November 27, 2009, 11:00 a.m.
I Can CCC Our Way Out of Recession
(brought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
Today we transition from the poverty, and generosity, of Thanksgiving Day, e.g., Lee Hermiston, "Sharing food, lives; Church serves meal as a gift to community," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 27, 2009, p. A1, to the profligacy of the Black Friday Stampede -- America's equivalent to Pamplona, Spain's running of the bulls -- on our corporatized, computerized, commercialized way to many religions' winter holidays.
It's a time for those of us who are still employed, more or less, to reflect upon the impact of the recession on those who aren't . . .
[. . . but first, know that at the bottom of this blog entry there are links to earlier entries on some of the hot topics from the past week or so that are now getting the most direct hits, along with links to "updates" in the form of subsequent news articles, among which may be the entries you came here looking for.]
Unemployment statistics are a classic example of the old definition of averages: A man with one hand in a pan of boiling water, and one foot in a bucket of ice water is, on average, comfortable.
During the past year no one has become 10.2% unemployed (unless you count "underemployment, of which more in a moment). It's binary; you're either employed or you're not.
The New York Times provides one of its "multimedia interactive graphics" that makes the point: "The Unemployment Rate for People Like You," New York Times, November 6, 2009. As it shows, the percentages of unemployment for various demographic groups that have been averaged into that 10.2% are widely disparate.
For example, the unemployment rate for white, college educated women, 45 and over is 3.7% -- a number well within the normal range for a fully functioning economy. (For white, college educated men over 45 it's an equally acceptable 4.1%.)
On the other hand, the unemployment rate for Black, high school dropouts, aged 15 to 24 is 48.5% -- equal to the worst numbers in third world countries with virtually no economy. For Hispanic men 25 to 44, with a high school diploma, it's 9.9%. For more of the combinations click on the link above and select the demographic characteristics that interest you.
Moreover, even that 10.2% increases to 17.5% if you include, along with the recently unemployed, those unemployed for over six months, part time workers who would rather be working full time, and those too discouraged to continue looking (and even that number does not include, so far as I know, those working full time but at jobs well below their skill, education, and experience level). Presumably that near doubling of the numbers would apply to the percentages within various demographic groups as well.
Since 1948 it has never reached this level except for a time in 1982 -- following which it took five years to return to pre-recession numbers. Kevin Quealy, "Behind the Jobless Rate; a multimedia interactive graphic," New York Times, November 6, 2009.
My point, for now, is that just as we have a growing gap between rich and poor in this country (including "information rich" and "information poor"), so we have enormous gaps in the impact of the recession on various demographic groups.
And from that truth come some serious questions about what we're doing about it.
So far we're applying the same "trickle down economics" that President Reagan taught us. In an economy 70% driven by consumer spending, the money and a sense of economic security are not reaching the middle-to-lower class consumers who make up the majority of Americans. When auto dealers lots are full of unsold cars, giving billions of dollars to General Motors (taxpayers' money that has little prospect of ever being repaid), does little to benefit either workers or consumers -- or to boost the economy. (And don't get me started on the trillions of dollars to Wall Street investment bankers and AIG.)
Providing up to $4500 "cash for clunkers" to clear out that inventory of new cars boosts the income of auto dealers (and provides a false sense of "jobless recovery" with a brief and insignificant blip in GDP as a result), but does little for those who are either too smart, or unable, to borrow more money for any purchase, let alone a new car. It's a gift to those 96.3% of white, college-educated women over 45 who are employed, and in a market for a new car -- but they would and could have made the purchase without the subsidy. Ditto for the $8500 subsidy for "new home buyers." That may help those of the relatively wealthy employed who are able to be in the market for a new home, but neither program does anything for the unemployed or the newly homeless who are unable to pay mortgages on their old homes.
The one program that Washington seems unwilling to try is the no-brainer solution that did work in the last Great Depression and would work now: federal employment.
One of those programs was called the "Civilian Conservation Corps." Opposed at the time by President Roosevelt's Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Army (responsible for some of its administration), that President was willing to take the leadership, and the heat, to push it through to reality -- and great success.
Here is a description from "Scout Report" regarding an online PBS video documentary about the CCC:
American Experience: Civilian Conservation Corps
The excellent film from the WBGH website, The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), is offered in its entirety on this site. "Heal the man, heal the land," was the philosophy of the CCC, and they engaged in some of the first environmental conservation work in the country. Since many academics, politicians, and lay people compare the current troubled times with what was seen in the 1930s, this film is particularly pertinent and visitors can decide if it's an apt comparison or not. Regardless, the stories of the three million young men who benefited from the regular meals, healthcare, clothing, diversity and hard work are fascinating. The trailer for the film starts playing right upon entering the website, but can be stopped just by clicking on the screen. Visitors can scroll over the "The 1930s Collection" logo to the right hand side of the film's screen to see the playlist for the film, but watching the whole film is recommended, as it is truly a treat. [KMG]
As you can read from the "Timeline" on that site, the contrasts between the response of the Roosevelt and Obama Administrations is dramatic.
FDR was sworn in on March 4 of 1933. By March 31 the CCC legislation had been passed and signed. Five days later there were already 25,000 employed in the program -- soon to reach 250,000 and then 3 million. And not incidentally, the benefits to the participants in literacy training and health care paid national dividends for decades more.
"By mid-1933, sixteen CCC camps and thirty-two projects had been approved for Iowa. . . . By the time the CCC ended in 1942, the number of CCC enrollees in Iowa camps would total nearly 46,000. They would contribute to the development of more than eighty state parks, and leave a tangible legacy that still numbers more than seven hundred state park structures" -- including Johnson County's own Lake MacBride State Park. Rebecca Conard, "The Legacy of Hope from an Era of Despair: The CCC and Iowa State Parks," Books at Iowa 64 (April 1996). [Photo credit: the Iowa DNR CCC Web site.]
How far we have fallen from our once proud compassion for our fellow Americans in distress. Nor is that distress limited to homelessness and hunger. See Reid Forgrave, "Worry rises with suicide rate," Des Moines Register, November 28, 2009.
But hunger is still a very real problem. And yet some are even seemingly reluctant to provide the underemployed 17% with unemployment compensation and Food Stamps -- those who are suffering from an economic collapse brought on, through no fault of their own, by greedy, multi-million-dollar Wall Street bankers and those in Washington who've been blessed with their generous campaign contributions. See Jason DeParle and Robert Gebeloff, "Across U.S., Food Stamp Use Soars and Stigma Fades," New York Times, November 29, 2009, p. A1 (More than 36 million receive Food Stamps, a program that "now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children. . . . Under Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Concannon says 'there are another 15, 16 million who could benefit.' . . . [T]he program is now expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day. . . . In more than 750 counties, the program helps feed one in three blacks. In more than 800 counties, it helps feed one in three children. In the Mississippi River cities of St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans, half of the children or more receive food stamps. [H]alf of Americans receive food stamps, at least briefly, by the time they turn 20. Among black children, the figure was 90 percent. . . . [During] the 1990s . . . some conservatives tried to abolish the program . . ..").
Notwithstanding the fact that many, if not most, of these recipients would prefer the self-esteem that comes from work, and the ability to support oneself financially, we have yet to see the first federal job created by the current Administration.
As a result, we all fail to receive the benefits -- for ourselves as well as the participants in a modern-day CCC -- if only we were willing to pay for their work rather than their unemployment.
_______________
Here are links to earlier entries on some of the other hot topics from the past week or so that are now getting the most direct hits, along with links to "updates" in the form of subsequent news articles, among which may be the entries you came here looking for:
UIHC, Regents and UI.
"UI's Basketball Fees Self-Defeating," November 23, 2009
I'll drink to that: "UI Has A Drinking Problem," November 18, 2009 [see "Updates," below];
If UI has become a for-profit corporation . . .: "Corporatizing the University of Iowa; If We're Going to Do It, Let's Do It Right," November 17, 2009
Strategic Communications VP position: "Strategic Communications a Failed Strategy; Actions Speak Louder," November 13, 2009 [See "Updates," below]
Executives trip to Disney World: "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009
"Contributions from patients" proposal: "UIHC: 'Sick Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'; A Check-In and a Check," October 31, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with numerous updates through November 4, links to additional, related material -- and now with over 30 of the Press-Citizen readers' comments on B.A. Morelli's stories) [see "Updates," below]
Board of Regents and State universities' budget cutting: "Cutting Slack, Cutting Budgets; Regents, University Presidents, Deserve Some Thanks and Credit," October 30, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (with links to prior, related blog entries)
Spence break-in grand jury proceedings: "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009 [See "Updates," below]
School boundaries, school boards, and the ICCSD.
