It's Marmot Day in Alaska

44.12.110. Marmot Day. Marmot Day is established on February 2 of each

year. The day may be observed by suitable observances and exercises

by school programs, the Alaska  Zoo, civic groups, and the public. 

(The picture was taken during the summer and if any marmots stuck their
heads out today they didn't see their shadows, at least not around the
Anchorage area.)

Six Books - Media, Ethics, Balance, Language

I got an email a while back saying to come in and renew my library card and I've been trying to get that done.  Tonight it happened.  Expiring the cards, he said, because the data base was getting full.  That doesn't seem like it should be a problem in 2011, but who am I to argue?

Double click to enlarge

Our new book club selection is Cutting for Stone, but it wasn't in.  I put it on hold and looked at the new books in the non-fiction section.  Wow! Anyone bored?  Go to the library.  Not only can you look, but you can borrow. 

I'll let you know which of these is good.

But I started with I live in the future & here's how it looks by Nick Bilton.  At dinner I shared the epilogue  - "why they're not coming back" - with J.

It's addressed to Dear CEO, Publisher, Producer, Editor, Author, Journalist, Advertising Director, Filmmaker .  . .



"They" are traditional customers, "[m]edia, brands, and the established narratives."


It all boils down to storytelling, he tells us.

In the past stories cost money and were told by people with access to a printing press or television studio, but now everyone has the ability to spread and share information equally with inexpensive tools at our disposal, with our mobile phones, digital cameras, and laptops, we all have an equal voice.

. . .we need to accept that we are not simply selling content. W're not selling the words on the page or the images on the screen, instead we're selling an entire experience. The content we create and sell is just one segment of a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle.

As we move to the next iteration of storytelling, as a great flattening is taking place between consumer and creator, the medium will no longer be the message. The medium will be pervasive. The medium will be amateur, professional, and infinite. And it will all exist as a mutual collection of bytes, snacks, and meals.

So as I'm byting on my meal of yakisoba, I look up at my wife and say, "So, then, why is he writing a book?"

But when we got home and I went to the author's note at the beginning, I saw that he had thought about the question (one of the problems with starting at the end. )

So there are computer extensions of the book.  You can download an app for your iPhone to scan the QR code (that chippy looking box) to take you to the page matching the chapter. 

Or you can just go to nickbilton.com and see the extra for that chapter. 


But let's go back to the content above. 

If the story is the core (and I'm a big believer in the importance of the narrative), Bilton's history doesn't seem to go back far enough.

"In the past stories cost money." 
 I think he's talking about the recent past.  Besides, the stories themselves didn't cost money.  The story is the idea, is the narrative itself.  What could get expensive was the telling of the story.  But let's go back further than his limited time horizon.  Before electricity, before print, the medium was the voice and the body.  Everyone had access.   If you could use your voice and body to make your stories compelling you would get your audience.  (Though it could be costly if the people in power didn't like the message.) 

When the printing press came along, there was also a great liberation because access to the written word could no longer be monopolized by the monks, the time to hand copy a manuscript was now reduced to the time to set the type.  Once you did that, printing took relatively little time.  And with printing, more written material was available and more people could learn to read.  And more was printed in the local language.  Printing at first, wasn't seen as a monopoly, but rather as the breaking of the monopoly.  Those opposed were the ones that had the monopoly.  (Ithiel de Sola Pool's Technologies of Freedom describes the history of changing technologies of media and predicted back in the early 1980's the convergence of most media that Bilton is discussing. )

My concern today is that people like Nick are so enamored of the technology that they see themselves as the powerful ones (because they have mastery of the technology) and they are almost condescending to the old power people who don't know how to do things with the technology.  But just as with the printing press and movies and recordings and television and radio, the good old boys will take some time to adjust, but then they will figure out how to gain control of the new medium, and they have the money to do it. 

Just as Facebook might have allowed the Egyptians to communicate more freely and widely than ever before, the government also figured out how to turn Facebook off.  As governments and businesses figure out the power of the internet they will also figure out how to use it for their traditional pursuits - control of the population and making money.  To do this they will hire techies who will willingly restrict access and track dissidents for them. 

As Bilton revels in the idea that his gps can track him through his cell phone and have his order ready when he gets to Starbucks, I'm thinking that's a pretty cheap bribe for also allowing the government (or Google) to be able to track people and pick them up or use their data for their own ends. 

I've gotten ahead here to the Introduction (remember I started at the end of the book), but you get the idea of where this book seems to be going.   "The future is here and it's gonna be so cool, so stop resisting and get with the program" is the message I'm picking up from the little I've read.    But I'd say it's time for Nick to go the library and check out 1984 and think about how the new technology could be used to allow Big Brother to track Winston.  And then think about how to prevent that. 

And the way Bilton says "The medium will no longer be the message" suggests to me he doesn't understand what McLuhan was saying. (Or maybe he does and I'm just too dull to keep up with him.)  McLuhan - and I acknowledge that people interpret him in different ways - was saying that the medium itself changes the dynamic between the creator and the receiver and thus it changes the communication.  So, the world of people getting 'news' on the page of the morning newspaper is slightly (or greatly) different from the world of people getting 'news' on their mobile phones.   Let's look again at what he said:

The medium will be pervasive. The medium will be amateur, professional, and infinite. And it will all exist as a mutual collection of bytes, snacks, and meals.

 Now, I'm willing to acknowledge the possibility that this is profound and I'm too dense to understand it.  So let me interpret it as I read it and let's see if someone (is Nick set up to track  bloggers writing about his book so he can swoop in here and straighten me out?) can show me the error of my ways.


"The medium will be pervasive'

Does this mean that there will only be one medium?  If that is the case, then, of course, the medium will no longer matter because all content will come via the same medium, so the role of the medium will be neutralized.  But how can there only be one medium?  People will still be able to share stories by natural voice and speaking face to face.  They will be able to draw pictures and write stories on pieces of paper.   Is he saying the internet will cause movie theaters to shut down?  Will all menus become digital?  I think not.  Even though we have electric fireplaces, people still burn wood as well because it has a look and feel and smell an electric fire just can't match.


"The medium will be amateur, professional, and infinite."

