She went to a local community college on a softball scholarship and had a pretty successful tenure.  What was most exciting was that she really got hooked on school.  She graduated with her Associate’s degree and moved to SIU to earn her bachelors in therapeutic recreation.  She should graduate in summer 2012.  Although I am very proud of her scholarly growth and accomplishments, I’m most proud of what she is currently doing.

Both my wife and I supported the kids to go to college, helped them financially, but expected them to be fiscally and grade-responsible.  Any course they earned a C on, they paid for it.  The good news is that there were few C’s among the two of them.

To help pay her bills, Carly found work at a local residential home to care for developmentally challenged individuals (I don’t even know if I know the proper terminology).  These are individuals who are middle age and older, who live in group homes.  They have an intellectual age between 3-6.  Carly serves as a care-taker for these people.  The home she works at houses about 6 middle aged women (ranging from 45-65).

Now, first I’ve always admired people who could work with developmentally challenged individuals.  I’m sure there will be a special place in Heaven for their efforts.  But it really didn’t hit home until I saw first hand the interaction that Carly had with one of her clients.

I went back to Carbondale for the Labor Day weekend.  Besides taking a break from my job, it was a chance for me to see my daughter Olivia  play tennis and to help celebrate her 15th birthday.  On Saturday (her birthday) she was in the St. Louis metro area at a big tennis tournament.  We managed to get home that evening around 7:00 pm.  Since it was too late for a family celebration, we decided to celebrate it with family the next day.

Carly works at her residential house on Sundays but was given special permission to take one of her clients, Helen (not her real name), out in the community to take her shopping and drive around.  It just so happened that it was Helen’s birthday.  She was celebrating her 64th birthday.  Her intellectual age was probably less than 3, but she seemed happy and excited to be out of the house.  Carly brought her over to our house to participate in my younger daughter’s birthday celebration.  A half-dozen people were there to enjoy a special Sunday dinner, birthday cake and presents for Olivia.

Carly brought Helen to the house to join the festivities.  I watched as Carly helped her get into the house;  she tended to her needs;  she laughed with Helen, told her stories, and had her participate in our little party.  The fact that it was Helen’s birthday made her smile big.

The interaction that Carly had with this person was absolutely spell-binding.  I couldn’t believe that this was the same person who just a few years earlier seemed to delight in causing her younger sister to be frustrated.  Carly talked with pride on how she takes care of not only Helen but the other residents at this home.  She helped Helen to the table to participate in the traditional  singing of Happy Birthday and the blowing out of the candles.  A few of the others put a couple of dollars together to give to Helen for her birthday (she was delighted that she had nearly $4.00 in her purse–something that she counted several times while at our house).  Carly tended to her hygiene needs, helped clean her up after eating cake, and moved her back to the lounge chair in the living room.  All the while I sat in amazement and awe at home this person has developed into this mature, responsible, and caring adult.

Of course, later that afternoon I ‘m reading the local paper;  headlines includes a local college basketball player who has been arrested for crimes he committed;  I see that a local politician is being charge of bribery;  I read that the former governor of Illinois is going to be sentenced to prison;  I read that a young movie star who has been convicted of drunk driving will get off without any sentence and has signed a multimillion dollar deal to star in an upcoming movie;  I read that a group of youth caused damage to a church.  Nowhere did I read anything about youth like Carly who are serving the communities that they live in;  how they are helping humankind and providing service to those individuals who have been given a raw deal in this life.  Carly will undoubtedly graduate, get a job and probably make a ‘livable’ living;  but such income will be far less than the recent professional athlete who is being paid $15 M a year and has done nothing good in society except catch a football.

So Carly, my hat’s off to you and to the thousands of others who have unselfishly devoted their time and effort to helping those who are truly needing such help.  It makes a father proud and I hope you realize how important you are to these people (however, chances are you won’t realize your importance in this lifetime).  However, when you are in that special spot in Heaven, it will become clear on how much you’ve done.

Special acknowledgement needs to go to the NMSU graduate coordinator, Jim Robinson, for overseeing this process.  Although it was a true faculty involvement, one person needs to oversee this process.  That person was Dr. Robinson.

NMSU is currently undergoing their undergraduate approval self-study.  Again, all faculty are involved, but Sue Forster-Cox is the lead coordinator.  We are planning our site visit for February 2012.

Dr. Phyllis A. Reed

August 20, 1945 – May 21, 2011

It is with poignant memories of all that she taught me, among other things networking about AAPHERD, APHA and SOPHE annual conferences; that I sadly announce the death of a dear colleague. Phyllis was a student of Bob Russell’s at S.I.U. (Ph.D.1980) and a Saluki through and through. Even after her retirement from the University of Nevada at Reno, where she chaired the Health Education Department, she maintained contact to our field through this HEDIR.org list-serve. We both taught Human Sexuality and Women’s Health early on, and it is no accident that the most recent picture I have of her here, was when we met in 2009 at a play in Berkeley “In the Next Room” (now on Broadway), a farce on the use of vibrators by ‘physicians’ in the 1890’s to treat women’s ‘hysteria.’

Phyllis was in a very happy phase of her life. This spring she purchased a cottage on the California coast in Gualala near Mendocino, and was fixing it up, visioning many pleasant years ahead. (Don’t we all?) Last Saturday she had a stroke.

She is survived by Dick Patterson, long time companion of 27 years, husband of seven; and two kitties Callie and Cooper, and many many friends and colleagues.

On or near what would have been her 66^th birthday, August 20th, those of us who can make it, are invited to celebrate and commemorate her life and scatter those ashes, at a to be determined site in Gualala or on Calfornia’s coast. Please send memento’s, photo’s, tributes written or sung, and your contact information to Pat Hanson @ 1823 Wedemeyer Court, Marina, California 93933. 831-601-9195. phanson@csumb.edu

–
Remember … good happens!     (only sometimes it takes time to ‘get’ that!)
Pat Hanson (Russell Sage, CSU Chico, CSU Monterey & CDC’s PATCH Pgm in NY)
www.invisiblegrandparent.com
HEALTH MATTERS
1823 Wedemeyer Ct.
Marina, CA 93933
831-601-9195

Since arriving in Las Cruces in early January I’ve been treated to cool evenings (in the high 20s, low 30s) with temperatures reaching into the high 50s/low 60s during the day.  It was delightful.  The sun was incredibly strong (I’ve been forced to purchase prescription sun glasses to deal with it) but I kept thinking what a great way to spend January.  I daily take a look at what the temperature is in Carbondale, and of course I speak to my daughter to get updates on the weather.

