Memorial Day 2015

Ironically part of my 2015 Memorial Weekend was spent with and without a close friend and neighbor, who is also a Navy veteran. No, not that war, silly, the Gulf War … he is 28 years younger than I. Soooooo what could we possibly have in common? RR, as I’ll call him, is a technical whiz, very bright and articulate. An attractive, gay man, he is tall, a bit on the rugged side, and imposing. One of the things we have in common is an interest in technology. My adventures in Linux sparked our first conversation.

RR has an apartment down the hall from me. We live in the same LIHTC (tax credit set-aside, for anyone unfamiliar with the terminology.) He has family in Alaska’s Copper River Valley, who trace their heritage to the state’s Norwegian settlers, Lutheran, of course. He is one of the most kind, most generous and most genuine men I have ever met. He is also troubled.

There is a great deal of commentary and news surrounding veterans’ issues, I don’t know that I can add anything meaningful to the dialog. I have been on hand, however, for RR’s struggles. I do have some background for my perspective. My father was a Navy veteran of World Wars I and II, who enlisted in his late teens, and earned his commission by working his way up through the ranks. I knew little of what he had suffered, when my father retired from the Military. Nor did I entirely grasp how my parents, both orphans, had fared in military life, both managing to have what appeared outwardly, very successful lives as survivors of constant displacement, resettlement, horrors beyond my comprehension (they lived in prewar China for a decade, before my dad was ordered to duty in the Philippine Islands.)

I want people to take the initiative to find veterans who need help, veterans that are suffering and in need of assistance reintegrating from combat back into society, into normal family lives and jobs. We need to take a real 'boots on the ground' approach to helping veterans in need. ~Max Martini

I have not been surprised, but have observed closely, while the Veterans Administration did the minimum for RR. Like my parents, he’d returned home from duty in the Gulf, had begun anew, founded a cloud computing business, formed relationships. As does everyone he suffered the slings and arrows, but, somewhere along the line, it all ended in heartbreak and loss. No, I mean a shipload of loss.

When RR landed here, it was with the help of a veterans’ housing counselor and program. RR still struggled with an array of symptoms, and Denver, Colorado, has a V.A. hospital, not far from our apartment complex. It seems to me, has always seemed to me, the facility is a grand pill dispensary. My friend can access care … his physical impairment, if any, is nothing obvious. Psychiatric care, sure, if there is an emergent situation; otherwise there is a lot of jumping through hoops to access a “continuum of care,” if there could be said to be a continuum of care.

So RR has pills thrown at him. Some work, some don’t, others seem to make him worse. Ups and downs sometimes look more like episodes, exacerbated by stressful situations. Look, all I can say about us and our housing is this. It should not add to our difficulties or stress. Occasionally this is very stressful housing. This is too brief to discuss all the reasons why. Recently our investors/landlords have decided to declare us smoke-free, right down to the insides of our apartments. This called for, at least, a shallow effort to get the consensus of the tenants here. A questionnaire came to my door a couple of months ago (more or less,) asking me to opine and vote. A lifelong non-smoker, I declined to vote, and sent their document back with a note, saying I knew this had nothing to do with consensus. I said I knew this landlord, knew it would do whatever it saw fit. Over approximately 6 years we have been bombed, off and on, with directives and other nonsense directed toward marijuana use. Needless to say it is strictly forbidden, and includes medical marijuana. We occasionally get a bombardment concerning cigarette smoking on the premises. I’d have to say everyone ignores these.