Now if Nick is changing the meaning of the word medium because its old meaning isn't adequate for the new world, he needs to explain himself a bit.  Otherwise, he might just be writing gibberish and no one is willing to call him on it.  (Actually, I haven't checked to see what people have said about the book.  Maybe they have called him on this.)  In my old fashioned way of thinking, 'amateur' and 'professional' describe the people creating the story.  They either do it without pay or with pay.  The medium (again, only one seems to exist in this sentence now) isn't amateur or professional, the content creators are.  The medium could refer to the method of realizing the concept - crayon, calligraphy, keyboard, blackboard, camcorder, etc. - or it could refer to the method of distribution - phone app, birthday card, email attachment, blog, 3D Movie, skywriting, etc. 

One guess at his meaning here is that everyone - amateurs and professionals - will be producing with equal access to the global audience in the new world.  But moving words around into grammatically proper places for nouns and verbs and adjectives doesn't necessarily produce sentences that have literal meaning.  If he does mean the only medium will be the internet, he's dreaming.  What happens when the power goes out?  We stop communicating altogether?  Now, if he is only talking about commercial content, he should say so, but then he would be the one who isn't keeping up.  And he does talk about amateurs, so I don't think that's his intention.

I now have to finish reading his book.  Meanwhile he does say in the introduction

. . . this book will give you a new framework for looking at these difficult issues and making sense of the radical trends that have emerged in the last few years.  I will take you deep into the consumnivore's [again, he seems to be embedded in the market paradigm here and subtly excluding those who might not wish to cater to 'consumers' but to aficionados]  new world, explaining how navigation, aggregation, and the narrative are changing.

 He's going to take us through the California porn world to see how they use the new technology.

Then, to reassure you and put today's changes into perspective, we'll take a walk through history to see how radical new developments time and again have prompted fear and upheaval before proving their immense worth to society - and why we'll survive this sea change as well.

 I shouldn't jump to conclusions, and I know every major innovation elicits resistance from those who don't want to adjust, particularly those who have a vested interest in the status quo.   But I take it from this reassurance that he has no concern about global climate change, about the swift disappearance of species around the world, about the impact of derivatives, and other impacts of new technologies. These are probably just crank complaints by the modern Luddites.  But I haven't read that chapter yet.

And in the interest in being relatively current, I have to figure out how to combine blogging about the book and also putting comments on his book's website. 

And let me say that none of us really know what's happening and his book has got me thinking here and that's a good thing. 

Alaska's Military-Educational Complex - Gen. Tom Case To Be New UAA Chancellor

The Nitty Gritty:  The University of Alaska system has a state wide President and three campus Chancellors - in Juneau (UAS), Fairbanks (UAF), and Anchorage(UAA.)  When Tom Case becomes Chancellor at UAA, two of the top four academic leaders in the University system will be former Air Force generals.  None of the four academic leaders will have a doctorate.  While there is room for non-traditional appointments in any system, I find it severely troubling that we either cannot attract or aren't interested in having some leaders with first rate academic qualifications in our highest academic institutions.  Like, how about a general with a doctorate at least?

[UPDATE Feb 5:  There's a follow-up post on the Faculty Senate meeting where this appointment was discussed.]

Tom Case Selected as Chancellor

The University of Alaska Anchorage website announced President (former Gen) Gamble's choice of (former Gen) Tom Case as new UAA Chancellor   January 31, 2011:

University of Alaska President Pat Gamble today announced that Tom Case, the former dean of the University of Alaska Anchorage College of Business and Public Policy, will succeed Fran Ulmer as UAA Chancellor.

Case is currently the president and chief operating officer for the Alaska Aerospace Corp. headquartered in Anchorage. He’ll resign from that position to take the top leadership position at UAA. . .

“Tom is the right person for this big job,” Gamble said. “I received valuable input on Fran’s replacement from a diverse group of UAA stakeholders, elected and community leaders, the Board of Regents, and others.  Many people advised me that a costly and lengthy national search wasn’t necessary because we have excellent talent right here in Alaska. They were exactly right. Fran has been a true champion of our students, higher education and of UAA in particular, and I believe Tom clearly has the leadership experience and academic credentials to continue Fran’s good work.”

OK now.  President Pat Gamble came to the University last spring from the Alaska Railroad and before that  from the Air Force where he retired as a four-star general and as commander of U.S. air forces in the Pacific region.

Now Tom Case comes to UAA from being COO of the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, and from being Dean of the UAA College of Business and Public Policy, and from being deputy commander in chief of Central Command and Pacific Command.

Before Pat Gamble was President, Army General Mark Hamilton had been President of the University of Alaska.  


I haven't been paying close attention to the selection of the Chancellor.  But it appears from President Gamble's words, there was no serious search for a new Chancellor.  

“I received valuable input on Fran’s replacement from a diverse group of UAA stakeholders, elected and community leaders, the Board of Regents, and others.  Many people advised me that a costly and lengthy national search wasn’t necessary because we have excellent talent right here in Alaska. They were exactly right. Fran has been a true champion of our students, higher education and of UAA in particular, and I believe Tom clearly has the leadership experience and academic credentials to continue Fran’s good work.”

DISCLOSURE

As some readers here know, I'm a retired UAA professor.  Tom Case was my dean for four years.  Before that I'd had contact with him in my role as chair of the Public Administration program and his role as head of Elmendorf Air Force base.  I like Tom Case a lot.  He's a decent, honest, public spirited, and fair person.  I would trust his word absolutely.


UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP BACKGROUND

Tom Case was originally appointed Dean of the College of Business and Public Affairs without a more formal search process.  At this point I don't remember the exact details, but I recall it was an interim appointment and then later the faculty agreed that he should stay on.

Fran Ulmer had been Mayor of Juneau, a legislator from Juneau, Lt. Gov. of Alaska, and ran for Gov.  After that she had an appointment at Harvard as a visiting professor in something like Environmental Policy, was a guest faculty at UAA, and then was appointed director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research.  She too was appointed without a search committee to be interim Chancellor and then about a year later if I recall correctly, was appointed as permanent Chancellor.  She's recently served as one of President Obama's BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commissioners.


FUNCTIONS OF A UNIVERSITY

Faculty at the University of Alaska Anchorage are expected to do, and are evaluated on, three main functions:  Teaching, Research, and Service.  Universities have traditionally been seen as academic institutions where positions require academic training, usually what is called a 'terminal' degree.  That means the highest academic degree in one's field, usually a PhD, but for law, a JD is considered a terminal degree.

