Opening Ceremonies for the Office OlympicsThe Office Olympics was officially opened by the Event Coordinator Barbara Scholman who inspired the athletes with her stirring address and introduction of Inspirational Speaker Laing Kennedy. Kennedy in addition to being Kent State University's Athletic Director, himself has medaled in Office Olympics.
The following are Schloman's remarks:
Welcome to the 1996 Office Olympics! Our goal today and over the next two weeks is to experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. No, no wait, that's not it -- to experience the thrill of competition and some good light-hearted fun.
Libraries & Media Services are the Official Sponsors of these Games and on behalf of our Dean, Don Tolliver, it is my pleasure to welcome you and to introduce our distinguished guest. Laing Kennedy has been Athletic Director at Kent since 1994 and serves as only the tenth Director of Athletics. He came to Kent following eleven successful years at Cornell University.
His entire career has revolved around sports. He himself was a noted collegiate athlete -- All American goal keeper for the Cornell hockey team. He has had some lesser known successes as well. He is included in the Who's Who of Office Olympics and Other University Games, which lists him as successfully competing in the Gender Equity Hot Seat Race and as having medaled int he Administrative Balance Beam.
And so, it is with great pleasure that I give you Laing Kennedy
Note from your roving reporter: Unfortunately in the thrill of the moment, Kennedy's comments were not recorded. Let me assure you that they were inspiring.
Thank you, Laing. You have prepared the Olympians for the tests that lay ahead. And now, the moment you have been waiting for -- the lighting of the Olympic flame. Earlier today the torch was carried across campus to each of our branch libraries, where staff attached a streamer to it. For the last leg of its journey, it is being carried by Sue Thompson of the Reference Department (sound of the Olympic theme played in the background).
I now declare the 1996 Office Olympian to be underway. Remember, there is no such thing as an amateur athlete! Have fun and let the Games begin!
After Kennedy's inspirational pep talk, the torch made its way through the athletes to the Olympic Wok. Schloman turned to the Torch Bearer and together they started the Olympic Flame.
Friday, August 2Closing Ceremonies |
Thursday, August 1Book Retrieval RelayVenue: Olympic Circulation Park Description: For some library staff and users, this is what the Olympics are all about. Demonstrate your skill at retrieving specific items and unobtrusively maneuvering through busy users to pass the wand to your team member. Should be fun for participants and audience alike! Judge: Stuart Moye
Donut DashVenue: Field of Dreams (outside behind the Reference Office) Description: You may be good, but practice could give you the competitive edge. Run for donuts. Judges: Leela Balraj and Sue Thompson |
Wednesday, July 31Office Chair DashVenue: Olympic Hall (outside room 300) Description: Run down the competition in this always dramatic event. We finally found a use for some of those classic office chairs! Note: this is also one of the five Pentathalon events. Judges: Cindy Kristof and Judy Harrington
Synchronized KeyboardingVenue: Olympic Typing Pool (Room 122) Description: This is a two-person team event. Athletes will receive points from a team of judges based on three factors: Costume, Creativity, Consummate skill. Each team will be given three minutes to perform an original routine simultaneously on two PC keyboards. Judge: Barbara Schloman |
Tuesday, July 30Javelin (Paper Airplane) ThrowVenue: Field of Dreams (east side of library outside); in case of rain, Olympic Hall. Description: Athletes construct a paper airplane within a designated time. Each contestant is given three throws. Medalists will be determined based on distance. This is an individual event. Judges: Nellie Flanagan and Barbara Schloman
Paperwad Basketball Free ThrowVenue: The Olympic Pit (Basement, Room 019) Description: Demonstrate why you should be earning $25 million per year. Winners based on number of hoops sunk. Judge: Kara Robinson
Stair MarathonVenue: Olympic Stairdome (Library back stairway beside May 4th room) Description: To climb the most stairs within the allotted time. Participants should wear loose fitting clothing and proper footwear. Judges: Debra Ryland and Jean Spain |
Monday, July 29Office Rat RaceVenue: Reference Offices Description: Welcome to the Rat Race! Teams consisting of two athletes will try to get through a maze of daily office tasks. The entire event (not individual events) will be timed. The two-person team with the best time will win. In the event of a tie, the team that does the most thorough job of drawing the rat by copying an example of a rat at the end of the maze will win. Judges: Mary Lovin, Nellie Flanagan, Sue Thompson, and Sandy Smith
