Swickard: Not in my backyard

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  Jet engines make lots of noise, especially military jets. It seems several communities in New Mexico are bothered by the thought that jets from Holloman Air Force Base may fly over their towns and surrounding lands while they are training for the role of combat pilot.

            The Air Force leadership at Holloman has announced that the jet pilots they are training need more area to practice what they do before they get into actual combat. Naturally it goes without saying that when you are in combat is a bad time to learn some things that should be taught before they get into combat.

            The rub is that many people in these towns don’t want to hear military jets flying over their homes. The very thought of it annoys some people. They are writing angry letters and protesting having to hear the noise of jets. They say that the pilots should fly somewhere else. What they are saying is don’t fly over my backyard.

            When I was much younger I was working on a barbed wire fence one day about twenty miles south of Carrizozo on my grandfather’s ranch. It was a warm quiet day and I was almost falling asleep on my feet while I worked on this fence. Bees were buzzing and birds were singing. Then it happened.

            Four F-4 Phantom jets from Holloman AFB came over me doing about 400 knots at two hundred feet above the terrain. Instantly I went from being almost asleep on my feet to throwing the hammer and running over the fence in a panic. Then it was quiet again.

            It is much worse for those cowpokes on horseback. There can be quite a difficulty for a rider when a horse is spooked this way. That said, I am not troubled by the military jets. To me that is the sound of freedom and I normally look up appreciatively.

            The syndrome is called, “Not in my backyard.” Be it jets overhead or highways or power lines, people will object and demand that these things not be in their backyard, they should be in someone else’s backyard.

            How do we decide who has a backyard that should be protected from things that annoy and who does not? In 1965, I lived in Aurora Colorado under the landing and takeoff pattern of Stapleton Airport. It was often very loud but we got used to it. The airport moved after we left.

            What we are dealing with is volunteers to our nation’s military who put their lives on the line for our freedom. They must have a place to train. The rigors are such that some pilots will not survive the training. And we should worry that the noise bothers some people?

            Every effort should be taken to not annoy people up to the point that the pilots are not able to get the very best training preparing them for real combat. At that point, we should take their training as more important than our convenience.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Not in my backyard

Swickard: When the price is wrong

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  It happens often that a local business closes. We have enjoyed years of that business in our community but now it is closed. Rarely do we understand what happened.

            There is a popular show, “The price is right” where contestants must know the correct price of items. When a local company goes out of business one explainer is that they didn’t charge enough for their products. Not always. There are other explainers.

            Restaurants are one type of business I notice when they close because several have closed even though I was a regular customer. Businesses come and businesses go. It is a natural happening in our free enterprise model of capitalism.

            The popular notion is that anyone in business for themselves are rich. Nothing could be further from the truth. The one commonality is most local businesses are started by risk-takers. They put up the money and their own time to see if we will vote for their ideas with our wallets.

            The first danger for sustainable businesses is that their prices are too low for the cost of doing business. So, they can be in business for a while before they run out of money. If that happens then they go out of business.

            The most important issue is the return on investment for someone in business. There are ways to change the bottom line such as quality and efficiency. But ultimately the buyer is the judge and jury of that success. Except for when the government gets involved.

            The government regulations are a component in the price and bottom line. They require the business to do things they may not want to do such as pay more for employees than would allow for a profit. At times.

            This is not good for either the employees or the customers when businesses close. Then the businesses that are left leave less choice and price pressure to support customers.

            Sometimes the loss of profit is obscured by inventory only to eventually kill the business. The patron of the business pays the asked price or they go somewhere else. The lure of going to a bigger town means that money leaves which does kill businesses.

            The economic pressures on local businesses include competition, cost of goods and the changing needs of our population. In the computer business, it used to be a value-added store where the customer knew little and the store experts were needed to walk customers through getting a computer up and running.

            Then it all changed and those stores closed. The new online option for purchase makes it harder to be in local business if you sell some items. The same is true for local restaurants. But there is one thing that local businesses do that the big ones do not.

            The local business owners spend their money in the local economy. The nationals ship the money out of your town quickly. Will losing money out-of-town close local businesses? Of course. That price is always wrong for your town.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: When the price is wrong

Swickard: Solving problems with guns

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   Every year for decades there have been students bringing guns to school to “fix a problem.” In the days after the school shooting many people speculate on how the kid obtained the gun and got it to school along with many more how-it-was-done questions.

            I never hear the question: why did this kid think using a gun would solve any problems? Rather, it causes more problems than can be imagined. So where did that student get the notion that bringing a gun would make things better?

            What this something the child learned in school? Of course not. It is not part of the public school curriculum. Further, it is not modeled behavior by teachers to shoot problem students, regardless of how irritating students can be.

            Yet, students are bringing guns to school apparently with the belief that the guns will solve their problems. If they do not learn that notion in public school, they must learn it somewhere else. Is it in the home?

            Most parents reject that premise. “I certainly do not teach my children that shooting someone will solve problems.” But they do. The message is transmitted repeatedly to their children. Under their supervision kids watch hour after hour of television and movies where the solution to problems is to shoot someone.

