I have been self-isolating since the day after I taught my last university class on March 6. All of Washington State is now under executive order to do so, even as some argue the definition of an “essential service.” I believe that Governor Inslee waited perhaps too long to do so, as today we are looking at the deadliest day in reported coronavirus deaths in this country and in several others as well.
In Washington D.C., two of the three branches of government are shaping and reshaping the largest relief package ever created in the history of this country, targeted at workers and families, at small and medium sized businesses, but also in the form of loans to large corporations. That financial relief cannot come soon enough.
Read MoreWhen I was an undergraduate, I worked nights on a men’s maximum security ward at the University of Iowa Psychiatric Hospital. One of the skills I learned then is one I still use: to mentally chart behavior, with an eye to intervening if someone might be hurt. That skill has stood me in good stead when observing the presidents of the United States.
As if our collective anxiety about COVID-19 were not enough, we are being held hostage by a president who craves the spotlight and who thrives on wielding his power. Watching his dominance of news conferences devoted to the coronavirus is painful. It seems that he is wired to spout his own opinions on this crisis, even when they contradict good science or the very task force standing behind him. As many have noted, he requires a kind of “Thanks to the president’s quick thinking….” oath before others, including the vice president, approach the podium.
Read MoreToday marks 15 days since I was last in the classroom in front of students. I’ve been sheltering in place since March 6, participating in meetings via videoconferencing and completing work that will result in the close of the winter quarter today. I have made a plan to live and work this way until June out of an abundance of caution.
Read MoreWe may never know what it was that caught the president’s attention and made him a believer. He now understands that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in our country, and that thousands have been tested and found to be infected. Thousands will die. This is a frighteningly different phenomenon than the annual flu season. And, finally, all the powers and resources of the federal government are being marshaled on behalf of its citizens.
Read MoreExploring issues outside the classroom is still very much part of my work. Here are some of the appearances I’ll be making this spring.
Read MoreWe’ve just concluded off-year elections, including many local races and referendums. In Seattle, only around one third of registered voters exercised that fundamental right.
Read MoreAnnie stepped down recently from the Seattle Public Library Foundation after twelve years.
Read MoreAnnie has published a third edition of Advice From A Risk Detective as well as a fifth volume of Reflections on Risk. Our other large project was threefold: rearchitect, improve content, and migrate our ten year old website to the SquareSpace platform.
Read MoreAt the 2019 iSchool Convocation, Annie was awarded the 2019 Teaching Excellence and Creative Honors (TEACH) Award that was created to "to recognize exemplary teaching and outstanding contributions to teaching made by non-tenure track lecturing faculty."
Read MoreIn 2018, Tautegory Press released Risk Reconsidered, a collection of 20 articles by Annie Searle, first published in The Risk Universe magazine between 2012 and 2017, refreshed with head notes on each, available on amazon.com.
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