Chip Timmons - We often hear the expression, "it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it." It's usually said in jest as my friend Heikki Larsen '97 did in a recent issue of Wabash magazine when describing his experience judging a bikini contest in Hawaii.

Today, I mean this literally.  I trudged over to our storage facility on Jennison Street to tackle the unenviable task of taking inventory of our admissions literature.  This necessary evil must be performed every May before I begin editing our publications for next fall. It helps to know what you need before you order more.   

I spent the better part of the afternoon on a ladder counting boxes and rearranging materials in order to better track what is moving off our shelves.  I always seem to find a few outdated items, but this year I found few surprises.  

My task was made much simpler thanks to my friend, Ron Bowerman. When I need materials delivered to the office, Ron is quick to respond. He and Ken Brady help our office in ways that usually go unnoticed, but I think we all know they're part of the team, just like everyone on campus.

Ron came to my aide yesterday with his forklift and his deft handling of that machine saved me from doing some damage to my back.  A box of #10 envelopes only weight about 30 pounds, but you have 120,000 envelopes in stock, that's a lot of paper to move.