Forest Gump & Iowa City's New Manager

September 28, 2010, 1:30 p.m.; September 29, 2010, 7:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m.; September 30, 2010, 11:00 a.m.

"Thomas Marcus is New City Manager," Iowa City Press-Citizen Online, Sept. 29, 2010, 3:05 p.m.
Josh O'Leary, "Markus: Iowa City a Good Fit; Council Says Mich. Official Was Unanimous Pick," Iowa City Press Citizen, Sept. 30, 2010, p. A1.

Better than a Box of Chocolates
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
As the citizens of Iowa City watch, and participate, in their City Council's selection of the next City Manager, we would do well to heed the observation of Forest Gump's mother. As Gump put it, "My mama always said 'life was like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get.'" "Forest Gump" (1994).



So it is with City Managers. You never know what you are going to get.

But Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek and colleagues have made an effort to improve our odds.

An innovation that can only be characterized as a no-brainer after you've heard about it, is the involvement of all the City commissions and offices plus the former mayors of the City.

We tend to overlook what former officials can bring to the table by way of history, insights, and experience. That's not to take away from the current Council members. The responsibility for selecting the next City Manager falls on them, and them only. But it's more than a nice gesture to involve their predecessors in the process.

And involving the City offices and wide range of commissions not only gives them more of a buy-in to the ultimate choice -- and the candidates a better sense of policy issues and personalities -- but may well catch relevant reactions to questions of candidates that might otherwise have gone unasked and unnoticed.

Then there was this morning's [Sept. 28] "meet and greet" at the Iowa City Public Library Meeting Room A. Josh O'Leary, "City Manager Finalists Meet With Public," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 28, 2010. There was a nice turnout, especially for an early morning meeting. I commented to one of the Council members and one of the candidates that a consequence of 7:30 a.m. meetings is that you're not likely to get much participation from union members, other working class citizens, or those who work and live elsewhere than in downtown Iowa City, with its expensive condos and apartments. There appeared to me to be a disproportionate representation of downtown business persons and professionals. But the fact that the opportunity to hear and see the three finalists was made available under any conditions was clearly a plus, and certainly seemed well received by those who came.

And the Press-Citizen had provided us with a great list of the questions to ask. Editorial, "Learn What You Can About City Manager Finalists," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 28, 2010, p. A7 (e.g., "How familiar are you with communities in which a public university is the major employer?" and "How well do you understand TIFs, and what is your philosophy on when they should be used . . .?").

Here's a picture of Paul Eckert (eight years as Sioux City, Iowa, city manager) in an exchange within a group that gathered around him following the presentations. (The back of that lush head of hair of Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth, a friend of Eckert's -- that is, Kelly, not his hair -- is in the foreground).

Eckert and Steven Crowell (city manager North Port, Florida, for five years) sit at the table in this picture, while Thomas Markus (22 years as city manager of Birmingham, Michigan) delivers his formal, prepared remarks.












The City Council is scheduled to go into closed session this evening (Sept. 28) at 5:30, and reconvene at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, at which time there may be an announcement of the final choice.

I would announce my own "final choice" after superficial study, but I wouldn't want to hurt his chances by revealing it.

However, I should note that given the possibility Iowa City's downtown will revert to a jungle of drunken beasts between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on Thursdays through Sundays, following the vote November 2, it should be noted that Eckert, a former Marine Corps Sargent, came complete with brothers in arms, three very nattily dressed Marines. Just in case the new riot gear the Iowa City Police are getting is inadequate to protect them from the violent rowdies, it might be convenient to have a City Manager who can "send in the Marines." Just a thought.

Of course, even with a City Manager, the Council and Manager will still confront the problems of which I wrote over 18 months ago: "River City's Problem: Council-Manager Governance; The Necessity of Governance Theory and Practice," April 18, 2009 -- if the new City Manager, whoever he may be, is to have a chance at a longer tenure than the last one.

Josh O'Leary, "City Manager Field Narrowed to 3; Finalists Meet Public Today," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 28, 2010, p. A1; Josh O'Leary, "Hopefuls Make Case to Public; Council Plans to Make Decision Today," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 29, 2010, p. A1.
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* 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
# # #

A Half-Page Newspaper Not Better Than None

September 20, 2010, 3:30 p.m.

