Glory
Unsupervised
Life is good. My brothers Andy and Bobby came out from the east coast to visit for three days. They came unaccompanied and Pascale was away. It was the first time the three of us were left together without adult supervision in over 40 years. We had a sweet time. Many laughs, memories and observations of our parents’ traits in each other. My daughter Claire and her daughter Skylar spent time with us and added so much to the joy of the visit.
The Chemo Cycle
Chemo is back on track. I get it every other week. There is a four-hour painless infusion session in Roger’s new office, with the same wonderful nurses and a great view of the green hills outside Monterey. Then I go home with a portable pump I wear on a belt for twenty-four hours. Pascale calls the pump the “chickaching” machine. Every three minutes, as it dishes out some healing juices, it makes a sound like a miniature slot machine. The chemo cocktail includes steroids, which fire me up with energy and give my face a healthy looking flush that fools everyone. I still have hair – go figure. The steroid high lasts about three days, followed by a few days with no energy and no appetite. This period brings on depression and, at its worst, fear about the future. After the down days, I gradually move back to somewhere between the two extremes.
Challenge in Colorado Springs
My former PhD student Steve Baker spent part of his vacation sitting with me during the last chemo session. It was a wonderful visit. Steve made Colonel in the Air Force, and he was given one of the most important and difficult jobs I can imagine. When sexual abuse scandals were revealed at the Air Force Academy a few years ago, Congress and the Air Force fired the Academy leadership and demanded that something be done. There needed to be much more than an accounting and remedy of the crimes, nothing short of a complete change of culture in the institution. Someone high up realized that the acculturation of the future officers starts with the basic training that cadets receive during the summer between high school and freshman year.
Steve was assigned to redesign and command basic training. Talk about pressure. One more piece of bad press, and who knows what would have happened? Steve studied the problem (like a good OR guy!) and he realized that the Air Force Academy did not have a sexual abuse problem, it had a power abuse problem. Further, he understood there is an inherent risk of this problem in the system. There are around 1300 18-year-old incoming freshman, whose moment-to-moment drilling and supervision are the responsibility of around 900 20-year-old upperclassmen. The training has to be extremely challenging and the kids who are not meant to be officers need to be identified, but that is a lot of power to put in the hands of 20-year-olds. Steve met this challenge successfully. The keys were extremely clear definition of what was allowed and not allowed by the drill instructors, swift, fair and consistent resolution of problems, and, of course, constant hands-on leadership.
Professors like to brag about their students almost as much as grandparents like to brag about their grandkids. My friends who teach at civilian universities have wonderful stories about students who become successful entrepreneurs or major corporate hotshots. This is one of the great privileges of the teaching profession. We get to see our students accomplish things that we never could have done ourselves, and they often give us far more credit than we deserve. I really admire what Steve has done, but I can assure you he came to my school with those leadership talents already in place.
Peru
Speaking of bragging rights, my 20-year-old daughter, Marjorie is in Lima, Peru, doing service work in hospices and rest homes for the poor. Her blog on MySpace is so full of passion and joy for the work. I am immeasurably proud of her.
All three of my girls make me happy and proud every day. Claire is a fantastic mom. Abby is getting more modeling and Spanish language TV gigs, while keeping up her day job and graduate studies in social work. Here is a picture Claire took of Abby.
Glory
And back to military leadership, Pascale and I recently watched the 1989 movie Glory, the true story of the first regiment of black soldiers in the Civil War. It is currently at the top of my list of all time favorite movies.
Mathew Broderick plays Robert Gould Shaw, the white 23-year-old Colonel who commands the regiment. Normally, it takes around 20 years of experience as an officer to make Colonel, but this is an exceptional situation. Shaw is the son of a prominent Boston abolitionist, who is a friend of Frederick Douglass and the Governor of Massachusetts. Who would believe a group of shoeless, illiterate runaway slaves can be formed into a legitimate fighting unit, so why should the Army waste a real colonel? Better to use a boy-colonel, especially one from a politically connected family that supports the idea of the black regiment. I only knew Broderick as a comedy actor and thought he would be swimming in water way over his head, considering the talent of the other stars, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. Broderick turns out to be superb, expressing self-doubts (based on Shaw’s actual letters to his mother) as he grows quickly as a man and a leader.
The shoeless, illiterate soldiers are rich and diverse in character. Denzel Washington is angry, hot-headed, and impertinent, a man with no attachments. Morgan Freeman is wise and worthy of great respect. One “colored” soldier, played by Andre Braugher, is an educated free man who grew up with Shaw. He talks like a Boston Brahman, unable to understand the dialect the others use. He considers himself superior and, of course, has a lot to learn from his uneducated fellow soldiers. There is an Irish master sergeant, older and more experienced than Shaw, who is responsible for drilling the troops. He has a small part in the movie but is fascinating. This is a great picture, with so many life lessons for leaders, citizens, cancer patients, everyone.
Favorite Movies
One night I could not sleep and started a list of my favorite movies. Here are the dramas on the list so far:
Glory
To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch is my favorite hero)
Contact (I think of Jodie Foster as the Atticus Finch of science)
The Shawshank Redemption
Inherit the Wind (the 1960 version with Spencer Tracy)
Chariots of Fire
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Running on Empty
Local Hero
The Tunnel (Pascale and I may be the only people in North America to have seen this fascinating German thriller based on a true story)
Only a few comedies come to mind:
Parenthood
My Favorite Year
The Princess Bride (The Wizard of Oz of my kids' generation)
Last shot for this date: I heard about an amazing bio-tech breakthrough on National Public Radio this morning. Listen for yourself at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5317505
Life is good. My brothers Andy and Bobby came out from the east coast to visit for three days. They came unaccompanied and Pascale was away. It was the first time the three of us were left together without adult supervision in over 40 years. We had a sweet time. Many laughs, memories and observations of our parents’ traits in each other. My daughter Claire and her daughter Skylar spent time with us and added so much to the joy of the visit.