• Case is an Air Force Academy graduate and has a Masters Degree in Systems Management.  
• Ulmer has a JD.  
• Gamble has a 1978 Masters Degree in business administration and management (as well as Air War College education) 
• Chancellor Rogers at UAF has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard (my field) and   
• UAS Chancellor John Pugh has a 1970 MSW  (Masters of Social Work) from the University of Texas, Austin. (❉See bottom of post)

Community Colleges are able to get good leaders with PhD's.  The University of Alaska System's top four academic leadership positions will soon include no one with a terminal degree.





SHOULD PEOPLE WITHOUT TERMINAL DEGREES AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE HEAD UNIVERSITIES?

It wouldn't make sense to simply rule out anyone without a PhD as University President or Chancellor.   A PhD is not and should not always be the requirement.  There are people with unique experience that makes them qualified despite not having a degree.  I taught public administration and I believe that general management/administrative skills are transferable from one area to another.  But one needs to understand the functions of the organization - in this case teaching, research, and service - to be able to lead the people who do the work and to represent them well outside of the organization. 

In Mark Hamilton's case, as President he very skillfully lobbied the legislature for funding increases after a string of years of budget declines.  As a faculty grievance representative, I personally found President Hamilton approachable and receptive.  Several times I wrote him lengthy emails and he responded quickly, thoughtfully, and in detail.  And there were several grievances that we won only at his level. (It was a bit strange though since the statewide attorney wrote the Chancellor's response at the campus level.)

As my Dean, Tom Case was exceptionally careful not to violate academic culture.  Sometimes this led to him not being as forceful as I thought he should have been because he wasn't sure enough about what was appropriate and didn't want to impose military standards.  He did get the opportunity to teach some classes - I believe he co-taught with a faculty member so he didn't have complete responsibility for the management of the class.  His strongest asset for the college was his connections and respect off campus.  Again, he would have been stronger had he better understood the roles of the faculty in teaching, research, and service so he could have made his pitch for funding more effectively and he could have better understood the quality of proposals and their likelihood for success.  He was also somewhat at a disadvantage dealing with national academic issues such as accreditation.  But he's a bright, decent, and hardworking man and I know his time as Dean will serve him well as Chancellor.  He had to sit in at countless meetings with other deans so he should have a reasonable reading of the issues of other colleges. 


WHAT ABOUT ALL THIS MILITARY INFLUENCE ON CAMPUS?

Clearly, no one at the University could move laterally into a high level military positions as military retirees are able to do.  People are expected to move up through the ranks because that way they can understand the needs of their workforce.  It seems strange that people from such closed systems see no problem when they go into totally different systems.  (Though in the US, they do have civilian leadership in the Department of Defense and White House.)

The military is an institution in which people are constantly undergoing training and education and people who make it to the rank of general have to be very good.  But 'good' for becoming a general doesn't automatically transfer outside of the military culture - especially to the much more egalitarian and independent culture of a university.  In the military there is a very strict hierarchy and obedience to orders from superiors is the underlying rule.  Universities are structured around collegial governance.  Even if one understands that abstractly, understanding such a different culture is not easy.  The way you get faculty attention is much different from how you get military attention. 

A concern that I have is NOT that an occasional general gains a top leadership position at the University of Alaska.  But the University has now had two generals in a row as President of the Statewide system and soon a third general heading the largest campus of the university as well. 



MAYBE UNIVERSITIES NEED SOME SHAKING UP

I recently posted about a report that says Universities are not teaching students how to think.  I noted in that post that I wanted to do another post on the obstacles faculty face these days trying to teach logic, reasoning, and critical thinking.  That post is still coming up.  Here's a preview of my thoughts:   The basic management logic of efficiencies of scale has led many legislators to conclude that teaching classes of a 100 would be more efficient if you doubled the class size.  The same with graduate classes.  That would work if classes consisted only of one-way information flows and computer graded exams.  But it doesn't work if classes are interactive and students actually write papers that faculty read carefully and comment on extensively.  The emphasis on efficiency is one of the reasons that critical thinking isn't getting taught.  Faculty simply don't have time for the important personal work as class size increases.  And at UAA, with one fledgling doctoral program, it's hard to have real teaching assistants who can do some of the teaching in smaller sections. 

There are many changes that have come to higher education over the last 30 years and the next 30 years will probably be even more challenging.  Technology offers lots of opportunities  to transform how we teach.  Computers can be used to teach many skills.  Applying computer gaming technology to curriculum could make memorization of terms and rote skills much more interesting for students and free faculty to concentrate more on teaching that requires human interaction.   But much of what I've seen come to the University in my time was either driven by people trying to cut costs or trying to sell technology, without seriously getting into the pedagogy.  There are some real exceptions.  Programs like Blackboard, as elementary as they may be, have greatly increased student-student and student-faculty communication for teachers who could take full advantage.  But some distance education systems crank up the student-teacher ratio and there is an incentive for both students and teachers to dumb down the curriculum so both can survive.  But this is all for another post.

Yes, I think that university faculty are often living in a different world from other people.  This isn't a bad thing.  They're supposed to have time to educate (not train) the people who will be in charge in the future.  They're also supposed to think about what we are doing without being caught up in it all.  A little fresh blood now and then is a good idea.  But there is a reason most organizations hire people at the top who know their field, and having less than the academically best in all four top positions is not where a first class university should be.  


KEEPERS OF THE UNIVERSITY ETHOS OF LEARNING AND RESEARCH


Ultimately, the Board of Regents have to approve the major policy decisions at the University.  Regents are appointed to eight year terms.  In recent years, we are seeing regents who are not serving out those terms.  Below is a list of the last 19 regents from the Regents website.  Current regents are in blue and you can link to their bios.

Sean ParnellSean Parnell

REGENT	DATES	APPOINTED BY
Mary K. Hughes*	2002-2009	Tony Knowles
Byron I. Mallot	2002-2003	Tony Knowles
Derek Miller	2002-2003	Tony Knowles
Michael Snowden	2002-2009	Tony Knowles
Cynthia Henry*	2003-2011	Frank Murkowski
James C. Hayes**	2003-2007	Frank Murkowski
David J. Parks**	2003-2005	Frank Murkowski
Jeffery B. Staser	2005	Frank Murkowski
Robert Martin*	2005-2013	Frank Murkowski
Carl Marrs*	2005-2013	Frank Murkowski
Timothy Brady*	2005-20007 2007-2015	Frank Murkowski Sarah Palin
Jacob Gondek**	2005-2007	Frank Murkowski
Cowell Fuller*	2007-2015	Sarah Palin
Patricia Jacobson*	2007-2015	Sarah Palin
Kirk Wickersham*	2007-2015	Sarah Palin
Erik Drygas*	2007-2011	Sarah Palin
William Andrews**	2003-2009	Sarah Palin
Kenneth J. Fisher*	2009-2017	Sarah Palin
Ashton Compton*  **	2009-2011	Sarah Palin
Jyotsna Heckman*  ***	2011-2019
Michael Powers*  ***	2011-2019
*Currently Regent	**Student Regent	***Appointed after Chancellor approved

[UPDATE Feb. 12, 2011 - I've added the two Regents who were appointed after the new chancellor was approved.  They seem to have replaced Henry and Drygas.]

