Last Saturday afternoon I was teaching a class in SFH when I saw a man, woman and small child walk by the classroom. Nobody seems to be here on Saturday afternoons unless they are lost, so I expected to see them again soon. I had a speaker in my classroom at the time, so when a student working in the Center for Professional Studies came to my room to tell me that there was a family here and they don’t know where they need to be, I could easily leave.

I found out quickly that they were Martin and Maria with their son Jesus. The parents were here to find in advance where the ceremony that will make them American citizens will take place. They didn’t want to get lost Wednesday morning and then be late for this.

I pointed out the Franciscan Center to them. (thanks to whomever sent all the emails leading up to this.) They looked at that building and the rest of the campus from that spot in front of SFH on a really nice day and you would have thought they were seeing heaven. They tried to explain to Jesus what was going to happen in a few days, but the boy seemed just as happy to look at something on the ground. They were so pleased to hear that Sisters lived and taught here, and Martin told me that he thought Lourdes was a very large campus, certainly bigger than BGSU. They are from near Defiance and had some familiarity with Bowling Green I guess. I was sorry to dispel that thought for him, but it didn’t seem to diminish anything much. I wish I could describe their mood and spirit at that time of anticipation, but I could never do it justice. It was a great encounter for me, I am grateful to have met them.

I decided then to attend the Naturalization myself on Wednesday. If this is such a huge deal to people, I should be there. I didn’t foresee that it would be a huge deal to me as well.

As almost all of you business students know, my parents were born in the old country. Both are gone now, and I am embarrassed to admit that I don’t know anything about their naturalization. That hole in my background really hit me hard as I saw the 78 people about to take their oath. How could I not know every detail? I should be able to recall stories. What was it like? How did they feel? Where was it? Did it happen this same way? I got a little panicky and I feared them slipping further away from me.

I thought “You dope! Why did you come here today? Was it just to make yourself feel rotten?”

A pretty great thing happened to me then. As the soon-to-be-citizens walked into the theater two by two, I caught sight of Martin. He was wearing a nice suit and a red tie, and he and Maria were beaming. He saw me at the same time and waved from across a small distance. Then he got out of line to come and shake my hand and I got to wish them well before he had to reassume his position next to his wife. We went into the theater and just about the time one of our students read the Emma Lazarus poem “The New Colossus” which is on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty I realized that I actually felt closer to my mom and dad then. It was as if I was able to see them in Martin and the rest of these excellent people. Just like my folks did, they want a better life and they want it here. I guess it didn’t matter anymore when and where it happened for my parents. It matters why it happened. Those stories I know all about and I know I won’t forget them.

Friday, September 19, 2008 2:57:35 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0] | 

I heard an interview with President Carter a few weeks ago. The conversation touched on many topics, but much of it was about how the politics of today differ or resemble those of his era. He made a point of talking about code words that were used in the South, words that covered the truth. A person can’t say out loud that they are racist, so they say something much more innocuous, but anyone listening knows what is meant. For example, Carter talked about the code in his day was still states’ rights. Anybody who has ever studied the Civil War is aware that it was fought to preserve slavery. No one can actually say that and still say anything nice about the Confederacy, so they say to this day that the war was about states’ rights. That same code was in existence into the 70s.

Of course President Carter also said that he is thrilled to be around for the candidacy of Barack Obama, and that in itself speaks to the kinds of change we have seen. That’s a common refrain. I was saying it myself a couple of months ago. I’ve said and written to anyone and everyone that I never thought I would live long enough to see an African-American at the head of one of the parties.   

Then I started really listening.

During the primaries I never got the feeling that there was a real race issue in this election. Everybody said the right things and Sen. Obama won primary after primary on the way to Denver. Once the nomination became secure, however, people opened up and got more real.

