Closing time

Hal writes:

Today was the last day of finals at UWP. I spent this morning working with my co-instructor for Intro to College Life calculating final grades for our course. The rest of the day has been a madness of students checking out and closing down the building. Sorry that there have not been any posts recently, but the week has been busy like that.

Anna and I will be leaving tomorrow to visit both sets of families for the holidays. Perhaps I might even find time to write our Christmas letter and send it out to you. :)

Wisdom of Jim

Hal writes:

My good friend Jim defines the bulk of work of a Resident Director as "meetings and paperwork". This week I would be in strong agreement. The end of the year brings with it a number of administrative tasks that keeps me busy all day and evening. I fell myself getting warn out from starting work at 8am and not finishing until 10pm. Anna is afriad that when I get a real job I won't know what to do with myself in the evenings...

Minnesot-ahhhhh

Minnesota has been deemed the healthiest state for the fourth year in a row. (Minnesota has been ranked 1st in 11 of 17 reports on health and wellness.) Wisconsin was tenth, by that is still a rather good showing. Perhaps it is the odor of cows that keeps Wisconsin down in the rankings? That can be toxic at times... ;)

You got summoned!

Hal writes:

Today and yesterday UW-Platteville was visited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), formally known as the North Central accreditation Agency. The role of this organization is to decide whether or not to continue accreditation of a college or university for a 10 year period. A lot of work goes into this process a couple of years prior to the arrival of the group. UW-Platteville became the first university to put all of the Self-Study Report online, so you can glance at it.

The HLC team was a group of eight individuals from across the US that are profs, provosts, and presidents of other schools. While visiting campus, they have the ability to "summon" anyone at will to ask questions about the self-study. Yesterday I received a call that one of the team members wanted to meet with me today. (And last night, I had a nightmare that I answered a question wrong and UWP didn't get accredited, but that's another story.)

Today I met with Dr. Neely from Eastern New Mexico University. Dr. Neely met with me to talk about the overall work with Academic Staff Senate (I'm the Vice Chair of the group). I'll admit that it was a mixture of excitement and nervousness that I was a part of this very important process. I can only hope that my answers were both truthful/reflective of the campus and at the same time were beneficial for the university.

Or, as I was teasing some of my RAs today, if I screwed up, their diplomas aren't worth anything. ;)

How do they expect me to work in these conditions?

Hal writes:

On Sundays, I typically work in the RD office and do my RD weekly report and catch up on e-mail, conduct letters, maintenance reports, and other items that didn't get taken care of during the week. I also can do all these things between watching football games, but when the Vikings are actually shown in the area (like today) a lot of yelling occurs and things don't get done.

Well, today I didn't spend very much time in my office. The thermostat read 51 degrees (see photo below) and my fingers were frozen within a couple of minutes. My desk worker was huddled under a blanket, although her conditions were slightly more favorable (60 degrees). I have a suspicion that in order to cut down on costs, my building has been set to not heat during certain times. Funny how those times seem to align with the custodial and maintenance department hours and not the lowly RD and his working hours. Scandal!

Brrrr... Frost bite on my fingers. I bet the RDs at the University of Hawaii don't have this probelm...

Oscar's Pike

Hal writes:

Today was Trapper's birthday and as a part of the festivities we at lunch at a place called Oscar's Pike in Galena, IL. It had great food and a very fun atmosphere. You can see the autographed celebrity photographs behind us. We each tried to match up a famous picture to someone in our group. Apparently I look more like Woody Allen than Tom Selak.


Pictured from left to right: RD Trapper, RD Matt, Kim (Matt's wife), me, Anna, RD Jen, Jason (Jen's flame), and RD Stef.

Idealist

Hal writes:

I have been teaching a section of "Intro to College Life" this semester at UWP. The basic premise of the class is to assist students in making the transition from high school to college during their first semester (which, in the end, helps with our retention rate). We cover topics such as time management, cultural competency, academic registration, health and wellness, and other topics.

This upcoming week I am teaching on personality profiles and learning styles. I am a big fan of Kolb's learning styles, which gives me great insight as to how my RA staff learn and react to situations. For a "homework assignment", I am having my students take the Keirsey temperament online, which is similar to Kolb's theory.

When I took the survey, I fit in the "Idealist category". Do you think this describes me?

Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Sound like me? Other famous Idealists include Oprah, Billy Graham, Princess Diana, Plato, and Emily Dickenson.

I think this a great way to learn about yourself, learn about other people, and learn how different personality types can work together.

If you are interested in taking the free survey, click here. When you get the results, post them as a comment on this blog. I would be curious to hear what you type is!

A Tale of Two Families

Hal writes:

The alternate title to this blog could be "A Residence Hall Thanksgiving". Anna and I have hosted Thanksgiving the past couple of years, but this is the first time our families have merged for Thanksgiving since Thanksgiving 2003, shortly after Anna and I were engaged. I have more photos than what is included below, but I can only fit so many on to the blog before I publish it.


We'll start off with a group picture. In the picture avoe you have myself and Anna (Platteville, WI), my parents (Two Harbors, MN), Lindsay (Chicago, IL), Beth (Springfield, MA), Dale (Suisun, CA), Sandy (Shell Lake, WI), Jay and Tabby (Twin Cities, MN), and Kat (Duluth, MN). We literally had people from across the country join us for the holiday.


