Comparison of Gross Wages:
WVU Football/Men’s Basketball Coaches to WVU College of Business and Economics Ph.D. Professors; Rounded to nearest $1,000
Head Football Coach: $1,233,000
Asst. Head F/B Coach: 210,000
Asst. Football Coaches (9); 1,334,000 (Aggregate)
Asst. Football Coaches (9); 148,000 (Average)
Dean, College of B&E: $ 202,000
Coll. Of B&E; Ph.D. (54) 108,000 (Average)
Head Basketball Coach $ 849,000
Asst. B/B Coaches (3); 110,000 (Average)
Aggregate: FB & BB Coaches (14): $3,747,000
Aggregate: Coll. Of B&E; PhD (54) $5,831,000
Sources: WV State Auditor, WVU College of Business & Economics, WVU Athletic Department (via respective websites)
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While in the grips of cabin fever last month, I had time to memorize all 1,223 pages of state employees’ wages.
With knowledge comes duty. So I compared West Virginia University coaches’ wages to those of WVU’s College of Business and Economics (CB&E) professors.
For comparison purposes, I limited my study of the CB&E professors to the Ph.D.s listed at www.be.wvu.edu. The football and men’s basketball assistant coaches are those listed in the 2006 coaching guides at www.msnsportsnet.com.
By now, everyone knows how much Rich Rodriguez and John Beilein earned in 2006. What I found more interesting is the payroll of their assistant coaches.
Dean Stephen Sears holds the CB&E’s top-paid position. But Dean Sears made about $8,000 less than Assistant Head Football Coach Rick Trickett. Overall, the average assistant football coach earned 37 percent more than the average Ph.D. professor. The average Ph.D. professor also earned less than the average assistant men’s basketball coach.
The payroll for 14 coaches is almost two-thirds (64 percent) of that for the CB&E’s 54 Ph.D. professors.
Coaching salaries have always been defended by the argument that football and men’s basketball are revenue sports that bring home the bacon. Left unsaid in that argument is the fact that college sports enjoy two substantial subsidies.
College sports are subsidized by tax-exempt donations to the athletic program. Ostensibly, this tax-exempt status was granted in an era when athletic scholarships were the major expense of the department. Now that Division I coaching salaries have mushroomed, Congress has asked the NCAA to justify the tax-exempt status for donations that effectively make high salaries possible.
A second subsidy is the uncompensated labor of scholarship athletes. These youngsters are indentured servants who risk permanent injury when plying their trade. While the athletic department makes money from ticket sales and television contracts, the department’s financial obligation to scholarship athletes consists mainly of room and board and an opportunity for an education.
In making fair comparisons, we need to recognize that the CB&E is also generously subsidized. If Pell grants, PROMISE scholarships, student loan subsidies and transfers from the WVU Foundation and state government stopped tomorrow, the school would easily lose more than half of it students; the professorial ranks would shrink accordingly. As well, the competition for an open professorship would drive salaries down.
In other words, without all of these subsidies, WVU’s campus would look much like it did in the 1950s. Come to think about it, that was WVU’s Golden Age. The rifle team, Sam Huff, Jerry West, three Rhodes Scholars, and a new medical center represented WVU well.
I have no clue as to what the ideal Ph.D. salary should be. Nor do I have access to the national norms for Ph.D. salaries. But my instincts tell me that when the head football coach makes more in one month than half of the CB&E professors make in one year, then Ph.D. pay scales are far too low-not the other way around.
When the football or basketball program goes awry, the old coach is unceremoniously dumped and a new coach is hired to turn the program around in three to four years. If the university’s academic standing falters, then recovery is much more complicated.
A good example of this dilemma is the College of Law’s slide to fourth-tier status in the U.S. News and World Report survey. Rather than read the scoreboard, the faculty remains in denial; they blame the magazine’s survey criteria and beg the need for remodeled classrooms.
At least coaches understand that life is a game, that the game has rules, and that competition is their friend.
In this world, you pretty much get what you pay for. WVU’s success in all of its athletic programs has happened because financial commitments have been made. If the university is to project its academic reputation in the same fashion, then financial commitments for academic salaries must be forthcoming as well.
The law school’s decline may very well be the canary in the coal mine in this regard.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Opinion Writing Considerations
This outline was presented to the Editorial Writing class at the Perley I. Reed School of Journalism, West Virginia University, Feb, 26, 2007.
"Some things, as Orwell wrote, are true even if The Daily Telegraph says they are true."
Christopher Hitchens ("A Man with a Score to Settle", London Sunday Times, Jan. 21, 2007)
OVERVIEW
George Orwell was a prolific writer and excellent essayist. His comments on style are to the point and his advice would be agreed with by other great writers.
STYLE:
Excerpts from "Politics and the English Language," 1946. Orwell presents five passages by five writers and criticizes them as follows:
"These five passages have not been picked out because they are especially bad -- I could have quoted far worse if I had chosen -- but because they illustrate various of the mental vices from which we now suffer. They are a little below the average, but are fairly representative examples. I number them so that I can refer back to them when necessary:
1. I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to say that the Milton who once seemed not unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not become, out of an experience ever more bitter in each year, more alien [sic] to the founder of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce him to tolerate. -- Professor Harold Laski, Essay in Freedom of Expression
2. Above all, we cannot play ducks and drakes with a native battery of idioms which prescribes egregious collocations of vocables as the Basic put up with for tolerate, or put at a loss for bewilder. -- Professor Lancelot Hogben, Interglossa
3. On the one side we have the free personality: by definition it is not neurotic, for it has neither conflict nor dream. Its desires, such as they are, are transparent, for they are just what institutional approval keeps in the forefront of consciousness; another institutional pattern would alter their number and intensity; there is little in them that is natural, irreducible, or culturally dangerous. But on the other side, the social bond itself is nothing but the mutual reflection of these self-secure integrities. Recall the definition of love. Is not this the very picture of a small academic? Where is there a place in this hall of mirrors for either personality or fraternity? -- Essay on psychology in Politics (New York)
4. All the "best people" from the gentlemen's clubs, and all the frantic fascist captains, united in common hatred of Socialism and bestial horror at the rising tide of the mass revolutionary movement, have turned to acts of provocation, to foul incendiarism, to medieval legends of poisoned wells, to legalize their own destruction of proletarian organizations, and rouse the agitated petty-bourgeoise to chauvinistic fervor on behalf of the fight against the revolutionary way out of the crisis. -- Communist pamphlet
5. If a new spirit is to be infused into this old country, there is one thorny and contentious reform which must be tackled, and that is the humanization and galvanization of the B.B.C. Timidity here will bespeak canker and atrophy of the soul. The heart of Britain may be sound and of strong beat, for instance, but the British lion's roar at present is like that of Bottom in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream -- as gentle as any sucking dove. A virile new Britain cannot continue indefinitely to be traduced in the eyes or rather ears, of the world by the effete languors of Langham Place, brazenly masquerading as "standard English." When the Voice of Britain is heard at nine o'clock, better far and infinitely less ludicrous to hear aitches honestly dropped than the present priggish, inflated, inhibited, school-ma'amish arch braying of blameless bashful mewing maidens! -- Letter in Tribune
"Each of these passages has faults of its own, but, quite apart from avoidable ugliness, two qualities are common to all of them. The first is staleness of imagery; the other is lack of precision."
Basic rules of style
"… one can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
"These rules sound elementary, and so they are, but they demand a deep change of attitude in anyone who has grown used to writing in the style now fashionable. One could keep all of them and still write bad English, but one could not write the kind of stuff that I quoted in those five specimens at the beginning of this article."
NOTE: In addition to "Politics and the English Language," also read "Why I Write", another of Orwell’s essays.
SOPHISMS (Fallacies):
A common mistake in presenting an argument is creating a sophism. A sophism is a fallacy which may at first seem plausible.
Example from "How To Win Every Argument", by Madsen Pirie (2006):
"A US legislator recently noted that a high crime rate correlated with a high prison population, and suggested that the prisoners be released in order to cut the crime figures."
Example from "The Black Tulip", by Alexandre Dumas (Chap. 8):
Mynheer Isaac Boxtel encouraged himself with the following sophism: --
"Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, as he is charged with high treason, and arrested.
"I, on the contrary, am a good citizen, as I am not charged with anything in the world, as I am as free as the air of heaven.
"If, therefore, Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, -- of which there can be no doubt, as he is charged with high treason, and arrested, -- his accomplice, Cornelius van Baerle, is no less a bad citizen than himself.
"And, as I am a good citizen, and as it is the duty of every good citizen to inform against the bad ones, it is my duty to inform against Cornelius van Baerle."
NOTE: I have heard legislators say that there should be a steep tax on tobacco because smokers have health problems that non-smokers end up paying for. In other words:
All smokers have chronic health problems.
All non-smokers have either no health problems or less-costly health problems.
All non-smokers pay taxes.
All treatments for smokers’ health problems are paid for with taxes paid by non-smokers.
You would have an impossible time sorting out the exact cost of health care for each and every ailment. Cancers, diabetes, and heart attacks correlate more closely to heredity than to diet or lifestyle. There are millions of non-smokers who have heart attacks just as there are millions of non-smokers who have cancer. Visit WVU Hospital and you will find infants and toddlers being treated for cancer or having open-heart surgery.
If you agree with the smoker vs. non-smoker argument above, then you might soon advocate a special tax on sugar (adult-onset diabetes), or a special tax on fatty or fattening foods (obesity), or a special tax on tanning beds, tanning lotion and any clothing that does not cover the entire body such as swimsuits (skin cancer).
Special whiskey taxes haven’t reduced alcoholism, DUI’s or DUI-related injuries and deaths. Indeed, the USA voted in the Prohibition Era, and we know how that turned out.
In the meantime, state legislatures across the nation have spent billions of dollars of tobacco settlement money (effectively, a steep tax paid by smokers) on everything but tobacco-related healthcare.
WRITING CONSIDERATIONS
Develop a historical perspective:
Read and research your topic thoroughly lest you be caught up in the moment of popular sentiment.