"School Board Election: Now Work Begins; It's Swisher, Dorau, Cooper; Old Board 'Starting Off Backing Up' With Consultant and Tough Decisions," September 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with its links to 11 prior and related blog entries including, for example, "School Boundaries Consultant Folly; Tough Boundary Questions Are for Board, Not Consultants or Superintendent, Plus: What Consultant Could Do," and "Cluster Schools: Potential for IC District?")
Nicholas Johnson, "School Board Has Work to Do," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 2, 2009 (and reproduced in blog)
"Boundaries: Only Board Can Do Board's Job; Drawing School Boundaries Made Easy," November 2, 2009
And Updates: UI VP Medical Jean Robillard says patient-donation-dunning plan "canceled a week ago"; spokesperson "clarifies," says "canceled" means "under review," B.A. Morelli, "Leaders Address Employee Concerns; UI Officials: No Decision on Job Issues," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A3; Ashley Oerman, "UI Cancels Asking Patients for Money," The Daily Iowan, November 20, 2009, p. A1; UI's Funded Retirement Insurance Committee asks President Mason to "abolish rather than just delay" UIHC's "patient donation plan," B.A. Morelli, "Group Wants UIHC Patient Donation Plan Nixed," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009, p. A1;
Two Spence break-in grand jury witnesses jailed for refusal to testify, one now indicted, "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009; Anonymous, "Davenport Grand Jury Subpoena for Scott DeMuth," Nov. 11, 2009; "Two jailed for refusing to testify before grand jury," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 17, 2009; Carrie Feldman's Web site and the new "Support Carrie and Scott!"; "Activist indicted for alleged role in Spence Labs vandalism," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009 [in hard copy as "Man Indicted for Animal Terrorism," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A1]; Ann McGlynn, "Activist who refused grand jury testimony now charged with conspiracy," Quad City Times, November 19, 2009; Ann McGlynn and Diane Heldt, "Lab Break-in Charge Pleases UI Officials," The Gazette, November 20, 2009, p. A1; Regina Zilbermints, "Man Charged in Spence Action," The Daily Iowan, November 20, 2009, p. A1; Ann McGlynn, "Animal rights activist pleads not guilty in University of Iowa vandalism," Quad City Times, November 20, 2009; Zack Kucharski, "Judge Orders Animal Rights Activist Held," Quad City Times, November 26, 2009;
Press-Citizen editorial: Hold off on VP for Strategic Communications: Editorial, "Stakes Have Risen for UI's Strategic Communication," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A7 ("it's wrong when UI seems to care more about finding the right way to spin its decisions than about making the right decisions in the first place. The best strategy for UI communication is for officials to be more forthright and to show more common sense.");
Press-Citizen editorializes for 21-only, Editorial, "21-Only Still an Option for Bars with PAULAs," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009, p. A7;
Hancher Relocation: Rachel Gallegos, "Property owner for Hancher site won't sell land," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 26, 2009, p. A1 (and see related five-part series, "Hancher - Part V," September 18, 2009, with links to prior four).
_______________
* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source, even if I have to embed it myself. -- Nicholas Johnson
# # #
November 23, 2009, 6:15 a.m.
Rational Rationing of Recreation
(brought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
How much should pick-up basketball players have to pay to walk onto the floor of the UI Field House south gym?
Paul Donaldson not only thinks it should cost nothing, he documents why it's self-defeating to do otherwise. Paul Donaldson, "UI decision on Field House hurts city," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009.
I agree.
. . . but first, here are links to earlier entries on some of the other hot topics from the past week or so that are now getting the most direct hits, among which may be the entries you are looking for:
UIHC, Regents and UI.
I'll drink to that: "UI Has A Drinking Problem," November 18, 2009 [see "Updates," below];
If UI has become a for-profit corporation . . .: "Corporatizing the University of Iowa; If We're Going to Do It, Let's Do It Right," November 17, 2009
Strategic Communications VP position: "Strategic Communications a Failed Strategy; Actions Speak Louder," November 13, 2009 [See "Updates," below]
Executives trip to Disney World: "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009
"Contributions from patients" proposal: "UIHC: 'Sick Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'; A Check-In and a Check," October 31, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with numerous updates through November 4, links to additional, related material -- and now with over 30 of the Press-Citizen readers' comments on B.A. Morelli's stories) [see "Updates," below]
Board of Regents and State universities' budget cutting: "Cutting Slack, Cutting Budgets; Regents, University Presidents, Deserve Some Thanks and Credit," October 30, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (with links to prior, related blog entries)
Spence break-in grand jury proceedings: "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009 [See "Updates," below]
School boundaries, school boards, and the ICCSD.
"School Board Election: Now Work Begins; It's Swisher, Dorau, Cooper; Old Board 'Starting Off Backing Up' With Consultant and Tough Decisions," September 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with its links to 11 prior and related blog entries including, for example, "School Boundaries Consultant Folly; Tough Boundary Questions Are for Board, Not Consultants or Superintendent, Plus: What Consultant Could Do," and "Cluster Schools: Potential for IC District?")
Nicholas Johnson, "School Board Has Work to Do," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 2, 2009 (and reproduced in blog)
"Boundaries: Only Board Can Do Board's Job; Drawing School Boundaries Made Easy," November 2, 2009
And Updates: UI VP Medical Jean Robillard says patient-donation-dunning plan "canceled a week ago"; spokesperson "clarifies," says "canceled" means "under review," B.A. Morelli, "Leaders Address Employee Concerns; UI Officials: No Decision on Job Issues," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A3; Ashley Oerman, "UI Cancels Asking Patients for Money," The Daily Iowan, November 20, 2009, p. A1; UI's Funded Retirement Insurance Committee asks President Mason to "abolish rather than just delay" UIHC's "patient donation plan," B.A. Morelli, "Group Wants UIHC Patient Donation Plan Nixed," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009, p. A1;
Two Spence break-in grand jury witnesses jailed for refusal to testify, one now indicted, "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009; Anonymous, "Davenport Grand Jury Subpoena for Scott DeMuth," Nov. 11, 2009; "Two jailed for refusing to testify before grand jury," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 17, 2009; Carrie Feldman's Web site and the new "Support Carrie and Scott!"; "Activist indicted for alleged role in Spence Labs vandalism," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009 [in hard copy as "Man Indicted for Animal Terrorism," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A1]; Ann McGlynn, "Activist who refused grand jury testimony now charged with conspiracy," Quad City Times, November 19, 2009; Ann McGlynn and Diane Heldt, "Lab Break-in Charge Pleases UI Officials," The Gazette, November 20, 2009, p. A1; Regina Zilbermints, "Man Charged in Spence Action," The Daily Iowan, November 20, 2009, p. A1; Ann McGlynn, "Animal rights activist pleads not guilty in University of Iowa vandalism," Quad City Times, November 20, 2009; Zack Kucharski, "Judge Orders Animal Rights Activist Held," Quad City Times, November 26, 2009;
Press-Citizen editorial: Hold off on VP for Strategic Communications: Editorial, "Stakes Have Risen for UI's Strategic Communication," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A7 ("it's wrong when UI seems to care more about finding the right way to spin its decisions than about making the right decisions in the first place. The best strategy for UI communication is for officials to be more forthright and to show more common sense.");
Press-Citizen editorializes for 21-only, Editorial, "21-Only Still an Option for Bars with PAULAs," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009, p. A7.
Let me make clear at the outset what this argument is not about, and then itemize some of the issues it does present.
The UI's Division of Recreational Services is proposing to charge for use of the Field House -- including the south gym basketball courts. Whether it should charge for that use is the only question.
No one is proposing that everything in the Field House should be free to public and students alike -- leaving it to the University and Iowa's taxpayers to figure out how to pay for it.
