Vaccinations

 

It is time to schedule your vaccinations if you have not already done it. We scheduled our flu shot for the end of September. Today, we had our second shingles vaccination (it takes two.) Hopefully, we will be able to get a Covid-19 vaccination before the end of the year. I keep hearing that many people are going to wait for the Covid-19 vaccination until there is more data available. The only way more data is going to be known is if people get vaccinated. Sounds like a Catch 22 situation. Right now there are at least three competing vaccines in third stage testing. Personally, I will get the first available one, and then the second available one, and also the third one that is available. If each one is less than 100% effective, I intend to be protected, especially when 25% of the US population says they will not be vaccinated. If that sector does not help protect me, I will defend myself. And this is from someone who absolutely hates getting shots and hates going to see a doctor.

Risk and Trust in the Pandemic

 We have been socializing with another couple every week. All of us have been self-quarantined, so little to no risk. The other couple attended a family function this past weekend with their two children, their spouses, and three grandchildren. We will not be socializing with the couple for a couple of weeks to minimize our risk of exposure to Covid-19. We were ok with the risk of exposure before—two people who were seeing two people who were all social distancing and self-quarantined. The socialization risk factor has increased by several hundred percent. If we were to socialize, we would be extending our trust to four additional adults and three children.

We have no idea how many people those seven have been exposed to. If it is only 2 people each, potentially, we risk exposure to a minimum of 21 additional people. In a state where the infection rate is 10% or more, two of the 21 people probably have the virus. Since my wife and I are in a high-risk group, this is more risk than I am willing to take. If each of the seven additional people has been exposed to 4 other people, we would be extending trust to 35 people. There are likely at least 3 infected people in the group. When people meet in groups, without social distancing, they are significantly increasing their risk of infection. Yet, we continue to see people that refuse to wear a mask and ignore social distancing rules. I don’t think we will stop the pandemic until we have a vaccine that works, and enough people have received the vaccine. With 25% of the population saying that they will not get vaccinated, we may never end the pandemic.

The first week of school

 

Today is Thursday, the first Thursday of the Fall 2020 semester. Classes and emails are typical for the first week, especially for the incoming Freshmen who are taking the course online instead of in person. That is my accommodation for the Covid-19. In the first three days, I have been notified that ten of my students are quarantined due to Covid-19 exposure or positive testing. With other universities going 100 percent online, the question is, when will Oklahoma State University? The faculty I communicate with are anticipating that will happen soon. Some hope that we will continue with the current model for six to eight weeks. Personally, I think that the University should not have opened for in-person classes. No one asks me or cares what I think. The administration is more concerned about money than anyone’s health. The current university model cannot survive 100 percent online. There is too much overhead.

 I am quite happy to be online and living in Texas, although I feel for my colleagues that are teaching face-to-face. I spent my fourth morning in the Glass Art Studio making leaves. Leaves are a good practice item for improving my flameworking skills. The problem with the oxygen concentrator disappeared with the relocation of the concentrators and the addition of a fan. They were getting overheated, and so was I. With our 100 degree days, I can only work until about 9:30. That is fine since I start before 6 am. I am looking forward to cooler weather.

Glass Art Studio - Day One

 

My glass art studio is finished. I was able to work for about an hour this morning and then had an issue with the oxygen generator. I emailed the manufacturer. If I haven’t heard from them by 11:30  am, I will call. One of the oxygen concentrators started alarming, so I shut the system down. The instructions say not to shut off the concentrators, but shut the system down. I waited for an hour and then tried to turn the system back on. The generator stayed dark. Nothing would come on. No oxygen, no flame, no working glass. Darn!

The Missing Month

I missed posting in the blog for almost a month. A lot went on in that month. I taught a summer class online that had 72 students. This led to many emails. I held online office hours using Microsoft Teams, which went well after I learned to use it. My TAs and I will keep office hours this way this fall. This fall, all of my classes will be online. I currently have 894 students enrolled in my four sections. I have a long list of things I need to do to get ready for Fall, which is really August. Besides updating some videos, I really need to find TAs. We have 18 assignments that are due in 12 weeks. Yes, that is 16,092 assignments to grade. We will also hold student meetings with company representatives through MS Teams. More on that later.

