Two alumni and former Campus Bus Service employees showed their appreciation for their alma mater by constructing a historical Web site for the Campus Bus Service.

Todd Harbaugh, radio and TV production graduate, and Bill Schloman, aerospace flight technology graduate, first got the idea for the Web site after visiting Kent State for the 35th anniversary of the Campus Bus Service.

"Tom Clapper, the manager, told us some of the buses had outlived their running time and were going to the junkyard," Harbaugh said. "After hearing that, Bill and I decided to purchase the old buses and repair them."

Harbaugh said he purchased the two buses that were his favorites to drive when he worked for the Campus Bus Service six years ago.

"I really enjoyed working for the Campus Bus Service and that's why I wanted to purchase the buses," Harbaugh said. "It was a great experience and a lot of what I learned from being a supervisor for the Campus Bus Service is still with me today. Driving ... was a rewarding job, and I think everyone could benefit from it."

About nine months after they bought the buses, Schloman made a Web site with pictures of the purchased buses, as well as pictures of other old buses used by the Campus Bus Service.

"The Web site started out as a photojournal of the buses and then turned into a history of the bus service," Schloman said.

According to Schloman, he and Harbaugh received feedback from fellow bus drivers and owners all over the country.

"We had one man contact us from the Western Michigan Transit System just out of interest," Schloman said. "He had visited Kent State years before and remembered the Campus Bus Service."

Schloman also said the man seemed pleased that he and Harbaugh had purchased the buses and made the Web site very informative.

"We've tried to make the Web site as informative as we could because other Web sites about buses seem to lack explanations of buses and their history," Harbaugh said. "We wanted people who weren't familiar with buses to understand what we were saying, so we tried to make the site very descriptive."

Schloman, who built the majority of the Web site, said it was not easy.

"I had to go through tons of old records from the past 36 years, and a lot of the information wasn't easily available," Schloman said. "After I found all the info and pictures I wanted, I put them in one format and posted them on the Web site."

Schloman wants the Web site to provide contact information for Campus Bus Service alumni.

"There has been very little alumni contact," Schloman said. "We want to increase the contact between us all and to share what we've done."

Harbaugh also hopes the Web site will increase Campus Bus Service alumni contact.

"We want the Web site to be an outlet for people who own or drive buses, but also for alumni who just want to know what's going on," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh currently works for Fox Sports Net in Pittsburgh as director of regional sports, and Schloman is a pilot for an airline based out of Cleveland.

The Web site is www.cbscoaches.com.

Email: ecasserm@kent.edu