Training Children to be like Mice

Greetings readers,

It's Craig here to add an entry describing the lab activity I hosted for Grace's school on Mercer's campus. The actual events took place on four days for two consecutive weeks. I had the 3rd graders in on Wed. Feb. 16, the 5th graders on Fri. Feb. 18, 1st and 2nd grades together on Wed. Feb. 23rd, and 4th grade on Fri. Feb. 25th. Now I did not have all the kids from those grades nor did I have them all day long. (I am not insane.) I did have them between 9:50 and 11:10 AM but I only hosted those kids involved in the REACH program. This is the elementary school's gifted and talented program.

The purpose of bringing them to my lab on campus was to let them participate in a lab exercise where they carried out a few activities related to their central nervous system. Specifically we were talking about balance and proprioception (body awareness) while they attempted to walk across balance beams of varying thinness. They recorded some limited data and then watched videos of mice doing the very same thing (walking across tight ropes of varying thinness). They also collected data from the mouse videos to compare to their own from balance beams. Students worked in groups of 2-3 and used stopwatches to time these crossing events but they also counted the frequency of arm waving (or tail waving in the case of the mice). These data were then entered into some pre-designed spreadsheets where graphs would fill in with their data for easy comparison. Ideally they would see some sort of relationship between branch thinness and slower crossing speeds and increased arm waving in both themselves and mice. Afterwards we talked about the human nervous system and proprioception and how mice have these same attributes. The lab was fun to do and it involved several of my undergraduate students. They were great and very helpful managing the kids on all the beams and computers. Grace was there too in the 1st and 2nd grade group. On that day Ellen also assisted (thanks hon).

One funny story... in the 1st and 2nd grade crowd this little boy immediately put his hand in the air as I began my introductory spiel. He was eager to say something but I was eager to get started so I waited until I had finished before calling on him. He then said "You know you look a lot like Bill Nye." Of course everyone started laughing, including my undergrads who immediately began downloading pictures of Bill Nye onto the lab computers as their new wallpaper. For those of you who don't know, Bill Nye is the Science Guy that all kids know from educational films and television. He is tall, skinny, and dorky, wears a lab coat and a bow tie. For the record I look nothing like Bill Nye. I don't wear bow ties and I don't wear a lab coat unless I am dissecting things. I am kind of dorky though, especially when I get started talking about animals that climb (like my specially trained lab mice). Here are some pictures.

We live in the corridor...

Here is a commercial that is currently airing in Macon. Recognize anyone?

Craig

Historic Macon is a Lifestyle from Historic Macon Foundation on Vimeo.

Day 17: Low Expectations

I have nothing today. My creative energies have been sapped dry. For one, Julia is not sleeping, and somehow sleep deprivation with a 17 month old is far worse than with a newborn. Two, I'm working on something for Baby Whitney (pictures much later, rest assured). And three, the only post that's floating around my brain relates to the Mercer Baseball Players who live two houses down from me. Before I publish that post I need to cleanse the document. Profane best describes my thoughts.

I will leave you now with a little bit of fall. It finally arrived.

Halloween Pre-show

Tonight is Mercer's Harvest Festival: an event where campus organizations set up booths with games and candy for kids.  Since our neighborhood doesn't really have trick-or-treating, Harvest Fest is our main event.  We've been making preparations for weeks.  

In late September, after viewing The Little Mermaid for the first time, Grace instructed me that she wanted to be a mermaid for halloween (surprise, surprise).  My first thought:  "Great, how the heck am I going to sew that?"  Thankfully, the Disney Store in Indianapolis saved me from hours bent over my sewing machine.   Now I only needed to manufacture a costume for Julia.  Since we already had an Ariel, I decided to make Julia into Sebastian the Crab.

With Julia's costume complete, I had one more purchase to make: a long-haired red wig. I left this task until this afternoon (when I was running terribly late, Grace in tow). We walked into the store, and Grace spotted the wigs; more specifically, she spotted a long flowing purple wig.

"But Ariel has red hair."

"I know, but Mommy this wig is more beautiful."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, purple is my most favorite color ever. And pink too. I love this one. Will you buy it?"

"Okay."

Isn't this the most beautiful wig you've ever seen?

