[Themaintainers] Utility workers come to the forefront

Fri Apr 3 04:26:46 EDT 2020

E F Spero ---- I looked at your Station1 project, and even considered
filling out the volunteering form but decided it was too difficult.

  I was listening to a long time African american doctor today on the radio
last night, who said half his time now is spent filing out forms, so he
doesn't really have much time to deal with his patients. Says he spends 20
minutes filling out forms, or has to hire staff to do that, and spends 10
minutes with his patients---many of whom have health issues which are
likely mostly 'preventible' conditions --diabetes, heart disease,
addictions,  injuries from violence, etc.
    (Many of these are associated with 'inner city culture''---perhaps
churches, basketball courts, and liquor stores (which also  sell junk food,
lotto tickets and cigarettes )  are the major insitutions of this
culture--along with hospital ICU and EMS teams , and police.  ) I think
only insitutions open in daytime are essential services--- no parks, rec
centers, or basketball courts--just  hospitals (though these operate 24
hours a day)  and liquor stores (7am to midnite).

.
     I have come across several of these online educational projects or
'universities' recently (and some other ones which have been around for
years--I can't remember all the names , but Singularity Institute which is
affiliated with Ray Kurzweil is one, and I thik there is another one with
some MIT affilication.  There is  one run partly by people in my
neighborhood, but you may never see these people on the street.   You can
meet them online via a zoom 'participatory conference' including on things
like 'systems thinking'.

All of them want volunteers , ask for what for me seems to be a rather
buerocratic application or volunteering process, ask for donations, claim
to be 'inclusive' and even directed at 'neglected' communities --the people
I know in 'neglected' communities wouldn't even know how to use these
materials---they watch TV or play games on their smart phones (which they
do know how to use).

    Also, 'business' is not my thing, although I know it seems to
be  neccesary.

  The March 27 Science Magazine (AAAS) has a fairly long article on
economic history by Nathan Nunn  of Harvard on economic history.

(I know a bit more about philosophy and history of science , and some
science --- www.santafe.edu   or https://www.santafe.edu is a sort of
'aggregator'   that will lead you into many if not all of the regions of
that field. Science is factionalized so every group including SFI leaves
out quite a bit of related material.
  I actually was at MIT a couple years ago for the graduation of a relative
and one of her friends was thinking of going to SFI for an internship---she
said she basically didn't know anything about complex systems. She was some
sort of lab or field biologist.
     I also sort of asked these MIT students if they had ever heard of Noam
Chomsky or knew about the 'palestinian/israeli ' conflict ---which was
discussed i their student newspaper tthat they hadn't read  (MIT had a
conference there last year on something like 'scientists4 palestine' ; this
group also had conferences at Columbia U and Cambridge UK).
   (I used to be a fan of Chomsky but his linguistic and political theories
i think do not hold up---parts do, but to quote Pharrel Williams (of the
song 'Happy') its like 'a room without a roof'.  I thnk same is true for
'BDS' movement. )
      these were actually 'taboo topics'  at MIT.     Complexity theory was
as well--- if you want to discuss that, do it in the privacy of your own
room, house, or institute.  This is sort of why i got a free ride home with
the police after we went to the beach after graduation---i decided to go to
see the ocean. And go in--maybe see some sharks.  Someone called the police
on me.  My relatives were not happy to see me come back in a police car.

    What are you supposed to do? You go all the way to MIT on megabus (like
8 hours though cheap, take the train in boston, get lost on the MIT campus,
go through some basement where they have all these complex computer
graphics, and then all you are supposed to do is eat crabs and have light
chat maybe about music.  And the music i like is also a taboo subject.)

  I decided to go to see the ocean.  'here comes the ocean, and the waves ,
crashing in , down by the shore,
    insects are evil thoughts,  thought of  by selfish men, it nearly
drives me crazy'.  (lou reed and the velvet undergound).

