N. LITTLE ROCK - I'm back at the house after a crazy week. Trevor, my stepson, celebrated his 14th birthday Thursday night, so I drove from Monticello to Little Rock to be there. We met John & Norma for dinner at China King and gained back those pounds I'd lost riding the bicycle since the beginning of the semester.

I had to drive back to Monticello Friday morning to help get out the first issue of The Voice this semester. The students finally control the majority of the publishing process. Although I'm glad they're operating it, I found it a little hard to stand on the sidelines since I've been publishing it for the last two years. However, I trust this staff more than in recent years as they know what I'm looking for and are showing the dedication to work hard on a good product. :)

One of the stories in the Voice talked about the new Wandering Weevil Wheels program. I got the idea from living in the mountains outside Telluride, Colo., back in the summer of 1995. Telluride would paint the bikes yellow and allow anyone to ride anywhere in town since they worked to keep automobiles out of town. At UAM, the chancellor's behind the idea. I've already received help from Gary Marshall and Tom Richard, while Buck DeFee promises to help fix the bikes.

I'm trying to figure out a way to get the American Democracy Project to bring the independent candidates to campus, but I'm really concerned about time constraints. We'll see.