Episodes
Friday May 01, 2020
Schools Won’t Open This Fall - Here’s Why | LIVESTEAM 04-30-2020
Friday May 01, 2020
Friday May 01, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools this spring. Something else will keep them closed this fall. Doc explains the trifecta that will keep schools closed for some or all of 2020-2021. TEACHERS UNIONS CONSIDERING STRIKES AND PROTESTS OVER COVID19. Politico’s Nicole Gaudiano, John Hendel and Leah Nylen wrote. “Teachers union: 'Scream bloody murder' if schools reopen without proper safety measures. The nation's two biggest teachers unions say they would consider strikes or major protests if schools reopen against the advice of medical experts. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is encouraging governors to “seriously consider” reopening schools.” PSYCHOLOGY OF CORONAVIRUS SCHOOL SAFETY. Doc identifies three psychological constructs that will drive safety-themed decision making in the age of pandemics. (1) Customer Perceived Value - means that people will pay for any device or practice that might decrease opportunities for germs/bacteria/viruses. This will create a “Wild West” environment for vendors pitching a range of new anti-viral sprays and gadgets to minimize person-to-person contact. (2) Social Proof is the tendency for one school to follow the practices of another school. If one school buys a $100,000 germ-zapping robot, the neighboring school is pressured to make a similar investment. (3) Overton Window has shifted and public policy will reflect the age of pandemics. It will be much easier to pass laws regarding social distancing in schools and regulations around things like washing hands. ISSUES K12 SCHOOLS WILL NEED TO ADDRESS FOR SCHOOL TO RESUME. David identifies several areas, equipment to transportation to policies that must be addressed before students return to in-person instruction. PPE Teachers, aides, cooks, custodians, office staff and visitors will all wear face masks in fall. Gloves will also be commonplace and school nurses and health aides will be wearing gowns and face shields. How soon can districts purchase these items and how reliable is their supply chain. SOCIAL DISTANCING. Student desks will be placed 6 feet apart, but will there be enough space in classrooms for a class of 20 students? Expect buses to limit capacity to 20 students, or about half of their normal count. Expect spacing or removal of playground equipment. STUDENT SCHEDULES. An in-person/virtual hybrid is the likely practice rolling forward. As schools are built for economy, they won’t be able to deal with the typical density of students and maintain social distancing. Look for schools to adopt schedules that limit building capacity to 50%. This might mean that some students attend school two days a week. VIRTUAL LEARNING. The high probability of a second or third wave of COVID19 means that schools will be ready to shift to a full virtual learning platform with short notice. Schools will focus on virtual learning platforms and also helping families obtain reliable Internet access. POLICY. Will schools enact policies to take the temperature of staff and students each day? Will policies be amended to mandate that anyone with a temperature above 99 degrees be required to go home? DEVICES. School safety is a $3 billion annual industry with money on fencing, bollards and barricades. Expect a flurry of new anti-viral devices including UV lights, anti-viral fogging machines, hand sanitizing stations / hand washing practices, and disposable door handles. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 131 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 4-30-2020. Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
The Dunning-Kruger Effect | What it is and how to fight it | LIVESTREAM 4-24-2020
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence. FACE VALIDITY CHECK IN. Doc shared that the local authorities are monitoring social distancing on city basketball courts; the small engines place has opened up for pick up / delivery; even more facing at WalMart due to thinning supply in paint and hardware aisles; more traffic; fewer OBO posts to Craigslist and rebound in the pricing of the area’s firewood market; and local hospitals re-starting elective surgeries on Monday. BADGER BOUNCE BACK - RED FLAG OF MANUFACTURED SLOGANS. Doc notes how state governments are becoming creative, and weird, with new terms and slogans specific to the pandemic response and easing restrictions. For Wisconsinites to gather in groups of 10 or more again, there must be two consecutive weeks of declines in all flu-like illnesses. Influenza, a head cold, the sniffles; it doesn’t matter. But, how does this work across 72 counties? What about Wisconsin’s wicked allergy season. Doc car is already dusted with pollen. Scrutiny of these “phases” plans reveals them to be highly subjective, vague and really not much of a plan at all. SEVEN NEW TERMS IN THE PAST 45 DAYS. From the chat, Bacon Maldito brought awareness to new terms that have been infused into American’s vocabulary over the past month and half. (1) Social distancing; (2) Shelter in Place; (3) Six feet apart; (4) Essential travel only; (5) N95 mask; (6) Flatten the curve; and (7) Self-quarantine. A problem with such new terms is a lack of inter-rater reliability, for example, what is “Essential” relative to travel, work or recreation? DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT. The concept is based on a 1999 paper by Cornell University psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger