V A N D E R B I L T U N I V E R S I T Y M E D I C A L C E N T E R

February 2003HOUSE ORGANHOUSE ORGAN

Pets of the Medical Center 2003

Richie Flowers ofAnesthesiology’sdog, Snicker.

www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/houseorgan

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w a t c h i n g t h e w h e e l s

Gladys has heard it allBY WAYNE WOOD

I’ll bet that Gladys Smith, the per-son who runs the office in Newsand Public Affairs, thought shehad heard it all. She has heardfrom all of us in the department foryears about our missing work dueto stomach viruses, headaches,colds, flu, sick spouses, sick chil-dren, sick cats, sick dogs, houseclosings, house refinancings,plumbing problems, electricalproblems, heating problems, doctorvisits, dental visits, baby check-ups—pretty much anything thatcan disrupt life and lead to somemissed work time.

But that day in late Decemberwhen I went running out of the office calling over my shoulderthat I had to rush home because Ihad to get a squirrel out of myhouse—I don’t think she hadheard that one before.

The squirrel in question had takenup residence in the chimney, and,when he—by which I, of course,mean he or she, since squirrel genderdetermination is one of my manyareas of non-expertise—thoughtthe coast was clear, would pop outof the fireplace to mosey aroundthe house. He was in search offood or water, I guess.

This started on a Saturday. Sharonand I were in one part of the houseand heard some mysterious thump-ing and the sound of window blindsrattling coming from another partof the house. I went to investigateand was surprised to spot thisbushy tailed intruder walking acrossthe living room. The squirreldidn’t seem afraid of me—obvi-ously a city squirrel that was per-fectly accustomed to being aroundpeople. So he just hopped up onthe gas logs and climbed into thechimney.

I got a flashlight and looked upinto the chimney. Couldn’t see any-thing but sooty bricks, so I hopedthe wayward rodent had found away out the top of the chimneyand that was the end of that.

No such luck.

continued on page 16

© 2003House Organ is the magazine for the staff, faculty, volunteers, and students of Vanderbilt UniversityMedical Center. It is published monthly, with a combined December/January issue, by the Office ofNews and Public Affairs of VUMC. News stories, ideas, and suggestions are welcome, and should besent to House Organ, CCC-3312 Medical Center North, Nashville, Tenn., 37232-2390. E-mail:Wayne.Wood@MCMail.Vanderbilt.Edu

The paper used to print House Organ is recycled and recyclable.Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action university.

Director of Publications for VUMC and Editor: Wayne WoodStaff Writer: Nancy HumpreyPhotographer: Dana JohnsonDesigner: Jenni Bongard, Vanderbilt University Publications & Design

VanderbiltUniversityMedicalCenter

HOUSEORGAN

Pets of the Medical Center 2003It’s our annual look at the (mostly) furredcreatures that share our houses, couches,beds and lives. And sometimes drink out of our toilets.

For These Guys, It’s PersonalTwo VUMC people who care for

patients have their own stories of being patients here.

Writing ContestDust off your quills, Royals, Selectrics, and Microsoft Words — and come July, you could be the envy of your department.

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February 2003

Donna Gooch, Information Management.Kelsey (6 years old) and Punky (9 years old).

www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/houseorgan

February 2003 3

Vanderbilt people love their pets. All we have to

do is ask, and we get deluged with photos of the

dogs, cats, and other carbon-based life forms

with which we share our lives. Here is a sample

of those we received from people who responded

to the call for entries in the House Organ Pho-

tography Contest. Thanks to everybody who sent

in pictures—and if you don’t see your pet this

time, please try again next year.

PetsO F T H E

Medical Center

1. Julie Prim, Development and Alumni. “Sophie is a miniatureAmerican Eskimo spitz. Her favorite thing to do are eating icecubes and playing ball.”; 2. Teresa MacPherson, OutpatientPharmacy. Katie, a 130-pound English mastiff.; 3. John andJudy Jean Chapman, School of Medicine. Katisha.; 4. AmyKarns, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation. Smokey.; 5. Lauren Carlan, 6 South. Maddie.; 6. Kimberly Brown, graduate student, Cancer Biology. Gnash.; 7. Julie McFarlane, Anesthesiology. “When I saw Ellie I couldn’t resist her. She immediately bounded up to me and proceeded to untie my shoe laces.”

