Episodes
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
How Thinking About a Bagel Can Get You Through the Worst Day of Your Life
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Doc talks about what it means to enter chaos from the perspective of someone that researches crises. THINK OF A BAGEL. It's tasty as hell and also a metaphor for our lives and routines. Humans expect things to be similar and go bananas when they are moved out of the bagel - and the further you get outside the bagel, the more chaos. CHAOS IS A NATURAL STATE. But, chaos is part of nature and the sooner we recognize it and embrace, the sooner we inventory our options and make intelligent decisions to get us to the outcome basin. In other words, there are infinite ways to get from point A to point B - yet we've become comfortable in thinking everything must be convergent, or linear, that there is a "best way" to do every specific thing. That's BS. If we would have kept on thinking that way, we would have devolved as a species and innovation would have been stifled. And, we were kind of that point of barnacle regulations and unchecked spending. EPIC HUMAN EVOLUTION. Some company made the last ice box. Restaurants, for example, are scaling up take up and drive-thru. They are changing business models and it's working. Doesn't mean that is won't be bumpy and that we won't have losses - we will - but we will also rapidly evolve - perhaps an unparalleled 24-36 month evolution as humans in how we work, educate, build, design, entertain, etc. than we would have experienced on the trajectory without the Coronavirus. In fact, these, and other, core aspects of societies might leap 10-20 years further down the road due to how we've had to "solve the problems" presented by the coronavirus disruption. There is a very real probability we will look back upon 2020 as a time of great human innovation and not a time of human collapse. SCHOOLS WILL CHANGE in 5 GREAT WAYS Also, watch this livestream for tips on navigating life during chaos, making better decisions, and also 5 ways that schools will be better after the coronavirus event. This is episode 122 of the Safety Doc Podcast. 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 122.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Monday Mar 09, 2020
Insider Truth of How Schools Will Respond to Coronavirus
Monday Mar 09, 2020
Monday Mar 09, 2020
Schools aren’t prepared to handle long-term closures due to the coronavirus. Don’t be fooled by germ-zapping robots or custodians fogging hallways with disinfectant. If a pandemic hits, the schools will close - and probably for the rest of 2019-2020 school year! I worked in school for 20 years with most of those being a school administrator involved in school crisis preparedness. In this episode, I’ll step you through what’s happening behind the scenes in America’s schools. HOW MANY SCHOOLS IN AMERICA? 55 million students are educated in 140,000 public and private school buildings each day. That’s more than one million classrooms. As we think of schools, we need to account for community preschool sites, portable classrooms and online instruction. PANDEMIC PLANS ARE AFTERTHOUGHTS. Most schools have antiquated pandemic response protocols in a file - likely something downloaded from a website. Unlike fire drills and intruder exercises, schools are not required to conduct “pandemic” practice activities, such as tabletops or simulations. With school safety singularly focused on intruder drills, schools haven’t been preparing for pandemics. Hype about schools effortlessly being able to teach kids online is greatly sensationalized and won’t work for more than a week or two. Schools simply aren’t designed to offer instruction in an exclusive online format. FEMA CAN TAKE OVER YOUR SCHOOL. Yep, that’s true - and it’s likely in the fine print of your county’s emergency management plan and only after the governor has declared a disaster - but it can happen. Dr. Perrodin explains what would rapidly unfold if FEMA took over school as medical or supply sites due to a coronavirus outbreak. In 2008, Dr. Perrodin worked in a school district that had two of its schools quickly taken under the complete authority of FEMA following a natural disaster. THE 5 THINGS THAT WOULD CAUSE SCHOOLS TO CLOSE. (1) COVID positive test for school staff or student that had been attending school - yep, one person and you can expect the district to shutter; (2) Local decision due to pressure by parents or teachers; (3) More than 30% of students are absent; (4) Disruption of supply chain including food, soap, paper towels, or cleaning supplies; (5) Government decree to close schools (likely beginning at a county level). It is very unlikely that the federal government would close all schools. WHY THE 2014 MRSA SCARE COST US DEARLY RIGHT NOW. On September 18, 2014, President Obama issued an executive order combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This