Traditionally, carts like the one pictured above are used to assist with students moving in the hall at the beginning of the year. I used it to bring the food for the feast from our apartment to the multipurpose room.
Although the table cloth did not quite reach the edge of the table, we had enough space to eat from and Anna was able to use a lot of her china. Food was set up on side tables and it made for an easier "get up and get it yourself" buffet style for eating. In addition to the wonderful food, Dale brought some wine from California. (Don't worry, everyone was of legal age to consume alcohol and the RAs didn't have to stop by because we weren't being too noisy.)

Since Anna and I claimed our apartment to watch "CSI", the "Grey's Anatomy" group watched their show movie theater style in the lobby area on the large plasma screen TV.

Turkey make Jay sleepy...

Today we all went to Galena for some shopping (excpet Jay and Tabby had to go back home yesterday). The rest of my family went to Chicago and everyone else will be leaving tomorrow morning. That way Anna can get back to her homework and I can... well... I guess I can eat leftovers and fall asleep watching football this weekend.

New Viking song

Hal writes:

A high school classmate, Paul, e-mailed me about a friend of ours from THHS. Andy is on a quest to change the song that is played just prior to Minnesota Viking kick-offs. If you are not a Vikings fan, but are interested in football, Scandivanian affairs, or music, you should check out this article from Minnesota Public Radio.

If you want to sign the petition to change the song, sign up here.

If you want to know more about Andy's day job, where he and his wife create art from using coffee beans as the medium, you can find out more about their art here.

And finally, a picture of me dressed as a Viking. This photo is when I was "Chief Fun Hater" and "Director of Ridiculousness" for Tammy Jo's (jumping in photo) fake graduation ceremony at Wartburg. She was unable to attend her actual graduation because of her new job in Guam, so we put together a fake graduation for anyone who wanted to graduate with her.

Eat, change, sleep...repeat for a year.

Hal writes:

This weekend Kevin came down for a visit. Oh sure, there are the traditional elements to our weekends together: Tequila Lime chips, antlers, meat breath, meh, etc. But this trip Kevin was able to meet some of my Platteville friends and that helps when I talk about one or the other, everyone has a picture in their mind who I am talking about. (Plus, Kevin aided in the male domination of board games on Friday night when it was men vs. women in "Buzz Words", a game my parents got Anna and I for our anniversary last summer.)

On Saturday we made the trek to Madison to see Brian and Brianne and meet their son for the first time. Here is a picture of me and the little one. (Note: Any comments about how "natural" this looks or any other comments of similar nature will be deleted immediatlely.)

The title of the of the photo below is "Male Birth Control". That is how Kevin felt about the situation. When Brian offered Kevin the opportunity to change a diaper, Uncle Kevin passed. (Uncle Hal observed at a distance.) Not that Kevin doesn't enjoy children, he just knows he has a few things to do prior to having a child. Silly things like to meet and marry the women of his dreams in addition to graduating from seminary and becoming employed as a pastor this next summer.

Below is a picture of father and son. Brian and Brianne were really good about just letting Kevin and I hold the baby and not being overly concerned about our child handling skills. Similar to RD Nolan and Hilary, they are comfortable knowing that Kevin and I wouldn't intentially break their child and it was nice that we didn't have to treat the baby like a bomb that was ready to explode. A few tears were shed by the baby (probably when he looked at Kevin's mullet) but we just took turns passing him around and when he calmed down we were able to get a few smiles.

Anna and I are hosting both our families for Thanksgiving this year. Only a couple of days before all my students leave and both clans come to Platteville.

Facebook

Hal writes:

For those of you who are not on a college campus, you may not be as familiar with Facebook. This online social network began as a tool for college students to meet each other (like a limited version of Myspace) and then expanded to high schools and now, to the best of my knowledge, is available to the general public.

Since Facebook is not going away any time soon, campus administrators need to deal with it and work with it in a positive fashion. Part of this is helping students to realize the messages they post could be seen by many people, and not just a small circle of friends. (In a similar fashion, I think that there are about four people who read this blog, when there could be many more who do that I just don't know about.)

This fall during RA training we talked with our RAs about the dangerous aspects of Facebook and how to make a good impression through pictures, things they write, and groups that they belong to. We warned them, generically, that as students from UWP graduate and join companies, those companies could in turn use Facebook to look students up prior to interviewing them for jobs an internships. This was, until now, just a theory on our part.

Tonight as I was preparing for hall council, a former RA stopped by my office. She informed me that she was fired from the Kwik Trip (local gas station) because of a Facebook group she belonged to. To read more about the situation, you can look at the UWP student newspaper The Exponent. Click on the article about Facebook in the "News" section. (Oh, and also making news this evening is the "Girls Gone Wild" film crew is coming to Platteville next week. But that's a different story.)

Now, I do have to say that I am a little excited about the possible nation wide media implications (and/or legal implications) that this story has. There are a number of reasons why I feel that the students should not have been fired, but I also feel that there were things the students could have done to prevent themselves from being found out in the situation. There are too many factors on both sides for me to comment about, but I could make some arguments either way.

In the end, be cautious with your postings. What I tell my students is, don't post anything that they would not print out and put on their residence hall room door or post on a sign in front of their parents house. Because people do see things online.

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts after reading the article. Please post some comments!

Want my parking space?

Hal writes:

Converting negatives into positives.

