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For Immediate Release
November 15, 2002
Nebraska Wesleyan Bringing 2002 Olympic
Games to Nation's Heartland
Competitors Scurry To Campus For 28-Year Tradition
LINCOLN – A 28-year tradition has landed the
Olympic Games at Nebraska Wesleyan University where the competitors
are small but feisty.
Nebraska’s top rated liberal arts college
is “Home of the Rat Olympics” and will celebrate with
Olympic fever once again on Thursday, December 5, 2002, when the
rodents contend for gold, silver and bronze medals. Teams will compete
in track, weight lifting, long jump, tight rope and rope climb.
The University’s Smith-Curtis Administration Building will
serve as this year’s Olympic multi-sport complex.
“The competition should be fierce,” said
Nebraska Wesleyan Psychology Professor Spencer Morrison. “The
crowds will be amazed by the rats’ agility and their trainers’
accomplishments.”
Rat Olympics debuted in 1974 by Dr. Marty Klein
in his “Basic Learning Principals” psychology course.
Since then, Nebraska Wesleyan students have trained hundreds of
rats on the power of positive reinforcement. Across the country,
most psychology courses in learning behavior utilize computer programs
for this purpose. Morrison said training live rats provides for
more beneficial interaction.
“The Rat Olympics provides a distracting environment
that isn’t available with the computer model,” Morrison
said. “The complexity of both the Rat Olympics environment
and behaviors adds a far greater challenge to the trainers which
requires them to use more techniques in new and creative ways.”
On December 5th, student teams and their rats will
participate in opening ceremonies and then compete for medals in
each event. Medals are determined by the rats’ highest overall
scores. A medal ceremony will conclude the day’s event.
In the past, the Nebraska Wesleyan University Rat
Olympics was a private event for psychology students. In 2001, the
event expanded to a campus and community-wide celebration, capturing
the attention of The Discovery Channel and ESPN.
This year’s Olympic festivities begin at 4
p.m. and will last approximately one hour.
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