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1. David Canfield, Trauma and Beth Canfield,Core Lab. Simon and Puddin’; 2. Amy Motley,Medicine/GI. Kayla and Macey the cat.; 3. TerrellSmith, Children’s Hospital. Shelby and HappyHound.; 4. Rene Kopp, 10 North. Louie, Pebbles,and Baxter.; 5. Wanda Webb, Hearing andSpeech Sciences. “J.D. and his adopted doggiemom Charley.”; 6. Elizabeth Card, PACU. Mack

(6 years old) and Ace (6 months old).; 7. BeckyChesshir, Pain Control Center. Nabi the dog andPuppy the cat.; 8. Pam MacArthur, Social Work.Jackson, Sampson, and Zack. 9. Lynda Wright,Otolaryngology. Luther, Sam, Snowflake, andSamantha.; 10. Melanie Robinson, MicroarrayCore Facility. Milo and Misty.; 11. Corey Slovis,Emergency Medicine. Nell (in the back seat)

and her stepbrother Shadow (front seat), whobelongs to former Vanderbilt chief resident SethCooper.; 12. Sandy Workman, OR. Sidney andMolly.; 13. Katie Pierce, 6 South. Noelle andSarah.; 14. Judith Woods, Occupational Health.Tia.; 15. Laura Williams, Pediatric Surgery. Kimberly with pet frog Kermit.

Friend of Mine

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Wearing Stuff1

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1. Bryan Brand, Hospital Administration. Boris, stoic wiener.; 2. Lani Kajihara-Liehr, Pediatric PrimaryCare. Koa.; 3. Lana Molnar, Orthopedics. Maggie.; 4. Elizabeth Wolff, Nutrition Services. Emma.; 5. Julie Richard, Orthopedics. Wally.; 6. Stephanie Shirley, Operations Systems. Daisy.; 7. CindyCraft, Dermatology. Chet. “He sings with us and his favorite food is potato chips. He is always in agreat mood and makes coming home to him so fun after a long day at work.”; 8. Evie Carroll, Pediatric Holding Room. Kylee.; 9. Bryan Brand, Hospital Administration. Igor, birthday boy.

Into Stuff

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10. Camille Ivey, Eskind Biomedical Library. Milton.;11. David DiPersio, Pharmacy.Saffron.; 12. Deborah Allen,Pharmacy. Darwin.; 13. Jen-nifer Peters, Core Laboratory. Sierra.; 14. Lynn Graham,NICU. Lady.

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Written allover my face

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1. Pattie Davis, Urologic Surgery. “I got Rylie through the Tennessee Scottish Terrier Rescue Organi-zation. He is a bundle of energy and a very loving little guy.”; 2. Richie Flowers, Anesthesiology.Snicker. “Trained for quail hunting, but obviously loves water as well.” ; 3. Vanessa Sircy, PediatricEmergency Department. Clyde.; 4. Sara Ford, Cardiac Care Unit. Ebeneezer.; 5. Lauren Sumner,Medical Alumni Affairs. Riley.; 6. Susan Williams, Children’s Hospital. “Freeway is a husky lab mixwho always wears his seat belt. He likes to ride in cars and always listens, too.”; 7. Mark Ball, VUMCHelp Desk. Alex.; 8. Lyndell Weeks, Pathology. “Pre” Sugar Rey Fontaine.

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15. Pat Gideon, Preventive Medicine. Fritz in the strawberry patch.; 16. Andrea Baruchin, Vanderbilt Brain Institute. Billy in the spirea.; 17. Jennifer Spain. Pathology. Bugsy.; 18. Judith Woods, OccupationalHealth. Nuisance.; 19. Lani Kajihara-Liehr, Pediatric Primary Care. Junior.

9. Carrie Nalls, Anesthesia. Maddie.; 10. Linda Bundy,Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. Sprocket.; 11. Carrie Nalls, Anesthesia. Katie.; 12. Debbie Emory,Cumberland Pediatric Foundation. Obi.; 13. Chris Marcon,Pediatric Anesthesia. Higgins.; 14. Rhonda Burysek, 6North. Taz.