There are literally 170 categories of recreational equipment, facilities and services for which UI charges fees. University of Iowa, Division of Recreational Services, Fees. The only one at issue is the proposal to charge players in pick-up basketball games for the use of the courts in the south gym.
While one might argue about the level of some of these 170 fees, presumably most would concede that there is a legitimate reason to charge for services provided by trainers, equipment that is loaned out and then lost or damaged, facilities such as weights rooms with expensive equipment that must be maintained, personal lockers, or use of a major swimming pool. These are, after all, things for which one would expect to pay when provided by for-profit businesses.
But free access to basketball courts, indoors and especially outdoors, are an American tradition that has been a part of the lives of millions of young American boys and girls -- up to and including the current President of the United States.
This is not to say that there are no expenses associated with the south gym. It must be heated, lit, the floors maintained, and occasionally cleaned. It is only to say that a gym does not require the maintenance costs of a swimming pool, the personnel costs of personal trainers, the loss or damage of equipment, the servicing of weights machines -- nor does it involve the direct, individual, personal benefit of a private locker.
The incremental costs associated with one additional basketball player are somewhere between so infinitesimal as to be immeasurable and zero.
Here are some of the issues I see in this controversy.
UI's Iowa culture and charm. A part of the UI's Iowa culture and charm has been an open campus and unspoken reluctance to impose charges, administrative paperwork, rules, regulations, and ID-passes until a problem requires response. Classroom and office buildings are open to the public. Anyone can wander into the Main Library (one of the nation's first to offer "open stacks") to read the books or use the computers. The UI's hospital is open to anyone who wants to eat in its public cafeteria, listen to the noontime piano, view the art or museum, or just admire the architecture and views from the top floors. When speakers are brought to Iowa City by the UI Lecture Committee their presentations are available to the public at no charge. Undergraduates who like to study in the law library are permitted to do so.
Of course, when 70,000 football fans would otherwise be looking for restrooms, the hospital across the street from the stadium has to lock down and screen patients and their visitors through a single entrance. And if the day ever came when there was no longer room for law faculty and students in the law library, that problem would be addressed. But when there's a campus practice that's not causing problems we tend to avoid regulation for the sake of regulation.
We take this openness and freedom for granted. See generally, Nicholas Johnson, "Corporatizing the University of Iowa; If We're Going to Do It, Let's Do It Right," November 17, 2009 (especially the paragraph beginning, "I can remember a different day.").
But as I've accepted visiting professorships and lecture invitations from dozens of colleges and universities around the country I've not found these precious Iowa values to be widely shared.
So the maintenance of this aspect of the UI's Iowa culture and values are one reason to preserve free access to the basketball courts.
Hawkeyes' Basketball. Not to dwell upon it, but based on the recent record of the Hawkeyes' basketball team, I'd say the more Iowans we have playing basketball for the fun of it the better it will be for our success in future recruiting (a recruiting effort that has produced precious few Iowans).
Nickel and diming. I've written before about the downside of small charges that produce more hostility, and less revenue, than the administrative hassle is worth. See generally, Nicholas Johnson, "Nickel and Diming Don't Make Sense; How is MidAmerican Like a Country Club? They Both Have Membership Fees," August 7, 2009 (e.g., expensive hotels' charges for breakfast and local calls (which cheap motels provide for free), or mechanics' extra charge for "rags").
The most recent UI example is the UIHC's decision to cancel free parking, pushing even this additional charge onto patients -- adding expensive insult to injury while they wait hours past their appointment times running up the parking charges -- and then simultaneously proposing to take patients' financial donations before taking their blood pressure.
Even if we were to charge, what's a reasonable fee to make someone pay who wants to bounce a ball on a floor for 15 minutes while trying to make it go through a little metal hoop? Surely not much.
My guess is that the administrative costs of monitoring who can, and cannot, play basketball on the south gym courts, coupled with the decline in use by those who can't, or won't, pay the fees, might well end up producing yet another example of counterproductive "nickel and diming."
Community values. And now, since it was Paul Donaldson's op ed column that brought this issue to my attention, I'll let excerpts from it tell what Paul Harvey used to call "the rest of the story":
The Field House South Gym community of pickup basketball players will be destroyed unless it is exempted from the fee proposal.
Currently these basketball courts are a place where people from widely diverse backgrounds connect. This is the only place I've personally seen a Palestinian (member of the public) and a Jew (UI student) working together. High school dropouts and medical graduate students, pros and amateurs, from junior high age kids to some 60-plus years old, guys and girls, all find a place in the South Gym where we can come together, and in many cases share much more than basketball. When opportunities for people to connect like this are lost, everyone stands to lose.
Who will be excluded? I'm certain a black 19-year-old I know from playing basketball in the South Gym will not be able to afford a new fee. He just finished high school and is on his own. He has a child and lives with the mother of his child. . . . Will it make a difference if he and others like him no longer have the Field House outlet?
I see so many kids turning to gangs or parties in free time -- and yet when he has a fleeting break from responsibilities, this young man chooses the Field House. Is it beneficial for my friend to meet and know UI undergrads/graduate students? Is it beneficial for UI students to know him?
The UI Field House is currently one of the greatest "non-bar" alternatives in the Iowa City area. You can find games as late as 11 p.m. on a Friday night! A public fee will ruin this "non-bar" community. [See the related, Nicholas Johnson, "UI Has a Drinking Problem," November 18, 2009.] We all share a high cost for losing it. . . .
Economic, cultural, religious and educational barriers break down in this place in ways seldom found elsewhere. Is money truly more important than community? If the distance between the haves and have-nots grows wider and the walls between people grow taller, don't we all pay a price? The current UI Field House is a model for other colleges and universities to follow; not one to abandon so that it's "like the others." . . .
To recap: The UI must somehow, somewhere, find the money to operate its programs. No one is suggesting otherwise. Moreover, this blog entry, and Paul Donaldson's column, do not challenge 169 of the 170 fees charged by UI Recreational Services. But we both believe there are enormous community benefits to continuing the ability of pick-up basketball players to spend time, at no personal cost, on the south gym basketball courts. The revenue that fees could create wouldn't amount to much anyway. The administrative cost of collecting it, and monitoring who is, and is not, permitted to enter the gym, will offset much of even that modest income. And it will be perceived -- fairly -- as an ill-considered, and somewhat mean spirited, "nickel and diming" of the community, one that will produce far more harm in terms of public relations than could possibly be offset with the revenue.
Don't do it. The UI has far more public relations disasters these days than it can handle as it is -- with or without a "Vice President for Strategic Communications."
_______________
* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source, even if I have to embed it myself. -- Nicholas Johnson
# # #
November 18, 2009, 7:40 a.m.; November 19, 2009, 10:15 a.m.; November 20, 2009, 6:30 a.m.
Updates: UI VP Medical Jean Robillard says patient-donation-dunning plan "canceled a week ago"; spokesperson "clarifies," says "canceled" means "under review," B.A. Morelli, "Leaders Address Employee Concerns; UI Officials: No Decision on Job Issues," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A3; Ashley Oerman, "UI Cancels Asking Patients for Money," The Daily Iowan, November 20, 2009, p. A1; UI's Funded Retirement Insurance Committee asks President Mason to "abolish rather than just delay" UIHC's "patient donation plan," B.A. Morelli, "Group Wants UIHC Patient Donation Plan Nixed," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009, p. A1;
Two Spence break-in grand jury witnesses jailed for refusal to testify, one now indicted, "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009; Anonymous, "Davenport Grand Jury Subpoena for Scott DeMuth," Nov. 11, 2009; "Two jailed for refusing to testify before grand jury," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 17, 2009; Carrie Feldman's Web site and the new "Support Carrie and Scott!"; "Activist indicted for alleged role in Spence Labs vandalism," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009 [in hard copy as "Man Indicted for Animal Terrorism," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A1]; Ann McGlynn, "Activist who refused grand jury testimony now charged with conspiracy," Quad City Times, November 19, 2009; Ann McGlynn and Diane Heldt, "Lab Break-in Charge Pleases UI Officials," The Gazette, November 20, 2009, p. A1; Regina Zilbermints, "Man Charged in Spence Action," The Daily Iowan, November 20, 2009, p. A1; Ann McGlynn, "Animal rights activist pleads not guilty in University of Iowa vandalism," Quad City Times, November 20, 2009;
Press-Citizen editorial: Hold off on VP for Strategic Communications: Editorial, "Stakes Have Risen for UI's Strategic Communication," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 20, 2009, p. A7 ("it's wrong when UI seems to care more about finding the right way to spin its decisions than about making the right decisions in the first place. The best strategy for UI communication is for officials to be more forthright and to show more common sense.");
Press-Citizen editorializes for 21-only, Editorial, "21-Only Still an Option for Bars with PAULAs," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 19, 2009, p. A7.