(I) Human-caused global warming is a popular issue right now. But did you know that Vikings landed at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada in the year 1000 and never saw the temperature drop low enough to cause a frost in the two years they remained there? Leif Ericson’s journals tell us that not only did Newfoundland have a mild climate, but that forage grass for livestock was plentiful year-round. Today, the site of Ericson’s settlement (approx. 2,000 mi. NE of Morgantown) is closed to tourists 8 months of the year because of the area’s harsh weather.
(II) Thomas Jefferson is routinely criticized today because he was a slave owner. But did you know that Jefferson inoculated his slaves in 1800 with the first smallpox vaccine? Jefferson also sent the smallpox vaccine with the Lewis and Clark Expedition to inoculate Indian tribes. A century would pass before our nation began widespread smallpox vaccinations as a public health program-even though Jefferson contemplated the eradication of smallpox in his lifetime.
Develop your vocabulary:
It is important to develop a good vocabulary. It is equally important to tailor your words to fit your audience.
When I write a column for the State Journal, I keep in mind that 86% of State Journal readers have a college degree. When I write an article for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association newsletter, I keep in mind that many of the readers aren’t college-educated and most of the ones that are have engineering degrees. Different audiences require different styles.
Each vocation and profession has its own specialized vocabulary as well as its own set of acronyms. It is imperative that you translate that specialized jargon into words that the everyday reader can understand.
And most importantly, always use active verbs that breathe life into your sentences.
Humor:
Not many writers can write humor. Some that think they can usually bomb. But good writers can and do use amusing anecdotes to lighten their criticisms.
There aren’t many writers like Dave Barry for a reason. But good writers can effectively borrow from pundits like Mark Twain or Will Rogers for a punch line. (E.g.: "Golf--a good walk spoiled." by Mark Twain)
Examples of use of humor from my columns:
"Former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz (under Presidents Nixon and Ford) once addressed the Government Dependency Ratio this way. In the early 1970’s, it had become apparent that Social Security recipients would eclipse the number of workers paying into the system.
"Mr. Butz compared the situation to his days growing up on an Indiana farm. He said he overslept one frigid morning and was late in going to the barnyard to feed the cows. When he got there, two heifers were suckling each other’s udder to stave off hunger. Then he added to his anecdote that, in such situations, some milk always ends up on the ground.
"Mr. Butz, of course, was making a joke. Cows, unlike humans, are weaned from the teat." (Borrow It Forward, Jan. 19, 2007)
"And now for the pièce de résistance-the Capitol cafeteria. This eatery gave new meaning to La Cuillère Grasse (The Greasy Spoon.) In fact, if the kitchen grease had caught fire, then the Capitol would have burned to the axles before fire crews got there! Fortunately, nervous cockroaches drew attention to the fire hazard which, in turn, prompted the health department to close the cafeteria. I am told that cockroaches are sensitive to fire hazards and need no special training to alert humans that danger is at hand.
"Don’t laugh. The two prior state capitol buildings weren’t lousy with cockroaches and they each burned to the ground!" (For Government, Trailers Make Sense, Dec. 1, 2006)
Define your topic:
Writing an opinion column or editorial means you have limited space to convey your message. After you present your premise, you have to methodically and logically pursue your arguments to arrive at the conclusion. You have no grassy space to graze.
If you do go off point, you will most likely lose your reader.
One of the most common mistakes that writers make is "showing off." This happens when a writer has researched a topic at great length and then he proceeds to write paragraph after paragraph telling you about that research. Meanwhile, the reader is saying, "You’re telling me more than I need to know."
Be succinct and concise in your setup, premise, argument, and conclusion.
Be wary of bias:
Every writer writes with a bias. Men write like men, women write like women. Conservatism and liberalism are learned mainly from parents and upbringing. Geographical regions impart bias. A Louisiana Cajun’s idea of a good meal is much different than how Manhattanites dine in the Upper East Side.
Be aware of your own baggage before criticizing others.
If you were to write about a logging debate, you might quote the head of the local Sierra Club chapter for some background. That person will say that the trees shouldn’t be cut for any reason. At the least, balance the preservationists’ concerns with those of the logging industry. Their lobbyist will preen that "We are stewards of the forest and forests are renewable."
Reality is always somewhere in the middle of the debate.
In this instance, your readers will be amenable to pristine forests which provide habitat for not only Bambi but also for the endangered five-toed owl. At the same time, your readers also love to sit in front of the fireplace, solving the newspaper crossword with a #2 pencil while sipping Scotch whiskey that was aged in oak barrels.
Political bias is particularly daunting because of the desire to believe that Democrats are for the blue collar workers and Republicans are for the white collar professionals. In truth, Democrats and Republicans just want more spending money. They only differ in how they will get their hands on that money.
Actions, as well as inactions, have consequences, intended and unintended. Make your arguments based on how you view action or inaction. A good contemporary example of this is legislation raising the minimum wage.
Avoid promoting the agendas of competing lobbyists. Otherwise, there is no need for you to spend the ink. If you allow yourself to become a parrot, then you have failed as an opinion writer.
Statistics:
I majored in Economics and took two semesters of Statistics. I was also required to read How To Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff, a clever primer that points out how people get selective when presenting numbers.
I strongly recommend that you read How To Lie With Statistics. It will demystify the numbers games. Another good book is Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences by John Allen Paulos.
Fact checking:
In Dragnet, the 1950’s television series, Sgt. Joe Friday always told the crime victim, "Just the facts, ma’am/sir." Crime victims are always hysterical and Joe Friday tried his best to sort out the facts during his investigation.
When George W. Bush was elected president, many opinion columnists wrote with near-hysteria that the number of homeless would increase by huge numbers. The facts have never supported this claim. But, many writers continued to make the claim based on subjective observations by the very people (or their trade associations) whose livelihoods depend on welfare programs for the homeless and destitute.
Think of facts this way. A policeman estimates the crowd that showed up for a public demonstration at 10,000. Without having a metered turnstile, we can never know the exact headcount. The policeman’s estimate is just that. However, such estimates are often reported as fact.
On the other hand, we know that precisely 68,918 fans attended the football game between the Univ. of Pittsburgh and Fordham University on Oct. 29, 1938. This was the turnstile number-a fact. Even so, Pitt’s publicity officer reported to the newspapers that 75,000 fans attended-a claim he later had to retract.
Today, it is common to actually misrepresent sports attendance numbers to the high side. When you hear terms such as "paid attendance" or "total attendance", know that neither number represents the actual turnstile number of fans who purchased a ticket for the game.
Facts are facts. And just as important, is the way that the facts are derived.
We know, for a fact, the exact number of voters who voted in the last election. Or do we? If you tracked down every registered voter who supposedly voted, you will find that some dead people still find a way to make their vote count. We also know that, in recounts, the recounted ballot totals are almost always different from the vote totals counted on Election Day.
And finally, remember that in our legal system, hard evidence and facts can be disallowed for various procedural reasons. This happens in both civil and criminal cases. Many cases also turn on the opinions offered by hired experts. When trying to understand our legal system, keep these two "facts" in mind as you try to make sense of the verdicts. We have a legal system that accepts opinion as fact and rules out fact by procedural technicality.
USING THE INTERNET:
The Internet is a great place to find erroneous information. You should rely on sources such as almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, government agency reports, research papers that appear in peer-reviewed journals, and the like. (Primary sources)
I was schooled to avoid even periodicals (secondary sources) such as Time and Newsweek.
Also, familiarize yourself with several web search engines. There are many specialty search engines that deliver more consistent results than Google, Yahoo, etc.
Two websites for opinion columns that I read daily are: www.slate.com and www.realclearpolitics.com
Be wary of personal attacks:
The late Ned Chilton, publisher of the Charleston Gazette, once wrote an editorial about then-Gov. Arch Moore. He titled the piece, "The Sleaze Is Back!" Those four words told me that there was no reason to read further.
Harsh, shrill writing does not appeal to mainstream readers.
More importantly, if you have to revert to using words like "sleaze", then you have failed as a wordsmith.
There oughta be a law!
Editorial writers love to endorse the most recent act passed by the legislature. A year later, they end up writing an editorial pronouncing that the very same law either
(a) went too far.
(b) didn’t go far enough.
(c) wasn’t supposed to do what it did., or
(d) has actually made the problem worse!
Nine times out of ten, legislation is a combination of knee-jerk reactions and special interest favors. That is because the average legislator is not too bright of a thinker and owes his/her job to a special interest group.
A good example of this is the ongoing comedy of errors known as "ATV safety laws." In recent years, the WV legislature has passed law after law to regulate operation of ATV’s. Every year, editorial writers praise these new laws only to write a year later that the state has set a new record for ATV fatalities and that "new laws are needed."
Be careful what you wish for when you write: There oughta be a law. You’ll regret it.
Recommended Reading:
Goldberg, Bernard: Bias
Huff, Darrel: How to Lie with Statistics
Orwell, George: Why I Write and Politics and the English Language
Paulos, John Allen: Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
There are two great satires that you should read: Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift (1726), and Erewhon, by Samuel Butler (1872). In both instances, the authors wished to criticize their present-day. Doing so openly would have earned them the wrath of the English Crown. Thus, they created sophisticated novels to do the job. You will learn a great deal about using imagery (see Orwell at the beginning) as you read these books.
A best seller in Europe, England and the USA when published in 1944, The Road To Serfdom, by Nobel Economist Frederich A. Hayek, is an excellent economics book for the non-Economist. A condensed version appeared in Reader’s Digest, and Book-of-the-Month Club featured it. The Road To Serfdom explains the limits of government and the role of the marketplace in understandable prose.
Writing Exercise:
Examine a blackboard eraser and write a description of it (100-200 words).
Then, whittle away at what you wrote. Try to cut the word count by half without sacrificing any of the description.
Repeat Step 2.
The object of the lesson is for you to learn to polish your work.
After you are satisfied with the first part of the lesson, then use the blackboard eraser as a metaphor for Martin Hall in this exercise:
You have just learned that Martin Hall is too old to be remodeled for modern classroom facilities. The Journalism School will be moving to a new building next year. Classes will no longer be taught at Martin Hall.
Recall some of the words that your professor wrote with chalk and how the eraser removed them to make room for new words.
