RWL #174 - stories
Happy Mother’s Day from the University of New Hampshire - Forward Operating Base Last Homely House (FOB LHH)! If you’re a mother, I hope you had a lovely day; if you have a mother (which you must if you are reading this), I hope you wished her a happy day, or thought of her if you cannot.
Last fall my wife and I planted two patches of tulips in our front yard. The dear ate all of one patch, but oddly (and happily) left the other patch alone. I had no idea dear liked tulips. We have lots of daffodils in our yard, and they definitely don’t like daffodils, so we didn’t think twice about planting tulips, but apparently everyone knows that dear like tulips. Not sure why they don’t like these tulips, but I’m happy about it.
Still continuing with more links. I hope you find them useful - as usual, feedback is welcome. My last final is tomorrow, so I am looking forward to the official beginning of summer.
Read
What: Wired, ‘Let’s Save Some Lives’: A Doctor’s Journey Into the Pandemic
https://www.wired.com/story/lets-save-some-lives-doctors-journey-into-pandemic/
Why: A nice long form piece about what it was like to be a physician going into the battle with COVID-19. This piece is about more than just the disease, it gives a glimpse into the life and career of a smart individual who is looking to blend together multiple interests, including medicine and architecture, while caring for his orphaned nephews. (HT to C.L.)
What: AIER, After the Virus, Universities Will Survive
https://www.aier.org/article/after-the-virus-universities-will-survive/
Why: An interesting discussion of the product called a university education. A university education is more than the classwork component - it is a portfolio of experiences. There’s the classroom learning, but then there’s all the stuff that is the experience of being on campus - living in a dorm, joining a fraternity or club, eating in the dining halls. Online education extracts the classroom component and sells it a la carte, leaving it up to the student to assemble all of the rest of the experiences. It’s kind of like when iTunes started selling single songs and that killed the album. Some people still buy albums, but most of us just buy our music a la carte. The business model of the music industry completely changed, and the way artists earned a living completely changed. Will it be that the university system as we know it will be fragmented and only the elite universities will be able to sustain their “album” status, while the rest break down into component parts? It’s not a thrilling prospect from my perspective, but maybe that’s the right one for society?
What: WSJ, Why You Can’t Find Rubbing Alcohol
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-you-cant-find-rubbing-alcohol-11588629519
Why: There are some shortages in our supply chains because of sudden increases in demand. There are some shortages in our supply chains because firms are still trying to switch over from wholesale to retail product lines. I was in the grocery store this morning and there were rolls of toilet paper and there were bags of flour. But it’s still hard to get rubbing alcohol even though there are millions of gallons available.
Watch
What: TED, The Mental Health benefits of Storytelling for Healthcare Workers
Why: Laurel Braitman teaches writing at the Stanford Medical School. She helps medical students tell their stories and learn about storytelling. She’s found that storytelling helps relieve stress in a high stress environment.
Listen
What: The President’ Inbox, Epidemics in World History, With Frank M. Snowden
https://thepresidentsinbox.podbean.com/e/epidemics-in-world-history-with-frank-m-snowden/
Why: Historian Frank Snowden has written an in depth history of Western Civilization and the impact of infectious disease. He discusses how different pandemics have had history-altering impacts. I remember learning about the impact of disease on military operations when I was a young Army captain. We were given casualty data for different conflicts at different times in history for both battle injuries and “disease and non-battle injuries” (DNBI). Up until Vietnam, we had more soldiers out of the fight as a result of disease and non-battle injury than actual battle injuries. I’m looking forward to reading the book, Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present. He also has a free course available through Yale Open Courses that I may check out this summer.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
See you next Friday!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
'It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.' - Gandalf (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)