Key Area

It wasn't until I started on this project that I came to appreciate the role keys play in my everyday life. A key still starts my car (working towards a Prius), unlocks my office and secures a bike lock. I use special limes for key lime pie, work on a keyboard, write key points for a presentation and about twenty years ago, I gave my husband the key to my heart.

Fast forward to this time next year when we are in the new building....the days of issuing keys to hundreds of students will be gone and in its place - card access.

Security and access is important - the safety of students and staff was a major topic for the Building Committee. During peak times of the semester undergraduate students will be working at all hours to complete a class project, graduate students may be pushing hard to meet a funded project deadline - we are not a group that fits nicely into a 9-5 scenario.

The beauty of card access is the ability to quickly grant (or remove) access without having to handle a key. With a few short keystrokes (you can boo) the facility manager will be able to add or remove access priviledges for anyone with a valid WISCARD.

For those who "pooh pooh" card access thinking students will just prop open the door, we've got you covered. Each door with card access is connected to the campus Police so if a door is open for more than the allowed time (it's wicked short) then an alarm is sent to Police. The data will show the last person to swipe their card...you see where I am headed. This is serious business.

My key ring is getting lighter - now all I have are keys to the car, my house and suite at work. And guaranteed, I'll still forget where I put them.

The Hills are Alive

I've been out of town on a much needed (as my office mates will attest) vacation and spent a chunk of the morning yesterday walking the construction site with my team member Roberto.

And look what we saw - the north hillside has been cleared (thanks to the goats) and what was once overgrown with nasty scrub, weeds and...well... crappy plants....is being transformed into a marvelous landscape. It was so cool to see a small herd of bobcats whipping up, down and all around this area - moving dirt, placing rock and prepping the area for plantings.

Thanks to the talents of Ken Saiki Design and the good folks in the campus office of Landscape Planning, the view to the north will be simply glorious.

If a tree falls in the woods...

...chances are it will be used on the roof terrace for the School of Human Ecology.

The designer has sourced the wood for the benches that will grace this stunning space by using a combination of fallen trees and fallen or no-longer-used utility poles. The wood will come from Northern Michigan, is white oak which is indigenous to the Midwest.

It's all about me!

I don't know if this is a sign of age or control - if I have a task that I want to make sure gets addressed before leaving for work, I put a "Post-It" note on the back door. Last night I stuck up a note to bring tomatoes and jalapeno peppers in to work.

I prep the coffee pot (for me), fill the tea ball (for Paul) and set two mugs/spoons on the counter the night before.

I reconcile the checkbook every day (because I can't convince he-who-shall-not-be-named that yes, the money does come out of our account the moment you use your ATM card, not when you enter it in the checkbook)

And have added a "countdown" clock to the Building section of the Human Ecology website, counting the days/hours until we begin the migration of instructional spaces and offices back to the new building - May 21, 2012.
http://www.sohe.wisc.edu/new/about/newbuildingintro.html

Writing this I wonder, is this a sign of age? That I will forget something as small as morning coffee or the promised garden-ripe tomatoes for a friend? Am I super organized? A control freak?

Or a super freak.

Meat Product or Helpful Tool?

Today I spent a good chunk of my morning in a meeting to discuss and decide trash and recycling containers for the new building. No kidding, locations of what trash container would go into what room. Up until now the only "Slim Jim" in my world was a dehydrated jerky product or a tool used when I lock my keys in the car; and a "Brute" was an oaf who cut in front of me at the bar.

For those of you who are wondering, we decided the Dean's office was no place for a "brute" - sometimes I crack myself up!

Doris gave me a polite chuckle, but that's because we share an office.

Preschool Petting Farm Receives first Resident

"Snippity-snip, snap and swill,
The tale begins upon a hill…"

Three Billy Goats Gruff, a Norwegian folktale.

This week the first members of the Preschool Petting Farm arrived at 1300 Linden Drive, safe and sound. Happy and hungry, 32 goats call the north hillside of the Human Ecology building project home. What a delight - they are a herd of friendly and most efficient goats. They will spend their days munching on Buckthorn, a particular favorite, and are happy to be part of our community.

Giraffes will be added to the family as soon as we get approval - there may be concern the giraffe heads could be seen from Linden Drive. As I learned during the discussions over the green roof, seeing heads - human or otherwise - from Linden Drive is just not historically accurate.

"All summer long they ate the lovely green grass in both meadows until they all grew quite fat. And they walked back and forth over the troll-free bridge whenever they wanted."

Snippity-snip, snap and snout,
This little tale has been told out!"

For the real story, click on this link:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/19605

New Building will have a New Name!

In 2004 School of Human Ecology alumna Nancy Johnson Nicholas, with her husband "Ab" Nicholas, provided the $8 million lead gift for the building project. Eight years later, the name "Nancy Nicholas Hall" will grace the new entry at the Link - where the addition and the existing building converge (see image to the right)

Click here to read the news story:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/19561

I remember the event hosted by Dean Douthitt to announce the lead gift -it was far from the stuffy and formal press conferences you might expect. It was an ice cream party where the whole school was invited to celebrate with Nancy and Ab Nicholas. Faculty, students, staff, friends from campus all came for a scoop and a handshake, to personally thank Nancy and Ab. The Dean had asked the preschool children to draw pictures of what they would like to see in a new building, and she had the drawings bound and presented it to Nancy - a brilliant and very personal gesture.

I went to the party and offered my thanks to which Nancy said "oh my, don't thank me" and she was quite sincere. After a few minutes of mingling and chatting, I walked back to my office thinking "oh how nice, a new building" - I had been part of the staff for less than a year. Little did I know what was in store.

The Nicholas family together has most generously supported the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their quiet philanthropy is a marvel.

Oh, and a note about the children's ideas for what should be in the new building - unfortunately for this project we were not able to accommodate requests for a pool, a candy mountain or a lot of ponies. Those notes are in my file for "Building Project Phase Two: Expansion to the East."

Another First

The building project is a cascade of "firsts" for me -- from learning the difference between a concrete and steel structure, to Environmental Impact Statements, to learning that "10,000 rubs" isn't about a magic lamp - last Thursday I attended my first beam signing.

The good folks at JP Cullen orchestrated the construction part while Human Ecology handled the celebration end of things - we do love an excuse to party. More than 100 people attended, enjoyed Babcock ice cream and signed the last beam that would connect the historic building to the new addition. Then the beam was raised and spot welded into place. I admit, I got a little emotional - combination of relief and joy. What a milestone to reach.

Beam me up!

It seems like these past few months I've been pumping out communications that start with the line, "...we have reached an important milestone in the building project..." so it will come as no surprise to you that I've got another one!

On June 23, 2011 the good folks at JP Cullen will be lifting the final connecting beam, primed and painted white, into place to complete the structure for the Link, bringing the addition and the existing building together. Now this milestone can be listed among other transforming connections such as the Chunnel, linking of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad, and the Hadron Collider.

Ya gotta think big...unless you living on the edge, you're taking up too much room.