Bingo! Of some 200 residents, something around 10% responded to the questionnaire. A few weeks later, we received a memo, “inviting” us to a sort of non-smoking, new-lease-signing meeting. Woo Hoo. The featured guests were people from Denver Health, who attended to give a non-smoking and stop-smoking lecture. Keep in mine, friends, attendance was mandatory. Following the presentation and lukewarm pizza, the celebration ended in a signing of the rules, regulations and new policy in the form of a lease addendum. I refused to stay for the non-smoking presentation. (We had one in high school.) When I returned to sign the lease addendum, I had my doubts. I felt coerced, particularly, since the Site Manager sidled up to me and said, “Anyone who does not sign within the next couple of days, we will assume, has no further interest in living here – they will be evicted.” I thought, “Why is she saying this to me? I am here to sign. I signed, but above my name, I wrote, “Signed under protest.” I felt coerced.

Meanwhile RR had “lost it.” He’d posted a letter in the elevator foyer on our floor. Essentially it said he felt he’d earned the right, bottom line, to live his life as he wishes. What a novel concept. I guess they didn’t get it, so he also telephoned them and said the fatal words, “I will not comply,” or something to that effect. With neck-snapping rapidity, the Manager served RR with a notice to vacate. In spite of his V.A. housing advocate’s intervention, this was closely followed by an eviction posting. The management here is currently not answering the advocate’s phone calls.

We soon became embroiled, RR and I, in one of his stress-induced outbursts, followed by me telling him we could not discuss the matter further. Before the outburst I had forwarded him a number of links and a good deal of legal information, to defend himself against eviction. I am not an attorney, so I can only direct someone to a place where they can get advice. That said I know the laws in Colorado, especially real estate and corporate statutes.

All good, but RR would not (or could not) simply stop. I received, maybe, fifty or so texts, numerous phone calls and a flood of e-mails. I have boundaries, very strong boundaries, and there was an emergent family situation worrying me. So I blocked the man. I issued a warning, saying there would be consequences, if he did not, simply, stand down. I was not angry, but, not going to accept further intrusion.

This ended between us with peace and tranquility, followed closely by apologies. All is well, except that, on this Memorial Day Weekend, rather than being honored, the man is frantically trying to pack and move to God knows where! He has not violated his lease. He simply disagreed in a dramatic, overstated manner. Believe me, this is Archdiocese-run housing. You don’t want to go there, even if there is a trail of tranquilizers to follow. I hope somebody besides me thanks RR for his service, and cuts him some slack for Memorial Day.

K.

How Was Your Week?

This is the question posed in rational recovery groups at weekend meetings, "How was your week?" I am not in recovery, nor consistently rational. I live in the not-so rational world of retirees, ethnic minorities, emigres and disabled people. Generally I choose not to dwell on this, and write about it seldom. Not so many people in the mainstream, including elders, have an interest. Just for the sake of whatever interest there may be, I'll share my week in this post.

Actually I'll begin with developments earlier in April, when we received our LIHTC Site Manager's monthly newsletter. An article stated the "Home Owners Association" had decided to change the locks on our apartments, replacing lower door knobs with unlocking door handles. I had never before heard we had an HOA! In any event their decision would leave tenants one lock on each apartment door, a deadbolt. Concerned for my safety in this slip-slide environment, I contacted the Site Manager and Regional Director of Housing. I asked who sits on the Board of Directors of the HOA.

The next big question was whether HOA Board meetings were open, and when they occurred. Within a day or two I received an answer from a woman, an employee of the landlord. She stated in an e-mail message that the organization is not an HOA in the true sense and, no, the board meetings are not open. I am still flattened by the notion of referring to an organization as an HOA, a legal designation, when it neither meets the federal, nor State of Colorado, definition/designation, and does not follow the rules.

This brings me to yesterday. An elderly neighbor, Grace, received a notice in the mail from the Denver Housing Authority, stating her Section VIII housing benefit has been denied. Nothing has changed for Grace; her income and disability status remain the same. It seems she transgressed, allegedly permitting a young relative to forward his mail to her address, while he was in the process of moving to Colorado. He did not stay with Grace. She gave him no express permission to forward mail to her care. She knew nothing of a rule against receiving the mail while he was in transit. Distressed, Grace telephoned her Housing Technician immediately. The technician stated the matter was "out of her hands." The technician now thinks this was an administrative error. Nobody, however, expressed any concern whatsoever for Grace, who is a decent, honest woman. I suggested Grace go Disability Law Colorado, formerly The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People, as well as HUD Fair Housing's Regional Office in downtown Denver! I suggested she personally visit both offices, because she is dealing with none other than the Denver Housing Authority.