who caution that incompetent people tend to do three things: (1) Overestimate their own skill levels; (2) fail to recognize the genuine skill and expertise of other people; and (3) fail to recognize their own mistakes and lack of skill. Doc shares his experience with attempting to re-wire his house. PREVENTING DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT. Practice the ability to step back and look at your own behavior and abilities from outside of oneself. This is known as having a high level of metacognition. The second way to fight the DKE is to have a network of member checks, or people who will be honest with you and tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear. ULTRACREPIDARIANISM. This is giving opinions on topics poorly understood. The pandemic is churning out instant experts and when these folks are in government or positions of authority, they rush things into practice without considering the consequences - such as a municipality creating a website for citizens to report social distancing violators. OVERTON WINDOW - IT JUST CHANGED & HERE’S WHAT THAT MEANS. The Overton window is the range of ideas the public is willing to consider and accept — ideas a politician could successfully campaign on. This window shifts over time, as it’s subject to the trends of social thought and norms. All social reform movements have to shift the Overton window to make progress. The concept of women voting or animals having rights - are examples of how Overton window has moved over time. The Overton Window has drastically shifted in 2020! A year ago, campaigning on gun violence and student safety would have been strong areas in which many Americans held firm opinions about. This fall, the campaign's themes will be about: overhauling our hospitals; human tracing for personal safety - technology; mandatory vaccines; funding for unemployment / business shutdowns; building things in America; and Universal Basic Income. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 131 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 4-25-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Friday Apr 17, 2020
Friday Apr 17, 2020
Escaped Prisoners Near Doc’s House | Humans' Finite Voltage of 100 Days | Civilian Morale | Pranking Steve in this livestream of The Safety Doc Podcast. Doc was decked out in military fatigues and Navy cap as he went full smoke-out mode securing the neighborhood from fugitives. ESCAPED CONVICTS NEAR DOC’S HOUSE - SAME PRISON WHERE JEFFREY DAHMER WAS MURDERED. Doc’s cell phone loudly buzzed at the same time his landline rang. Two inmates had escaped from the maximum security prison located near Doc’s house. Same place that housed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer - and he was murdered there in 1994! Message from authorities was to lock doors, stay home, and monitor for suspicious activity. Sure thing. COMEDY OF ERRORS - WONKY ESCAPE. Sketchy and guarded details, but here’s what we know. The inmates previously escaped from other prisons! They were working in the kitchen. They were wearing civilian clothes. They walked out of the prison and scaled two razor-wire fences. They then went to a local hotel and called a cab. The cab driver took them to a grocery store in a neighboring community. They hopped a ride with an accomplice and remained at large. Nobody hurt. No digging of the 500 Shawshank Redemption yard tunnel. When the prison realized the inmates were missing, they called 9-1-1. Really? EVERYONE VOTES YES FOR REFERENDUMS. Doc was in disbelief that most school building referendums in his state passed in last week’s election. People continue to approve debt for proposals that are far from austerity. Doc challenges the argument that school referendum proponents state that building is justified due to historically low borrowing rates. COVID19 has proven that virtual learning is not only viable, but the future of K-16 education. It is not necessary or practical to continue to build massive, person-dense school structures. 10 FACTORS THAT INCREASE CIVILIAN MORALE DURING WAR or PANDEMIC. Doc notes that soldiers last just over 200 days in continuous front-line battles and questions how long civilians and kids will mentally hold up during prolonged chaos. We are now 30 days into pandemic stay-at-home orders. What happens when we get to day 100? He shares factors that improve civilian morale: (1) Baseball & All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954); (2) Contributing to self / others (gardens); (3) Contributing to others (scrap metal drives of WWII, making masks of 2020); (4) Charismatic leader; (5) Movies and ice cream socials (actually a guide on how to do this); (6) Parades; (7) Sacrifice for those closest to the battle (healthcare workers); (8) Equality of sacrifices (across classes); (9) Sense of safety; & (10) Conveying a clear outcome (peace / health) (also willing to accept losses). 