Bear Bike Update

Greetings all,

Boy, the Blog has really evolved into something unique. Since I'm only an infrequent contributor, I feel like each time I login to write a post either the readership has grown or there has been a long gap separating me from my last passage. I wanted to include a link to an article in today's (October 20) Education section of the New York Times.

Mercer's Bearbike program is mentioned as well as a quote from an interview conducted with a Biology Department colleague (who is also Grace's big-time buddy, Allan). The Bearbike program is finally getting a little publicity. Unfortunately we are not sustainable yet since we don't have a team of undergraduates to act as mechanics maintaining our small bike fleet. Hopefully the University is close to a financial commitment to really get this program going. All last week we had consultants in Macon to help design a traffic engineering solution to link Mercer's campus and downtown Macon. I'm excited to report that this plan will include bike lanes.

I still have a post to write about our litter cleanup from over the weekend, but I can report that we now have quantitative proof that the neighborhood is significantly improved with respect to litter incivilities. It was a big success and there should be WMGT-NBC footage. I will post it when it becomes available.

Regards,
Craig

It's called a calendar

Yesterday, 9:15 am, the phone rings.

"Good Morning, Ellen, this is Bette-Lou from the Historic Macon Foundation. I just wanted to confirm with you that the spouses of Mercer's Board of Trustees will be touring your house at 9:30 am tomorrow."

"Um, (internal dialogue: crap, what, oh no, I thought that was the 25th, not the 18th) of course Bette-Lou, it's our pleasure. I look forward to seeing you then."

......

Twenty-four hours later twenty woman traipse through my house. They marvel at the cleanliness of the kitchen, and I joke "that happened just ten minutes ago." I wasn't really joking though.

......

My parenting style, some would say lifestyle, can be a little fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. There are some ways in which I am highly scheduled; Julia always gets her naps on time. However, the other events of our lives often occur at the last minute. I do a bit of scrambling. I've given up the dream of being a highly organized and efficient task master. There's always a bit of chaos in my house.

Not that you would necessarily know it. Craig and I are neat-freaks, and Craig in particular worries a lot about appearances. I suppose then a better term to describe our living situation would be "highly managed chaos" or "polished disorder". In any case I think yesterday's turn of events should give me some pause.

It's called a calendar, Ellen, get one!

Prelude to Bike Week

Greetings readers,

I would like to update all on the excitement gripping Macon on the weekend building up to next week's bike festivities. Currently, we have restored around 30 bicycles and have another dozen in storage. We don't have enough workers to get all bikes active. This is for the best though since it is our preference to start small and hopefully grow with student involvement. Getting students involved does not seem like it will prove difficult. There has really been minimal advertising but students across campus are talking. To our surprise, all bikes have already been checked out for next week! We have a waiting list that is almost as large as the number of orange bikes in our fleet. So, Monday afternoon we will be holding a press conference in the Biology Department that will serve as the official launch for Bear Bikes. Afterwards, there will be a brief bike safety demonstration followed by our first ride to a BBQ restaurant downtown (see White Lightening on map below). Keep your fingers corssed for good weather and safe riding.

Craig

Typical Macon Day

As usual, today has been one continuous blur of events from taking Grace to school, to teaching a class, to mentoring a research student, to picking Grace up and coming home for lunch, to mentoring 2 more students (although one was the same as from the morning session), to rushing to the Planning and Zoning Office to try to submit a plan to build a fence on our property, and finally getting to check e-mail and try to advance half a dozen other agenda items currently on my to-do list. It looks like it will be another late night.

Delivering the fence plan was actually very typical when it comes to administrative tasks in Macon. I arrived with our very professional looking letter and plan diagram, etc... only to find out that the deadline was at noon. After consulting with people on the phone and online it seems I never realized there was a time deadline or that there was other paperwork we needed to cover. We must now wait a month before the Design Review Board can meet to consider our application. I suppose this is just how these kinds of things work.

Tomorrow I am traveling to Athens, GA to deliver a talk to University of Georgia's Undergraduate Anthropology Society. I am thrilled to go since I always enjoy the opportunity to lecture people. (That is meant to be a joke, but is especially funny because of its truth.) Also the visit comes with a small monetary honorarium that will probably be spent on fuel to get to Athens and back.

Wish me luck!

