Sabith Khan, Author at The Public Sphere

Winter 2021/2022 Capstone: Integrating Environmental Justice Principles into the El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan

By: Debbie Canas, Jessica Diaz, Nathan Hatia, Tina Secrease, and Lisa Vaiman

Faculty Advisor: Jacqueline Phelps

Article Written By: Nathan Hatia

Environmental justice is an essential factor to consider when creating land-use plans for communities. In short, Environmental Justice is a course of action or research focused on reducing or eliminating the disproportional environmental burden placed on communities of color, low income, etc. (Chakraborty, 2016). While environmental justice initiatives were not a part of the land use planning process until recently, it is pertinent that future land use plans, such as General and Area Plans and Area Plans seek to mitigate the burdens placed on these communities by previous planning decisions (Wilson, 2008).

The General Plan was created by the County of Ventura Resource Management Agency using analyses, data, and input from the community through surveys, informational sessions, and Workshops (VC-RMA, General Plan, 2020). A General Plan is the collection of goals, policies, and programs in which the County lays out its plans for land use over a specific timeframe. Within this General Plan are smaller Area Plans focused on unique communities and specific geographic areas. The County of Ventura has created a comprehensive General Plan in which environmental justice considerations are integrated throughout. Our project focused on integrating these Environmental Justice principles into the El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan. The original El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan was created in 1980 and subsequently amended in 2011; however, a comprehensive update has not been completed since 1996 (VC-RMA Area Plan, 2020). As such, the El Rio/Del Norte has a significant need in several areas to bring it up to the standards of the surrounding communities and the goals outlined in the General Plan, particularly those related to environmental justice.

Environmental justice, or rather injustice, can occur in ways that may not traditionally be considered “environmental” issues. While our project incorporates traditional Environmental Justice topics such as water safety, we have also included uncommon or non-traditional topics such as Transportation and Housing.

Specifically, our Capstone Project examined portions of the El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan related to Housing, Transportation, Public Facilities and Recreation, Water Hazards and Quality, and Community Outreach, and provided recommendations to implement environmental justice principles relating to each topic. Through research conducted using area mapping and visits to the community, existing data provided by the County/State, comparable Area Plans, and existing research conducted on the specified topics, we created recommendations in the form of goals, policies, and programs, that either bolster existing topics or add missing elements within the El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan.

While many recommendations were provided, the following are few of the key recommendations:

Community Outreach: Partner with local non-profits and community-based organizations in order to increase civic engagement and representation within the community.
Housing: Adapt Ventura County General plan policies into the El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan in order to effectively allow for affordable housing.
Transportation: Promote development of sidewalks and other pedestrian friendly infrastructure.
Recreation: Plan for parks and other similar recreation open areas to be constructed in the community.
Water Safety: Evaluate the creation of a program to analyze and mitigate flood risks to the community.

The community of El Rio is one of the most vulnerable areas in our County, and one that has not had the land use planning advantages that the surrounding areas have benefited from. Therefore, as the County looks to implement a new General Plan and update the existing El Rio/Del Norte Area Plan, which will serve as a guideline for several years, consideration of environmental justice within this overburdened community is crucial. It is important that under-resourced communities such as El Rio have plans created for their future growth. Environmental Justice in planning is an important consideration for planning agencies in order to build prosperous communities.

References:

Chakraborty, J., Collins, T., & Grineski, S. (2016). Environmental Justice Research: Contemporary Issues and Emerging Topics. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(11), 1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13111072 

Wilson, S., Hutson, M., & Mujahid, M. (2008). How planning and zoning contribute to inequitable development, Neighborhood Health, and environmental injustice. Environmental Justice, 1(4), 211–216. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2008.0506 

Ventura County General Plan, 2020

Housing Policy Shapes Our Communities

By Sean Veal, MPPA ‘13

Housing is fundamental to the development of our communities and our lives. Policies that shape the housing landscape have worked to the benefit, and to the detriment of communities across the country. On April 20^th, 2021, I had the opportunity to discuss the impact of housing policies on our communities as a guest lecturer for Dr. Khan’s course entitled “Understanding Development: Challenges and Opportunities.”