Last Sunday (January 30), as I was watching the ABC Affiliate in El Paso (all of our television stations come from El Paso), I saw the winter storm that was forming over Colorado and moving eastward.  It sounded like it would be a tremendously damaging storm.  The meteorologist indicated that southern New Mexico and western Texas would be impacted by this storm and that there was a chance of snow on Tuesday night.

True to form, Tuesday day was a wild day…lots of strange clouds in the sky;  the Organ Mountains, located about 10 miles west of Las Cruces, were hidden by the cloud cover.  It was windy and I could feel the temperature drop all day (the morning was about 50 degrees).  Around 7:00 pm that evening I let my dog out and noticed it was snowing (we already had the ground covered).  I was ready to buckle down and ride out the ‘snow storm’ (remember, I grew up in Minnesota;  lived in Maine, eastern Ohio, and Illinois—I’ve had some experience with snow storms).

Thinking I’m going to need extra time to get to work, I got up at 5:30 and saw that we had about 3 inches of snow.  I also looked at the temperature gauge and it was 5 degrees.  That is cold anywhere but it is absolutely devastating for southern New Mexico.  I turned on the news and heard that NMSU and the Las Cruces Public Schools were on a two hour delay.  UTEP (in El Paso) and the entire El Paso school system were closed for the day).  After my workout, shower, and ironing of clothes, I saw that at 7:00 am NMSU was closed.  I sent an email to all faculty alerting them of the closure and figured it was a good day to get some final work around my house completed (I still had a few boxes that needed unpacking).

Around 8:30 am I lost power.  The good news is that my apartment has many skylights and it is well built with good insulation.  Not knowing how long I’ll be without electricity, I tried to be conservative.  I accessed the ABC affiliate on my cell phone and heard that Las Cruces was scheduling ‘rolling blackouts’ to help conserve energy. Apparently all of the generators in El Paso (where Las Cruces gets it electricity) were down.  They receive about 40% of their power from a nuclear power plant in Arizona and they produce the other 60%.  Without that 60% production, things were going to get a little difficult.  Thus, the need for the rolling blackouts.

Around 10:00 I got power back, only to have the power go out again about 11:00 am.  I had a lunch scheduled with a former faculty member at NMSU and he sent me a text that the restaurant was still open.  Around 11:10 I left my place to go to the restaurant (about 1.5 miles away).  This was the beginning of the adventure.

Now, remember, I’m a Minnesotan native.  I’m use to snow.  That doesn’t mean I know everything about driving in inclement weather, but people who grow up where it’s icy and snowy quickly learn that one must drive SLOWLY when on such surfaces.  We also learn that 4 wheel drives mean absolutely nothing when trying to maintain control on ice.

The roads are completely iced covered.  The good news is that there are few people out.  As I creep out I have two goals:  1) don’t be in a hurry;  2)  avoid having people around you.  As I make my way out on the main roads I keep my speed at 8 MPH.  I’m driving a Honda sedan so it has good traction and good control…but I am only going 8 MPH.  As I pulled onto the freeway, I see in my mirror a ‘cowboy’ screaming down the highway.  I slow down even more and let him pass.  About a ¼ mile ahead I see him unable to stop at the red light and he slides through the intersection…fortunately there was no collision.

I make my way slowly to the restaurant.  As I approach hills I pass people who are seemingly stuck.   I’m driving a slow 8 MPH and have no problems.  Apparently the people on the hill think that by flooring the gas and allowing their wheels to spin wildly, that this gives them traction.  One would think by seeing a small vehicle SLOWLY drive by that it would give them an idea that spinning wheels won’t work.

I need to go down a long hill.  Again, I’m going 8 MPH and constantly pumping my brakes to keep under control.  Several SUVs scream by me, only to be losing control and spinning a ‘louie’ at the bottom of the hill.  I look behind and see a car coming up quickly behind me.  Thinking I’m going to get rear-ended, at the last minute I see the car swerve to the other lane.  I was surprised to see it was a police officer.  I also saw he had chains…I’ve not known chains to work well on ice, but he was able to get around me and continue on.

I finally get to the restaurant (45 minutes later) only to walk up to see a big sign on both doors “Due to Inclement Weather We are Closed”.  This is contrary to the message given to my lunch date who was told at 10:00 am that they were open.

I make my way back, again 8 MPH and trying to avoid other people.  About ½ mile from home I’m driving in the right lane and I look in the rear view mirror at the pickup truck that I passed—he’s about ¼ mile down the road!  I was going 8 MPH…he was going about 5 MPH—good for him…   As I near my stop sign to turn right, I see a Jeep coming down the right lane at crazy-man speeds.  As he passes that pickup truck, he loses control, spins around and smashes into the pickup truck.  I could only imagine how angry I would be if this happened to me.  As I make my turn I see the owner of the pickup get out…nobody hurt….good.

I pulled into the driveway happy to see that I had power (my garage door opener worked).  I was happy to say that there was no need for me to go back out that day.  I had all of the essentials…bread, milk, beer.  I was surprised to think that it took until 7:00 am for NMSU to cancel classes.  The roads were definitely a disaster.

I lose power 2 more times during Wednesday—around 40 minutes at a time.  The temperatures rose to only 15 degrees…both the lows and the high were all time records…not just for the day…but all time lows altogether.  I’m about to go to bed when I get an alert that NMSU will be closed on Thursday due to a request from the local electric company to help keep the grid from being overtaxed.

I woke up Thursday to -4.  Another all time record;  surprisingly I have power and don’t lose any throughout the day.  Hearing the weather reports and the reports from El Paso, the electrical grid is in danger of collapsing entirely.  There was even discussion of purchasing power from Mexico.  I’ve not been here that long, but I get a sense that for Texans to purchase anything from Mexico—especially electricity—is the ultimate humiliation.

Around 3:00 pm  I’m going stir crazy and since I was getting low on some essentials (beer), I decided to venture out.  The roads were remarkably clear.  Thursday was a most productive day and since I had power all day I was able to get a lot of work done.  They’re predicting another cold night Thursday, with warming scheduled for Saturday.  OK, I can hold out for one more day.  Thursday night I get another text message from NMSU indicating that again, due to the request of the Electric company, NMSU will be closed on Friday.