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Evil Eye

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1. Sherry Herald, Pediatrics Critical Care. “Dixiehowls at sirens and sings for treats.”; 2. VickiKivett, Microbiology. Lucky, “a 21-pound cat.”; 3. Susan Wilkins, Children’s Hospital OutpatientCenter. Pudge.; 4. Louise Warren, 11 North.“Mew has her own way of looking at the world.”;5. Rene Kopp, 10 North. Emma.; 6. TeresaBarnes, Pulmonary Medicine. Mary Kate.

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1. Julie Mavity-Hudson, Cell and DevelopmentalBiology. Beau; 2. Linda Bundy, Molecular Physi-ology and Biophysics. Tick.; 3. Stacy Brown,Emergency Department and Vickie Cummins,Respiratory Therapy. Princess.; 4. Ima Mosley,Radiology. Wally.; 5. Deb Macheca, PediatricClinical Research. Sally.; 6. Benjamin Poulose,General Surgery. Maddie.

Comfort is King

BY NANCY HUMPHREY

Randy Law and Dr. Michael Fowlerare two Vanderbilt employeeswith very different positions, but

the two share a common bond of immenseappreciation and respect for the facultyand staff who save lives at VanderbiltUniversity Medical Center every day.

It’s a respect brought on by first-handknowledge.

Both men received lifesaving medicalcare at Vanderbilt — Fowler, in 1978,when he was six, and Law in 1992 whenhe was 38. The traumatic events shapedtheir character and lives, and in Fowler’scase, his career path.

Fowler, born in 1972 to William andCarol Fowler of Johnson City, Tenn., wasin an automobile accident in Virginiawhen he was a few months old, anddoctors found that he had a difference inblood pressure in his upper and lower

extremities. The physician who treatedFowler told his parents that he wouldlikely grow out of it.

When he was two years old, his newpediatrician in Johnson City diagnosedthe condition, coarctation of the aorta, acongenital defect in which there is a nar-

rowing of the aortic arch, the mainartery that delivers blood from the leftventricle of the heart to the rest of thebody. The defect leads to restrictedblood flow to the lower part of the circu-lation so blood pressure in the arms and

12 HOUSE ORGAN

F O R T H E S E G

Employees say they were saved

by Vanderbilt’s medical care;

Now they give back to patients

head is high, but low in the legs. Approximately 10 percent of newbornswith congenital heart disease havecoarctation of the aorta.

Fowler ’s pediatrician referred thechild to Vanderbilt where he became thepatient of Drs. Harvey W. Bender Jr.,now professor of Cardiac and ThoracicSurgery, Emeritus, and Thomas P. GrahamJr., Ann and Monroe Carell Family Professor of Pediatrics. In 1978, whenFowler was six, Bender repaired the congenital heart defect with a subcla-vian flap repair, a technique that hehelped pioneer.

“The repair I had at Vanderbilt was soinnovative because it uses real vessel(taken from his arm) to repair the defectrather than plastic grafts,” Fowler said.“If I had had a plastic graft put in, Iwould have required surgery every timeI grew.

“Dr. Bender was the pediatric heartsurgery ‘guru.’ There were folks cominghere from all over the country,” Fowlersaid. “Drs. Bender and Graham literallysaved my life. I had the surgery, had noproblems, and got checkups periodically.

“I shook his hand and told Dr. Graham that he and

Dr. Bender had saved my life when I was a child.

I’m sure he gets that kind of thing all the time.”

it’s Dr. Michael Fowler checks patient Michael Poole of Springfield in the Medical Specialties Clinic. Fowler knows what being a patient feels like.

February 2003 13

U Y S ,

If I had not had the surgery, I probablywould have only lived until my late 20s.In the distant past, people probablyweren’t diagnosed until they had heartfailure or strokes. Technically speaking,I’m on borrowed time.”

Two years ago, Fowler was on call forthe first time during his fellowshipwhen he saw Graham for the first timein 20 years.