10 FACTORS THAT ERODE CIVILIAN MORALE DURING WAR or PANDEMIC. (1) Disruption / uncertainty in food supplies; (2) Events that last more than 3 months (must shift them into phases); (3) Negative leader; (4) Taxes; (5) Lack of medical care; (6) Lack of success; (7) Perception of state of the enemy; (8) Inappropriate or excessive precautionary measures create anxiety & avoidance; (9) Propaganda; & (10) Unanticipated attacks that disrupt routines and impeded productivity (air raid). THE UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATION. Since 1941, the USO has existed to boost morale of soldiers and civilians. USO is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. The USO is not part of the federal government. A congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to support its activities, and is powered by a family of volunteers to accomplish our mission of connection. DOC CONVINCED STEVEN HE BOUGHT A $10,000 BASEBALL ON EBAY. Doc does his part to add levity to the pandemic-charged environment by sharing the story of when he played a monumental prank on his friend Steve back in 2000. Steve believed he accidently bought a $10,000 baseball off Ebay and Doc convinced others to go along with the prank. No harm, no foul. Steve wasn’t fleeced of money and this wasn’t an authentic auction. Back in the early days of Ebay, though, it was an easy platform for pranks. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 130 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 4-17-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Sunday Apr 12, 2020
Coronavirus is our Chernobyl (not our 9/11) | LIVESTREAM 4-11-2020
Sunday Apr 12, 2020
Sunday Apr 12, 2020
As an American teenager during the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Doc recalls being cautioned to stay inside whenever it rained due to radioactive rain; camera companies warning people that film images might be peppered with blotches due to radiation; isotopes destroying farm fields; and to brace for an outbreak of cancer. In this livestream, he explains why the coronavirus event is similar to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and also the flaws with calling the pandemic “our generation’s 9/11.” MEET TEENAGE DOC. In 1986, Doc lived with his parents and brother in a small town in central Wisconsin. He played baseball, mowed lawns and fished under the bridge. And, a bomb shelter in his home’s basement was a daily reminder that the United States and Soviet Union were on the brink of WWIII. The radio station played Nena’s chart-topper “99 Red Balloons,” a song protesting nuclear war; the movie Rocky IV portrayed Russia as corrupt, evil and powerful - only to fall due to the determination and grit of American boxer Sylvester Stallone. ABC’s 1983 TV movie “The Day After” left an indelible mark on Americans questioning what would happen if the US was pulverized by Soviet ICBMs. CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR REACTOR DISASTER. On April 26, 1986, there was an explosion in the number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Power Plant in Prypyat (Ukraine) spreading radioactive clouds all over Europe and a large part of the globe. CHERNOBYL CONTINUED TO DETERIORATE. The accident caused the largest uncontrolled radioactive release into the environment ever recorded for any civilian operation, and large quantities of radioactive substances were released into the air for about 10 days. This caused serious social and economic disruption for large populations in Russia and Europe - and placed the entire northern hemisphere on high alert for months. THE RESPONSE TO CHERNOBYL - WHAT THE PUBLIC WAS TOLD. The Russian government and state-controlled Russian media were slow to alert the public. Police wore gas masks, but residents only heard rumors. In Prypiat, life briefly went on as usual and seven weddings were held the day following the disaster. The government was uncertain how to stop the radioactive fires. Water would just intensify the blaze. Sand was an option, but it had to be delivered by helicopters - dumped into the damaged reactor - that could take weeks or months - and it might not work. 36 hours after the explosion, the 47,000 inhabitants of the nearby city of Prypiat were evacuated via more than a thousand buses. PERMANENT TEMPORARY EVACUATION. Residents were told to take few personal belongings and identity papers and that they would return home in several days. They never returned home. Prypiat, and a large swatch of land around Chernobyl, was deemed inhabitable for at least 180 years. HOW THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER IMPACTED DOC. Nuclear radiation was hard to comprehend and you couldn’t perceive it with your senses (similar to a virus). Fires, floods and tornadoes were tangible - radioactive isotopes were obscure sci-fi, but the tone of the reporters, the behavior of adults, it was obvious that this was a serious situation. Media advised people to avoid the rain because it might cause cancer. Doc’s baseball coach rambled about radioactive particles on the field and how players should “wash up” after practice or a game to chase away radioactive particles. Doc’s mom canned vegetables throughout the summer and fall to offset potential food shortages due to contaminated farm fields and livestock. Ironically, the shelves of the 1960s era bomb shelter were stocked to capacity in the fall of 1986. WHEN IT BECAME REAL FOR DOC. Radiation became tangible to Doc when his science teacher walked around the campus with a brick-sized Geiger counter that made static-sounding clicks as it detected radioactive particles. It clicked a lot outside. US MEDIA COVERAGE OF CHERNOBYL. On Sundays, Doc’s household received the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel which was considered the “big city, reliable news source. The story about the Chernobyl explosion described “a deadly could of radiation across large sections of Russia and Europe.” But, the disaster was still portrayed as being remote and not something to worry about in the USA. The local library had an array of newspapers all clamped onto large wooden poles (remember those?). Per the Duluth Minnesota Herald, May 15, 1986: “Airborne radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident is now so widespread that it is likely to fall to the ground wherever it rains in the United States, the EPA said.” Doc had been to Duluth - it wasn’t that far away! COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS. It was around that time, in mid-May, when local news, teachers and parents began talking more about radiation in America - in Wisconsin. People speculated about the government’s game plan. Would everyone be required to stay indoors? Doc and his peers were aware and invincible. WHY CORONAVIRUS IS SIMILAR TO CHERNOBYL AND NOT LIKE 9/11. Chernobyl and Coronavirus are rapid onset disasters that remained “in progress” for months. 