A Most Fulfilling Part of My Career

 

The Chronicle of Higher Education

I have written often of my encore career as a full-time faculty member of North Park University.  Being a college professor is the fulfillment of a dream.   I have had this dream since grade school.  I am thankful circumstances and some wonderful folks like Leona Mirza and Wes Lindahl were instrumental in making it happen.

I have had another title at the University the past three years.  I have had the honor of being the President of the Faculty Senate, which is the governing body of the University in the areas of academic policies and procedures, transfer and degree requirements, and courses of instruction.  I have served on the Faculty Senate nine of the eleven years I have been at North Park.  I served a term as Vice-President and ran for President earlier but was not elected.

For a variety of reasons, serving on the Faculty Senate became increasingly unpleasant in the academic years of 2019-20 through 2021-22.  At the end of the 21-22 academic year, one of the years I was not on the Senate, people did not want to serve and were complaining that the Senate and Full Meetings had become toxic.

At the end of the 21-22 Academic year, I was elected as one of the two Senators from the School of Business and Nonprofit Management (SBNM).  It was also end of that very most tumultuous year of the three years I referred to above.  The faculty Senate ended the school year without having elections for the Senate Executive Committee as required by the bylaws.  It was rather concerning and the mood of the faculty, especially those serving on the Senate was to put it mildly:  grim.

This bothered me and bothered me enough that over the Summer of 2022 I began to contemplate running for Senate President.  There were a few reasons for this: 

1. First and foremost, I wanted to  provide a service to the North Park University... a place I truly love and value. 
   
   
2. I also wanted  see if the principles I teach, rooted in Total Quality Management, could work in a university setting to make the Senate a more congenial and effective.  I had a summer research student during COVID where our topic was How to Apply TQM in Higher Education and I believed I had a good handle on how to do it.
   
   
3. I believe a majority of the faculty had the same wish for the Senate and the Faculty as a whole to be more congenial and effective part of the university.

The provost, the chief academic officer at a university, was already ahead of me on this though he did not use the term Total Quality Management (TQM).  The tenets of TQM are: 

1. Customer Focus
   For a university, the customers are students, their parents, potential employers, and even the alumni base.
   
   
2. Strong Quality Leadership
   This is a shared mission between the administration and the faculty with clear and consistent goals and excellent communication on the state of the university from both a business and an education standpoint.
   
   
3. Decisions based on Facts, Data, and Analysis
   This is about having the right metrics when they are cost effective and practical.  It is also the realization that it is almost impossible to have numerical metrics that are reliable, cost effective, and consistent in every aspect on the academic side of a university.
   
   
4.  Employee Involvement
   Create a sense of shared mission and goals (shared governance in academic parlance) and a culture that is collegial (duh…) and congenial where everyone feels valued.
   
   
5. Continuous Process Improvement
   This is a mindset and practice that is essential to the transformation of any organization. 

There is one thing that we can say about the North Park faculty.  It has not changed, I believe, since the founding of the university.  Each and every one of us, has a great passion for teaching, counseling, and guiding our students.  It is why most of us are in this profession.  Our goal was to build off of that foundation and focusing faculty and senior leadership operating with greater communication, greater trust, a shared mission to improve, well, every aspect of North Park to create a TQMish culture.   

I believe a majority of the faculty had the same wish for the Senate to be a more congenial and effective part of the university. With the help and buy-in, to various degrees, by everyone.  I believe we have made great progress in this regard.  I cannot claim victory.  TQM is, for certain, a never-ending quest.  But I believe the groundwork is in place for this to continue, if we follow the playbook currently in place.

Serving as President of the Faculty Senate for the past three years has been one of the most satisfying experiences in my long work career.  I am proud of the job we did and the current climate at the university.   There is one benefit I did not anticipate and, perhaps, appreciate the most.  The mantle of leadership made me respond to any and all requests from faculty and act on them the best I could… even if I did not fully agree with them.  As a result, I learned to appreciate and to better understand every faculty member I have interacted with.  It has been a great time of personal growth for me which is also a never-ending quest.  