order included a multi-agency plan due in 2020 to respond to this threat to domestic security – a plan that would mandate standards for electronic health record-based reporting for MRSA (Obama, 2014). As of July 2019, a uniform MRSA database had not yet been established in the United States and other countries. Had the plan been carried out, we would have had an established model to replicate for a coronavirus database. It also underscores how we pretty much just wait (and hope) for things to run their course and return to some type of similarity. MARKETING FEAR. In 2016, a $100,000 germ-zapping robot named ‘Gronk’ helped to kill MRSA at a Massachusetts High School. Hundreds were sold as school boards couldn’t vote fast enough to burn cash on items that probably worked, but weren’t necessary. (Ever heard of bleach and a rag?) Today, schools are buying Ghostbusters-like backpacks that fog hallways with disinfectant clouds. US WARNS 7 COMPANIES OVER FRAUDULENT CORONAVIRUS CLAIMS. On March 9, 2020, Federal regulators warned seven companies to stop selling soaps, sprays and other concoctions with false claims that they can treat the new coronavirus — or keep people from catching it. There are no approved treatments for the virus, and none are likely to be ready for months or years. 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 120.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Read Dr. Perrodin’s Crisis Response Journal article at https://tinyurl.com/CRJ-Perrodin
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Vincent LaRosa | Founding of Masculine Geek and Urban Exploring
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Vincent LaRosa is a network administrator, Masculine Geek and adventurer. He’s an enthusiast of ancient areas and fascinated with urban decay - including the death knell of the American mall. In this episode, Vince discusses the genesis of one of Internet’s top shows - Masculine Geek, writing, urban exploring and an intellectual hike through the woods of life and mortality. REMEMBERING OOLOO. Decades removed from the bright lights, fans still remember Ooloo, a supporting character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although a brilliant actor, the writer’s delivered few opportunities for LaRosa's Ooloo to shine other than late in season two when Ooloo played a yeoman purser - a role that was functionally eliminated when the starship went cashless after convoluted storylines involving currency conversion practices that became ridiculous when Captain Picard authorized purchase orders for parts for the starship, curiously not stocked by Star Fleet, by bartering the equivalent of a sack of russet potatoes with the Narphwelens. WAS OOLOO A “B” CHARACTER? Although a “B” character, many, including fellow actor Levar Burton, and confidant Angela Lansbury, felt that Ooloo would have smoothly transitioned to the role of core cast member in a similar fashion to Jamie Farr’s “Klinger” replacing Radar O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff) on the TV series M*A*S*H. In a 2016 interview, Burton acknowledged the writers’ colossal mistake by terminating LaRosa’s character in a reckless cafeteria accident. Respected in Hollywood, the talented LaRosa passed on countless offers for auditions and instead closed the chapter on acting and moved to the East Coast. FOUNDING OF MASCULINE GEEK. Masculine Geek has become a Wednesday night staple for a loyal, growing tribe of very cool people seeking honest, unscripted discourse that harkens to all things masculine: motorcycles, rock bands, history of ancient civilizations, battlefields, and Dungeons & Dragons. Vincent’s concept for Masculine Geek took shape when Rob Says and TJ Martinell took the oath. Curmudgeon Aaron Clarey was a periphery member of MG, but amicably departed the show after its late (8PM Aaron’s time) start time interrupted his four hour naps. Vince, TJ and Rob meet up in the virtual campsite to deliver the Masculine Geek podcast live Wednesday Night’s at 9PM EST on YouTube and the show is landing some of the Internet’s prominent figures and boasts a highly interactive chat room. TIME TO LEVEL UP. The motto of the Masculine Geek is “Time to level up.” That’s right, you’re now part of the team - so do your part. Masculine Geek offers a discerning (free) weekly newsletter, masterly essays such as “Rise of the Lone Wolf” and “The Everyday MG’s Commandments”, paid content, merch and consulting. URBAN EXPLORING. Urban exploration is the act of entering, experiencing and photographing abandoned buildings or areas. The rule is to leave sites as you found them. Many of these places are dangerous due to a lack of maintenance over a long period of time. And, unless you have permission from the owner, you’re probably trespassing - so a cool geek hobby, but don’t go solo and always get permission. Vince shares accounts of urban exploring, including his intention to capture photos of a decaying mall and then pair those images with narratives for a book. David, relatively new to urbanex, attempts to describe the emotional experience of a long-abandoned farmhouse that still had clothing buttons tossed on a rotting floor. MEETUP.COM Vince underscores that people need to find others with similar interests and engage in a shared activity, such as building a house for Habitat for Humanity, hiking, or urban exploring. Although an online platform, Masculine Geek held its inaugural “Village By The Sea” in-person gathering last fall in October -- and future in-person meet-ups are planned. Check out the website masculinegeek.com 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 118.