August 17, 2006
Etc: News & Notes from around campus
SWIM FOR A CAUSE: Some people will go to any lengths to help out an institution they believe in. Take Tyler Patterson, for example. On Aug. 26 and 27, he’s going to celebrate turning 40 this year by swimming 55 miles around the circumference of Lake Washington and taking donations for the UW’s Experimental Education Unit.
Patterson, a UW alumnus, learned about the EEU through a friend whose sister’s son has autism and attends the school, which is designed for both typically developing and special needs children. Later, looking for a cause to support in his swim, he took a tour of the school and fell in love with the kids.
“I know the EEU is a top-notch organization, one that is really helpful to families like my friend’s,” Patterson said.
This isn’t the first time Patterson has done an endurance event such as this. He’s been what he calls an adventure racer semi-professionally, and has done long-distance running and biking. He also was a competitive swimmer up through his community college years. So far in his training he’s swum 25 miles at a stretch, and says he had a lot of reserve after that. He expects the swim around the lake will take 36 hours, and although he’s never swum that far, he has done other distance events that have taken that long.
Patterson expects to start his journey at the EEU, swim up the Montlake Cut, then take a right and head toward Renton. A kayaker with emergency gear and nutritional supplies will be with him at all times, and an emergency support boat with a registered nurse and medical supplies will be no more than 5 minutes away. Buoys 100 yards offshore will mark the course, which will be lighted at night. He’ll end the swim where he started it.
Patterson has already raised $2,000 for the cause and hopes to do much more. The EEU has set up a Web site at which people can donate. Go to http://depts.washington.edu/eeuweb/donations.htm.
EEU Principal Jennifer Annable said some of the staff would be on hand to see Patterson off when he begins the swim, and the school hopes to organize a celebration for his return. She’s thrilled about Patterson’s effort, and said the money raised would go to the school’s discretionary endowment.
RESEARCH TRUSTEE: Juan C. Guerra, associate professor of English, has been elected a trustee of the Research Foundation of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Guerra will begin a three-year term this November at the council’s annual convention in Nashville, Tenn. The NCTE Research Foundation Trustees review research grant proposals and manage fiscal resources of the foundation. Guerra will also be responsible for developing and conducting research sessions at the annual convention and generating recommendations that encourage and foster research.