Whatever success we had was not mine and certainly not mine alone.  This was a shared effort that included:

• The Senate Executive Committee:  Evan Kuehn (who is now the Senate President), Kelly VanderBrug, Boaz Johnson, Karl Soderstrom, and Angelica Ahlman for their insights, ideas, and wisdom.
• My consigliere:  Jon Peterson who was Senate President for three terms.  I was his VP in one of those terms.
• Director of Provost Operations:  Monica Guarisco worked closely with the Executive Committee to keep us organized and informed.
• Faculty representatives to the Board:  Heather Duncan, Martha Mason, and Julia Davids
• All the faculty of North Park for putting their faith in me and the Executive Committee with added appreciation to those who served on the Faculty Senate the past three years.
• Board of Trustees:  Thank you for you dedication and commitment to North Park.  It was a pleasure being part of your meetings. 
• Lastly, I have to thank the President, Provost, and Board Chair who were all open to consult, communicate, clarify issues and policy, and meet whenever needed.
• Provost Michael Carr for meeting with me once a month to nurture collaboration, communication, and getting things done.
• President Mary Surridge for her leadership and dedicated partnership.
• Board Chair David Otfinoski for his love of North Park and steady and thoughtful guidance of the Board.

In summation, serving as Faculty Senate President at North Parking University has truly been, and I say this all my heart, a blessing for me.

The Proof Reading Conundrum: Revisited

AussieTranslations.com.au

 

 

I am the worst proofreader of my own writing.  It stems from a not very subconscious belief that, “How could I have possibly made any errors in writing this amazing piece.”  The subconscious part of this is probably the unsaid, “Syntax, spelling, and grammar errors are for mere mortals i.e. everyone but me.”

Well, the reality is grossly different.  I leave out words and phrases.  Spelling, syntax, and grammar can be challenging.  This is true is if the words flow like water or if I am struggling to produce comprehensible sentences.  This is true with all the assistance that Microsoft Word tries to provide for spelling and phrasing.  I leave out words and only type part of other words (and completely miss the squiggly red underline provided by Microsoft Word).  I type sentences that seem Nobel worthy.  But, when the same sentence is read a year later, after have proofread the piece like four times, it is as if that sentence was  written by someone who barely has ever had a coherent thought and barely knows English. 

Gee whiz!  How does this happen?

Clearly, I am not careful when I proofread.  I am in a hurry to post the bloggy bit.  And, to reiterate, I proofread with the mindset that is impossible I could have made any errors of any kind.  I truly hold fast to this belief despite my dismal track record in this regard.

I wrote about this before.  Back in January of 2018, I wrote a piece, The Proofreading Conundrum, in which I covered some of the same ground.  In the passing seven years, four months, and eight days, my proofreading is still atrocious.  I have tried to make it less atrocious but clearly have failed.

This time around I figured I would get the opinion of others, so I Googled, “proofreading one’s own writing.”  Not surprisingly, there were websites and YouTubes expounding on this subject.  California Coast University had an informative website.  Their recommendations are as follows:

Mignon Fogarty, of quickanddirtytips.com suggests the following:

Read your work backward, starting with the last sentence and working your way in reverse order to the beginning. Supposedly this works better than reading through from the beginning because your brain knows what you meant to write, so you tend to skip over errors when you're reading forwards.

Read your work out loud, this forces you to read each word individually and increases the odds that you'll find a typo. This works quite well for me, and most of the typos that make it into my transcripts seem to be things you wouldn't catch by reading aloud, such as misplaced commas.

Always proofread a printed version of your work. I don't know why, but if I try to proofread on a computer monitor I always miss more errors than if I print out a copy and go over it on paper.

Give yourself some time. If possible, let your work sit for a while before you proofread it… if you are able to clear your mind and approach the writing from a fresh perspective, then your brain is more able to focus on the actual words, rather than seeing the words you think you wrote.