Disintegrating Paper Contributing to Disintegrating Industry
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
It used to be a "half-page ad" in a newspaper meant a full page of newsprint, half of which (usually the bottom half) contained advertising matter.

Today it has become, more literally, a half of a page of newsprint all of which is advertising.

A newspaper that falls apart in your hands is but one more bit of evidence of an industry that is disintegrating as well.

Ever since I was a "newspaper boy" for the Des Moines Register I have liked, subscribed to, read, and written for newspapers.

Young people don't feel that way anymore.

A few days ago, I had an occasion to visit with some undergraduates sitting at my table while I was lunching in a University dormitory cafeteria. During our conversation I asked about their newspaper reading habits. They reported their only contact with the newspaper industry was an occasional glance at the Daily Iowan.

The newspaper industry, desperate to reestablish newspaper reading habits among those in these students' generation, does not merely offer student discounts on subscriptions. They actually give away hard copy editions of their papers for free. I asked my luncheon companions if they ever read any of the papers available to them in racks no more than 25 feet from our table -- the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Des Moines Register, USA Today, and the Press-Citizen. Not only did they never bother to pick up and read these free papers, they were unaware the rack even existed.

I have written at some length about the industry's problems, offering potential future scenarios for business success as well as more mundane suggestions for modest improvements. "Whither Newspapers? Newspapers' Challenges Outrun Choices," January 18, 2009; "Of Newspapers and Nails; A Multiple-Variable Analysis of Newspaper Delivery," March 8, 2009; "Newspaper Delivery An Update; Pounding Again on 'Of Newspapers and Nails,'" March 27, 2009.

When writing about failures in the hard copy newspaper delivery system I observed, "To borrow a bit of advice, the industry needs to control what it can, accept what it cannot, and be wise enough to know the difference."

There's not much the newspaper industry can do about a declining economy and advertising revenue. On the other hand, subscriber frustration from late delivery, non-delivery, unpredictable erratic delivery, and having to hunt for where the paper may have landed on any given morning, was it seemed to me something in the category of when "the industry needs to control what it can."

The half-page newspaper is another example of deliberately frustrating subscribers unnecessarily.

Last Saturday's edition of a local paper is an example.

Pages A13 and A14 (the last page of the first section) are not connected to pages A1 and A2 -- as one would expect. They are attached to something that lays over p. A1 and is half the width of the front page.

On this day it contained ads for 8 vehicles in the $40,000 to $54,000 range. One would think that an auto dealer looking for customers with that kind of loose pocket change would not want to irritate the few who might exist. Apparently the dealer either didn't care, didn't think about it, or was not informed by the paper what she or he was going to be getting for their advertising dollars.

No matter how you approach such a newspaper, with the intention of holding and reading it, it disintegrates.

There was a day when no reputable newspaper would have advertising on its front page. That page, above all, was reserved for news. Advertising on it would be demeaning.

Those days are over. I understand that.

But trying to retain some of their dignity by covering a half of the front page with an advertising-only piece of newsprint that makes it impossible even to hold the paper, let alone read it, is a self-defeating and unsuccessful path to that goal. It is not a defense to say that the advertising is not literally on the front page when it is covering it.

It's not that there aren't alternatives.

This issue of the paper came with 21, count 'em, 21 inserts of various shapes, colors and sizes -- some up to the thickness and weight of a major magazine.

I don't like the idea of advertising on the front page of my paper. But if the paper really needs the money that badly, just redesign the front page and devote half of it (or more) to advertising. Below the fold would be less offensive than using the entire left half of the page (as the advertising overlay does).

Just don't send me a paper that falls apart when I try to hold it.

One would think that to be a no brainer. Apparently it's not. I guess it's a really creative sales and marketing suggestion I've come up with; something that could increase circulation (and advertising rates).

I'm happy to pass it along. And in these difficult economic times, to do so for free.
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* 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
# # #

The Medieval Helpdesk

September 7, 2010, 9:40 a.m.
(Looking for Labor Day blog entries? Here they are: "Labor Day: Honor Workers Every Day," September 6, 2010; "Finding Jobs on Labor Day; Former Labor Secretary Reich Has Economic Solution," September 5, 2010; and "Danger in the Workplace; Honoring Those Who Built, and Build, America," September 1, 2010.)