Make your reader believe that the words were forever imprinted on the eraser, not just erased and lost for all time.
Compare how you learned from the blackboard and speculate how you will learn from PowerPoint and video presentations. I.e.: Essentially an analog age vs. a digital age comparison. (Or, will the machine evolve into an intelligent being?)
Perhaps, you can make the reader understand that the words you saw on the blackboard were, in fact, never really erased-they were just transferred to your head. Then you can compare human memory and how we learn to the future when knowledge and memory will be stored in the machine.
Develop an anecdote about how class went on in Martin Hall when a thunderstorm knocked out the power one day. Express your thoughts about the future classroom and how it will function when the electricity is off.
Try at first to develop this essay in 500-700 words. In time, you might be able to turn it into a short story.
If you need inspiration, read: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; Act V., Scene 1, by Wm. Shakespeare. (Plus Cliff Notes and other references to the scene.)
(Excerpt:) Hamlet, holding Yorick’s skull in the graveyard:
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times…
(Yorick was the court jester when Hamlet was a boy and, in this scene, he reminisces about his forgotten childhood friend.)
"Some things, as Orwell wrote, are true even if The Daily Telegraph says they are true."
Christopher Hitchens ("A Man with a Score to Settle", London Sunday Times, Jan. 21, 2007)
OVERVIEW
George Orwell was a prolific writer and excellent essayist. His comments on style are to the point and his advice would be agreed with by other great writers.
STYLE:
Excerpts from "Politics and the English Language," 1946. Orwell presents five passages by five writers and criticizes them as follows:
"These five passages have not been picked out because they are especially bad -- I could have quoted far worse if I had chosen -- but because they illustrate various of the mental vices from which we now suffer. They are a little below the average, but are fairly representative examples. I number them so that I can refer back to them when necessary:
1. I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to say that the Milton who once seemed not unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not become, out of an experience ever more bitter in each year, more alien [sic] to the founder of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce him to tolerate. -- Professor Harold Laski, Essay in Freedom of Expression
2. Above all, we cannot play ducks and drakes with a native battery of idioms which prescribes egregious collocations of vocables as the Basic put up with for tolerate, or put at a loss for bewilder. -- Professor Lancelot Hogben, Interglossa
3. On the one side we have the free personality: by definition it is not neurotic, for it has neither conflict nor dream. Its desires, such as they are, are transparent, for they are just what institutional approval keeps in the forefront of consciousness; another institutional pattern would alter their number and intensity; there is little in them that is natural, irreducible, or culturally dangerous. But on the other side, the social bond itself is nothing but the mutual reflection of these self-secure integrities. Recall the definition of love. Is not this the very picture of a small academic? Where is there a place in this hall of mirrors for either personality or fraternity? -- Essay on psychology in Politics (New York)
4. All the "best people" from the gentlemen's clubs, and all the frantic fascist captains, united in common hatred of Socialism and bestial horror at the rising tide of the mass revolutionary movement, have turned to acts of provocation, to foul incendiarism, to medieval legends of poisoned wells, to legalize their own destruction of proletarian organizations, and rouse the agitated petty-bourgeoise to chauvinistic fervor on behalf of the fight against the revolutionary way out of the crisis. -- Communist pamphlet
5. If a new spirit is to be infused into this old country, there is one thorny and contentious reform which must be tackled, and that is the humanization and galvanization of the B.B.C. Timidity here will bespeak canker and atrophy of the soul. The heart of Britain may be sound and of strong beat, for instance, but the British lion's roar at present is like that of Bottom in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream -- as gentle as any sucking dove. A virile new Britain cannot continue indefinitely to be traduced in the eyes or rather ears, of the world by the effete languors of Langham Place, brazenly masquerading as "standard English." When the Voice of Britain is heard at nine o'clock, better far and infinitely less ludicrous to hear aitches honestly dropped than the present priggish, inflated, inhibited, school-ma'amish arch braying of blameless bashful mewing maidens! -- Letter in Tribune
"Each of these passages has faults of its own, but, quite apart from avoidable ugliness, two qualities are common to all of them. The first is staleness of imagery; the other is lack of precision."
Basic rules of style
"… one can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
"These rules sound elementary, and so they are, but they demand a deep change of attitude in anyone who has grown used to writing in the style now fashionable. One could keep all of them and still write bad English, but one could not write the kind of stuff that I quoted in those five specimens at the beginning of this article."
NOTE: In addition to "Politics and the English Language," also read "Why I Write", another of Orwell’s essays.
SOPHISMS (Fallacies):
A common mistake in presenting an argument is creating a sophism. A sophism is a fallacy which may at first seem plausible.
Example from "How To Win Every Argument", by Madsen Pirie (2006):
"A US legislator recently noted that a high crime rate correlated with a high prison population, and suggested that the prisoners be released in order to cut the crime figures."
Example from "The Black Tulip", by Alexandre Dumas (Chap. 8):
Mynheer Isaac Boxtel encouraged himself with the following sophism: --
"Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, as he is charged with high treason, and arrested.
"I, on the contrary, am a good citizen, as I am not charged with anything in the world, as I am as free as the air of heaven.
"If, therefore, Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, -- of which there can be no doubt, as he is charged with high treason, and arrested, -- his accomplice, Cornelius van Baerle, is no less a bad citizen than himself.
"And, as I am a good citizen, and as it is the duty of every good citizen to inform against the bad ones, it is my duty to inform against Cornelius van Baerle."
NOTE: I have heard legislators say that there should be a steep tax on tobacco because smokers have health problems that non-smokers end up paying for. In other words:
All smokers have chronic health problems.
All non-smokers have either no health problems or less-costly health problems.
All non-smokers pay taxes.
All treatments for smokers’ health problems are paid for with taxes paid by non-smokers.
You would have an impossible time sorting out the exact cost of health care for each and every ailment. Cancers, diabetes, and heart attacks correlate more closely to heredity than to diet or lifestyle. There are millions of non-smokers who have heart attacks just as there are millions of non-smokers who have cancer. Visit WVU Hospital and you will find infants and toddlers being treated for cancer or having open-heart surgery.
If you agree with the smoker vs. non-smoker argument above, then you might soon advocate a special tax on sugar (adult-onset diabetes), or a special tax on fatty or fattening foods (obesity), or a special tax on tanning beds, tanning lotion and any clothing that does not cover the entire body such as swimsuits (skin cancer).
Special whiskey taxes haven’t reduced alcoholism, DUI’s or DUI-related injuries and deaths. Indeed, the USA voted in the Prohibition Era, and we know how that turned out.
In the meantime, state legislatures across the nation have spent billions of dollars of tobacco settlement money (effectively, a steep tax paid by smokers) on everything but tobacco-related healthcare.
WRITING CONSIDERATIONS
Develop a historical perspective:
Read and research your topic thoroughly lest you be caught up in the moment of popular sentiment.
(I) Human-caused global warming is a popular issue right now. But did you know that Vikings landed at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada in the year 1000 and never saw the temperature drop low enough to cause a frost in the two years they remained there? Leif Ericson’s journals tell us that not only did Newfoundland have a mild climate, but that forage grass for livestock was plentiful year-round. Today, the site of Ericson’s settlement (approx. 2,000 mi. NE of Morgantown) is closed to tourists 8 months of the year because of the area’s harsh weather.
(II) Thomas Jefferson is routinely criticized today because he was a slave owner. But did you know that Jefferson inoculated his slaves in 1800 with the first smallpox vaccine? Jefferson also sent the smallpox vaccine with the Lewis and Clark Expedition to inoculate Indian tribes. A century would pass before our nation began widespread smallpox vaccinations as a public health program-even though Jefferson contemplated the eradication of smallpox in his lifetime.
Develop your vocabulary:
It is important to develop a good vocabulary. It is equally important to tailor your words to fit your audience.
When I write a column for the State Journal, I keep in mind that 86% of State Journal readers have a college degree. When I write an article for the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association newsletter, I keep in mind that many of the readers aren’t college-educated and most of the ones that are have engineering degrees. Different audiences require different styles.
Each vocation and profession has its own specialized vocabulary as well as its own set of acronyms. It is imperative that you translate that specialized jargon into words that the everyday reader can understand.
And most importantly, always use active verbs that breathe life into your sentences.
Humor:
Not many writers can write humor. Some that think they can usually bomb. But good writers can and do use amusing anecdotes to lighten their criticisms.
There aren’t many writers like Dave Barry for a reason. But good writers can effectively borrow from pundits like Mark Twain or Will Rogers for a punch line. (E.g.: "Golf--a good walk spoiled." by Mark Twain)
Examples of use of humor from my columns:
"Former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz (under Presidents Nixon and Ford) once addressed the Government Dependency Ratio this way. In the early 1970’s, it had become apparent that Social Security recipients would eclipse the number of workers paying into the system.
"Mr. Butz compared the situation to his days growing up on an Indiana farm. He said he overslept one frigid morning and was late in going to the barnyard to feed the cows. When he got there, two heifers were suckling each other’s udder to stave off hunger. Then he added to his anecdote that, in such situations, some milk always ends up on the ground.
"Mr. Butz, of course, was making a joke. Cows, unlike humans, are weaned from the teat." (Borrow It Forward, Jan. 19, 2007)
"And now for the pièce de résistance-the Capitol cafeteria. This eatery gave new meaning to La Cuillère Grasse (The Greasy Spoon.) In fact, if the kitchen grease had caught fire, then the Capitol would have burned to the axles before fire crews got there! Fortunately, nervous cockroaches drew attention to the fire hazard which, in turn, prompted the health department to close the cafeteria. I am told that cockroaches are sensitive to fire hazards and need no special training to alert humans that danger is at hand.
"Don’t laugh. The two prior state capitol buildings weren’t lousy with cockroaches and they each burned to the ground!" (For Government, Trailers Make Sense, Dec. 1, 2006)
Define your topic:
Writing an opinion column or editorial means you have limited space to convey your message. After you present your premise, you have to methodically and logically pursue your arguments to arrive at the conclusion. You have no grassy space to graze.
If you do go off point, you will most likely lose your reader.