Here are some additional suggestions:

• Do your proofreading when you’re rested and not in a hurry to do something else.
• Work on your proofreading in an environment free from distractions or use noise-canceling headphones.
• When you’re proofing from a hard copy of your writing, use a seven-inch ruler in a dark color to guide you through your writing word by word and sentence by sentence.
• Use a red pen when you correct mistakes on a hard copy. Otherwise, when you go to your computer file to fix the mistakes, you might not catch them all — a red pen is your “red flag” for errors.
• Read syllables, not words, to catch mistakes within longer words with many syllables.
• Avoid rushing. If you feel yourself drifting off task, take a break to re-center yourself.
• Use Read Aloud (Alt+Ctrl+Space) in Word. The electronic voice will read your work to you, which can give you a fresh perspective allowing you to catch small (but important) mistakes you might otherwise have overlooked.
• In addition to Spelling and Grammar check on your computer, use other spelling and grammar tools available (many for free) online but always follow-up with your own proofreading. This gives you a double-check of sorts. 

Well, thank you Mignon Fogarty, but that sounds tedious.  I would rather win a large lottery prize and hire a full-time person to do all my proofreading.  As good as this sounds, it requires a low probability miracle to occur.  Thus, it is not a viable option. 

But, hey, this 2025 and AI is all the rage. If  AI can generate videos of Putin and Trump performing in a rock band, it oughta be able to proofread my drivel.  So, I copied the first six paragraphs and asked ChatGPT to proofread it.  First, ChatGPT responded with, “Your writing has a humorous, self-aware tone that's engaging and relatable. I've cleaned up grammar, punctuation, and syntax issues while preserving your voice and style. Here's the proofread version.”  Then, it provided the following:

 

     I am the worst proofreader of my own writing. It stems from a not-so-subconscious belief that, “How could I have possibly made any errors in writing this amazing piece?” The subconscious part of this is probably the unsaid, “Syntax, spelling, and grammar errors are for mere mortals—i.e., everyone but me.”

     Well, the reality is grossly different. I leave out words and phrases. Spelling, syntax, and grammar can be challenging. This is true whether the words flow like water or I’m struggling to produce comprehensible sentences. This remains true even with all the assistance Microsoft Word tries to provide for spelling and phrasing. I leave out words and only type parts of others (and completely miss the squiggly red underline provided by Microsoft Word). I type sentences that seem Nobel-worthy—but when the same sentence is read a year later, after I’ve proofread the piece like four times, it’s as if it were written by someone who barely has ever had a coherent thought and barely knows English.

      Gee whiz! How does this happen?

      Clearly, I am not careful when I proofread. I’m in a hurry to post the bloggy bit. And, to reiterate, I proofread with the mindset that it is impossible I could have made any errors of any kind. I truly hold fast to this belief despite my dismal track record in this regard.

      I wrote about this before. Back in January of 2018, I wrote a piece titled The Proofreading Conundrum, in which I covered some of the same ground. In the seven years, four months, and eight days since then, my proofreading is still atrocious. I have tried to make it less atrocious but have clearly failed.

      This time around, I figured I would get the opinion of others, so I Googled “proofreading one’s own writing.” Not surprisingly, there were websites and YouTube videos expounding on this subject. California Coast University had an informative website. Their recommendations are as follows: 

 

     The big 'duh' here is that ChatGPT does proofread.  It only took me three years to realize this.  ChatGPT did catch and correct the errors.  Good for AI and good for me.  It even ended with this, “Let me know if you’d like help polishing the next section as well!”  How very thoughtful and I am only using the free version.  

It is a brave new world.

 

Kariné Poghosyan enchants Chicago with a soulful tribute to Khachaturian

On May 4, Kariné Poghosyan performed an intimate concert at the PianoForte recital space in downtown Chicago. Co-sponsored by the Chicago AGBU and PianoForte Chicago, the lovely performance consisted of piano works and ballet transcriptions by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. This marked Poghosyan’s fourth performance at PianoForte since 2016.

Her program included Khachaturian’s piano compositions Poem, Valse Caprice, Tauz, Toccata and Sonata. She also performed piano arrangements of ballet pieces including Valse Caprice, Adagio from Spartacus, Romance from the Masquerade Suite, and Oror from Gayaneh. Poghosyan played everything beautifully and with great passion, her vibrant and enthusiastic body language reflecting the intensity she is known for. 