            The average school age student watches hundreds of “shootings to solve a problem” a week. Heroes as well as bad people, all larger than life, solve their problems with guns.

            Research strongly suggests a correlation of behavior in children exposed to violence. Kids in one research project were observed with fellow students for an hour. Then they watched violent cartoons for an hour and were observed with students for the hour afterwards.

            In the second and third hours, the incidence of aggressive behavior increased dramatically. The research is compelling that watching television influences behavior. That is why advertisers spend millions on commercials. It influences behavior.

            The responsibility lies with the parents to protect their children from these influences. The copycat syndrome has been established by the police in some types of crimes. It is seen on television and then replicated in society.

            Television and movie violence is so pervasive because it is the most easily created form of drama, “Is someone going to die or not?” I’m not saying kids should be kept completely away from all television, but it should be screened.

            The issue is not to stop television from showing the use of guns as a solution to a person's problems, rather, the issue is that parents must stop letting impressionable kids watch hour after hour of this guns will solve problems message.

            It is like planting a tree. The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the next best time to plant a tree is now. The best time to screen television programs was ten years ago. The next best time is now. No, we do not need a law, we need a culture that understands the influences on children.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Solving problems with guns

Swickard: Assuming our way to school change

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   Let us look at assumptions. They are the building blocks of change. American public schools provide an example. Not everyone agrees that they are broken; some just think they should be improved.

            As to public schools: in the past and now, there are calls for educational change by political leaders wanting to make political hay and get votes. Some say we need to innovate while others say we must reform the schools. What is the difference?

            Innovation assumes things can be better. Reform assumes things are so bad that they must be changed. Now assumptions do no harm so long as no one acts upon them. Unfortunately, people are acting. There are many attempts to reform schools when what is needed is innovation.

            Worse yet, many attempts to reform schools are not tied to research. One of the most problematic assumptions people make is that educational research is not essential. The truth is that any school change not research-based will be a disaster.

            Want proof? Every politically driven reform movement in the last fifty years has not been research-based. Constantly some politician has an idea for changing schools and everyone jumps on to the fad.

            The change may not make things better or the change will make things worse. It is like when an airplane is flying along and the pilot finds something isn’t working quite right. The pilot may fiddle with it to the point the aircraft quits flying completely.

            The standards and accountability movement is not research-based. Someone thought, hey, let’s try this. The public schools are busy accounting for themselves without a clear notion what it means when the accountability numbers vary.

            The general assumption is that the schools did something wrong when the numbers are poor. However, research assures us that schools can only teach students who want to learn. No one is attending to this truth.

            So, what is the accountability movement really measuring? The school’s effect is comingled with out-of-school influences. Do the people in the accountability reform movement realize this? No, they assume poor scores are automatically the school’s fault.

            A change should be made in the way we change our schools. Since students ultimately benefit or are harmed by educational change, those political leaders changing the schools should have to put something in escrow before making sweeping changes.

            Then, if they are right, we should reward them well. If they are wrong, they should pay a penalty. Make them risk their retirement. Then we will see how sold they are on school uniforms or quarter hour math ladders or whatever new fad.

            There would be a rush to use research. It would then be more dependable than just driving down the road, running over a turtle, and thinking that Flat Turtle Math Programs are the answer.

            That is not to say that the public schools are not ripe for innovation. Schools can be made better or worse. It completely depends upon the research assumptions. And please ignore the political school change fads.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Assuming our way to school change

Swickard: The need for vocational education

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  Imagine that a wave of brown smelly sludge starts pouring over the edge of your toilet. Oh no! That is not the textbook way brown sludge should be handled by the toilet. When you press the handle the “product” should just disappear out of sight, mind and smell.

            But it is overflowing and coming down the hallway. There is the immediate necessity to find someone competent in plumbing. We are not looking for conversations about academics. We need plumbers, not professors.

            I was thinking about this because many public schools, starting even in kindergarten, are pushing all of their students to go to college. No exceptions. But someone needs to be trained and ready to fix the biffy along with other repair professions.

            If every child goes to college there will be a huge problem. Millions of young adults can look at the human waste coming down your hallway and comment on the Peloponnesian War of 431 BC which had minor similarities to the crisis you are facing.

            When they are through talking about Greek history you still have a mess unless you find a plumber. The brown stuff will just keep on keeping on down your hallway.

            So many young people will know right where to put the comma, but nothing vocational. When trying to fix things you ask: what about using a screwdriver? No, not the liquid kind. And plumbers are not the political leak finders in Washington, they are those professionals who make the plumbing work as advertised.

            I was lucky that vocational education was for all students in the 1960s so that I am mildly competent in most repair situations. Even better, I know when not to tackle a problem other than tackle it with my wallet and someone who will fix the problem correctly.

            As a society, we are looking down our academic noses at those people who work with their hands and come home occasionally smelling like low tide at the swamp. The only thing we will know in the future is what we know now: everything will break at the least useful moment.

