Silence

A moment of silence at each of our commencement ceremonies was an appropriate reminder of a student life tragically ended in a break-in, turned violent, at a nearby off-campus house. Our entire community was mourning this tragic death but at the same time there was a significant student population, and their families and friends, that also wanted to celebrate their graduation. Both mourning and celebration were appropriate feelings and many of us felt them at the same time. After extensive discussions, our university president decided to open each ceremony with the minute of silence and that then we would follow our normal commencement protocol. It was, in my opinion, exactly the right decision, respectful of both the good news and the bad news that permeated our community.

At the same time as these discussions were taking place, we were also providing extensive extra counseling support for our students most impacted by the death of a close friend. We also had two coming together memorial events, one on the Friday the tragedy happened and another on the Saturday. The opportunity to grieve together with the extra support was necessary for all of us to come to grips with this profound tragedy and loss.

I get asked on a regular basis by parents about the availability of housing, both on-campus as well as off-campus rentals in the nearby community. Both are readily available. But my answer to this question is always loud and clear – undergraduates should choose from the on-campus options. It is true that students have more total freedom if they live in community rental housing off-campus. There is more of the ability for students to do what they want, when they want, if they are living independently. But as a parent and as an educator, I don’t think this is in the best interest of most of our undergraduates. Some supervision, which in reality is very limited, provides the extra cushion of support and security that can make all the difference in the success of the student.

Some students will nevertheless choose to live off campus. If a student lives in the nearby community, what can we do to help make that student more secure and successful? We can and do provide a highly experienced student affairs person who works with both the off-campus student population and the surrounding community to be sure that each constituency knows and understands the needs of the other. Our public safety officers can also regularly drive around surrounding community areas and provide other limited support to the off-campus population. But they have no jurisdiction and no legal authority to do more than that. The level of safety and security provided on-campus cannot be replicated in almost any off-campus setting. We should and must, however, do whatever we can in support of this population and the community.

None of us every want to go through another experience like this. The feeling of loss and the feeling of tragedy remains as does our commitment to see if there is more that we can do. All of us need to share this commitment. We all owe it to all of our students.

Dutch Treat

I just returned from a family vacation week in the Netherlands spending time at the Floriade (which is the once every ten years flower show) as well as time in Amsterdam and the surrounding areas. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Certain observations and comparisons are inevitable and these observations may help us and our county in the years ahead.

First is the observation regarding scale. Everything seems smaller. Not the people but the cars, the homes, the stores etc. And yet it is clear that smaller works very well. The largest cars I saw during the entire week, with very rare exception, were no larger than our mid size cars and SUVs were few and far between. (Under the heading of full disclosure, I did see one Chrysler 300 and 2 Bentleys. Interesting, I thought the Chrysler stood out in a more distinctive way.) Now back to smaller cars: think about the savings in gas if we can adjust to a smaller scale. We have been slowly moving in that direction and I don’t think we are any the worse for that movement. We should continue this effort; it would be a great way to counter rising energy costs.

Housing, even in very upscale areas, also seems noticeably smaller. The square footage is much more limited and attached housing is much more prevalent, even in the suburbs. Many of the apartments and houses also came with roll down window shutters that provide extra weatherproofing and storm protection. And stores and restaurants are noticeably smaller. Now I happen to like large stores and huge malls in our country because of the selection that is available, but once again are we using our resources as efficiently as possible? I had no trouble finding anything I wanted even though the stores were often, by my definition, cramped.

Having done significant driving and also traveling on buses and public trams, I can also tell you that the infrastructure seems much better maintained. Bad roads were few and far between, though the roads were often too narrow for my comfort level. Highways had fewer lanes but Amsterdam did have traffic that rivaled downtown Manhattan. Therefore, the car was returned the day we arrived in Amsterdam. The trams in Amsterdam were clean and modern and the rail system throughout Europe is first rate. Now, infrastructure needs as we know are usually financed by government and here the Netherlands scale (tax rates) may be larger rather than smaller than that of the United States.

A comprehensive comparison of the Netherlands and the US requires more than a few observations and facts. Education, health care, a safety net, defense expenditures etc. are all part of the equation. And the reality is we want it all and we want it on the largest scale possible. We should as a people be able to do some downsizing (cars, homes etc.) on our own initiative and with miniscule impact on the quality of life. For the rest we need to confront the choices that we have been reluctant to confront. We know we can’t provide more with fewer resources. Government needs to cut back on spending, or increase taxes, or do both. Having all of the above is not an option. I look forward to the Presidential candidates giving us the necessary facts that will allow us to make these necessary decisions regarding who to vote for and what direction our country will follow.