Below is a list of the kinds of academic degrees the Regents have.

BS Engineering - 3
BA/BBA - Marketing, Management - 2 
Law - 2
BA Education/MA Education - 2/2  (one has both)
MA unspecified - 1
Can't find - 1
Current student - 1
[UPDATE Feb. 12, 2011 - new Regent Heckman has BA and MBA, new Regent Powers has a BA in English Literature and MA in Health Services Administration]

As you can see, this is a bit unrepresentative both in terms of disciplines (all are in professional fields) and in level of degrees.  Although the bulk of the service delivery employees (the faculty) have doctorates, I can identify no one on the Board of Regents who has a doctorate, nor does the President of the University, nor will the new Chancellor at UAA.  Nor the other two campus Chancellors.

Our regents may feel they are dedicated to higher education, but their backgrounds are troubling.  Individually, each one. if combined in a more representative group, would be fine.  But collectively they don't show me the depth and breadth of experience needed to understand the institution they are running and what this state's university system will need to stay competitive in the future.

It's time for the faculty and students and residents of Alaska to lobby heavily for the next Chancellor hired to be one sharp academic who knows the academic universe and has great contacts around the US.  And for legislators to demand more academically diverse and experienced regents from the governor.

Maybe back in the 80's when the Board of Regents merged the Community College system into the University and got rid of Anchorage Community College, they should have, instead, merged the university and into a statewide community college system. 


CONCLUSION

Tom Case is an honorable man whom I personally respect greatly.  I know he will do his best to make UAA as good as it can be.  But this is an academic institution.  Having two of the four top leadership positions held my ex-Air Force generals is not exactly the kind of diversity we need.  Having ALL four top positions at the university held by people without terminal degrees is not the kind of diversity we need.  Having four white males over 60 in our four top leadership positions isn't the kind of diversity we need.  Again, I'm not faulting any one individual, but this group collectively doesn't represent the broad academic excellence a university system like ours needs.

I'm not calling for symbolic diversity.  I'm calling for diversity because people with different backgrounds and professional and academic experience will see things that this team won't see.  Women will see things these men won't see.  A non-white academic will see things these four won't see.  Having one air force general at an academic institution adds a unique perspective.  But what does the second one add? 

That President Gamble didn't recognize that adding Case to this team might NOT add the qualifications and experience missing from the existing team is part of the problem.  That the Board of Regents didn't recognize it is part of the problem.

And it looks like if the faculty, students, and citizens of Alaska don't do anything, there's no reason to expect things to change at the next vacancy. 





❉The UAS Chancellor bio  doesn't mention academic degrees.  I got this degree information from Pugh's VITA  last spring when he was a candidate for University President and the old link no longer works, but this is from my download of it:

John Robert Pugh
University of Alaska Southeast 

11120 Glacier Highway Juneau, Alaska 99801 

(907) 796-6272

Graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Masters of Science in Social Work, 1970
Graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, 1967
Academy of Certified Social Workers, 1975-Present

Wolf Hall: Words and Silence

I've been reading Wolf Hall, the 2009 Man Booker Prize Winner by Hilary Mantel, since early December.  I finished it this afternoon.  I've been tempted to put up quotes now and then while I was reading it - the prose is so incredible, and so different.  Sparse.  Present tense, though set 400 years ago.

The impetus for finally getting it done - it's one of those books I didn't want to end - is that the book club meets tonight.  And it's a good thing I finished it, because only in the last line, as Thomas Cromwell is looking over the travel plans to catch up with King Henry VIII who's out of London for a bit do we even get close to Wolf Hall:

Before "Bromham," he makes a dot in the margin, and draws a long arrow across the page.  "Now, here, before we go to Winchester, we have time to spare, and what I think is, Rafe, we shall visit the Seymours."

He writes it down.

Early September. Five days.  Wolf Hall. 

But I'll focus here on some exchanges between Cromwell - the commoner, the blacksmith's son, who, through his physical presence, his way with words (in any number of languages), his incredible memory and administrative skills has become Henry VIII's Chief Minister, Master of the Crown Jewels - you can see all the many positions he held at Wikipedia - and Thomas More who is a prisoner in the Tower of London awaiting trial and execution because he will not acknowledge Henry's right to split from the Church in Rome and take over as head of the Church in England.  You get a sense of Cromwell's
position

Tower of London last summer

with the King in this exchange where Cromwell - who in this telling of the story does not want to force Thomas More's hand and is willing to let him sit in the Tower rather than execute him - argues that

". . . No one is in doubt of his loyalty to Rome and his hatred of Your Majesty's title as head of the church.  Legally, however, our case is slender, and More will use every legal, every procedural device open to him.  This is not going to be easy."

Henry stirs into life.  "Do I retain you for what is easy?  Jesus pity my simplicity.  I have promoted you to a place in this kingdom that no one, no one of your breeding has ever held in the whole of the history of this realm."  He drops his voice.  "Do you think it is for your personal beauty?  The charm of your presence?  I keep you, Master Cromwell, because you are as cunning as a bag of serpents.  But do not be a viper in my bosom.  You know my decision.  Execute it."

But that is background for the discussions between More and Cromwell.  And I'll do only a little part of that - that focuses on words and silence.

Cromwell is finishing a long soliloquy about the possibility of improving the world, being corrupted, the constant fight between ignorance and learning, the weather's impact on one's will (it's been raining all summer), and the need to maintain order and justice even if not perfectly. 

". . .  Last week the people were rioting in York.  Why would they not, with wheat so scarce, and twice the price of last year?  I must stir up the justices to make examples, I suppose, otherwise the whole of the north will be out with billhooks and pikes, and who will they slaughter but each other? 

(Is this what Mubarak is thinking?)