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Learn more about this show’s guest at www.masculinegeek.com
Sunday Dec 15, 2019
Nick Schulaner | The Jagged Intersection of Marketing and School Safety
Sunday Dec 15, 2019
Sunday Dec 15, 2019
Nick Schulaner is a 21-year-old guitar-playing Digital Marketer and Mechanical Engineering Student. He has taught in 2 programs teaching people how to do digital marketing so they can either promote their own small business or get jobs marketing for other people. He also has his own YouTube channel where he interviews other successful marketers and business owners. Because he’s so young, Nick has been able to see firsthand the type of fortifications schools invest in, as well as how those fortifications are perceived by the students themselves (spoiler alert: it’s not a pretty picture). GOING ALL-IN FOR HIGH SCHOOL SAFETY. During the 2013-2014 school year, Nick, (then) a student at a high school of 2000 students in Washington State, observed sweeping safety overhauls at his campus, including the installation of bullet-resistive window films and metal detectors at “some” of the entrances. Let’s examine the concept of “all in.” In American usage, the phrase “all in” began as a colloquial expression meaning to be in a bad spot—exhausted, worn out, and spent. In the game of poker, it refers to the moment when a player—whether out of bravado, recklessness, or desperation—bets all of his or her chips on a single hand. In other words, Nick’s school leaders were implementing a flurry of expensive and difficult-to-maintain safety measures with the presumed hope that these steps would satisfy panicked parents and perhaps increase school security. TEACHER ADMITS FACULTY UNABLE TO PROTECT KIDS. Per Nick, “Yet, even after all those things were implemented, I distinctly remember one of my teachers telling my class something to the effect of ‘I really hope we don’t have a school shooting here because we (meaning the faculty) have pretty much no way to protect you kids if we do.’ If anything, you could argue that all the fortifications actively made things WORSE by lulling people into a false sense of security.” NO STUDENT INPUT. Nick didn’t recall any time when school leaders asked students about safety concerns on campus or sought their input on what practices or devices might increase school safety. His friend who served in student government discovered that the collective student voice wasn’t of interest to administrators and ignored on serious matters, such as school safety. Nick shared that fights were a much more common occurrence at this school, noting a time when two girls duked it in a hallway over a cupcake. Yes, a cupcake. And, don’t even ask what was happening in the woods next to the school! WHAT MADE NICK FEEL SAFER AT SCHOOL. Nick shared that the metal detectors made him feel that his school was safer…until a few weeks into the school year when, due to long lines and other obligations of the SRO, the fidelity of metal detector checkpoints waned and students were able to enter and exit buildings unchecked at the schools approximately dozen entrances. PBIS AT HIGH SCHOOL “BEAMER BUCKS” Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports is a formal program for teaching students positive and appropriate behaviors. A form of PBIS was in place at Nick’s high school and students received “Beamer Bucks” that could be redeemed for school apparel. He noted that the PBIS program was vague and the incentives would have been valuable if for things like pizza. Again, a “code of conduct” program implemented without student input. MARKETING SCHOOL SAFETY. Nick identified two reasons why people buy something. The first is to acquire pleasure and the second is to escape pain. In schools, the relentless pressure of parents to “do something” to improve school safety is the “pain” applied to the school board. Social proof, as Nick explains, is another powerful construct for selling safety. If you can show another school that has purchased a product, then the argument becomes, “That school made the investment to keep its schools safe…why aren’t you also choosing to keep kids safe?” 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 114.