A You Tube Video Worth 1000 Words
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
Whether you're taking "customer support" calls, or trying to get someone to answer when you make one, here's a You Tube video that's going around and should provide you a little relief -- and a laugh.

The new digital tech keeps coming at us fast. What it can do and how it does it is not immediately obvious -- especially if you didn't design it, all you did was just buy it. For such confidence-building as it may provide, know that it has always been thus.

Here is "Medieval Helpdesk in English":



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* 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
# # #

Labor Day: Honor Workers Every Day

Septembe 6, 2010, 7:20 a.m.

Nick's 2010 Labor Day Press-Citizen Column
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
For recent blog entries related to labor issues, see Nicholas Johnson, "Finding Jobs on Labor Day; Former Labor Secretary Reich Has Economic Solution," September 5, 2010; and "Danger in the Workplace; Honoring Those Who Built, and Build, America," September 1, 2010.
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Honor Workers Every Day

Nicholas Johnson
Iowa City Press-Citizen
September 6, 2010 p. A7
http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20100906/OPINION02/9060303/Honor-workers-every-day
On Wednesday, Tom Fosdick died from injuries sustained Monday, when he fell while replacing Boyd Law Building windows.

On Tuesday, President Obama reported to the American people that we are, at last, out of Iraq -- albeit leaving 50,000 troops, uncounted mercenaries and contract employees.

In the course of his speech, he paid honor to the "over 4,400 Americans who have given their lives in Iraq."

It is appropriate that he do so. Those who put their lives at risk in the streets and sands of Iraq, and made the ultimate sacrifice, certainly are entitled to our respect and honor.

But there are another "over 4,000" American workers who also have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. They, too, are entitled to our respect and honor.

Fosdick has joined their number.

In 2006, there were 5,865 workplace deaths. In 2009, there were 4,340. Apparently a benefit from millions of unemployed is that if they don't have a workplace they're much less likely to be killed in one. Even one year's 4,340 dead workers is the rough equivalent of seven years' dead in Iraq. And 5,865 is more than twice the 2,752 killed on Sept. 11.

Moreover, add in the number of workplace non-fatal injuries and diseases and the number in 2008 was more like 3.7 million.

These are the men and women who build and maintain what our military is defending, and the rest of us take for granted. They are the ones who have done the sometimes literally backbreaking work, who risk injury, disease and death on a daily basis. They built the high-rise office buildings and condos, the highways and bridges, hospitals and schools, the networks of power lines and natural gas pipelines. Three of them died building our Hancher Auditorium. Now another has died refurbishing our law school.

Their ancestors built the canals and railroads that spanned our continent. They now maintain those railroads and subways. They sweat in 100-degree heat in the foundries that produce our tractors.

They construct the wind farms, cell phone towers, and radio and TV towers (and then have to climb them to change the little red light bulb on top) -- including the 11 workers who constructed the 2,063-foot antenna tower in North Dakota for KVLY-TV.

Fortunately, none of those 11 died. The 11 on the BP offshore oil rig did. And so did the 29 coal miners working in an unsafe Massey mine a couple weeks earlier. We've yet to hear the fate of the 13 in last week's Gulf offshore oil rig explosion.

I find it hard to understand those in business and legislatures who sacrifice workplace safety for profits, do everything in their power to beat down unions, OSHA funding, project labor agreements, the right to a livable wage or even an increase in the minimum wage. How can they be mystified as to why Iowa's young folks leave the state for jobs in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois?

As someone who spends his days doing finger exercises on computer keyboards, I am in awe of what these men and women are able to do, and are willing to risk in the process. I stop to speak with them when I go into the law building.

But we don't introduce ourselves and certainly don't exchange business cards. So while I've met and visited with Fosdick's mother and brother, I don't know if Fosdick was ever among the workers with whom I visited, though I like to believe he was.

For me, the memory of Fosdick, the gift of his organs to others, will be something like the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington. Someone for whom I grieve, who symbolizes the others we will never know but should remember to recognize and honor every day.
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Nicholas Johnson, a former FCC commissioner, teaches at the University of Iowa College of law.

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* 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
# # #

Finding Jobs on Labor Day

September 5, 2010, 7:58 a.m.