I truly believe I should be a better man if the weather were better. I should be a better man if I lived in a commonwealth where the sun shone and the citizens were rich and free.  If only that were true, Master More, you wouldn't have to pray for me nearly as hard as you do."

"How you can talk, "  More says.  Words, words, just words.  "I do, of course, pray for you.  I pray with all my heart that you will see that you are misled.  When we meet in Heaven, as I hope we will, all our differences will be forgot.  But for now, we cannot wish them away.  Your task is to kill me.  Mine is to keep alive.  It is my role and my duty.  All I own is the ground I stand on, and that ground is Thomas More.  If you want it you will have to take it from me.  You cannot reasonably believe I will yield it."

(Is this what Egyptians are thinking as the government tells them to go home and they stay out on the square?)

"You will want pen and paper to write out your defense.  I will grant you that."

"You never give up trying, do you?  No, Master Secretary, my defense is up here,"  he taps his forehead, "where it will stay safe from you."

 Cromwell looks around the empty and dark room and calls the guard to bring a candle.

Martin brings a pricket candle.  "Anything else?"  They pause while he sets it down.  When he is gone, they still pause:  the prisoner sits hunched over, looking into the flame.  How does he know if More has begun on a silence, or on a preparation for a speech? There is a silence which precedes speech, there is a silence which is instead of speech.  One need not break it with a statement, one can break it with a hesitation:  if . . . as it may be  . . . if it were possible  . . . He says, "I would have left you, you know.  To live out your life.  To repent of your butcheries.  If I were king."

Seven pages later, after More's trial and execution:

He [in this book 'he' almost always means Cromwell] says, this silence of More's, it was never really silence, was it?  It was loud with his treason;  it was quibbling as far as quibbles would serve him, it was demurs and cavils, suave ambiguities.  It was fear of plain words, or the assertion that  plain words pervert themselves;  More's dictionary, against our dictionary.  You can have a silence full of words.  A lute retains, in its bowl, the notes it has played.  The viol, in its strings, holds a concord.  A shriveled petal can hold its scent, a prayer can rattle with curses; an empty house, when the owners have gone out, can still be loud with ghosts.

Newspaper Still Relevant - Sunday Tidbits from ADN on Young, Palin, etc.

Rep. Don Young

 The ADN coverage of Don Young over the years has highlighted pictures of his hunting trophies - as they did again today - and his malopropisms.

I think lots of readers, particularly those on the left - myself included - underestimated him based on these stereotypes.  His skills were less tangible and harder to document.  But someone doesn't get reelected over and over again if he doesn't have something working right. OK, living in Republican state didn't hurt, but there was more to it.  I 'got it' in the 2008 election when I attended a debate between Harvard grad Ethan Berkowitz and Don Young.  Young creamed him.  This was not the Young I'd conjured up based on reading about him in the newspapers.

Today's story by Erika Bolstad is the most subtle and balanced one I can remember reading.  It's worth a look.  This isn't an endorsement of Young, but we need to know as much about politicians as possible to understand them as complete people, not two-dimensional cutouts.  The Abramoff connections and the Florida highway are still questions that the Justice Department's handling doesn't resolve in my mind.  Here are some highlights:

Knife, but no computer

The 77-year-old congressman who brags of never using a computer but always carrying a knife?

Here, editing the online version to get rid of the misplaced question-mark would have been ok, but it's online as well as in print. 

His wife convinced him to run for reelection before she died.

In August 2009, Young lost his wife of 46 years, Lu, his constant companion. If she hadn't persuaded him to file for re-election before her death, he might not have run last fall, Young said in an interview recently.

He was asked if he'd learned who his friends were during the investigation hard times.  He chose to focus on those who weren't his friends.

"Let's put it this way. I learned who was not my friend," he said. "It's like a movie star who has three flops in a row. Nobody goes to their movies, nobody knows who they are anymore."

"I'm very happy with those that did stay with me," he added. "Those that didn't? You recognize that. And just have a little short pile in the back of your head and just remember that."

"I don't need a lot of friends," he added. "I never have." 

And while Young may be different, he's solid and not ideological.

"Despite the gruff exterior and the un-Washington ways, sometimes his intuitions and insights into things are extraordinary," said Kish, who acknowledges he's also "nearly come to blows arguing" with Young.

"But it's born out of respect," he said. "Washington is full of that crap, and Don's different. It's a different cut of cloth. He continues to have that bright-faced optimism."

Young is skilled at building coalitions other Republicans won't touch, Ferguson said, including with organized labor. And he knows how to trade.

"There's something about Don Young that enables him to make friends on both sides of the aisle, to further his chairman in sort of a sly way and be such a cooperative sort of fellow that they work close," Ferguson said. "He's like a trapper. Trappers learn how to trade. You've got a certain number of pelts, they've got what you want, you've got to put a value on it, then you've got to strike a trade. He's always been like that."

Then, Young launches into a story about the work he did with former Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass., to pass the landmark fisheries bill known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The 1976 bill created 200-mile exclusive economic zones off the country's coast and led to Alaska's multi-billion dollar fishing industry

Young said he has always worked well with Democrats. He points out that some of his signature achievements -- including the Alaska pipeline -- happened while Democrats controlled the House.

Those House members closest to him include former Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who lost re-election last fall after 36 years. Loner or not, Young takes "a very personal approach," Oberstar said.

We're Paying For Young's Life Saving Health Care

if I hadn't had the job, I would have been dead in a heartbeat," he said. "Now I've got more to focus on, so it keeps me going, and I thank her for that."

Trudeau Skewers Palin with Her Own Words

And while I feel there are enough people writing about Palin that I don't have to do that, now and then I feel compelled.  Last time I couldn't resist pointing out while she and her supporters claimed Rep. 's shooter was totally responsible and none of the blame could be traced back to her actions and words, that she had said Ansange was a terrorist who had 'blood on his hands' for publishing government documents.  In his Doonesbury today, Garry Trudeau takes a quote from Palin's book and skewers her with it. (I checked - various people covered this quote when the book came out in November.  While it's not new, it probably has more relevance after Bristol's stint on DWTS.)  Here are a couple of panels.

Double click to enlarge if you can't read it or go to link and see whole strip

Can a woman in custody consent to sex with the officer?

