Amethyst Initiative

So, this is probably as random as a post gets, but while at the SWACURH conference in Fayetteville today, I had the option of going to a "Burning Issues" presentation. These presentations were basically topics that get people fired up and arguing.

The Amethyst Initiative was one of those said programs. Except, when looking at the schedule, I didn't know what it was. So, I go into this room blind.

I wasn't the only one. Out of about 40 people in the room, approximately 5 knew what it was. Finally, right before we started, someone asked. And basically, it is a political drive to lower the drinking age. There isn't a specific age necessarily (most advocate 18), but it is basically arguing that the legal age of 21 isn't working and political discussions need to ensue.

Hit up that link. It will take you to the Amethyst Initiative site. It has the overview on the homepage but it also has the actual statement that university presidents and administrators can sign, more in depth information about where it originated, and a list of schools that have already signed.

I wanted to blog about this because I want to know your opinions on the matter. As for myself, I feel like I'm about 85% supportive of the initiative. It goes back to tired old argument of, "If you can vote, smoke, and die for your country, why can't you have a beer too?"

I'm taking the stance of, "If you treat people like adults, they are more apt to act like adults." Currently, when you hit 18, you are technically considered an adult, but its more like a quasi-adult. You aren't the real deal until you are 21. My theory is, if you treat people like they aren't full-fledged adults, then why would they act like they are? Am I saying that people wouldn't act stupid? Of course not. They would. They do now. But I'm advocating an overall culture change. If when you hit 18, you have all of the rights of an adult and are encouraged to start acting that way, I believe that this wouldn't be a huge big issue. But as it is now, they know that just because they are 18, it doesn't necessarily mean they are adults.

So what do you think? Give me your opinions on this.

Weekend with Rylee!

Hello everyone! With it being election day, I've decided to blog about.... Rylee! (haha... some of you were scared).

Last weekend (before Halloween) my niece Rylee came to stay with Justin and I. Justin and I are members at the Little Rock Zoo (right up the road, how awesome is that?), so we took Rylee to Boo at the Zoo. All week long before she came she would call us and tell us how she wanted to see the puckies (monkeys), ompo-ompo-matamuses (hippopotamus), raffes (giraffes), and the zebas (zebras)... oh and the adybugs (ladybugs... we still don't know why).

Well, I have never been to Boo at the Zoo and I found out that the animals aren't really out. She was too excited us to not let her see the animals (aminals according to her) so Justin and I decided we'd take her that morning to see the animals, we'd come home and have a night, then get her dressed up in her puckie suit and take her back to Boo at the Zoo. It was tiresome yet splendid day.

Here are some pictures with caption (hopefully... I've never uploaded pictures before so bear with me)...


I had to add this one because she is so cute.


This is Rylee and Justin looking at the puckies.


These puckies...


This is Justin and Rylee at Boo at the Zoo. She was wearing her puckie suit.


In this picture, you can see the banana in her pocket.


For all of you who know Gena, this is her riding the ferris wheel with Johnny. It was so funny because Johnny wanted to ride it so bad so he told her he would pay for the tickets.


This was my favorite part of the night. They have this old school carousel at the zoo. We told Rylee all day that she would get to ride it. We got on and it started out slow. You could tell she was having fun but she wasn't giggling with joy or anything. Well, it speeds up all of the sudden. She had me, Gena, and a few workers rolling laughing. I have never seen that much joy on any kids face in my entire life! She liked it so much that she wouldn't get off once the ride stopped. Justin ended up taking her again.

Espanol Latino!

(NOTE: This is another one of Rikki's rambling blogs. Read on at your own risk.)

So, over the next year, I have a new professional goal... to learn SPANISH! I'm not entirely sure where this sudden drive in me came from, but it is strong! I do have a few guesses and hence where the update begins...

This past weekend, I had the unique pleasure of attending a partial Nicaraguan Catholic/Protestant wedding. Translation: Extremely long bilingual ceremony with a huge party afterward. Anyway, during the ceremony (in between taking pictures because photography was the reason we had this unique pleasure in the first place) I was fascinated by the bilingual aspect of the ceremony. Also, they had a lot of Latin music. The priest played the accordion and sang at one point. It was a cultural hodge-podge and I was front and center and loving it!