Our Very Own Fat Cat Developer

This week also brought me to the point of writing to admonish management concerning a threatened search of apartments in the building, in the wake of a theft. The theft occurred, when our shoddily constructed roof leaked, during recent rain storms. (A shout out to our fat cat Dallas developer seems apropos.)  Certain areas of the building interior flooded, and many tenants had buckets scattered throughout their units.

It seems a commercial carpet blower was left unattended in a very wet common area. The blower vanished overnight. As we have no video surveillance, an open exit stairway, and no meaningful building security, anyone could have removed the blower. The search of individual apartments, would have to be reasonable and proper notice provided. Look, I can understand anyone's frustration at the removal of the property. I also understand it was costly. What I cannot understand is including every tenant on one floor, or every tenant in the building in accusations or threats.

One of my close friends suggested none of this is my business. Ah, but we differ. There is a huge sign in the Leasing Office, together with an enormous bronze Christian Cross. The sign proclaims respect and dignity in the treatment of tenants, and vows to uphold community. It is the height of hypocrisy on the part of Archdiocesan Housing, Inc. management, not to mention a violation of the separation of Church and State on a federally subsidized property. (At its convenience Archdiocesan Housing, Inc. plays the federal property card to disallow the use of medical marijuana on the part of any tenant. Unfortunately the management has never grasped the extent of illegal drug use and trafficking onsite.)

Lonely Chick

Now I must find out why my SNAP benefits have suddenly increased. (The government decimated my monthly benefit in mid- to late 2014, from $129 to $60, then, to $21. Now they appear to have increased, for no apparent reason, to around $60.) Great news, unless I am forced to repay benefits given me in error. I've recently helped a neighbor, who is being forced to repay $670 in unemployment benefits, because her employer erred by designating her full time. The employer a multi-national corporation, received not so much as a warning. 

Every confection needs a cherry atop. My neighbors and I keep sighting a former tenant of Broadway Junction on the premises. Before the management evicted this individual he repeatedly threatened the life of an elderly female tenant. He visits here, undeterred, and one woman is very frightened here. No word from the landlord concerning a No Trespass Notice.

So, in case you wondered, this is a slice o' life in an American LIHTC. I do not believe I need to elaborate on anything more, not this week.

PNG

Life Isolated

Perhaps, like me, you have been termed a PNG in one context or another. No matter your station in life, nor how stable an individual you are, the persona non grata declaration, official or not, delivers a burden of guilt. At least the people or person doing the shunning hope so. In diplomacy, the idea is to officially let you and the world know you are unwelcome. You are not alone, if you've been publicly declared a PNG. Yes, there is a list, and, from the look of it, once on the list, always on the list.

     The international diplomatic list is lengthy; some of the PNGs have done or are alleged to have done pretty nasty stuff. Others .... well, you be the Judge. The entire list can be found on Wikipedia. A couple of modern examples from the government of the Philippines caught my eye, because I was born near Manila, at the United States Naval Hospital, Cavite.

• 1998 - Actress Caire Danes was In the Philippine Islands for the shooting of the film, Brokedown Palace. In an interview with Vogue Magazine, Danes is said to have referred to Manila as a "ghastly and weird city." I thank Ms. Danes for her truthfulness. However the Philippine Repubic declared her a you-know-what.

