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BLUE, the star rat of the Psychology Department at
Georgia Southern College, makes a “dunk" shot.
Rampant rodent
makes his point
STATESBORO-What is
five inches long, has pink
eyes, is white all over, has a
blue streak down its back,
and plays basketball? A rat!
A rat? That’s right and
Blue’s his name.
A rat that plays basket
ball? Yep!
It began as a class
assignment for two Georgia
Southern College psychology
majors, Glenn Fling of
Savannah and Terry Can
trell of Atlanta, in their
Principles of Conditioning
and Learning class. Ac
cording to Richard
Kleinginna, assistant
professor of psychology at
GSC, each student had to
train an animal to perform
different activities.
Blue was taught to play
basketball by the "shaping
procedure” which entails
reinforcing him for doing
certain criteria by feeding
him. “We chose to shape
Blue by feeding him by hand
instead of mechanically,”
said Fling. “We feel that he
has progressed faster
because of this.”
“Blue has to be ap
proximately 85 percent
below normal weight so that
he’ll respond to training by
feeding,” stated Cantrell.
“Therefore, he has to be
weighed before and after
each performance.”
“Blue was trained to run
a straight line first," said
Nancy Morris, a GSC lab
assistant. “We started by
Childfree life
can be happy
VALDOSTA, Ga. - As the
patter of little feet is heard
less and less in happy homes
these days, the childless
marriage is beginning to be
termed “childfree,” ac
cording to Dr. Bernard
Cosneck of Valdosta State
College.
“The traditional view that
every marriage, to be a
happy one, must be blessed
with children isn’t as widely
held in this libertarian age as
it once was,” Dr. Cosneck
said.
And the sociologist points
out there are valid
arguments to support the
switch in attitude.
“Many otherwise won
derful people are very poor
parents,” he said.
“The mere biological act
of giving birth doesn’t
qualify a person to become
an adequate parent. Nor
does it give that person the
ability to properly manage
and rear children.
“On the other hand, there
are many people who would
make superb parents who
simply do not want children.
They feel life is completely
adequate, that they have an
ideal relationship as a couple
and they don’t want children
‘cluttering up’ their lives.”
Such couples prefer to
maintain what they call
“childfree marriage,” which
frees them for competition in
the career world without the
anxiety of parenthood.
“Notice the term
‘childless’ is not used," Dr.
Cosneck pointed out. “Some
would call this avant garde
approach selfish, but such
•‘childfree’ couples are doing
what every population ex
pert says the human race
must do: have fewer
babies.”
Dr. Cosneck cites a study
conducted by the Institute of
Social Research at the
University of Michigan,
which reports the happiest
married couples polled were
those without children.
“According to this study,
in 2,000 personal interviews
putting strips of bright
yellow and dark blue
masking tape down on a
table top,” continued Fling,
“and Blue had to distinguish
between the two. He would
get reinforced for walking
down the right color tape.”
Since Blue had a natural
tendency to play with balls in
his cage, the next step was to
teach him to put the “ball”
a marble, on top of
something. “We taught him
to put the marble on top of a
tuna can,” said Fling, “and
then he graduated to soup
cans, and finally to a
basket.”
At first the basket was
placed in the middle of a
circle, but "we found that
Blue would put the marble in
the basket better if the
basket was up against a
wall,” commented Morris.
The entire procedure of
training Blue to play
“basketball” took ap
proximately 15 hours. "At
the present time, we have
the basket up to seven inches
high,” said Cantrell, "and
we plan on raising it even
further.”
It’s quite a sight to see a
rat pick up a marble in his
moutn, scramble to the
basket, and make a “ dunk”
shot. Blue is definitely the
star of the Psychology
Department.
A rat that plays basket
ball. What will they think of
next?
among the childless married
couples in the 18-29 age
bracket, 88 per cent of the
women and 72 per cent of the
men said they were happy
without children,” he said.
“Among those couples
over age 29,69 per cent of the
women and 75 per cent of the
men were content without
children. The percentage
decreases a bit as age ad
vances but not enough to be
considered significant.”
But what of the so-called
“empty nest” syndrome said
to be suffered by couples
whose children have left
home because of marriage
or a career?
“The University of
Michigan research indicates
the opposite,” Cosneck
smiled.
The marriage counselor
sociology professor feels
strongly every child should
be wanted but not born as a
result of pressure from
relatives.
“One of the external
pressures a young married
couple faces is the wish of
their own parents to become
grandparents,” he said.
"Peer pressure—keeping up
with the Joneses who have
several children—is another
traditional motivation to
produce children whether
one really wants them or
not ”
The distinction between
childless and childfree is an
important one, he insists.
“In the childfree situation,
lack of children is volun
tary,” he said.
“But in the childless
marriage, the lack of
children may be due to
sterility or some other
medical (ciological) reason.
Those having children
merely because they think
they should, that society
expects it, are asking for
trouble. There are marriage
counselors who are saying
divorce can begin with
diapers.”
ALBANY, Ga.- The State
College Division of Nursing
has been awarded a three
year grant in the amount of
$276,006. According to
President Charles L. Haues,
the grant was awarded to the
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Albany State gets money for nursing program
college by the United States
Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare, for
the purpose of providing
educational opportunities for
students from restrictive
backgrounds. The first
| Griffin 1
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grant. According to Mrs.
Starke, “The grant will also
be used to promote cultural
enrichment and increase
self-esteem through
Page 23
— Griffin Daily News Thursday, May 5,1977
collegiate experiences.”
The objectives of the
project are: to identify and
facilitate entry of the
educationally disadvantaged
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who is educationally
disadvantaged to achieve in
a baccalaureate nursing
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