Craig

Bike Week Ride Map

As if the blog could not get any more exciting, I am now going to officially announce our bicycle route for Mercer Bike Week starting Monday. For a link to all scheduled events with a map and a figure legend, click here. Below is an interactive Google Map that you can use to explore downtown Macon.


View Larger Map

Mercer Bear Bikes set to Launch

I wanted to share the exciting news about Mercer Bike Week. Another colleague and myself have designed a bike share program set to launch on Monday the 24th. This program, "Bear Bikes", is modeled upon other bike share programs found across the country. Mercer faculty, staff, and students will be able to use any bicycles from the Bear Bikes fleet using their ID card. The bike fleet has been assembled using reclaimed bicycles and the hard work of several students. Each bike is painted orange, comes with a helmet and lock, and is tuned-up for public use.

The program is in part designed to promote daily bicycle usage in order to commute around campus and nearby downtown Macon. In support of this effort, Macon's College Hill Corridor Commission has joined us with financial backing and some event planning. They have arranged for downtown restaurants to offer lunch specials to customers arriving on bike next week. There will be a different restaurant special each day and riders from Mercer will make the daily commute. Today, a small group of us took an inaugural ride in order to prepare for any difficulties we may have with leading up to a dozen riders through traffic into downtown Macon. I intend to keep this blog updated with frequent updates of the Bike Week events.

Craig

What have the baptists done for you lately?

1. They feed me.
2. They clothe me.
3. They shelter me.
4. They educate my child.
5. And on occasion they completely freak me out.

Mercer is Baptist affiliated institution. It has a strong Baptist identity, and I would hazard a guess that many of the students that attend are also Baptist. Hence numbers one through three: the Baptists write Craig's paycheck afer all.

As for number four, Grace attends Vineville Baptist Church Preschool. The fact that we're Unitarian doesn't come into play at all. She is giving Craig and me an education however (on the bible), and I'm quite sure that she's raised an eyebrow our two among her teachers with her version of prayer. Overall, we're thrilled with her school. She's writing letters like a champ, and sounding out words. This isn't something that Craig and I work on with her; it's all from school.

And now number 5. I went to get my hair cut the other day, and I listened as other customers and stylists talked about their churches (most of which were baptist with a few non-denominational fundamentalist chuches thrown in). Then the conversation turned to politics. I knew I would be completely outnumbered, so I decided to keep quiet. That is until the discussion turned to Barack Obama, the MUSLIM.

Me: "He's not muslim, though. He attends a Christian Church."
Stylist 1: "They say it's a Christian Church, but it isn't."
Me: "No, really, it's a Christian Church."
Customer 1: "That minister there, he's not Christian, he's a muslim."
Me: "I know there's been some controversy over the minister, but Obama attends a Christian Church."
Stylist 2: "No, he's definitely a muslim. I saw it on the news."
Customer 2: "The only one worth voting for is Huckabee."
Chorus: "Amen."

Really, my response should have been "Why does it matter?" But then I would have been run out of the shop, and only half my hair had been cut. I'm not proud; I'm just a little scared.

Bill Clinton Visits Mercer University

Greetings all,

I will try to post a letter about my trip to Texas that will be complete with photos and stories, etc... However, that will have to wait since I have entered the semester one week late and it has been a pretty intense game of catch-up ever since. This post relates to a visit Bill Clinton paid to Mercer University yesterday (Jan. 21). Because Oprah, after visiting Macon, threw her support to Obama, the Clinton campaign decided they would send Bill to stump for Hillary.



Ellen and I walked over with the girls to wait in line for 1.5 hours and then get seated in the University Center. Spirits were high and Grace and Julia were taking it all in stride. Once the event began, Grace was thrilled. As the crowd was chanting "HRC", Grace was yelling "Ate Our Seal". She also got to join the crowd in chanting "Hillary" and "We love Bill". We are not necessarily supporting Hillary but we could not ignore the historically meaningful event practically happening in our backyard. It was a precious moment seeing Grace (a woman to be) cheering for who might very well become the first female president of the US. She was waving a Hillary banner over her head with her tummy sticking out from underneath her sweater. Unfortunately we did not bring our camera so we need to wait to see if our neighbors' pictures came out. The memories will be priceless.

the western edge

Mercer's alumni house (pictured above) sits at the western boundary of our neighborhood. When Craig came to interview, this is where he stayed. Little did he know that he would be offered the job or that we would buy a house just two blocks from his lodging.