“I recognized him immediately.Maybe it was his knee caps that I recog-nized because I remember specificallyhugging his legs when I was in the hos-pital,” Fowler said. “I shook his handand told him that he and Dr. Bender hadsaved my life when I was a child. I’msure he gets that kind of thing all thetime, but he shook my hand, asked mewhat I was studying, how I likedNashville, and how I liked being at Vanderbilt. He couldn’t have been anymore courteous.”

Fowler also visited the room where hestayed in the round wing of MedicalCenter North. “I remember the toys. Iwas always envious. They had a reallynice toy collection in the playroom.”

Fowler said he considered becoming acardiologist or a cardiac surgeon, butthat diabetes was a better fit for his per-

sonality. He believes his experiences as a child shaped the kind of doctor he isbecoming.

“My experience as a child makes memore empathetic,” Fowler said. “I canremember what it’s like to have acatheterization, a chest tube after surgery,and to stay in the hospital for weeks. Ireally look forward to being a memberof the faculty. I know that we do a fan-tastic job of taking care of patients be-cause of what I experienced and what Isee every day. I look forward to beingable to provide the same level of medicalcare to my patients that I received, verycutting edge, using the most recent discoveries and technology.”

BACK FROM 80 PERCENT BURNSRandy Law was employed at Vanderbiltas a special procedures technologist inradiology in 1992 when doctors andnurses at Vanderbilt saved his life. Hewas working on his boat in his drivewaywhen it exploded, blowing him first intothe air, then into his yard. When hisnext-door neighbors ran outside Lawtold them to call an ambulance. Whenemergency personnel arrived, theymade the decision to call for LifeFlight.The helicopter landed nearby in the Mt.

Juliet Elementary School parking lot,and Law was transported to Vanderbilt.

“I remember riding in the helicopter,all of that. It was just a well handledmedical case all the way down,” he said.

By the time the severely injured Lawarrived in the emergency room, he hadbegun swelling and was having troublebreathing. He received a tracheotomy assoon as he arrived. He was cared for byDr. John A. Morris Jr., professor ofSurgery, and Dr. John B. Lynch, nowprofessor of Plastic Surgery, emeritus.Law received second and third degreeburns over 82 percent of his body, andwas soon transferred to Vanderbilt’sLevel I Burn Center. The VanderbiltBurn Center is a regional burn centerthat is staffed by physicians, nurses,therapists and support personnel in-cluding psychiatrists and a chaplainwho work as a team to apply the mostadvanced technology and treatmentmethods to care for severely burned patients, as well as the emotional traumaof the patients and their families.

Law remained in the burn center for42 days, and was hooked to a respiratorfor 16 of those days. He required manygrafts on his arms and legs, but somehowhis face escaped the worst of the burns.

“Through all of their prayers, I made it. It was really pretty spectacular. I

was as bad as most burn patients they have, bandaged from head to toe.”

personal.

continued on page 14

Randy Law setsup the CT for ascan in VUH.

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Proposals invited for CommunityGiving Campaign funds

■ The Vanderbilt Community Giving Campaign Alloca-tions Committee invites campus-affiliated organizationsthat offer direct social services to the Nashville com-munity to apply for funds. James Hudnut-Beumler,2002 Vanderbilt Community Giving Campaign Chair,heads the committee that includes nineteen facultyand staff members.

The Allocations Committee distributes gifts left un-designated by donors in the Vanderbilt CommunityGiving Campaign and collected in the previous calendaryear. This year the committee has $34,764 to grant to applying programs. Last year, the committee provided$41,443 to 24 programs.

Interested programs need to request and submit anapplication. In addition to a completed application,programs must submit a program description and aproposed budget. To request an application, pleasecontact: Vanderbilt Community Giving Campaign Allocations Committee, c/o Office of Internal Cam-paigns, Box 357500 Station B. The application deadlineis March 19, 2003.

For additional information on the Vanderbilt Community Giving Campaign Allocations Committee,please contact the Office of Internal Campaigns at 343-8759.

Sysco no longer part of discount program■ Robert Orr-Sysco no longer participates in the Vander-bilt Staff and Faculty Discount Program. The listing in the December/January issue included Sysco in error. We’resorry about any inconvenience caused by the mistake.