Former Labor Secretary Reich Has Economic Solution
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
Reducing the unnecessarily high numbers of workplace deaths, injuries and disease is always high on labor's wish list -- as we were recently reminded in Iowa City. "Danger in the Workplace; Honoring Those Who Built and Build America," September 1, 2010.

But ranking right up there for labor, especially during this "jobless recovery" (or "jobless stagnation") economy, is finding jobs at which one can both labor and support a family.

Even "unemployment" is inching up. But the much more relevant measure is "underemployment."

"Underemployment" is the total number of those (1) who have recently been "laid off," plus (2) those who have given up looking, plus (3) those working part time who want and need full time work. So far as I know even that number excludes those who are working full or part time, but at jobs, and for pay, far below the level warranted by their professional training, skills and experience (not to mention financial need).

And according to the Gallup Chief Economist, the company's latest survey finds that number, at 18.6%, is now roughly two times the rate of "unemployment." Dennis Jacobe, "U.S. Underemployment at 18.6% in August," September 2, 2010 ("Underemployment, as measured by Gallup, was 18.6% in August, up from 18.4% at the end of July. Underemployment peaked at 20.4% in April and has yet to break below 18.3% this year.")

And of course, even these average numbers presume boiling water comfort. You know the line, "If your foot's in a bucket of ice water, and your hand is in a pan of boiling water, on average you're comfortable."

For professional men and women with advanced university degrees and some years of experience, unemployment, while always devastating for those experiencing it, now affects almost no larger a percentage than in economic boom times, and when it does it tends to last a shorter time for them than the "average time" for others.

For African-American high school dropouts it's a different story. And this is a goodly number of Americans. "In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school." Erik Eckholm, "Plight Deepens for Black Men, Studies Warn," New York Times, March 20, 2006.

Eckholm reports, "Black men in the United States face a far more dire situation than is portrayed by common employment and education statistics, a flurry of new scholarly studies warn . . ..

"In 2000, 65 percent of black male high school dropouts in their 20's were jobless — that is, unable to find work, not seeking it or incarcerated. By 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent, compared with . . . 19 percent of Hispanic dropouts. Even when high school graduates were included, half of black men in their 20's were jobless in 2004, up from 46 percent in 2000."

And bear in mind, this is a report from 2006, the "good old days" compared with the worst of the current downturn.

I have repeatedly argued in this blog for a federal jobs program, like those President Roosevelt created in the 1930s. If you want to jump start an economy that is 80% driven by consumer spending, and you're willing to invest trillions of dollars to do it, getting everyone employed is what seems to me to be the no-brainer solution (however politically unpopular in some quarters).

For example, when the car dealers' lots are filled with cars, because consumers either don't have the money to buy them or are too concerned about their future to risk doing so, it makes little sense to give money to corporate CEOs to build more plants and hire more workers. Why would a rational automobile CEO do that; to stack the newly manufactured cars on top of the ones already sitting out on the dealers' lots? One could have easily predicted (as I and a great many others did) that this kind of "stimulus" was not going to work for any sector of our economy (manufacturing, service, or retail). And it hasn't.

(Which is not to say that it has not had any, even very limited, short-term effect whatsoever. It is only to say that it has, rather obviously, not solved our problem -- as, I contend, putting everyone to work with those trillions of dollars would have done, and rather promptly and permanently.)

While that approach is certainly consistent with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich's understanding of our challenge, I'll be the first to acknowledge that his analysis is far more sophisticated than my own. Robert B. Reich, "How to End the Great Recession," New York Times, September 3, 2010, p. A21.

Organized labor is down to about 7 percent of the private work force.. . .

None of the standard booster rockets are working: near-zero short-term interest rates from the Fed, almost record-low borrowing costs in the bond market, a giant stimulus package and tax credits for small businesses that hire the long-term unemployed have all failed to do enough.

That’s because the real problem has to do with the structure of the economy, not the business cycle. No booster rocket can work unless consumers are able, at some point, to keep the economy moving on their own. . . .

But consumers no longer have the purchasing power to buy the goods and services they produce as workers; for some time now, their means haven’t kept up with what the growing economy could and should have been able to provide them.