Positive:
Staring this evening there is a Penny War taking place for a campus-wide Thanksgiving Charity Drive. The basic premise of the penny war is each wing of my building has a container located at the front desk. If you put pennies in your wing's container, you get positive points. If you put silver coins or bills in any other wing's container, they get negative points. Each night the points are calculated and one wing is eliminated. (I should add that each day the point totals go back to zero, so there is some strategy.) All the money collected goes to a local charity when the event ends November 16.

Negative:
There is a tiny parking lot outside of my building (with only space for six student vehicles). Across the street from my building is a parking lot that is not completed yet (room for 200+ vehicles, but nobody can park there yet). Students are having a difficult time with this, so they choose to ignore parking regulations, such as not to park in the fire lane. In doing so, some get tickets between $25 - $100, depending on the offense and they in turn complain to the police and housing people. Parking is a problem at all colleges, but I am in the midst of frustrated students, frustrated police officers, and a frustrated fire marshall.

Combo:
I am going to allow one of my students access to my parking spot for an entire week. How do I pick? Well, there is going to be a drawing (must be present to win). But, only the wing that wins the Penny Wars gets to put their names in the hat. Tonight is the first night of the Penny Wars and I just posted publicity about the chance to win my parking space. My hope is that students spread the word and that they are motivated to donate money to the Thanksgiving Charity Drive. I just told my RAs about the contest, so they are knocking on doors letting residents know. I'll keep you posted as to whether or not my plan works.

The photo below is part of the advertisement. As you can see, my parking space is very close to the front door of Southwest Hall.


WANT MY PARKING SPACE? Go see the poster at the front desk for more information.

National Student Conclave

Anna writes:
Last week I spent a few days in Dallas Texas at the American Physical Therapy Association's National Student Conclave... I had a great time attending clinical sessions and hearing speakers about health care issues. 14 of my classmates were along... and we had a great time! I was the head of all of the fundraising for the trip, so it was especially great to see everyone having a good time after all the hard work.
Unfortunately, the school work piled up even with 14 of us away, so I don't have time to write a detailed blog about our trip...but here are a few pictures for you to enjoy anyway!


Group photo in front of the "boots"

Kim, myself, Molly and Steph (my roommates for the trip) in front of the cowboy boots:

Lounging in our hotel room in the evening:

The whole group at Champs to watch the baseball game:

Our group had "BIG SMILE" contests...you had to maximally exert ALL of the muscles in your face to achieve the best "BIG SMILE". Here is my attempt:

And the winner is...

Hal writes:

I was waiting for a more formal picture, but the UMR web site hasn't provided one for me yet. While at the conference this last week, my name came across the microphone on more than one occasion (and, not surprisingly, never pronounced the same way twice). The first two came during drawings for prizes. The first time I won a box with flavored coffee, pralenes, and rock candy from New Orleans. My second prize was the game "Cranium" (which Anna and I already own, but I'm sure that it will come in handy as a last minute prize at an RA function).

But the fun awards came during the closing banquet. My friend KJ and I were announced as the winner's of the Case Study Competition (which made working on it until 2am the night before well worth it). After the obligatory handshakes we stepped off the stage to get our photo taken. In the process of smiling, our names were announced a second time, this time our program "You Might Work in Residence Life If..." was awarded a Best Program at the conference award. So the audience chuckled as we held our smiles before returning to the podium to collect the second award.

Here is a photo of KJ and I (with a burrito from Los Amigos) from this summer when we were investigating downtown businesses for a RA training topic.


Today I went to my 8-hour White Privilege workshop that all full time faculty and staff must attend at some point during the summer. My group was 90% faculty, but RD Trapper went today as well so I wasn't flying solo. I really didn't get any new information about identity development (thanks to the extensive coverage of the topic at WIU in my Masters program) but I did get to meet some new faculty members, which was fun. But 8 hours made for a long day...

Public shout outs:
* Happy birthday Jeremy!
* Happy birthday Jim!
* Happy 5th anniversary Mookie and Leslie!

Pumpkin carving

Hal writes:

Today was the annual pumpkin carving contest with the RDs and our supervisors. Four pumpkins were brought in and names were drawn out of a hat for teams. I was teamed with Trapper and Sherry. In addition to carving the pumpkins, we also use items found in the rooms that holds craft supplies for the RAs. Once completed, the pumpkins are brought out into the lobby for the judges (people we find in the hallway) to find a winner.

Below is a picture of Trapper and I working on the pumpkin. I am sporting what I call the "McDonald's Manager look", meaning that I had my tie tucked into my shirt and my sleeves rolled up. Trapper and I were having a GREAT time trying to make our pumpkin look like one of the other RDs. (I was laughing so hard at times that I had tears in my eyes.)

Here is a picture of RD Matt with the pumpkin we made in his likeness. The eyes are mini flashlights. It's hard to tell, but we poked little holes in the pumpkin to create the hairstyle and facial hair that Matt traditionally sports. Unfortunately, it freaked the judges out and we came in last place.

A group photo will all the staff and three of the pumpkins.

Back from UMR

Hal writes:

I have just returned from the UMR- ACUHO conference. There were a lot of laughs, some insightful programs, and reconnecting with old friends. I'll talk more later about it, I am somewhat tired (late nights having fun with friends and KJ and I working on our case study). I am also waiting for more pictures to go along with the stories. I took these pictures of off RD Stef's facebook.

Here is a picture of RDs Kelly, Hal and Jen at one of the banquet.

Kelly discovers that her head is smaller than Hal's shoes.

Which one is the REAL Mt. Rushmore?

