Here are a few items I’d like you to consider. Please read them closely. As you consider them, ask yourself how they might relate to our class. ln fact, all of them relate directly to what we are doing.
ITEM 1: I’m sure you are looking forward to Roy Scranton’s visit. He will speak for a few minutes and then await your questions. Sometimes when I invite guests to my classes, ND students are shy about asking questions. I don’t think this will be the case with our class. Since you have already prepared questions, please barrage him with them. I’d like him to come away with the impression that you are the best group of students he’s ever interacted with (and particularly better than the grad students he mainly sees). Also, make sure you have read his Rolling Stone article beforehand. Before you arrive in class, try to imagine what he looks like and what demeanor he will have.
ITEM 2: I promised I’d send you links about excess deaths in the US over time. Excess deaths are those that go beyond scientists’ expected count. In general, excess deaths have hovered around 60,000 every year. Yet, look at the huge spike over the past two years. The counts on these graphs reflect all causes. So, the question is: how can we account for the huge spike? If not Covid, then what?
Excess deaths (percentage increase), January 1, 2015-March 2021. New York Times, March 24, 2021: CDC Excess Mortality HERE
National Center for Health Statistics, Excess Mortality Attributed to COVID-19 (go to bottom and select “deaths with and without COVID”; the graph will be below): HERE
In the spirit of describing my hand in all of its depth, consider the following:
a. Talk show hosts: VIDEO
b. I heard a projection last night that Covid is still likely to claim the lives of 50,000-230,000 lives in the US. I’ll look for the source.
c. Question: If you have a friend who refuses to wear a mask around you–or your siblings, parents, grandparents, or other friends–what kind of friendship does this represent?
You can find the latest COVID statistic at ND here. The 14% positive rate last week is quite high. At the moment, the university is saying that it will lift the mask mandate when the campus is 90% boosted. I am certain that it won’t do this if COVID rates continue to be high.
ITEM 3: There’s a good chance Russia will invade Ukraine very soon (actually, it has already invaded Ukraine’s eastern provinces. I have been to Ukraine many times and I have a lot of Ukrainian friends. I just can’t believe that this can happen in the 21st century. Here is an interview (conducted yesterday) with one of my heroes, Borys Gudziak, the head of the Ukrainian Eastern Catholic Church in the US. I don’t believe the West has the inclination or the ability to prevent the invasion. But, as with COVID, you are living through a shockingly disruptive period in modern history. The challenge is to figure out what this means.
Again, we will consider all of these issues in our class.
Be safe, and see you tomorrow!