Staff Council seeks grant applications■ The Medical Center Staff Advisory Council (MCSAC) is nowaccepting applications for grant funds raised at its 2002 AnnualNeedles and Pins crafts fair and bake sales. These funds will begranted to areas within the Vanderbilt Community that benefitstaff, faculty, patients, and/or Vanderbilt affiliated communityprojects.

Available funds are limited and a percentage of total fundswill be allocated to the Employee Assistance Program, said BettieFerguson, president of the MCSAC. Requests for items that areroutinely the responsibility of departmental funding will alsonot be considered, she said.

Those interested in submitting an application should completea Grant Application Request Form, available from Lynn Crittendon at 343-3707, and return it to her at B-802, TVC (5510)no later than February 28.

Those selected to make a presentation to the council will benotified by March 14, 2003. The presentation itself will be madeduring the meeting of April 16, 2003. Grant funds will be allo-cated during the beginning of next fiscal year, which beginsJuly 1.

Skin peeled from his face, like a chemicalpeel, but somehow it was spared themost severe burns. Law believes it’s be-cause he raised one of his arms in fronthis face to shield himself from the explo-sion. “It got me good under my arm anddown my chest. I had on a pair of shortsand the fire just melted them,” he said.

“I had worked in Radiology for 18years and I knew a lot of people fromhere and other hospitals. Through all oftheir prayers, I made it. It was reallypretty spectacular. I was as bad as mostburn patients they have, bandaged fromhead to toe. I don’t remember a lot of itbecause I was so heavily sedated. Twonurses would bandage me, and as soonas they were done they would have to

do it again because I was soaking thebandages. When I finally got out of bed,I couldn’t support my weight. I waspurple. I didn’t have any skin on mybody. What portion of my body wasn’tburned, they scraped for grafts. I wasjust one big bloody mess from head totoe. Even the tops of my feet are grafted.People don’t think about your skin beingan organ, but it keeps everything in theworld out of your inside, so it’s actuallythe most important organ you have.”

Law said he had recovered in sixmonths, and took a job in radiology inLebanon, to be closer to his home and hisrehabilitation. He took the burn center’sinstructions seriously and wore thepressure garments they gave him everyday for 15 months. The garments coveredhis face, chest and legs.

“There are many burn patients outthere who have strictures, and can’traise their arms. That’s because theydidn’t wear their outfit (pressure gar-ments) and do the rehab exercises. Dayafter day I had to stretch. It was a realordeal, but I did it.”

Law said he has immense admirationfor the doctors and nurses in the BurnCenter. One of his nurses, Heather

Weaver, still works there.“The people there do such a wonderful

job. I don’t know how they do it. Patientsare severely injured, then after days ofsedation, you hurt. There are lots ofemotional changes.”

Law returned to work at Vanderbiltthree years ago where he is now a CTtechnologist in radiology. Occasionally,he returns to the Burn Center to helpwith imaging.

“I didn’t want to go over there at first,and told them here that I didn’t, but itwas hindering the progress of work notto go. My first few trips over there wereweird. It was strange, but now I’ve beenback on many different occasions. I’vebeen able to talk to patients and families.A lot of them are in the gutter of despairwhen they’re over there and thinkthey’ll never get better. I like to reassurethem that they’re getting the best carehere. I tell them that Nashville is luckyto have a burn center like this. It couldn’thave happened any better for me. It’s afate of God that brought it all together. Ireally didn’t think I was hurt that badwhen it happened. Once I got on my feet,I realized how bad it had really been.”

continued from page 13

Randy Law examines a CT on the computer monitor.

February 2003 15

VUMC people contribute to Hospital HospitalityHouse project■ Nurses and other care providers atVUMC raised more than $30,000 in con-struction costs for the Hospital HospitalityHouse, a place where families of out-of-town patients of all area hospitals can stay.

Sharon Adkins of VUMC’s Center forParish Nursing and Health Ministriesand a board member at HHH said thatmany patient care staff from the MedicalCenter donated out of their pockets,while others raised money through bakesales and other means.

The HHH, located only two blocks offthe Vanderbilt Campus on ReidhurstAve., is adding to and updating its ac-commodations, and one of the newrooms will have a plaque acknowledg-ing the contributions of VUMC people,Adkins said.