            We should bring vocational education back and put every public-school student through some of it so that minor things can be fixed by each of us. The wave of crud backing up from the toilet will take a real plumber. I hope we still have them in the future.

            It is wrong to push all students to college. Rather, we should make students aware of the possibilities without pushing what we think and let them decide what interests them. I understand colleges are worried by dropping enrollment.

            Partly this is due to the incredible increase in college costs plus a stagnate job market. They need skills that our world will support financially.

            Many young people do not want to go deeply in debt. Be a plumber first and then use those dollars to explore other professions. When the brown sludge overflows you will know what to do other than worry.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: The need for vocational education

Swickard: Taking money to lose games

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.” Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

             On page C5 of the Sunday, October 1, 2017 Albuquerque Journal is a headline: Aggie offense shows well in money game.” While some weak football programs do it, I object to the ethics of selling losses in “money games” to national powerhouses.

            It is certainly the right of NMSU to engage year after year in this ethical morass of selling losses. But it is not right for them to do so. The football team plays mostly unwinnable games a couple times a season for money.

            Over the last forty years NMSU has sold losses in a sport entirely judged by the team’s win-loss record. I have spent those forty years complaining about this to no avail.

            In the modern NCAA Football era comes an unethical practice of strong national teams spending millions of dollars for an easy week while weak teams collect millions providing a loss. This last week the University of Arkansas paid NMSU $1.35 million to go there and lose.

            Over that forty years NMSU has won twice and lost more than a hundred times. Many Aggie Football coaches have been fired because of their win-loss record.

            Three concerns: first, it appears giving two losses a season keeps the Aggies from going to Bowl Games. NMSU hasn’t gone to a Bowl Game since Eisenhower was the President in 1960. I see a trend.

            Secondly, smaller teams playing physically larger teams often get players hurt. This is not a strong team in your conference, these are national teams.

            Finally, it is a thumb in the eye of home fans. Not going to Bowl Games because of selling losses makes selling season tickets harder.

            Partly personal: I have watched NMSU football for fifty years. My first year was with legendary coach Warren Woodson in 1967. I have had season tickets most of the time including this year.

            The NMSU Athletic Department have spoken to me over the years due to my criticism. They say I don’t understand Higher Education. I always respond I have a Ph.D. in Higher Education from NMSU. But they don’t listen to me.

            Former NFL Head Coach Bill Parcells wrote, “The only way to change people is to tell them in the clearest possible terms what they’re doing wrong. And if they don’t want to listen they don’t belong on the team.” This is true at NMSU where the same old strategy has failed for so many years.

            The way to change the fortunes of the NMSU Football program is: first, never ever sell a loss. Secondly, play teams you can beat. Finally, with enough wins go to Bowl Games. Any Bowl Game The program will pick itself up and success will follow.

            As Bill Parcells said, “Success is never final, but failure can be.” The NMSU Football Program will be shrouded in failure so long as they continue to sell losses.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Taking money to lose games

Swickard: Political disrespect and making positive change

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   “I think Dr. King, if he were alive today, he wouldn’t disrespect the flag or the anthem; he would use his words and his voice to send a message for positive change.” Kimberly Guilfoyle

             The National Football League has players who are taking a knee during the national anthem. They are expressing their displeasure with American injustice. Worse, young people who are just imitating these icons are being disrespectful to our country without understanding the issues.

            My response has been to shun them. For this reason, I am not watching NFL games this year. Know this: if a high school or college team has players disrespect our flag and anthem, I will be out of that stadium quickly.

            It is the right of those athletes to make these gestures. And it is my right to not give them any money or attention. Should there be a law against disrespecting our country? No, each of us has free speech rights but we cannot exercise those rights without responsibility for our actions.

            There is only one of me so just one person shunning the NFL will have no effect. Still, it is my choice to respond. They don’t have to even acknowledge my actions.

            I am curious why they think this will address their perceived injustices and make changes. It would seem that we as a nation must make positive changes if our nation is to prosper.

            The world is so much better because of our country and the leaders of our country including the founders. As I wrote previously in this column they were all imperfect people. However, we are better off because of them. But, of course, we can always improve our country.

            In the above quote, there is the thought that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have used his words, his voice to make a positive change. I like that. We do need positive change in this society that has fallen into the grasp of hate speech and fake news.

            Dr. King died in 1968. Unfortunately, his greatest thought seems to be forgotten: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

            These protests and much of the politics of our society today is about the color of skin and not the content of character. We do have voices telling us the way to make our country better.

            Morgan Freeman said, “Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.” He also said, “I am going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.”

            That is a direction for change that will make a difference. Let us not divide our country and the people of our county. Rather we need to come together as a nation. We must do so one citizen at a time.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Political disrespect and making positive change

Swickard: More money attracting festivals

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   One morning in my coffee shop, we convened our own Chamber of Commerce. Business has been slow in our little slice of heaven so we needed to come up with some ways to induce folks to come and spend dollars.