• 2009 - Alec Baldwin appeared on the Late Show with host, David Letterman. In a joking manner Baldwin referred to Filipino and Russian "mail-order brides," or the availability thereof. He was not merely declared a persona non grata by the Philippine Government. According to the Wikipedia listing, threats were made against both Baldwin and his wife, should they ever to return to the islands. Whether Baldwin is Mr. Nice or not, a prominent Filipino, a senator and actor, himself, engaged in criminal threats.

     Anyone who has lived long in the context of family or friends has felt the weight of being unwelcome. The only child of two orphans, I was a lonely kid, always the new kid in the country, on the block, in school. I have consistently blundered my way through Family Relations 101, having earned black sheep status in my mother's eyes at an early age. I'd like to say she took me back into her good graces, as she was my sole living relative. By the time she died, however, we had been estranged for 6 years. As a final gesture the woman appointed my former husband the Executor of her estate, willing me $1. It was her last ditch effort to drag me to a mirror by my ear, forcing me to look at myself. It is reasonable to conclude I am not always the easygoing charmer you know and love.

     Do your family members or friends shun people? Does your church or school engage in shunning of one sort or another? If you are the person looking in from the outside, it is okay, my friend, this has been going on since biblical times. It doesn't make you, in sheep terms, baaaaaaaad. It is, at worst, a reflection on those who isolate you. At best it is an opportunity for introspection and growth. Self-imposed isolation is another thing altogether. Habitually retreating can become unhealthy; long-term, it is unproductive. 

Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Why be a dumb dud? Do your friends shun you? Do people cross the street when they see you approaching? Do they run up the steps of strange houses, pretend they live there and force their way into the hall while you are passing by? If this is the sort of person you are, you must avail yourself today of this new service. Otherwise, you might as well be dead. ~Flan O'Brien, The Best of Myles

     The saddest thing in American culture is our proclivity for rejecting and isolating others. We legitimately find the harsh aspects of disability, poverty and aging difficult to confront. I get it, but more than this, America worships youth. We prefer the cosmetic banishment of all reality we deem unattractive, rather than confront life face-to-face. Or we'll do anything to delay by declaring, "I can't deal!" 
     As far as elderly people are concerned, unquestionably, we may become impatient or downright temperamental. Some are poor, in pain, or both. A long life, any elder will tell you, accumulates bitter disappointment and unbearable loss. Age prejudice can make of anyone something of a curmudgeon, trust us. This is not to say certain health conditions require professional interventions and care. Just know it is wrong to leave them suffering and dying alone. 
      Then there are lively, lovely people we leave behind, simply due to extremely busy schedules or life's ongoing pressures. Here are some suggestions for elders and their loved ones:
http://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/9-2-14-reduce-senior-isolation/
Isolation, my friends, is the special bane of our golden years. It is absolutely a killer ... it kills the spirit, then, stealthily attacks mind and body.

Howard and The Greater Good

The collateral damage of America's economic downturn is apparent in our institutions of higher learning. It has affected none more than Howard University and its teaching hospital, although Howard is privately endowed and receives financial support from Congress. Two years ago a trustee sounded the alarm, citing "genuine trouble," financial crisis. The "trouble" was not in the school, itself. In fact the school operated at a $13 million profit in 2014. It was Howard University Hospital, which reported a $58 million loss, bringing the outlook of the entire institution down. Furloughs of hospital staff in 2013 had, apparently, not saved the day. February 2014 brought major layoffs, so the April 2015 layoffs of school staff should not be as shocking as they are. It is not so much the fact of the 80 plus cuts. It is not even the abruptness that raises questions. It is the manner of the firings, particularly in light of the historic values and mission of Howard.