9/11 - as horrific as it was, concluded on 9/11. Nobody feared another attack on September 13th and two weeks later, the NFL resumed and comedians returned to comedy clubs. Radiation and a virus are invisible. Humans best perceive them through secondary face validity such as watching what authorities are doing and supplies at stores. A flood is tangible. When a flood destroyed homes near Doc’s town in 2008, he went atop the levee and joined a crowd of onlookers watching and snapping photos of decks, shingles and water heaters bobbing down the river. Furthermore, it’s a different psychological construct to battle a fire or flood versus swinging at a ghost. In addition, both events continue to build to a peak - the onset isn’t the peak. And, these events might be corralled, but never eradicated. In fact, present-day wildfires near Chernobyl are releasing large amounts of radiation that was temporarily absorbed by trees. WHEN THE DISASTER IS PROLONGED - THE BREAKING POINT. In podcast #34 back in 2017, Doc talked about WWII psychiatrist, Dr. Appel, who studied frontline soldiers. He found that infantry soldiers survived a maximum of 238 aggregate combat days (ACD) before a fate of (1) physical casualty, (2) prisoner of war, or (3) psychiatric casualty. For the first time, it was realized that every soldier had a “finite voltage” and sooner or later would break – even if they appeared to have held up magnificently under incredible stress. So we have to ask, what’s the finite voltage for each of us now that we are 30 days into stay-at-home orders and a high velocity of information of changing contexts and situations? FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 129 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 4-11-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
Wednesday Apr 08, 2020
New Yorker Bryan Bowden describes what’s happening in his city with a face validity update; the intersection of privacy and government surveillance of its citizens; debt forgiveness; self-sufficient mindsets; liberation and innovation; and monitoring the encroachment of social credit scores for Americans. ABOUT BRYAN BOWDEN. Born and raised in New York City, Bryan set on a path of architectural engineering, but succumbed to the reality that business was his future (even though he had a love for the sciences). He worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank designing models to remedy Third World debt and expanded into the brokerage aspects of major finance. Bryan is the creator, producer and cohost of the critically acclaimed "Beyond The Realm" Radio Show; a published author, producer of television content, musician and artist. POSTAL CARRIERS WITHOUT PPE. Bryan and David note they are observing mail carriers without PPE or any visible demonstration of a sanitizing practice, such as spraying mail or wiping down a package. As a face validity observation, this “business as usual” practice seems out-of-step with the various federal and state health department recommendations to wear masks and frequently wash hands. A month into coronavirus shutdowns and our mail delivery is unchanged. Why? Bryan noted that some commercial parcel transit services have systems to disinfect parcels and vehicles via heat, UV light or disinfectants. Similar to a restaurant, there might be a lot of activity behind the scenes. PROTECTING PERSONAL PRIVACY. Government tracking of personal cell phones is happening and more openly acknowledged by public health officials and law enforcement during the coronavirus event. Bryan and David step through probable reasons why this practice will be pitched as “necessary” for keeping people safe as well as the Orwellian consequences of a government being able to precisely monitor people. What happens to the data? TIME FOR DEBT FORGIVENESS? Bryan’s macro-fiscal acumen frames core questions about forgiveness of personal debts and universal basic income. As the entire world has been pummeled by COVID19, a global “leveling of the playing field” might power up economies. Is now the time to wipe away the myriad of government aid programs to install a $65,000 per year annual income for each American adult? Bryan points out that personal debt more than a year old has likely been written off the books anyway. ARE YOU ESSENTIAL? In the past month, Americans have been assigned to two groups: Essential or Non-Essential. As people derive agency and purpose from their careers or activities, how do we deal with millions of people that have told their work is non-essential and that they also must suspend it and their income? Bryan and David believe those ramifications will resonate for years. WILL YOUR DNA BECOME YOUR PRISON? A novelty as recent as two months ago, sharing your DNA with a company