Step on up to the microphone

Hal writes:

Homecoming is over. Also, I was on call this weekend which kept me busy, but that is done with as well. Hooray! It was miserable week for weather, including the 40 degree temp with rain for the football game on Saturday. I opted not to go outside and catch cold while UWP lost the homecoming game. Instead, I met up with some RDs at Badger Brothers Coffee and we stayed warm and dry playing board games in the community room. Later that evening we went to Dubuque to eat at the Olive Garden and Cold Stone before returning to Wisconsin. Add all of this to the Vikings and Tigers winning today, and it was a good day.

I went looking through the Facebook profiles of my students trying to add a picture of my colleagues and I in the Tug-of-War or variety show, but none have been posted. I did, however, find some photos from RA Training that were fun. Pictured below is when I was MC for the RA Skit Night and Variety Show in August.

Although it is a smaller picture, below is RD Nolan (far left) and I (far right) singing to one of my RAs. There is a prize box during RA Training and my RA Elise won a song from Hal and Nolan. Nolan and I are using our sub-par musical abilities to entertain the crowd with a song about why we like Elise so much.

Nolan and I, along with RD Kelly Jo, will be doing a "Pick Me Up" session at an upcoming conference called "You might work in Residence Life if...". The purpose is to have fun with our profession. My hope is that those who come will be eager to laugh along and poke fun at themselves. (Jim, I wish you could be there, but I'm guessing if you went to WCPA, you won't be at UMR.)

More Homecoming updates

Hal writes:

Here are some fun Homecoming updates:

* RDs were 1st place in their category of the talent show. I rewrote the lyrics to some Monster Ballads as sung by villains. (Because every villian has a softer side...) They did not do an overall first place, so our ongoing (fun-filled) fued against the music fraternity was not resolved. (They would have totally beat us.)

* Hal stood out in the rain for two hours as a judge for the 4 x 1 mile relay as he helped set up the course and made sure nobody cheated.

* Today the RDs went 0-2 in Tug-of-War (I hope some fun photos come out of it) but we still got homecoming points for competing.

Sorry there aren't any photos to go with these events yet!

UWP Homecoming: Mondy events

Hal writes:

Monday was not a good start to Homecoming for Southwest Hall. We were docked points on our banner for not spelling "Superheroes" correctly. (When you pluralize, you add an "e" and an "s" to hero.)

The Academic Games were held last night. It was a traditional quiz bowl that included occasional questions about Superhero(e)s. The RD team took top place overall. RD Trapper is a former high school quiz bowl captain and RD Nolan knows all about comic books and movies. (RDs Jen and Kelly considered themselves "eye candy" but did answer a couple of questions. I wish I could have joined them, but I enjoyed moderating for the Greek organization quiz bowl competitions. SW came in last of the residence halls, but still garnered some points. My throat hurts from talking for 4 hours strait. Blah...

Pictured below is the RD homecoming t-shirt. Also, my official Judge button and ribbon from the Academic Games. I am also supposed to bring it to the other events that I am judging later this week.


Today's events include the Tricycle Relay and the Variety Show.

Shullsburg

Hal writes:

I am currently enjoying my second Saturday of the week. With fall break yesterday, it felt like I had two Saturdays in a row. While most employees of the university continued to work, the RDs enjoyed some much needed rest and took advantage of getting away from campus. Anna, RD Jen, and I went to Shullsburg just to see what was going on. There is a very fun main street that has a host of old buildings with new businesses (antique shops and other shops). The main street had a few historical markers and beautiful old houses (some which have been taken care of, others that have not). Of course, Shullsburg also is a large provider of cheese in the state of Wisconsin. The photo below is Anna outside of the cheese store.

The main street was decorated for fall and it looked like it required a lot of effort. I thought I had a photo of main street, but could not find it on the camera. Every lamp post was decorated with hay bales and fall harvest vegetables. I was surprised that the pumpkins were not all smashed, but in a community of less than 1000, I am sure that potential suspects (mostly teenagers) would be at a minimum, so they don't attempt any naughtiness. The photo below is Anna and I outside one of the stores that had some fall colors out for photo opportunities.

In one of the stores we visited, there was an advertisement that there was a restaurant in the basement. I was skeptical, but the food on the menu sounded appetizing so we decided to return when we were done walking up and down main street. To my surprise, we found a hidden jewel of a restaurant called Frank's Place. It was amazing. The place was beautifully decorated, had a great atmosphere and the prices were not bad either. Oh, and the food? Delicious! Jen and I are planning on taking the RDs here for a "mystery lunch" (where we don't tell them where they are going) in November. Pictured below are Anna and Jen giving their approval to the bruschetta and blue cheese soup appetizers. We all had different paninis for lunch that came with sweet potato fries.

Later that afternoon, RD Stef and RD Kelly joined us for a viewing of Drop Dead Gorgeous, a mockumentary about a small town beauty pageant in pretend Mt. Rose, MN. My favorite part of the movie is when the Mayor complains that the Shriners won't take down a sign about Frida, the Oldest Living Lutheran in Minnesota (who passed away, so the sign should not be up):

"Oh, Yeah, Frida, sure. She was the oldest living Lutheran. Now she's dead as a doornail. It's them damn Shriner's, won't take down the damn sign the lazy sons of bitches. Every year, every damn year I tell them, "Take down the damn Frida sign, you lazy sons of bitches!"

And, for one more adventures, Anna and I went to Dubuque to do some shopping in the evening. We got a console table for our entry way that Anna has been wanting for quite some time.