I decided to build an art glass studio. I will do flameworking, also called lampworking. The glass art is created using a torch powered by propane and oxygen. I will be concentrating on borosilicate glass (also called hard-glass with a COE of 32.) I will have the capability of creating glass art with soft-glass since I have glass rods and frit left from glass blowing. I purchased an 8 x 8 ft. Tuff Shed that is installed on the covered parking pad. Today the electrical is being installed. Then we have to wait for the city to connect the electricity. I have already ordered and received a holding kiln, a torch, several hundred pounds of borosilicate rod and tubing, a steel workbench, and a chair.

Yesterday, the oxygen generator arrived. I already have the cement board to go on the floor and some of the walls. My dear wife makes fun of me getting all of the equipment here before the building is ready. Oh well, we each do things in our own way. Tools are due tomorrow and the toolbox next week. Again, she is making fun of me getting supplies and materials delivered out of order. At least I have not ordered the kiln yet, but only because I did not want to have to move it more than once. That and the garage is really pretty full, waiting for the shop to be finished. After the electric is completed, I have to install the vent fan (yes, it is sitting in the garage), insulate (spray foam), and install the cement board. Then I will finally be ready to assemble the equipment and be prepared to work glass. I hope it happens before classes start.

I spent a lot of time last month researching what I needed to set up a glass studio. Also bought and read a couple of reference books. And watched several YouTube videos on flameworking. I have not been wasting my time during our self-quarantine. Pictures will be posted when the studio is complete.

College Costs

Over the last 30 years, college costs have increased by 213% compared to a 113% increase in the CPI over the same time. College cost increases have been twice the CPI for the last 20 years and the previous ten years.

There have been many articles written about the ill financial health of America’s universities. The higher education financial problem is not new news; the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the issues because we are seeing students that are not willing to pay the price when they do not get the “college experience.” First, let’s briefly review some of the reasons for the escalating costs.

The ratio of administrators and staff to teachers/faculty has increased dramatically. All universities I looked at have at least three times as many administrators and staff as faculty. Fifty years ago, most universities had fewer administrators and staff than faculty. The university’s business is to teach students. Administrators and staff do not contribute to the main business of the university, but instead, they facilitate it. The question is: are that many more people required to facilitate the business than in the past? To answer that, we need to look at the structure of the organization. First, universities tend to be very hierarchical organizations. Every manager needs one or two people working for them. Very few of the organizations are approaching a span of control of 5 to 7 subordinates for each supervisor. Please do not think that this is a call for a flat organization. This only points out that many universities have many levels of management and often duplication at each level.

Second, let’s look at the duplication of functions across the university. Each college has staff positions duplicated at the university level. For example, each college has a human resource function, accounting function, student advising function, marketing, communications, event planning, and online education function. One example that is easy to identify at the college level and university level is the online education department. At the college level, this department has a manager, two assistants, a production manager, a project manager, two instructional specialists, and six others with the title of an adjunct instructor for a total of 13 people. The university instructional services for online has 34 people. Several colleges at the university duplicate the online education department. At the very least, we have redundancy at the managerial level and probable underemployment at other tiers. This example is just the online education department. Any support function will reveal similar personnel excesses.

One of the explanations given is that the business school is different from engineering and other colleges; and therefore, it needs to maintain control of the online education support function. I have news for people that believe that this is a valid argument. Support for online education is not specialized, and your department/college is not unique. Working in industry, I had heard this argument repeatedly when we were trying to combine support functions to get an efficiency of scale. I never observed a case where it was true. Some support functions need duplication at remote sites, but not when all were in the same location. A valid argument for having single support departments is that the supervision of support functions (e.g., human resources, accounting) needs to have expertise in the supervisory role to manage the service properly.

Another reason for the increasing costs is the university building programs. One major Midwest university went from $50 million in debt to over $700 million in debt in less than ten years. A debt level of $1 billion is not unusual because of continued building programs. One university recently announced a $100 million new agricultural college building, with only half of it funded. They hope to raise the remaining $50 million before it is completed in 2023. One explanation of the problem is here: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/10/why-colleges-are-borrowing-billions/542352/. Notice that this article is three years old, and the trend has not slowed. If anything, it has accelerated. Even when the construction is fully funded, it can increase the university’s debt. Often, gifts are recognized now, but the university receives money in the future. If you donate in your will, the university will receive the funds from your estate when you die. The university often commits this planned gift to a current project and borrows the money increasing its debt.

The primary source of the university’s income is from the students in the form of tuition and fees. Fees are frequently more than tuition. Most universities do not discuss the fees when talking with prospective students and their parents. If you go to a university website, you may have to dig to find what these fees are and what they support. As an example, I went to the University of Oklahoma to see what their in-state undergraduate tuition is for a business school student. The following table gives the costs for a single semester.