I awake on Friday to no power.  OK, rolling blackouts continue to be implemented.  Power comes on and I quickly make some coffee (not knowing when it will go out again).  About an hour later I notice that I have no water…and then the power goes out.  So, other than living in a beautifully build home,  I’m like living in a third world country (no power, no water).  I’m not sure if pipes are frozen, if they broke, or what.  I get in a car to find water—good luck!  I get the last three 3-gallon containers at Lowe’s.  I go to the local grocery store…there’s plenty of cases of drinking water…but I need large quantities to help flush the commode.  I get the last five one-gallon bottles of distilled water (it’s all they had).  I also get a case of drinking water.

After purchasing, I drive home (again, the roads are beautifully cleared of any snow or ice).  I pull into my garage using my opener (ok, my power is back).  I lug in the water…make room for it.  I turned on my faucet and found that the water running.  I’m still not sure why it was off.  Perhaps the water company was the recipient of the rolling blackout, thus nothing to push the water.  I rejoice because I can now take a shower!

I had 3 power outages on Friday, so work was less likely to take place.  Fortunately I had a laptop that allowed me to get work done.  When power was on I made sure to plug in the essentials (laptops, cell phones).  It was inconvenient but nothing unbearable (I felt more uncomfortable not having water earlier that day).  Friday evening the El Paso ABC affiliate interviewed the Electricity Plant Manager.  Apparently the 8 generators they have are cooled by water…when the water froze the generators were unable to function.  The reporter asked the Plant Manager ‘could you not add anti-freeze to the water to prevent this from happening?’  The manager responded “I don’t know.”

The Plant Manager then showed the pipes that cracked and needed repairs.  When the reporter asked “How do electrical companies in the north manage without such problems?” the Plant Manager said “I don’t know.”  Realizing that this is the coldest it’s been for nearly 40 years, I don’t expect the same type of construction needed in Duluth, but I think it might be a good idea to look at ways to prevent such freezing in the future.  I also got the feeling from the Plant Manager’s response that he didn’t know and quite frankly, he didn’t care.

Saturday turned out to be a ‘normal’ January day…morning was colder than usual (about 15 degrees) it quickly heated up to nearly 60 degrees.  Power seems to be stabilized.  The warmth feels good and all remnants of the snow are gone.  El Paso still is having power and water problems (Las Cruces seems to be doing fine).  I have a good supply of water…now, I just need to get me a generator!

This has been a hell of a month…I can’t tell you when I’ve had a month with such highs and lows.  This month has seen a couple of streaks and hearts broken, final good byes, and warm welcomes.  Let’s start with the beginning.

The MOVE

On January 3 (Monday), packers arrived early at my house in Carbondale to start the packing process.  There wasn’t much I could do but stand around and watch my house go from somewhat organized, comfort area into rooms of boxes.  It seemed to take them forever (later I were to find out why…each glass, dish, CD, pencil, were tripled wrapped with paper).  During unpacking I didn’t realize I had that much crap.  Also, during the course of the visit I had a few people stop by and say good bye. Around 3:00 pm they were ready to transition from packers to ‘movers’, so they started putting everything into the Atlas moving truck.  They finished around 8:30 pm.  I did a final walk through and everything was gone.  The house was eerily empty.  My dog, Tex, who had been outside the whole day, was left back in.  I locked up his ‘doggie’ door and put Tex in the car to head to my daughter’s house, where I planned to stay that night.

Not much sleep as I made so many mental preparations, spent time with my daughter, and just being wound up for the entire day.  I was exhausted, but not so much as the dog.  He laid down and didn’t budge until the next morning.

I left Carbondale at 7:30 am on a bright, cold morning.  I was heading to Memphis where I was to pick up Bruce Ragon.  I hadn’t seen Bruce for years, and was looking forward to seeing him.  I figured it was going to be a long drive but never realized how absolutely long it was going to be.

Fortunately, his flight arrived on time (actually early).  I was hoping to pick him up at 11:30 at the Memphis International Airport, and almost to the minute I was there.   Bruce was standing by the exits and quickly came aboard.  We made our way back to the freeway and headed to Little Rock.

The visit with Bruce was good, the first day’s drive was long and we had plans to meet with Bill Cissell for dinner in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (our first night’s destination).  The unfortunate thing about this all was that the most attractive part of Texas (the eastern part) was driven through at night.   But it’s a long drive and we make it into Dallas around 8:00 pm.  The directions to the restaurant, given to us by Bill, added some frustration.  Apparently Dallas has a different structure on how they name roads/highways.  Bill says to turn on ‘XZY’ highway…we find no sign that says ‘XYZ’ highway.  After being in a car for 13 hours one gets a little antsy and so every wrong move becomes more upsetting.  We finally see the restaurant but can’t get over the freeway easily.  We have to drive a mile down, loop back under the freeway and come back.  Then we find a barrier preventing us from entering…so we go down to the first entrance (a hotel) thinking we could double back.  Oh no….Dallas builds very high barriers.

FINALLY, around 9:00, two exhausted people and their dog, make it into a restaurant (in Illinois we would call this place a dive).  We pull in and see Bill (and yes, he’s wearing his cowboy hat) waiting patiently for us.  He greets us and tells us to put these ties on.  We look like crapola, smell like a dog, and are tired beyond words, but we start putting on the tie.  I’m thinking…odd dress code for this place.  As I’m trying to do my double Windsor, I see two ‘dudes’ coming out with t-shirts…so I’m starting to think that Bill is up to his practical joke.

We enter the restaurant, sit down and the hostess comes on over (it’s hard to explain her, but she’s a ‘big’ woman with a GREAT personality).  She says real loud…. ‘We DON’T ALLOW TIES IN HERE.  People (the rest of the crowd)…WHAT SHOULD WE DO?  The crowd yells “CUT THEM OFF”. So she takes a huge scissors and cuts off our ties.

Now, to back up a little…apparently this is a custom for this restaurant.  By cutting your tie off they give you a free drink.  Bill went to the local second hand store and bought three ties for 25 cents each…not a bad investment.  For 25 cents you get a $4.00 beer for free.  Of course Bruce and I enjoyed having our ties cut off.  We had a great conversation with Bill and a excellent meal (I can’t tell you if the meal was really that good or if we were just so starved that even eating Alpo would have been a treat—I do think it was good food though).