Homecoming Banner

Hal writes:

It is not the best timing, but my students have fall break (meaning they have this Friday off) and Homecoming week begins Sunday night. Throughout next week there will be a plethora (in my opinion, far too many) activities where the residence halls will compete against each other. Although I have a large building with all returning students, I am not optimistic of our chances to score a lot of points, but I hope that those who do participate have fun.

The RDs have entered three activities: Tug-of-War, Academic Games, and the Talent Show. I will not be representing the RDs in the academic games (aka "quiz bowl") because I am the Moderator for the event. Tonight we had a practice night for anyone competing so they could learn the format and I was able to practice reading questions. One of my dream jobs is to be a game show host, I just haven't been discovered yet. I will also be the judge for the 4 x 1 mile relay race, which means I stand out in the woods on the trail to make sure nobody cheats or trips anyone else racing.

This is the banner that Southwest Hall entered for the banner competition. As you can see it has our name and the theme for homecoming, "Superheros: Pioneers Rule the M". (If you want to know what the M is, click here.) And in case you didn't recognize it, my students decided to put me as their superhero. They were a little generous with the arms, I don't think my six-pack is quite that defined, my hair is not spiked like that very often and although I get a kick out of the "Anna" tattoo on the arm, you all know that I don't like needles well enough to let that happen to my real arm. But, they got the glasses and big shoes right, so it kind of resembles me.

Ask the R.D.

Hal writes:

The basic premise of my position is to be a resource to the students in my building. With 380 students, there is more than enough concerns going on that I could be helping with. The problem is, students don't want to come and talk with me. There is a stigma associated with talking to an "adult figure" (even though I still look like I'm 17) that prevents most students from coming to see me unless I request it (i.e.: policy violation that leads to a conduct meeting).

As the RD of a new hall, there are a number of times when I want to inform my residents as to what is going on. For a generation of students that is so connected (through cell phones, internet, etc.) it's hard to believe that I have a difficulty reaching them. Here are some methods to communicate with residents and why they don't work:

E-mail: The administration (aka "the man") does not want to empower [full time, professional] hall directors with the ability to e-mail all of the residents of his or her building at one time. If I wanted to e-mail students, I would have to do so individually.

Bulletin Boards: Students don't want to take the time to read any information posted. Don't waste your time spending money on photocopies. If they can't receive all of the information without having to stop, they won't read it.

Phone: Students have cell phones, most of them with long distance numbers (when I call from my office). Students don't use the phone in their room any more.

Mailboxes: Students don't check mail frequently (if at all). Doing a mailbox stuffer is not effective because those who do check their box through the information away.

Facebook: Here was my brilliant attempt to try and get all my residents to join a facebook group committed to my hall. Initially, I only invited my RAs to join to give it a test drive for giving out information. Well, before I could invite any of my residents, the word was out that Hal was trying to find pictures of people consuming alcohol, so don't join the group. (Side note: I can view profiles whether or not they join a group I am a part of and, secondly, RDs at UWP don't go looking for incriminating photos.) So, that idea ended before it really began.

Instant Messenger: The administration does not allow RDs to have instant messaging programs on their computers. Long story. Grrrr...

Going door to door: It is diffcult to find a time when all four suitemates are all in the suite together. And they don't pass along information to each other.

Here is my latest attempt. It's my "Ask the R.D." bulletin board just outside my office. The idea is when there is a question that a number of students are asking, I post it on the board, with the answer, for them to view. A photo of the initial board is located below.


I'll let you know if I get any more questions or positive feedback on this attempt at communicating with students. Other RDs have any ideas about other ways to reach residents?

Big Toys

Hal writes:

In an effort to connect my hall to the dining center and other residents halls, a path needed to be created through a valley of trees. Sometime before the end of the year, there will be a "super crane" that will place a bridge over the valley. A super crane is needed because the bridge will be inserted in one piece over the valley. Below is one of the "big toys" that is currently moving dirt around. They started about 6am this morning and they were still working at 5pm when my staff and I went to staff dinner.

The picture below is a look across the valley. Originally, only one tree was to be removed, but as you can see, several have been taken down.

Here is a picture from Gustavus this past weekend. Kevin will be down to visit us some time later this month. Me he he he he...

GAC 5-year reunion

Hal writes:

This weekend Anna and I traveled back to Gustavus for my 5-year reunion. The morning started off with a gathering of donors at the President's house. I'm part of the "Cec Eckhoff Society" through my committment to donate to Gustavus every year. Then Anna and I went to the brunch for my class. The last few years the 5-year reunion has not had a great turn out. Cassie (my co-class agent) and I thought we did fairly well. Pictured below are about 30 of my classmates and there were probably another 20 that I saw throughout the day. During halftime of the football game, there was a Gustie Greeter (orientation leader) reunion where I say friends from other classes. After that, Kevin and I snuck into the new residence hall to check things out.


I had the opportunity to walk across campus with some good friends, stopping in different academic buildings and sharing memories. But there have been some changes since we were students. The inside of Old Main was totally redone, Whalstrom hall is gone and there is a new residence hall on campus, and we saw a former classmate's office. One of the goofy Gustie Greeters is now a professor of English back at the Alma Mater. It was good to see a variety of friends, even if it was for a brief period of time.