On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 10:40 AM E.F. Spero <efs8 at mit.edu> wrote:

> Many of you in the US have probably already seen this - but nevertheless I
> pass it along
> "A Ventilator Stockpile, With One Hitch: Thousands Do Not Work: While
> President Trump has assured states that thousands of ventilators remain at
> the ready, thousands more are in storage, unmaintained or otherwise
> unusable."
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/us/politics/coronavirus-ventilators.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200402&instance_id=17271&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=68011755&section=topNews&segment_id=23606&te=1&user_id=27f84bd98615861dacf04227a3e2567c
>
>
> ---
> Ellan F. Spero, Ph.D.
>
> Lecturer
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> efs8 at mit.edu
>
> Co-Founder and Chief Curriculum Officer
> Station1
> ellan at station1.org
> www.Station1.org
>
> Twitter (@ellanfei) <https://twitter.com/ellanfei> LinkedIn
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellan-spero-b1126a18/> Skype: efspero
> (she, her, hers)
> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/27155006/>
>
>
>
>
>
> Il giorno mer 1 apr 2020 alle ore 13:52 Ishi Crew <mediaentropy at gmail.com>
> ha scritto:
>
>> My area is on semi-lockdown.    I do sort of wonder what would happen if
>> all electricity is lost, or there are major problems with water
>> infrastructure--pipes start bursting, or even   the local youth and drug
>> addicts get feeling so deprived , cooped up and  angry we get alot of
>> violent crime.
>>
>> (I live in an apt.---i worry about the maintenance people ---people who
>> clean and maintain this place, plant the beautiful flowers, empty the
>> dumpster, deal with the contiual problems with the plumbing system---its an
>> old building, so pipes fail.) Not to mention utlity crews who have to deal
>> with power lines every time a tree falls down. Most people in this area are
>> very considerate so there is not much to clean, but some are careless or
>> inconsiderate--leave their trash everywhere or worse.).
>>
>>
>> I could sort of see some sort of 'Darwinian evolution' in which different
>> classes of workers become different species.  You have the tech workers,
>> utility workers, people who empty the dumpsters, the landscapers, the
>> gorcery workers, police , fire dept etc all of whom self-segregate , create
>> ther own self-sufficient communites (in part) and become different species.
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 12:23 PM Piper Wilder <
>> piper.wilder at 60hertzenergy.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks for sharing this, Jasmine.
>>>
>>> My software company, 60Hertz <http://www.60hertzenergy.com>  provides
>>> maintenance software for very remote utility workers who look after
>>> microgrids in villages, commercial/industrial sites, telecomm, mines  etc.
>>> We hadn’t considered the role of COVID-isolated, utility workers, but our
>>> platform could be well-suited to help. Thank you again for sharing this
>>> article.
>>>
>>> Is anyone on this listserve looking at the role of isolated maintenance
>>> workers and mental health? This is a strong thesis for 60Hertz and shapes
>>> our work; we would like to find likeminded researchers or colleagues with
>>> whom to engage on the topic.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> Piper
>>>
>>> On Apr 1, 2020, at 9:34 AM, Jasmine McNealy <jmcnealy at ufl.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello All,
>>>
>>> Delurking to alert you to this really important NBCNews.com story
>>> <https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1173171> on utility workers -
>>> particularly electrical grid workers – during the pandemic. This part is
>>> particularly compelling
>>>
>>> “Some utilities have started to lay in beds, ready-to-eat meals, all of
>>> those kinds of things so their workers can stay on site and not have to mix
>>> in society,” Robb said. “Utilities in other parts of the country that
>>> aren’t quite at that level of severity are getting prepped for moving into
>>> that mode right now.” ~https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1173171
>>>
>>>
>>> Take care,
>>>
>>>
>>> Jasmine McNealy, JD, Ph.D
>>> Associate Professor | University of Florida, College of Journalism
>>> and Communications
>>> Associate Director | Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project
>>>
>>> Faculty Associate | Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society
>>> Chair | ICA Communication Law & Policy Division
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Themaintainers mailing list
>>> Themaintainers at lists.stevens.edu
>>> https://lists.stevens.edu/mailman/listinfo/themaintainers
>>>
>>>
>>> Piper Foster Wilder | Founder/ CEO | 1300 W 7th #406 | Anchorage AK |
>>> 99501 | 970-355-9221
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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