     A Washington Post article recounts the experience of E. Ethelbert Miller, who found himself locked out of his university computer and e-mail, after 40 years of service. The 64 year old Howard veteran later found a larger-than-usual paycheck deposited to his bank account. He still has the keys to his office. Miller, a known poet and the Director of the Afro-American Studies Resource Center at the University, has not been contacted directly by the university administration, neither regarding termination, nor his severance package. Adding insult to injury Miller's roots in Howard University go deep; he is a 1972 graduate of the school. The treatment he received is as unworthy of Howard University as any of the 2014 stories, and there have been some doozies:
http://hbcubuzz.com/good-bad-ugly-top-22-hbcu-stories-2014/  
    Clearly the problems run deeper than finance, but why would Americans of all cultures decry Howard's evident decline, both as an institution of higher learning and as a community? To begin Howard University has proudly awarded more than 100,000 degrees in the professions, arts, sciences and humanities, since 1867. It ranks in the top producers of Black professionals, holders of doctorates in a variety of fields. These contributions to what we could term the greater good of the Nation distinguish the University, but do not define it.

     Howard University has been at the center of this country's civil rights history, dating from the end of the Civil War. The University was named for a founder, Union Army General, Oliver O. Howard, known during war as "The Christian General."At the end of the war General Howard became President of the U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (the ill-fated Freedmen's Bureau.) Howard and his bureau sought to provide safe harbor from prosecution for Blacks designated contraband, as well as to provide basic needs, skills and education for refugees.

     The Bureau failed for political reasons; however, General Howard succeeded in joining forces with others of The First Congregational Society to found a University in Washington, D.C., dedicating it to higher education, primarily, for freedmen. General Howard eventually became the President of the University. The first offering was a degree program in Theology, principally, for aspiring clergy. The curriculum grew to include Medicine and Liberal Arts. Today the curriculum of Howard University is extensive. It is important to note that acceptance to Howard was not and is not based upon ethnicity, nor sex. Howard's earliest students were white and female, daughters of the founders.

     Howard University is one of 106 Historically Black Universities in the United States; the school prides itself on being singular among them as "the only truly comprehensive historically black university" in the country:
http://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/9908huarnet/muse1.htm 
Here is an excerpt from the University's website, regarding the school's mission:

"The University has long held a commitment to the study of disadvantaged persons in American society and throughout the world. The goal is the elimination of inequities related to race, color, social, economic and political circumstances. As the only truly comprehensive predominantly Black university, Howard is one of the major engineers of change in our society. Through its traditional and cutting-edge academic programs, the University seeks to improve the circumstances of all people in the search for peace and justice on earth."

     Indeed Howard University is inextricably linked to America's Civil Rights history and future:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/3-organized/howard-university.html
In his June 1965 Commencement Speech at Howard University, Lyndon Johnson spoke of the University's history and role as an instrument of change. (See and hear his speech on YouTube.) President Johnson spoke of justice and expectation, saying, "... American justice is a very special thing. For, from the first, this has been a land of towering expectations. It was to be a nation where each man could be ruled by the common consent of all--enshrined in law, given life by institutions, guided by men themselves subject to its rule. And all--all of every station and origin--would be touched equally in obligation and in liberty." 

     We can only hope Howard University returns to its values and mission, because resolving the fiscal dilemma will not suffice. Meanwhile Howard has some tall explaining to do, especially to one 64 year old gentleman poet.

Trapping Lower Income Elders

Gotcha!

Predatory lending and financing don't just trap seniors; it is just that elders are more vulnerable and less able to pay exorbitant interest and fees than our younger counterparts. Millions upon millions of American elders have zero emergency buffers. Stuff happens, and predators know they have temptation on their side. Generally elders do not opt to incur overdraft fees or payday loans for luxuries, because they know it is nearly impossible to bail out. Most go without furnishings and electronics, rather than rent or lease them. The majority of seniors who fall into the traps, however, do so, because they cannot meet basic needs. The notion of borrowing to cover a short term contingency is the premise that permitted payday lenders to claim legitimacy in the first place. Of course the reality is quite something else; certainly emergencies arise, but a payday loan is designed not to be paid off! Hence the term debt trap.