Harris Teeter purchases canhelp Children’s Hospital■ Those who shop at Harris Teeter gro-

cery stores can use the chain’sdiscount card to benefit the Children’s Hospital.

According to the Children’sHospital Development Office,

by using the discount VICcard and telling thecashier to link to To-gether in Educationcode 4186, five percentof the purchase price ofHarris Teeter private la-bel items will be donat-ed to the school at Chil-dren’s Hospital, theonly accredited hospi-tal school program inthe state.

Questions about the program can be directed to the Children’s HospitalDevelopment Office at 343-6469.

Faculty and staff provided membership plan at Legends■ Legends Club of Tennessee, a golf course in Franklin, Tenn., owned by the Uni-versity, has announced a new membership program for VanderbiltFaculty and Staff, says Angela Votta at the club.

The club’s non-refundable initiation fee for a Vanderbiltfaculty or staff regular membership is $7,200, and is nowpayable in 72 monthly payments of $100. Monthly dues are$215 for an individual, or $258 for a family.

To tour the club, or discuss details of this special offer andother membership options, call Votta at 791-8100 extension 222.

For the 19th year, the July House Organ will be the Summer ReadingIssue, filled the winners of the HouseOrgan Writing Contest—poems,short stories, and nonfiction piecescontributed by staff, faculty, and stu-dents of VUMC.

Every year demonstrates that theMedical Center has a lot of peoplewith literary talent walking arounddisguised as regular people, and theHouse Organ Writing Contest is achance to show everybody what youcan do.

The rules are pretty simple.There are three categories: poetry,

fiction, and nonfiction.There are no length restrictions in

the poetry category.The fiction category is limited to

4,000 words.The nonfiction category, which

encompasses journalistic writing,memoirs, feature stories, historicalpieces, profiles of interesting people,or anything else that’s true, also hasa 4,000-word limit.

Please indicate the category of yourentry; sometimes it’s a little hard forthe judges to figure out what is fic-tion and what is nonfiction.

All staff and faculty of VUMC, except those who work in News andPublic Affairs, are eligible. Medical,nursing, and graduate students arealso eligible.

Submissions are limited to threeper category. Each entry must betyped, double-spaced, and have theauthor’s name, place of employmentor school, and a phone number on

the first sheet, OR may be e-mailed,with the same information, towayne.wood@vanderbilt.edu.

E-mailed entries should be eitherincluded in the e-mail by using thecut-and-paste feature, or may be sentas an attachment saved in rich textformat (RTF).

Entries will not be returned, andmay be edited for space, clarity, orstyle before publication.

Deadline for entry is Friday, May16. The entry must arrive by thedeadline date.

The winners will be published inthe July House Organ. If we haveroom, we’ll also publish some honor-able mentions.

Send entries to the email addressabove, or to:

House Organ Writing ContestCCC-3312 Medical Center North 2390

Address any questions to the editor,Wayne Wood, at 322-4747, or at the e-mail address above.

C H E C K L I S T F O R E N T R I E S :

Author information: Name, depart-ment or school, address, and phonenumber.

Entry information: Category—fic-tion, nonfiction, or poetry. Check tobe sure your work is within thelength requirement.

E-mail entries must be submitted bycut-and-paste into the body of the e-mail, or sent as an RTF file.

Must arrive by Friday, May 16.

C A L L F O R E N T R I E S :

House Organ Writing ContestD E A D L I N E M A Y 1 6

16 HOUSE ORGAN

The next day, same thing. In the afternoon we heard something movingaround. A quick census of the dogs re-vealed that the crack canine securitysquad—dogs who frequently bark fu-riously at thin air—was peaceablydozing away, unconcerned that theirhome was being invaded. The squirrelwas in a back bedroom this time, lookingout a window. I circled back throughthe house and opened the front door.My logic was that the squirrel waslooking for a way back outside andgiven the chance would run out thedoor to freedom.

I went back and sort-of herded Mr.Bushy Tail toward the living room sohe could make his departure, congrat-ulating myself on the shrewd plan Ihad concocted. It soon became apparentthat I was premature in my pride athaving outsmarted the squirrel; he ranpast the open front door and hoppedback up into the chimney.