Let me just state here that I’ve been alive a long time, and I’ve lived much of that time in this area. I am lucky enough to have had many friends for decades, some for up to 50 years. I can’t tell you how disappointed I became by hearing old time hatred and fear coming out of the hearts and minds of a few friends, students and even a relative. Some said they voted for Hillary but won’t vote for a black man. Some got pretty nasty about it. I hadn’t heard the N word used so much in years. It was as though it was time now to come out of hiding and use the password. I usually got the feeling that I was of course supposed to be in agreement with them. When I made it clear that I am not of like mind, the discussion became a referendum on inexperience. Time after time. "Black...N word...Race...ummm...I mean...inexperience. I can't vote for someone as inexperienced as he is." It’s our newest code word.

Those have been my thoughts for a couple of months now, and I’ve been more than a little depressed about it. Just when I successfully started to convince myself that people are too good to use race as the primary voting variable, I read an article regarding Dick Armey’s point of view of this election. This is a real conservative guy, a former House majority leader.

"The Bubba vote is there, and it's very real, and it is everywhere," Armey told USA TODAY and Gannett News Service. "There's an awful lot of people in America, bless their heart, who simply are not emotionally prepared to vote for a black man.”It's deplorable, but it is real," said Armey, adding that he believes "Republicans would not encourage" such prejudices. He said the "Bubba vote" is "invisible" in pre-election opinion polls, because voters do not admit they would oppose a candidate because of race.

Well, thanks. The Bubba vote, huh? Don’t ever tell me I won’t agree with a Republican, I do it all the time and this is just the most recent. On Meet the Press, NBC’s Chuck Todd said that he believes this is the best explanation for why people everywhere are voting Democratic in most local and congressional races but say about Obama, “ I just don’t know him yet, he’s so inexperienced.” This is why it is so important to so many to split hairs about Gov. Palin’s similar level of inexperience, saying that hers is executive experience. Oh please! It’s just that it is better than giving up a perfectly good code word.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 4:11:46 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [1] | 

The election is approaching too fast now. We’ve watched for what seems like years as the debates and the primaries raged on. We took forever to whittle down to two people for President, and now we have less than two months from the conventions to the election to figure out what we need to see to make our choices. That really wasn’t an issue for me as we knew these people inside and out because of the process. We now, though, have a candidate for VP that nobody knows, and the system broke again.

There is truly a lot to say about all of that, I know. Today, though, I have a related thing about which to rant.

I again recently heard people talking about how important it is to vote for somebody who relates well to the common man. In the last two elections the phrase was that we needed to vote for the person you would more like to have beers with. We got George Bush and it was hailed as a real victory for the idea of getting the guy who seems most like us.  

I’ve been thinking about the ‘guy you would like most to have beers with’ thought because I heard it again yesterday by a McCain supporter. You know the line. Obama is an elitist, doesn’t understand good working folk, etc. It is good political banter, and it’s worked for a while as we’ve already said.

I don’t really know if anybody takes that stuff seriously though. In truth, the whole thing is probably code for something else, but what if some voters took to heart the ‘I would rather have a beer with him, so I should vote for him’ baloney?

Many of you know me. Many of you know that I have had beers with a wide variety and a large number of people in my life. I know ‘beer ’ stuff. I think you know I know ‘beer’ stuff. Here’s what I don’t get:

Most of the people I have had beers with are by and large the last people I would want to lead this great country. Most of the people I have had beers with would be the most likely to start a war with a country that never attacked or threatened us. They would make up reasons for doing so. They would yell things like “Bring it on” toward other countries when they don’t know what else to say. They would dress up in costume and hold a party for Mission Accomplished when the war is really just starting. They would throw away the ideas of negotiation and diplomacy as possible foreign relations tools.

They would give us the incomprehensible situation we find ourselves in now.

Just what is the problem with voting for the smartest people? On the list of criteria a voter uses to choose the POTUS why wouldn’t ‘Smartest’ be the first thing on the list? Not the only thing, but surely the first thing. “Let’s see. This guy sounds brilliant. The other guy can’t put together a coherent sentence with a speechwriter and a teleprompter, but I think he drinks beer. I guess I should just call the brilliant guy ‘too eloquent to be President’ and vote for the other guy.”  