to learn about your ancestors was something happily done by thousands of people. What if that DNA sample is sought by the government and added to a database? What if your DNA places you at an elevated risk for the next flu - and what if the government ordered you to self-quarantine for months? Would employers need to maintain your job if it couldn’t be done from home? Bryan adds that the argument for implanting identification chips in people has been given momentum by the virus event - and some, or even many, people will consider “chipping” as a new expansion of the social contract between the state and the citizens. Imagine walking through public with various inconspicuous sensors reading your temperature and the oxygen level in your exhaled breath? SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE. China implemented a social credit score in 2019. The top score a person can receive is 1000. It’s subjective per the government. Higher scores enable individuals to access perks such as better transportation options, better tickets, etc. The concept involves maintaining or creating a “coveted” reputation - but to do so, you might be expected to spy and report on other people. As counties and cities across the US have rolled out “Report Gatherings” webpages, Bryan and David unpack the possibility of the social credit score concept emerging in the United States. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 128 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 4-8-2020.
- Learn more about guest Bryan Bowden at www.NoBoBuMe.com
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Saturday Apr 04, 2020
CORONAVIRUS CRUSHES CAMPUS | Interview with University Student Nick Schulaner
Saturday Apr 04, 2020
Saturday Apr 04, 2020
Nick Schulaner’s keen situational awareness enabled him to make the right decisions and safely navigate the rapid, unanticipated closing of his university campus due to the coronavirus pandemic. In this exclusive interview, Schulaner deconstructs the frantic shut down of his campus, migration to online learning, and overlooked electronics that are crucial to surviving in a stay-at-home decree. RETURN OF FRIEND OF THE SHOW NICK SCHULANER. Mechanical engineering emerged as a field during the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 18th century; however, its development can be traced back several thousands of years around the world. It is perhaps the most diverse of engineering disciplines. Stage left to university student Nick Schulaner who is pursuing degrees in mechanical engineering and marketing. His aptitude coupled to knack for connecting larger schemas positions him as someone that solves problems. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. As described in the book School of Errors, situational awareness is critical to quickly identifying changes from normal, AKA the TORUS. Nick shared that he was aware of how the coronavirus was impacting regions of the country three days before it became a furious storm that shattered his campus. WHAT ONE THING DOES NICK RECOMMEND RIGHT NOW. As jobs and education have been shuffled to online platforms, the need for a robust Internet router to handle multiple devices and larger bandwidths makes the top of Nick’s list. He recommends buying a new router and to seriously consider models designated for “gaming” as they often have options that work well for kids in virtual classrooms or people watching videos. Expect to pay more, but you won’t regret it! If your router is 5 years old, it’s probably obsolete! VIRTUAL LEARNING HAS ARRIVED. Nick notes the capacity has existed for the better part of a decade and the pandemic forced the hand of K-16 education to evolve to virtual platforms. Nick notes the paradigm shift embraced, or rebuffed, by his professors. GREAT TIME TO BUY USED ELECTRONICS. Nick adds that the economic plummet has a silver lining for anyone wanting to upgrade their phone or computer. Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist have been flooded with modern electronics. It’s a buyer’s market and Nick is confident that most people will be able to find gently-used electronics at a fraction of the price of new. IS NOW A GOOD TIME TO MARKET MY GIG? If you’re the owner of a physical location deemed non-essential, then the answer is no. However, if you are able to sell your product or services online, then now is a great time to invest in Facebook and other ads as prices have fallen in the past month. Nick describes one of his clients realizing a more than double return on investment in recent weeks. HOW WILL ENGINEERING CHANGE OUR WORLD AFTER COVID2019? First, Nick believes some things will simply be abandoned, such as dorms or other population-dense buildings that won’t be possible to retro-fit with anti-virus or social distancing technologies. He adds that someone is probably working right now on a device that will descend from the rafters of a 20,000 seat arena and either distribute a mist or laser beams to sanitize the facility after each use. Things nobody imagined a month ago will be necessary if mass gatherings resume after the coronavirus event. BATTERIES TO GET A BOOST. In addition, Nick anticipates that batteries will be rapidly innovated and that we should expect mobile devices to stay “charged” for days on a single charge. Mobile devices sold next year might come standard with batteries that last twice as long as today’s batteries. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 127 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 4-4-2020.