The audience was a wonderful mix of Armenians and non-Armenians. Members of the Chicago Armenian community had roots throughout the U.S., Armenia, Turkey, Lebanon and other Armenian centers in the Middle East. We gathered both out of love for music and devotion to Poghosyan herself. The concert space at PianoForte made it feel like a private concert—an intimate chamber music soirée. Everyone there was a fan of Poghosyan and responded enthusiastically to her masterful interpretation of Khachaturian’s work. She was deeply soulful when the music required it and vigorous in the bold, energetic passages that Khachaturian is known for. 

In these modern times, artists like Poghosyan need to cultivate and nurture their fan base, and Poghosyan excels in this regard. It is her very nature to appreciate and befriend those who support and enjoy her music. She makes time to talk with everyone at intimate gatherings like the concert at PianoForte. 

We were fortunate to have Poghosyan join a small group of us for dinner after the concert. It was wonderful to learn more about this remarkable artist and her dedication to her craft. Her practice schedule, which averages two to four hours every day of the week, is rigid and demanding. This is the way it has to be for any virtuoso. Dedication and commitment to practice are nonnegotiable to keep one’s skills sharp. This was the second concert of hers we attended, and she did not use sheet music at either, having memorized all her pieces.

At dinner, when someone in our party asked who her favorite composer is, she gave a diplomatic and practical response: “My favorite composer is the one whose piece I am preparing and practicing for my next performance. It has to be that way in order to play the piece with the skill and care that the composer intended.” This is not a pat answer—it is the very nature of this gifted artist.

In January 2021, Poghosyan launched a monthly concert series on Patreon for a global audience. During the pandemic, she performed 100 consecutive free weekly virtual concerts, gathering a loyal worldwide following, as well as press coverage from Pianist Magazine, Katie Couric’s newsletter The Wake-up Call, NY1’s Stephanie Simon and ABC’s Rick Rowe. 

In 2024, with sponsorship from Seta Nazarian in memory of her mother Artemis Nazarian, the pianist expanded the series to include an intimate in-person audience. Her 2025 series, titled “12 Notes” is her most epic yet. Each program goes up the chromatic scale, starting with C Major/Minor key works in January, and concluding with B Major/Minor key works in December.

Per Patreon, “Hundreds of thousands of creators use Patreon to share videos, podcasts, writing, art, music, recipes and more with their most passionate fans.” Fans subscribe to support artists and receive exclusive curated content. In Poghosyan’s case, the highlight of the subscription is her monthly one-hour concert. She rents a beautiful space and engages a professional video crew and director to provide a high-quality production. She also posts almost daily updates and short videos of her practicing. We truly enjoy this Patreon experience.

Born in Armenia’s capital, Poghosyan began her musical education at the Romanos Melikyan State Music College and the Komitas Yerevan State Conservatory. In 1998, she relocated to the United States to pursue her Bachelor of Music degree at California State University, Northridge. She then advanced to the Manhattan School of Music, completing both her Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in a record two years.

Poghosyan made her solo debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of 23 and has since performed in prestigious venues such as Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall and Zankel Hall. She has collaborated with orchestras including the New West Symphony and the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. Her repertoire often highlights Armenian composers, particularly Khachaturian, and she is known for her interpretations that blend technical mastery with emotional depth. 

In February 2023, Poghosyan released her third album Folk Themes on Parma Recordings, to wonderful reviews. TakeEffectReviews wrote, “A body of work that’s passionate and exploratory, Folk Themes illustrates much tenderness and vibrancy via Poghosyan’s riveting playing,” and LucidCulture called it “a colorful, expressive, minutely jeweled new album.”

In the heart of Chicago’s South Loop, PianoForte Chicago stands as a sanctuary for piano enthusiasts, where the resonance of finely tuned instruments meets the warmth of a passionate community. Founded by Thomas Zoells in 2005—who transitioned from a banking career to pursue his love for pianos—PianoForte began as a showcase for exquisite Fazioli pianos. Over time, it blossomed into a boutique offering a curated selection of instruments from esteemed manufacturers. 