Then there was the reception. As I said earlier, this was a cultural hodge-podge of a wedding, so the reception was no different. It was bilingual as well. There was a lot of food. Most of it traditional Nicaraguan food. But for kicks and grins, let me walk you through the line of food...

The first table had traditional fruit, meats, and cheeses. Then it moved on to a tub of refried beans, another tub of guacamole, a tub of pico de gallo, and a plate of fajita chicken meat with peppers. The next table had bread-sticks and chicken alfredo delivered from Pizza Hut. Then we end with homemade chicken enchiladas.
The next table had every two-liter beverage you can imagine and beside it was a keg of beer.

Did anyone catch the random Pizza Hut delivery? Just checking. I actually laughed out loud when I saw it because I was so amused. But I know that there were people there who were so thankful that they brought something in that they could enjoy without question. Me, I passed. I can order Pizza Hut any day. Bring on the ENCHILADAS!

Anyway, the next portion of the evening was the dance. This is the part that I enjoyed the most. Not because I danced, but because I watched others dance. Everyone was having so much fun! The music was so fun! There was Salsa dancing, line dancing, American music, Latina music... you name it, it was playing and everyone was dancing to it. At any given point there were about 5 different versions of dancing going on.

Now, I've always had an interest in learning another language. I've always wondered what language I would choose. I want to know them all. After visiting Europe and loving the Netherlands so much I thought it would be Dutch (I have to be different). But who knows when I will make it back there again, and most of them know English. And I can truthfully say, as of today, I have never encountered another person in Arkansas that I could not communicate with because they knew Dutch and I didn't. So this option was not practical.

I went to RA Conference a few weeks ago in Edinburg, Texas (if you have a map, it would be easier to find if you look for the southernmost point in Texas that is surrounded my Mexico... that's Edinburg). We had a blast. It was a great deal of fun. But I so very much enjoy the Hispanic culture. Some of it came out in the chants that schools did, some came out in the skits for roll call, but mostly, I just liked interacting with people and sharing. I spent a lot of time just talking to people from other schools around the area.

So, at some point this weekend, I decided to look up Spanish learning software; namely, Rosetta Stone. I've heard rave reviews about it, so I thought I'd check it out. Five hundred and forty dollars they want for this software. FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY DOLLARS!!! I was shocked and appalled.

Now I realize that with this software I would learn this language in a fraction of the time it takes most people to learn a language. I realize that even with my discount at the university, I would still spend more trying to take all of those classes and learn it that way and it would take so much longer to do, and I also realize that this will dramatically increase my marketability on my resume... so I realize that it is well worth the money... but the fact still remains... I'm about $500 short of being able to buy it... lol.

So I leave you with this... has anyone ever used Rosetta Stone to learn a language? What about another type of software? Any recommendations? I've heard good things about "Tell Me More" software, which is overall a bit cheaper. Ideas? Suggestions? Comments?

Do tell...

Chelsea's Momma For Obama!!!

Okay all you political folks, please put aside your traditional views to go ahead and read this blog. It will be worth it. If you are wondering how I could be excited about this, then imagine who you would think would make the best president, and insert their name where Hillary Clinton is in this story. I'd like you to share in my joy.

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton came to Little Rock for a rally in support of Barack Obama for President. Among famous faces were Blanche Lincoln, Charlie Daniels, Mark Pryor, David Pryor, Vic Snyder, Ted Dansen, and Mary Steenbergen. There was a facebook group created for the event and they sent out a message yesterday encouraging people to make their own signs for the rally. Who am I to disagree?

So a few of us got together and made signs. All morning I was trying to think of a sign I wanted to make. While in the shower (where I do some of my best thinking) I came up with "Chelsea's momma for Obama" since that is the whole point in the rally in the first place. So I ran that through one of the people going. It was a hit. So we made two signs that said that. Then we made a "MCCAIN: The Real Bridge to Nowhere". Then a student brought one that said, "UALR hearts Obama". I believe we had one more sign but I have no idea what it said.

