Nicholas Murray Butler, Bill Murray, and Alan Murray -- Thoughts on Columbia

Eating lunch in the Low Memorial Library at New York's Columbia University brings back fond memories. For instance, I remember when a spider bit an unsuspecting Peter Parker during a campus tour, transforming him into a wall-crawling superhero. Parker, now Spider-Man, would later become a student at Columbia University.

And then there's Weaver Hall, not far from the library, where three eccentric scientists were fired by the dean. The words echo, "You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman! And you have no place in this department, or this university." Shortly after, back at Low Memorial Library, future Ghostbusters sat, just outside, mourning the death of the Department of Parapsychology.

Of course, I didn't see any spiders, there is no Weaver Hall (though I looked) and Columbia University really doesn't have a Department of Parapsychology, but it's fun to imagine over lunch.

And there's more to the Low Memorial Library than movie trivia. It's also the place where the Pulitzer Prizes are awarded each year. It's a place that inspires, where greatness has left its footprints––like Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, former President of Columbia University. Butler once said, "Those people who think only of themselves are hopelessly uneducated. They are not educated no matter how instructed they may be." I believe that and I think President Butler would be proud at how much Columbia University does think of others, no doubt, inspired in part by the legacy he left behind.

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association's 86th annual Spring convention is a prime example of thinking of others. This week, over 300 guest speakers, professionals and publication advisors from around the country, converged on campus, volunteering their expertise for over 400 unique sessions over three days, anything from reporting and photography, to design and leadership, and much, much more.

And it's not just workshops. This army of experts were on hand throughout the convention to offer critiques on newspapers, yearbooks, photography, and websites. They come at great expense of both time and money. Their passion for education is contagious. Truly, they fit President Butler's definition of true education, for they think of others time and time again.

For me, it is an honor to participate, a chance for Uncharted to reach out and think of others and I look forward to each invitation. I always walk on campus thinking, "Mr. Murray, you have no place in this convention, or in this university." Each time I teach I come back better than I arrived. I always learn from the students and advisors attending my session.

This time was no exception as I shared and discussed leadership principles and models that have been invaluable in the founding of Uncharted and its growing success. The students attending my session are leaders on their campus publications. They were eager to learn, their questions were informative, their comments genuine, and their enthusiasm sincere. They could relate with the challenges of leadership. And they gave this instructor a lot to think about on the flight home.

Alan Murray is Executive Director of Uncharted.
He likes sea horses and snowshoes and
frequently has an impulsive urge to leave the country.
To contact Alan you can send to: alan@uncharted.net

Explorer clothing gear

If you're as fired up about Uncharted as I am, you've probably been wishing you had more clothing options for flaunting your Uncharted membership. Wish granted!

I just opened up a new Uncharted merchandise store online that allows us to buy clothing gear proudly displaying Uncharted's name and even the http://www.uncharted.net/ URL. The shirts are a great option for wear as we explore the uncharted, or even just wearing among friends and family in our daily routines. The prices are a bit higher than our former online store charged, but the quality is much higher. We had several complaints from our staff (self included) about the quality of the former store's merchandise, so this new store is an interim fix.

So come check it out and by all means order something that you like to show your commitment to exploring the uncharted!

Uncharted merchandise store--> http://uncharted.spreadshirt.com/

March. Time to Start Vacation Planning

February is a long month for me. March brings hope. The melting snow. The first calls of the telephone bird, twittering away in the balmy 40-degree heat wave. I can start to see hints of pavement in the driveway.

And we start thinking about vacation.

I've still got last year's vacation -- to Oregon -- on my mind. And that brings us to this week's update over at Uncharted: While wandering the beach at Seaside, I found a serene man walking the beach, digging clams. So amid the flurry of ice cream cone-toting tourists and ice cream cone-stealing seagulls, he showed me the finer points of diggind razor clams. They're ugly little monsters, but cooked up in chowder, they're mighty tasty.