I'll Drink to That
(brought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
Iowa City's alcohol problem, sometimes in the media and always in its bars, is back in both this morning, . . .
. . . but first, here are links to earlier entries on some of the other hot topics from the past week or so that are now getting the most direct hits, among which may be the entries you are looking for:
UIHC, Regents and UI.
If UI has become a for-profit corporation . . .: "Corporatizing the University of Iowa; If We're Going to Do It, Let's Do It Right," November 17, 2009
Strategic Communications VP position: "Strategic Communications a Failed Strategy; Actions Speak Louder," November 13, 2009 [See "Updates," above]
Executives trip to Disney World: "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009
"Contributions from patients" proposal: "UIHC: 'Sick Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'; A Check-In and a Check," October 31, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with numerous updates through November 4, links to additional, related material -- and now with over 30 of the Press-Citizen readers' comments on B.A. Morelli's stories) [see "Updates," above]
Board of Regents and State universities' budget cutting: "Cutting Slack, Cutting Budgets; Regents, University Presidents, Deserve Some Thanks and Credit," October 30, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (with links to prior, related blog entries)
Spence break-in grand jury proceedings: "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009 [See "Updates," above]
School boundaries, school boards, and the ICCSD.
"School Board Election: Now Work Begins; It's Swisher, Dorau, Cooper; Old Board 'Starting Off Backing Up' With Consultant and Tough Decisions," September 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with its links to 11 prior and related blog entries including, for example, "School Boundaries Consultant Folly; Tough Boundary Questions Are for Board, Not Consultants or Superintendent, Plus: What Consultant Could Do," and "Cluster Schools: Potential for IC District?")
Nicholas Johnson, "School Board Has Work to Do," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 2, 2009 (and reproduced in blog)
"Boundaries: Only Board Can Do Board's Job; Drawing School Boundaries Made Easy," November 2, 2009
The City Council has voted to deny a liquor license to one of the town's worst offenders. Josh O'Leary, "Council Denies Summit Liquor License," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 18, 2009, p. A1. Of course, that vote plus a fake ID will still get any underage UI student a beer at the Summit, since the bars "denied liquor licenses" continue to operate -- to the great profit of landlords and bar owners -- during the course of the bars' endless appeals. In this instance, bar owner Mike Porter has bought even more time by filing a lawsuit that asserts what he claims to be his constitutional right to violate the law. Lee Hermiston, "Bar Owner Sues Saying Criteria Unconstitutional," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 18, 2009, p. A1. [In the spirit of the "Fairness Doctrine," notwithstanding its repeal by the FCC, here is Mike Porter's response, received Nov. 18 at 3:58 p.m.: "I respectfully ask you not to use false and potentially libelous statements such as the following: 'bar owner Mike Porter has bought even more time by filing a lawsuit that asserts what he claims to be his constitutional right to violate the law.' Thank you, Mike Porter." If he would like to say any more on the subject it will also be included either here, or in a comment to the blog entry.]
Meanwhile, UI Provost Wallace Loh and Student Services VP Tom Rocklin have jointly authored an op ed, published by virtually every local paper, outlining how serious the University is about curbing alcohol abuse. Wallace D. Loh and Tom Rocklin, "Helping to change the culture of high-risk drinking," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 11, 2009.
But the efforts they describe are not found impressive by this morning's op ed author. Gary Sanders, "UI Slices Same Old Baloney," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 18, 2009, p. A11.
Loh and Rocklin write that "Our students report incidents of physical injury, unwanted or unsafe sexual experiences, property damage, impaired memory of their actions and diminished academic performance as effects of high-risk drinking." I'm informed as much as one-third of UI's students report such experiences.
But student alcohol abuse can lash back, like a scorpion in a Texan's boot, to strike UI administrators as well.
The two football players accused of a rape on October 14, 2007, have confronted nothing from the court system except continuances during the two years since, while they've been off playing football elsewhere. See, Nicholas Johnson, "University of Iowa Sexual Assault Controversy -- 2007-08." But the local fallout for the University from that single incident has involved its being sued for a refusal to disclose public records, and now a suit against the University president by one of the vice presidents she peremptorily dismissed at the time (for wrongful termination and defamation). Lee Hermiston, "Attorneys argue over Mason's immunity in lawsuit," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 14, 2009.
In Iowa, just a week ago today, the Register reported that a Drake student with a blood alcohol level of 0.5 (6 times the Iowa maximum for drunk driving) was hospitalized and "nearly died" from alcohol poisoning. Tom Alex, "Two at Drake charged in hazing incident," Des Moines Register, November 11, 2009.
It is said that the only thing we know for sure about the hard drives in our computers is that they will, someday, crash. We just don't know when.
Student alcohol abuse is like that. Students will die -- whether in hospitals from alcohol poisoning, falls from buildings, choking on their own vomit, fights with or without guns, or freezing in an Iowa winter snow drift after passing out. We just don't know who or when. Students will be raped -- or as Loh and Rocklin prefer to call it, suffer an "unwanted sexual experience." We just don't know who, or when, or whether it will ever be reported. UI administrators will continue to suffer -- although by comparison with the students, in far less dramatic ways -- as a result. We just don't know who and when.
In the 725 entries in this blog over the past three years alcohol has often been a topic. See, e.g., "Alcohol's Impact on Iowa City," July 24, 2009 (praising Loh's "metrics"); "Some Solutions to College Binge Drinking," July 2, 2009 (with links to 6 more). Sometimes they've simply itemized the reasons alcohol is, by any measure -- economic, crime, medical consequences -- the nation's "number one hard drug." Others have dealt with alcohol and . . . the political power of the alcohol industry and local bar owners, athletes, crime and physical violence. Clearly it is, at least for Iowa City, a recurring theme -- a problem for which there has been, and continues to be, virtually no meaningful leadership.
As Gary Sanders points out, in today's op ed, linked above, "[the university] did absolutely nothing in support of the 21 bar entry referendum in 2007." In case you weren't following that issue, here are some basics. Iowa law forbids anyone under the age of 21 to buy or consume alcohol. This referendum did not propose to keep those under the age of 21 out of bars. Not at all -- although that is the way it was characterized by its bar owner-funded student opponents. It just would have provided that those under the age of 21 would have to binge drink even faster -- get the job done by 10:00 p.m., rather than leisurely drinking until 2:00 a.m. Supporters could not even get the UI leadership to support that proposal!
I'm not going to repeat here all the ideas I've put forward over the past three years. But I will mention one.
Mason Williams -- composer and performer of "Classical Gas," Emmy award-winning head writer of the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" -- is, among other things, a master of the one-liner. One of his is, "Here's a ball; don't bounce it."
That is to say, if you hand someone a compelling opportunity they will probably seize it; it's kind of silly to expect otherwise.
Communities and colleges that care realize that any meaningful, serious attempts to reduce the consequences of students' alcohol abuse, in states that set the drinking age at 21, must keep underage students out of bars. It's kind of a no-brainer; a sort of "duh?"
These are for-profit businesses that make their profit from one operation only: the sale of alcohol. The reason customers enter their bars is to buy and consume alcohol. That being the case, why anyone would seriously propose that meaningful improvements in student behavior could be achieved by handing underage students a glass of beer and saying, "Here's a beer; don't drink it," is beyond me.
We may not need a Carrie Nation swinging her hatchet at bars and barrels of whiskey, but we do need someone with an equivalent focus, will and political courage if we're ever going to do anything meaningful about these problems.
The answers are out there on the Internet. We don't need more studies. We could even look to one of our sister Regents' institutions, Iowa State, for leadership -- since, though far from perfect, their numbers are much better than ours.
But so far, as of this morning, I don't see that leader anywhere around Iowa City; not in the City Council and not in Jessup -- nor I might note, in fairness to them, in a public groundswell demanding action.