One of the most common mistakes that writers make is "showing off." This happens when a writer has researched a topic at great length and then he proceeds to write paragraph after paragraph telling you about that research. Meanwhile, the reader is saying, "You’re telling me more than I need to know."
Be succinct and concise in your setup, premise, argument, and conclusion.
Be wary of bias:
Every writer writes with a bias. Men write like men, women write like women. Conservatism and liberalism are learned mainly from parents and upbringing. Geographical regions impart bias. A Louisiana Cajun’s idea of a good meal is much different than how Manhattanites dine in the Upper East Side.
Be aware of your own baggage before criticizing others.
If you were to write about a logging debate, you might quote the head of the local Sierra Club chapter for some background. That person will say that the trees shouldn’t be cut for any reason. At the least, balance the preservationists’ concerns with those of the logging industry. Their lobbyist will preen that "We are stewards of the forest and forests are renewable."
Reality is always somewhere in the middle of the debate.
In this instance, your readers will be amenable to pristine forests which provide habitat for not only Bambi but also for the endangered five-toed owl. At the same time, your readers also love to sit in front of the fireplace, solving the newspaper crossword with a #2 pencil while sipping Scotch whiskey that was aged in oak barrels.
Political bias is particularly daunting because of the desire to believe that Democrats are for the blue collar workers and Republicans are for the white collar professionals. In truth, Democrats and Republicans just want more spending money. They only differ in how they will get their hands on that money.
Actions, as well as inactions, have consequences, intended and unintended. Make your arguments based on how you view action or inaction. A good contemporary example of this is legislation raising the minimum wage.
Avoid promoting the agendas of competing lobbyists. Otherwise, there is no need for you to spend the ink. If you allow yourself to become a parrot, then you have failed as an opinion writer.
Statistics:
I majored in Economics and took two semesters of Statistics. I was also required to read How To Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff, a clever primer that points out how people get selective when presenting numbers.
I strongly recommend that you read How To Lie With Statistics. It will demystify the numbers games. Another good book is Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences by John Allen Paulos.
Fact checking:
In Dragnet, the 1950’s television series, Sgt. Joe Friday always told the crime victim, "Just the facts, ma’am/sir." Crime victims are always hysterical and Joe Friday tried his best to sort out the facts during his investigation.
When George W. Bush was elected president, many opinion columnists wrote with near-hysteria that the number of homeless would increase by huge numbers. The facts have never supported this claim. But, many writers continued to make the claim based on subjective observations by the very people (or their trade associations) whose livelihoods depend on welfare programs for the homeless and destitute.
Think of facts this way. A policeman estimates the crowd that showed up for a public demonstration at 10,000. Without having a metered turnstile, we can never know the exact headcount. The policeman’s estimate is just that. However, such estimates are often reported as fact.
On the other hand, we know that precisely 68,918 fans attended the football game between the Univ. of Pittsburgh and Fordham University on Oct. 29, 1938. This was the turnstile number-a fact. Even so, Pitt’s publicity officer reported to the newspapers that 75,000 fans attended-a claim he later had to retract.
Today, it is common to actually misrepresent sports attendance numbers to the high side. When you hear terms such as "paid attendance" or "total attendance", know that neither number represents the actual turnstile number of fans who purchased a ticket for the game.
Facts are facts. And just as important, is the way that the facts are derived.
We know, for a fact, the exact number of voters who voted in the last election. Or do we? If you tracked down every registered voter who supposedly voted, you will find that some dead people still find a way to make their vote count. We also know that, in recounts, the recounted ballot totals are almost always different from the vote totals counted on Election Day.
And finally, remember that in our legal system, hard evidence and facts can be disallowed for various procedural reasons. This happens in both civil and criminal cases. Many cases also turn on the opinions offered by hired experts. When trying to understand our legal system, keep these two "facts" in mind as you try to make sense of the verdicts. We have a legal system that accepts opinion as fact and rules out fact by procedural technicality.
USING THE INTERNET:
The Internet is a great place to find erroneous information. You should rely on sources such as almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, government agency reports, research papers that appear in peer-reviewed journals, and the like. (Primary sources)
I was schooled to avoid even periodicals (secondary sources) such as Time and Newsweek.
Also, familiarize yourself with several web search engines. There are many specialty search engines that deliver more consistent results than Google, Yahoo, etc.
Two websites for opinion columns that I read daily are: www.slate.com and www.realclearpolitics.com
Be wary of personal attacks:
The late Ned Chilton, publisher of the Charleston Gazette, once wrote an editorial about then-Gov. Arch Moore. He titled the piece, "The Sleaze Is Back!" Those four words told me that there was no reason to read further.
Harsh, shrill writing does not appeal to mainstream readers.
More importantly, if you have to revert to using words like "sleaze", then you have failed as a wordsmith.
There oughta be a law!
Editorial writers love to endorse the most recent act passed by the legislature. A year later, they end up writing an editorial pronouncing that the very same law either
(a) went too far.
(b) didn’t go far enough.
(c) wasn’t supposed to do what it did., or
(d) has actually made the problem worse!
Nine times out of ten, legislation is a combination of knee-jerk reactions and special interest favors. That is because the average legislator is not too bright of a thinker and owes his/her job to a special interest group.
A good example of this is the ongoing comedy of errors known as "ATV safety laws." In recent years, the WV legislature has passed law after law to regulate operation of ATV’s. Every year, editorial writers praise these new laws only to write a year later that the state has set a new record for ATV fatalities and that "new laws are needed."
Be careful what you wish for when you write: There oughta be a law. You’ll regret it.
Recommended Reading:
Goldberg, Bernard: Bias
Huff, Darrel: How to Lie with Statistics
Orwell, George: Why I Write and Politics and the English Language
Paulos, John Allen: Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
There are two great satires that you should read: Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift (1726), and Erewhon, by Samuel Butler (1872). In both instances, the authors wished to criticize their present-day. Doing so openly would have earned them the wrath of the English Crown. Thus, they created sophisticated novels to do the job. You will learn a great deal about using imagery (see Orwell at the beginning) as you read these books.
A best seller in Europe, England and the USA when published in 1944, The Road To Serfdom, by Nobel Economist Frederich A. Hayek, is an excellent economics book for the non-Economist. A condensed version appeared in Reader’s Digest, and Book-of-the-Month Club featured it. The Road To Serfdom explains the limits of government and the role of the marketplace in understandable prose.
Writing Exercise:
Examine a blackboard eraser and write a description of it (100-200 words).
Then, whittle away at what you wrote. Try to cut the word count by half without sacrificing any of the description.
Repeat Step 2.
The object of the lesson is for you to learn to polish your work.
After you are satisfied with the first part of the lesson, then use the blackboard eraser as a metaphor for Martin Hall in this exercise:
You have just learned that Martin Hall is too old to be remodeled for modern classroom facilities. The Journalism School will be moving to a new building next year. Classes will no longer be taught at Martin Hall.
Recall some of the words that your professor wrote with chalk and how the eraser removed them to make room for new words.
Make your reader believe that the words were forever imprinted on the eraser, not just erased and lost for all time.
Compare how you learned from the blackboard and speculate how you will learn from PowerPoint and video presentations. I.e.: Essentially an analog age vs. a digital age comparison. (Or, will the machine evolve into an intelligent being?)
Perhaps, you can make the reader understand that the words you saw on the blackboard were, in fact, never really erased-they were just transferred to your head. Then you can compare human memory and how we learn to the future when knowledge and memory will be stored in the machine.
Develop an anecdote about how class went on in Martin Hall when a thunderstorm knocked out the power one day. Express your thoughts about the future classroom and how it will function when the electricity is off.
Try at first to develop this essay in 500-700 words. In time, you might be able to turn it into a short story.
If you need inspiration, read: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; Act V., Scene 1, by Wm. Shakespeare. (Plus Cliff Notes and other references to the scene.)
(Excerpt:) Hamlet, holding Yorick’s skull in the graveyard:
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times…
(Yorick was the court jester when Hamlet was a boy and, in this scene, he reminisces about his forgotten childhood friend.)
Friday, February 9, 2007
Not All Photographs Tell a True Story
I got a lump of coal for Christmas. Actually, I got a copy of Coal Hollow: Photographs and Oral Histories, a smallish coffee table book published by the University of California Press. The authors are Ken Light and Melanie Light.
The dust cover flap carries this description of Coal Hollow: "In Ken Light’s poignant images and in their own distinctive voices the residents of Coal Hollow-a fictional composite of the communities the Lights surveyed …"
Though not intended as a disclaimer, the words "fictional composite" do serve to defend a glaring misrepresentation.
Coal Hollow exhibits a portfolio of black-and-white photos taken in the southern West Virginia coalfields. Except on page 26. That photo is of two Klansmen standing in front of the Jefferson County, Ohio, courthouse located in Steubenville, some 300 road miles north of the subject area. It is captioned: "Ku Klux Klan speech at the county courthouse. Ohio-West Virginia border, 1999."
On the page opposite, there is a photo of two men wearing Klan hoods which is captioned as being taken at a rally in downtown Fayetteville, W. Va. in 2002.
I have to ask the authors: If you have an actual photo of Klansmen taken in the subject area, then why would you include one taken in another state and from north of Mason and Dixon’s line?
The book’s photographs are very dark. I think they were overexposed to add a measure of gloom to the photoessay. But having said that, I grant the authors the license to do so if that was their intent.
Although Walker Evans, the renowned Farm Security Administration photographer, is mentioned in the Foreword as a standard of comparison, I do not agree that the photos in Coal Hollow are comparable to Mr. Evans’ work. Walker Evans, Marion Post Wolcott and Ben Shahn captured the poverty of the Great Depression with their excellent photography for the Farm Security Administration. They did not have to artificially shade the sky gray to get the message across.
If your goal is to educate yourself about the legacy of mining in the southern coalfields, then I would not recommend Coal Hollow. However, I do recommend that you read it from cover-to-cover for two other reasons-to realize the failure of decades of anti-poverty programs and to see the ugly images that West Virginia can still present.
This year, as in years past, West Virginia will spend millions on subsidizing Tamarack and the state park system because these institutions improve our image. We are told that the money we spend is buying goodwill.
