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SRQ DAILY Nov 14, 2015

"The really difficult political hot potato is, of course, the location of a facility or facilities that would provide temporary shelter - not a jail diversion facility - for the chronic homeless throughout Sarasota County."

- Ian Black, The Way I See It
 

[Higher Education]  Hiring Faculty
Donal O'Shea, doshea@ncf.edu

A number of people have asked me what I think of the State College of Florida trustees’ decision to abolish continuing contracts for new faculty and to establish a bidding system to fill jobs. Let me make a few remarks about how one hires college faculty so you can understand how it affects the College and the community.  

Universities that genuinely value teaching hire faculty members who love their discipline and who love teaching. To love one’s discipline means that you are expert in it, absorbed by it, contribute to it and think constantly about it. To love teaching means that you care deeply that each student learns and that you are constantly seeking ways to engage each one. You feel their pain, you revel in their accomplishments and you are always juggling your available time to make the biggest difference to the most students you can.  

Professors at high quality institutions are pulled in different directions by the demands of their discipline and by their students. They love what they do, and they work 60, 70, 80 hours a week, and often much longer, often to the detriment of their personal lives. When college is not in session, they do research in labs or in the field or in archives. They write papers and books, and they learn and master new developments in their fields.   

Both New College and State College are very high quality institutions. They hire nationally. When hiring, New College seeks individuals with both established research programs and a willingness to work collaboratively with students on research that students suggest. Successful candidates are typically one to five years after their PhD (or MFA if their field is in the arts). State College accepts all students who apply, so it seeks faculty with advanced degrees who are able to teach well at all levels, which is different from, and often tougher than, teaching students with more homogeneous academic backgrounds.       

How many such individuals are there? Fewer than you might think.  

Each year the number of new PhDs in the United States in a core academic discipline ranges from a little over 100 in fields like classics or medieval history to over 3,000 in psychology.  This sounds like a lot until you realize that well over half have no interest in teaching—other jobs pay more and demand less. And each year, most of the 4,000 institutions of higher education in the U.S. are seeking faculty in core disciplines. So there is much competition, and it is not unusual for a search to fail.    

The best candidates usually have multiple offers. How do you get such a person to move here? It’s not salaries—Florida pays less than most other states. Candidates must see that what they love—their discipline and teaching—aligns with what the institution wants. Teachers who make those commitments to their students and their disciplines want to see a similar commitment to them from the institution. They look for institutions who expect them to succeed, to settle in the area, to build programs and to be there for their graduates who will need letters and support many years after graduation.  

Donal O'Shea is president of New College of Florida. 

[The Report]  When Discrimination is Your Religion
Susan Nilon, susan.nilon@gmail.com

It was January 2013 when an Oregon LGBT couple filed a complaint against an Oregon baker for refusing to allow them to purchase a cake for their wedding.  The case made national headlines fueled by the bakery’s own social media efforts.  When the bakery was notified of the complaint, owners quickly took to social media and posted the couple’s personal information and grievances.  Immediately, the LGBT couple was subjected to a litany of hate and threats all in the name of Jesus.  

In Tallahassee, a bill is racing through committees in the Florida House of Representatives called HB 401, entitled “An act relating to the protection of religious freedom.”  This bill provides “immunity from liability for a health care facility or health care provider that refuses to administer, recommend or deliver medical treatments or procedures that would be contrary to religious or moral conviction or policies…a person, a closely held organization, religious institution that refuses to produce, create or deliver custom products or services that would be contrary to religious or moral convictions or policies…private child-placing agency that refuses to perform, assist in, recommend, consent to or participate in the placement of a child that would be contrary to religious or moral convictions or policies…”  You get the picture.  

This bill makes me physically sick when I read it. To think that people, in the name of religion, feel righteous in their effort to discriminate, to refuse health care or provide a good home to a child in need.  How can we do this to each other? How can we be so ugly and not see it?

And how would this bill be put into practice? Would there be signs on the window indicating that service would be refused? Would doctors have to wear a badge on his or her coat warning every one of their religious beliefs? This bill appears to be in violation of not only the Hippocratic Oath and reeks of the Jim Crow laws of the South, but goes against everything that Jesus taught us in the New Testament.  

Our righteous convictions bring out the worst in us. It feeds our fears and justifies our crimes. Our hate cannot be hidden under the veil of religion. Jesus chose society’s shunned and disposed of people to walk with him. He welcomed the ugly and diseased to dine with him. And he taught us all acceptance.  