Item	Cost/semester
Tuition	$2,394
Mandatory Hourly Fee	$2,010.75
Technology and Program Fee – Business School - $151/hour @ 15 hours	$2,265
Academic Excellence Fee - $90/hour @ 15 hours	$1,350
Total per semester	$8,019.75

Tuition and fees yearly cost $16,039.50, which does not include a place to live and food. Living on campus will add approximately $15,000 per year. A four-year business school education will cost approximately$124,000. The cost at most state schools will be comparable, and in some cases, substantially higher.

Is it any wonder that universities are very concerned about student retention and how to attract more students. What they have not been concerned with is lowering costs. The old adage is true, “when you are in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.” Universities have not stopped digging and are going to experience a revolution against the current university costs and curriculum.

Why are universities reopening this Fall?

Most universities are planning to hold in-person classes this Fall. They are telling us how they will do this. My university is telling us how in very general terms, at this point. Which means that they are not really sure how, in detail, they will manage a reopening and face-to-face classes. We have seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 cases with states reopening. Just today, Texas has closed again, specifically bars and restaurants. Does the university think they can do better with a population of close to 30,000 students, aged 18 to 24?

The question the university leaders are not answering is “why.” Why are they insisting that the university reopen and expose students, faculty, and staff to a significant possibility of catching the virus? What is driving their actions? It is not likely that it is out of a concern for health and safety because their efforts will have exactly the opposite consequence.

I suggest that the driver for reopening the university is financial. The pandemic has exposed years of financial mismanagement. If the university charges students only for the education and subtracts all of the charges related to the university experience, they will be operating at a significant deficit. This would then require that the administration reduce the organization to only those functions necessary for education. Many people would lose their jobs, but the cost of a college education would come down dramatically. Those students that are only at the university for the experience would likely drop out. It would be interesting to teach a class where the students are there only for education.

Back again

Back again. I have been absent from posting for about a month. A lot has gone on during that time. I will post on the things that I have been working on in the future. Today's post is related to one of the things that has taken a lot of my attention. Stay safe.
Fletch

Canceled. Darn!

Rick Steves notified us today that our trip to Ireland is canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. At least, Rick Steves will be sending a 100% reimbursement. Other tour operators are only giving credit for future travel. My sister had a tour to Italy scheduled with Grand Circle. Grand Circle changed its refund policy before canceling the trip from a refund to future credit.

Now we need to cancel the air and hotel portions of the trip that we added on our own. It sounds like a task for tomorrow. The pandemic is destroying the tour and travel industry, which includes airlines, restaurants, hotels, car rentals, and shuttles in addition to tour operators and travel agents.

I notified the airlines and hotels that our tour company canceled our trip to Ireland. One hotel is issuing a full refund. One hotel has not responded yet. The airline sent a case number. Hopefully, we will get a full refund. I will cancel the trip insurance if I get refunds from everyone. Otherwise, I will let the trip insurance make us whole. What a disappointment it is to have to stay home this summer. At least we are healthy. I just want to get out. It is so bad that I offered to relocate the opossum that Candi caught in here Havahart trap. I gave that possum the ride of its life going to the country and got to exercise the 370Z.

How do we know what is going on in the world?

Have you ever stopped to think about how we know about the outside world since we are all staying at home and practicing social distancing? Is it through contacting friends and colleagues through Zoom or Skype? But wait, aren’t the people we contact also staying at home and social distancing? How do they know what is going on in the world?

We depend on news reporters to know what is going on in the world. But can we believe them? The president keeps calling them fake news. But the president repeatedly lies, almost pathologically, so does that mean that the ones he calls fake news are reliable? If that is true, then the ones that he calls real news are really fake news. This is so confusing. 

Now the president is suggesting that we take sanitizer internally. Even I know that is a good way to injure or kill yourself. Drinking Chlorox or Lysol is not smart. Why doesn’t the president know this? I have to wonder how many people will attempt to take sanitizer internally because the president suggested it. The only good thing about that is that only a true Trumper would believe anything so idiotic. If they did follow his suggestion, then there will be fewer votes for his re-election.

How do you know what is going on outside your home?

Higher Education Has Changed.

Universities that are led by visionaries will know that higher education has fundamentally changed with Covid-19 and substantially all education at all levels delivered over the Internet. The only question is, how many universities are led by visionaries? I suggest that the answer is very few. I suspect that most are led by reactionaries who will refuse to change unless change is forced upon them. People are beginning to realize that the cost of a college education is artificially high because tuition and fees support many things that are not related to obtaining an education. Online classes do not require all of the things that support a college experience. Are parents, who foot the bill, concerned about the college experience or the education and the subsequent job/career that will result from the college degree?