This has to stop.

What are the criteria YOU use to figure out voting? 

Monday, September 08, 2008 4:27:42 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [5] | 

Hello again everybody. I haven’t written here in a long while. I’m well, thanks for asking.

(I wrote this last week but didn’t get it posted. They were still going on at that time.)

The Olympics are winding down now. I have always been a huge sports fan, but that has changed for me lately. I have trouble following anything anymore, but that’s a topic for a later blog.

I’ve been watching the Olympics with renewed interest this year. I remember as a child and young man way back in the _0s when watching the Olympics was a heck of an experience. We couldn’t seem to wait until they came by and it seemed that each event was memorable. I remember watching the Black Power salute live. For me it was as powerful as anything I had seen. I remember the Munich tragedy when so many Israeli athletes were murdered. Watching that live was just sickening. I remember athletes like Bob Beamon, Jim Ryun, George Foreman, Mark Spitz, Mary Decker, Mary Lou Retton, Dick Fosbury, and a host of others. We cheered like crazy, knowing that these were truly amateur athletes who really had to live on nothing and to train in obscurity for maybe one chance to shine.

All that changed when we Americans decided we should start sending professionals to the Olympics and lobbied hard for a change in the rules. The first basketball “Dream Team” changed everything for me. I couldn’t watch them even a little bit. I was disgusted by every 100-30 victory over Egypt and every other country who dared try. Disgusted when Nike refused to let them accept their gold medals with the Reebok logo on their sweats.  Reebok was the sponsoring company, but Nike owned half of the players for endorsements. Anyone else remember the compromise? Yeah. Nike relented when the players draped the American flag over the Reebok logo. Great use of the colors, right? Who wouldn’t be proud of that? Yeah, neither am I. Some folks get so worked up about flag burning that happened 40 years ago. I think this was MUCH worse.

That was in 1992, and I honestly haven’t watched much since then until this year. For some reason, it has been exciting once more. I really loved watching the different sports again. Badminton? Sure. Triathlon? You bet. Equestrian jumping? Mais oui. Naturally, the star is Michael Phelps. He is a compelling character despite his Wolverine status. Nice guy, hard worker, and often at a loss for words in nearly every interview. You have to love that. It was fun watching every night as he racked up the gold. Did he really win that last race? Wonderful stuff. The most gold medals in one Olympics.

Then it got goofy again.

“Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympian Ever!” Michael Phelps: Greatest Athlete Ever!”

Are you kidding me? Just because of the number of gold medals? This is from the news people and journalists covering the games and many back in the states. I’m so sick of hyperbole!

Look, I know this isn’t Phelps’ fault. The media is ruining a beautiful story. Now I think about the fact that he even had 8 CHANCES for gold medals. Why? He can swim better than anybody else in the butterfly (?!?) and is pretty good in freestyle. Put them together with the relays and you have medal opportunities galore. Where did the butterfly come from? Help me out here. Do people swim the butterfly stroke for fun? If they’re stranded somewhere and have to swim for it, do they think “I’ll never make it if I don’t butterfly my way to shore.”  

How could anyone else have a chance at 8 medals besides a swimmer? There are breaststroke and backstroke events too. How about runners? There are 4 ways to swim here, how many ways are there to run? As far as I can tell, all the track events have people running with the same motion. If they give gold medals to backstrokers, how about a gold for the person who goes fastest running backwards? I didn’t see that event. Tell me that doesn’t make sense. I’d watch that one.

Greatest Olympian ever? Please. You watch American beach volleyball and you can see the dominance. The Chinese divers, American basketball, even table tennis and boxers. The greats compete for 2 weeks, work very hard and suffer as much or more than swimmers. All of this is to earn one medal. He earns 8 in about 6 days and so we discuss whether any athlete has ever been as good? Sorry Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens and Muhammad Ali. Michael Phelps must be greater than all of you put together. Your total in gold medals is only 7.

