#Terrorism versus Lightning, and the American Addiction to Fear

Terrorism is in our headlines, across our national media, and in almost every speech given by every national politician. Since 9/11, and in fact well before 9/11, terrorism has, well, terrorized Americans. It is time to seek perspective, ask what this culture of fear is doing to our country, and seek ways to deny the terrorists the right to divide us with fear.

Fear is an insidious ailment because it both addictive and contagious. Physiologically, fear acts much like stress, which underlies so many of the ailments that claim lives or at least reduce quality of life.

Relative to the total population, in a typical year, the chance of an American citizen being killed by a terrorist are roughly one in 20,000,000. Compare this to their risk of...

Dying in a car accident: 1 in 19,000;
Drowning in a bathtub: 1 in 800,000;
Dying in a building fire: 1 in 99,000;
Being struck by lightning: 1 in 5,500,000. 

Of the ones that I researched, being struck by lightning is the only mode of injury ridiculously rare enough to be compared to death by terrorist attack.

As an American who grew up in a war zone and actually knows what it's like to have a loaded AK-47 pointed at me, I find it very deeply troubling that so many Americans live in a state of fear; spend so much of their time watching cable "news" which packages, sells and multiplies that fear. And many Americans habitually vote for more fear every four years or so.

For this reason I implore my dear, fellow Americans to get in their car and drive... just drive across the country. Drive thousands of miles on our awesome wide open roads and feel that peaceful sunlight and breathe that peaceful air and enjoy that scenery. Unplug the fear and drive. It feels good.

We should also remember that lot of good people have worked hard or even died to give you that a sense of freedom, peace and security. Yes, I speak of Tom Sullivan, David Wyatt, Carson Holmquist, Skip Wells, and Randall Smith, and all of their colleagues in Chattanooga and across the armed forces, and their families, and their friends. It actually devalues the sacrifice of all of our service people when we do not appreciate what we have and what they worked or even died to protect. 

We should remember that the root intent of a terrorist is... to terrorize. The statistics are very clear, and we should deny the terrorists the pleasure of cultivating fear in our minds. The terrorist are failing in the physical fight, and we can defeat them in the mental fight at home as well, simply by enjoying what we have.

So please... take advantage of our freedom and our peace at home. Yes, of course, we do need to remain ever vigilant, and continue efforts to thwart terrorism at home and abroad, but.. never forget to enjoy what you have and the price the nation has paid to secure it.

America is the rarest of rarities- a huge, wealthy, gorgeous and mostly peaceful land where we don't have to live in fear. America is the place where we have the liberty and luxury to worry about other things... like whether to put a lightning rod on the house.

American #HigherEd and the Liberal / Conservative Squeeze

American Higher Ed circles have lately been abuzz with news about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's actions in his state, which appear designed to trim academic programs and confront unions. With the recent announcement of Walker's candidacy in the 2016 election, his actions in Wisconsin will bring more scrutiny and dissent.

Of course, educators are right to study and question Scott Walker's motives... and, in fact, the motives of any and all politicians, very few of who have any knowledge about Higher Ed or education in general. However, Higher Ed is struggling with much larger and broader challenges than Mr. Walker. Reduced resources from the States and Federal funding agencies; legacy costs; rampant misunderstanding of tuition inflation, the "college for all" concept ...which seems designed take the "higher" out of "higher education." Just to name a few.

An unfortunate political circumstance that is currently afflicting higher ed is what might be called the liberal-conservative squeeze: opposed forces chewing into support for Higher Ed from opposite ends.

The fringe Republicans' vendetta against Higher Ed is well known, so I won't dwell on that here. I'll simply point out that the Democrat's wondrous-sounding, beautifully egalitarian, "college-for-all" speak has inflicted grave damage as well, because it tends to devalue the on-campus, 4-year experience in favor of MOOCs and other measures that aim to take tuition revenue away from schools.... revenue that actually pays teachers' salaries. It amazes me that Ed advocates on the left don't realize that as soon as they assert the possibility of replacing current instruction with lower cost methods e.g. MOOCs, the more cost-conscious conservatives will seize upon that as evidence that faculty really aren't worth what they are paid.

Moreover, the Democrats' concept of simply shifting tuition costs for students to the broader public (via the tax base) also sounds lovely, but it does absolutely nothing to address rising costs, and isn't politically viable in many states. That leaves the Democrats with no better option than to advocate for a large private-to-public shift at the Federal level, which is unlikely to succeed, given the political ineptitude and inefficiency of the Education Department.

In my opinion, there has been far too much emphasis in Higher Ed media on Mr. Walker; far too much focus on the unfolding political machinations in that one state. Walker is ultimately a bit player, an ephemeral political being. Wisconsin will eventually overcome him and emerge stronger because of it, perhaps even with some benefits from a few of his ideas. To put it another way: if an institution can truly be decimated by one short-term, partisan politician, then it's not much of an institution. Surely we are more resilient than this. I offer this wisdom from the University of Virginia, where we know a thing or two about deep political intrusions.

In summary, a far greater long-term challenge to Higher Ed across America than Mr. Walker is this phenomenon of the liberal-conservative squeeze. It has the candle of Higher Ed burning at both ends, and if we don't address it soon (pardon the hyperextended metaphor) the light will soon go out.