It’s ten o’clock and I’m exhausted.  I’m sure Bill could have sat there for another hour but we had to get going.  We had another 20 minutes to our hotel and hadn’t even checked in.  I also thought that if the directions to the hotel were anything like this restaurant we may not get in until 2:00 am.  We bid farewell to Bill and thank him (he graciously covered our meal).  Fortunately, the drive to the hotel was just fine (and they even had easy entrance from the freeway).  By the time we check in and get settled we’re looking around 11:00 pm.

I’m up at 6:00 am because I need to keep my exercise streak going (at the time I had been doing daily exercise EVERY DAY since December 31, 2006).  I get done, shower, take Tex out to do his duty.  Bruce and I are hoping to get on the road by 9:00.  We have a leisurely breakfast at a nearby Denny’s and we’re off at 9:00 am.  Our goal…to make it to Las Cruces by nightfall.  It’s Wednesday, January 4.

It became quickly apparent to both Bruce and I that Texas is a big state and second, it’s more desolate than urban.  Once we leave the metro complex of Dallas-Fort Worth, we are in the midst of a great big fil studio for a western.  There is nothing there.  Between Fort Worth and Odessa and Midland (where Bruce told me at least 55 times was where they filmed ‘Friday Night Lights’) the drive was tolerable.  We stop at Midland to fill out, get Tex to walk around and get something to snack on.  The trip from Midland to El Paso can’t be adequately described in words.  Once we’re past Odessa the word that best describes the trip was ‘Nothing’.  There was nothing, nada, emptiness, desolation, the edge of the world.  We didn’t see any dead animals…we didn’t see any live animals.  We didn’t see any gas stations…we didn’t see the ubiquitous McDonalds every 2 miles.   Thank God we stopped for gas in Midland…and that we’re driving a new car.  We are bucking a 40 mph headwind and the speed limit is now 80 (even state officials are telling you to get the hell out of here).

The drive from Midland to El Paso was about 300 miles…that’s like driving from Carbondale to Chicago and not seeing a single sign of life.  About half way we see mountain ranges….Bruce says they’re the Pecos, and he repeats a quote (about a dozen times) from a John Wayne movie that ‘There’s no law west of the Pecos’.  (Later I found out that Bruce misquoted it…  Judge Roy Bean is given credited to that quote….John Wayne’s 1970 movie Chisum had a similar quote “There’s no law west of Dodge, and no God west of the Pecos”.

About an hour outside of El Paso we see a sign of life…we see a DQ sign.  We immediately pull off and as we come to the end of the exit ramp we see the sign pointing us to the direction, with a 2.0 miles under it.  We’re pretty bummed because we didn’t want to drive that far.  As we proceed we go through the ‘commercial strip’ of this town.  I can’t recall the name of the town (I think it had some Spanish name)…but I do recall that I was amazed at the number of hotels that this place had.  The town was only about 2,000 but I bet they had that many hotel rooms just along this strip.  They had Hampton Inns, Holiday Inns, local dives, some that looked good…some that looked bad…but one after the another.  Bruce and I were thinking….why would this place have so many hotels.  Unless after driving 300 miles people are so fried that they feel compelled to stay here.  We go to DQ, get our food and pull out…only to find that the freeway was ¼ mile away.  Had we taken the second exit (yes this town warranted two exits) we would have been right at the DQ.

We continue the drive to El Paso…and onward to Las Cruces (about an hour from El Paso).  We arrive at the hotel in Las Cruces at 7:00 pm (MST)…We’ve driven about 11 hours that day.  We check into a really nice hotel (better than the rat hole the night before).  We’re exhausted, hungry, and can’t wait to get back into the car to find a restaurant.  I take Bruce to a local brewery that my friend Peter Maud introduced me to when I came out to Las Cruces for my interview.  The High Desert Brewery is a local dive…the appearance is low key but great service and friendly people.  We arrive, order ourselves a frosty drink, and order a meal.  I had a Rueben…(without sauerkraut).

We map out the next day during dinner.  We’re to meet my landlady at my new place at 10:00 the next day to get the keys.  We can then go to the store to get some basics for the kitchen and house (i.e., beer).  We’ll just chill out until the furniture arrives—I’d show him campus, etc.

We go back to our clean, comfortable hotel room.  We take Tex out for his walk…I make a few calls to friends and loved ones…and about 10:00 pm we’re ready to get a good night sleep.  I’m planning on getting up at 6:00 to get my exercise out of the way…have a leisurely breakfast, then check out and get the keys to my new place.

All that changed around midnight.  Although I fell asleep quickly, I woke up abruptly at midnight.  I didn’t know why, but usually when this happens it’s usually a sign of trouble.  Now, what I’m about to describe may be something you wish to skip.  If so, scroll down a few paragraphs.

It’s midnight and as I lay in bed I realize that something isn’t right.  I start sweating a cold sweat…I’m starting to get a headache, and my gut is hurting.  I eventually get up and head to the bathroom. Tex, always the faithful companion follows me and waits for me outside the door.  I guess I won’t go into details but the word food poisoning will give you a clue as to what happened behind that door.  Not once, not twice, not three times, no, not four times…but for every hour on the hour for the next 9 hours.  I am thankful that the hotel was smart enough to include a waste basket in the bathroom…

For those of you who have had this experience, many thoughts raced through my mind.  I am comforted to know that outside the door is my faithful companion who is there to comfort me.  After my first ‘round’ I open the door and find that Tex has left the door and gone by Bruce’s bed to go to sleep.  Even my faithful friend said “Hell, I’m not going to be around this…”  It wasn’t until 9:00 am that my ‘friend’ Tex came back to see me.

I estimated the following during this 9 hour event:

• I lost 15 pounds of weight
• I saw the inside of  my lungs three times
• I burnt four candles
• The walls of this hotel room are thin
• They don’t pay the cleaning ladies at this hotel enough money

Around 5:00 am Bruce calls his wife (back in North Carolina so it’s about 7 am).  She suggests he goes to Wal Mart, get some Imodium and something for nausea and some ginger ale.  He returns…I take the Imodium and this red stuff to combat nausea and I drink some ginger ale.  Bruce then decides he’s going to go to the lobby to have some coffee, check his email, etc.  I go back to bed (it’s about 6:30 am now).  At 7:00 am  I had another ‘episode’.  This time I get to see the medicine again (re-read the color of the anti-nausea medicine to get a more clear picture).