Anna and I were able to stay at Scott and Brenda's house. Last year when we stayed with them, they had just adopted their daughter from China. Over the past year she became much more mobile and talkative. Below is a picture of her as she was busy telling me which finger was my tumb, ring finger, pinky, etc. She's so fun. Why can't all children start out being able to move and talk? I think it would make things easier.

Thus begins Homecoming

Hal writes:

This week has flown by and Homecoming preparations are underway. I have a group of 10 students that is determined that Southwest Hall enter every event and have huge participation in the activities. But, without the enthusiasm of first year students, I don't know how well that will happen. The homecoming coordinator for Southwest sent me a few e-mails between 10pm - 11pm concerned that people were not signing up for events. Today is the last day to turn in entry forms. To see what fun and games are played at UWP, click here for the Homecoming website.

Yesterday the Homecoming group sat in the lobby asking residents to participate in events. Nobody was really interested. Some went so far as to yell out their window to their friends to enter the building through a side entrance to avoid being asked to participate. I don't know why there is this mentality among college students. College students today don't want to commit to anything except a few minutes before an event. It is so hard for groups and organizations to plan things because nobody shows an interest. The easier route for students is to be in their room, IMing and using Facebook to keep in touch with high school friends (or watching tv, surfing the internet, checking e-mail) instead of experiencing college. If I were to design a residence hall, I would have a switch that could turn of the internet, another switch to turn off the cable and a powerful device that would dampen all cell phone coverage. Then students might interact with those around them and develop some real community along with communications skills.

I'll let you know how many events we actually sign up for. We are also selling a lime green t-shirt that has navy writing. On the front is a "SW" inside a superman shaped logo, and on the back is "UWP Homecoming 2006". If you want one for $10 let me know.

The view from my desk

Hal writes:

This is the view that I get sitting at my office desk. It only inlcudes a portion of the room, perhaps another day you will get to see a different angle. The only thing missing is a student who has come to see me about a conduct issue (they typically don't liked to be photographed).

Can you find the following items in the photo?
* Hal's talking bear
* A pirate flag (I'm an Aarrrgggh D)
* Viking stain glass that my Grandpa Pat made
* Books from graduate school (there are a lot of them)
* Boxes/containers I have not unpacked yet (usually hidden from view behind the door)
* Iowa liscence plate (it's a little washed out)
* Picture of Hal, Karena, Ali, Leslie, and Karl graduating from GAC (it's a little washed out)
* A plastic pot of flowers that does a song and dance (aka: Kevin's future wedding present)
* Folders and papers that consist of Hal's "to do" pile (several correct answers)
* Waldo (not really in there, but if you grew up the same time I did, you know what I'm talking about)

Secrets of the Alchemist Dar

Hal writes:

I am once again a Treasure Hunter. Secrets of the Alchemist Dar was released this weekend and I got my copy on Saturday. This is the second book by Michael Stadther that doubles as both a children's story and an actual treasure hunt. This time, there are 100 prizes to claim, each one a jeweled ring ranging from $5,000 to $1,000,000 in value.

The last two years I was working with his first book, "A Treasure's Trove". I was initially skeptical about real tresure to be found (the first hunt had 12 prizes) until the first prize was discovered in Iowa (where I was living at the time of discovery). After that, I attempted to solve the hidden puzzles and find treasure. At one point I almost had my dad and my brother in law Brian go with me to a state park just outside of Las Vegas to look for treasure. (I ended up being wrong, but my answer seemed reasonable at the time.)

Although this next treasure hunt has more prizes to be won (100 instead of 12) it also will prove to be more challenging. When you find out the solutions, they seem much more obvious than when you did not know what you were looking for. This time, there is not as big of a hint given to start the game as there was for the first hunt.

If anyone is interested in comparing notes, purchase the book and I can start sharing theories with you. I want to find treasure!

Caterpillars and Career Fair

Hal writes:

I have decided to take a new approach to the posts. Pictures and other visual images are very easy to share, so why explain something I can show you? Anna has had a digital camera from before we were married, but I have not really used it much until this summer when I started taking some photos. So, I'm going to try carrying it around more often and see what randomness comes from it.

Today I have two pictures to share. The first is the caterpillar below. (S)he was looking up at the camera when I pressed the button, but there is a couple of seconds in delay before the photo gets taken. Looks like I may need to take more posed shots than action shots. I'm not sure, but I think this furry little guy winked at me.

In my FTS (First Term Seminar) at Gustavus, Culture and Society in Africa, I read the story about a young man who was taken from his family as a boy and raised by catholic missionaries. When he was in his mid-twenties, he returned to his tribe and eventually went through initiation, something that was typically of boys 10 years younger than him. One of the comments he made about being initiated was that afterwards he was much more in tune with nature and saw small bugs and creatures in a magnified way that he had not previously. When I come across small creatures, I tend to think about his story. Although I have lived in Platteville for over a year, this is the first time that I have seen multiple caterpillars like the one pictured above. This is the dirt trail (that we hope some day to be paved) that goes from SW Hall to the rest of campus.

Below is a photo of the 41st annual Fall Career Fair at UWP. Most of the employers pictured below are looking for different types of engineers (UWP is the engineering school of the UW system) but there were also employers for Law Enforcement and other majors.

I think I would enjoy being a recruiter. But the businesses represented in the picture all deal in the area of science, not my strong suit, so I wasn't able to do much more than walk around and encourage my students who were dressed pretty for the event. The interesting thing is that this is the "small" career fair, with the one in the spring being larger and with more employers (since that is when most of our students are graduating). But this career fair also provided an opportunity for sophomores and juniors to explore potential internships and "co-ops" that are required for a number of majors.