            We really didn’t want lots of people to move here and clog up the roads and stores. Rather, we would like people to come, spend money and then go home.

            I took out a piece of paper to jot down ideas. One person said that the way to make money was to have all sorts of festivals such that out-of-towners came and spread cash around.

            I mentioned that Roswell had the Aliens Festival. We pondered that moneymaker. When I mentioned to one of the leading citizens in Roswell that the alien story was suspect, he said, “But they bring hundred-dollar bills.” Then he smirked.

            Many years ago I wrote a column about that Roswell Smirk. We could have that smirk if we could just invent a good festival.

            First, there could be Dust Day in March and April. Southern New Mexico is noted for the dust storms, maybe we could get people to come. Probably not. I have thought that instead of a Rain Meter, I should invent a Dust Meter. After a two-day windstorm, it would show 1.3 inches of dust was in the air.

            We were going well and the ideas flowed like coffee. There was Waffle Days on the first Tuesday of November to coincide with the elections. The agricultural members offered: Pig Days, Chicken Days, Cow Days, Goat Days… the group paused.

            From one table over a vegetarian offered Tofu Days which was followed by Road-Kill Days. No interest in either. More practical was Rusty Old Cars Days, Bow Tie Days, Halitosis Days which brought out Onion Days.

            Two months of every year about fifty percent of the onions consumed in our country come from Southern New Mexico. That festival could be sponsored by one of the many mouthwash companies.

            Horned Toad Days were offered along with Siesta Days. I was in favor of that. I have never been disappointed in a good old afternoon nap. There was Nothing Much Happening Days but that didn’t get a second.

            One of the coffee drinkers pointed out, “We don’t need days, we need nights for festivals. During the days, we are all working other than our coffee breaks.”

            That caused the conversation to slow down because one person pointed out that having something at night was fine as long as they could get home by nine, which is their bedtime. There was an early to bed, early to rise comment which we all knew was true.

            Let us reason together as to more festivals in our area to pick up any stray tourist dollars. Send me via this news outlet your ideas.

            Something like Geezer and Geezerette Days might just be the money ticket. I would fit in. Consider that the fifty-yard amble could make the evening news.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: More money attracting festivals

Swickard: That fine barnyard smell

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   American agriculture, which a hundred years ago was where many people worked is now just a very small sliver of the overall workforce. Consequently, many people occasionally notice the smell of barnyard animals and find the smell objectionable.

            Likewise, many agricultural colleges are shunted off to far corners of universities since frankly those Ag Colleges have that fine barnyard smell which offends people who are not from an agricultural background. Yet, everyone likes to eat. Everyone needs agriculture.

            In the year 1900, about a third of all Americans were living on farms and ranches. Those people knew that fine barnyard smell and were not put off by it. In fact, if you are like me who has spent plenty of time on ranches, cow flop smells just fine.

            The petroleum industry says their smell is the smell of money. Well, the smell on farms and ranches is organic and is in my humble opinion much better.

            You might ask: what does this have to do with the price of steer manure? You see New Mexico’s Land-Grant University, New Mexico State University, is fixing to select a new president.

            The very real danger is that the NMSU Regents might select someone who doesn’t know and like that fine barnyard smell. Don’t laugh, it has happened several times and New Mexico State University suffered.

            The selection of University President establishes the identity of the University. Every institution of higher learning has an identity and for Land-Grant institutions, that identity is unique for their state.

            For more than a hundred years NMSU was and is the Land-Grant institution in New Mexico. There are five pillars of a Land-Grant institution: Agriculture, Engineering, Military Science, Education and Service to New Mexico. No other institution of higher learning in New Mexico has this mission.

            The problem is that some sophisticates in the head shed have been appalled and dismayed by the fine barnyard smells that’s just upwind of them. One NMSU President was overcome with disgust by the smell and complained bitterly. Wrong president and that person did leave.

            The current NMSU President grew up on that fine barnyard smell and often has had bits of organic material on his boots. It never has bothered him. This was true for most of the other NMSU Presidents through the years.

            I have a test to put potential NMSU Presidents through before we should take them seriously as a replacement for outgoing NMSU President Garrey Carruthers. They must be able to really talk agriculture before they talk anything else.

            If they can’t tell a steer from heifer I don’t want them anywhere around NMSU. Yes, the hoity-toity sophisticated crowd would never participate in a cow-chip throwing contest. So what?

            A real agriculture person, male or female would. It is the identity of NMSU. I pray that the NMSU Regents and the smarty-pants consultants understand the difference between NMSU and all of the other institutions of higher learning.

            The next NMSU President had better like that fine barnyard smell.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: That fine barnyard smell

Swickard: The God-Awful mess made in New Mexico

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “What the diary does not reveal… is the appalling fact that from late 1945 until 1952 Japanese medical researchers were prohibited by U. S. Occupation Authorities from publishing scientific articles on the effects of the atomic bombs.” John W. Dower

             It wasn’t the effects of the atomic bombs on Japan that prohibited Japanese medical researchers from publishing on the effects of the atomic bombs. Rather, it was how that information would be seen in New Mexico which never suspected a lurking killer.