Although Coal Hollow identifies Beckley as the gateway to the southern coalfields, the authors apparently did not shop at Tamarack. Nor did they spend the night at Chief Logan State Park. Otherwise, all of our goodwill would have swayed their work.
In 1960, Saturday Evening Post brought our state’s poverty to light with photos that infuriated many West Virginians. Thereafter, President John F. Kennedy vowed to improve our lot. He remade the food stamp program; the first modern food stamps were given to a McDowell County family in 1961. After that, came the Appalachian Regional Commission and Head Start. Billions in federal aid have been spent to cure poverty in our state.
We can go back even farther in time. The Farm Security Administration photographs mentioned earlier brought the poverty of Scott’s Run near Morgantown to public attention. Eleanor Roosevelt lobbied for the creation of Arthurdale, a commune to house and train the Scott’s Run miner’s families as artisans who would then become economically self-sustaining. Eleanor built Arthurdale, but her dream of its self-sufficiency never came true for the very same reasons that Tamarack’s dream will never come true.
If the truth were known, out-migration to greener pastures has spared more West Virginians from the ignominy of poverty than have all of the anti-poverty programs put together. Rather than cure poverty, we have thrown money at the poor. The best we can say on their behalf is that we have made their poverty bearable, if not an industry unto itself.
With the publication of Coal Hollow, West Virginia’s government should consider its options. The best course of action would be to focus on breaking the cycle of poverty rather than subsidize it as we currently do. The other option is to stop Californians with cameras at the border.
Regardless, we still have an image problem. Let’s not repeat the mistaken anti-poverty programs of the past after this most recent overexposure.
The Oral Histories are quite varied and include interviews with author Denise Giardina and Warren McGraw, the former state Supreme Court justice from Wyoming County. Due to limited space, I opted to critique only the photographs for this article.
The dust cover flap carries this description of Coal Hollow: "In Ken Light’s poignant images and in their own distinctive voices the residents of Coal Hollow-a fictional composite of the communities the Lights surveyed …"
Though not intended as a disclaimer, the words "fictional composite" do serve to defend a glaring misrepresentation.
Coal Hollow exhibits a portfolio of black-and-white photos taken in the southern West Virginia coalfields. Except on page 26. That photo is of two Klansmen standing in front of the Jefferson County, Ohio, courthouse located in Steubenville, some 300 road miles north of the subject area. It is captioned: "Ku Klux Klan speech at the county courthouse. Ohio-West Virginia border, 1999."
On the page opposite, there is a photo of two men wearing Klan hoods which is captioned as being taken at a rally in downtown Fayetteville, W. Va. in 2002.
I have to ask the authors: If you have an actual photo of Klansmen taken in the subject area, then why would you include one taken in another state and from north of Mason and Dixon’s line?
The book’s photographs are very dark. I think they were overexposed to add a measure of gloom to the photoessay. But having said that, I grant the authors the license to do so if that was their intent.
Although Walker Evans, the renowned Farm Security Administration photographer, is mentioned in the Foreword as a standard of comparison, I do not agree that the photos in Coal Hollow are comparable to Mr. Evans’ work. Walker Evans, Marion Post Wolcott and Ben Shahn captured the poverty of the Great Depression with their excellent photography for the Farm Security Administration. They did not have to artificially shade the sky gray to get the message across.
If your goal is to educate yourself about the legacy of mining in the southern coalfields, then I would not recommend Coal Hollow. However, I do recommend that you read it from cover-to-cover for two other reasons-to realize the failure of decades of anti-poverty programs and to see the ugly images that West Virginia can still present.
This year, as in years past, West Virginia will spend millions on subsidizing Tamarack and the state park system because these institutions improve our image. We are told that the money we spend is buying goodwill.
Although Coal Hollow identifies Beckley as the gateway to the southern coalfields, the authors apparently did not shop at Tamarack. Nor did they spend the night at Chief Logan State Park. Otherwise, all of our goodwill would have swayed their work.
In 1960, Saturday Evening Post brought our state’s poverty to light with photos that infuriated many West Virginians. Thereafter, President John F. Kennedy vowed to improve our lot. He remade the food stamp program; the first modern food stamps were given to a McDowell County family in 1961. After that, came the Appalachian Regional Commission and Head Start. Billions in federal aid have been spent to cure poverty in our state.
We can go back even farther in time. The Farm Security Administration photographs mentioned earlier brought the poverty of Scott’s Run near Morgantown to public attention. Eleanor Roosevelt lobbied for the creation of Arthurdale, a commune to house and train the Scott’s Run miner’s families as artisans who would then become economically self-sustaining. Eleanor built Arthurdale, but her dream of its self-sufficiency never came true for the very same reasons that Tamarack’s dream will never come true.
If the truth were known, out-migration to greener pastures has spared more West Virginians from the ignominy of poverty than have all of the anti-poverty programs put together. Rather than cure poverty, we have thrown money at the poor. The best we can say on their behalf is that we have made their poverty bearable, if not an industry unto itself.
With the publication of Coal Hollow, West Virginia’s government should consider its options. The best course of action would be to focus on breaking the cycle of poverty rather than subsidize it as we currently do. The other option is to stop Californians with cameras at the border.
Regardless, we still have an image problem. Let’s not repeat the mistaken anti-poverty programs of the past after this most recent overexposure.
The Oral Histories are quite varied and include interviews with author Denise Giardina and Warren McGraw, the former state Supreme Court justice from Wyoming County. Due to limited space, I opted to critique only the photographs for this article.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Borrow It Forward: The Real West Virginia State Motto
Of late, there has been a great deal of bold talk among politicians about reforming tax codes. In Washington, Congress is talking about ending its long love affair with the Alternative Minimum Tax. Imagine that-populists debating the death of a punitive income tax on the rich and the upper middle class.
So as not to be left behind in the tax debate, our state leaders are talking about tax reform with all of the gusto of astronauts readying for the first mission to Mars. I use the comparison of going to Mars because changing West Virginia’s tax policies will be a long-term venture with peril at every step.
Politicians always fail when enacting taxes because they cannot help but authorize more spending than the taxes collect. This is true of both Democrats and Republicans.
There is a philosophical hurdle at work when it comes to collecting taxes and balancing the books. I call it the Government Dependency Ratio. In West Virginia, we are trending toward an unsustainable GDR of 1:1 payees/payors.
Former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz (under Presidents Nixon and Ford) once addressed the GDR this way. In the early 1970’s, it had become apparent that Social Security recipients would eclipse the number of workers paying into the system.
Mr. Butz compared the situation to his days growing up on an Indiana farm. He said he overslept one frigid morning and was late in going to the barnyard to feed the cows. When he got there, two heifers were suckling each other’s udder to stave off hunger. Then he added to his anecdote that, in such situations, some milk always ends up on the ground.
Mr. Butz, of course, was making a joke. Cows, unlike humans, are weaned from the teat. But the barnyard example nevertheless holds true for people who have become dependent on the government. Should milk spill on the ground, the government simply borrows milk from other farms with the promise that future government cows will pay back the shortfall.
Government is the biggest employer in West Virginia. For starters, one out of six West Virginians is covered by Public Employees Insurance Agency health insurance. Add to that the federal employees. In Harrison County alone, we have a large postal distribution facility, a veteran’s hospital, a federal courthouse and the FBI Center with its growing biometrics offshoot. There are a lot more federal employees in our state that you might first imagine.
The health care industry receives a major portion of its revenue from Medicaid, Medicare and worker’s comp. Were it not for these reimbursements, a great number of hospital and health care workers would be out of work. To calculate the GDR, we have to include that percentage of full-time equivalent positions that are paid, albeit indirectly, by government programs.
When it comes to construction, government builds the big ticket projects such as highways, airports and dams. Next down on the list are water and sewage systems. While construction workers are paid by the private sector, most construction jobs exist only because the government is paying for them. Even in the housing sector, most new homes would never get built without the homeowner’s deduction for mortgage interest.
How many grocery workers would lose their jobs if food stamps and free school meals disappeared tomorrow?
In short, a whole lot of West Virginia workers depend on government for a paycheck. And neither federal nor state tax collectors are the least bit shy when it comes to asking for a goodly portion of those paychecks in return for those jobs.
To complete the calculation of the state’s GDR, just add in everyone who gets a transfer payment. Whether that payment is social security, government-paid disability, military retirement, earned income credit or one of the myriad welfare benefits that is out there doesn’t matter. Just start adding.
"Getting a check" is a big deal in West Virginia. Changing that attitude will take a radical departure from current policy.
Taxes and tax rates aren’t the problem. Government spending, including a mountain of deficit borrowing and unfunded liabilities, is the issue. Reduce the Government Dependency Ratio, and the tax code will take care of itself.
So as not to be left behind in the tax debate, our state leaders are talking about tax reform with all of the gusto of astronauts readying for the first mission to Mars. I use the comparison of going to Mars because changing West Virginia’s tax policies will be a long-term venture with peril at every step.
Politicians always fail when enacting taxes because they cannot help but authorize more spending than the taxes collect. This is true of both Democrats and Republicans.
There is a philosophical hurdle at work when it comes to collecting taxes and balancing the books. I call it the Government Dependency Ratio. In West Virginia, we are trending toward an unsustainable GDR of 1:1 payees/payors.
Former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz (under Presidents Nixon and Ford) once addressed the GDR this way. In the early 1970’s, it had become apparent that Social Security recipients would eclipse the number of workers paying into the system.
Mr. Butz compared the situation to his days growing up on an Indiana farm. He said he overslept one frigid morning and was late in going to the barnyard to feed the cows. When he got there, two heifers were suckling each other’s udder to stave off hunger. Then he added to his anecdote that, in such situations, some milk always ends up on the ground.
Mr. Butz, of course, was making a joke. Cows, unlike humans, are weaned from the teat. But the barnyard example nevertheless holds true for people who have become dependent on the government. Should milk spill on the ground, the government simply borrows milk from other farms with the promise that future government cows will pay back the shortfall.
Government is the biggest employer in West Virginia. For starters, one out of six West Virginians is covered by Public Employees Insurance Agency health insurance. Add to that the federal employees. In Harrison County alone, we have a large postal distribution facility, a veteran’s hospital, a federal courthouse and the FBI Center with its growing biometrics offshoot. There are a lot more federal employees in our state that you might first imagine.