Like the fellow who saw a billboard that said, "Drink Canada Dry," and went up there to try to do it, Iowa's students are going to continue to binge drink and they, and all the rest of us, will continue to pay the heavy, heavy consequences.
_______________
* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source, even if I have to embed it myself. -- Nicholas Johnson
# # #
November 17, 2009, 8:45 a.m.
If We're Going to Do It, Let's Do It Right
(brought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
Ten days ago I was introduced to the writing of a business executive, Scott Westerman, and thought enough of his description of a profitable substitution of cooperation for competition to pass it along to you. "Cooperation vs. Competition, Conflict, Combat and Catastrophe; Peace as Process," November 6, 2009. I've now discovered his Web site, scottwesterman.com, and a series he's begun, "Monday Motivator." I want to share some UI-relevant excerpts from his comments yesterday, . . .
. . . but first, here are links to earlier entries on some of the other hot topics from the past week or so that are now getting the most direct hits, among which may be the entries you are looking for:
UIHC, Regents and UI.
Strategic Communications VP position: "Strategic Communications a Failed Strategy; Actions Speak Louder," November 13, 2009
Executives trip to Disney World: "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009
"Contributions from patients" proposal: "UIHC: 'Sick Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'; A Check-In and a Check," October 31, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with numerous updates through November 4, links to additional, related material -- and now with over 30 of the Press-Citizen readers' comments on B.A. Morelli's stories)
Board of Regents and State universities' budget cutting: "Cutting Slack, Cutting Budgets; Regents, University Presidents, Deserve Some Thanks and Credit," October 30, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (with links to prior, related blog entries)
Spence break-in grand jury proceedings: "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009
School boundaries, school boards, and the ICCSD.
"School Board Election: Now Work Begins; It's Swisher, Dorau, Cooper; Old Board 'Starting Off Backing Up' With Consultant and Tough Decisions," September 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with its links to 11 prior and related blog entries including, for example, "School Boundaries Consultant Folly; Tough Boundary Questions Are for Board, Not Consultants or Superintendent, Plus: What Consultant Could Do," and "Cluster Schools: Potential for IC District?")
Nicholas Johnson, "School Board Has Work to Do," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 2, 2009 (and reproduced in blog)
"Boundaries: Only Board Can Do Board's Job; Drawing School Boundaries Made Easy," November 2, 2009
The issues confronting the University of Iowa to which Westerman's insights from yesterday relate are contained in the two prior blog entries, "Strategic Communications a Failed Strategy; Actions Speak Louder," November 13, 2009, and "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009.
Here are excerpts from a comment [11/13/2009 11:43 a.m.] an anonymous reader put on the former blog entry ("Strategic Communications"):
It is obvious that the Univ of Iowa Corp is rolling on. Most of the comments [on the Daily Iowan's editorial about the new VP position] focus on how a corporation needs good PR. How a position like PR director is cost effective.
Did the academics all die over night to be replaced by the business majors en masse?
In the world of business ethics, it probably is more cost effective to hire a PR professional, than to hire a TA or a librarian.
[But] if this is really the new wave of academic higher education, let's just remove the veneer, and the sooner the better.
The anonymous reader of this blog is right. It's not just the University of Iowa; it's higher education generally that has been corporatized.
I can remember a different day. A day when "SUI" really was the public State University of Iowa, sufficiently funded by the Iowa Legislature, willingly and with pride, so that any Iowa family could afford to send here any child with the credentials to be admitted. A day when financial shortfalls were covered with additional appropriations, not increases in tuition to near-private-school levels. A day when students came for a liberal arts education, not "80 Hours" (the DI's characterization) of binge drinking every week at what's advertised as one of the nation's top "party schools" -- and we try to retain them for their tuition money. A day when the UI president, Virgil Hancher, answered his own phone, may have had a vice president of something or other, but certainly not an army of them in wagons circling Jessup Hall (or as it then was, the Old Capitol) -- least of all a "Vice President for Strategic Communications." A day of male professors in old tweed jackets with leather elbow patches (because the elbows really had worn out), smoking pipes, and writing with ink pens, or pencils kept in working order with the pencil sharpeners in every office and classroom. A day when medical services were provided to faculty families for free, as a matter of "professional courtesy." A day when parking was free rather than a source of revenue, University units served the needs of each other without internal billing, and there simply weren't enough administrators and their assistants to make reports, approvals and paperwork an issue (the notion of a "purchase order" and exchange of funds before "audio-visual" would bring a 16 mm film projector and film to your classroom would have been laughable). A day when Hawkeye football wasn't on television -- because there was no television -- the coach was not paid in the millions (one of the early coaches, before my time, was a math professor who just coached for fun), there were no $100,000 skyboxes for the wealthy elite, kids who were members of the "Knothole Club" could get into Kinnick for a dime, and football was just a sport instead of a subsidiary of the big business that is the entertainment industry today.
I don't want to get into an argument about whether those days were better. There were downsides I could itemize. My only point is that today's corporatized "University of Iowa" is decidedly altered from the public "State University of Iowa" of my childhood.
Today's UI more closely does represent, as the anonymous reader commented, a for-profit private corporation than a non-profit public "state university." The UIHC is one of the largest employers in the state, a multi-billion-dollar operation. The big business that is the football program is in many ways a farm club for the NFL -- with a coach capable of preparing players for its teams, and who could himself coach one of them if he chose. The UI president is paid (salary, benefits, bonus, housing, transportation, expense account, deferred compensation) something between $500,000 and $1 million a year, and is surrounded with highly paid vice presidents and their supporting staff members. Her job is of necessity, in large measure, fund raising. "Students" have become "customers," retained with their access to alcohol, the UI's largely unsupervised and unpunished party atmosphere, and the high grades resulting from grade creep -- customers who can produce the revenue stream that comes from charging "what the market will bear." Still enjoying tax-free status and the ultimate power of eminent domain against any who might protest, this 800-pound corporate gorilla, like GM in Michael Moore's Flint, Michigan, simply takes whatever property it chooses, destroying even adjacent residential neighborhoods that once housed faculty, removing homes from the property tax rolls and shifting the tax burden to the community's remaining homeowners.
This is the reality. There is no turning back the clock. The legislature and people of Iowa are no longer willing to pay for a genuinely "public" university. Football is the most popular thing about the University. The city's bar owners dictate underage drinking policy. The combined UI units demand a payroll that has to be found somewhere -- naming buildings for donors instead of scholars, increased tuition and ticket prices, taking patients' donations before taking their blood pressure, cutting employees' retirement benefits, and selling the right to park by the month and by the minute.
Now that we have, to borrow from George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill, "ascertained what we are" and are "just haggling over price," what are we to do?
I suggest, so long as we are going to trade in our universities for corporations, that we should at least set out to find the most modern, creative and compassionate ways to run them, rather than relying on 50-year-old business practices.
All of which, at long last, brings me to these excerpts from Scott Westerman's latest:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
It’s hard for large companies to be authentic and transparent. Size and scale are, by their very nature impersonal. You seek to distill the success formula to it’s essence and replicate it as fast and as profitably as possible. As you become more successful, the risk of failure is greater and the natural tendency is to hunker down and let someone else carefully do the talking for you.
Traditional public relations methodology is all about message management and reactive damage control. But in the Internet age, a new paradigm is emerging. The carefully crafted circular PR speak we all get from politicians, chief executives and their handlers, doesn’t work in the lightning fast, viral pace of the social media culture.
We want straight talk from real people. We want them to talk with us, not to us. We want them to listen. And we expect them to respond . . . fast.
And we’re starting to demand that they “relate” to us.
In the end, our ability to build a strong and personal relationship with our customers and business partners is the ONLY competitive advantage.
Just watch what goes on at Whole Foods, Disney World or Southwest Airlines and you’ll see that people will accept other inconveniences and sometimes will pay higher prices to enjoy a better customer experience.
And what distinguishes these guys from the rest of the pack?
You get the sense that these are real people who genuinely care about you. They use your name often. The ask questions and listen. Sometimes they guide you to another store, knowing that by getting you what you want somewhere else, you’re likely to come back. And they have personality.
Some of the best have the courage to be vulnerable. . . .