            Three weeks before the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, a concept test was made at New Mexico’s Trinity Site. This was an atomic device equal to what was used on Japan.

            There’s no doubt that in Japan people were sickened by the resultant radiation. But there wasn’t that realization in New Mexico, even to this day. In fact, there’s resistance to that notion.

            J. Robert Oppenheimer was the head of the Los Alamos Laboratory that developed the first nuclear weapons. The “Manhattan Project” initially produced three nuclear devices.

            The first, a plutonium implosion device, was detonated July 16, 1945 at New Mexico’s Trinity Site. Oppenheimer remarked the explosion brought to mind the words of the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” I certainly understand that thought.

            That Plutonium scattered over New Mexico. Two nuclear devices were used as bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. On August 6, 1945, what was called “Little Boy” a Uranium fueled bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later “Fat Man” a plutonium implosion bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

            These unconventional weapons allowed Emperor Hirohito to wrest control from the Army and surrender to end World War Two. The Emperor had been trying to stop WWII for years. The power and control in the 1930s and 1940s in Japan was the Army, under General Hideki Tojo. The nation was not under the power of Hirohito who was only a figurehead leader.

            One positive for Japan was that the scientists saw how the New Mexico ground blast spread so much contamination that they exploded the two nuclear bombs at 2,000 feet to get the blunt force trauma on the site but not contaminate it as had happened in New Mexico.

            The military send lots of scientists to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to monitor the radiation but seem to have not done so in New Mexico. Or, perhaps they did and the government authorities realized what a mess they made in New Mexico. Worse, they didn’t want the role of cleaning up this God-Awful mess. Curious, eh?

            As the decades have passed and the New Mexicans who were sickened by the plutonium passed, the interest in this story has gone from very little interest to no interest at all except for those people effected.

            I don’t believe there’s a risk now but government is supposed to protect the citizens. Our government hasn’t even said they are sorry for the God-awful mess they made and all of the people they sickened.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: The God-Awful mess made in New Mexico

Swickard column: It's not if, it's when

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   Watching the Hurricane Harvey disaster in Texas causes me to wonder why it came as such a surprise. Yes, it was stronger than had hit for many years. And the way it hit caused feet of water instead of just inches.

            Still, that is hurricane alley and there are many examples of hurricanes devastating the area with storm surge water or just buckets and buckets of rain. What I really wonder is why many people didn’t have any disaster supplies set aside.

            Supplies such as food, water and batteries are easy to store in case of a hurricane. And again, they are in hurricane alley.

            I’m not talking about should they leave or not from where they live. That is their minute by minute decision based on how the storm is tracking and how much risk they care to take. But that is not my central concern.

            Rather, my concern is that so many people “flooded” the stores ahead of the storm trying to get food and water with which to ride out the storm in their own houses. Why were they just then trying to get supplies?

            They know they are in a hurricane zone. Yet hours before the landfall of the big storm people were just then starting to go to stores looking for water and food. Why were they not prepared already?

            Many hurricanes have pounded their area in the past. Example: A Category 4 hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900 causing perhaps ten thousand deaths. Back then there were no systems in place to warn the residents.

            Today we have nonstop weather reports that warn of approaching storms. Yes, sometimes they are wrong but if people prepare with food and water along with batteries for radios and flashlights, they are not out that much money. Why not already be prepared?

            But the same could be said for any place in our country. A disaster will happen wherever you are in some form like in New Mexico during a very cold spell in February 2011. There was no electricity for days. Some people had a very hard time because they had not prepared.

            Unfortunately, the answer often is that some people never prepare. They assume the electricity will always work.

            Likewise, the same is true for people traveling in remote areas of our state who do not bring water, food and blankets. Cars will break down. Sometimes there is no cell service. Sad to say at that point there is going to be some suffering people.

            We must prepare in case of disaster. How? We need to have at least a week of food, water and supplies for ourselves and family plus what we will give to neighbors who didn’t prepare.

            Why would we give to our neighbors? Well, for one thing the lights will come back on so you don’t want to deny your neighbors who will remember your wonderful charity or how they were treated poorly.

            Again, you have been warned to prepare. 

Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard column: It's not if, it's when

Swickard: Looking at our imperfect historical leaders

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   History is the driver of culture. It’s the story of people and how they dealt with adversity. Recently Confederate statues have been under attack which brings the issue of our history.

            Our country is talking not only Civil War but the entire history of our nation. We search for our “Authentic” history, not the propaganda of the winners. But the winners write the history.

            Statues are a measure but they only reflect the feelings of a time but not for all time and all people. In our search for our heroes we are struck by the fact that everyone in the past was imperfect. Some were more imperfect than others but all had blemishes.

            Yet over the years this country has been a beacon to the rest of the world when it comes to liberty. Our country was instrumental in many other countries becoming free of dictators. That is our primary legacy.