- Learn more about guest Nick Schulaner at www.nickschulaner.com
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Tuesday Mar 31, 2020
Tuesday Mar 31, 2020
Schools brace for brutal 20% (or greater) slash to funding as coronavirus crashes economies; Doc’s face validity check in; Washington State’s “report your neighbors” website; the basics of school funding; austerity measures for the 2020-2021 school year; what will get cut; what will get funded; what happens to school safety? HOW ARE SCHOOLS FUNDED? There are three main sources for school funding: federal, state and local. Schools receive roughly $12,000 per student per year. About half of that is funded by the state, 40% from local property taxes, and 10% from federal funds. Schools are funded for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. UNPRECEDENTED FUNDING CUTS FOR 2020-21. Doc notes that several sources have informed his statement that K-12 public schools in America will receive 20% less funding than the current year. He describes the variables in play that could cushion that figure or exacerbate it, such as use of fund balance, declining enrollment, tax-deferred business districts, or taxpayers demanding extreme austerity measures at the school district’s annual meeting - which is when the school board sets the tax rate for its homeowners and businesses. WHAT WILL BE CUT. More than 80% of school expenses are staff salary and benefits. As states rush to reduce the number of required student-contact days from 180 to 140 (or fewer), staff compensation contracts would subsequently be reduced by at least 20%. Everything is on the table. Expect the deepest cuts to be in these areas: Maintenance and unencumbered building projects; support staff; bus drivers; kitchen staff; office staff; athletic directors/coaches; public/community relations positions; staff professional development; and student mental health. IMPACT ON SCHOOL SAFETY. School safety is a $3 billion a year industry with 80% spent annually on fences, bollards, barricades, window films and surveillance. Expect school safety funding to plummet by 50% - and if students do not return to in-person schools, that figure will be closer to 75% as schools won’t fund bullying, harassment or threat reporting systems. School safety is important, but it will be heavily de-funded in this time of education austerity. WHAT WILL GET FUNDED? Virtual learning platforms; technology staff, individual Chromebooks, iPads and Hot Spots; Programs to train parents how to use technology; and a myriad of devices having to do with sanitizing from germ-zapping robots, hands-Free 3D printed door openers that can be operated with a stylus, and antimicrobial coating for door handles, chairs, desks, lunch tables, light switches - pretty much everything. CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE LED TO $100,000 GERM-ZAPPING ROBOTS in 2016. In an article I wrote in August for Crisis Response Journal, I noted that On September 18, 2014, President Obama issued an executive order combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria - or MRSA. The pesky was showing up in school locker rooms, gyms, fitness centers, etc. -- think of flesh-eating infection. That’s not exactly it - but close enough. A few wealthy districts are spending tens of thousands of dollars on special machines that kill MRSA on desks, door handles and fitness room equipment. A $100,000 germ-zapping robot named ‘Gronk’ is helping to kill MRSA at a Massachusetts High School (Perrodin, 2019). 350 of these robots were sold to hospitals, medical facilities and schools across the country. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 126 of The Safety Doc Podcast and was recorded and published on March 31, 2020.