Conscience may not be on our side; guilt is pervasive in poverty. Once we retire, unless we retire wealthy, our lives become constricted. An estimated 1 in every 10 retirees today lives below the poverty line. Guilt attaches, particularly if we cannot earn our way out of debt. Even if we can, the issue becomes lifestyle. If we were properly raised and educated, we customarily attend family and other social events, looking our best and on our best manners. We take hostess gifts, and give gifts to celebrate milestones in peoples' lives. We write thank you cards, send holiday greetings, write nice letters on good stationery. In our prior lives these were not extraordinary expenses, quite the contrary. For many of the nation's elders, the more likely scenarios are foregoing groceries or medications, skipping the utility bill or paying a copay for a visit to a medical specialist. We feel terribly guilty asking for help, because it feels as though we cannot manage our finances. The following are guides, available online to help seniors manage. https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnsum13/Summer2013C.pdf
http://www.stopfraud.gov/protect.html

As often as we find ourselves having to relinquish things we've always taken for granted, life has a way of becoming worse! It is Murphy's Law. A chest of drawers cracks and peels, a sofa grows dilapidated, saggy, and dingy. The twenty something phone stops functioning. A relatively new set of dentures slips from your hands. The lower plate breaks, and the dentist says, no, he cannot just replace it. An elderly pet becomes terminally ill, must be euthanized and, of course, cremated. If no other resources exist, high-interest loans are not the answer, I promise. We know making the payments may take a long time, and sacrifices will have to be made. In fact it is not that simple. These loans were designed to keep people in a cycle of debt. The next revelation is the lender's efforts to invite you to open yet another loan, even though you have struggled to meet payment deadlines. If you default and decline to open another loan, the lender swamps you with telephone calls. (Speaking of guilt, if you find yourself having to confess you took out an unsecured loan, people will consider you mad ... with reason.) Rather it is a lesson learned, and you are, by no means, alone in learning it. Here are a few helpful facts and some after-the-fact advice:
http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/get-out-payday-loan-trap
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cfpb-proposes-new-payday-lending-rules-2015-03-26-91034835
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/payday-loans-and-lenders?page=2

Poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression. It meets a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts that is something on which to pride yourself but poverty itself is romanticized by fools. ~J. K. Rowling
Will predatory programs ever be legislated entirely out of our misery? The Center for Responsible Lending has testified in state and federal hearings. Abuses are so widespread and victimize so many vulnerable Americans, legislation has already been and will continue to be enacted. Meanwhile, if you are an elder or a family elder owes a payday lender and cannot pay, there are a couple of things to know. Only a government agency, such as the IRS can touch Social Security retirement benefits, for one thing. Here is a helpful link:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/payday-loans-and-lenders?page=2

Just a quick word to the wise for elders experiencing long- or short-term financial hardship. Sometimes non-profits can offer help; however not all are created equal. Just be aware scams and scammers abound, particularly, on the Internet. For example American Hope Resources (AHR) boasts a great looking website and an F Rating from the Better Business Bureau! The National Gerontological Society is a safe site to visit, and can direct you to your State's Gerontological Society and its many resources. My State's Bar Association publishes a Senior Law Guide annually. Check to see whether your State's Bar Association publishes such a guide; it is invaluable. Senior fairs and events, although they have limited entertainment value, often provide good information.

Do the math, then, do the research. Take deep, cleansing, breaths. Stay safe; it's a jungle out there.

Fear and Loathing: A Salute To Seniors

     Okay, so what would you think Las Vegas, fat, greasy Elvis impersonators and Colorado elders have in common? C'mon now, think hard. The clock is ticking. "Yes, lady in the purple hat, it is farfetched, but you got it right! Lucky you, adventure awaits. You win a trip to the Colorado Gerontological Society's April 2015 Salute to Seniors!" Whoopee I know I am excited.      

