The School of Management loses it
December 17, 2018
The School of Management supply closet has become home to an odd new ritual. Every
Tuesday for the past 14 weeks, exclamations of success and groans of annoyance filtered
out from the closet as 10 faculty and staff of SOM have faced down a formidable adversary:
the scale.
The competitors divided into two teams, Team Cupcake with captain Peggy Keiper, and
Team HooDoo with captain Amy Cooper, with each team choosing a name based on off-limits
treats. Dean Mark Herrmann even joined the fun as a proud member of Team Cupcake.
The teams weighed in once a week, with SOM travel and purchasing coordinator Angel
Buchanan keeping track of individual weights and overall team percentages. SOM student
workers maintained a poster board with updated team totals for ultimate bragging rights.
There were even mini-challenges that inspired the involvement of those not in the
weight-loss competition; for the 77,000 Steps in 7 Days Challenge, eight participants
posted nearly 807,600 steps, or the equivalent of almost 383 miles!
Competitors chose the duration of the competition specifically to bridge several of
the year’s worst culprits for weight-gain, including the annual SOM potluck and Halloween
Party, Thanksgiving, and a host of holiday parties. Furthermore, the SOM office is
typically host to a wide variety of baked goods, snacks and candy brought in by staff
and faculty alike. There was no small amount of playful sabotage in the form of cinnamon
rolls and cookies teasingly left in view of the dean’s office, but the teams stuck
to their goal.
“It definitely kept me on track,” noted Team HooDoo captain Amy Cooper of the difficulties
of dieting during the holidays. “It was stressful at times, but that’s not a bad thing.”
Overall, the results corroborate Cooper’s assessment. The 10 competitors lost a combined
total of 130.4 pounds in 14 weeks, a whopping 6.39 percent of their combined weight
from the start of the challenge. Team HooDoo was victorious, though both teams put
up amazing numbers.
“It was a worthwhile experience,” said Team HooDoo competitor Cam Carlson.
Herrmann agreed. “I think it was incredibly successful. It was a brilliant idea.” (When
asked whose idea it had been exactly, Herrmann grinned proudly and stated, “Mine!”)
What’s next for the SOM supply closet scale? “Maybe a maintenance challenge,” Herrmann
said. With the competition ending before the holidays and many of the participants
leaving Fairbanks to travel, the possibility of regaining some of those lost pounds
is high. Furthermore, the various starting weights of the competitors brought its
own set of complications, as by the end of the 14 weeks many competitors had no weight
left to lose. SOM is therefore branching out to look for other ways of inspiring its
employees to make healthy choices, toying around with the possibility of a calorie-deficit
challenge or even a group for one of the many local runs in the spring.
One thing is for certain — at the SOM holiday potluck, there were more than a few
celebratory desserts alongside a veggie tray.