There's more of interest.  Julia O'Malley's piece on how former Anchorage police officer Anthony Rollins' attorney, Susan Carney, is using outdated stereotypes to make the jury think that his rape victims (while in custody) all consented.  She concludes with:

He knew he didn't need to use violence. He had an invisible weapon. It was in his position as a police officer. It was in his uniform, a symbol of trust. His word was more powerful than hers. He could take her to jail if he wanted to. He weighed almost twice as much as she did, and he was twice her age. She was shocked, emotional and scared. She was still in handcuffs. He had a gun on his hip.

Maybe she didn't exactly say no. But that doesn't mean she said anything close to yes.

WHAT??!!

I'll end with this bizarre disclaimer from a syndicated gossip piece on Charlie Sheen (the online version is a little different from the print version - one of the dangers of online news:  it can change over time, whereas hardcopy can't be doctored after the fact.)

The person familiar with the call, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details, spoke Friday on condition of anonymity.

Talking about qualifying your facts . . . This was a story about Charlie Sheen going back into rehab.  Did this source get paid or did the leaker violate Sheen's privacy and organizational procedures voluntarily?  Look, it's reasonable for organizations to have some rules and structure for releases of information to the public.  If the information were not released through regular channels (if that is required) in a timely way and there were some critical issue interest that's a different story.  There's a difference between someone blowing the whistle because the organization is hiding damaging information the public really should know and handing tips to gossip columnists.

"It's just frustration, I really, I don't know what to do with him. I really, truly don't, and that's why I wrote to you, that's why I'm willing to sit up here and have an audience look at me and judge me because I need help for this child. I need help for me, but I know I need help for this child."

[UPDATE AUG 18, 2011:  The ADN reports Beagley's trial has begun in Anchorage.]

[UPDATE Aug. 24, 2011 - Beagley was convicted yesterday of child abuse.]

The Anchorage Daily News quotes Jessica Beagley, the wife of an Anchorage Police Officer, who was on the Dr. Phil television show with videotape of her trying to discipline her adopted Russian son by putting hot sauce in his mouth and putting him into a cold shower. 

There are so many different issues to discuss about this story.

• Did this woman really go to Dr. Phil for help or was there some other motivation?
• Why didn't she find help closer to home?
• Should we be condemning her?  Her upbringing?  Our community for not having appropriate support?  Her education for not knowing how to find the support? 
• Is condemnation the right response or should we be asking what we can do to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again in our community?
• Is there a mental health issue here or is it just bad parenting models and ignorance?
• Do we really want police officers 'protecting' us who can't protect their own children, or who believe this is an appropriate way to raise a kid?

My previous post talks about a program tonight at Out North featuring films made by teen parents.  These too are people who can use help with their parenting skills.  It's free at 7pm tonight (Saturday.)  For people like this woman who are desperate for parenting skills, this might be a good start.  Kids are welcome.

There are other options available in Anchorage.  It took me a few seconds to find these (see below) online.  Maybe these programs need to find more ways to reach out to people who need them.  Maybe they need more staff to do this.  Maybe there's a PR company that is willing to do some marketing for them so that people like Jessica Beagley wouldn't have to go to extremes to get on Dr. Phil.  Or maybe she went to extremes because she thought that would get her on Dr. Phil.

And I hope our mayor - Dan Sullivan - is asking himself why one of his police officers doesn't know where to get parenting help in Anchorage.  Surely, the people police deal with often need help with parenting.  Need to be sent to parenting classes.  Ask the mayor about this next time you see him.  Or send him an email .  (I'd also note that the Municipality of Anchorage has a Family Assistance program for employees to use to get help for personal problems like this.  Why didn't this policeman's wife use that? Or has this program been cut from the benefits?)

So many questions.  In the meantime, here are some resources in Anchorage.  If you don't need help from these organizations, these organizations need help from you.  Call them up and ask how you can help. 


The Anchorage School District has a page of resources for parents.  Here are three specifically for helping parents with parenting. 

Alaska Center for Resource Families
http://acrf.org/
The State of Alaska Office of Children's Services (OCS) has contracted with Northwest Resource Associates to establish the Alaska Center for Resource Families which houses the Alaska Foster Parent Training and the Alaska Adoption Support Centers.

Positive Parenting Classes
http://courts.alaska.gov/parentingclasses.htm
Child Care Connection is dedicated to supporting and empowering parents throughout this process. They offer weekly parenting support classes that educate parents about child development and enable parents to network with other parents.

Stone Soup Group
www.stonesoupgroup.org
Stone Soup Group is a statewide organization that exists to sustain the health and well being of Alaskan children with special needs and their families. They are responsible for the implementation of the Parent Training and Information Center (PTI).

The Alaska Court System has a list of organizations that help with parenting. (I'm just putting up a small sampling of what they have.)

Toll-Free Number Sponsored by the Alaska Children's Trust
Parent Line: 1-800-643-KIDS (5437) Get answers to all of your parenting questions from trained parent educators 9 am to 9 pm, 7 days a week.
Parenting Tips from the Alaska Children's Trust

• Listen, talk and play with your child.
• Be warm, loving and responsive.
• Be a role model for respectful behavior and values you believe in.
• Listen to your child without judging what you hear.
• Establish rituals and routines.
• Encourage your child to keep trying when he or she fails.
• Set goals and celebrate accomplishments.
• Set boundaries that are appropriate for your child.
• Never leave your child alone or unattended.
• Get to know the people in your child's life; coaches, relatives, friends, babysitters, ministers.
• Monitor your child's internet use.
• Choose quality day care and stay involved.
• Be selective in your child's television watching.
• Take care of yourself.
• Enjoy your child and have fun together!

In Anchorage:

Akeela

Classes: Strengthening Families
Focus: Parents with children ages 6 through 11 years.
Class Description: The Strengthening Families program is designed to:
1. Decrease alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and discourage intentions to use.
2. Decrease emotional, behavioral and social problems in school.
3. Improve communication and academic skills.
4. Improve parenting skills and the family environment.
5. Increase children's ability to cope.
6. Provide information to parents about alternative ways to increase positive interactions with their children.

Program begins with family dinner, then 1 hour of separate sessions for kids & adults and 1 hour together for fun and activities. Child care is provided for younger children.