Finding Buddha

A karesensui garden. Maybe not the place to take three, shall we say, busy, kids. But these busy kids ate up the scenery at Portalnd, Oregon's Japanese Gardens to the point that when we got to the zen garden, they actually sat on the benches and contemplated the cleanliness, the simplicity of this little sea of pebbles swirling in ripples around the rough rocks. And they got even more excited when their Dad pointed out that the squatty boulders were actually the tigers observing the towering Buddha. Or something like that. I was so blissed out by the time we got there, you could have relaxed me with a feather.

Read more about it here as Michelle takes you on a tour of the gardens. And definitely plan on a visit to the gardens the next time you're in Portland.

Pain? Try Aspirin . . .

Disappointing news from the land of King of the Hammers -- Uncharted Explorer Cody Fuquay was unable to participate in the race, due to technical difficulties with his vehicle. Having had the battery die in my 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass way out in Squirrel, Idaho (population 1/2) I feel Cody's pain. But not quite, because I didn't put as much blood, tears, toil, and sweat into preparing for that trip to Squirrel (I don't even remember why I went there) than Cody put into his first attempt at participating in what's described as the toughest rock crawling and desert race in the United States.

If it's any consolation, fewer than 25 percent of the hundreds of participants who entered and qualified for the race finished it -- the course is that rugged and that hard on drivers, mechanics and equipment. Even in the qualifier he was to race in, only five of twenty competitors finished, so we know it's a brutal race.

But Explorers like Cody are undaunted. When we're living our life of adventure and seeking out the uncharted, sometimes we come face to face with challenges and obstacles. But what we decide to do during those challenges defines our adventures.

In other words, he'll be back to race again.

We at Uncharted wish Cody better luck next year at King of the Hammers, and good luck as always as he participates in other desert race and rock crawling events.

Ready for the Races

It's an event that screams for nicknames.

Lydia “Whistlin' Lyd” Hutchinson you'll meet in a moment. Right now, let's talk about Tud. “Tud” is the nickname. “Tud” Kent. He regularly ran the mail from Ashton, Idaho, to the Railroad Ranch in Island Park, Idaho, a journey of about thirty miles. In 1917, he and four others founded the American Dog Derby. He won the first race that year, a 55-mile slog through deep snow and a raging blizzard from Ashton to West Yellowstone, Montana. In the subsequent ten years, he won five more times, each time in a blizzard. They had better blizzards back then.

This year, those who participate in the 100-mile race will do so in Tud's honor – the race now bears his name.

But there's room for the new at the American Dog Derby, too. The 60-mile race, for instance, is named this year for Ray Gordon, of Rock Springs, Wyo. Since 1995, he's won five races at the American Dog Derby, a record no modern racer has bested. He also boasts of running the Iditarod. Twice. Best I've done is hook our wiener dog up to the kids' sled for a race down our suburban street.

So go to Ashton this year to see the real thing. Races this year kick off Feb. 18 at about 7:30 am (I'm fudging a bit on the time here, get there early to get a good view and so you don't miss the race). Races go on through Saturday the 20^th, with plenty of events in town to keep you entertained.

For more information on this year's events, go to here.

For Uncharted's story on the event last year, go here.

King of the Hammers

Sometimes, when I'm driving my Toyota pickup (no brake problems yet) or my Honda Pilot, I imagine what it would be like to tear off the highway and go bouncing through the fields next to the highway. Then I remember the rainy, bleak morning when I sat in said Toyota with a thrown rod on the side of the road, lamenting how difficult it is to find competent assistance and parts at 3:30 in the morning, and decide, you know what, I'm going to stay on the road.

Cody Fuquay doesn't do that. Oh, he doesn't necessarily go tearing off through the wheat or canola, either, but he does take his rig -- in this case, a Ruesch Panther -- off-road to crawl up rocks, bounce up and down gullies and otherwise find ways to use and abuse his vehicle without worrying about breakdowns, because when he does break down -- I did indeed say when -- he's got a mechanic and fabricator with him: himself.

Cody, an Uncharted Explorer, will participate in California's Griffin King of the Hammers off-road endurance race next week. We hope he survives, emerges victorious and then returns to tell us about everything that happened to him. Good luck, Cody!