Anne Constantino wins the coveted Elephanto trophy for a week! She was the first to correctly identify (in a posted comment) my whereabouts on the UNMC campus. This lovely green space is located behind the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education encircled by a walking track. It’s a great place to study, have a picnic, or relax and dream.

Where am I?

In February, Associate Dean Kyle Meyer appointed eight staff members to the SAHP Staff Leadership Council as part of our strategic plan in order to improve efficiency and communication in the school. They meet bi-monthly to discuss administrative issues, disseminate information to others in their departments, and plan upcoming events. 

School of Allied Health Professions Staff Leadership Council

Standing (l-r): Michelle Simon, Distance Education; Tamara Cardin, Clinical Laboratory Science Education; Sue Miyeno, Associate Dean’s Office; Virgie Powers, Radiation Science Technology Education; Cindy Skarda, Clinical Perfusion Education. Seated (l-r): Sue Eulberg, Physician Assistant Education; Sue Prusia, Associate Dean’s Office; Rita Parks-Agnew, Physical Therapy Education.

This group recently started an allied health walking club comprised of anyone who’d like to spend their morning 15-minute break traversing the campus. (See previous blogs.) They are also responsible for today’s potluck, and for that I say THANKS!

July 23, 2009 SAHP Potluck

The SAHP walking club completed day five on Thursday, July 16, 2009. Some members of the group have already reported an increase in stamina and a little looser fit to their pants!

We took advantage of the rain on this day to walk inside. (Our campus has the best skywalks and tunnels for those “Nebraska weather” days!) And no, Michelle, Maggie, Sue, Tamara, Sue, and Ricki were not imitating a locomotive in this photo – they’re just really bad actors. J

DRC Skywalk Walkers

Here are a few more snapshots of the walkers in action:

Wednesday, we walked in two different waves as some folks had to attend a meeting at our regular walk time. (Side note: exercise and breaks are important, so even if you’re busy at 10:30 you can still arrange to meet with someone at a different time.)

Happy feet!

By far, the cutest sight on our 11:00 route was a group of toddlers out for a stroll from the daycare center. Everyone uttered a collective, “aaaaw!” as the little feet passed by on the other side of the street with their caregivers. They diligently held onto the rope which kept them safely together and I thought, “hmmm, we might be able to use one of those to help pull each other up these hills.”

Little feet!

On previous walks, I couldn’t help but notice the litter tossed along the sidewalks and in the grass. As a member of the Woodsy Owl patrol since the early 70s, this time I took along a grocery bag in which to collect trash and enlisted my fellow walkers to bend and stoop with me to fill up the bag. We succeeded!

Cleaning as we go!

With the new Tobacco-Free policy being enacted in August perhaps we’ll see a decrease in the biggest bulk of litter we found: cigarette butts.