This is not just about our representatives in Tallahassee. This is really about us. Who we are in a civilized society that does some absolutely wonderful things. To think that a little boy who is faced with leukemia can get the support from an entire city to fulfill his dream of becoming Batman lives in the same culture of people who firebombed a house where three young brothers from Arcadia were diagnosed with the AIDS virus is just incomprehensible. Decades apart, but examples in our history that still remain even today.

When hate reaches a critical mass, we find in the crowd perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders and victims. Similar to the crowds that gather at a stoning, even those who say nothing or do nothing, are equally as culpable. With the advance of social media, we assume that we will be safe in numbers. As what happened in Oregon when the bakers took to social media to rally support for their cause, many people were able to witness and document evils of righteousness.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

It’s time to call your Representative in Tallahassee and ask them to withdraw HB 401.  For even if it does not make it to the floor for a vote, we do bear witness to this misguided effort to defend religious freedom at the expense of our fellow man and our own humanity.

Susan Nilon hosts The Nilon Report. 

[The Way I See It]  Find The Workable Solution
,

I am fascinated by the amount of column inches devoted recently in our local media to Homelessness.

Check it out:

“A’s and E’s for efforts to help homelessness-Dr. Marbut’s report card on Sarasota County Homelessness”- Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“Wrong for homeless shelter”-Ed James II guest column Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“Common Sense on Homeless”-Sarasota Observer editorial

“City, County talk homelessness”-Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“A plan for the homeless”- Jim Ley guest column Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“Troubling angle to ideas on homeless”-Tom Lyons commentary Sarasota Herald-Tribune 

“Can Homeless Debate Reach Satisfying End?”-Jacob Ogles, SRQ Daily

And then:

“Joint city-county deal collapses”- Sarasota Herald-Tribune

This last headline is the most disconcerting and does not bode well for future collaboration between the two bureaucracies on this important issue.

I was optimistic that solutions were beginning to emerge.

The Salvation Army has opened their Quality Life Center Social Service Complex on 17th Street, which has helped alleviate the situation that existed outside their facility on Central despite the out-of-date photos the Sarasota Herald-Tribune continues to publish every time it reports on this issue. 

Doug Logan’s report and recommendation that we create a business model that is similar to Salt Lake City’s “The Road Home” agency bears merit.

Dr. Marbut gave the County an ‘A’ for its response to families and children (kudos to the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Harvest House) and the community’s efforts to fight hunger.  

Jim Ley bought to our attention a potential funding source for helping those with mental health issues by creating a County Health and Welfare Special District as enabled by Florida Statue 154.31 by which could tax ourselves up to 5 mills. We have special districts for St.Armands and Downtown; why not mental health? 

The really difficult political hot potato is, of course, the location of a facility or facilities that would provide temporary shelter—not a jail diversion facility—for the chronic homeless throughout Sarasota County. This seems to be where the rubber hits the road. City leaders acknowledged at the recent joint meeting of the City and County the need for some type of emergency shelter for adults. From the City’s perspective just not in their back yard and not a jail diversion facility masquerading as an emergency shelter. The efficacy of such a facility is questionable. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. Was it necessary for the county to publicly reject the 45-day deadline so soon after the recent summit? Did this action serve the best interests of “the homeless?” Could we not have taken the 45 days to come up with a workable solution?

Marcelo Gleiser, a theoretical physicist at Dartmouth College wrote: “It would be quite naïve to expect a life without conflict, naïve and boring. After all, as we struggle to find solutions, conflict leads to new ways of thinking. Nothing ever changes in a world without discord.”

I sincerely hope that out of all this discord and conflict change is possible. 

That’s the way I see it.

Ian Black is the founder of Ian Black Real Estate. 

[Arts Alliance]  Breaking Barriers and Healing Through Art
Jim Shirley, jshirley@sarasotaarts.org

Americans around the world took a step back this week to recognize the gift and sacrifice that has been so unselfishly presented to each of us through the bravery of the men and women who have served in our military to preserve the freedom we often take for granted. Among the parades and services held throughout the Nation were those at our own Sarasota National Cemetery.

The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County has the distinct privilege of partnering with The Patterson Foundation to manage the “Guides” program for the iconic art work housed in the Patriot Plaza at Sarasota National Cemetery.  In this capacity, we have been blessed to experience firsthand the power that art can have in helping to break down barriers to emotional healing that many of our veterans have been unable to find otherwise.

