Preparing for H1N1 on College Campuses

H1N1 presents a real risk to college campuses this fall and developing an effective emergency response plan is critical to effectively handling an outbreak. During my tenure at American University, I oversaw emergency preparedness planning for the SARS pandemic, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon, Anthrax exposure, the D.C. Sniper, and the discovery of U.S. military toxic weapons on campus.

Based on my past experience, I had the opportunity to share a few pointers for colleges on handling H1N1 with The Greenville News:

Upstate colleges see few swine flu cases
Prevention takes center state as some Southern schools report spike in disease
Liv Osby
Greenville News
September 14, 2009

Swine flu has been sweeping through the nation’s college campuses in recent weeks with a spike in the Southeast, but most Upstate colleges are reporting just a handful of cases — at least so far.

Thoughts on the Episcopal Church

The State featured my op-ed today on the current struggles in the Episcopal Church. This topic is of particular interest since the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina has spoken out against the direction of the national church.

 

The Significance of Silence

Words are the upsurge of silence. Indeed, all human expression is in a peculiar but definite way attended and upheld by silence, which both precedes and follows expression.

We are so used to trafficking in words that we rarely pause to pay attention to silence itself. The overwhelming technical advances in speed, amplification, and access that are enhanced by our control and manipulation of words and images only increase our infatuation and addiction. No doubt this is both unavoidable and fulfilling since we find ourselves in expression.