This crisis began decades ago when a new wave of technology — things like satellite communications, container ships, computers and eventually the Internet — made it cheaper for American employers to use low-wage labor abroad . . .. The median male worker earns less today, adjusted for inflation, than he did 30 years ago.

But for years American families kept spending . . .. How did families manage this trick? First, women streamed into the paid work force. . . .

Second, everyone put in more hours. . . .

[T]third: going ever deeper into debt. . . . From 2002 to 2007, American households extracted $2.3 trillion from their homes. . . .

Now we’re left to deal with the underlying problem that we’ve avoided for decades. Even if nearly everyone was employed, the vast middle class still wouldn’t have enough money to buy what the economy is capable of producing.

Where have all the economic gains gone? . . . In the late 1970s, the richest 1 percent of American families took in about 9 percent of the nation’s total income; by 2007, the top 1 percent took in 23.5 percent of total income.

It’s no coincidence that the last time income was this concentrated was in 1928. . . .

The rich spend a much smaller proportion of their incomes than the rest of us. . . . [T]he economy is robbed of the demand it needs to keep growing and creating jobs. . . .

[T]he rich . . . invest their earnings . . . anywhere around the globe where they’ll summon the highest returns — . . . often it’s the Cayman Islands, China or elsewhere. . . .

Meanwhile, as the economy grows, the [middle class] spending fuels continued growth . . .. But because this situation can’t be sustained, at some point — 1929 and 2008 offer ready examples — the bill comes due.

This time around, . . . averting another Great Depression-like calamity removed political pressure for more fundamental reform. We’re left instead with a long and seemingly endless Great Jobs Recession.

[T]here is only one way back to full recovery: through more widely shared prosperity. In the 1930s, the American economy was completely restructured. New Deal measures — Social Security, a 40-hour work week with time-and-a-half overtime, unemployment insurance, the right to form unions and bargain collectively, the minimum wage — leveled the playing field.

In the decades after World War II, legislation like the G.I. Bill, a vast expansion of public higher education and civil rights and voting rights laws further reduced economic inequality. Much of this was paid for with a 70 percent to 90 percent marginal income tax on the highest incomes. And as America’s middle class shared more of the economy’s gains, it was able to buy more of the goods and services the economy could provide. The result: rapid growth and more jobs.

By contrast, little has been done since 2008 to widen the circle of prosperity. . . .

[Comparable] measures would not enlarge the budget deficit because they would be paid for. In fact, such moves would help reduce the long-term deficits by getting more Americans back to work and the economy growing again.

Policies that generate more widely shared prosperity lead to stronger and more sustainable economic growth — and that’s good for everyone. The rich are better off with a smaller percentage of a fast-growing economy than a larger share of an economy that’s barely moving. That’s the Labor Day lesson we learned decades ago; until we remember it again, we’ll be stuck in the Great Recession.

Clearly, turning trillions of dollars over to our wealthiest one percent has not helped the poor, the working poor, the underemployed, the working class and the middle class.

It is said that "a rising tide lifts all boats." Whether or not that's true, the absence of any tide at all moves no one's boat. Thus, it turns out that while the rich (and the politicians they control) have been doing in the rest of us, they have been shooting themselves in the wallet as well.
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* 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
# # #

Danger in the Workplace

September 1, 2010, 5:40 p.m. [more Sept. 1, 10:00 p.m.; Sept. 2, 5:00 a.m., 11:20 a.m.]

Honoring Those Who Built, and Build, America
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
I have just come from visiting with the mother and brother of the injured workman, who fell during his work replacing windows on the University of Iowa College of Law Boyd law building. ["Man working on Boyd Law Building renovation seriously injured," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 1, 2010, online at 9:59 a.m.]

I will not now reveal either his, and their, names nor what I have been told by them until it comes from their statement, which should be available to the media shortly. Nor am I now free to say anything about the details of the OSHA investigation.

But I will be writing about workplace safety generally in this space over the hours and days to come prior to Labor Day, Monday, September 6th.

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KCRG-TV9 local news has just reported, at 6:02 p.m., Sept. 1, that the worker, Tom Fosdick, has died.

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By 6:10 p.m., The Gazette had the story uploaded, along with the statements from the University and the family, consistent with what I had been told by them earlier. It is reproduced below.