In recent years, it has been reported that one in five or some 440,000 of the 2.2 million Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans may have left the war zone, but in many ways, are still fighting the battle here on the home front. For combat veterans experiencing the symptoms of PTSD—nightmares, anxiety, depression, flashbacks, hyper-vigilance, and hyper-arousal, and its ripple effects of social isolation, family, job and economic difficulties and suicidal thoughts—treatment options may seem out of reach.

Many struggle to navigate the VA and health care systems and are unable to receive conventional, therapy- and medication-based treatments. Studies show that for many more, barriers exist on the inside. Unfortunately, these same statements are true for veterans who have been involved in all conflicts of war in our country.

The Guides at Patriot Plaza routinely relay stories of the emotional release that they have witnessed veterans experience when they view the photography and read the stories that are incorporated into the art work.  One such story was a World War II veteran who broke down in tears as he viewed the photographs and statements that accompanied them. His wife commented that in the 50 years since his wartime experience, this was the first time that she had ever seen him turn loose of the pent up emotion and start the healing process.

The art at Patriot Plaza is a gift that has been given to all the citizens of our Nation to help Honor Service, Inspire Patriotism and Embrace Freedom. We have been able to witness how it also provides the potential for a healing element for those who have served and their families. If you have not experienced the fabulous art work at the Patriot Plaza, I encourage you to do so. It is free and open to public.

Jim Shirley is the executive director for the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County. 

[From Jesse Biter]  No Need to Back Planned Parenthood

Ms. Nilon postulates that one cannot be pro-life while at the same time, engaging in activities that restrict or eliminate programs, policies, etc., that negatively affect a woman’s and her child’s overall health concluding that this is in direct conflict with Christian values. As the late Sen. Patrick Daniel Monaghan once said to someone taking issue with his views, “Sir, you are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts,” and I would say that certainly applies to Ms. Nilon.

First she states: “There are only two places people who cannot afford health care can go to without a chance of being turned away. One is our local health department and the other is Planned Parenthood.”  A quick Google search produces results that suggest quite the opposite.   

She then asserts that Gov. Scott picked up the “pro-life” torch and launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood resulting from the “media frenzy over allegations of fetal tissue sales.”  As published in the New York Times on October 13, “Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday that it would no longer accept reimbursement for the costs of providing the tissue for medical research.” With Planned Parenthood admitting that they have in fact engaged in the selling of fetal tissue, it can hardly be described as “allegations” as Ms. Nilon would have us believe. Hence, her unsubstantiated attacks on the Governor’s actions lack credibility.

Ms. Nilon boldly states that “You can’t cut off access to birth control, sexual education, prenatal care, food programs and the overall health care of a mother and child for those that can’t afford it on their own and still consider yourself living up to your Christian values.”  What Ms. Nilon fails to understand is that cutting off government funding does not equate to cutting off all funding. We are a charitable nation where we voluntarily donate to innumerable charities that provide goods and services for those in need.  According to Ms. Nilon’s logic, if I am in favor of redirecting my tax dollars away from an organization that sold fetal body parts to other community health care services with the goal of ultimately privatizing these services, I am un-Christian...even though I give to private charitable organizations, like my church, for supporting women and children healthcare services.

Lastly, to support her thesis, Ms. Nilon quotes the Bible (1 John 3:17) where Jesus admonishes those with material possessions to take pity on those without and to do so in action not words.  I’m not sure what version of the Bible she is taking the quote from (the Saul Alinsky “Rules for Radicals” version perhaps?) but in my version, Jesus was talking to each and everyone of us as individuals, it makes no reference to having a government being the middleman making decisions on what must be taken from those with materials and then for that government to decide who, the amount and under what conditions they may receive such materials.

Jesse Biter, Sarasota developer and businessman, responding to the “Pro-Birth Vs. Pro-Life” column in the Oct. 31 edition of SRQ Daily. 

[From Olaf Maly]  Put Taxpayer Money Where Needed

What a terrible story this is. It goes on for ever and ever and ever... These politicians creating one proposal after the other, without any result. But what else is new? My opinion is that Government should not be involved in this anyway. Government is supposed to set ground rules, laws and ordinances, but should not run shelters or such. Dealing with this week after week takes time, money and resources away from much more important issues. 

Having said this, I have a solution. Don't do anything. Save the money and spend it wisely on issues for the rest of us. Those people chose to live that way, why force them into a 'regular' life? They don't want to live like we do. They want to have their freedom and when we support this idea, giving them the foundation to live their dream, they will come in the thousands. Our problem is not that we don't have shelter, the problem is that we have the warm weather. So more accommodations we create, so more people are coming. It is like a sign all over the U.S., saying: ‘Come to Sarasota, we take care of you for the rest of your life. Everything will be for free and beautiful. We even have one of the best beaches in the U.S.’ 