At this time Bruce calls his wife and she’s suggests taking me to the emergency room.  I also call my wife and she indicates that Carbondale has had an epidemic of stomach flu and that it lasts about 18 hours (so I’m half-way through this?).  At this time we’re not sure whether it’s stomach flu or if it’s food poisoning.  Stomach flu makes sense since I’ve been living on the edge with little sleep for nearly a week.  To this day, I’m not sure…but I guarantee you that I will NEVER, EVER eat a Rueben sandwich again.

We’re at a cross road…do I call the landlady and delay the transfer of key?  If we do, she may not get the key to us for another several hours (she had a busy schedule that day).  My strategy was that if I my last ‘episode’ is at 8:00 then I’ll go to my place.  I did have an episode at 7:45 am…at 8:45 nothing?  9:00 nothing….9:15 nothing….so for the first time I’ve gone over an hour without an episode.  I get up, shower, check out of the hotel and head to my place.

I get to my place, meet my landlady and get the key.  Bruce is impressed with the craftsmanship of the condo.  Although we have no furniture we have our own place.  While I am resting, Bruce goes out and buys a couple of comforters and a blow up mattress for me to sleep on.  He’s willing to sleep on the guest bedroom floor (it’s carpeted) but he thought I needed the air mattress (he was right).  After he comes back and we’re resting (I’m totally washed out…I am so exhausted I can’t even talk straight).  We decided we needed to go to Wal Mart to get some important things (i.e., toilet paper, shower curtains, soap, sodas).  We go to the local Wal Mart and proceed to get the items.  I’m walking like I’m 95 years old.  I looked and felt like death warmed over.  Later that afternoon we go to Lowe’s to look for a washer and dryer.  It was a good thing Bruce was there…unlike me, he actually enjoys talking to people.  Plus, I’m still pretty washed out so I don’t really care to know the history of the washing machine.  I get a good deal, pay for it, and schedule a time to deliver the next day!

The good news is that one’s body is pretty adaptable.  As the day progressed I became more ‘normal’, yet still exhausted.  I received a call from our mover and he’s indicating that furniture will be dropped off on Monday (Sunday if I’m around).  I told him that he would have to wait until 9:00 am on Sunday because I was taking Bruce back to El Paso to fly back to North Carolina.  The mover indicated that wouldn’t be a problem.  He also said that if he could find help, he might be able to deliver Saturday…but not to hold my breath.  I had wanted to go to campus Thursday but it wasn’t going to happen.  I was just too tired.  It was then I realized that my exercise streak was coming to an end.  DAMN!

Friday morning saw the cable people arrive to install my internet, tv, and phone.  Unlike any cable company that I’ve experienced, these people were ACTUALLY ON TIME.  They were scheduled to arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 and they were here at 8:10.  I think the trick is to be the first on the list.  In addition, Lowe brings my washer and driver.  I had brought just a limited supply of clothes knowing that I was going to buy a washer and dryer.  I do some laundry so we have fresh clothes and towels.

Friday’s an uneventful day.  Bruce and I go into the office around 1:00 pm.  I’m still moving slow but feeling pretty good.  While Bruce is working on his online classes, I’m getting my new laptop, keys to my new office, etc.  I’m getting really excited about working at NMSU.  The weather is spectacular.  The sun is so bright that it’s almost painful.  We meet our friend Peter, at the High Desert Brewery for a refreshing beer.  Peter and Bruce haven’t seen each other in years, so we have a nice conversation.  The High Desert Brewery offers many times of beers.  I know I’ve been ill because even beer doesn’t taste good.  That’s ok…I’ll be driving.

Saturday will be Bruce’s last day.  We spend the morning driving around town and around noon, after lunch, I’ve decided to take Tex and Bruce out to the Organ Mountains…a mountain range east of Las Cruces.  We go to the one park and the ranger is very informative.  That is the only part of the park that doesn’t allow dogs….but he directs us to the other side of the mountain range (on the east side of the mountains) that overlooked the White Sands Missile Base.  We drive over there and we are in a switchback road that leads us to the ranger station.  Once there we can take a trail up to nearly 7,000 feet (not that we’re planning to do that).  We get out…meet a family from El Paso (he is a geologist so he gives us great insight into this mountain range), and start up the trail.  Tex is of course on a leash but must receive his ‘mark’ on every rock, cactus, downed wood, etc.  He’s  a Corgi so he has very short legs.  He is struggling walking up the trail but that’s okay.  We go about 30 minutes and we stop to look at the vista.  It’s spectacular.  To the east is White Sands Missile Base and to the west is the rising Organ Mountains.  Ponderosa Fur are up further on the trail.  We are unprepared to continue further…one, we have a dog that can’t move up the rock trail very well;  we’re tired (we’re at 6000 feet altitude) and we have no water.  We had no intention of going further….we were enjoying what we saw.  While standing there, at 2:00 pm, I get a call from my mover (impressive that my cell had service in a desolate area)—he has found six people to unload the truck…when he can get to the house?  We agreed on 3:30.  So we headed back down the trail, got to the car…took the long winding road back to the highway (that took about 30 minutes).  Once on the highway it was a 20 minute drive to my place.  We get there at 2:50 and the movie van is parked outside the place (good think we agreed on 3:30).  Hey…I didn’t care…it was my furniture.

I meet with the driver and he provides me the paperwork to check off everything that comes into the house.  He suggests that all boxes be placed in the garage so it didn’t clutter the insides.  The furniture would go into the appropriate rooms.  Sounded like a plan.  His team of 6 included 4 really big, strong guys, one relatively small but active woman, and one guy that looked like he should be in the hospital.  I can’t say for sure, but I think some of these people were here illegally.  The stuff rolled off the truck starting at 3:00 and it was a whirlwind.  By 5:00 everything has been unloaded.  Now, I was under the impression that these people would put all things together (i.e., beds, dressers) but they didn’t.  I’m handcuffed because every box needs to be checked off my list and I need to tell the movers which room to place the furniture.  Fortunately, Bruce was able to get the beds in the master bedroom and the guest room, put together so we’d have something to sleep on.  He also was able to put together the kitchen table so we had some place to sit.