Earlier this fall, I had the singular experience of spending an hour and a half with the President of Michigan State University. Dr. Lou Anna K. Simon is running a major academic institution in a State with a significantly troubled economy. The funding model for higher education is evolving right before our eyes and Universities are having to re-invent themselves on the fly.
Lou Anna is everything Jim Collins’ Good to Great Level 5 Leader should be. She is candid, she is transparent – answering our straight questions with equally straight answers, she is genuine in expressing the joys and frustrations that face her every day. And she lives the famous Stockdale Paradox, directly confronting the unpleasant current realities, without losing faith that the Institution will ultimately prevail.
She won’t remember this, but I asked her during Homecoming weekend how she kept her attitude. “It’s something you choose to do,” she said. “I don’t like the alternative.” . . .
Not the answer to the UI's every prayer, perhaps, but a small dose of some of the more creative observations from within the business community of relevance to our proposed trips to Disney World and the new VP for strategic communications.
Westerman warns us against "the natural tendency to hunker down and let someone else carefully do the talking for you" (read "Vice President for Strategic Communications").
He advises that "in the Internet age, a new paradigm is emerging. The carefully crafted circular PR speak we all get from . . . chief executives and their handlers, doesn’t work . . .."
His advice to UIHC, searching for ways to improve "patient satisfaction"? "[R]eal people who genuinely care about you. They use your name often. They ask questions and listen. Sometimes they guide you to another store, knowing that by getting you what you want somewhere else, you’re likely to come back. And they have personality."
He gives us something to read: Jim Collins, Good to Great -- which explains how to reach a long-advocated goal of the University of Iowa.
And he even gives us an example of a university president elsewhere who is doing it.
Not bad for one Monday morning piece from corporate America.
If we're going to corporatize higher education, let's at least do it right.
_______________
* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source, even if I have to embed it myself. -- Nicholas Johnson
# # #
November 16, 2009, 6:00 a.m.
Major Hasan: A Case Study in Responsibility
(brought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
As everyone in the world with access to the media has been informed, "[Army] Major [Nidal Malik] Hasan, 39, an Army psychiatrist . . ., is accused of opening fire with a pistol on Nov. 5 at a Fort Hood center where . . . he shot to death four commissioned officers, eight enlisted soldiers and one civilian in the crowded center [and] twenty-nine other people were wounded . . .." James C. McKinley Jr., "Major Held in Fort Hood Rampage Is Charged With 13 Counts of Murder," New York Times, November 13, 2009, p. A14. And see, James C. McKinley Jr. and James Dao, "Fort Hood Gunman Gave Signals Before His Rampage," New York Times, November 9, 2009, p. A1.
Among the dozens of potential issues raised by this case is one that I've begun hoping an interdisciplinary group will write a book about (or someone will tell me they already have). Today's blog entry will begin that inquiry, . . .
. . . but first, here are links to earlier entries on some of the other hot topics from the past week or so that are now getting the most direct hits, among which may be the entries you are looking for:
School boundaries, school boards, and the ICCSD.
"School Board Election: Now Work Begins; It's Swisher, Dorau, Cooper; Old Board 'Starting Off Backing Up' With Consultant and Tough Decisions," September 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with its links to 11 prior and related blog entries including, for example, "School Boundaries Consultant Folly; Tough Boundary Questions Are for Board, Not Consultants or Superintendent, Plus: What Consultant Could Do," and "Cluster Schools: Potential for IC District?")
Nicholas Johnson, "School Board Has Work to Do," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 2, 2009 (and reproduced in blog)
"Boundaries: Only Board Can Do Board's Job; Drawing School Boundaries Made Easy," November 2, 2009
UIHC, Regents and UI.
Strategic Communications VP position: "Strategic Communications a Failed Strategy; Actions Speak Louder," November 13, 2009
Executives trip to Disney World: "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009
"Contributions from patients" proposal: "UIHC: 'Sick Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'; A Check-In and a Check," October 31, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with numerous updates through November 4, links to additional, related material -- and now with over 30 of the Press-Citizen readers' comments on B.A. Morelli's stories)
Board of Regents and State universities' budget cutting: "Cutting Slack, Cutting Budgets; Regents, University Presidents, Deserve Some Thanks and Credit," October 30, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (with links to prior, related blog entries)
Spence break-in grand jury proceedings: "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009
The issue, most broadly stated, is: If one has a suspicion, or concern, that another may pose a risk of physical harm to others, what are the conditions under which (a) one has an obligation to report that concern to others, (b) one may report it, but need not, or (c) must not report it?
As phrased, it is intended to suggest that Major Hasan's case, while more than a mere "news peg," is but one illustrative case study from among probably hundreds that would be required for the inquiry I have in mind. It is, however, the case that has sparked my curiosity; thankfully a curiosity that is not the product of personal past or present needs to confront the intervention dilemma.
And since the Hasan case is the one that's most forcefully on our minds at this time, and one for which the President has called for a related inquiry, let's explore it in a little more detail in an effort to put some specific meat on this issue's otherwise somewhat general and disconnected, dry philosophical bones.
Here are excerpts from a story describing President Obama's inquiry:
President Barack Obama has ordered a high-level review of how U.S. officials handled warning signs that might have pointed to the eventual killing spree at Fort Hood, Texas . . ..
Obama ordered John Brennan, his adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism, to find out what various federal agencies knew about Hasan, how they treated the information and whether they shared it with other agencies. . . .
Among the possible warning signs that the media have discovered since the shootings:
-Hasan had contact with a radical Muslim cleric who's suspected of a connection to 9-11 and thought to be an influence in other terrorist attacks.
-Hasan may have expressed favorable views of suicide bombings. A Web site in May featured a post under the name "NidalHasan" that likened Muslim suicide bombers to solders who throw themselves on hand grenades to save their comrades. Both, the writer said, sacrifice "for a more noble cause."
-Hasan said in 2007 that Muslim soldiers should be excused from fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq because they'd be fighting fellow Muslims, according to The Washington Post. "It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," he said.
-His views alarmed fellow doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and they questioned as early as last year whether he was psychotic, according to National Public Radio. They expressed misgivings about his "extremist Islamic views," and he was reprimanded for telling one patient that "Islam can save your soul."
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas [has asserted that] "there were communications and wire transfers made to Pakistan." . . .
U.S. government agents knew that Hasan had exchanged 10 to 20 e-mails starting last December with Awlaki, a New Mexico-born Muslim cleric who grew up in Yemen and was linked in the 9-11 Commission's final report to at least two of the 2001 hijackers. . . .
Lacking any clear threatening language, officials didn't pursue an investigation.
The FBI . . . had "reviewed certain communications between Major Hasan and . . . [Awlaki] and assessed that the content of those communications was consistent with research being conducted by Major Hasan . . .. [T]he JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) concluded that Major Hasan was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning."
Steven Thomma and Leila Fadel, "Obama orders inquiry into handling of Hasan intelligence," AP/McClatchy Newspapers/Miami Herald, November 12, 2009.
There are a number of aspects of this case that, while interesting, are outside the scope of the issue at hand: (1) The President is, necessarily, concerned about the ability of federal agencies to better share information in the cause of protecting the country and its citizens. As the story notes, "The failure to share intelligence was singled out as a factor that allowed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to occur." (2) There are reports of great heroism by those who were subject to Major Hasan's attack on November 5: taking fire while attempting to save others, their immediate provision of treatment for the wounded, and so forth.
How government agencies communicate within and among each other, or how individuals react in the midst of a subject's actual attack on third parties (as distinguished from the warning signs that such might occur), are beyond the scope of the inquiry -- as are the ultimate judgments that investigators may come to with regard to the assessment of blame, or innocence, among those who perhaps could have done more that might have prevented this tragedy.
Nor, for these purposes, am I focused on the obligation to prevent individuals from engaging in behavior that is only potentially harmful to themselves, or their doing harm to others that is something other than physical (e.g., hurt feelings, fraud or property damage).
What I'm interested in exploring -- or better yet, others exploring -- are the variety of contexts in which an "obligation to intervene" may arise because of the possibility of physical harm to another, the variety of standards that are applied, and the range of issues that the decision may present. Are there universal, or "neutral principles," that apply across this variety of contexts, standards and issues, or are there different answers for different contexts -- or perhaps not even contextual standards, but a chaos of answers as the most appropriate decision in each case is that "it depends," depends that is on the specific facts?