            But what of our heroes? We have memorials and currency and a written history about imperfect men. And we now see their blemishes. Example: George Washington perhaps was the only man who could take the Continental Army to victory. Hence, we have our freedom. But he had slaves as did Thomas Jefferson.

            When those slave holders and others who tolerated slavery set forth this nation, they started with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

            But not all humans were equal then. Women and Blacks were not equal. In the war to end slavery President Abraham Lincoln said, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

            Over the last century and a half liberty has come to Americans. It wasn’t easy but it was done. Now there are political factions trying to derive power from injustice then and now. The history of our country is under attack.

            Rather than taking down statues and screaming about justice perhaps we need to really understand our history with the blemishes. We cannot find any leaders without blemishes then or now. But we can see that Americans are free and they inspire freedom in other countries.

            Our country has brought liberty directly and indirectly to most of the world. No, there is still slavery and injustice over much of the world but people all over the world know that liberty is possible because we broke away from England in 1776.

            Dennis Prager said several years ago, “Our danger now is that we are not teaching our children what it means to be an American.” I believe it is the core of this problem of American identity also.

            We must resolve that the dead in our wars of freedom must not have died in vain. As Lincoln said: “…that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Only if we focus on our history will that happen.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Looking at our imperfect historical leaders

Swickard: War unseen on the horizon

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “There never was a war more easy to stop (which wasn’t) than that which has just wrecked what was left of the world from the previous struggle.” Winston Churchill about World War Two

            It is good that our world has not been in global military conflict since 1945. There have been some very nasty regional conflicts, but it has been seventy-two years since the entire world was at war.

            Unfortunately, in that time three generations of American leaders have emerged not steeped in the horrors of WWII. That puts all Americans in danger now. We are seeing saber rattling and belligerent talk out of today’s world leaders.

            These hot hasty words may push our world into a global conflict. Worse, there is an amnesia in our country as to the results of any real military conflict.

            I was speaking to a couple young men. The potential for global conflict came up and they didn’t seem concerned. I said, “You realize that you young men will fight the next war.”

            “No,” one countered, “I don’t want to be in the military.” The other one also didn’t fancy serving in the military. “But you signed up for the military,” I stated.

            “Did not,” they both said. “You signed up for selective service when you turned eighteen.” They were confused. “But we had to so that we could get student loans.”

            “Yes,” I agreed. “But you signed up with selective service so you can be drafted into the military if our country needs you to fight a war.” That got their attention. Neither of them believed me but I could see they were thinking about this and would get to the truth shortly.

            Prior to the first and second world wars, America had a small professional military. That was exhausted in a few months and then came the push for civilians. In WWII about sixteen million Americans served in the military. Most were civilian volunteers and draftees.

            What to do about this possible war unseen on the horizon: Ronald Reagan said, “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U. S. was too strong.”

            For our country to stay out of war requires three interconnected actions: first, our country needs a very robust well-trained professional military. Second, we need political and military leaders who can make tough decisions. Finally, a firm strategy for winning conflicts.

            More so, we need to know at what point do we wave our flags, our bands play and we come home. We experienced the lack of this in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

            It is what our country had in WWII and what it has lacked ever since, with the exception of the Persian Gulf War. America must have a firm grasp of the end in mind when it gets into shooting conflicts.

            If history is any guide, a larger rule is to take the politics out of military action. Hard to do but never use a political solution for a military problem. Never.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: War unseen on the horizon

Swickard: Contradicting ourselves many times over

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself...” Walt Whitman

             We are living in times of contradiction and most people ignore these contradictions. Example: a major push is on to deal with head injuries in sports while television programs feature the biggest hits.

            Years ago, I went to Dallas to visit friends. They decided I should see the famous Book Depository from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John Kennedy November 1963. There is a tourist attraction where once an assassin perched.

            The level of security surprised me. Armed guards were everywhere. The money taker sat behind bullet-proof glass. We were herded through metal detectors while protectors watched.

            Maybe I got there at the wrong time but it looked like a crowd of Mom and Pop tourists to me. Then we took the elevator which only went to the sixth floor. Much of the exhibit was the story of the assassination of President Kennedy from the assassin’s point of view.

            It answered questions of how Oswald brought the gun up to the window where he fired. The older tourists were somber. I suspect the younger visitors didn’t have the personal emotional attachment to that time.

            I wasn’t the only person who was peeved at the people who stood in the southeast corner and looked from the assassin’s perspective down to the street below mentally sighting the rifle. It was when they said loudly, “BANG,” that I began to think the exhibit was ill-conceived.

            On our way back to my host’s house we stopped by the Irving Mall. I don’t know exactly what happened, but apparently just minutes before we arrived a gang fight broke out next to the food court.

            Some unlucky guy was just sitting down to a piece of pizza with his wife and two small children when he was killed by a stray shot. We walked in just after the smoke cleared. The security guards stood in groups looking like a bunch of chickens in a barnyard right after the farmer has culled out a couple for Sunday lunch.