The discussion began with an explanation of a common affordability metric known as the housing cost burden measure. A cost-burdened household is one that spends over 30 percent of total household income on housing costs. For renters, housing costs include rent and utilities, and for homeowners, housing costs are comprised of the mortgage, private mortgage insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and property tax. The cost burden measure is imperative to understanding affordability challenges that renter and homeowner households endure.

Consequently, housing affordability disproportionately impacts renter households of color. According to the 2020 State of the Nation’s Housing Report produced by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Black and Hispanic renter households were cost-burdened at rates of 53.7 percent and 51.9 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, white renter households were cost-burdened at 41.9 percent. These rates illuminate the unequal result of housing affordability by race with renter households of color absorbing the lion’s share of cost burdens.

Housing policy is a tool that at times created affordability dilemmas that are ever-present for households and amplified for communities of color. Discrimination and inequitable housing policy historically perpetuated housing affordability in tight markets through formerly legal mechanisms such as redlining, restrictive housing covenants, steering, and exclusionary zoning as described by Richard Rothstein in his book The Color of Law. The de jure discrimination fostered by housing policy that Rothstein describes has contributed to the housing affordability challenges experienced today, particularly by households of color.

Despite previous housing policies that prevented equal access to housing, there are current policies that have mitigated a stark history of housing inequality through approaches that increase the affordable housing stock, require cities to allocate ample housing for population growth, and provide subsidies to low-income households. These policies are witnessed through programs sponsored by the federal, state, and local governments.

A federal tax program that has improved the affordable housing stock is the Low-Income Tax Credit that incentivizes private developers to build affordable housing for low-income households in exchange for future tax credits. This IRS tax program has been instrumental in improving the affordable housing stock in the nation.

At the state level, the California Housing Element Law and the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) mandate that localities plan for housing supplies that account for and anticipate future growth of their community based on demographic projections. These plans are periodically required to be produced by each city in California. Furthermore, the proposed housing elements and RHNA plan must be approved by the state. Engrained in urban planning, the state-enforced housing policy programs hold cities accountable to accommodate population growth and housing needs.

Lastly, an example of a local housing policy is bonds provided by a city to support developers subsidize affordable housing developments. Proposition HHH is a local example in which Los Angeles voters approved 1.2 billion dollars to finance permanent supportive housing developments to abate rising levels of those experiencing homelessness in the City of Los Angeles.

The high-level overview of housing affordability metrics, affordability challenges, and housing policy were all presented to students to illustrate the impact of housing policy on communities. The confluence of housing policies at the federal, state, and local level exemplifies how housing policy shapes housing in communities.

What is Environmental Justice?

~Jacqueline Phelps

Pursuant to state law, environmental justice means “the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” (California Government Code, 2019). Many of us understand why the consideration of environmental justice in decision-making processes is essential, and have experienced the inequities that have resulted in our communities when it is not. Maybe the community that you grew up in doesn’t have adequate access to open space, or maybe there are too many industrial facilities that have resulted in a heavy pollutant load. These are examples of how land-use decision-making has served to disproportionately assign environmental burdens and benefits throughout the communities that we are a part of.

Unfortunately, the environmental injustices that are embedded within our communities have been perpetuated by institutions over time, and we know that the quality of our lives and the lives of those that we care about are impacted. For example, numerous studies including by Nigra et. al (2020), have found that inequalities in exposure to drinking water contaminants throughout the United States stem from inequalities in the implementation of both land use policy and zoning decisions. Furthermore, disproportionate burdens often fall on lower-income and minority communities (Schaider, 2019).

Screening tools, such as CalEnviro Screen, have been developed in order to help with the identification of communities that have been overburdened by pollution. This tool is accessible to the public, and I encourage you to explore the data available for the communities that you are a part of: https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-30. In addition to identifying overburdened communities, it is critical to examine how environmental burdens fit into a larger policy framework. How does environmental policy intersect with housing policy, or economic development (Corburn, 2017)? Understanding this policy context and the associated decision-making processes are essential for creating more healthy communities and enhancing the accessibility to clean environmental resources.