Here are some examples of contexts and issues -- all off the top of my head; none of which have yet been subjected to even superficial research.
Behavioral standards and constraints. When one thinks of obligations "the law" comes first to mind (especially if one is a lawyer!). But when the full range of the standards and constraints that mold human behavior are considered, law and regulations are but a relatively small sub-set. There are religious doctrines and teachings. There are moral and ethical standards apart from religion. There are philosophical inquiries. There is what we used to call "etiquette," and might be thought of as social mores, tradition or custom. And as the anthropologists remind us, there are various combinations and permutations of all of the above that can be found among various indigenous peoples and other cultures (e.g., compare the behavior in a small Iowa or Japanese farming community with that of wealthy executives in Tokyo or lower Manhattan). Each of these sources of behavioral constraints may have something to contribute to an inquiry into the "obligation to intervene."
The balance: privacy vs. protection. As with so much of law and life, when, where and why an "obligation to intervene" may exist will require a balancing of a number of interests. Clearly, society in general and the intervenor in particular want to avoid third-party-inflicted physical harm to others when possible. On the other hand, both also have an interest in maintaining all individuals' presumption of innocence, privacy interests, and reputations -- all of which are harmed by false charges or even suspicions. How are we to balance "Am I my brother's keeper" with "mind your own business"?
As an example of the harm that can be done to someone wrongfully accused (notwithstanding, perhaps, the best of intentions by the accuser), the Register editorialized yesterday about a case in which "the judge reversed and 'found to be incorrect' a social worker's finding that [a man] sexually abused a 15-year-old boy. His name was removed from the abuse registry. But not before he spent 393 days on it. Not before he lost his job in human services. Not before he lost his license to be a foster parent. Not before he cashed out his retirement savings and declared bankruptcy. Though the 31-year-old Iowan had spent his adult life working with kids - in shelters and residential treatment facilities and as a school liaison officer - being on the registry prevented him from getting another job working in these fields." Editorial, "A Year Shattered by Sex Abuse Allegations," Des Moines Register, November 15, 2009; Andie Dominick, "Protecting kids crucial, but accused deserve fair hearing," Des Moines Register, November 15, 2009.
International law. Does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have anything to contribute to this inquiry? What about "preemptive wars" (such as our second Iraq invasion) or "preemptive strikes"? Are there published, or at least rational, standards for the process by which one nation (nation 1) can legitimately take action against another (nation 2) to prevent nation 2 taking action against either nation 1 or nation 3? (The UN Charter, ch. 7, art. 51, merely provides that, "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations . . ..")
Arrest. How are police officers instructed with regard to, in effect, "preventive arrest"? When can they intervene to prevent what they believe will be imminent physical harm, when must they wait for the harm to occur before making an arrest, and what are the standards they use for making those distinctions?
Prosecutors, Grand Juries, and Trials. There are standards governing the judgments made by prosecutors, grand juries, trial judges and juries, such as "beyond a reasonable doubt," or "preponderance of the evidence," standards governing when a "suspect" can be prosecuted, or ultimately found guilty. For the question of whether a prosecutor may be liable in damages for exceeding prosecutorial discretion, see McGhee v. Pottawattamie County, 547 F.3d 922, 927 (8th Cir. 2008), argued before the U.S. Supreme Court as Pottawattamie County, IA v. McGhee on November 4, 2009 ("prosecutor allegedly (1) violated a criminal defendant’s 'substantive due process' rights by procuring false testimony during the criminal investigation, and then (2) introduced that same testimony against the criminal defendant at trial."); William Petroski, "Court reviews Iowa prosecutors' immunity," Des Moines Register, November 5, 2009.
Mandatory reporting. Teachers, at least K-12, are "mandatory reporters" of physically abused children. How do the relevant law and regulations articulate the standards, or process, they are to use in evaluating what they perceive and deciding whether to report it? What are the penalties for a failure to report?
Bartenders' burden. "Dramshop Acts," as they were originally called, impose on bar owners, and bartenders, legal liability for the subsequent harm done by customers who were served additional alcohol when they were already obviously dangerously drunk. Are there standards for making these judgments?
Involuntary commitment. There are circumstances under which an individual can be commited against their will to a mental hospital if there is a risk of their doing harm to themselves or others. What stardards are used by those responsible for making these judgments -- or by reviewing authorities when those judgments are questioned?
Preventive detention. Aside from involuntary commitment, what are the standards by which someone can be judged to be such a risk to society that they can be confined -- either beyond the term for which they were incarcerated for purposes of punishment for a crime, or without ever having engaged, yet, in a violent act against another? The "precrime police" of the feature film, "Minority Report," fictionalized the extreme of this approach.
Professional privilege. Doctors (including psychiatrists), lawyers, religious advisors -- and to a lesser extent journalists -- have a privilege of confidentiality that is recognized by the courts in some instances when such professionals would otherwise be required to testify as to what they know as a result of counselling sessions. But their legal right to refuse to testify about, and their ethical obligation to refrain from otherwise disclosing, such information is modified in some situations in which they are aware of imminent harm to another. For example, a client may ask a lawyer what defenses will be available when the client murders his wife, or a patient may explain to his psychiatrist his preparations to kill someone.
Religion and philosophy. Is there anything in Catholic doctrine, Jewish -- or especially Muslim -- teaching of relevance? For example, might "the Golden Rule" suggest that you should intervene if, were you the one at risk of physical harm from a third party, you would want someone to intervene on your behalf? What can be found in the thinking and writing of the world's great philosophers; for example, Kant's "categorical imperative," with his First, Second and Third Maxims, and how he distinguishes his approach from religion's "golden rule." Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785)?
Community standards. The nine categories just listed, and others that could be imagined or identified, mostly involve the legal or ethical standards applied to various professions as a matter of law or regulation. What is perhaps even more complex are the standards implicitly agreed to, though not articulated or embodied in formal documents, regarding (a) required, (b) acceptable, and (c) unacceptable interventions -- especially when it involves intra-family behavior. When are small boys' play with firecrackers and small explosives, or cruelty to animals, something of such concern that the community tends to agree that the neighbor who notices really should say something to parents, other neighbors, or authorities? What of the next door neighbor who goes out into the backyard, in a drunken condition, and fires off a rifle or shotgun -- though he's never been known to kill anyone? When is an overheard "I'd like to kill that SOB" transformed from hyperbolic displeasure into a genuine threat to "that SOB" that should be reported to someone? What if a neighbor hears cries emanating from the house next door believed to be the result of domestic violence? When driving, what is the responsibility to report a car weaving back and forth across a highway?
These are just some of the preliminary issues and questions that came to my mind following the tragedy at Fort Hood.
I'd welcome comments on this blog entry from anyone who cares enough about the subject to have read this far and would care to make them. I have a sufficiently full plate at this time in this semester that I'm unlikely to be undertaking the necessary research -- let alone writing a book. But I'd enjoy looking at whatever anyone else has written or sources to which they would like to refer me.
_______________
* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source, even if I have to embed it myself. -- Nicholas Johnson
# # #
November 13, 2009, 6:25 a.m.
Actions Speak Louder
(brought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
There is a kind of cruel irony that a university ends up harming the very public image it seeks to improve by the way it goes about hiring yet another vice president -- the one who will bear the title and responsibility for its "strategic communications." Emily Busse, "Finalists for open VP position visit campus this week," Daily Iowan, November 9, 2009. More on this higher education equivalent of "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" in just a moment . . .
. . . but first, here are links to earlier entries that support and relate to today's discussion, along with some of the other hot topics from the past week or so that are now getting the most direct hits, among which may be the entries you are looking for:
UIHC, Regents and UI -- Budget Decisions Have Been Negative Communications:
Executives trip to Disney World: "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009
"Contributions from patients" proposal: "UIHC: 'Sick Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'; A Check-In and a Check," October 31, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with numerous updates through November 4, links to additional, related material -- and now with over 30 of the Press-Citizen readers' comments on B.A. Morelli's stories)
"TARP Lessons for Iowa's Budget Cutters; Barofsky: 'Anger, cynicism and distrust [an] unnecessary cost of TARP,'" October 23, 2009
"How Many Administrators Does It Take? Administrators are Multiplying & Sucking Us Dry," July 16, 2009
"A University's Strategic Communication; A Modest Proposal to the Regents' University Presidents," October 7, 2009
"Iowa's Budget Cuts and the University; Economic Collapse Tests Moral Values," October 9, 2009.