            There were some people who lamented that there were not more armed security guards when the shooting occurred. With more people shooting the perpetrator might have been caught. But the armed guards were all back at the Dallas Book Depository.

            Since I paid my way into the Book Depository Memorial on the sixth floor I have the right to say that it should be razed like was done with the Cleveland apartment building when a man used it in the course of a cannibalistic crime spree.

            We Americans are contradictory. We celebrate a fallen president from where the assassin sat. The assassin should not be the attraction. And even better, it would be nice if they were able to change the local shooting gallery back into a shopping mall.

            And for heaven’s sake, don’t get me started on the lunacy of celebrating the outlaw Billy the Kid while completely forgetting New Mexico’s own Sheriff Pat Garret.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Contradicting ourselves many times over

Swickard: Do homeschoolers have summer vacations?

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  At the coffee shop someone asked an interesting question: Do home schoolers take summer vacations like students in public schools? My reaction was that home-schooled children do not take three months off from learning and camp out on the couch with their smart phones.

            Over several days I thought about the question. I know several home schooler parents. All indicated there was no summer vacation for their kids, but some learning tasks are focused on summer opportunities.

            Obviously, going to Yellowstone National Park is a learning activity. And Yellowstone is closed during the winter so you must go in the summer. Importantly, none of the home schooler parents said that when summer comes they just turn the kids loose to vegetate.

            Home schooling is one of the most contentious issues in our country. The public receives conflicting messages. On the one hand, they hear that parents are the most influential force in children learning.

            But, on the other hand, many education leaders say that learning at home is different and inferior to “real” education. Especially that education done by professional educators who have teaching degrees from college.

            Also, education is different in a school setting. That I agree with but I do not agree that public school education in and of itself is superior.

            Home school parents forego the benefits of a tax-supported education for diverse reasons including religious, social and achievement concerns. Additionally, there are people in rural areas where the trip to the nearest school is too far a journey for young children.

            For most people, outside of those with strictly religious concerns, the primary reason to home school is a concern about the culture of public education. Currently it is almost entirely focused on taking tests to check on teachers. What a waste for students.

            Others say the pace of instruction in schools is focused on the entire class rather than on any one individual. Home school parents pace their instruction specifically to their children.

            One objection to home schooling is that parents are usually not professional educators. How then do we ensure that their children are learning? What should be done if a home-schooled child reaches majority without sufficient academic skills? Discipline the parents?

            Is it the parent’s right not to educate their children? Sticky questions. We already face the same questions with public school graduates. Shall we dock the teacher’s pension if the students do not learn?

            Some parents are not suited for teaching just as some students are not good candidates for home learning. Sometimes, the combination of parents not willing to work hard at teaching, and students not driven to learn can lead to bad situations. Overall, this is not the case.

            Home schoolers do not turn off their minds when they leave school. Learning occurs at all hours of the day and night. I like home schooling when it is done correctly. Public schools can learn more from the methods used by home schoolers than home schoolers can learn from public schools.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Do homeschoolers have summer vacations?

Swickard: Racing ducks, how about Llamas?

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “A peasant has to stand on a hillside for a very long time before a roast duck flies into his mouth.” Chinese proverb quoted by Paul Theroux in Riding the Iron Rooster

            New Mexico has the challenge of a falling economy. Many New Mexicans are standing around waiting for something good to happen. It might or might not. Other people have looked at tourists as a way to perk up the New Mexico economy.

            It’s a place to get new money. Especially if New Mexico appeals to tourists with lots of money to spend. Problem: some New Mexicans don’t want more people in our state.

            There is a conflict between bringing people into the state and people who don’t want New Mexico to grow at all. These people like the lonesome feeling and don’t want any more people coming here.

            My grandfather wanted to live far enough away from his neighbors so as to not hear their dogs bark. And he did.

            First there was Lincoln, the little town that developed a great Billy-the-Kid festival. Then Albuquerque adopted the balloons. Roswell got the aliens celebration going. I asked someone from Roswell about the aliens. He smirked, “The tourists come bringing hundred dollar bills.”

            Years ago, some people in Deming were looking for something to increase the money in their town. Using alliteration, it turned into the Deming Duck Races. If they were in Lordsburg, I wonder if it would have been the Lordsburg Llama Races?

            Perhaps next the Raton Rat Races, the Taos Tuttle Races, the Alamogordo Alpaca Races, the Carlsbad Camel Races, the Artesia Ant Races… well, I could go.

            Again, part of the problem involves the people already in New Mexico who don’t want the state to grow in size. Many people in New Mexico like what Oregon Governor Tom McCall said back in the 1970s. Eric Cain in OPB.org wrote about this in 2013:

            His (Governor Tom McCall) focus was quality of life and so in a 1971 speech said to the people who come to Oregon, “Come visit, don’t stay.” He added, “I urge them to come and come many, many times to enjoy the beauty of Oregon. But I also ask them, for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live.”

            While some people might think that rude, I understood. Tourism is a nice relatively clean industry. But come, look, take pictures, eat Green Chile, go home. How pleasant.