As the effects of climate change continue to intensify, adverse environmental outcomes will continue to increase within overburdened communities. Not only will air pollution worsen but other adverse effects, such as reduced access to clean water, will be exacerbated (Rudolph, 2018). According to Rudolph (2018), “Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, exacerbating poverty, environmental degradation, and political instability.” As such, it is critical to not only address the environmental issues that exist today but to also create proactive policies and plan for issues that may arise in order to avoid future adverse environmental outcomes.

In Environmental Policy and Planning- PA-5ST-01 we will examine the topic of environmental justice, as well as strategies that can be implemented in order to avoid perpetuating concentrated environmental burdens. Additionally, we will hear from local professionals with expertise in this area, and they will share their approach to initiating policy change in our local communities. Furthermore, we will examine environmental justice policies that are currently being implemented at the state level, as well as a variety of other important environmental topic areas. Please feel free to contact me at jphelps@callutheran.edu if you have any questions about this course. I look forward to seeing you in class!

References:

California Government Code, § 65040.12, (2019). https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=65040.12

Corburn, J. (2017). Concepts for studying urban environmental justice. Current Environmental Health Reports, 4(1), 61–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-017-0123-6

Nigra, A. E., Qixuan Chen, Chillrud, S. N., Lili Wang, Harvey, D., Mailloux, B., Factor-Litvak, P., & Navas-Acien, A. (2020). Inequalities in Public Water Arsenic Concentrations in Counties and Community Water Systems across the United States, 2006-2011. Environmental Health Perspectives, 128(12), 127001-1-127001–127013. https://doi-org.ezproxy.callutheran.edu/10.1289/EHP7313

Rudolph, L., Harrison, C., Buckley, L. & North, S. (2018). Climate Change, Health, and Equity: A Guide for Local Health Departments. Oakland, CA and Washington D.C., Public Health Institute and American Public Health Association.

Schaider, L. A., Swetschinski, L., Campbell, C., & Rudel, R. A. (2019). Environmental justice and drinking water quality: are there socioeconomic disparities in nitrate levels in U.S. drinking water? Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, 18(1), 1–15. https://doi-org.ezproxy.callutheran.edu/10.1186/s12940-018-0442-6

Expanding Inclusive Curriculum Towards the LGBTQ+ Community in California Schools: How and Why Should Educators Do This?

~Erin Niemi

As the conversation surrounding inclusivity is discussed within the education sector, there has been consideration to address prominent heteronormativity in schools and uplift LGBTQ+ students. It has been found that students identifying as a part of the LGBTQ+ community are at increased risks to suffer from chronic stress as a result of stigma-related discrimination (Smith-Millmen, et. al, 2019) are twice as likely to miss school due to sadness and hopelessness than their non-LGBTQ+ peers (Choi, et. al 2017), and report high levels of physical, verbal, and sexual abuse on campus compared to their non-LGBTQ+ peers (Smith-Millmen, et. al, 2019). In order to confront this safety epidemic, educators have begun to explore the ways LGBTQ+ inclusive education could confront safety issues in schools, as well as begin to confront LGBTQ+ erasure and discrimination by omission in all subjects taught.

Benefits of LGBTQ+-Inclusive Education:

Although the passage of The FAIR Education Act, which states that the contributions of “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender” people should be included in curriculum addressing the political and social development of California and the United States was passed and implemented in 2012, fewer than 20% of LGBTQ+ students have reported that they have had positive/neutral representations of LGBTQ+ folks in the classroom (Snapp, et. al, 2015). Additionally, research has shown that LGBTQ+ related issues, topics, and people are underrepresented in the courses such as health and sexuality (Snapp, et. al, 2015), math and science (Snapp, et. al, 2015), and although more included in the fields of English, history, and government, LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum in these areas miss several aspects that would make the curriculum more inclusive. However, when done correctly and with the intention of inclusion, LGBTQ+-inclusive makes school safer for both LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ students, and when this curriculum was implemented, students as a whole heard fewer homophobic slurs, experienced less victimization and bullying, and a reduction of prejudicial attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community (Snapp, et. al, 2015). While LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum lacks literature in a lot of areas (mostly due to its nonexistence), present research studying it has pointed towards its power to affirm student safety and individuality and extend inclusivity.

