AG for Sheriff

The Daily Show did a report recently on the local Sheriff's race in Platteville. Click here to watch.

UNI RA Conference

This weekend Trapper and I took 10 RAs to the University of Northern Iowa RA Conference. There were 9 different states represented and over 700 students, plus their advisors, at the conference. The bulk of the activities took place on Saturday. In addition to getting to know some of the RAs better, I also had the chance to run into some old friends from other schools and meet some new friends.

Now, housing a large group was school is in session is a challenge. My RAs were split into study halls that had mattresses added for a sleep space. The advisor accommodations were slightly more appealing. The photo below is where Trapper and I stayed with other advisors. We were in a basement room (notice the pipes I had to duck under) and we actually had bed frames to go with the mattresses. Yep, living the luxury life of an RD.

Since the conference was geared to RAs, there were not a lot of programs for me to attend. I spent my time during the program sessions chatting with other advisors. My former supervisor from Wartburg, Pete, and I found some rocking chairs on the second floor of the building we were in and chatted with other advisors. I did get roped into being a case study judge by someone who recognized me as the Masters level case study winner at UMR (the price of fame I guess).

One of the last activites was an awards and recognition night that included a slide show of pictures taken at the conference. Trapper and I won an award for the Best Program at the conference. Since there were about 70 programs, I was really excited. Pictured below is Trapper and I at the social following the awards ceremony.

Sorry the posts are few and far between. This is a busy time of year. This morning we had our Senior Assistant selection process and this week is RA interviews. This upcoming weekend I will be traveling to Two Harbors and when I return next week it will be the (first ever) Southwest Hall sign-up process. After that it's time for RA selection. Is it bad that I am ready for spring break?

Mid-year training and a new Spanish friend

Hal writes:

This past Friday and Sunday I have been busy with RA mid-year training. After both of those long days I am now checking in 40 new students to begin the semester today. I enjoy the RA training, but it makes for a long day. Pictured below are some of my staff members in between training activities in the student center.

This weekend Anna brough home a friend from Mayo. Her name is Sonia and she is from Spain. It was fun to have her around for the weekend. On Saturday we took her up to Madison to show her the capitol, State Street, and Lake Mendota. Pictured below is Anna and I at Ella's Deli where we had lunch.

Things that Sonia learned from her trip to Madison: Leaving my car with the keys in the ignition to warm up the car while I am not in it will not equate to it being stolen (in Barcelona that is a different story), not only can lakes freeze, and not only can you walk on them, but strange people actual drills holes in them to fish (see photo below of Anna and Sonia), Americans buy vegetables frozen (she was leery of eating them), and oil and viniger are not standard at restaurant tables.
Things that I learned from Sonia about her country: Bullfighters are not welcome in Barcelona, most people will live in one town their whole life, people stay up late at night to watch live coverage of NFL and NBA games, Spain produces good wine and olive oil (but are not well known in the United States because the country does not marken them well), a semester at the University costs about $1,000, and how to demand my wife bring me a beer in Spanish (that didn't go over very well with Anna).

Other exciting things: I got an e-mail from Jim about his upcoming wedding (time to go get sized for a tux), Kevin finds out what synod he will be placed in within the next month (February 20), Jay and Tabby continue to work on their new house (I hear they picked Vikings purple as a color for one of their rooms), and I am taking a group of RAs to a conference this weekend.