[Update Sept. 2, 5:00 a.m.: The Gazette's hard copy edition story is, Diane Heldt, "Fatal accident at UI under review," The Gazette, Sept. 2, 2010, p. A2 (and on "The Green Gazette"). The Press-Citizen's hard copy and online update is B.A. Morelli, "Worker dies from injuries; Was working on construction job at Boyd Law Building," Iowa City Press-Citizen, Sept. 2, 2010, p. A3. The Des Moines Register is carrying Morelli's story as well, B.A. Morelli, "Ex-University of Iowa diver dies in campus work accident," Des Moines Register, Sept. 2, 2010. The Daily Iowan uploaded its online story at 7:20 a.m., Sept. 2: Reid Chandler and Mitchell Schmidt, "Worker dies after accident in Boyd Law Building," The Daily Iowan, Sept. 2, 2010, p. A1.]

Update Sept. 2, 11:20 a.m.: And meanwhile, in a related story from the Gulf of Mexico . . . Oh boy, here we go again with the technology BP and President Obama assured us was near-perfect a week or so before the last Gulf disaster ["It turns out by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced. Even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore." White House, April 2]: "Coast Guard Reports Blast on Rig in Gulf of Mexico," Associated Press/New York Times, Sept. 2, 2010, "2 minutes ago." "A rescue operation has begun, with initial reports suggesting that all 13 crew members were in the water, the Coast Guard said on Thursday. . . . GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) -- An offshore petroleum platform exploded and was burning Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site where BP's undersea well spilled after a rig explosion." More.

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[Comment, Sept. 1, 10:00 p.m.] Last evening (Aug. 31) President Obama reported to the American people that we are, at last, out of Iraq -- albeit we're leaving behind 50,000 non-combat-but-armed-and-ready-for-combat American troops and 100,000 uncounted (and unrecognized), though much more highly paid, mercenaries and private contractors. We also leave behind, on our Chinese credit card, what's much more likely to be an ultimate $2 or $3-trillion-dollar-debt for my great granddaughter to pay off than the $1 trillion Obama mentioned .

In the course of his speech he paid honor to the "over 4,400 Americans who have given their lives in Iraq." Office of the Press Secretary, "Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the End of Combat Operations in Iraq," Aug. 31, 2010.

It is appropriate that he, indeed that all of us, do so. Whatever one thinks of the Iraq war, those who followed the orders of their Commanders in Chief (Bush and Obama), put their lives at risk in the sands and streets of Iraq, and made the ultimate sacrifice, are surely entitled to our respect and honor.

But there are another "over 4000" Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, and who are also entitled to our respect and honor.

And now Tom Fosdick has joined their number.

These 4340 deaths occurred not over the seven-year span of the Second Iraq War. They occurred during one year: 2009. And believe it or not, that was a low year -- perhaps the only benefit to flow from the millions of unemployed during our economic downturn. It's pretty hard to be killed in the workplace when you don't have a job. Unemployment has produced a 26% decline in workplace deaths since 2006, which would put the number that year at 5865.

This is almost as many in 2009 as all the military deaths during the Iraq War; it is significantly more than the 2752 killed in the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Moreover, when you add in the number of workplace non-fatal injuries and diseases the number is more like 3.7 million (2008). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities."

These are the men and women who have built what it is the military is defending; what it is we take for granted and use every day. These are the folks who do the sometimes literally back breaking work, who risk injury, disease and death on a daily basis, to build the high rise office buildings and condos, the highways and bridges, hospitals and schools (including law schools; three workers lost their lives building Hancher Auditorium for us to enjoy), the networks of power lines and natural gas pipelines, whose ancestors built the canals and then the railroads that spanned our continent -- and who now maintain those railroads and subways. They sweat in over-100-degree heat working in the foundries that produce our tractors.

They construct the wind farms, cell phone towers, and radio and TV towers (and then have to climb them to change the little red light bulb on top) -- including the 11 workers who constructed the 2063-foot TV antenna tower in North Dakota for KVLY-TV.

Fortunately, none of those 11 died. The 11 on the BP offshore oil rig did. And so did the 29 coal miners working in an unsafe Massey mine a couple weeks earlier.