      Anyone will tell you Elvis slamming and Vegas loathing do not merely border on the trite. Even in light of the negative publicity surrounding Ferguson, Missouri, though, Vegas manages to distinguish itself as an equal opportunity offender, a city millions love to hate. A "Las Vegas Weekly Magazine" edition published one insult to the city that seems to sum it all up: "a nonstop spectacle of fat ... Midwesterners, Arab sheiks, the elderly, gangsta thugs, greasy Lotharios with unbuttoned shirts and scantily clad club ladies all commingling inside a giant pinball machine." Pretty apt, although Hunter Thompson nailed it in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Then there is the Mayor of Las Vegas, who offered a trip to a lake with cement shoes for Vegas critics ... classy, don't you think?

But our trip was different. It was a classic affirmation of everything right and true and decent in the national character. It was a gross, physical salute to the fantastic possibilities of life in this country-but only for those with true grit. And we were chock full of that.~Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

     
Oh, you say, but, "Elvis is even more an archetype than Vegas, complete with minions of worshipers?" Dear readers, proof that Elvis long since left the building lies in the endless supply of ghastly impersonators, who opt his lugubrious appearance and style, but so lack his talent. Thank you. Thank you very much, Colorado's Annual Salute to Seniors 2015 promises to be a ride ... reminiscent of the carnival rides of long ago. We all dwell in nostalgia, though, don't we? Hell, who am I to criticize? Would I have a better idea for a huge attempt to market your balls off to to hapless seniors? No.

And if there's any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there's any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara. ~Phil Ochs 

     Please do not take this as an indictment of the Colorado Gerontological Society. I am unsure whether they could do better by Colorado seniors. With the resources the Society has it does fine work. I just wonder whether the annual Salute couldn't be better named. In the alternative perhaps we could hope for a more meaningful way to honor seniors. On the other hand, maybe Denver's income challenged elders would not attend. After all there wouldn't be so much landfill fodder for hoarders to grab n' stash (ball point pens, hard candies, notepads, key rings and, as Andy Griffith once said, "I don't know what all.")

     As for me, I attended last year's Salute as a volunteer, although I did little to earn my free pass. The Convention Center food concessions were pricey and as mediocre as any Denver street food. The celebrities were sad reminders of early television. I was looking for a better Medicare insurer, although they all look pretty much the same to me. At the end of the day it was an unimpressive, somehow, unsatisfying affair. I still have one ball point pen, and guess that is something.

GDI

That you, Pin Head?

The "Fortune 500" old boys and girls will hate this post. They and many of America's 1% will be sending sons and daughters off to the beloved alma mater in Autumn 2015. It isn't due to pure nostalgia; there is leverage in all those Alumni Association dues and monetary donations. Not all the kiddies will choose to follow in their elders' footsteps, although juniors who do not choose the old school tie will likely enter Mum's sorority or Dad's fraternity. The beaming parents will encourage this; plenty of time to repent later. I say this because certain events have come to our attention regarding social fraternities in recent years. Bigotry, one could say, is only part of the equation We called Dad a frat rat, when we attended university with him. It was not pure resentment. I never have liked labels, but there was every good reason God Damned Independents and college administrators hated frats.

     I was very clear, upon entering the University of Colorado at 16, whether or not I wanted to join a sorority. Having been part of the military life I'd had enough of "Rank Hath Its Privileges,"even though my father was a commissioned officer. Nor did I care for the potential advantages of sorority life. I did not live in campus housing. My funding, eventually, a full-ride scholarship, reflected my passion for my studies, so study groups, other peoples' class notes, sample tests ... had no appeal.

     I did have a frat rat laboratory partner in first year Biology. He was a BMOC, a prominent athlete. I'll call him Studley. Unfortunately we shared a fetal pig in Anatomy Lab. One fine day, we were to establish and show the sex of our babies. Studley began by stabbing me with his scalpel. I thought, silently, "This guy has the makings of a Navy Doctor!" 

