russell said. "I think some of the seats were the same desks I sat in when I was a student here."<br/>Across campus, in Denious Hall, efforts toward reconstruction have been halted due to the economy.Across campus, in Denious Hall, efforts toward reconstruction have been halted due to the economy.
Across campus, in Denious Hall, efforts toward reconstruction have been halted due to the economy.

Provost Randy Pembrook said the university plans to turn the building into a “one-stop-shop” for students with operations such as records and registration, the mail room and financial aid all located in one space.

“If one of our funding options comes through, which we should know in the next month or so, and then we can move ahead with the renovation of the first floor,” Pembrook said.

Senior Zack Rockey, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity president, said the house received a few couches, bar stools and tables from Denious.

"(The furniture) is in great condition," Rockey said. "The people in Denious took good care of it. It is still in good condition considering it is in a fraternity house."<br/>