- 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
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Spelunker Atham Aldecua | Psyche, Soma & STEM
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Monday Dec 02, 2019
Atham Aldecua's safety advice is to assume that you are always alone and that anyone else that can help you during a crisis is a bonus. Trust gut instincts and rely upon yourself to make decisions and find options within chaos. A caver, climber, hiker, and snowboarder, Atham’s forded the divide from self-similarity to chaos and skillfully navigates both physical and psychological terrain that would overwhelm most people. It’s a value-added mindset and Atham imparts pragmatic wisdom during this interview. RECONNAISSANCE & SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. Perpetually honing his situational awareness, Atham shared that while living in Mexico, Taiwan and the United States; he watched the natives, studied their behaviors and attempted to predict what they would do next. He advises people to seek similarities across situations as they are more prevalent than differences and enable you to quickly pick up predictable patterns. WANDERING THE DESERT. After deciding computer programming wasn’t his jam, an 18 year old Atham gained crucial work experience as a call center representative, restaurant assistant manager, window washer and hotel night audit. He smiled when sharing a time at the call center when he asked the caller to close his windows. The man rushed around his house closing his windows instead of closing the windows on his computer. Although hectic, the call center was relevant training for learning to successfully interface with people who were overwhelmed. Another story was when several people checked into a hotel at night after being delayed by a winter storm. The only person at the desk, Atham maintained his smile and got everyone situated for the night. He often states, “It doesn’t help to feel sorry for yourself or ask, ‘why me?’ – just do what needs to be done.” PSYCHE. “You know what needs to be done, so do it!” Atham attributes his success to a combination of family and friends, saying “yes” to new opportunities, and embracing hard work – which for him is a combination of 80 hour work weeks, a full-time course load in chemical engineering and exploring caves. SOMA. With guidance from a trainer, Atham has shed 40 pounds since spring, enabling him to hike with ease and be more efficient with caving. He added that he weighs all of his food portions and that 40 grams of sugar in a soda is eye-opening when 40 grams of sugar is scooped onto a scale. SPELUNKING or CAVING? Atham explained that spelunking is associated with novice cave explorers and that traditional and more serious enthusiasts refer to themselves as cavers. Caving for 3 years, Atham became interested in the hobby after watching a YouTube video. He went to caves.org and found a local chapter of the National Speleological Society. He is now vice-chairman of his caving club and also trained in basic cave rescue. THREE CAVING RULES. Always have 3 sources of light. Atham stated that novice explorers over-estimate their capabilities and have poor situational awareness. These folks use their cell phone light to wander through a cave, experience hypothermia or become disoriented. Another rule is to never explore a cave on your own. The third rule is to avoid running in caves as the terrain is damp, inconsistent and unforgiving. While GPS doesn’t function in a cave, Atham shared that, curiously, he’s had intermittent cell phone reception. ASSUME NO MALICE. A member of his climbing team skipped safety protocol and unfastened a rope which resulted in Atham falling 16 feet and dislocating his elbow. Rather than becoming angry or emotional, Atham maintained his composure and was able to direct others to facilitate his rescue. His ability to find control in chaos comes from a mindset of not becoming occupied with emotions. Per Atham, “Assume no malice when people are giving you a hard time. Or should I say... pretend like you are assuming no malice even though you are seeing it. This makes them look bad in public if they keep pushing it. It’s a technique that has worked for me a lot of times.” 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 113.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Friday Aug 30, 2019
Critique of Homeland Security's Guide to Prevent School Gun Violence
Friday Aug 30, 2019
Friday Aug 30, 2019
Homeland Security twirled off the rails with its patchwork 2018 Guide to Preventing School Gun Violence. Anyone else think suggesting smoke cannons as counter-measures to an active shooter is better scripted for Hollywood than for classrooms? SINGLE FOCUS SAFETY INITIATIVES. In my book, School of Errors, I use the analogy of fielders in a baseball game to make an argument against single focus safety initiatives. One could train baseball players to field line drives. In fact, the coach could swat sizzling liners for hours. Players would improve at fielding liners hit directly to them. Per our friends at Baseball Info Solutions, we know the following statistics to represent a typical game of baseball. 45% of batted balls were grounders, 36% were fly balls and 19% are line drives. Practice all you want on liners, but if you can’t snag a grounders then you are going to be foiled by half of the balls put into play. In other words, we need our professional guidance documents to prepare us to field any ball. FOUR PHASES OF SECURITY. The DHS guide identifies four phases of security: Connect, Plan, Train and Report. OK, connect with law enforcement and community agencies. That makes sense, until you realize that the steady churn of staff will shuffle the point of contact every few months. People are great at starting inter-agency collaborative teams. People stumble at attempting to sustain such efforts. The guide doesn’t address this or the need to have redundancy in training and a solid induction process for on-boarded players. The 29-page missive wasn’t enriched by this section, or other sections that attempted to push