Well... when we get out there and I start to hold my sign, people are constantly asking to take a picture of it. Then Ted Danson and his wife Mary come out and I can see the glee on his face when he reads my sign. Blanche Lincoln comes out to speak and she points to my sign, turns around to Hillary and says, "Haha Chelsea's momma.." Mike Beebe and Hillary are elbowing each other and laughing about it. This made my day.... until....

Hillary Clinton takes the podium. She speaks for a while. Then she says, "I love all these signs you all have made. I think my favorite is this one over here (she points to me) "Chelsea's Mommma for Obama!"

If I would have had a full bladder I would have pee'd myself right there. I was giddy like a school girl on lollipops and pigtails day. Seriously.

So for the record, out of 3,000 people at this rally.... Hillary picked me. I'm her favorite. I rock.

The end. Be happy for me regardless of party affiliations. Because, let's be honest... that was freaking cool.

Is listening extinct?

Today has been one of the more frustrating days of my life. And yet, I believe that it may be one of my more profound days professionally.

(NOTE: This post will be random at best and I'm willing to bet that there are two, maybe three people that will get it if they read it the entire way through. No feelings will be hurt if this is not your cup of tea.)

First off, I will start saying that the frustrating part of my day and the profound part of my day have nothing to do with each other. Have you ever just had a day where little annoying things kept happening one after another? That day that, if only one or two annoying things happened, it wouldn't ruin your day, but the fact that they just coming really wrecked it? Its like the straw(s) that broke the camel's back. So... as a result, none of those things are of notable importance and will not be mentioned.

I had the unique pleasure of attending a webinar today titled "Teaching Troubled Students: Campus Policy and Threat Assessment." When I went into it, I didn't really know what to expect, but I was still excited about it because, A) I'm a professional development dork, and B) this a big concern, especially in housing. The presenter was Gary Pavela, who has astounding credentials to be presenting this program.

Anyway, the third slide of this presentation said, "Good teaching, good mentoring, respectful listening, and treating students with respect as active participants in the learning process are the best campus "security measures" we can devise." The next slide said only this, "Only way to prevent violence... Get into their heads and hearts."

For some reason, this really struck me. Listening has been on my mind a lot lately. In the past few months, I've become more and more aware of the lack of listening among student affairs professionals. It started with a very simple misunderstanding. When it was passed to me, it just turns out, the people weren't being listened to.

Then, I observed a conflict in progress. I could tell immediately that there was a lack of listening. I was able to step in and solve the problem by simply listening.

This made me reflect on angry parent phone calls. Thus far this year, I have been forwarded my fair share of angry parent phone calls. Thus far this year, there is not one problem I wasn't able to handle calmly and promptly. Upon further reflection, I realized that all I was doing that was different from those who had handled them prior, was listen to them.

After all of this, I keep seeing "call for programs" for several upcoming conferences. And I'm thinking to myself, I should do a program on listening. But then, who in their right mind goes to a conference and attends a listening program. I'm going to have to be extremely creative with the title to get people there. But at the same time, I feel obligated. One of my talents is I am a good listener and I see its importance. For so many student affairs professionals to "know" that listening is important, few demonstrate this through action.

Which brings me back to today. The very beginning of the seminar on preventing school violence, listening is named one of the most important preventative measures.

So, in essence, not only am I going to start developing a program for "listening", but I believe that when I begin work on my doctorate degree, my dissertation will be about listening in some form or fashion. I'm very passionate about it and I believe the lack of it creates most of our unnecessary burdens as professionals and the increase of its use could be a powerful recruitment and retention tool for universities... not to mention, the development of our students as positively contributing members of society.

So, if anyone comes across any literature that would be of use to me, please send it my way. This is growing to be a passion of mine.

And I leave you with some wonderful listening quotes...

“To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also.” Igor Stravinsky

“Listening is the only way to entertain some folks.” Kin Hubbard

“The first duty of love is to listen.” Paul Tillich