Mercer's role in revitalizing our neighborhood can't be understated. As I wrote about earlier the University gave us a forgivable second mortgage for settling here, and remains one of the key partners (along with the Knight Foundation and the City) working to ensure the neighborhood's success.

This wasn't always the case. In the 1980's and early 90's, faced with increasing crime and blight surrounding the campus, Mercer erected fences and became quite insulated. Memory is very long in Beall's Hill, and to this day some of the long-standing residents still harbor suspicions about Mercer's intentions.

In a recent conversation a man told me that Mercer intended to purchase the entire neighborhood and turn it into student rentals. When I disagreed with him, he told me that I didn't know Mercer. Obviously this is a hurdle that the University must continue to overcome.

Mercer v Alabama

While Macon doesn't meet the criteria of a college town, there is certainly a lot of spirit on Mercer's campus today. As some of you may know, the Mercer men's basketball team defeated No. 18 USC in Los Angeles over the weekend. They're up against the Crimson Tide tonight in a game that looks to be sold out.

Craig managed to get a great ticket for the game, so he will attend (as soon as he helps me get the girls to bed that is). Who knows if the boys really have a chance, but it should be interesting to watch.

The reality is that nothing can put Mercer on the map like another win. I suppose it's somewhat of a sad commentary, but Mercer's financial and enrollment goals would be met (if not exceeded) should the team play well. Go Bears!

My Top Ten

I heard from my mom this morning, and she finds my posts about the neighborhood to be a little depressing. I guess they are, but living with a mix of poverty and progress is my reality these days (aside from sick children, that is). She wondered why I hadn't posted any pictures from the new houses that have been built, so I'm going to remedy that right now.





In addition, I thought I would post my Top Ten Reasons for Living Here:

10. A Network for Revitalization. We know that revitalizing this neighborhood is a priority for the city of Macon. There are multiple organizations working hard to ensure that this neighborhood is a success. These include the Landbank Trust, the Housing Authority, Mercer University, Historic Macon Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and Centenary United Methodist Church (to name a few).

9. Mercer Functions. From plays to concerts to basketball games, we have only a short walk to take advantage of the many programs that Mercer offers. We have listened to concert pianists and choirs at no cost (talk about a cheap date).

8. Tatnall Park. Two and a half blocks from our house is the second largest city park in Macon. I take the girls there regularly. Being able to walk to the park is a huge benefit.

7. The Money. As an incentive to buy in the neighborhood Mercer gave us a forgivable second mortgage for 15 grand. Each year three thousand of that is forgiven. In addition, the state of Georgia provides a five thousand dollar tax rebate for living in a rehabilitated historic property, and our taxes are frozen at historic levels for nine years.

6. Schools. Two blocks from our house is the top rated elementary school in Bibb County. Alexander II is a Math and Science Magnet school (though it scores at the top of the charts for all disciplines). Because we live in this neighborhood we are given preference for Grace to attend Alex II. We couldn't hope for a better elementary school education for her.

5. Community. From the moment we took possession of this house, people in the community reached out to us. On countless occasions people in and out of the neighborhood have expressed their appreciation for our commitment to living here. We know all of our neighbors. We talk to them on a daily basis, and we look out for eachother. Not since I lived in the UP have I had such a sense of community.

4. Living our Values. Prior to living in this house Craig and I often dreamed of living in a neighborhood with diversity (in both color and class). It's important for us to raise our children with a sense of the haves and have nots. Our neighborhood provides daily teachable moments on these topics, and we do feel as though we are living our values.

3. Location. Given what I have posted some people may find this reason a little crazy, but it's true. Location is a great asset for our family. It takes Craig seven minutes to walk from our front door to his office. He comes home for lunch nearly every day. With work so close, we have been able to sell our second car.

2. The house. I may never again live in a house with this much character. We have the old charm of 11 foot ceilings and heart of pine floors, BUT the house has been completely rehabed. This means things like the 7 foot windows in the front room are brand new, and so is the heating/cooling, plumbing and electric. We could not have afforded this house in any other neighborhood. A different location would easily add 50,000 to the price tag.