By 5:30 pm that Saturday, we are in a place that looked like a tornado had just hit.  Yes we had furniture, but all of the boxes that included things like sheets, dishes, silverware, remotes.  But hey, we have TVs and beds.  We go to Old Las Cruces (Mesillas) and had a great dinner.  We’re back at my new place relatively early.  We fall asleep relatively early that night, knowing that Bruce’s flight is at 9:30 am in El Paso (we’d have to leave around 6:30 am).  We both wake up refreshed around 5:00 am (we’re still on Eastern and Central time), turn on the news to see that Dallas and Atlanta are pretty to be bombarded with an ice storm. He’s flying from El Paso to Dallas;  Dallas to Atlanta;  Atlanta to Wilmington, NC.  We leave about 6:00 thinking we may want to see if there’s a way to get to Dallas sooner (he was hoping he could miss the storm).  We arrive at 7:00 am to a full airport.  He gets to the check-in seeing if there’s a way to get an earlier flight.  They check and express concern that Dallas is going to be closed down soon.  They arrange for him to take a US Airways flight from El Paso to Phoenix;  Phoenix to Charlotte;  Charlotte to Wilmington.  That would avoid both Dallas and Atlanta.  The only drawback is that he would have to get ticketed through the USAirways agent (we’re at American).  We look over to US Airways and see a long line.  We move over there…his flight is at 8:45 and it’s like 7:45 and we’re at the end of the line.  It’s one of the slowest lines we’ve encountered.  As we snake our way through we start worrying that he won’t get ticketed in time, NOR make it to the gate in time.  Apparently there were a lot of people in Bruce’s situation so there was chatter in the line that USAirways needs to speed things up.  Somebody must have heard something because 3 new agents arrive and things start speeding up.  Bruce gets his ticket, checks his bag and makes his way to the gate.  We bid our farewell at the security and I thank him for coming aboard.

I get into my car to head back to Las Cruces with a realization that I’ve got a LOT of work to do.

The Settling In Process

I arrive back in Las Cruces around 10:30 with a strategy to try to get one room at a time somewhat organized.  As I headed back home I detoured to Lowe’s to get something called furniture movers.  These disks allow heavy furniture to slide easily on carpet.  I also got me a dolly to help move boxes.  Once equiptted I try to tackle the master bedroom.  The disks were excellent and within a few minutes had everything in order.  I then selected the kitchen as my second room.  I moved box after box from the garage that indicated kitchen.  I didn’t realize I had that much stuff.  The place I bought left a lot of the silverware, dishes, pots, pans, etc.  Half of the stuff I didn’t even know I had.  It took most of Sunday but I had the kitchen stuff put away.  Now, it wasn’t in the most logical order, but it was put away.

Over the course of the next three days I would spend about 4-5 hours after work sorting through the boxes.  I had the living room set up;  then I tried to get the home office;  finally, the guest bedroom was sort of the dumping ground for items that I wasn’t yet aware of.  I had all pictures hangings, knick knacks, etc.  unpacked (but left in the corner).  My goal was to have all the house boxes unpacked by Wednesday night.  I moved all office boxes to the side of the garage…figuring I can take a box or two each day to unload.

Throughout the rest of the week, with  the help of a good person, I got the house ship shaped and organized to the point that it was efficient and pleasant looking.  Work was coming along…I was starting to get introduced to the campus;  met various people, and started getting my office in place.  Each faculty stopped in to say hi and to welcome me aboard.  I had a few fires that had to be put out and I had to make some important budgetary decisions.  I think the transition was starting to work out.  I had my place organized;  my office was coming along;  weather was BEAUTIFUL!

BUT…earlier in the Fall semester I agreed to serve as  a site visitor at Ball State University.  It was originally intended to be in December while I was still living in Carbondale, but it got delayed until the third week in January.  Upon this change I asked my new Dean if this was a problem (after all, I got there one week and then left for another one!).  He indicated he had no problems with that.  So I flew back on Martin Luther King weekend, and then headed to Ball State for a site visit to the Fischer Institute of Wellness and Gerontology.  There was suppose to be a second person but she had a last minute family emergency so she was unable to attend…so I’m ‘flying’ solo.

Now the people at Ball State are outstanding;  I’m treated like royalty.  It’s a robust campus with exceptional students and faculty.  The only problem was that it was a typical Indiana winter:  drab, overcast, cold, windy, spitting rain or snow.  Now, I grew up in the midwest…I have had my fair share of these winter days…but when you’ve just spent about 2 weeks in an area where the sun hurts your eyes and that it’s between 55-65 degrees…it’s a lot to counter.  But I am excited to meet all of the various people, do my job as  a site visitor.  I return back to Carbondale late that week with a chance to spend a little time with family and friends, with a flight back to El Paso scheduled on Sunday.  Again, the weather is painful.

Sunday’s drive to St. Louis was fine until I get near St. Louis where we run into some snow flurries.  It makes driving a little slow but I get to the airport with no problem.  My 1:15 flight is slightly delayed when I get there…no problem. It gets a little more delayed…not a problem…I have a Dallas connecting flight to El Paso at 4:30 though.  We push off at 1:50 and wait for the de-icer to ‘wash us down’.  Apparently on that snowy Sunday in St. Louis there was only one de-icer in service because we waited nearly 40 minutes.  It’s now 2:30—then we sit even longer…by the time we’re in the air the pilot is informing us we’ll be landing in Dallas at 4:25…I sit there realizing that I’ve missed my flight.  Immediately upon disembarkment from the plane I find an American representative…he says there’s another flight at 5:50 in Terminal D…if anybody has been in the Dallas terminal that’s like being in Chicago and saying you need to take the tram to Detroit….it’s a huge airport.  I get to the new gate at 5:30 and approach the gate and informed them that I had missed my 4:30 flight and was hoping to get this flight.  Good news…I was able to get on that flight.

I arrive in El Paso at 7:00 pm…El Paso is a great airport but they don’t have the fastest baggage service.  I await an hour for my baggage…then am taken to long term parking.  I am certain of my parking spot but I believe somebody at that airport must have moved my car because it’s not there.  I ‘m walking around that damn space pressing my emergency button on my key hoping for my car to start beeping.  After 30 minutes I find it…so it’s about 8:30 now…an hour back to Las Cruces.  I’m exhausted, and crawl into bed for a comforting sleep (which I didn’t have because of a  phone conversation).  I finally get to sleep around 1:00 am and wake up at 6:00.