The health care industry receives a major portion of its revenue from Medicaid, Medicare and worker’s comp. Were it not for these reimbursements, a great number of hospital and health care workers would be out of work. To calculate the GDR, we have to include that percentage of full-time equivalent positions that are paid, albeit indirectly, by government programs.
When it comes to construction, government builds the big ticket projects such as highways, airports and dams. Next down on the list are water and sewage systems. While construction workers are paid by the private sector, most construction jobs exist only because the government is paying for them. Even in the housing sector, most new homes would never get built without the homeowner’s deduction for mortgage interest.
How many grocery workers would lose their jobs if food stamps and free school meals disappeared tomorrow?
In short, a whole lot of West Virginia workers depend on government for a paycheck. And neither federal nor state tax collectors are the least bit shy when it comes to asking for a goodly portion of those paychecks in return for those jobs.
To complete the calculation of the state’s GDR, just add in everyone who gets a transfer payment. Whether that payment is social security, government-paid disability, military retirement, earned income credit or one of the myriad welfare benefits that is out there doesn’t matter. Just start adding.
"Getting a check" is a big deal in West Virginia. Changing that attitude will take a radical departure from current policy.
Taxes and tax rates aren’t the problem. Government spending, including a mountain of deficit borrowing and unfunded liabilities, is the issue. Reduce the Government Dependency Ratio, and the tax code will take care of itself.
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Graduation Remarks--WVU School of Journalism, May 2006
Dec 9, 2006
Graduation Remarks: Perley I. Reed School of Journalism at WVU
(Salutation, Acknowledgement: faculty, grads, guests.)
I was in this auditorium once before to hear Dr. Bruce Chabner, Chief of Oncology at Harvard Medical School, give a lecture on the status of cancer treatments. That was in June 2004.
Dr. Chabner told us that day that only one cancer drug, Gleevec, was a “magic bullet” when it came to curing cancer. Gleevec is very effective in treating a type of leukemia. While Gleevec is a true miracle drug, scientists have yet to match its success in treating any other type of cancer.
I remember standing in line nearly 50 years ago to take the first oral polio vaccine. The Sabin polio vaccine was the miracle drug of its day. Polio was still a scourge in the 1950’s. But then came the cure—a drop of red liquid on a sugar cube.
You cannot imagine how I felt as a young boy knowing that miracle cures were served on sugar cubes. Never again, I thought, would I hear my mother say, “It’s time to take your medicine.”, and then have to swallow a bitter tonic.
The same day that I took the polio cure, one of the grown-ups said, “It won’t be long until there’s a cure for cancer.” How wrong he was.
I suppose it was that day when I started thinking about cancer and about waiting for its cure.
Six years ago, I proposed that West Vrginia University should publish a report called “100 Lives.” The book would consist of interviews with 100 cancer patients being treated here at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center. I believed that these interviews should be conducted by journalists so that they would be objective write-ups. I also believed strongly that journalism students would be the best candidates for the jobs. Here’s what I proposed:
The Student-Reporter
At the outset, one might conclude that only an experienced reporter need apply for this assignment. In this case, however, the novice might actually have an edge because of bias. Demographics being what they are, a college student is far less likely to have experienced the effects of cancer than would have a seasoned reporter. When I say, “experienced”, I also mean to include knowing family members or friends who have been through the ordeal. To know where the patient is headed, or worse, to think you know where the patient is headed based on one case, is a form of bias that will detract from the objectivity of One Hundred Lives. …
Not long after I submitted the proposal to President David Hardesty’s office, I received a call from the Cancer Center saying that the project was being considered. Then came the first meeting with the Journalism faculty. Dean Christine Martin chaired the informal get-together and George Esper, the veteran reporter and professor, sat in as chief inquisitor.
At the time, I never gave it much thought that the Journalism school might be skeptical of the plan. I came to realize, however, that Dean Martin probably thought I intended for her students to create some sort of PR-piece for the Cancer Center. That’s when George Esper asked me directly if “100 Lives” was to be a puff-piece or a true, journalistic endeavor.
I answered his question correctly.
I had hoped for an accurate reporting of the havoc that cancer plays in a person’s life and, beyond that, the effect it has on family members. The journalism students who worked on the project, which became known as “Cancer Stories”, certainly delivered a product that exceeded all expectations.
Going back to Dr. Chabner’s visit, then-professor Maryanne Reed was able to meet with him briefly and give him a galley proof of “Cancer Stories” and the accompanying video. He was most gracious in his review of the project and wrote to her:
"I, along with my wife, had the great privilege of watching “Cancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss, and Hope” and found it to be an extraordinary window into the personal experience of cancer patients. I have never seen anything as personal and revealing about this experience. The subjects are not patients; they come to us as family members, parents, friends and their lives are like ours. Their stories are so gripping and so wrenching.
"You and your students have made a remarkable contribution."
I believe that “Cancer Stories” is genuine and holds its integrity for one reason—its lack of bias.
Because this project was such a novel concept, nobody went into it with his or her mind made up. No one—not the doctors, not the patients, not the students—knew what to expect.
In most every medical report, comments from the experts permeate the text. In most every medical documentary, there is endless footage of static medical equipment or test tubes.
In “Cancer Stories”, the words and the images of the patients carry the report. And the reporters were never intrusive. If anything, the reporters allowed the reader and the viewer to accompany the patients and their families as if they were there themselves.
In the closing chapter of “Cancer Stories”, I wrote:
"That our young reporters blended into the fabric of this tapestry so completely as to be unnoticed and yet captured the realism of each day in the life of a cancer patient is a testament to this university, its faculty and staff, and its students….
"To this end, the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism students were faithful and unbiased reporters and they have delivered a remarkable and honest catalogue of the facets of life as well as the range of emotions that we call the human spirit."
Dean Maryanne Reed suggested that I also talk to you about the importance of journalists in our society. Since I am a contributing writer of opinion columns, let me confess my bias in favor of unfettered journalism at the start.
If I were a good communist (instead of a good columnist), then I’d be condemning journalists to the work farms.
Having worked in both the private and public sectors has given me the insight that the people in charge are not very fond of criticism. Part of that attitude is plain, old-fashioned human nature. From time-to-time, we all wear our pride on our sleeve.
But part of it is that leaders and their press officers hope to control information. Control of information has always equaled power. And that applies to everything from backyard gossip to the press releases at the highest levels of government.
Our Founding Fathers knew of this peril. Perhaps their wisest decision was guaranteeing freedom of speech. Were it not for the 1st Amendment, “truth” would be a relative term that changes from day to day.
George Orwell’s “1984” is, of course, a work of fiction. But his fictional tale of Oceania is rooted firmly in reality. When there is no free press, the Minister of Information decides what is true and what is false.
If we understand what happens when there is no free press, we must also consider what happens when the press itself is derelict or corrupt. Ayn Rand’s fictional newspaperman in “The Fountainhead”, Ellsworth Toohey, is the best example of a failed press that I know of.
Ellsworth Toohey famously said, “Don’t set out to raze all shrines – you’ll frighten men. Enshrine mediocrity, and the shrines are razed.”
In modern society, I believe that we have enshrined mediocrity. And I believe that we have enshrined mediocrity to a dangerous degree.
But I still have hope that this generation of young people will reverse this course.
At West Virginia University, greatness is learned. There is no better proof of that motto than the accomplishments of the students and recent graduates of the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
From “Cancer Stories” to “Starting Over” (the Katrina project), journalism students at WVU have produced reports of exceptional quality. They have learned that facts speak for themselves and that the truth, however painful, always wins the day.
We owe these youngsters much more than our applause. We also owe them the professional respect that they have earned.
Thank you.
* * * * * * *
From: WVU Journalism School Magazine Summer 2007
Graduation
Allen Delivers Convocation Address for December Grads
By Kate Grosel
David G. Allen, a Clarksburg, W.Va. native, delivered the School of Journalism's December convocation address on Dec. 9, 2006.
Allen is a frequent contributor to The State Journal. He writes about West Virginia politics and economics.
"David Allen has a truly original voice," said Dean Maryanne Reed. "As a writer and a journalist, he calls them like he sees them. His commitment to honest and accurate reporting is an inspiration to our students and graduates."
In his remarks, Allen urged students to seek truth in all future journalistic endeavors. He reminded students of the First Amendment's protections for press freedom.
"If we understand what happens when there is no free press, we must also consider what happens when the press itself is derelict or corrupt," Allen said.
In his address, Allen focused on the School's groundbreaking convergence project, "Cancer Stories."
In 2000, Allen was asked to serve on the WVU Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center's Advisory Board. Subsequently, he proposed that SOJ students interview cancer patients, following their progress throughout all treatment stages.
His vision and support led to the project, "Cancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss and Hope," an Emmy Award-winning documentary and a book published by WVU Press.
Allen lauded the School's special projects that give the students real-world experience.
"From 'Cancer Stories' to 'Starting Over' [the School's innovative project on Hurricane Katrina]' journalism students at WVU have produced reports of exceptional quality," Allen told graduates and their families.
"They have learned that facts speak for themselves and that the truth, however painful, always wins the day."
Graduation Remarks: Perley I. Reed School of Journalism at WVU
(Salutation, Acknowledgement: faculty, grads, guests.)
I was in this auditorium once before to hear Dr. Bruce Chabner, Chief of Oncology at Harvard Medical School, give a lecture on the status of cancer treatments. That was in June 2004.
Dr. Chabner told us that day that only one cancer drug, Gleevec, was a “magic bullet” when it came to curing cancer. Gleevec is very effective in treating a type of leukemia. While Gleevec is a true miracle drug, scientists have yet to match its success in treating any other type of cancer.
I remember standing in line nearly 50 years ago to take the first oral polio vaccine. The Sabin polio vaccine was the miracle drug of its day. Polio was still a scourge in the 1950’s. But then came the cure—a drop of red liquid on a sugar cube.
You cannot imagine how I felt as a young boy knowing that miracle cures were served on sugar cubes. Never again, I thought, would I hear my mother say, “It’s time to take your medicine.”, and then have to swallow a bitter tonic.