Class Schedule: A 14 week program for the entire family offered throughout the year.
Cost: $135.00 for the entire family for 14 weeks. Scholarships are available for families who cannot afford to attend.
Contact: 907-565-1200

Alaska Youth and Family Network (AYFN)

Classes: Parenting with Love and Logic
Focus: Parents of children and youth with significant behavioral, emotional, or substance abuse issues.
Class Description: Our classes meet weekly with 10-14 participants who review reading, videos and engage in lively discussions during the 7 modules presented.
Class Schedule: Classes meet on Thursday evenings from 7-9 pm.
Cost: Cost is $75 per person and includes a workbook and completion certificate for all students meeting the hour and assignment requirements.
Contact: Call Jacquie Erickson @ 907-764-4441 for registration information or visit www.ayfn.org to get current class listings and down-load registration forms.
Location: Call to verify location. 

Cook Inlet Tribal Council Classes: Parenting Classes for Mothers, Mothers Peer Support Group, Co-parenting Class (The Ma & Pa Program), Fathers Journeys Fatherhood Support Program.
Focus: Parenting Classes for Mothers (Native Culture only), Mothers Peer Support Group: mothers of all ages or those who are expecting their first child (Native culture only). Co-parenting Class (The Ma & Pa Program): The MArriage & PArenting class focuses on Strengthening the Couple Relationship through an Exploration of Parenting Attitudes and Skills (Native culture only). Fathers Journeys Fatherhood Support Program: this program will promote responsible parenting that is aimed at improving the quality of father /child interaction.
Class Description: Parenting Classes for Mothers: Understanding your role as a parent, develop trust within family, communication, building self esteem with in the family, understanding parenting and power, accepting and growth through natural transitions in the life cycle, and accepting and growing through unexpected transitions in the life. Mothers Peer Support Group: This is an opportunity for mothers to share with peers their joys, concerns and highlights as a mother. Co-parenting Class (The Ma & Pa Program): The MArriage & PArenting is a group experience in which couples can strengthen their relationship through a shared exploration of parenting attitudes, skills and practices. It is structured to provide mothers and fathers with experiences that allow the self new cognitive (thinking) and affective (feeling) responses, thus providing the opportunity to change parenting attitudes and behaviors. Fathers Journeys Fatherhood Support Program: This program is to equip fathers who are facing economic challenges or involvement in the child protection system with social, parenting, financial, and life skills that will enhance their effectiveness as parents and will improve the well-being for their families.
Class Schedule: Parenting Class for Mothers: 10 week program. Mothers Peer Support Group: every Monday from 1:30 2:30 PM. Co-Parenting Class (The Ma & PA Program): 10 week classes are continuous throughout the year. Fathers Journeys Fatherhood Support Program: 13 week education group.
Cost: Call Cook Inlet Tribal Council for details and registration.
Contact: Parenting Class for Mothers, Mothers Peer Support Group, Co-Parenting Class (The Ma & PA Program) Louise Shavings at 907-793-3155. Fathers Journeys Fatherhood Support Program Frank Buck at 907-793-3165.

 Given all these local resources available.  It's hard for me to believe that the wife of a police officer had to go to Dr. Phil for help.  Is this what people are willing to do to their children in order to get on reality shows?

There's more to this story and it appears we might learn more, since the ADN also says that:

The city prosecutor's office filed a misdemeanor count of child abuse this month based on the videos and police interviews with the family, according to court documents.

The case has gained international attention because nearly all adoptions from the Russian Federation to the United States have been on hold for more than a year as diplomats on both sides work to get Russia better oversight of the adopted kids, who maintain Russian citizenship. News reports of abuse inflicted on adopted Russian children have angered many in Russia, according to Russia's Commissioner of Children's Rights.

See Teen Parents' Films Of Their Own Stories

We can all be properly judgmental about teenage mothers and blame the young mothers and fathers for having sex, or for having sex without using condoms. Or we can blame those who make schools skittish about serious sex education.

Or we can withhold our judgments and go to Out North Saturday (tonight) and see movies made by teen moms and hear their stories.

Pro Creativity Film Premier
Teen parents showcase their stories

As part of Out North's education program dozen local teen parents worked with film professionals to learn story craft and film production to make short autobiographical films.

Come see their films, meet the filmmakers, celebrate their success, and learn about the Pro Creativity project.

Refreshments provided.


7pm Saturday January 29, 2011Admission is FREE, families welcome

This event encourages and supports Out North's Education Program

But I'm sure a lot more parents will spend $10 each on their kids to see a movie that models irresponsible teenage sexuality and another $15 for popcorn and drinks instead.  And why do I think these are the same people who complain about government, demand individual responsibility for others, and love Sarah Palin for her stands on abstinence education and see no inconsistency with that stand and her grandson's unwed mother?  OK, now I'm being judgmental.  But I do think bad parenting is one of the biggest problems we face today, and girls becoming mothers, particularly without the fathers, is just not the best way to go.

Flooding in Jeddah

While we've been hearing about floods in Australia and snow in the US East, the only place I heard about the floods in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was in a skype conversation with a friend there. He said could talk to me in Alaska via Skype, but not people in across the street, because the flood had cut off a lot of electricity - not his - and phone lines.  So I looked to see what else there was on the flooding.  Not much.  I guess all eyes are on Cairo now. This video let's you see the deep sandy water flowing through town. [The original Youtube video I included is now listed as NOT AVAILABLE. Not sure why. I did include people struggling to get across the water. Here's another video from Mr. Sirunit at YouTube.]



Alriyadh is an Arabic language site with lots more pictures and videos.

And from the Emirates Meteorology Portal:

Heavy rainfall with thunderstorms inundated Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, with an incredible rainfall of 111mm [4.37 inches]. This compares nicely with an annual average of around 50mm. Tons of traffic problems with trapped cars and people.  The city’s infrastructure and geography might be blamed, but 111mm of rain is quite high.

4 people have been confirmed dead.

Click here for a video of the rain in Jeddah on Jan 26, 2011.

And I suspect most of us really don't have a good sense of where Jeddah is in Saudi Arabia, or even where Saudi Arabia is in relation to other Middle East nations, so here's a map.  Jeddah is to the right of the words RED SEA.

Where You Stand Depends On Where You Sit

I thought of that old maxim as the media discussed the novel idea of Democrats and Republicans sitting together when President Obama gave his State of the Union Speech.

The world looks different depending on where you're viewing it from.  If you are on Flattop looking down at Anchorage you see a city much different from what you see on 4th Avenue and D.  If you're in Anchorage you see a different world than if you're in DC.

So if all the Democrats only sit with fellow Democrats and the Republicans do the same, the party members will see and think about all the legislation differently.  Irving Janis described a serious policy disability called Groupthink which he defined as:

A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.