Monday, August 25, 2008 11:26:21 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2] | 

Haven't written in a while, and I guess that after I got all over Tom, Joyce and Dale for that very thing, I should probably keep from lapsing into oblivion.

The problem has been that here in Business, we have some monumental things coming up that have been draining my time.

First, we are going for accreditation, and expect a site visit next week. You faculty know what that means, but for students, let me just say that I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say that the shape of our future depends on this. This IS a huge deal, and there are millions of things that have to be taken care of before, during and right after this visit. Please wish us luck. I don't believe there has ever been a site visit to this college that has been so underpromoted. Almost no one outside business knows this is happening, which is quite different from the many other visits Lourdes has hosted. I admit that does bother me a bit. The stress is the same, but the support has been underwhelming. We could use some support.

Then we have the dedication of the Center for Professional Studies the following week. A couple of us have been waiting for this day for 7 or 8 years. It is also a big thing. We are more than excited, we are hopeful.

I'll write when I get the time. Considering the fact that I've put in 5 of the last 6 non-promotional entries in the faculty blog section, I'm not stupid enough to think that anyone really notices. It's all good, I'm enjoying it.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 2:02:17 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [4] | 

I recently had one of those moments when I could’ve sworn my thoughts appeared to everybody else in a bubble above my head and my environment was really drawn by the same people who did Bugs Bunny for Warner Brothers. (best cartoons EVER, by the way.)

I wanted to borrow a CD from the excellent Toledo Lucas County Public Library system. They have so much stuff and have made it incredibly easy to do. I’ve done it hundreds of times—go online, access the catalog, find the wanted material, and request it sent to the branch of my choice. Hundreds of times.

This time was different for some reason.

I had to get the song Purple People Eater. Just had to. Don’t worry, it’s a real oldie and it’s never coming back. The One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater. The question about that song was never “Why are we listening to such awful stuff?” (answer: it’s fun) but always “Is he himself purple or does he eat purple people?” There really isn’t any way I could start wondering and then stop wondering.

I found the disc I wanted after searching just a little. I asked for them to have it ready for me at the Washington branch; it’s pretty close to my home. I was encouraged because I noted that there was a disc available in a few places, one of them being the Washington branch. Should I just go in there myself and get it from the stacks or should I order it online, make them walk out, retrieve it, and bring it back to the desk for me? I actually thought about it for a minute before I ordered it.

Then I waited for the call to tell me my disc was ready. And I waited. And then I waited some more. Five days I waited. Checking back on line, I saw that this item was marked IN TRANSIT on my account. In transit? They have a copy in the building!  

After a week I went to the library to take care of this. I’ll walk back to the stacks myself if I have to, but I’m getting to the bottom of this.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, thanks. I have a disc ordered; I’d like to get it please.”

“It says here that it is in transit. That means…”

“I know what that means, thanks. I was wondering if you could tell me why it’s been in transit for a week now.”

“Sometimes it just takes a while.”

I thought ‘Oh come on. Toledo isn’t THAT big.’

I said, “It takes a while, huh? Ma’am, isn’t it true that this item is available right here in this branch?”

I couldn’t stop thinking about this poor disc in the back of the library. It probably hadn’t been requested in years and years, and now that he’s needed again, no one knows he’s here. I envisioned this poor disc thinking that ‘if no one knows I’m here, I’ll have to get to the front desk myself,’ forcing himself off the rack, and trying to walk to the desk. Of course he’s been in transit for over a week. He doesn’t have legs!

I realized she had been speaking to me this whole time. I’d better listen.

I hear “It’s coming from Toledo Heights.” “Sir? Sir?”

Of course I was now thinking ‘Toledo has Heights? I’ve lived here my whole life and now I hear that Toledo has Heights? Where exactly? I thought that the 3 foot rise on the way to the front door of The Learning Center was the highest elevation in NW Ohio’

Back to the present, with a note to myself to take the time to find these heights and climb them.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

“Ma’am, listen very carefully, please. I believe you should see that you have a copy of this disc right here. Why can’t I just have that one?”