The Chemo Cycle
Chemo is back on track. I get it every other week. There is a four-hour painless infusion session in Roger’s new office, with the same wonderful nurses and a great view of the green hills outside Monterey. Then I go home with a portable pump I wear on a belt for twenty-four hours. Pascale calls the pump the “chickaching” machine. Every three minutes, as it dishes out some healing juices, it makes a sound like a miniature slot machine. The chemo cocktail includes steroids, which fire me up with energy and give my face a healthy looking flush that fools everyone. I still have hair – go figure. The steroid high lasts about three days, followed by a few days with no energy and no appetite. This period brings on depression and, at its worst, fear about the future. After the down days, I gradually move back to somewhere between the two extremes.
Challenge in Colorado Springs
My former PhD student Steve Baker spent part of his vacation sitting with me during the last chemo session. It was a wonderful visit. Steve made Colonel in the Air Force, and he was given one of the most important and difficult jobs I can imagine. When sexual abuse scandals were revealed at the Air Force Academy a few years ago, Congress and the Air Force fired the Academy leadership and demanded that something be done. There needed to be much more than an accounting and remedy of the crimes, nothing short of a complete change of culture in the institution. Someone high up realized that the acculturation of the future officers starts with the basic training that cadets receive during the summer between high school and freshman year.
Steve was assigned to redesign and command basic training. Talk about pressure. One more piece of bad press, and who knows what would have happened? Steve studied the problem (like a good OR guy!) and he realized that the Air Force Academy did not have a sexual abuse problem, it had a power abuse problem. Further, he understood there is an inherent risk of this problem in the system. There are around 1300 18-year-old incoming freshman, whose moment-to-moment drilling and supervision are the responsibility of around 900 20-year-old upperclassmen. The training has to be extremely challenging and the kids who are not meant to be officers need to be identified, but that is a lot of power to put in the hands of 20-year-olds. Steve met this challenge successfully. The keys were extremely clear definition of what was allowed and not allowed by the drill instructors, swift, fair and consistent resolution of problems, and, of course, constant hands-on leadership.
Professors like to brag about their students almost as much as grandparents like to brag about their grandkids. My friends who teach at civilian universities have wonderful stories about students who become successful entrepreneurs or major corporate hotshots. This is one of the great privileges of the teaching profession. We get to see our students accomplish things that we never could have done ourselves, and they often give us far more credit than we deserve. I really admire what Steve has done, but I can assure you he came to my school with those leadership talents already in place.
Peru
Speaking of bragging rights, my 20-year-old daughter, Marjorie is in Lima, Peru, doing service work in hospices and rest homes for the poor. Her blog on MySpace is so full of passion and joy for the work. I am immeasurably proud of her.
All three of my girls make me happy and proud every day. Claire is a fantastic mom. Abby is getting more modeling and Spanish language TV gigs, while keeping up her day job and graduate studies in social work. Here is a picture Claire took of Abby.Glory
And back to military leadership, Pascale and I recently watched the 1989 movie Glory, the true story of the first regiment of black soldiers in the Civil War. It is currently at the top of my list of all time favorite movies.
Mathew Broderick plays Robert Gould Shaw, the white 23-year-old Colonel who commands the regiment. Normally, it takes around 20 years of experience as an officer to make Colonel, but this is an exceptional situation. Shaw is the son of a prominent Boston abolitionist, who is a friend of Frederick Douglass and the Governor of Massachusetts. Who would believe a group of shoeless, illiterate runaway slaves can be formed into a legitimate fighting unit, so why should the Army waste a real colonel? Better to use a boy-colonel, especially one from a politically connected family that supports the idea of the black regiment. I only knew Broderick as a comedy actor and thought he would be swimming in water way over his head, considering the talent of the other stars, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. Broderick turns out to be superb, expressing self-doubts (based on Shaw’s actual letters to his mother) as he grows quickly as a man and a leader.
The shoeless, illiterate soldiers are rich and diverse in character. Denzel Washington is angry, hot-headed, and impertinent, a man with no attachments. Morgan Freeman is wise and worthy of great respect. One “colored” soldier, played by Andre Braugher, is an educated free man who grew up with Shaw. He talks like a Boston Brahman, unable to understand the dialect the others use. He considers himself superior and, of course, has a lot to learn from his uneducated fellow soldiers. There is an Irish master sergeant, older and more experienced than Shaw, who is responsible for drilling the troops. He has a small part in the movie but is fascinating. This is a great picture, with so many life lessons for leaders, citizens, cancer patients, everyone.
Favorite Movies
One night I could not sleep and started a list of my favorite movies. Here are the dramas on the list so far:
Glory
To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch is my favorite hero)
Contact (I think of Jodie Foster as the Atticus Finch of science)
The Shawshank Redemption
Inherit the Wind (the 1960 version with Spencer Tracy)
Chariots of Fire
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Running on Empty
Local Hero
The Tunnel (Pascale and I may be the only people in North America to have seen this fascinating German thriller based on a true story)
Only a few comedies come to mind:
Parenthood
My Favorite Year
The Princess Bride (The Wizard of Oz of my kids' generation)
Last shot for this date: I heard about an amazing bio-tech breakthrough on National Public Radio this morning. Listen for yourself at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5317505
posted by Rick Rosenthal | 12:15 PM
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