Those universities that adapt and change will survive and flourish. Students will be encouraged to go to them by parents that are concerned about their child’s education and about getting in debt to get the degree. The other universities will either change or disappear.

What changes may we see? I expect to see the end of general education requirements, also known as gen-ed. These requirements started in the early part of the 19^th century to give the student a well-rounded education. With the tremendous changes to the secondary education system in the USA in the second half of the 20^th century, gen-ed requirements repeat the classes are taught in every high school. Eliminating the gen-ed requirements will reduce the time to get a bachelor's degree by a year.

We can expect to see universities flattening their current hierarchical organizations. Industry went through this flattening of the organization decades ago. It is past time for higher education to follow suit. At the same time, we should expect to see a reduction in duplicated service across the university. For example, every college has its own human resources department, facilities management department, and accounting department. When all of the colleges are on a single campus, the duplication results in unnecessary costs. At the same time, there are a number of departments whose existence is not justified. At many universities, mine included, we have an honors college. Why? I work closely with many employers, and none of them place any value on an honors degree. Every college has a graduate school with personnel that are responsible for its administration. Then the university has a graduate school. Again, duplication and waste. At my university, we have a university college. It has its own staff, including advisors. I have no idea why it exists?

It is time for the university to reduce costs and waste. It is time to stop building monuments, grand buildings, and taking debt. It is time to get back to the true mission of educating students.

The stress of grocery shopping.

We went to the grocery store yesterday morning. We had our masks ready and hand sanitizer. When we got there a little after 7 am, the parking lot was surprisingly empty, as was the store. We were zipping along getting the necessities; yes, extra-bittersweet chocolate is a necessity. More and more people came into the store. Most, but not all, were wearing masks. Social distancing gradually became more and more difficult. Many people did not seem to understand the concept of social distancing, especially old people who are the most risk from Covid-19. Many aisles were blocked. It would really help if the aisles were one way. The employees pulling groceries for pickup did not help the situation. We did get the necessities that have been in short supply, such as TP, flour, paper towels, Community Coffe, and mascarpone. We checked out without a wait. Some checkout stations had three people in line, and the next one had no one. You can guess which line we did not stand in to wait for checking out. We were so happy to get out of the store and home. We used disinfecting wipes to wipe everything down before putting the groceries away. We were completely wiped out after the experience. Who knew that a trip to the grocery store could be so stressful?

Keeping busy in the new reality of social distancing

My current efforts are on two fronts. The first is to complete the semester with all 600 of my students taking the class online. The second is starting a new business website for my academic editing efforts.

My students are doing very well with the change to online. The number of emails I receive daily is down to under ten per day. Some of the students have completed all of the semester’s assignments. The second exam opened yesterday, and they have until next Thursday to take the exam. If all of my students take the exam and do well, it will be a successful semester despite the challenge of moving online.

I have been creating content for my website. The website will promote my academic editing practice. I created a free article for people to download from the website; the free report gives the basics of academic writing, the common errors people make, and the solution to those errors. I have determined the basic structure of the website. I am now creating content to go into that structure. I created a form for people to fill out when requesting a quote for editing. I also have several former clients writing testimonials. The goal is to have the website live in early May. This is my fall back position if I leave teaching. More on that in May or June.

A third effort for later in the month is to create a website to highlight and sell Candi Glancy Artist’s paintings.

How are you keeping busy and safe?

Living together and working from home.

Most of us are finding a new normal, working from home. We are spending more time with our loved ones than we have maybe ever. We spent time together on weekends, but that is only two days out of seven days every week. Now we are together all seven days and into the start of our fourth week. Sometimes, the little things that the others in our home begin to bug us. The other day, my wife said, ”you have been here for almost three weeks, and you haven’t unpacked. Are you staying ready for a quick escape?” I did not know that my living out of a suitcase was bothering her. I quickly unpacked. It is not a one-way street. I went outside and came back to find myself locked out. I had forgotten her habit of locking all doors when she was inside. I used to carry my keys with me any time I went out of the house. I now remember to always keep a house key with me. When we are getting ready to go somewhere or do a task that requires both of us, she almost always says, “I will be ready in a minute.” It can be hours later when she finally shows up. She saw something that diverted her to a different project, that led to another project. Eventually, she forgot what the original project was. I now remember this and plan for it to happen. I don’t begin to get ready until she comes and says, “what’s keeping you?”