Have you ever woken up and within a second realized that you’re going to be sick?  Not puking sick, but a cold sick?  Well, welcome to my Monday.  I feel like crap…I’m not sneezing or coughing but I know that something is broken down.  I usually fight these things well, but this was one in which I knew it was a losing cause.  Now normally I would have just stayed in bed, sleep all day, but I don’t have any sick days?  I’m now administration so I am expected to be there…I get vacation and sick days…in which I have now accrued.  So I head into work…feeling like crap, but dealing with the day to day issues that are important.  I had to attend a mandatory meeting for new heads/chairs on Monday.  I get home Monday afternoon after getting the dog from the kennel (I had put him there for 10 days)…Tex wasn’t too happy to see me at first, but he soon warmed up to me.

Let me get to bed early Monday night…oh no!  A continuation of the phone conversation from the night before).  The rest of the week was my body’s revolting against everything I’ve done to it…physically, emotionally, geographically, financially…etc.   You name it…I’ve gone through it.  The good news it that Thursday afternoon I started feeling better..and through out this weekend I am recovering.  Somebody at work suggested getting a humidifer for the bedroom because it’s so dry here and if you’re not use to it such low humidity can cause havoc with sleep.  I got one yesterday and ran it last night…can’t tell if it make a difference but I did get a good nice sleep (every night since arriving I’ve woken around 3:00 with a huge thirst).  I didn’t wake up at 3:00 wanting to drink a gallon of water so maybe this thing is working.

Finally this week ended with some pretty good news.  A bid was made on my house…we’ve countered, they’ve countered and we’ve agreed on the final price.  However it is contingent upon their divorce settlement around February 6…. I feel very fortunate that we have a very good chance of getting out of that house payment.  I’m not making anything on it…but I’m not losing anything either.

So it’s now Sunday afternoon…this five thousand-plus word essay is almost over.  I found a nice coffee house this morning (they don’t have Paneras around here).  I’m eager to get to my job tomorrow…I am grateful that I have this new job.  The people I work with are great;  I have great support.  As happy as I am with it I am also conflicted with being away from my daughter.  I’m not sure if she’ll ever understand, but I hope she realizes that the pain being away from her is less painful than what I was going through.

Have a great week and I hope to hear from you in the future.

2011 is finally here.  2010, like all years, had some ups and downs.  We saw Becky Smith retire (good for her) and replaced with Mal Goldsmith (good choice);  we’ve seen unification efforts by leaders of AAHE moving forward (still a lot to do); we’re starting to see MCHES being initiated; and we’re seeing a shift of individuals.  David Birch is heading to Alabama to become chair of their program, and of course, I’m leaving Carbondale for the sunny southwest.

I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with my new colleagues at New Mexico State.  It is a program that has a great legacy and will continue to be a leader in public health/public health education in the southwest.  I’m thrilled to be at an institution that has had a great history.  One can watch the trek on the HEDIR.org web page as my furniture is making its way to Las Cruces.  Of course I’ll be following to make sure it’s delivered.  Once delivered and settled (ha!), I’ll be back in the midwest in mid-January to do a site visit to Ball State.

I’m excited about all of the things I’m about to do, as well as the things I’m need to finish at SIU.  I’ve completed a good portion of that work, but still to do a few final items.  As a soon to be ‘retired’ person from the State of Illinois I also need to complete all of the final paper work–that is pretty cumbersome.

I wish all a great new year.  Safe travels for those on the road and for many of you I’ll see you in AAHE in San Diego (late March).

So here are my top 6 issues with health education

1)      Our name hurts us.

People confuse us exclusively with school teaching.  Now, school teaching is important, but the profession has emerged far beyond the school setting.  I’m proud to be called a health educator, and among health educators we understand our uniqueness and impact on various settings.  But that doesn’t hold true for those outside health education.  I don’t necessarily have an answer…but I do know the following.  Since I’ve been involved with an MPH, I’ve started using a title as Public Health Education.  People don’t know what we do (as they do when I state health education) but the questions I get are more of interest and are given more respect.  When I use the words health promotion or behavior it also elicits a different set of questions.  However, use the word education and one is almost certainly automatically affiliated with schools.

2)      We’re still too tied in with physical education.

This may be partly due to issue number 1.  Of course it doesn’t help that one of the largest health education professional organizations is affiliated with physical education.  That hopefully will change within the next few years.  I was speaking to a person who works at a university and their dean is asking that health education and physical education consider merging.  He indicated that he’s not known any place where they weren’t in one department.  If this was 1950 perhaps this might be acceptable.  But with the massive shift of health education from solely school health to broader public health, it doesn’t make sense.  There is very little connection.  True physical activity could be a common thread, is a major issue, but that’s more a public health factor than a physical education issue.  We’re no more related to physical education than we are to nutrition, psychology, or sociology.  In addition, by affiliating ourselves with physical education, we run the risk of being associated with a profession that, in many locations, has low respect in the eyes of the public.

3.       We still allow states to merge teaching certificates into a combined health and physical education unit.

When I started college in 1971 Mankato State (MN) was on the wave of a trend in which states required those to teach health to have a separate teaching certificate just in health.  Whereas some states still had a ‘health and physical education’ teaching endorsement, they were slowly being phased out.  At Mankato I was the first wave of true health educators.  My roommate, Johnny Cramer (a great person and a great teacher) was the last of his group to earn a health and physical education certificate.  Like David Birch,  Johnny’s major of HPE consisted of 70 hours, with just 9 in health.  Nine hours and you’re qualified to teach Health?  (I had over 70 in health).  So, what has happened to the ‘separate health education’ certificate?  We now have states, 40 years after my initial experience, reverting back to a ‘combined’ degree.  The justification is that schools won’t hire somebody without the ability to teach both.  So we are allowing public schools and economics dictate to our profession how we need to proceed.  If you buy into this concept (a HPE combo degree) let’s not make the mistakes we made in the past.  Let’s require at least HALF of the courses to discuss health (and not just 9 hours that my roommate had).  Again, we have failed to let the people know that health education is not related to physical education.  I would feel a whole lot better if we required a combined health education/social studies degree.  We have more in common with social studies, social issues, than we have with physical education (but remember, I only had 1 physical education activity course in college—beginning swimming-in which I received a C.  How was I to know that one had to be an experienced swimmer to take beginning swimming).