- Article referenced in this post: Bullets or bacterium - in pursuit of the forgotten school intruder - http://www.crisis-response.com/comment/blogpost.php?post=472
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
How Coronavirus Changed America’s Social Contract (Livestream 3-28-20)
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Doc does a face validity check in, describes the American social contract, and then identifies ways personal privacy changed this month and how those changes will likely be permanent. ARE WE ALL DEPUTIZED? Doc notes counties and communities encouraging residents to report alleged violations of social gathering decrees and how such measures pressure people to conform - even if it's unlikely local government would allocate strained, depleted police units to investigate a large family's backyard barbecue. WHAT IS THE SOCIAL CONTRACT? It’s an implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. This has been around for thousands of years and through the rise and fall of civilizations. We pay taxes to government and in return the government provides a military to protect us from invasion. We restrict the items we take on planes and submit to invasive screening in order to have safe air travel. PATRIOT ACT of 2001 CHANGED THE SOCIAL CONTRACT. The PATRIOT Act was quickly developed as anti-terrorism legislation in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The large and complex law received little Congressional oversight and debate. Critics caution that it gives sweeping search and surveillance to domestic law enforcement and foreign intelligence agencies and eliminates checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that those powers were not abused. FIVE WAYS THE PATRIOT ACT EMPOWERED GOVERNMENT. (1) Information sharing across agencies without need for authorizations; (2) Roving wiretaps across company and personal computers, networks and cell phones; (3) “215 Orders” which are gag rules preventing people from talking; (4) “Sneak and Peak” warrants which let authorities search a home or business without notification of the target of the probe; and (5) Material support such as investing anyone that made a donation to, or otherwise supported, an organization that could be involved in terrorism. This might result in the government seizing computers, records and other personal items. THOMAS HOBBES’ LEVAITHAN. Written during the English Civil War (1642–1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by strong, undivided government. In other words, Hobbes believed that a basic form of government was necessary otherwise people would default to a perpetual state of being “brutish” and fighting with each other for food, shelter or beliefs. FIVE WAYS CORONAVIRUS WILL LIKELY EXPAND THE PATRIOT ACT. Per Edward Snowden, the US government, for instance, is reportedly in talks with tech companies like Facebook and Google to use anonymized location data from phones to help track the spread of COVID-19. While some say the measure could be a helpful tool for health authorities to track the virus, others have expressed concerns.” (1) TRACK YOUR PHONE. This is an easy argument as the government can posture this practice as necessary to inform citizens if they have been subjected to persons testing positive for a virus or to guide them from “hot zones.” Doc describes several ways phones could be controlled to shape the user’s behavior, such as turning them off when people aren’t social distancing; (2) VEHICLE GPS could be tracked in ways similar to phones; (3) DNA INFORMATION willingly surrendered to learn about their ancestors might be used to identify people more or less likely to survive specific viruses. This could result in months of quarantines for “at risk” people solely due to their genetic code. (4) WEARABLE FITNESS COMPUTERS could be monitored for heart rate, pulse, and body temperature. If your temperature is above 100, you might be quarantined. (5) SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS saturate America as people have them on doorbells, dashes, stores, schools, etc. Also, police in Great Britain are using drones to capture images of people engaged in “non-essential” activities such as watching a sunset at a park. These images were shared with the public and resulted in social shaming – and could lead to separation from employment. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 125 of The Safety Doc Podcast.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Thursday Mar 26, 2020
My Quarantined Neighbors & Face Validity Update
Thursday Mar 26, 2020
Thursday Mar 26, 2020
Doc's neighbors are quarantined for 14 days after returning from a coronavirus hot zone; update on face validity; this great disruption is similar to Bell Labs 1950s Idealized Design meeting in which phone engineers were told that the existing phone system was destroyed and they had 30 days to re-invent it; portable battery packs that look like explosives; and PBS Kids is not a curriculum. MY NEIGHBORS ARE QUARANTINED. A neighbor informs Doc that his family is quarantined for 14 days. However, they receive mail delivered to the postal box affixed to their house, food deliveries, and can travel for essential items such as food. Doc and participants in the chat note the obvious problems with people being home-quarantined without any requirement to alert the public. It would make sense to print a “Quarantined” sign and put it on their door or mailbox. Any political correctness of hiding this information went out the door with governor-decreed “Safer at Home” mandates. FACE VALIDITY. Doc reminds people to authentically observe what is happening in their immediate environments. He notes an uptick in vehicles at hospital parking lot, busier parking lots at grocers and WalMart, no change in activity at the armory, and sharp increase in visible police patrols. Doc noted that a nearby county had a