How Educators Have Implemented This:

While there is no present standard of LGBTQ+ curriculum, educators and teachers have implemented LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum through the inclusion of literature with LGBTQ+ characters/authors, anti-bullying campaigns, and social justice units. By including and making available reading materials and topics towards LGBTQ+ students, as well as including them next to non-LGBTQ+ topics and literature, educators can combat the lack of representation LGBTQ+ students and educators face both inside and out of the classroom. Additionally, by integrating LGBTQ+-inclusive topics and literature in the classroom, teachers can give students a more realistic version of the global population aside from what they have traditionally heard about in school and inside their home. This way, teachers can promote lifelong learning and tolerance while simultaneously acknowledging diversity and fighting back on stigma (Batchelor, et. al, 2018).

Why Is This Important:

As LGBTQ+ students face disproportionate violence, lack of school safety, and a lack of representation in the classroom, it is important that educators consider adding LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum within their current class material in lieu of policy passage in order to help foster school safety, inclusivity, tolerance, and reduce discrimination the LGBTQ+ community faces. By increasing LGBTQ+ inclusive content in schools, students will have a safer and more tolerant learning environment to learn in, as well as will have a better picture of the global population and all of the people within it. By including LGBTQ+-inclusive topics in the classroom, educators can also help combat discrimination by omission as well as discrimination through homophobic, transphobic, and biphobic stereotypes and prejudiced beliefs. By expanding representation, acknowledging the LGBTQ+ community, and advocating for inclusive content that reflects the world as it is, rather than through the heteronormative and cisgender lens, educators and institutions can begin to make the necessary change in order to protect LGBTQ+ youth and create education that discusses prevalent, yet often unmentioned, current issues that impact the global community as a whole.

References:

Batchelor, K. E., Ramos, M., & Neiswander, S. (2017). Opening Doors: Teaching LGBTQ-themed Young Adult Literature for an Inclusive Curriculum. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 91(1), 29–36.

Choi, S. K., Baams, L., & Wilson, B. D. M. (2017). LGBTQ Youth In Public Schools, Differences Across the State. The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/LGBTQ-Youth-CA-Public-Schools-Oct-2017.pdf.

Smith-Millman, M., Harrison, S. E., Pierce, L., & Flaspohler, P. D. (2019). “Ready, willing, and able”: Predictors of school mental health providers’ competency in working with LGBTQ youth. Journal of LGBT Youth, 16(4), 380–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2019.1580659

Snapp, S. D., Burdge, H., Licona, A. C., Moody, R. L., & Russell, S. T. (2015). Students’ Perspectives on LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum. Equity & Excellence in Education, 48(2), 249–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1025614

Snapp, S. D., McGuire, J. K., Sinclair, K. O., Gabrion, K., & Russell, S. T. (2015). LGBTQ-inclusive curricula: why supportive curricula matter. Sex Education, 15(6), 580–596. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2015.1042573

How should we think about “development”?

I conceptualized a new course this term, to make up for the study abroad course that I could not offer. I ambitiously called it “understanding development,” keeping in mind the idea that we would discuss what this term means and what we should do about it.

understanding development — source: medium.com

The reaction from students so far is pretty positive and I have an almost full class. The debates and discussions that arise are lively and encouraging. I am taking a critical perspective of the term, in the tradition of James C Scott or Dudley Seers. I am forcing the students to challenge their assumptions and ask some difficult (and seemingly strange) questions.

One student pointed out that the fact that life expectancy for African-American men in NY City can be as short as someone living in Afghanistan “shocking.” This is unfortunately true, and we can see several examples of “underdevelopment”, in the classical sense in our own neighborhoods.

During my drive to the pharmacy this morning, I heard about the eviction of the homeless in Echo Park, in LA. The fact that hundreds of homeless people are being evicted, with no real solution in place is appalling. However, when one thinks about this in the context of existing social order and what we are willing to tolerate or not, things start to make sense. Of course, in every society, different groups have different priorities and usually, the priorities of the ruling classes dominate.

One could look at this cynically and argue that we are witnessing nothing but the impacts of the economic way of thinking, meaning, our privileging of economic growth over other factors: social cohesion, justice, equality, etc. and that may be true. As Stephen Macekura points out in his book “The mismeasure of progress,” this question was posed by pioneers of the study of development such as Dudley Seers. Seers pointed out that we “measure what we value, we value what we measure. To envision the world anew requires new tools, but also a clear articulation of the ethical commitments and politics that give them force.” (p.10).