The same day that I took the polio cure, one of the grown-ups said, “It won’t be long until there’s a cure for cancer.” How wrong he was.
I suppose it was that day when I started thinking about cancer and about waiting for its cure.
Six years ago, I proposed that West Vrginia University should publish a report called “100 Lives.” The book would consist of interviews with 100 cancer patients being treated here at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center. I believed that these interviews should be conducted by journalists so that they would be objective write-ups. I also believed strongly that journalism students would be the best candidates for the jobs. Here’s what I proposed:
The Student-Reporter
At the outset, one might conclude that only an experienced reporter need apply for this assignment. In this case, however, the novice might actually have an edge because of bias. Demographics being what they are, a college student is far less likely to have experienced the effects of cancer than would have a seasoned reporter. When I say, “experienced”, I also mean to include knowing family members or friends who have been through the ordeal. To know where the patient is headed, or worse, to think you know where the patient is headed based on one case, is a form of bias that will detract from the objectivity of One Hundred Lives. …
Not long after I submitted the proposal to President David Hardesty’s office, I received a call from the Cancer Center saying that the project was being considered. Then came the first meeting with the Journalism faculty. Dean Christine Martin chaired the informal get-together and George Esper, the veteran reporter and professor, sat in as chief inquisitor.
At the time, I never gave it much thought that the Journalism school might be skeptical of the plan. I came to realize, however, that Dean Martin probably thought I intended for her students to create some sort of PR-piece for the Cancer Center. That’s when George Esper asked me directly if “100 Lives” was to be a puff-piece or a true, journalistic endeavor.
I answered his question correctly.
I had hoped for an accurate reporting of the havoc that cancer plays in a person’s life and, beyond that, the effect it has on family members. The journalism students who worked on the project, which became known as “Cancer Stories”, certainly delivered a product that exceeded all expectations.
Going back to Dr. Chabner’s visit, then-professor Maryanne Reed was able to meet with him briefly and give him a galley proof of “Cancer Stories” and the accompanying video. He was most gracious in his review of the project and wrote to her:
"I, along with my wife, had the great privilege of watching “Cancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss, and Hope” and found it to be an extraordinary window into the personal experience of cancer patients. I have never seen anything as personal and revealing about this experience. The subjects are not patients; they come to us as family members, parents, friends and their lives are like ours. Their stories are so gripping and so wrenching.
"You and your students have made a remarkable contribution."
I believe that “Cancer Stories” is genuine and holds its integrity for one reason—its lack of bias.
Because this project was such a novel concept, nobody went into it with his or her mind made up. No one—not the doctors, not the patients, not the students—knew what to expect.
In most every medical report, comments from the experts permeate the text. In most every medical documentary, there is endless footage of static medical equipment or test tubes.
In “Cancer Stories”, the words and the images of the patients carry the report. And the reporters were never intrusive. If anything, the reporters allowed the reader and the viewer to accompany the patients and their families as if they were there themselves.
In the closing chapter of “Cancer Stories”, I wrote:
"That our young reporters blended into the fabric of this tapestry so completely as to be unnoticed and yet captured the realism of each day in the life of a cancer patient is a testament to this university, its faculty and staff, and its students….
"To this end, the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism students were faithful and unbiased reporters and they have delivered a remarkable and honest catalogue of the facets of life as well as the range of emotions that we call the human spirit."
Dean Maryanne Reed suggested that I also talk to you about the importance of journalists in our society. Since I am a contributing writer of opinion columns, let me confess my bias in favor of unfettered journalism at the start.
If I were a good communist (instead of a good columnist), then I’d be condemning journalists to the work farms.
Having worked in both the private and public sectors has given me the insight that the people in charge are not very fond of criticism. Part of that attitude is plain, old-fashioned human nature. From time-to-time, we all wear our pride on our sleeve.
But part of it is that leaders and their press officers hope to control information. Control of information has always equaled power. And that applies to everything from backyard gossip to the press releases at the highest levels of government.
Our Founding Fathers knew of this peril. Perhaps their wisest decision was guaranteeing freedom of speech. Were it not for the 1st Amendment, “truth” would be a relative term that changes from day to day.
George Orwell’s “1984” is, of course, a work of fiction. But his fictional tale of Oceania is rooted firmly in reality. When there is no free press, the Minister of Information decides what is true and what is false.
If we understand what happens when there is no free press, we must also consider what happens when the press itself is derelict or corrupt. Ayn Rand’s fictional newspaperman in “The Fountainhead”, Ellsworth Toohey, is the best example of a failed press that I know of.
Ellsworth Toohey famously said, “Don’t set out to raze all shrines – you’ll frighten men. Enshrine mediocrity, and the shrines are razed.”
In modern society, I believe that we have enshrined mediocrity. And I believe that we have enshrined mediocrity to a dangerous degree.
But I still have hope that this generation of young people will reverse this course.
At West Virginia University, greatness is learned. There is no better proof of that motto than the accomplishments of the students and recent graduates of the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
From “Cancer Stories” to “Starting Over” (the Katrina project), journalism students at WVU have produced reports of exceptional quality. They have learned that facts speak for themselves and that the truth, however painful, always wins the day.
We owe these youngsters much more than our applause. We also owe them the professional respect that they have earned.
Thank you.
* * * * * * *
From: WVU Journalism School Magazine Summer 2007
Graduation
Allen Delivers Convocation Address for December Grads
By Kate Grosel
David G. Allen, a Clarksburg, W.Va. native, delivered the School of Journalism's December convocation address on Dec. 9, 2006.
Allen is a frequent contributor to The State Journal. He writes about West Virginia politics and economics.
"David Allen has a truly original voice," said Dean Maryanne Reed. "As a writer and a journalist, he calls them like he sees them. His commitment to honest and accurate reporting is an inspiration to our students and graduates."
In his remarks, Allen urged students to seek truth in all future journalistic endeavors. He reminded students of the First Amendment's protections for press freedom.
"If we understand what happens when there is no free press, we must also consider what happens when the press itself is derelict or corrupt," Allen said.
In his address, Allen focused on the School's groundbreaking convergence project, "Cancer Stories."
In 2000, Allen was asked to serve on the WVU Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center's Advisory Board. Subsequently, he proposed that SOJ students interview cancer patients, following their progress throughout all treatment stages.
His vision and support led to the project, "Cancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss and Hope," an Emmy Award-winning documentary and a book published by WVU Press.
Allen lauded the School's special projects that give the students real-world experience.
"From 'Cancer Stories' to 'Starting Over' [the School's innovative project on Hurricane Katrina]' journalism students at WVU have produced reports of exceptional quality," Allen told graduates and their families.
"They have learned that facts speak for themselves and that the truth, however painful, always wins the day."
Friday, December 1, 2006
For Government, Trailers Make Sense
Ten years ago, I attended a meeting at Jackson’s Mill. One member of our group arrived a few minutes late. He entered the meeting room with a panicked look on his face and asked us if we had heard about the fire at the Governor’s mansion. Before we could collect ourselves from news of this tragedy, he uttered the punch line, "It burned to the axles before the fire crews got there!"
Well, it was funny and we all laughed. But we knew in our hearts that the Capitol complex was run like a rundown trailer park.
When the late Bill Ritchie was re-appointed Highway Commissioner in 1985, one of his first tasks was to repair the fountain in front of the DOH office tower on Washington Street. In its less than 20-year life, the fountain hadn’t worked for years because of lack of maintenance. The empty concrete vessel had become a joke. State workers called it the "Yeti trap" and chirped that, sooner or later, we would finally catch the elusive abominable snowman.
Upon taking office, Gov. Bob Wise learned that the Capitol’s priceless chandelier nearly fell from its haunt because of "lack of maintenance." The lamp’s support cable had frayed to its last strands. Shortly thereafter, we also learned that structural steel in the dome had cracked. And we also learned that the dome itself needed extensive work.
Then, we learned that the Capitol’s roof leaked. The reason? Once again, a "lack of maintenance." Money for repairs was not forthcoming, so the job was initially recommended as an Economic Development Grant project.
And since, we have learned that the Capitol complex elevators failed to meet building and safety code requirements. The answer to that "lack of maintenance" question was to quit inspecting the elevators all together.
What started out as a redecorating project at the Governor’s mansion in 2005 quickly ballooned into a structural repair nightmare after the contractor removed the tarpaper. Again, a "lack of maintenance" had allowed little problems to fester into big ones. We have coughed up $3 million to rehab an 80-year-old building that could have been razed and built new for less money. But then again, it wouldn’t have the charm and ambiance of Tom Hank’s money pit, would it?
And now for the pièce de résistance-the Capitol cafeteria. This eatery gave new meaning to La Cuillère Grasse (The Greasy Spoon.) In fact, if the kitchen grease had caught fire, then the Capitol would have burned to the axles before fire crews got there! Fortunately, nervous cockroaches drew attention to the fire hazard which, in turn, prompted the health department to close the cafeteria. I am told that cockroaches are sensitive to fire hazards and need no special training to alert humans that danger is at hand.
Don’t laugh. The two prior state capitol buildings weren’t lousy with cockroaches and they each burned to the ground!
To blame government workers or elected politicians for failing to maintain government buildings is pointless and irrelevant. Unlike homeowners, government workers have no ownership interest in government-owned real estate. Unlike homeowners, the government has no interest in creating equity because the property will likely never be sold. Unlike homeowners, government never dies nor does government ever move to another state. And government is never financially at risk for its farm-the taxpayers and their grandkids are.
The run-down condition of our most majestic buildings is a story that clearly defines the difference between individual property rights in a democracy and government control of property. When government is in sole charge of property, the decline begins. And then political leaders ceaselessly solicit more and more tax money to address the needs of the state.
"Give us $3 million and we’ll fix the mansion once and for all."
"Give us $15 million and we’ll fix the roof leaks once and for all."
And so goes the begging until you are mentally conditioned to expect such cycles as inevitable. Then they become so.
State workers and elected leaders can do no better than they have done in the past. But the fault is not theirs. It is ours.