Frustrations

Hal writes:

There are a number of observations and situations that I find myself in on a daily basis, but just can't blog about. With this being a public forum, I can never be sure who is observing my comments. Not to say that there are a lot of people checking in on us, but I need to be cautious because of the confidentiality issues involved in my position. Anna is similar when working with patients, there is only so much information she can provide when speaking about her day.

My frustrations revolve primarily with communication, or more specifically non-communication, between myself and some colleagues. As the RD of a new building, there are apt to be a number of problems associated with it. But when my students have questions about uncompleted tasks, I have no information to give them on progress because I am not given any information from those in the know. My inside voice usually says "don't ask me, I just work here" while my outside voice asks for patience. (Or, as my CSP colleagues understand, "trust the process".)

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I was elected to the Academic Staff Senate last spring. Once at the meeting, there were executive board elections and I became the Vice Chair. One of my duties is to be the liaison to the Faculty Senate, which has been a very interesting experience. I am, of course, not allowed to vote or voice my opinions (I am, after all, only an academic staff member and not a full fledged tenured faculty person) but that gives me opportunities to sit back and observe. Today's discussion revolved around hiring practices and how to increase hiring of faculty of color and retention of said faculty. Something that all schools struggle with as they look to be more "diverse". One of our hindrances is that we are situated in southwest Wisconsin which is not exactly the most ethnically diverse area of our country. Although there was general agreement that there is a goal to attract and retain more non-white faculty members, nobody has figured out how to do it. The UWP plan calls for all faculty and staff to participated in an 8 hour workshop dealing with institutionalized racism. My date is in November, so I'll have to wait a bit before I find out what it is all about.

Anyone follow Dog the Bounty Hunter? Tonight on A&E they had an update with the family as they struggle with whether or not Dog will be deported to Mexico. This is making for a great ethics conversation (was it ok to arrest a rapist in Mexico when bounty hunting is not allowed in Mexico? Is it justified because a rapist is in prison or should it be condemned for breaking Mexican law?). But my heart still goes out to the follow as they worry about the possibility of deportation.

Only a week and a half until Gustavus Homecoming. Attention all former Gustie Greeters: all Greeter reunion at half time of the football game. Huzzah!

Anna health watch

Hal writes:

Since the picture in the last post was taken, Anna's checks doubled in size and they are now on the decline. She wasn't able to get to class today, but hopes to get back into a normal routine tomorrow. And she wants everyone to know that she misses real food. Her diet the past few days has been ice cream, popsicles, soup, and pasta that doesn't require chewing. She wouldn't let me take a picture for the blog, but her cheeks remind us of her Grandpa J.C. :)

Wisdom lost

Hal writes:

Anna had her wisdom teeth removed this morning. As you can see from the picture below, she isn't the happiest about it, but she did a wonderful job and we'll never have to worry about her wisdom teeth again. I took the day off to help take care of her, but a special thank you to RDs Kelly and Jen for their wonderful assistance this morning. Our supervisors say we are to be coworkers first and friends second, but this was one of those days where it was definately the other way around.

A suggestion from Anna's mom was to photograph the teeth next to some coins. The three in tact ones have been classified using the Scottish classification system: "wee, not so wee, and really huge!" The fourth one had to be taken out in pieces, but it makes for an interesting 3D puzzle. I'm still amazed that all of this was hidden inside my wife's head.
What does one do with the teeth? I originally thought a necklace would be nice. If we have more, we could have create a rosery. Anna is hoping that the tooth fairy will make four separate trips this week if she puts them under her pillow. Or perhaps someone reading this blog might get one for Christmas, but only if they've been a good boy or girl.

Of course, I couldn't talk about Anna's wisdom teeth without letting you know about mine. A few years ago my siblings (who all had braces growing up, but I did not) started to have their wisdom teeth removed. Dr. Dan thought it would be good to x-ray mine and find out how they were doing. After the x-rays he gave me the wonderful news that I did not have any wisdom teeth. He went on to tell me that I further along the evolutionary chain than most people (insert my wife's eye roll here), but I think God knew I wouldn't be able to handle having them removed, so He put a special order in for me not to have them to begin with. Also, thank you to the great benefits provided by the state of Wisconsin that allowed my state employee health plan to cover what could have been a very expensive procedure for us. So, if you need anything removed, I'll adopt you so you can some cheap surgery. (Offer only valid as long as I am employeed by Wisconsin.)

Hall Council

Hal writes:

Tonight I had my first hall council of the year. Each residence hall at UWP has a hall council. The big difference for me is that since this is a new hall, I have the opportunity to start from scratch. No constitution, no expectations, no returning students, and no traditions. I have thought a lot about it this summer and focused on wanting this to be a student lead initiative.

At colleges today we find two groups of students. The 10% who are involved in everything and do everything, and the other 90% who are apathetic and don't want to get involved. Perhaps not all are apathy related, but with cable TV, internet, and cell phones, there is little desire for students to move past high school friends and meet new people at college.

Not surprisingly, I had just as many residents as RAs at my meeting. Having less than 20 people is not a good turnout for a building of 380. But if you look at the Bible to see how good things happened, it usually starts with a small, purposeful group and blossoms into something great. So I am glad that I had the students I did show up as opposed to having twice as many that would show no interest.