Macekura further points out that the very nature of statistical measures can be value-laden. For instance, do we consider the non-paid work of women at home as part of economic activity, if not; why? What about volunteer work?

Statistics have been part of the national self-definition process, as Macekura adds that

“Census data, moreover, often defined the boundaries of national belonging and social difference by enumerating who counted— literally— as members of the nation.”

In the current trend of ‘local economies’ and ‘national economies’, recovering after the covid pandemic, one is tempted to ask: what exactly are we talking about here? Does speaking of a ‘national economy’ mean the same thing when we talk about a highly organized and structured society like the US and another such as India, which has a huge informal economy? Is there equivalence in terms and concepts?

References

Macekura, S. 2020. The mismeasure of progress – Economic growth and its critics. Uni of Chicago Press.

Resistance to mask-wearing: Can wearing masks be seen as not macho enough/“effeminate” behavior?

The latest issue of Administrative Theory and Praxis has an interesting article titled “Street-level bureaucrats under COVID-19: Police Officers responses in constrained settings,” by Rafael Alcadipani, Sandra Cabral, Alan Fernandes, and Gabriela Lotta. They point out, based on inductive qualitative analysis that in a major Brazilian metropolitan area, conflicts concerning political, occupational culture, and material dimensions can “negatively impact police officers’ response in financially and institutionally constrained settings.”

Their paper is an interesting one in that they suggest something that is known among those who work on the front-lines: organizational values shape how people respond to crises. In the case of COVID-19, the paper elegantly shows how Brazilian policemen – much like others around the world – value machismo and bravery – and define their roles through this lens. When actions or values go against these two clashes, they are quick to fall back into what they know best: defending their machismo and perceived sense of “bravery.”

This is precisely what makes them reject masks and social distancing. Consider that for a cop, being seen as “tough” and “manly” is crucial. In a culture where wearing a mask is seen as being afraid of a virus and caring for one’s colleagues is seen as being effeminate, then such behaviors are punished by one’s peers, rather than supported. This is precisely what is going on in parts of the country.

And the authors point out that it doesn’t help when the President of Brazil does not encourage mask-wearing and has criticized social distancing (similar to former President Trump). The conflicting messaging at the federal/ central levels and local levels can create tensions that manifest in how local authorities perceive the message, the authors point out.

They point out that “COVID-19 has produced dual outcomes: on the one hand, police forces crime control values align with the political and occupational values. On the other, it can create a conflict,” (p.395) – especially on the three dimensions: political, occupational culture and material conditions.

Their suggestion is that discretion at the street level among these bureaucrats can be both a blessing and a curse. But of material resources, such as a shortage of PPE can lead to greater conflicts of vision and values within an organization. They call for greater coordination and alignment among all values in an organization and suggest that leaders have a big role to play in this process., to increase creativity and decrease divergence.

How to tackle disinformation – the single biggest challenge of public administration?

~ Sabith Khan, PhD

Imagine being in a once in a century pandemic. And miraculously, a group of scientists discovers a vaccine that actually works, all in a matter of months. Then, the vaccine starts to roll out. But there is one problem: a good segment of the population refuses to take it.

This imaginary situation is not so imaginary, as it is playing out across the U.S., today.

“I really don’t think it’ll work,” they say.

“I get sick every time I get vaccinated,” others point out.

Of course, you want to address their concerns and anxieties, given we are living in a real scenario and not an imaginary one, as mentioned above.

Dr. Gil Ayal, a professor who studies the sociology of expertise asks the question: “In an age when the federal government has attacked every conceivable norm, with anti-maskers questioning the legitimacy of all forms of expertise, how relevant is expertise in our world?” (Ayal, 2019).

In the U.S, this tension was manifest in the tug of war between Dr. Fauci and our past President, Mr. Trump. While the former represented science, credibility, and trust; the latter represented everything that was the opposite of that. The disinformation spread by Trump has caused lasting damage to the credibility of science – think back to his comments about drinking Clorox, Hydroxychloroquine, and a dozen other claims that had absolutely no claim in science. Here was a man, who was supposed to lead the country through a horrendous epidemic, making false claims on national TV.