webpage for citizens to report large gatherings to authorities – but the site was removed after a day. This also suggests that local law enforcement agencies might be considering deputizing citizens to monitor neighborhoods. RED BATTERY CHARGER NO-GO FOR TSA. Doc shows battery charging pack he ordered from Amazon. Works great, but looks like a flattened stick of explosives! Yikes, probably shouldn’t have ordered it in red. BELL LABS in 1950 – HOW DISRUPTION LEADS TO MASSIVE INNOVATION. In 1951, Bell Labs (the people making telephones and communications systems) summoned its top engineers for an emergency meeting. As one attendee recalled, “About ten minutes after the hour, the door to the room squeaked open. All eyes turned to it, and there he was. He was obviously very upset. He was a pasty gray and bent over as he slowly shuffled down the aisle without a word to anyone. He mounted the platform, stood behind the podium, put his elbows on it, and held his head in his two hands, looking down. The room was dead silent. Finally, he looked up and in an uncharacteristically meek voice said, “Gentlemen, the telephone system of the United States was destroyed last night. Then he looked down again. (Idealized Design: How Bell Labs Imagined – and Created the Telephone System of the Future, August 09, 2006).” Engineers, now unshackled from the conventional, clunky phone system, assembled in small teams and had about a month to create the phone system of the future. One engineer experimented with using a touch pad calculator to replace the rotary dial, others figured out called ID and conference calls, and another group prototyped voicemail. What innovations and evolutions will the coronavirus event bring forward in healthcare (tele-medicine), schools (virtual classrooms), asset delivery (relaxed regulations for drones)? PBS Kids IS NOT A CURRICULUM. A flurry of free content is being pushed to parents who are now responsible for educating their children (with some partnership with schools). Doc notes that a potpourri of enrichment activities isn’t a curriculum and that parents should search for activities that have a scope and sequence. Doc also cautions that some districts are reporting that up to 40% of their students have yet to log into their new virtual classrooms and we are overlooking that some families don’t have the bandwidth or skills necessary to carry out virtual education. BE KIND TO OTHERS. Thanks to Bryan in the chat room for encouraging everyone to be kind to others, check in on relatives, and to avoid judging the atypical actions of people who are struggling to settle into a similarity. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 124 of The Safety Doc Podcast.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Saturday Mar 21, 2020
Face Validity - What's Going on in My Town Today - March 21, 2020
Saturday Mar 21, 2020
Saturday Mar 21, 2020
Doc samples locations in his town on a Saturday afternoon to determine face validity of the impact of the coronavirus event on everyday life in southern Wisconsin about 40 minutes north of the state capital. Places visited included the hospital, a park, WalMart, a grocery store, a school and the armory. You’ll be surprised at what was notably different today compared to the same locations just one week ago! The video version of this is available on The Safety Doc Podcast YouTube Channel as episode #123. FACE VALIDITY. This is a term taken from research and means simply whether the test appears (at face value) to measure what it claims to. Think of it this way, if a thermometer read 77 degrees, yet you were standing outside shivering and snow was falling, the “face validity” of the thermometer wouldn’t match what you were actually experiencing. Maybe it’s 77 and sunny somewhere, but certainly not here and not right now. MEDIA BIAS. Media is incomplete and stitched with bias. To help identify valid news reports you should seek face validity – or, check things out for yourself. Better yet, develop a network of reliable friends across the country (or globe) to tell you what they are observing and experiencing with their own senses in their settings. VELOCITY OF INFORMATION. Doc explains the avalanche of information people have to deal with for the first 72 hours of a sentinel event – including the coronavirus. He also shares that people’s responses are often not aligned until a week or more after an event. For example, how drive-through food service workers should wear PPE and safely interact with patrons. And, why aren’t postal carriers wearing gloves as though go house to house in Doc’s neighborhood? HOSPITAL. Visitor parking lot was empty. Curb parking near “respiratory entrance” was also empty. The back parking lot was full, but no activity while I was there. GROCERY STORE. 30% of the parking lot was full. WALMART. 40% of the parking lot was full. No signs of a drive-through virus testing tent. PARK. People walking, kids biking and at least 3 folks fishing! ARMORY. A handful of civilian vehicles in the parking lot and two or three more military vehicles. Massive front entrance gates that were closed a week ago were open today. Adjacent airstrip was quiet and no helicopters or military aircraft on site. SCHOOLS. The high school and one elementary school were completely vacant – not a single car in the parking lots. A sign on the door indicated that schools were closed due to coronavirus and were being sanitized. The high school would be a FEMA location if needed, but no evidence of any staging of assets or preparation of the site. DOC’S NEIGHBORHOOD. Mitch was full-throttle bananas with his leaf blower, Tim hadn’t taken advantage of the nice weather to bring in the reindeer or take down the Christmas lights, and somebody was building something a few houses up the street. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 123.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com