After giving a talk about how I want this group to be whatever the students want it to be, I had the students self-select one of three groups: Activities (Homecoming and creating an all-hall program for spring), Facilities (a group dedicated to finding out what students want to do with SW Hall and a way to convey information to them), and Governance (the initial stages of creating a constitution and leadership structure). After the groups met for 15 minutes, they reported back to the group. Then we had a large group discussion. Next week we are meeting at a later time (when people are more likely to be in the building) and I made everyone promise to bring two friends with them.

Needless to say, it is an exhausting process to create something new, but I enjoy the boundless process of creative ideas forming and the ownership it gives the students to create.

Longest Week Ever

Hal writes:

For those of you who watch "The Simpsons", read the title to this blog in the style of Comic Book Guy and you'll catch the meaning behind it. This week I met with around 30 of my students for conduct related matters. I have probably set both personal and UWP records for conduct for the first two weeks of school. Most of the situations dealt with alcohol, but there were a handful of Copywrite Violations as well (students downloading things they should not). All in all I was pretty tired by the end of the week. This weekend was spent mostly on the couch watching the DVDs of LOST (season 2). Last night Anna had some friends from the DPT program over for dinner (see photo below) and then we went to see comedians Hard and Phirm at the student center.

Another great day for football, but I didn't get to see any of it. Never mind that the Vikings are in overtime, the Fox station I pick up has to show the Packers game until the end. That's what I get for living in Wisconsin. Similar to when I lived in Illinois, I never knew if the Vikings game would be the one played or if I would have to sit at the computer watching the play by play via text through the NFL web site. I was enjoying the Colts game (and watching P. Manning get me some fantasy points) but after the Colts got ahead, they switched to another AFC game, so that wasn't appealing. At least when the Vikings play the evening games, I will be able to see them play (or when they play the Packers). Jim, the Packers did look good for the first quarter, I'll be curious to see if they can get the fans into the game when the weather turns cold and other teams wimp out as they play on the frozen tundra. Brett has the fire, Donald catches passes, and AJ was the surest thing in the draft, but that's not enough to win games.

I have been invited to be a guest lecturer in one of Anna's classes in the near future. Should she address me as "Mr. D" or "Mr. Sweetheart" when I go teach her class? ;) I will talking about learning styles and tying it to the PT profession. It's a subject I enjoy talking about so it should be fun. No honorarium though, I'm just doing this out of the goodness of my heart.

Two more photos

Here is a picture of the Adolphson House I spoke about in my previous post:


Here is a picture of a dentist sign in Westby, WI. There are a number of fun towns and photo ops when Anna and I travel between Platteville and other places, but what's funny about this sign is that my dentist in Two Harbors, MN is "Dr. Daniel J. Iverson".

My Trip to Gustavus

Hal writes:

Every fall I have returned to my alma mater for Leadership Day (previously known as Class Agents Day). My friend Cassie and I represent the Class of 2001 and each fall we are invited back to campus for alumni related meetings. This year Cassie was unable to attend, but we will both be back in October for our 5-year reunion.

During my time on campus I found myself to be very reflective. The first couple of times that I returned, I would run into friends in the classes below me that still attended school. But as the years went on, I knew less and less of the students. Even the faculty and staff have changed during my absence and I do not know as many people. I spent time walking across campus conjuring up memories of my four years at Gustavus. Here is a picture that I took of the entrance of campus.

Here is a photo of the Adolphson House. I lived here my junior year with other FCA friends. Mookie and I lasted the year, but Karena, Ali, Luke, Candi, Signe, and Katie all lived with us at some point during the year. The window on the far right was my bedroom window second semester. There are lots of memories that I have from that house, but the one that stood out when I saw the window is when I finished my Political Science thesis on my 21st birthday. I took a lot of breaks staring out the window looking at Old Main for some inspiration.

(Sorry, for some reason this photo won't load...)

When I arrived on campus Friday afternoon, I stopped by to see Charlie (Director of Res Life), Patti (Asst. Dean of Students), Mark (Dir. of Admissions), and Brian (Chaplain) to find out that nobody was around. On a whim I walked over to the fine arts building and was suprised to find two of my profs, Terry and Lea, in the Communication Studies office. I had a great time catching up with both of them. Terry is running to be a representative in the next Minnesota legislature session and Lea is now chair of the department.

I was also able to spend some time at Brenda and Scott's house. They have a daughter that is two years old. Anna and I met her last year when she was newly adopted from China. Since that time, her vocabulary has dramatically increased and it was fun to play games and sing songs with her. I didn't get any pictures this time, but perhaps when Anna and I stay with the family in October we will get some.

Go Vikes!

Hal writes:

An enjoyable weekend of football. I wish I could have watched more of the Viking victory, but having a Monday night staff meeting only allowed me to see the fourth quarter.

In other news, my fantasy football team, "Hal's Angels", won their first game this week. I had notible performances from the Bears defense, P. Manning as QB, and Tony "Craig Killer" Gonzolas as my tight end.

Pictures from RA Training

Hal writes:

Just got back from Gustavus (more on that later) but I wanted to share a couple photos from RA Training.

Here is my staff and I at the bowling social. I got a 157 for my high score. No turkies, but quite a few spares in that game.

Here I am showing some sweet bowling form. Like the shirt? My dad wore it in the 80s when he was in a bowling league. I like to carry on the tradition. And my staff tells me that the shoes matched.

Here I am getting ready to officiate the relay races. I'm nothing if not fair and impartial when it comes to competitions.