If the crisis in science communication needed a metaphor, this moment was it. Thankfully, we seem to have moved past it, although in a small way. The skepticism that was sown in the minds of millions of people will bear fruit in the coming weeks and months.

So, how does one tackle disinformation and lack of trust in science?

The problem is not these anti-vaxxers don’t trust science in its entirety. The problem is the mismatch between science and politics, with each one moving at its own pace and priorities. Science is slow, deliberate, and thoughtful, while politics is fast, rapidly changing, and demands loyalty. Policy, on the other hand, is somewhere in the middle (Ayal,p.8).

The other tension that needs to be resolved to address this skepticism of science is also to tackle the issue of democracy and technocracy.

Building public trust in science and scientific expertise is also at the heart of this enterprise.

One approach, which has been pointed out by those who study expertise is to let people figure out what is a good approach for them.

Increasing transparency, inclusion, and participation in scientific consensus-building could be an idea worth exploring, he suggests.

As someone who teaches research methods, I try to impress upon students the need for understanding the skepticism that exists in some communities, that have been abused by scientists. Think of the Tuskegee syphilis study and other instances of gross abuse of scientific expertise. This could well explain why some Latinx and African American communities today don’t want to get vaccinated.

With such historical precedents, it is easy for a clever politician to exploit the mistrust in science to push their agendas.

So, what is one to do?

The answer may be a complicated one. It involves building trust, working slowly but surely to make the scientific process open to the public, involve them in aspects of decision making and communicate to build trust.

Statistical Literacy and Public Policies

Dr. Gustavo Lara-Gonzalez

Public policies describe the action of the government. This action is in response to issues brought by the public before the public officials. The response of the government is by enacting laws and regulations. Thus, the government is a manufacturer of public policies.

The aim of public or private policy has two key areas:

To give direction to the organization and
To serve and protect what is in the best interest of the public. Thus, the analysis of public policies and their effectiveness and efficiency became highly important. In this regard, statistical literacy is an important element to understand the responsiveness in bringing issues related to a certain public policy for examination, deliberation, and possible solution.

Currently, a statistic is more important than ever in today’s data-driven world. A vast amount of data is being generated in many fields, including in the public sector. If the evaluation of a public policy is about facts and values, then the role of the public administrator as a proficient statistician is imperative. Conducting surveys, gathering evidence, examining specific cases related to a specific problem, organizing and learning from all the data, visualize important patterns and trends, and carefully listening and communicating the results and findings to non-statistician are some of the skills that public administrators need polish.

The Network of School of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) is the global standard in public service education and is recognized as a global accreditor of master’s degree programs in these fields. This global organization requires from any master program in public policy and administration evidence of their graduates in five competencies:

Lead and manage in Public Governance.
Participate in and contribute to the public policy process.
Analyze, synthesize, think creatively, solve problems, and make decisions.
Articulate and apply public service perspectives; and
Communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry.

Statistics courses help meet these requirements. Therefore, if we want to understand public policies, statistical literacy is a must. According to Wallman (1993), statistical literacy is the ability to understand and critically evaluate statistical results that permeate our daily lives—coupled with the ability to appreciate the contributions that statistical thinking can make in public and private, professional and personal decisions. To be successful civil servants, public administrators require to critically review the evidence and evaluate policies, and to understand analyzes and evaluations. They need to have some understanding of statistics to digest information to distinguish between a solid statistical argument from a bogus one and make good decisions based on that information.

References

Wallman, K. K. (1993). Enhancing statistical literacy: Enriching our society. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 88(421), 1. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].

How We Overcame the Fear of the COVID-19 Vaccine

~Leonard Casiple

The COVID-19 pandemic response has upended the very essence of humanity by constraining social interaction, mandating indoor seclusion, and making us flinch at the thought of outdoor bustle.

Even the elegance of the lingering waft of perfume and cologne has been supplanted by the shock of quickly-dissipating rubbing alcohol and sanitizers.

Every connection has become a long-distance relationship.