So as someone who spends his days doing finger exercises on computer keyboards, I am in awe and deep appreciation for what these men and women are able to do, and are willing to risk in the process. I stop to speak, find out what the beef is when they're standing with picket signs, compliment them for quality work when they're on the job, thank them. And I argue with legislators and business people who do everything in their power to beat down unions, project labor agreements, the right to a livable wage, or even an increase in the minimum wage (and then remain mystified as to why Iowa's young folks leave the state for jobs in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois).

And so it was at the law school. After I put my bicycle away on the rack and gathered my things, I'd check in with them to see how they were doing. Ask them what they thought the weather would be. Josh and joke -- and thank them for working to improve the building where all I do is sit in a nice office, read and write, talk with colleagues and students, and teach a class.

But we don't introduce ourselves, and certainly don't exchange business cards. So while I've met and visited with Tom's mother and brother, I don't know if Tom was ever among those I visited with or not, though I like to believe he was. As a swimmer, I'll bet he knew my neighbor, Irving Weber.

For me, his memory, his organs gifts to others, will be something like the "tomb of the unknown soldier" in Arlington Cemetery. Someone for whom I grieve, someone who symbolizes for me those we should honor everyday, not just Labor Day; those who build and maintain America, and who risk their health and lives, for the most part, without ever receiving even recognition of their existence, let alone thanks.

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Diane Heldt, "Worker dies from incident at Iowa law building," The Gazette Online, September 1, 2010, 6:10 p.m.

University of Iowa officials continue to review the Monday accident at a campus construction project that killed a Cedar Rapids man.

Tom Fosdick, 49, died Wednesday at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. In a statement, the family of the Cedar Rapids man said they were grateful they were able to say goodbye to him as a family at the hospital.

“The tremendous sense of loss we felt following Tom’s tragic accident has only deepened with his passing today,” the family said in the statement.

They followed Fosdick’s wishes and donated his organs and tissue, the family said.

“He was a generous and caring man, and he would be happy to help others even in the face of this tragedy,” they said in the statement.

Fosdick was working as a private contractor on a construction project at the Boyd Law Building. Wisconsin-based Miron Construction was the general contractor on the project, but Fosdick was working for subcontractor Swanson Glass, Craig Uhlenbrauck, Miron’s vice president of marketing, said.

Swanson employees were doing a window installation Monday when the accident happened, Uhlenbrauck said. He didn’t know specifics of the incident, and referred questions to Kevin Swanson, with Swanson Glass, who did not return a message.

“Our prayers are with that family,” Uhlenbrauck said.

The construction work at Boyd Law was suspended on Monday and it’s unknown when the project will resume, UI Spokesman Tom Moore said. The UI continues to review the accident, as do the contractors on the project, Moore said.

“I do know the incident will be reported to OSHA,” Moore said. “I do not know the status of OSHA’s investigation.”

A state spokeswoman would not release information on the UI accident specifically, but said typically in cases that involve serious injury or death, Iowa Occupational Safety and Health investigates.

“Under federal law, information related to OSHA investigations is confidential until any type of investigation is complete and a report has been issued,” Kerry Koonce, spokeswoman with Iowa Workforce Development, said.

Fosdick was an All-American diver as a prep athlete at Cedar Rapids Kennedy and joined the Hawkeye swimming and diving team in 1979, according to a statement released by UI officials.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and hope that they will find some measure of comfort in the support of their friends and community,” UI officials said in the statement.

Fosdick Family Statement:

We wish to thank our family, friends and community members for their support during this very difficult time for the Fosdick family. Your thoughts and prayers mean more to us than you can ever know. The tremendous sense of loss we felt following Tom’s tragic accident has only deepened with his passing today. We are grateful that we as a family were able to say good-bye to him. We are proud to follow his wishes that his organs and tissue be donated in order to give the gift of life to others. He was a generous and caring man, and he would be happy to help others even in the face of this tragedy. Thank you again for your support.

UI statement:

It is with deep sadness that the University of Iowa learned of the death of Tom Fosdick today. Tom was 49 years old. He was injured while working as a private contractor on a project at the UI Boyd Law Building on Monday, August 30. An All-American diver as a prep athlete at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School, he joined the Hawkeye swimming and diving team in 1979. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and hope that they will find some measure of comfort in the support of their friends and community.

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* 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
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