Sharon later said she heard meplaintively cry, “No, don’t go that way!”at the squirrel’s back as he ran by.

So the day that Gladys had seen merun out of the office on a squirrel removal mission was Day 3 of the oc-cupation. I had put a baby gate, whichwe normally use to keep the dogs outof the living room when we’re nothome, in front of the fireplace so ourlittle gray friend wouldn’t be able toget back out. I still was harboringsome fond hope that he would get themessage and climb out the top.

Didn’t happen. Sharon called fromhome and said that the squirrel wasrattling the baby gate like JimmyCagney working the bars in an oldprison movie.

When I got home this time, though,I had my plan in place. I opened thefront door again. I took away the babygate. And I waited. After about a halfhour, the squirrel hopped out into theliving room, looked around, and wentpast the open front door again, intothe dining room.

I couldn’t believe it. I put the gateback over the fireplace opening, so thatthe front door was the cunning little

beast’s only way out. And then I headedinto the dining room to engage instrategic squirrel herding (at least that’sthe way I’ll describe it on my resume).

As I walked through the livingroom the arrangement of furniture issuch that I lost sight of the bottom ofthe front door. Mr. Squirrel apparentlytook advantage of that moment to takehis leave. To my distress, I didn’t actu-ally see him go, but I knew that a re-turn to the fireplace was out of thequestion, and a thorough check of thedining room, the subject’s last knownwhereabouts, was negative. And whenI walked out into the front yard, therewas a squirrel in a tree looking down atme. Might have been my imagination,but I think I saw a little snicker.

When I got back to the office I toldGladys about all this. I shook my headabout the whole thing, but Gladys justlistened, I’m sure mentally composingone more chapter in the memoir she canwrite after retirement: I’ve Heard it All.

w a t c h i n g t h e w h e e l s c o n t i n u e d

■ Among the upcoming activities spon-sored by Health Plus, the staff and facultywellness program:

Two Family Swim Nights ScheduledVanderbilt faculty and staff are invitedto bring their families to a free swim atthe Campus Recreation pool from 5 to8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7. One guest isallowed per child. Bring your staff IDand your own towel. For more infor-mation, call 322-SWIM.

Private Swimming Lessons OfferedThose who want to learn to swim orimprove their swimming skills canarrange for private swimming lessonsthrough the Vanderbilt Swim School—even during times when the schoolisn’t conducting classes. A series offive lessons costs $120. Call 322-SWIMfor more information.

Babies and YouBabies and You, the prenatal programoffered to full time faculty and staff

and their dependents, has a newbenefit with the new year. Followingthe birth of a baby, the parents willqualify for a one free home visit by aregistered nurse. This service is avail-able for residents of Davidson and sur-rounding counties.

Co-sponsored by Health Plus andthe March of Dimes, the Babies andYou program focuses on early prenatalcare, the prevention of birth defectsand low birth weight. Sign up for Babies and You within the firsttrimester of pregnancy and your babywill be eligible to receive a $100 sav-ings bond when he or she is born.

To find out about the upcoming Ba-bies and You classes or for more infor-mation on the program, contact LisaConnor at 343-8943.

Massage TherapyMassage therapy can give relief fromsore, tight muscles, and can help yourelax—just what the doctor orderedduring the holidays. Health Plus pro-vides massage therapy every Tuesday

from 5 to 7 p.m. The fee for this serviceis $1 per minute. Members pay themassage therapist at the time of the ap-pointment. Call 343-8943 to make anappointment.

Fitness TestingHealth Plus is offering free fitness test-ing to full-time staff and faculty. Thetest includes cardiovascular endurance,flexibility, muscular endurance, andmuscular strength. The test takes about45 minutes, and should be done wear-ing comfortable work-out type clothes.For more information, call 343-8943.

YogaHealth Plus has two yoga instructors,Bliss Wood and Polly Burrus, and of-fers yoga classes Tuesday and Thurs-days at 11:30 a.m. and Mondays andWednesdays at 5:15 p.m. Beginners arewelcome, and should wear clothes thatallow stretching and movement.

Health Plus has family swimming, new parents get nurse visit, more