in place a foundation for the document. Readers don’t need a literature review. Know your audience. WHAT IS AN OFC? Beats me – and I’ve been in this field for over 20 years! Mystery solved! It is an Option For Consideration. You have to hunt through the document to find that in the narrative as it’s not bolded or highlighted. Oh, I later found it in Appendix E: Acronyms. So, we have a “new” term. DHS whiffed at the most important point. Do not take on too many OFCs! Again and again, school administrators tell me they can focus on 3-4 objectives and yet routinely list a dozen or more safety objectives as they don’t want to leave anything off the list. I get it, but you can’t be a mile wide and an inch deep. THE WILD IDEAS OF APPENDIX A: EVOLVING PRODUCTS. This section was a sloppy mix of primitive technology (CCV), stating the obvious (Door Locks), and ludicrous ideas including thwarting school intruders with smoke cannons, turnstiles and drones. What’s next? Perhaps dumping a jar of 5,000 marbles into the hallway would impede the shooter? After all, a similar approach proved effective in the movie Animal House. REMS-TA IS THE BETTER OPTION. The biggest problem with Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center (REMS-TA) is that many school leaders aren’t aware of it. Yep, even my knowledge of REMS-TA was scant until member checks in the field continually calibrated me to what is the most complete, accessible, friendly center dedicated to increase school safety. These folks are dialed in. You won’t weed through redundant or fluffy documents to find something you can plug into your school safety plan. REMS-TA has templates, samples, and will connect you with a local person to inform your school’s emergency management. And, webinars that are relevant and they know your name! It’s not attending some one-way concert. Learn more about REMS-TA: https://rems.ed.gov/K12GuideForDevelHQSchool.aspx If you want to be entertained by the hot mess that is the K-12 School Security Guide 2nd Ed. (2018), visit https://www.dhs.gov/publication/k-12-school-security-guide 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 106.
Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: Schools of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America
Sunday Jul 07, 2019
Paying the Liar’s Dividend in School Safety
Sunday Jul 07, 2019
Sunday Jul 07, 2019
On July 3, 2019, Dr. Perrodin presented School Safety in America: Rhetoric Vs. Reality on Wisconsin Public Television. During that presentation, he identified weaponized deepfakes as the biggest threat to student safety and that the incentive to use deepfakes to target students might be as simple as “The Liar’s Dividend.” WHAT IS THE LIAR’S DIVIDEND? A classic example of the liar’s dividend, which goes back to early reports that cigarettes were linked to cancer. In response, the tobacco industry relied on journalism’s honorable tendency to report “both sides of the story,” and went on to suggest there were legitimate doubts about the validity of that scientific research. WHAT IS THE DIVIDEND? In the May 17, 2019 article “The Liar’s Dividend is dangerous by journalists. Here’s How to Fight it” by Kelly McBride, she states: “This is a bigger problem than the Oxygen Theory, which argues that by debunking a falsehood, journalists give the claim a longer life. The Liar’s Dividend suggests that in addition to fueling the flames of falsehoods, the debunking efforts actually legitimize the debate over the veracity. This creates smoke and fans suspicions among at least some in the audience that there might well be something true about the claim. That’s the “dividend” paid to the perpetrator of the lie. WHY IS THE LIAR’S DIVIDEND THE TOP THREAT TO SCHOOLS? The Liar’s Dividend has always been around in the form of false accusations to dent the recipient’s reputation or incorporated into social media bullying. When a student, for example, posts intentional misinformation about another student, he or she is also planting doubts. “I don’t think Carol would say those things about her friends when she was at Terry’s party, but maybe she did?” ANYONE CAN BE TARGETED. We have a new player in the game. Avatar realism has been around since 2011 and progressively becomes more lifelike. One of these popular avatars is Miquela Sousa. She doesn’t exist. She’s a CGI image with a team of engineers, marketers and dreamers posting to her various social media feeds. Avatars of this nature have proven to be largely the tool of marketers. However, they also have been hacked. The damage won’t be delivered from avatars, but from the newest threat known as deepfakes. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN AVATAR AND A DEEPFAKE? A deepfake will target a person by falsely representing them while an avatar is a computer generated fake person. So, a deepfake image is you – looks like you, talks like you, but probably doesn’t convey an authentic message. Both present risks to student safety, but the deepfakes can tactically be used to target other students, teachers, school administrators or parents. ERODE TRUST. Students should learn to skeptical consumers of information, but deepfakes are going to pit student against student or student against teacher or everyone in education against the integrity of information. Did the teacher really say that, or was the video of his rant a deepfake generated with $250 software – and now the teacher in on leave as the school conducts an investigation. The Liar’s Dividend paid to the accuser. As schools spend more than $3 billion per year in school fortifications, the reality is that nothing is being done to prepare for deepfakes and once they arrive, we won’t be able to fortify ourselves to safety. What the solution? Nobody knows. However, the intelligence community predicts that deepfakes will infiltrate all levels of society by 2022 and most people won’t be able to identify a deepfake from an authentic recording. 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. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com 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 102.
Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: Schools of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America
Sunday Jun 23, 2019
Customer Perceived Value - Putting a Price on Safe Schools
Sunday Jun 23, 2019
Sunday Jun 23, 2019
You can’t put a price tag on keeping schools safe – or can you? The $3 billion school safety industry is on a nonstop trajectory for both number of bills proposed and bills enacted to legislate, and sometimes fund, a staggering array of new mandates and unchecked block grants for school safety. CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE. Customer perceived value (CPV) is the notion that the success of a product or service your business offers hinges on whether customers believe it can satisfy their wants and needs. Most of us can relate to this when purchasing a car. The salesperson will gauge what is important to us and tailor the pitch. If we are looking for a family vehicle, then safety and space are selling points. If it’s a commuter, then it’s fuel economy and ease to maneuver in traffic. WHEN THE PARENT IS THE CUSTOMER. Let’s be honest, school boards are entry-level political positions. Superintendents last 2-3 years in the role, and a teacher with 5 years in the same school is a seasoned veteran. The stats support all of that, but there’s something else going on. School boards and school leadership were entrusted to become informed and then to make the critical decisions about school operations. Today, the CPV model has changed. The parent is the customer and the school leaders and boards are dancing to their tune. When the perceived value is increased student safety, it’s practically unthinkable to assign a price tag to “peace of mind.” This isn’t a callous statement. But, with all the grant money being hurled at schools with minimal guidance and even less accountability, the vendors swoop with amazing presentations to sell schools unproven window dressings. And, it works as we are now convinced that (1) any device might contribute to making a school safer and (2) it’s savage to put a price limit on school safety. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOLS. First, the current model of school safety spending isn’t sustainable. Just as we accept that there isn’t a price cap on school safety, couldn’t the argument be made to spend ten times what we are spending now for more bollards, armored busses, fences, guards – and, you know, the things they use at prisons? Second, school safety conferences have become overrun by fortification vendors. The list of speakers is FBI, CIA, FBI, and whatever. The scholars of the field don’t get to the stage as they know we can’t fortify our way to safety – and that message isn’t congruent with the $50,000 the conference is raking in from device-selling vendors and sponsors. The latest trend is to hand the breakout sessions over to the vendors. Instead of a breakout on learning about conducting focus groups with students, it’s now a presentation about window films to slow an intruder. What? And, once these practices are vetted, the weeds are difficult to remove and the lawn is just green and that’s fine, I suppose. ARE GOVERNMENT SAFETY GRANTS AN ATTEMPT TO MAINTAIN THE SOCIAL CONTRACT? The message from the heap of safety bills and plush grant funding is that to “solve” the problem of school safety, administrators, boards, teachers, parents and students must look external to the government. It’s called the transference dynamic and it was used as a political means to justify all kinds of spending to fortify the US from Russia in the early 1980s (read School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America). To makes schools safer, we need to get the kids involved – and crack the Youth Code of Silence in which 81% of the time someone else, usually a peer, was aware ahead of time of a pending school attack. 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. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com 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 101.
Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: Schools of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America
Tuesday May 14, 2019
Paris Must Learn From Citicorp Tower's Fatal Flaw
Tuesday May 14, 2019
Tuesday May 14, 2019
In 1978, an engineering student discovered a fatal structural flaw in New York City’s just-completed Citicorp Tower. What happened next wasn’t made public for nearly 20 years! NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL FIRE LEAD CONTAMINATION. Dr. Perrodin juxtaposes the Citicorp Tower dilemma with the modern day unfolding crisis of massive lead contamination resultant of the April, 2019, Notre Dame Cathedral Fire. Per the Guardian (in an article by Angelique Chrisafis dated May 9th), “The Paris police statement on Thursday said that on the surface of pavements and gardens immediately adjoining the cathedral, lead levels were found to be very high: between 32 and 65 times the recommended limit by French health authorities. The areas closest to the cathedral are currently closed. Lead levels are also high within the cathedral itself.” Wow! Dr. Perrodin notes that similar “defiant” articles are surfacing that both bring awareness to the lead contamination and bluntly state the dire short and long term health risks associated with approximately 500,000 pounds of lead vaporized from the cathedral’s roof. Chrisafis’s article later notes, “But the French environmental campaign group Robin des Bois has warned that about 300 tonnes of lead from the cathedral’s roof and steeple had melted in the blaze. The cathedral has been reduced to the state of toxic waste,” the association said shortly after the fire, urging authorities to detoxify the tonnes of rubble, ash and wastewater produced in the disaster. WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING IN PARIS? David states that Paris officials are aware of the breadth and depth of the lead contamination issue and that there’s likely a contingency plan being assembled to deal with thousands of people impacted by lead in their bodies secondary to the Notre Dame fallout. Dr. Perrodin wasn’t surprised that areas close to the cathedral weren’t registering high levels of lead contamination as he points out that the thick plume of lead-laden smoke probably carried the highest concentrations of lead 2-3 miles from the cathedral before cooling and the particles dusted over Paris. PARIS HAS A LOT TO LOSE. Yep, admission of widespread lead contamination would destroy tourism (the economic engine of Paris) and how do you tackle lead abatement in a population dense region? Chernobyl could be isolated - you can’t do the same with Paris. Also, imagine the litigation! What happens to the $billion in donations to rebuild NDC when thousands of people rack up medical bills due to complications from lead exposure? The public health crisis would be off the charts! THE CITICORP TOWER FLAW COULD HAVE KILLED 20,000 PEOPLE. Chief structural engineer, William LeMessurier, is largely credited as the person responsible for creating the wondrous Citicorp Tower in 1977. He was a thoughtful engineer and put the design of the tower through its paces with wind test scale simulations in the world’s best lab and worked the standard battery of industry calculations. The tower was built in an innovative way to accommodate an existing church. Hence, the pillars that supported the tower were moved from the corners to the middle of each wall. A strong central pillar, like a mushroom stem, also supported the structure. WHAT WAS WRONG. LeMessurier received a call from an engineering graduate student who was puzzled at how the structure could withstand perpendicular winds. LeMessurier listened and upon further study of the building and learning of some last-minute changes that included having tension braces bolted in place rather than welded in place, he was terrified to be informed that the tower would collapse with encountering a 70 MPH wind from a certain angle. The tower had a tuned dampening system that would offset such winds, but it was electrical - and if the power went out during a storm - well, lights out! WHAT CITICORP DID RIGHT. LeMessurier the Citicorp brass, insurance folks, NYC officials and the NYC welder’s union acted in unison to quickly fortify the tower. They also hired 3 weather agencies to rigorously track weather conditions and formulated a 10-block evacuation plan in case of high winds. WHAT CITICORP DID WRONG. The workers in the tower or in proximal structures were NOT made aware that the tower could collapse. The decision to withhold this information was done to prevent panic and massive economic disruption to the city. In addition, officials believed they could evacuate the zone in time. However, Lemessurier is most strongly criticized for not sharing the wind shear information with the greater engineering community for several years. How many buildings were constructed AFTER Citicorp Tower without calculating for the peculiar wind shear factors confirmed by Lemessurier? In a recorded 1997 presentation he gave at a university, Lemessurier implies that other tall buildings existed that were susceptible to failure due to similar wind dynamics. How many of those structures might have been built differently, or retrofitted, had Lemessurier’s knowledge immediately been shared with building engineers? IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY. Dr. Perrodin presents different scenarios that happen in schools. Each impacts the safety of the setting. How do the schools respond to each scenario if following what is unfolding in Paris or per the protocol established by the team that quietly mitigated the Citicorp flaw? 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. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com 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