1. Each of the reasons above contributes to our success and happiness as a family. With two small children I can't think of a better place to be. Craig is so close that I never feel isolated, and our cost of living is so low that I am able to be at home with the girls. Staying home makes our lives run smoothly. In short, it contributes to a general sense of well being and happiness. For someone who battles depression, I can't think of a better number one.

In the process

Yesterday's post included a picture of a condemned house. This property will either be destroyed or rehabilitated by the Historic Macon Foundation (HMF; the organization that restored our home). HMF recently received a grant for over 700,000 dollars to restore homes in our neighborhood. They currently have three in process (including the one pictured below).



Developments such as these give Craig and I hope that indeed our neighborhood will turn around (after all we've banked a lot of money on that). In the 16 months that we've lived here an additional 14 new homes have been constucted, with nine of those now occupied. Given how close we live to Mercer's campus, there's a risk that many of these homes will be turned into student rentals. At present, only three of the new homes serve that population, but we are working to ensure that future contracts include covenants that the properties need to be owner occupied. It's not that I have anything against the students, but rentals drive the value of our home down (since I don't know how long I can actually stand to live in Macon, we need our house to maintain it's resale value).

But that's enough about the neighborhood. After all my family comes to the site for updates on my kids.

This morning I realized that Julia has her first tooth. It's the bottom left incisor, and it has just broken through the surface. I can feel its mate on the right is not far behind. Since I didn't actually know that she was getting a tooth, I am taking this as a good sign that teething won't be a terrible process. Grace was a really good teether. Only her molars gave her problems. Keep your fingers crossed.

When it's over before it even starts

I loved Halloween when I was a kid. Growing up in rural northern Michigan we didn't have the option of buying costumes from a store. Like most kids, I had a lot of creative energy so designing a costume every fall was great fun. Each of those costumes has taken on a mythical quality in my memory. Though when I looked at pictures in an old album this morning, I realized that some of them were pretty hokey (as evidenced by the accompanying photo--that's me as a webster's dictionary--I thought it was way cool).

With the birth of Grace, I was thrilled to again experience Halloween through a child's eyes. Her first Halloween she went as a bumblebee. This was followed up with a Devil in 2005 and a Cougar in 2006. She requested a butterfly costume this year, and of course I obliged. While creating her costumes has allowed me to recapture some of the Halloween buzz I experienced as a youth, the other events associated with the holiday haven't been much fun. Why? My child, the light of my life, is nothing but a little terrorist when she gets a little candy in her body. Even without the sugar, she's poorly behaved.

Case in point: last night we took the girls to Mercer's Harvest Fest (where student organizations have booths with games and candy for kids). For the most part Grace behaved herself while at the festival, but things quickly went down hill when we got home. There was a lot of crying, a lot of foot stomping, some slamming of doors, very loud screaming, some "I don't like you, Mommy" and "Leave me alone, Daddy." She didn't actually fall alseep until after nine (this from a girl who goes to bed at 7). And the thought that kept circulating in my brain? It's not even Halloween yet. This holiday is over before it even started. Oh, I'm a mean mommy, but the idea of actually taking Grace out on the real Halloween is too much for me. I am leaving the option open for Craig, but you can count me out this year. Last night was simply draining. It wasn't fun, and it makes me wonder about all those good memories I had as a kid, did my parents hate Halloween as much as I do now?

I know we'll get past this rut in the road. I know that by the end of the week I won't feel so down. Grace was pretty cute in her costume after all, and Julia was the chubbiest skeleton I saw. There's always next year.

Housekeeping

Since blogging remains one of my only creative outlets, I thought it might be a good idea to tidy up my creative space. I've eliminated the navbar; it's a nuisance really. If you click the next blog button in the bar, it's possible that you'll end up at a blogsite advertising oriental massage (or something else in that vein).

I've also added a number of links. In Family and Friends you can find links to my father-in-law's blog about his upcoming adventure in Ghana as well as ASSP Updates, the blog of new parents Andy and Sarah. In References I've added Mercer's Weather station (so you know exactly what it feels like outside my house) and a link to a Camera with a view of Lake Michigan in Grand Haven (my parent's new homebase).

Tomorrow is Julia's fourth month-day, so there will be a new video added to the site as well. It's hard to know whether people (mostly my family) like reading what's here or not, so feel free to send comments my way. I may also be able to convince Craig to post a little more often too.