In summary, Kariné Poghosyan is an Armenian, an American and a world treasure. She will bring this same concert to New York’s Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, June 10. If she is performing in your area, I encourage you to attend and experience the virtuosity and artistry of this gracious artist. To learn more, visit Poghosyan’s website and social media.

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Originally published in The Armenian Weekly.

 

The Middle Eastern Music Ensemble: Better than Ever

 

On Saturday May 24, 2025, the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble (MEME) of the University of Chicago performed the last concert, Overflow, of our 28^th season.  It was a beautiful concert performed by a talented and diverse group of musicians.

MEME began in 1996 with only several musicians.  For this recent concert, we had 45 musicians and a choir of 28 making for a total 73 musicians and singers on stage.  The ensemble has truly grown in size.  When I began, I want to say the total number in the 20s, maybe 30. 

As far as I can recall, first being in the audience and then as a member of the ensemble, MEME did three concerts a year, one for each quarter of the University of Chicago academic year.  The Fall concert was an all Turkish, the Winter concert was Persian, and the Spring was Arab. 

I joined MEME in 2014 fulfilling a long-held desire, dream, to play in a classical Turkish orchestra.   I had gone to a few of their concerts which were in the larger rooms in the classic old buildings that define the University of Chicago on the perimeter the quadrangle.  I hesitated to join for two reasons.  First, I had not read music for fifty years and was a bit concerned about my ability to do so.  Secondly, I was still in a corporate job, and I was pretty sure I would not be able to attend many of the practices. 

The great recession solved the second problem.  I was out of work and had to retrench and decide what to do with my remaining working years.  I could have joined MEME as early as 2009, but economic concerns and trying to make a go of a consulting business I had started consumed my time.  By 2010, I was supplementing my income with adjunct teaching of mathematics and statistics.  Teaching grew to the point where I was teaching five sections of introductory statistics at three different colleges.  When that turned into a full time faculty position at North Park University in the Fall of 2014, I finally had the time to join MEME.  North Park was essentially on the way from my home to Hyde Park. Since joining the faculty at North Park, I have always blocked out Thursday evenings for MEME.   

I joined MEME and played in the Turkish concert in the Fall of 2014.  I was familiar with half of the concert material and that was very helpful as I worked to renew and hone my ability to read music.  I passed on the Persian and Arab concerts that 2014-15 season simply because I was not familiar enough with the music.  In the Fall of 2015, I felt more comfortable reading music and decided to play in the Persian and Arab concerts that academic year.  I have not missed a concert since.

We practice in the rehearsal space on the 9^th floor of the beautiful and modern Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts which opened in 2013.   We practice every Thursday in the quad for each concert held at the end of the quad.  We usually have a dress rehearsal the Friday after our last Thursday practice to fine tune the pieces.  The concerts take place on the Saturday or Sunday after the dress rehearsal. 

Each concert was in the Performance Hall of the Logan Center.  The Performance Hall holds 400 and was always standing room only.  A few times we had an overflow space with a video feed.  The Persian concert became so popular that we did two back-to-back performances for three or four years in a row. 

Wanees Zarour has been the Director of MEME for my entire tenure with the ensemble.  When I first joined MEME, Wanees, a CPA, was an accountant and MEME was a hobby or avocation.  In the next few years, Wanees felt a strong call to dedicate himself full-time to music.  He did exactly that.  He went and got a Master’s degree from DePaul in jazz composition and has dedicated himself to this calling.  He continues to direct MEME. He also directs the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra, has his own fusion jazz ensemble, East Loop, teaches at the Simon Shaheen’s reknown Arab Music Retreat, and has a full performance schedule in and around Chicago.  Here is his biography from the University of Chicago website.

Trained in both Western and Middle Eastern musical traditions, violinist and buzuq virtuoso Wanees Zarour specializes in Maqam music and is well versed in genres from jazz to Eastern European folk. The composer, educator, and performer of Middle Eastern music teaches Middle Eastern Rhythms, Maqam Theory, and other subjects and holds master classes, residencies and lectures at Universities and educational institutions around the United States. 