We should never have expected them to take care of fountains, elevators, crystal chandeliers, or gilded domes in the first place. If these people wanted to manage real estate, they would have hired on with Donald Trump, not the state.
We should have bought each agency its requisite number of trailers and, when they were trashed, replaced them with new trailers.
As for the governor’s residence, we’d probably be obliged to buy him a nice double-wide. (Without a fire place, of course.)
Well, it was funny and we all laughed. But we knew in our hearts that the Capitol complex was run like a rundown trailer park.
When the late Bill Ritchie was re-appointed Highway Commissioner in 1985, one of his first tasks was to repair the fountain in front of the DOH office tower on Washington Street. In its less than 20-year life, the fountain hadn’t worked for years because of lack of maintenance. The empty concrete vessel had become a joke. State workers called it the "Yeti trap" and chirped that, sooner or later, we would finally catch the elusive abominable snowman.
Upon taking office, Gov. Bob Wise learned that the Capitol’s priceless chandelier nearly fell from its haunt because of "lack of maintenance." The lamp’s support cable had frayed to its last strands. Shortly thereafter, we also learned that structural steel in the dome had cracked. And we also learned that the dome itself needed extensive work.
Then, we learned that the Capitol’s roof leaked. The reason? Once again, a "lack of maintenance." Money for repairs was not forthcoming, so the job was initially recommended as an Economic Development Grant project.
And since, we have learned that the Capitol complex elevators failed to meet building and safety code requirements. The answer to that "lack of maintenance" question was to quit inspecting the elevators all together.
What started out as a redecorating project at the Governor’s mansion in 2005 quickly ballooned into a structural repair nightmare after the contractor removed the tarpaper. Again, a "lack of maintenance" had allowed little problems to fester into big ones. We have coughed up $3 million to rehab an 80-year-old building that could have been razed and built new for less money. But then again, it wouldn’t have the charm and ambiance of Tom Hank’s money pit, would it?
And now for the pièce de résistance-the Capitol cafeteria. This eatery gave new meaning to La Cuillère Grasse (The Greasy Spoon.) In fact, if the kitchen grease had caught fire, then the Capitol would have burned to the axles before fire crews got there! Fortunately, nervous cockroaches drew attention to the fire hazard which, in turn, prompted the health department to close the cafeteria. I am told that cockroaches are sensitive to fire hazards and need no special training to alert humans that danger is at hand.
Don’t laugh. The two prior state capitol buildings weren’t lousy with cockroaches and they each burned to the ground!
To blame government workers or elected politicians for failing to maintain government buildings is pointless and irrelevant. Unlike homeowners, government workers have no ownership interest in government-owned real estate. Unlike homeowners, the government has no interest in creating equity because the property will likely never be sold. Unlike homeowners, government never dies nor does government ever move to another state. And government is never financially at risk for its farm-the taxpayers and their grandkids are.
The run-down condition of our most majestic buildings is a story that clearly defines the difference between individual property rights in a democracy and government control of property. When government is in sole charge of property, the decline begins. And then political leaders ceaselessly solicit more and more tax money to address the needs of the state.
"Give us $3 million and we’ll fix the mansion once and for all."
"Give us $15 million and we’ll fix the roof leaks once and for all."
And so goes the begging until you are mentally conditioned to expect such cycles as inevitable. Then they become so.
State workers and elected leaders can do no better than they have done in the past. But the fault is not theirs. It is ours.
We should never have expected them to take care of fountains, elevators, crystal chandeliers, or gilded domes in the first place. If these people wanted to manage real estate, they would have hired on with Donald Trump, not the state.
We should have bought each agency its requisite number of trailers and, when they were trashed, replaced them with new trailers.
As for the governor’s residence, we’d probably be obliged to buy him a nice double-wide. (Without a fire place, of course.)
Friday, November 3, 2006
The Best-Paying Jobs That Your Taxes Can Buy
Ever since the time of Pharaoh, government has felt the need to create jobs for the people. Only now, we don’t build pyramids. We are much too modern for that notion. We are high tech workers; we build airplanes by decree of economic development committees.
Europe organized Airbus in 1970. The company is mostly owned by France and Germany with smaller shares being held by England and Spain. Russia, the grandmaster of government boondoggles, recently bought a 5% share of Airbus.
To justify the way that Airbus bleeds European taxpayers for subsidies, the company has built 16 plants in its member countries. I am sure that each plant has a sign in its front yard that reads, "Jobs for Your Community." Of course, there is no mention of the cost to taxpayers to create those jobs. Socialist ventures are exempt from truth-in-investing disclosures.
Airbus is currently building the 555-seat A380-the world’s biggest passenger plane. The A380 is the most ill-conceived invention of the post-9/11 era. But it is huge, like the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Aswan Dam, and that is its attraction to the bureaucrats who manage the government-owned consortium.
The future of the Airbus A380 is beginning to resemble that of the Concorde SST. England’s BAE and France’s Aerospatiale built that marvel before both government-owned companies became founders of Airbus. Airbus learned from the Concorde’s mistake. The Concorde carried too few passengers to ever make a profitable flight. Therefore, Airbus designed the A380-the behemoth which is too big for any airport terminal in the world to load and unload.
Government squabbling has now left Airbus’ top management in disarray. Delivery of the A380 is still two years away. Orders have stagnated. And Boeing has taken the lead in the long-haul market with its new 787 Dreamliner.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Holman Jenkins compared Airbus’ current state to that of the Concorde as a "Rip Van Winkle moment." Yogi Berra would say, "It’s déja vu all over again!"
Just like the socialist governments of Europe, we West Virginians own an interest in a government-run aircraft consortium. And somewhere in Martinsburg, there is a sign that reads, "Jobs for Your Community."
According to press reports, West Virginia loaned Swearingen Aircraft Co. $4 million to build small business jets. Apparently, the company could only repay half the loan, so our state took a 2% interest in the company in lieu of the $2 million outstanding debt.
Later on, the Republic of China (Taiwan) invested $500 million in the project through its state-owned Sino Aerospace Investment Corporation, and the resulting company is Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Corp. (SSAC) of which Taiwan owns 90%. Thus, I assume that we own 2% of 10% of a company capitalized at $500 million. That’s one million dollars. Our investment appears to have lost half its value.
I was unable to find any publicly-available financial information for the company. As investors, our state should make that information available. For example, do we own common stock or preferred stock? Does the stock pay a dividend? Has the stock split? Does the stock trade on an exchange? Are our shares restricted?
In late June, we received some bad news about our aircraft investment. SSAC is headquartered in San Antonio and the city offered the company a $70 million development package to expand its plant facility. San Antonio has upped the "Jobs for Your Community" ante. We cannot match its offer.
I do hope that SSAC builds jets or jet components in Martinsburg someday. But the reality is this-thirty other companies (including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Learjet, and Embraer) have new business jets in development. It’s always tough for a start-up company to match the competition from industry veterans.
Sino-Swearingen’s website boasts that "SSAC's goal is to become the world's leading aircraft producer…" And therein lies a good lesson for businessmen wanting to secure government welfare: If you can’t build Pharaoh the biggest pyramid, then do the next best thing and promise to build him the most.
Europe organized Airbus in 1970. The company is mostly owned by France and Germany with smaller shares being held by England and Spain. Russia, the grandmaster of government boondoggles, recently bought a 5% share of Airbus.
To justify the way that Airbus bleeds European taxpayers for subsidies, the company has built 16 plants in its member countries. I am sure that each plant has a sign in its front yard that reads, "Jobs for Your Community." Of course, there is no mention of the cost to taxpayers to create those jobs. Socialist ventures are exempt from truth-in-investing disclosures.
Airbus is currently building the 555-seat A380-the world’s biggest passenger plane. The A380 is the most ill-conceived invention of the post-9/11 era. But it is huge, like the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Aswan Dam, and that is its attraction to the bureaucrats who manage the government-owned consortium.
The future of the Airbus A380 is beginning to resemble that of the Concorde SST. England’s BAE and France’s Aerospatiale built that marvel before both government-owned companies became founders of Airbus. Airbus learned from the Concorde’s mistake. The Concorde carried too few passengers to ever make a profitable flight. Therefore, Airbus designed the A380-the behemoth which is too big for any airport terminal in the world to load and unload.
Government squabbling has now left Airbus’ top management in disarray. Delivery of the A380 is still two years away. Orders have stagnated. And Boeing has taken the lead in the long-haul market with its new 787 Dreamliner.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Holman Jenkins compared Airbus’ current state to that of the Concorde as a "Rip Van Winkle moment." Yogi Berra would say, "It’s déja vu all over again!"
Just like the socialist governments of Europe, we West Virginians own an interest in a government-run aircraft consortium. And somewhere in Martinsburg, there is a sign that reads, "Jobs for Your Community."
According to press reports, West Virginia loaned Swearingen Aircraft Co. $4 million to build small business jets. Apparently, the company could only repay half the loan, so our state took a 2% interest in the company in lieu of the $2 million outstanding debt.
Later on, the Republic of China (Taiwan) invested $500 million in the project through its state-owned Sino Aerospace Investment Corporation, and the resulting company is Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Corp. (SSAC) of which Taiwan owns 90%. Thus, I assume that we own 2% of 10% of a company capitalized at $500 million. That’s one million dollars. Our investment appears to have lost half its value.
I was unable to find any publicly-available financial information for the company. As investors, our state should make that information available. For example, do we own common stock or preferred stock? Does the stock pay a dividend? Has the stock split? Does the stock trade on an exchange? Are our shares restricted?
In late June, we received some bad news about our aircraft investment. SSAC is headquartered in San Antonio and the city offered the company a $70 million development package to expand its plant facility. San Antonio has upped the "Jobs for Your Community" ante. We cannot match its offer.
I do hope that SSAC builds jets or jet components in Martinsburg someday. But the reality is this-thirty other companies (including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Learjet, and Embraer) have new business jets in development. It’s always tough for a start-up company to match the competition from industry veterans.
Sino-Swearingen’s website boasts that "SSAC's goal is to become the world's leading aircraft producer…" And therein lies a good lesson for businessmen wanting to secure government welfare: If you can’t build Pharaoh the biggest pyramid, then do the next best thing and promise to build him the most.
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