Screen Capture from Facebook Live Coverage

But if they mix parties in the seating and they get to chit chat about their kids, the problems of fund raising, the weather, and all the other non-ideological parts of their lives, they'll recognize each other as fellow human beings, fellow Americans, who, if they disagree on how to do it, all want to make the US a better place.  (I think that's the case with most of them, though there are some who think they can do that while lining their pockets.)

Watching House Speaker Boehner at the State of the Union sitting behind the President and next to the Vice President, looking like a kid forced to behave in church for hours, I couldn't help thinking what a waste this all is.

Here he is sitting near the President of the United States, a man who is eloquent, bright, and clearly committed to making the US a better place.  I'm guessing that future history books will treat him well.  Boehner has this incredible opportunity to be working with this man, being a partner in moving the US to a better future.  And for various reasons, he sees him as 'the enemy' and spends all his time fighting him.

You see that kind of nonsense in organizations all the time.  People preferring to bicker and pick fights rather than find common ground and work together.  And, if the history books do remember him at all, Boehner will be known as that thorn in the side of that great president who did all he did despite small minded people constantly nipping at his heels.  [Hey, I know conservative readers will be rolling their eyes at this.  It's opinion.  It's prediction.  Let's wait 20 or 30 years (It should be longer, but I'm not sure I'll be around even that long.)]

So, I'm making this offer to Rep. Boehner.  I could tell how hard it was for you to look halfway respectful there sitting behind the president.  So I'm volunteering to sit in for you next year.  You can chill out with your friends somewhere.  Deal?

Meanwhile, Back In Juneau

This made me think about how different this is with the legislature in the State of Alaska.  Juneau is so small that you can't help running into the other legislators wherever you go.  They have to talk to each other.

The Alaska Senate is split even - 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats.  Instead of  having a standoff, they've formed a Senate Coalition Majority that has all the Senators except for four Republicans who couldn't work within a coalition majority.  

In the House, there is a pretty big Republican majority - 24 Republicans and 16 Democrats.  But they haven't let party affiliation rule how they set up the House Majority and Minorities.  They have four Democrats joining 22 Republicans in the Majority, a 12 member Democratic Minority, and a two member Republican Minority (don't ask, it's like high school.) 

I'm told their seating is chosen by the legislators themselves. Those with the most seniority getting the first choice.  Here's a chart I got from the Legislature's website and then colored it in to show how they are mixed on the floor.  (For those with problems distinguishing colors, sorry.)

BTW, while writing this, I found the House Republican Majority website.  It lists all three groups, but in the House Democratic Minority page, it leaves out Bob Miller, the new Democratic representative from Fairbanks who beat incumbent Mike Kelly.  It has to be an oversight.  But let's see how long it takes them to fix it.



UPDATE January 29:  I checked today and someone fixed it:

Gaming and Data Mining - Peter Sheahan At UAA Econ Club

I was at UAA yesterday when I saw this poster.  4pm wasn't far off and I had things to do there until that time.  Note, I'm pretty skeptical about management gurus in general - mostly it's pretty superficial stuff well packaged and presented, but with little new content.  Especially when they get into leadership - a concept I have serious reservations about.  But I was there, I might as well go hear what he has to say. 


I sat down and out walked this young man with a thick Australian accent.  He'd quit his first job out of high school when he was told to do a completely meaningless job (number the 350 pages of computer printout, which was already numbered by the computer, but not in the format they wanted).

Much to my delight, I found him very engaging and the things he said matched my views on how the world works and doesn't. 



He did a brief intro about himself - getting into the hospitality industry where he said it was easy to move up quickly, selling his ideas about teaching high school students how to transition into the work world, and most importantly, writing a book called Generation Y that got him lots of attention and invitations.

I was adding up the dates and ages he mentioned and figured he was about 30.

What I liked:

• He's an independent thinker, meaning he believes in what makes sense to him and doesn't put up with bullshit.  Now, that works if you're smart and have a good connection to the world, which I think he is and has.  But Alaskans have seen a recent US Senate candidate who also believed in himself but was totally disconnected from reality.
• He's an fluid speaker - words come out quickly and fluently and with passion.
• He thinks about doing good things - helping students, putting communication technology to work to make the world a better place.  I'm not sure how much of that he actually does, but at least he talks about it.
• He's open.  He said risk-taking was really important to his success and more people had to have confidence in what they know.  I asked what in his life made him a risk taker, and he told us about growing up with six sisters and a father who believed in democracy.  But with six sisters voting against him, he never got to choose what was on tv or where they would go on their occasional outings.  How he convinced his father to send him to an agricultural boarding school where he lived in close proximity with his good friends AND his worst enemies and how this taught him not to be deterred by criticism.  It sounded genuine.  I believed him.  

Like Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker - as portrayed in The Social Network - he has an innate understanding of the possibilities of the new technologies.  While those two used that understanding to create technologies - Facebook and Napster - that changed the reality of social relationships and business, I'm not sure that is true of Sheahan.  His gift - aided greatly he suggested by persistence - is the ability to communicate those possibilities to others.  And surely to transform his gift into a good living.

But management gurus come and go.  Giving advice, especially when you have interesting ideas and can talk circles around others, is relatively easy if you have access and their belief in your ability.  But it only 'works' if your audience can understand and then practice your insights.  Other management gurus tend to have academic jobs or corporate positions to fall back on when their guru voodoo is replaced by the next new big thing.

I have no doubt Sheahan is gifted, and I have no illusions about the need for academic degrees to make it in the world. Technical ability and insight - especially in a world that is rapidly changing - can be mastered by the very young.  But a good education and life experience help one with the less tangible issues - just because you CAN do, is it a good idea to do it?  What are the ethical implications?  How do you balance 150 consulting gigs a year with a family life?

You don't need to go back to school to get these things.  Peter said he hopes to eventually go back to university.  It won't be easy.  Most degree granting universities aren't geared to someone coming back with his experience and skills and impatience.  He'll need a very special learning environment with fellow students as smart and experienced as he is and a faculty willing and able to handle someone who has been giving advice to the heads of large companies.

But I suspect there is enough of a market and students like Peter are so attractive to really good professors, that some top universities or think tanks will develop programs for getting an education in those topics - politics, philosophy, art, literature - that  study the inner aspects of the human condition which haven't changed along with the technological environment.   And why Confucius, Buddha, Aristotle, and Shakespeare are all still relevant today. 

Here's a bit of video to get a sense of why he is in demand.