Javelin (Paper Airplane) ThrowVenue: Field of Dreams (east side of library outside); in case of rain, Olympic Hall. Description: Athletes construct a paper airplane within a designated time. Each contestant is given three throws. Medalists will be determined based on distance. This is an individual event. Judges: Nellie Flanagan and Barbara Schloman |
Friday, July 26Conference Room Ping PongVenue: Olympic Arena -- the Reference Department's Conference Room Description: This state of the art arena features air conditioning, wall to wall carpeting, and a finely crafted particle board ping pong table. In the comfortable confines of Olympic Arena, sports fans may watch their favorite athlete participate. Tickets remain for the loge seating and concessions will be available. Judges: Paul Fehrmann and Alfred Mowdood
Staple PullingVenue: Olympic Village (Special Collections Reading Room -- security measures in place for all athletes!) Description: Athletes must remove as many staples as possible from documents WITHOUT causing damage to paper. Then they must replace removed staples with plastic paper clips. Judges: Barb Bass and Nancy Birk |
Thursday, July 25Conference Room Ping PongVenue: Olympic Arena -- the Reference Department's Conference Room Description: This state of the art arena features air conditioning, wall to wall carpeting, and a finely crafted particle board ping pong table. In the comfortable confines of Olympic Arena, sports fans may watch their favorite athlete participate. Tickets remain for the loge seating and concessions will be available. Judges: Paul Fehrmann and Alfred Mowdood
Video Cassette BoxingVenue: Olympic Hall -- outside room 300 (weather looks too tricky for Field of Dreams) Description: A speciality sport for those who can get video cassettes in their boxes under time pressure. This is a simple timed event to test the athlete's manual dexterity and coolness under the stop watch. The athlete who can correctly load 25 VHS cassettes into plastic album cases in the shortest time will win the event. Judge: Dan Tonelli |
Wednesday, July 24Conference Room Ping PongVenue: Olympic Arena -- the Reference Department's Conference Room Description: This state of the art arena features air conditioning, wall to wall carpeting, and a finely crafted particle board ping pong table. In the comfortable confines of Olympic Arena, sports fans may watch their favorite athlete participate. Tickets remain for the loge seating and concessions will be available. Judges: Paul Fehrmann and Alfred Mowdood
Stacks Hackey Sac (Library Soccer)Venue: Olympic Hall -- 3rd floor hallway Description: Winners determined by how many continuous kicks they can get ... that is, how many continuous kicks they can give to the hackey sac before it drops. Judges: Diane May and Weiping Zhang |
Tuesday, July 23Conference Room Ping PongVenue: Olympic Arena -- the Reference Department's Conference Room Description: This state of the art arena features air conditioning, wall to wall carpeting, and a finely crafted particle board ping pong table. In the comfortable confines of Olympic Arena, sports fans may watch their favorite athlete participate. Tickets remain for the loge seating and concessions will be available. Judges: Paul Fehrmann and Alfred Mowdood
Coaxial Cable CoilingVenue: Field of Dreams Description: This was a timed event.The athlete who coiled the 100-foot length of coax (the stiff kind, you can't wrap this around your elbow) in the shortest time was the winner. Judge: Dan Tonelli |
Monday, July 22Conference Room Ping PongVenue: Olympic Arena -- the Reference Department's Conference Room Description: This state of the art arena features air conditioning, wall to wall carpeting, and a finely crafted particle board ping pong table. In the comfortable confines of Olympic Arena, sports fans may watch their favorite athlete participate. Tickets remain for the loge seating and concessions will be available. Judges: Paul Fehrmann and Alfred Mowdood
RubberBand ArcheryVenue: Olympic Hall Description: Athletes shoot rubberbands to knock over standing CD-ROMs (in their cases). Individual competition. The gold medal is awarded to the athlete knocking over the highest number of CD-ROMs in the same-day playoffs. Judges: Sue Thompson and Diane May |
Friday, July 19Diskus throwVenue: Field of Dreams Description: This was a timed event.The athlete who coiled the 100-foot length of coax (the stiff kind, you can't wrap this around your elbow) in the shortest time was the winner. Judge: Dan Tonelli |
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