Off campus, Wanees Zarour leads and composes for several groups including the Wanees Zarour Ensemble and East Loop, and co-directs the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra with guitarist Fareed Haque. He has been featured in major festivals in the United States, Europe and the Middle East and has recorded with several renowned artists. Zarour recently released his newest album, “Quarter to Midnight" featuring some of his compositional works, anchored around the maqam system and highlighting several Western and South American influences, as well as releases with East Loop, blending Maqam and Black-American music traditions.

Zarour joined the performance program in 2010 and directs the Middle East Music Ensemble, a 45 piece orchestra dedicated to the study and performance of Middle Eastern music.

Wanees has truly grown and developed MEME.  It was good before I joined.  I admired the musicianship and presentations of the concerts I attended.  I was more impressed when I joined and saw the work that goes into preparing for each concert.  I was impressed with virtuosity of the key performers and singers.  I was more impressed with the dedication that each and everyone in the orchestra had for MEME.  Wanees has continually built on these strengths to improve MEME each and every year he has directed the ensemble.

Given the amount of time we practice, MEME has became always been a tight community, really a family, of musicians.  I would say Wanees has even taken that to another level with his engaging and congenial leadership style that is so welcoming and team building.  The passion for and the love of the music is another reason we are so close.  Our shared love for the music is above and beyond the ethnic, political, and religious differences that have caused wars and massacres in the Middle East.  This makes MEME very special.  This unique aspect of MEME has attracted to more and more students and community participants to the ensemble and contributed to our growth.

While the ensemble has grown, so has the musical acumen of our members.  It takes less and less time to master each of the pieces offered in our concerts.  Good musicians want to be part of MEME.  This wonderful phenomenon is another result of the leadership of Wanees.  It has gotten to the point we only have to practice the simpler pieces once or twice.  For the more challenging pieces, our first reads are noticeably better than when I started with the ensemble.

I have seen musicians improve over the years from being in MEME.  I am certainly example of this.  I have seen tentative players, beginners, improve with each and every concert inspired by their more accomplished and talented colleagues.  This continual improvement in musicianship of the members has made us a much tighter and more agile ensemble.

The ensemble, which has grown to be a full-sized orchestra and chorus, has improved for three other reasons.  First, due to his degree in jazz composition, Wanees’s arrangements have gotten more interesting.  Combined with the increased size of the orchestra and current level of musicianship, we produce a lusher and fuller sound with the mixed complexities of both the maqam and rhythmic style of the Middle East along with the Western tradition of the interplay of melodic voices.  Secondly, the bigger and better chorus really adds a full and rich timbre to the vocal pieces which make are easily 80-90% of each of our concerts.  Lastly, we moved from the tradition of having a Turkish, Persian, and then Arab concerts.  Our concerts now are a mix of all three with the goal of welcoming more ethnicities into the repertoire.  In our most recent concert, we had a first Assyrian folk song.  We are looking to include Kurdish, Armenian, and others music genres in coming concerts.  This has also encouraged the best Middle Eastern players and singers to be part of every concert. 

The future looks very bright for MEME.

 

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Note:  I have only mentioned our Director, Wanees Zarour, in this piece.  I could have mentioned several others but did not, lest I leave out anyone that deserves mention.  Look for more articles highlighting individual musicians in the coming months leading up to our 30^th Anniversary Season in the 2027-28 academic year.

 

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Here are some photos of Wanees from this years practices.

 

It’s a Big Club… and You ain’t in it

 

 

 

It is a bizarro world of politics in this country.  Tariffs are being imposed and relaxed.  The federal workforce is being ‘right sized.’  Funding to colleges and universities is being slashed.  There is talk about suspending habeas corpus for non-citizens and eliminating birthright citizenship.  A big tax cut which includes no longer taxing tips or Social Security is bouncing around Congress.  A foreign government wants to gift the US and President a palace in the sky to serve as Air Force One. 

The Republicans are forging ahead somewhere in between having a plan (did someone say Project 2025) and the ever-changing unpredictable whims of the President.  Central Casting has given the Democrats the role of ‘deer in the headlights’ and they may well get an Oscar for the clueless best supporting actors mired in a leadership vacuum.  They sure are embracing this role with gusto. 