"How to Cut Iowa's Budget; Fairness, Justice and Leadership by Example," October 15, 2009.
"UI Budget: Waivers Wave Goodbye to Savings; Consistency, Hobgoblins and Waivers," October 19, 2009
"Cutting Slack, Cutting Budgets; Regents, University Presidents, Deserve Some Thanks and Credit," October 30, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (with links to prior, related blog entries)
UI, Other -- Spence break-in grand jury proceedings: "UI Spence Break-In: Gazette Scoop Illustrates Issues," October 27, 2009
School boundaries, school boards, and the ICCSD. "Drawing School Boundaries: Clarity vs. Chaos," November 11, 2009, and "School Board Election: Now Work Begins; It's Swisher, Dorau, Cooper; Old Board 'Starting Off Backing Up' With Consultant and Tough Decisions," September 9, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with its links to 11 prior and related blog entries including, for example, "School Boundaries Consultant Folly; Tough Boundary Questions Are for Board, Not Consultants or Superintendent, Plus: What Consultant Could Do," and "Cluster Schools: Potential for IC District?")
Nicholas Johnson, "School Board Has Work to Do," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 2, 2009 (and reproduced in blog)
"Boundaries: Only Board Can Do Board's Job; Drawing School Boundaries Made Easy," November 2, 2009
"Huh?" asks The Gazette -- a sort of family newspaper translation of "WTF?" "[T]he UI is interviewing finalists for a newly created position as vice president of strategic communication. This despite a system-wide hiring freeze and after the UI cut 40 teaching assistant positions earlier this year. It comes as leaders discuss possible student surcharges, tuition increases and cuts in benefits to existing staff. Huh?" Editorial, "Spending that could wait," November 12, 2009, p. A4.
Even the student paper's editorial writers at The Daily Iowan can see the problems with this idea that seem to have eluded the adults who run their institution. Editorial, "Due to budgetary woes, PR position should remain unfilled," November 11, 2009 ("It’s asinine to hire a PR man or woman at the same time we’re weighing a tuition increase and surcharge. These budgetary issues require our direct and immediate attention before we address our public-relations department. President Sally Mason and other officials have spoken of the need for sacrifice, yet their hypocrisy is apparent when they’re concurrently looking to fill a public-relations position.").
If there is any profession, any group of individuals, who ought to understand the need for good public relations and media relations, it would be the reporters and editors of newspapers. Moreover, when it comes to the University of Iowa, both papers could be characterized as much more in the nature of cheerleaders than rock throwers. And so, when they are editorializing against the creation of this position -- at least now -- one can assume they are attempting to be helpful; that they really do think it is a move not in the University's best interests. I agree -- and with a similar motivation.
There are at least three issues here. One is the absolute dollars. I have no idea what the total budget for this position would be: the VP's salary, benefit package, expense account -- and then assistants, support staff, travel, office, supplies, and so forth. But I assume that it would total something in excess of $300,000, and maybe much more than that. So the money is not insignificant in a time of cutbacks.
Second, there is the priority setting. Might there be some benefit to the institution from a VP for strategic communication? Perhaps. Although it's always seemed to me that strategic communications is something that simply must come from the CEO (or in this case, university president); it's not something that can be farmed out to a consultant, or delegated to an employee. But that's not really the issue. It is not enough to say that there would be some benefit from this expensive VP position. There would be some benefit from a German Department, too, and that's been abolished. The issue is opportunity cost; the issue is relative benefit from the VP compared with the benefits that would come from other expenditures.
As the DI editorial, above, notes, "TA cuts, potential tuition hikes, and … a new public-relations hiring? . . . The position has been vacant for the last eight years, and . . . should stay that way. . . . [F]illing it would not be prudent or fiscally responsible, given the economic climate and the university’s budget reductions. In times likes these, UI officials need to prioritize."
Third, absolute dollars and a mistaken sense of priorities aside, there is the fact that this public relations move has already been another public relations disaster. Editorial writers are not the only ones criticizing the idea. Those who put utilize the newspapers' invitation to submit online comments about their stories are decidedly lacking in enthusiasm for this hire as well.
The University's public relations problems this past month have not had to do with a lack of creativity and writing ability on the part of those who prepare its news releases. It's had to do with the decisions and oversight of its administrators.
The UIHC decides it's going to stop giving patients a dollar-and-a-quarter to cover their parking expenses, and at the same time turns around and hits them up for donations to the UI Foundation on UIHC's behalf the moment they check in at a clinic. The next thing that needs to be defended is their administrators' decision to take a long weekend at Disney World. Meanwhile, it turns out they spent $60 million on a computer system that seems to have a few bugs in it (for which they announce the creation of yet one more administrator), and the Athletic Department is going ahead with a $43 million building project -- either sum alone nearly enough to cover the combined total of all the cuts required in all three Regents' universities budgets. See, e.g., a couple of the stories linked above, "Mickey Mouse Patient Satisfaction; UIHC's Troubles: Is Orlando the Answer?" November 8, 2009, and "UIHC: 'Sick Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'; A Check-In and a Check," October 31, 2009, 7:00 a.m. (with numerous updates through November 4, links to additional, related material -- and now with over 30 of the Press-Citizen readers' comments on B.A. Morelli's stories).
The Gazette and Daily Iowan are right to editorialize about the cost of yet one more UI vice president. But that is, in some ways, the least of the problems created by one more high-priced hire in these times.
I have often returned to the theme -- as in the first eight blog entries linked from the top of today's entry -- that the best "strategic communication" from the University at this time of budget cutting and tuition raising is "fairness, justice and equity." We need to communicate that our wealthiest and most powerful are taking more than their fair share of the pain, not less; that we are not transforming their "wants" into "needs" while treating others' "needs" as "superfluous;" that we are not living on an Iowa Animal Farm in which "some are more equal than others."
In the course of doing so I've noted the lessons provided for us by "the Department of the Treasury's Special Inspector General, Neil Barofsky, [who] says the Treasury's handling of the TARP program . . . 'have contributed to damage the credibility of the program and of the government itself, and [that] the anger, cynicism and distrust created must be chalked up as one of the substantial, albeit unnecessary, costs of TARP.'" "TARP Lessons for Iowa's Budget Cutters; Barofsky: 'Anger, cynicism and distrust [an] unnecessary cost of TARP,'" October 23, 2009.
The most significant word in that quote? "Unnecessary." The public's "anger, cynicism and distrust" is not a necessary consequence from Iowa's, and the UI's, budget cutting. As the comic strip character Pogo once observed, "We have met the enemy and he is us." [Graphic credit: Wikipedia.] It is we, not the woozle, that has been making the tracks around Winnie the Pooh's barn. We who have caused those gunshot wounds in our feet. To the extent we have "strategic communications" problems at this time, it turns out that most of them are of our own making.
Damage control is a part of the responsibility of publicists. And it's important. But it's not "strategic communications."
It's our actions that are speaking louder than any words from an additional high-priced UI VP ever could.
_______________
* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source, even if I have to embed it myself. -- Nicholas Johnson
# # #
Today we transition from the poverty, and generosity, of Thanksgiving Day, e.g., Lee Hermiston, "Sharing food, lives; Church serves meal as a gift to community," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 27, 2009, p. A1, to the profligacy of the Black Friday Stampede -- America's equivalent to Pamplona, Spain's running of the bulls -- on our corporatized, computerized, commercialized way to many religions' winter holidays.
"By mid-1933, sixteen CCC camps and thirty-two projects had been approved for Iowa. . . . By the time the CCC ended in 1942, the number of CCC enrollees in Iowa camps would total nearly 46,000. They would contribute to the development of more than eighty state parks, and leave a tangible legacy that still numbers more than seven hundred state park structures" -- including Johnson County's own Lake MacBride State Park. Rebecca Conard, "The Legacy of Hope from an Era of Despair: The CCC and Iowa State Parks," Books at Iowa 64 (April 1996). [Photo credit: the Iowa DNR CCC Web site.]