     The professor arrived at our table, while I was cleansing and bandaging my wound, cursing under my breath. He asked Studley the sex question, before I could stop him. (I'd already pointed out that our piglet had undescended testicles.) "Why, Sir, it is clearly a female," my buddy opined. The teacher, tweezed and displayed perhaps the largest pair of cajones ever to occur in a porcine infant. Studley reddened. I just kept silently swearing, slapping my forehead. I feared his lab grade would be my lab grade. Studley was one of a handful of fraternity men of my acquaintance and, clearly, Sir, needed every advantage he could garner.

     By contrast some of the women I knew who had entered sororities, were fine students. I associated, for the most part, with Alpha Chi Omegas, generally shunned by more elite sororities. Many of their number were female athletes. You see, the ideal woman of the early Sixties was feminine, a beauty ... marriageable. If she was intelligent or extraordinarily gifted, she hid it. She had to be more than discreet. She had to be wily, to avoid being exploited by her male counterparts. Some traditions in the throwback Greek System began in the 19th Century. I promise you they never die. The following is quoted from an Atlantic article by Caitlin Flanagan.

An 1857 letter that a Sigma Phi sent to one of his fraternity brothers suggests the new system was already hitting full stride: “I did get one of the nicest piece of ass some day or two ago.”

     There was always tremendous peer pressure to smoke, drink and screw like minks, but exclusively ... and always in a manner befitting. Talking about sex was fine, talking about sexual encounters, absolutely not. Drugs had not quite emerged in the social scene, and, if they were present at parties, their use was clandestine. We were truly the youth of Pleasantville, having narrowly escaped the 1950s high school nightmare. Universities were still governed, although in varying degrees, by the now outdated concept of in loco parentis. They were not diploma mills, they took seriously the job of molding character and, often, of protecting students from themselves. All that came to a screeching halt, just as students of my generation entered careers and/or the grind of post graduate degree programs. It looked for a time, as though, the grandeur of fraternity mansions and boola boola were doomed to extinction. Many became seedy rat traps; not all have been completely renovated. Some are downright dangerous.

     Rather than rely on my own perceptions, current or past events, I reread a detailed article from The Atlantic, published in 2014, "The Dark Power of Fraternities." The link is here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/02/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/

Parents and grandparents of all socio-economic groups need to read this and reread it.

      One fact was and has remained abundantly clear. The Greek System, while it provides housing and social opportunities to the chosen, fraternities and sororities often find themselves at odds with the philosophy and mission of academia. As long ago as 1978 Dartmouth's faculty proposed to eliminate fraternities and sororities on the premise they fostered anti-intellectualism and sexism.

      Add incubating for tomorrow's bigots and elitists, and I'll give an, "Amen." Tempus fugit, it seems, albeit very slowly. A more recent report of the Dartmouth Committee on Diversity and Community leveled similar criticisms. Herein lies the rub the trustees will have to build new housing. They must consider providing more and better student events, as well as venues. Dartmouth may make the investment, but not all universities enjoy the financial health and outside investors to do so. 

     What else has kept the outmoded system in place? Can it be charitable and community service activities? As significant as the contributions may or may not be to a fraternity or sorority image, they seldom offset the negative side of the balance sheet. The concept of in loco parentis may have been all but abandoned, but the Constitutional right of Freedom of Assembly has kept social fraternities and sororities right where they are, even when they are prominently troublesome to community and university authorities. Turning them into coed institutions may work, or it may just address some issues.

    Change is once again in the air ... it may take time, but I believe we'll see an end to other than academic fraternities in our lifetimes. Meanwhile if you have a youngster headed off to college this Fall, consider the safety and security concerns in your student's housing, whether it is off or on campus. You may want to give the kids a heads up concerning their comportment, as it relates to their safety. Parents cannot just assume these kids will be the exemplary citizens we have trained them to be. They are fledging into a highly competitive environment of intricate social complexity, combined with unimaginable freedom of choice. For some it will prove to be the perfect storm.