I am trying to decide if I am dumbfounded or not.  It varies from day to day.  Today, I am not.  Today, I am feeling like my prediction during the Great Recession has come true.  That prediction is that we would emerge from the Great Recession a different nation.  We would be more like a European nation with its glory years behind them… and it wouldn’t be one of the better run countries.  This is exactly what it feels like to me.

There is another thing.  The country seems manipulated by forces in the background.  It is like we on our way to being run by oligarchs… if we already is aren't.  It reminds me of a George Carlin bit that resonated with me the first time I heard it and every time since.  “It’s a BIG CLUB…AND YOU AIN’T IN IT!

This comes from a 2006 monologue called ‘Dumb Americans.’  He talks about the dumbing down of the population, the rise and current dominance of consumerism, the sorry state of our education system, and that our country is being run by that club that we are not part of.  Ever since Carlin’s comedy turned to politics and the state of our society, he resonated with me and many others.

The big open question here is this?  Is Carlin right?   Is there a big club running things?

I know one thing for sure, if there is a big club running things, I am certainly not in it. 

Oh sure, many card-carrying liberals attempt to smother me with guilt laden ideology that I am a beneficiary of the white privilege club and part of the institutional racism big club.  The other end of the political spectrum will use similar tactics to belittle me as they push their agenda of making America a place where… well… where we are now.

Carlin certainly had a gift to make people think.  But truly, he was a comedian, an entertainer, and this was how he made a living.  This was his shtick much as it was for Will Rogers and, arguably, Mark Twain.  Neither of these fellows used their celebrity to cross-over to becoming politicians.  They just liked to observe, point out dichotomies with humor, make us all think, shake our heads, and buy tickets to their shows.  It was their jobs, their professions.

I do think there is a big club that runs things.  $5.5 billion was spent on the presidential election.  That is a lot of money spent to create on ads and polarizing, confirmation bias, social and news media.  Getting elected and pushing agendas not necessarily based on truth, justice, and what we once claimed was the American way.

 

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Transcript of the full monologue:  https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/george-carlin-dumb-americans-transcript/ 

 

Part of the monologue

 

 

 

 

Enya and Applebees

 

I am an associate professor in a school of business.  My primary areas operations management by title.  This includes supply chain management, forecasting, purchasing, warehousing, transportation, inventory and production management, quality management, metrics, project management.  I am nowhere near being an ‘expert’ in all of these areas, but I do have some experience in most of them and expertise in specific applications. 

When it comes to marketing and advertising?  I am only allowed to teach one class:  Marketing Channels and Supply Chain which was given to me because of the emphasis on Supply Chain and Channels.  Beyond that, I am in over my skis as they say.

But this doesn’t stop me from contemplating idea and notions about marketing and advertising and then expressing my contemplations in this blog.  This long prelude is simply to state this this is exactly what I am about to do in this post.

The other day while watching TV, I saw a commercial that really caught my attention… which is the primary intent of advertising as far as I know.  It was for the Applebee’s, a casual dining restaurant chain serving up American fare.  The reason it caught my attention was the music chosen for the commercial.  It was “Only Time” by the Irish singer and composer, Enya.

This song was from her 2000 album, A Day Without Rain.  The album was ethereal, Celtic, new age, with what me might even hope or project Druid music to sound like.  The album was soothing and calming.  It was meditative and, perhaps even, transformative.

Enya was already famous a dozen years before I heard this album in the early 2000s as I really have not followed popular music since 1976.  Since then, a few performers have gotten my attention.  Enya was one of them. 

How did this happern?  I was in Uruguay of all places.  My friend and colleague, Alberto Deambrosi, picked me up to go to the Colgate offices and warehouse.  He had this album on, and I asked him about it. He said he listened to it every day on the way to work.  He said it as the perfect album to clear and calm his mind on the way to work.  Also, after work, it helped him detox from the stress of the day.

When my return home, I bought the album, and it quickly became a favorite.  It really was soothing and calming.  It nurtured introspection.  It was also perfect background music for working.

Upon hearing the “Only Time” cut from that album used that Applebee’s commercial, my first thoughts were how and why did this come to be?  It seemed so incongruous to use this music to pitch anything including Applebee’s “2 for $25 featuring new sizzlin’ skillets.”