4.       The profession is too myopic in its involvement with other professions.

Related to number three…we shouldn’t automatically be viewed as one in the same with physical education.  Most health educators would agree to that…yet we haven’t taken advantage, worked with, and collaborated enough with related professions such as epidemiology, anthropology, and psychology in our initiatives—those professions that have high respect, high academic expectations and are strong in research.  There is still a tendency to think that ‘unless one is a health educator, they can’t understand health or health education’.  Some of the best health researchers are those in those disciplines stated earlier.  They have exceptional research skills, and we don’t take advantage of those skills.  It’s critical because they receive funding, complete research and make recommendations that impact health education initiatives throughout the country. Yes, sometimes they miss the concept of what health education truly is.  I would love to see health educators working more aggressively with these professionals to provide their insight on the research and the role of health education.

5.       We’re not opportunists

We have missed too many opportunities or we haven’t fully capitalized on them.  Let me give you two examples.  I graduated from high school in 1971 (that’s nearly 40 years ago) from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.  I had my required health class for one year while a sophomore (that’s 1969).  My school had 4 teachers dedicated to health only…they did not teach PE…only health.  The class had an extensive unit on sex education.  Now, I realize that Minnesota is a very liberal state…I also know that Minnesota has always had among the very best public schools in the country.

Contrast that to now, where we can’t even talk about sex in schools.  Plus, time and time again, we see health taught by people with little or no training in health.

Another example:   we experienced the 1980s when an ultra conservative appointment (C. Everett Koop) from Ronald Reagan’s administration, pleaded with the country to talk to people about sex and to encourage condom use to prevent AIDS (or HIV transmission as we state it now).  We have failed to capitalize on this public health tragedy (a horrible way to state such).   We are more provincial in 2010 on our thoughts of sex than we were in 1950, 60, and 70s.  Shame on us.

Example 3:  With the aftermath of  9-11 and the Anthrax scare, public health has become a much more respected and demanded profession.  Many states are using the public health structure to oversee emergency preparedness.  We as health educators need to fully capitalize on this popularity.

6.       We do not market ourselves very well

Internally we argue whether we should use the term community health or public health.  We’re not aggressive enough to stand up and tell people we’re not physical educators.  We get too excited that we have great state laws that require ‘health’ at public schools…yet we don’t go crazy when they hire non-health educators to teach health (and for the record, I do not think a person with a ‘minor’, or ‘additional teaching field’ to be qualified to teach any topic—much less health).  Yet, public and community mean the same…yet public health has a much more respected term.  We silently approve of the merging of health and physical education, and we don’t market the unique skills of health education and how they can prevent and/or reduce many of the public health concerns.

Hope this is of interest to you.  Enjoy the rest of the National Health Education Week.

Mark J. Kittleson, PhD, FAAHB, FAAHE
Professor, Public Health Education
Director of Graduate Studies
Southern Illinois University
www.siu-salukis-hed.com

The basis for my passion for health education is probably similar to that of many of you.  One reason is obvious – through appropriate practice we can make a difference.  Depending on our practice setting, we may make a difference in an individual’s life, the life of a family or community, or the life of a prospective or current health educator.  How fortunate we are to be able to say that our work makes a difference.  Another reason for my passion is the nature of professional practice in health education – the interaction with program participants or students, the use of a variety of instructional methods, the opportunities for meaningful research, and the ongoing change in our practice as the discipline matures and continues to move toward more evidence-based approaches.  I also feel strongly about the role of health education and health promotion in addressing important “big-picture” issues – the importance of health status to individuals’ academic, professional and life satisfaction; the need to address health disparities and related social justice issues; and the necessary linkage of our profession to political action.

I certainly believe that the practice of health education is at a higher level now than at any time during my career.  That being said, I believe that we have a number of professional challenges in front of us.  Below is a description of my perception of four current challenges.

(1)   Few people outside of the profession really understand health education (this is not a new challenge).  We need to inform decision-makers, the general public (who influence decision-makers), and media professionals about the nature of quality health education in all settings.  Unfortunately the perception of many adults may be based on their experiences with inadequate, possibly meaningless health education – for many adults, when they think of health education they think of experiences such as the textbook/worksheet/video-based school health education taught by an unprepared teacher, or the receipt of a pamphlet with no direct instruction in a community or medical care setting.  Addressing these inaccurate perceptions requires carefully-planned, evidence-based education and advocacy efforts.

(2)   We need to expand our research agenda.  Certainly our research is more meaningful and sophisticated than at any time in our history.  We must continue to learn more about our programs, our methods, participants, etc. However, there are other types of questions that need attention:  What is best practice in professional preparation?  What methods are most effective in assuring access and meaning to our programs for all individuals and communities? How do we influence decision-makers – What types of messages are most effective?  Who should deliver those messages?  How should they be delivered?  How do we recruit students into our professional preparation programs so that our profession reflects the ethnic and racial diversity of our society?  How can we maximize the use of technology in our practice?  What are the professional development needs related to technology of our current health educators?  This is a very limited list – many of you can identify additional questions.  Perhaps the time has come for a formal, unified effort to develop a research agenda for the profession.

(3)   Progress in quality assurance in professional preparation and practice must continue to move forward.  While refinement will be needed over time, the new initiatives that are moving the profession toward a coordinated accreditation system for professional preparation programs and CHES/MCHES status for individual health educators will have a positive impact on practice in all settings.

(4)   We need to move toward professional unification.  We have too many professional organizations that serve many of the same members.  Unification will lead to a common, more representative voice for our profession; easier profession-wide consensus; a clearer organizational choice for students and professionals, better communication and understanding among professionals in different practice settings, and eventual enhanced perception of the profession.  With broad professional input, this important restructuring should be able to be accomplished while preserving the history and tradition of our current organizations.

I appreciate Mark’s invitation to present my perspective – he asked me to describe how I entered the profession, why it is important to me, and what I see as future challenges.  My responses are not intended to be all inclusive – however, I hope they generate more ideas and thoughts for ongoing HEDIR discussion.

David A. Birch, PhD, CHES
Professor
Department of Health Education and Promotion
East Carolina University

Stop by the booth (#1806)  to get your special gift OR you can pick it up at the Rock Bottom.

Until then, save travels.