For Immediate Release

November 26 , 2007

rats are ready: event has rodents racing, climbing, and swimming

LINCOLN, Neb. —A 33-year-old tradition has some of Nebraska Wesleyan University’s furriest and feistiest residents ready for competition.

On Thursday, December 6, Nebraska Wesleyan will again host its annual Xtreme Rat Challenge where lab rats compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals. The event will begin at 4 p.m. in the Smith-Curtis Administration Building, located one block east of 50th Street and St. Paul Ave. in Lincoln, Nebraska.

New to this year’s competition is the lever pressing competition. Rats will compete within a Skinner Box and medals will be awarded to the rat who presses the level the most in three minutes. Other events will include hurdles, rope climb, tightrope walk, long jump, and swimming.

The Xtreme Rat Challenge debuted in 1974 in Professor Marty Klein’s “Basic Learning Principles” psychology course. Since then, Nebraska Wesleyan Students have trained hundreds of rats on the power of positive reinforcement. The course’s current professor, Marilyn Petro, Assistant Professor of Psychology, says Klein started the event because he believed “we learn best by applying what we learn.”

 “Probably the most important thing I’ve learned is patience,” said student Tom Janousek.  “Starting out was really tricky and quite often frustrating but these things take time. It’s funny; the rat ended up teaching me something.”

The event was originally called the “Rat Olympics” until 2003 when the United States Olympic Committee threatened a lawsuit against Nebraska Wesleyan for using the word “Olympics.” The lawsuit threat drew the attention of Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the Late Show with David Letterman.

A medals ceremony will conclude the event. The Xtreme Rat Challenge will last approximately one hour.