The man and woman in the commercial are in new age awe with sizzling steak dishes float by them.  I found it eerily awkward but also mesmerizing.  The windblown hair of the actors and their blissful gaze at the dishes floating by them was quite effective with Enya’s sound track.  It did what it was supposed to do.  It got my attention and had me thinking about going to Applebee’s using a song from an album that was once my favorite.

Growing up, I never paid attention to the music or jingles of television commercials.  Sure, there were some catchy tunes but most of the once popular music used was from my parents’ generation.  It didn’t fully get it until I heard the first pop song that was a favorite of mine used in a commercial that I understand that the ad was targeting me and using the power of nostalgia to sell whatever it was they were selling.  I felt a bit offended, a bit used, and, perhaps for the first time, as a young adult, that innocent days of childhood were well behind me.

Music is also a business.  Artists and promoters make a living from the creation, recording, and performing of the music.  If more money can be made from allowing a special piece to used in a television commercial twenty years later, who am I to be a wee bit offended by it?

Have I gone to Applebee’s?

Not yet.  The closest one is 25 miles away.

But, really, truly, who can say where the road goes and the day flows…

 

 

 

Who can say where the road goes

Where the day flows, only time

And who can say if your love grows

As your heart chose, only time

 

Who can say why your heart sighs

As your love flies, only time

And who can say why your heart cries

When your love lies, only time

 

Who can say when the roads meet

That love might be in your heart

And who can say when the day sleeps

If the night keeps all your heart

Night keeps all your heart

HHS

In my last post, I wrote about the US being governed by executive order and the rapid pace of downsizing the US Government.  Per Statista, 2.93 people are civilian employees of the federal government.  Does this make the Federal Government the largest employer in the Country?  It certainly does.

Consider the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) example that is in the news today.  The estimate of those being fired is about 62,000.  OK, I will admit my naivete and freely admit that this number is staggering to me.  If you had asked me how many employees the Department of Health and Human Services had, I wouldn’t have guessed anywhere near 60,000.  I would have guessed 10-15,000.

Bear in mind, this number of 62,000 is just the number being fired at this one department, HHS.  This number of 62,000 is about the one-quarter of the staff at HHS.  This means HHS employs around 248,000 people nearly a quarter of a million people.  Wow.   I clearly have no idea the breadth of HHS’s work.

The Department of Education on the other hand only has 4,133 employees.  I would have guessed 1-2,000.  The plan is to reduce the workforce there by 50%.

Is the Federal Government bloated?  Are there too many people on the payroll?  Are the various departments and agencies involved in programs and activities that are not essential and should probably be cut or reduced in scope?  I am guessing the answer is probably yes to each of these questions.  I believe the private sector, the corporate world, has many more workforce reductions as they must answer to investors.  The economy expands and corporations hire workers.  They grow their staffs.  When the economy wanes or contracts, they reduce or right size the workforce to remain profitable or to minimize their losses.  I do not recall the Federal Government ever being subject to such a cycle.  Sure, the revenue from taxes expands or contracts with employment rates.  I also suspect some programs are sunset due to their work being done or no longer needed, but other agencies and departments are created to help govern emerging areas of importance.

Joe average citizen, with yours truly as a prime example, is oblivious to this government bloat.  When I ask friends and colleagues to guess the size of HHS, everyone underestimated the size by a factor of ten. 

I am against the ‘Chainsaw Al’ approach to staff reduction.  It works, eventually, but it is so disruptive and so 1990s.  It could, in this case, be a tactic to drive a bit of fear of losing their jobs to the employees that remain which may be a new feeling for federal employees.  I would have rather evaluated each of the programs or initiative by an evaluation process that rates the value of the program/department to the population and thus decide which programs to keep untouched, keep with smaller budgets, and which to eliminate altogether.  For those departments to be reduced or eliminated a plan should be developed on how to achieve the reductions to minimize the impact to stakeholders, suppliers, grant recipients, and citizens outside of HHS.

The DOGE way is certainly quicker if it doesn’t matter what level of disruption and chaos is left in the wake.