Monday Apr 29, 2019
How the Notre Dame Fire Exemplified Torus Theory
Monday Apr 29, 2019
Monday Apr 29, 2019
Dr. Perrodin notes curious inaccuracies of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire, the bizarre subsequent investigation, a looming detrimental Paris health hazard and wraps this entire discussion within a the philosophical shell of torus theory. INACCURACIES ABOUT THE CATHEDRAL FIRE. This episode was originally drafted as a platform to use the cathedral fire as an example of torus theory - as interpreted by Dr. Perrodin. However, numerous oddities presented surrounding the fire and, more notably, the unusual activities hours and days following the fire. Dr. Perrodin clearly states that he believes the fire was accidental. Nonetheless, the borderline conspiracy elements surface in the dearth of media coverage specific to the spire renovation and an acknowledgment of the public health ramifications of 500,000 pounds of lead on the roof that was mostly vaporized during the fire. It is known that lead contaminants have been detected proximal to the cathedral, but Dr. Perrodin questions the assessment of lead contamination and also lead abatement in and near the cathedral. Also, firefighters are observed without breathing masks or air filtration masks which seems very dangerous when fighting a fire with a massive component of lead. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S POSITION ON THE ELEMENT LEAD. At high levels of exposure, lead attacks the brain and central nervous system to cause coma, convulsions and even death. ... There is no known safe blood lead concentration. Dr. Perrodin postulates that it might not even be an option to rebuild the cathedral due to contamination and that costs of lead abatement will certainly became public within the next 6 months. TORUS THEORY, SIMILARITY and the NOTRE DAME FIRE. David steps the audience through the steps that occurred as a typical day as Notre Dame Cathedral disintegrated into historic disaster. TYPICAL. Humans expect today to be similar to yesterday and also that tomorrow will be similar to today. This is known as torus theory and it was very much a contributing factor both the seemingly casual response to the initial fire alarm at Notre Dame as well as the billion dollars of donations that poured in within one day and earmarked to rebuild the cathedral. ACKNOWLEDGE. As we embrace routines and similarity, it took a while for it to “sink in” that Notre Dame was on fire and wouldn't open up in a "couple of weeks". The onsite fire inspectors had no choice but to become informed as they observed leaping flames. For the public, it took longer to grasp what was happening to this 850 structure not only from a physical perspective, but the gut feeling of how the desecrated structure impacted beliefs about permanence and Christianity. SHIFT FROM THE TORUS TO CHAOS. After the cathedral was cleared of occupants, everyone understood that the torus was shattered and the next several hours, days and years would negotiate chaos. Chaos, however, can be liberating - it simplifies things and also leaves us to “work the problem” as it unfolds. Hence, the line of people conveying artifacts from the cathedral and firefighters having to determine how to deploy over-matched assets to best prevent the destruction of the structure. ACCEPTANCE. As the flames consumed the attic structure, it became widely accepted that the cathedral had been rocketed into a state of chaos. Everyone realized it was failing and mourning displaced awe. ATTEMPT TO RESTORE SIMILARITY. President Macron seized the opportunity to proclaim that the cathedral would be rebuilt, better than before, within 5 years. He made this statement as firefighters were still poking around the structure to cool hot spots. It was a powerful declaration that served to help millions of people return to similarity and it also opened the flow of donations to restore the cathedral. Macron told people what they wanted to hear and not what they needed to hear. The reality was that it would take structural engineers weeks to assess the damage to the structure. Had the load-bearing stonework been substantially damaged, had toxic levels of lead been found throughout the structure? I mean, it might not have made sense to undertake the money pit of rebuilding a fatally-wounded landmark. This might still prove to be true. And, if so, what happens to the billion dollar donation fund? What if will cost a billion dollars JUST to address the toxic contamination of the site? 20 YEARS FROM NOW. Dr. Perrodin predicts that the health-related implications of the Notre Dame fire won’t be realized for at least a decade - similar to the disabling conditions that eventually afflicted workers removing debris at the World Trade Center complex in New York. What will be the long-term impacts of thousands of pounds of vaporized lead on Paris? 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 and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com 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