“Well, that’s highly unusual.”

?????????????????? I thought, 'It isn’t unusual that you have people bringing this disc down from The Great Heights of Toledo and “transited” across town when you have one here? You say THIS is unusual?' ???????????

“Sir? Sir? I think I’ll just get that for you, ok?”

“My thoughts exactly. Thanks very much.”

Turns out I remembered it correctly; it is a pretty fun tune. Dated like all get out, but fun. I wondered how many other tunes have faded into my memory waiting to be remembered and enjoyed again, but those are thoughts for another time.

And incidentally, he says in the song that he eats purple people. Of course he does.

Friday, April 04, 2008 2:29:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [1] | 

I have found it hard to break away from thinking about Dr. King and our nation’s trek toward equality after my last blog. I would so love to believe that “The Dream” has gotten closer to reality, but I see mixed results at best. How do you make sense of some of this stuff?

We all know about the remarkable journey of Senator Obama. He keeps going, getting ever nearer the goal, dealing with race in ways I didn’t think would happen in my lifetime. Every American now has to deal with his/her convictions, no more putting it off. It’s wonderful.

At the same time, I can’t get past the stats released by the Department of Justice recently. In case you haven’t yet seen it, let me explain why I bring it up here. The numbers describe who exactly is in our jails, and it is a real eye-opener.

There are many numbers here, and almost all of the stats make you scratch your head, but let me focus on just a couple.

First, the DOJ says that of all those incarcerated in the U.S., over 40% are black, 36% white. What is that all about? 13% of the population as a whole, 40% of the jailed population? I don’t know, statistics students, would that be significant?

Next, take a look at this. 1 in 106 white men age 18 or older are in prison. I guess that seems about right, but I don’t really know what the optimal number would be except maybe 0. What I do know is that this next number, even with different age parameters, puts it in a different perspective.

1 in 9 black men age 20 to 34 are in prison. 11%? Impossible. How can that be? When I heard these numbers first on NPR I thought that surely I had heard it wrong. Maybe I was actually paying attention to my driving and not listening carefully. I know, that doesn’t sound much like me. Of course I then checked it out and there it was.

I guess it would be prudent to mention the female totals, they are interesting as well. In case you wondered, about 11 out of every 12 prisoners in America are male. (Oh good, something we can joke about.) Using that as a basis, let’s look at the racial makeup: 1 in 355 white women age 35 to 39 are in prison, while 1 in 100 black women of the same age bracket (35 to 39) are likewise incarcerated.    

There have to be reasons beyond the obvious. I’m not sure how to understand this especially in light of the presidential race. Any thoughts? Any comments? Any solutions? Li'l help.

Maybe we’re just still dreaming.

Sources: U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2006.

              Pew Public Safety Project

              Time Magazine

Wednesday, April 02, 2008 11:40:13 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [3] | 

This week is the 40^th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s hard to believe that the number 40 is correct. Really? Could it have been that long ago?

There are reminiscences and interviews, tributes and ‘what-ifs’ galore, and you’ll have to try hard to avoid them. Well, if you want to avoid them, stop reading this now.

I remember that day well. I was a young man (yes, it’s hard to believe, but I actually was young at one time. Stop it) and I think I lacked a bit of perspective. Looking back, I think the whole country did as well. Surprised but not shocked. It felt as though the event had a certain inevitability to it.

I remember the times. It’s hard to believe, but assassinations were, while not commonplace, occurring with some regularity. President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, and his alleged assassin was himself killed days later, all of this live on television. Three New York Civil Rights workers were murdered in Mississippi while pushing to register voters. Malcolm X was similarly killed earlier that decade. Horror seemed to simply change to anger and angst, but not righteous outrage. If you were trying to change the mindsets of people who were benefiting from the status quo, apparently death was going to be a part of the equation. It was more than just a symbolic risk you took, there was a good chance.

Violence seemed to be everywhere; war in Southeast Asia, riots in Watts and Detroit, political upheaval everywhere you looked.