The only alternative I would accept is what was proposed already, that a nonprofit takes over and runs everything. Then, people who think that they have to help can send in as much money as they want, without a burden to the taxpayer. I would like that.

Olaf Maly, Sarasota, responding to the "Homeless Solutions Seem As Elusive As Ever" article in the Nov. 11 edition of SRQ Daily. 



[SCOOP]  Children Have a Voice with iPads

The Child Protection Center (CPC) recently purchased 40 new iPad tablets to use in their Personal Safety and Community Awareness (PSCA) program. Reaching over 30,000 students in Sarasota County with personal safety education covering topics like the touching rule, bullying, and Internet safety, the PSCA team will now have a powerful new tool. “Often times a child will not feel comfortable raising their hand to answer a question or share personal experiences in front of their classroom peers,” said Ella Lewis Prevention Coordinator at CPC. “The tablets will allow children the ability to type their responses or ask questions of the CPC facilitator privately.”

 

  

The Child Protection Center

[KUDOS]  SMHF wins Outstanding Foundation Award at National Philanthropy Day

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP),  recently hosted  the National Philanthropy Day luncheon, themed 'Change the World with a Giving Heart', at Michaels On East brining together over 400 attendees dedicated to giving back.   Emcee and incoming AFP President Jennifer Vigne presided over the luncheon. The Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation received its second win as Outstanding Foundation at this year’s event. CEO, President, and Trustee Alex Quarles said of the luncheon “We at the Healthcare Foundation are honored to be considered again for this prestigious award. It is truly our donors who deserve accolades such as these as without them our mission to support tomorrow’s healthcare today would fall terribly flat.”  

Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation

[SCOOP]  Talented students support All Faiths Food Bank

Sarasota is known for its love of the arts and its philanthropic culture, and recently All Faiths Food Bank was chosen to benefit from the evolving collaboration of the two, through the talented youth attending local schools. Pine View School’s American Film Society showcased the Food Bank as one of four local charities in a two-minute film presentation and competition. Its high-school students raised $1000 as an award, and All Faiths received $250 as second-place winner.  Ringling College of Art and Design selected All Faiths Food Bank as the “client” for a class video project where 26 students created public service announcements. Entitled “Food is Life,” All Faiths uses several of the videos as a tool to share information about their mission and work in the community. Photo: Josh Wolff, president of Pine View School’s American Film Society 

All Faiths Food Bank

[TO DO]  Holiday Nights at Ca' d'Zan

Dressed for the holidays, John Ringling's mansion Ca' d'Zan, features festively decorated fireplace mantels, balconies, doors and a stunning 10-foot-tall tree that stands in the Grand Court. Visit this opulent jewel on the bay for a glimpse of holiday splendor. Explore Ca' d'Zan during extended hours, 5-8pm on November 19, December 3, 10, and 17.  

The Ringling

[SCOOP]  Cool Today Launches 'TCP Today' Campaign Supporting The Circus Arts Conservatory

Jaime DiDomenico and the heating and cooling team at Cool Today recently produced and launched two new videos in support of The Circus Arts Conservatory. The videos were created as part of the company's TCP Today community outreach campaign. DiDomenico said, "TCP Today is all about taking care of people, and The Circus Arts Conservatory is the epitome of an organization that takes care of people." View the video on the Circus Sarasota YouTube Channel or at www.cooltoday.com. 

Circus Arts Conservatory

[SCOOP]  Holiday Reservations At MOE

Michael’s On East Restaurant is currently accepting holiday reservations for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve & Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Michael’s On East will offer a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings for $28.95 per person, 2-8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26. In addition to the turkey feature which includes mashed potatoes, pan gravy, candied sweet potatoes, green beans, dried cranberry and cornbread stuffing, a special holiday menu is available offering signature Michael’s On East favorites a la carte. Holiday reservations are available on Christmas Eve, 5-8 pm on Thursday, December 24 and Christmas Day, 2-8 pm on Friday, December 25. On New Years Eve, 5-7 pm or 9-10 pm on Thursday, December 31. A $50 cover charge applies for the later seating, which includes live music and dancing. To secure restaurant reservations, call 941-366-0007 or visit the link below. 

Michael's On East

SRQ Media Group

SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email

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