            And truth be known, I really don’t mind more people coming here. I would just like them to take a pledge:

            “I (state your name) promise never to tell anyone in New Mexico how we did things back home and that it was so much better back home.” Amen.

            Maybe we can think of some more festivals: Dust Days in March comes to mind. A celebration of people baking on their car dash would be interesting. There are plenty of possible celebrations. Consider a Snake Racing in Springer celebration. Then we have lunch. Tastes like Chicken, eh?

Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Racing ducks, how about Llamas?

Swickard: We are addicted to our addictions

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “We aren’t addicted to oil, but our cars are.” James Woolsey  

            While that sounds good, it’s wrong. Our cars are inanimate so they can’t be addicted to anything. It is we, ourselves, who are addicted to transportation. This is not a bad addiction like to drugs, speeding or ignoring railroad warning lights which can get you killed.

            The transportation industry is addicted to energy. Electric transportation is more addicted to coal than oil but all transportation other than sailboats are done with energy. They only work for us when the energy is abundant, dependable and cheap.

            Most people are unaware of how important energy is in our lives. But know this: without energy, there would be little available food or water and most people on Earth would die.

            We are so accustomed to having energy at our fingertips that we do not normally think about it. Flip the switch and the light comes on. Maybe some few people living out off the grid could survive for a while. The rest of us will perish without energy.

            There are more addictions in our society that we do not think of often. Driving much of our society is the entertainment industry. It is so pervasive that we, as a society, are ignoring great threats to our society because we are enmeshed in our entertainment society.

            Many people are more concerned about the fortunes of the Dallas Cowboys than the threat of a huge asteroid killing off life on our planet. Or global thermonuclear war. Or some disease with no cure extinguishing the human race.

            The social networks all run on devices that are operated using electricity. Many people are so addicted to these social connections that they will risk death while driving rather than put off looking at the device for a few minutes.

            Imagine the day that the electricity quits. Millions of people will stare at their dead cellphones in confusion. There’s no way to lodge a complaint without electricity. They will have to speak to real people around them instead of being in their own world online. How awful.

            My Great Grandfather came from Sweden to New York and then New Mexico at a snail’s pace. However, I could get on an airplane and be home in New Mexico in one day. Amazing.

            People are very concerned about whom is dancing with whom but not how redundant are the systems protecting our electrical grid. Or with the environmental push against coal and oil what we would do instead of coal and oil?

            The first thing we must do is admit our addictions and if they are good addictions make sure every effort is made to protect those energy resources. The point is that we should not look down our noses at those people who work in the oil patch.

            Especially just because they are covered in black gold and are a bit wiffy after working all week. We should thank our lucky stars that someone is making our addictions work.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: We are addicted to our addictions

Swickard: The surprise of that surprised look

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   It seems odd to me that some of the most learned people in our society should look surprised when in New Mexico over the last six years college enrollment has dropped fourteen percent. What bothers me is the look of surprise on their faces.

            Instead, they should have a knowing looking, “Yeah, that makes sense that fewer students are enrolling.” After all, they are a big part of why college enrollment dropped.

            It isn’t just one thing that is changing the enrollment. Let us count the reasons enrollment is dropping: first, tuition in New Mexico’s colleges and universities has risen steadily for twenty years. We are talking dramatically.

            Twenty years ago, when I was at New Mexico State University, it was about $600 a semester for tuition and fees. Now it is more than $3,500 a semester for tuition and fees. In the old days, you could pay the tuition and fees out of a part-time job during the semester. No longer.

            Yet the wages for college graduates have not risen. So, it costs more to get a professional job that pays the same. And, colleges don’t discourage students taking coursing in majors where there are few if any jobs.

            Graduates are ending up with tens of thousands of dollars of debt in a slowing economy. There are less jobs. Recent college graduates are finding themselves living back at home because no one has a professional job for them.

            Some graduates have taken minimum wage jobs but with the minimum wage rising businesses are cutting back which further makes get a job harder, especially that first professional job. It is somewhat a spiral of problems: it costs more to graduate and pays the same or less today or even worse, there are no jobs.

            Now it might surprise you or me that the rising tuition prices and a falling job market could influence college enrollment but the wise people in our society at those institutions of higher learning had to know that pushing the tuition up would cause a drop in enrollment.

            Which is why I wonder about that surprised look. The retailer J. C. Penny recently had a great commercial, Dog House. It showed men who thought that a vacuum cleaner was a great birthday gift for their wife. They found themselves in a Dog House with other clueless men, all of them having a surprised look on their faces.

            Not that I will give love advise often, but if I was to buy a vacuum cleaner for a woman it would only be if I had a note from said woman indicating the brand and model with instruction to bring one home. Otherwise it is flowers, chocolate and jewelry.

            You can do as you like. Just don’t look surprised if you end up in the Dog House like the commercial shows. Especially don’t stand there with a surprised look on your face.

            But here we are with our colleges acting surprised right after they raised tuition - again.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s novel, Hideaway Hills,is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: The surprise of that surprised look