Amid all of that, I do remember how the idea of Nonviolent Resistance took hold of people. What a powerful message for all of us. What courage it took to do what he did! This was truly someone I could use to measure myself and my life against, always striving to be better. I got courage from watching him face constant anger and violence with calm purpose. It was hard to believe that anybody could do that knowing what could happen.

Of course, the manner of his death unleashed that message and keeps Dr. King alive. Nonviolent Resistance still communicates and accomplishes where violence doesn’t. His son delivered that thought to us here at Lourdes College recently and brought all of this back to me.

40 years ago. It’s hard to believe in so many ways.

Monday, March 31, 2008 1:27:02 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0] | 

The following is a transcript from the show Hardball with Chris Matthews:

Chris:   In the last segment of our show tonight we examine the proliferation of blogging today. Our guest is from Sylvania, Ohio and has recently become the 200 millionth blogger. We welcome Dane Copti to Hardball.

Dane:   Hi Chris, thanks for having me on the show. Wow. There must be over 10 people watching.

C:         Very funny. Tell me why you think we need 200 million people blogging?

D:         I didn’t say I think we need it.

C:         Ok. So why are you doing this?

D:         Seriously, I don’t know. I don’t have the time, I really don’t. Just to write this baloney today I’ve put off grading my 200 millionth paper. I keep thinking that if I had the time I’d do something great with my life. Instead I’m starting this. I don’t know how I get off the track sometimes.

C:         You must have some goals for your blog.

D:         You’d think, but no. I am not trying to advance humanity, teach, or even elevate anything. Some days I believe that I have something worthwhile to say, but then I remember that everyone thinks that sometime. Goals? No, not really. So in the middle of a brutal semester I think I should start blogging. What an idiot.

C:         (aside) who booked this guy?

C:         OK, fascinating. We’re off for a short break. Don’t go anywhere.

During the break:

C:         Man, maybe you should go get an anti-depressant.

D:         Thanks, but I’ll be fine.

C:         Not for you, for me.

C:         OK, we’re back with Dane Copti, 'Blogger Superfluous'. Dane, do you have any positive thoughts about this project?

D:         Oh sure, Chris. In the end I think I’m doing this because I DO have things I want to say for myself. If no one reads it, fine, but I get my say. I love Lourdes College. I love my job, my profession, NW Ohio. I love my daughter, my friends, my life, and I like to write. I’ll find the time somewhere and other things will suffer for it. I’ll look up later and realize that important things will have gone undone and I’ll be at a total loss as to why. It’s ok; I’ll probably just blame George Bush for it.

C:         Excellent. In the last few seconds, is there anything else you want to say?

D:         Yeah. I have some things to say to my fellow faculty bloggers.

Joyce Litten, what happened to you? I read about the End of the Conservatist Agenda then I wait for more. And wait. Are you kidding me? You mean to tell me nothing is happening anywhere in the world that would follow that? Where are you? Oh yeah, probably busy. Does that come as a total surprise?

Tom Estrella? I know there are things you want to say. How do I know this? YOU’RE TOM ESTRELLA! That’s how I know it. What happened? You got on the front page of the Blade and figured you met all of your goals? Elvis as the Antichrist left me wanting more. I never got any more. It’s been only 6 months, so I guess I need to learn patience.

Finally, Dale Lanigan. Important stuff you’re writing there, Dale. Look, everyone knows that people often confuse us for each other. We look so much alike you’d think we were separated at birth. But blogging? In a moment of sheer profundity, you asked about the words to the song “Take On Me”. How terribly deep! I actually got an email from a well-meaning student complete with the lyrics. Keep it up, Dale. Maybe we’ll even get an easy opening CD from this.

Come on, faculty. Our blog page is little more than promotional announcements anymore. Don’t get me wrong, IA does a good job, but please.

C:         Thanks, Dane, and thanks to all of you for watching. Countdown with Keith Olbermann starts right now.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 6:19:45 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [1] |