I won’t even go into the little things, like squeezing the toothpaste tube in the middle, or the no contact from 8 am until 5 pm rule, which she violates several times an hour if the office door is open. Love is taking a deep breath and leaving so much unsaid that I know would not be received well. Love, Peace, stay well, and safe.

How can we connect with students online?

Moving all students to online education has created a great learning opportunity. Not just for the students, but also for the teachers. The opportunity is to answer the question, how do we maintain personal contact with the students online and asynchronously? One way I do this is to weekly post a video where I review with the students the week’s assignment. I also check email at least twice every day. A quick response to any questions helps the students feel connected with me and the course. Today I sent an email to all of my former Face-to-Face students that asked them to take the attached pop quiz. When they opened the “quiz”, it said, “Happy April Fool’s Day.” Within minutes I started getting emails. The prank was appreciated.

A busy two weeks

So many things happened these past two weeks.

A friend started a Facebook group called “Pandemic Positivity.” Only positive comments allowed.

Zoom social distancing evening with friends.

Students have moved online, with only a few minor glitches and only a few panic attacks. I received fewer emails than anticipated.

More videos made for student assignments.

I am adjusting to living with my wife, in the same state, and in the same house. Thank goodness her home is large.

Driving Washington County backroads to look at bluebonnets and paintbrush.

Working on putting the ohana back together after it was remodeled in January.

Purchased two domain names. Candiglancyartist.com as a site to sell her paintings. Fglancyediting.com to sell my editing services aimed primarily at academic researchers. (Thank you, Dr. Angela Eaton.)

The only thing in the news is the coronavirus and the White House idiot making misstatements. That is what the news media calls his lies.

Now to write down a list of all that I need to accomplish for my class this next week. I was going to make mental notes, but they seem to be written with invisible ink.

Small world

If anyone did not realize what a small and interconnected world it is, they should now. It has taken less than three months for Covid-19 to spread across the world. The supply chain is global. We get medicines from many countries. For example, surgical masks are supplied from many countries including France and China.

In the USA, we eat grapes from Portugal, chocolate from Africa, bananas from central America, drink coffee from south and central America, wine from Chile, and Australia, tea from India and China. I am sure you can think of more examples.

Tourism is international. Last summer in Costa Rica, we met people from the Netherlands, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Canada, and England. At the university, I have students from Denmark, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, and even Texas. Go to Disneyland when it reopens if you don’t believe travel is global.

No man is an island, entire of itself (John Donne, 1624). No country is an island either.

Doldrums

Do you ever have a day that is just blah, like being stuck in the doldrums? That is the way my day is. I just can’t get going on anything, which is too bad. Today is a teaching day. My office hours are from 9 am to noon. I had three students stop by for assistance, which was a slight diversion. I can only read so much news, and then I really am depressed. My university has not prepared any contingency plan. They have scheduled a meeting tomorrow for the administrators to think about contingency plans. They are as well prepared for a pandemic as the Trump administration was, which is to say not at all. It is days like this that I think about ending my teaching career. Tomorrow will be better, and I have next week (Spring Break) to recover. As Yogi Berra, the great American zen philosopher, said, “It ain’t over until it's over,” and “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Economic effects of the coronavirus.

Think of all of the businesses that have been affected by the coronavirus. Most of the factories in China have been shut down for weeks. Any product or part that comes from China either is or will be in short supply. Some of these include toys, automobiles, soy sauce, video-game consoles, almost everything in your local Hobby Lobby and Michaels, umbrellas, baby carriages, and strollers. Even sales of Corona beer are off.

With people not traveling, any business that depends on tourism is suffering. These include airlines, hotels, restaurants, theaters, Broadway shows, taxi companies, taxi drivers, and even going to the top of the Empire State Building. Costa Rica and Italy are just two of the many countries whose economy is dependant on tourism. The economy of Hawaii and New York City depends on tourism. Tourism is a significant component of the economy of many cities and states. We had a company coming to speak at the university that canceled. The company put a freeze on all travel.

Also, with reduced or almost no shipments from China, the shipping companies are affected, not only ocean freight but companies like the USPS, UPS, and FedEx. The only parts of the economy that has not been harmed are the face mask and hand sanitizer manufacturers. Is it any surprise that the stock markets have fallen almost 20%? Are we headed to a recession? Or are we already there?