Gone are the days of bear hugs and high fives. Our need for social contact has been abbreviated into a momentary fist bump. Today, the essence of closeness and community is measured in 6-foot increments. The closeness that breaks the mandated “bubble” is frowned upon as a lack of civility.

How long will we tolerate to live this way?

Straitjacketed by social distancing, we are free but confined. We are shackled to a mark on the floor until safe to move to the next comfortable X. The mask suffocates at inhalation. At exhalation, the facial cloak inhibits the utterance of frustration.

Vaccinate or Vacillate?

At any given moment, we can find information either to support vaccination or to contradict the opposition. The ubiquity of conflicting information can confuse the finest of us. Perpetual analysis based on an unhealthy dose of doubt can lead to an endless cycle of posturing, blaming, and story-crafting.

If not careful, an intense but partial study can lead to the wrong rationalization. Groups can become comfortably befuddled by the mantra of their echo chambers.

Our Family’s Experience.

As a child, I grew up in a developing country where the disease was rampant. I was fortunate to get on the public health immunization schedule. The vaccines spared me from the devastation of diseases such as polio and tuberculosis that affected some of my neighbors.

As a soldier in the US Army, I was immunized to preserve my health while working in austere environments. The US military, as a matter of force preservation, requires its personnel to stay current on all vaccinations. As a condition for being stationed overseas, my wife and children were also vaccinated. With vaccination, my wife who is a nurse can continue the work that she loves with less apprehension.

The National Stance.

Since the late 1800s, the US has required medical examinations of immigrants, and much later added vaccination as a condition for entry. Applicants who are found to be carriers of diseases of public health significance are excluded from entry.

When done in combination – the vaccination of the majority and the exclusion of a few – the measures have protected this country from debilitating and life-altering diseases.

Because of the effectiveness of the control measures at entry points, we are oblivious to the screening process that silently protects us. Because we are generally healthy, we fail to appreciate the long-term positive results of inoculation.

The benefits of induced immunity have allowed this country to maintain its economic momentum, and in turn, we are able to keep our hopes and dreams on schedule.

How We Handle the Fear.

My wife and I worry about the virus as well as the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. We are also concerned about the long-term health of our college-age sons.

Although we instituted a few financial security measures, untimely death or disability during the pandemic will be a difficult ordeal.

To quell the fears, we discussed options and established contingency plans.

Our Tiered Approach.

We will live courageously with a bias towards positivity. We will not allow this virus to keep us at bay. To minimize the impact, my family will get vaccinated in stages.

As a front-line worker, my wife will be vaccinated first. If she experiences a negative reaction, I will wait so I can take care of her until her condition improves. Our sons will be vaccinated last.

We envision our family thriving, socializing, and traveling (again) as the result of the COVID-19 vaccine program.

From my point of view, I am not taking a plunge into the unknown. Instead, vaccination is the forward lunge that will dislodge the consuming grip of the pandemic.

How about you? How do you plan to live the best parts of your life?

Will philanthropy by the rich save us?

Mackenzie Scott’s giving away of $4 bn made news last week, as this was one of the most generous examples of giving by an ultra-rich person, this year. It is admirable that she has given this money away, even though there are very many criticisms of this phenomenon of hi-networth giving.

Hi-networth giving by Mackenzie Scott — credits: npr.org

Her problem is pretty unique to super-rich folk: how to help others, with all the surplus wealth that one has? There have been a few proposals before us, falling broadly into two categories :

Tax the rich and
Allow the rich to carry out their philanthropy, as they see fit and encourage them in this direction.

The first idea of taxing the rich doesn’t seem to gain a lot of momentum in the U.S., given that political will to make this happen doesn’t seem to exist. However, a vast majority of Americans think that what they pay are fair share of taxes. Given that we have a progressive system of taxation, at the individual level, there seems to be not much of a problem for the middle class. The poor and those who are struggling to make ends meet are the ones who are most upset about the status quo.

But for the super-wealthy and entrepreneurs and those with avenues to gain tax deductions, there are enormous loopholes through which companies do not pay any taxes, even after making billions of dollars in taxes. This article talks about how little a company like Amazon pays, in taxes (for the past few years, it has paid $0 in taxes). The company has faced a lot of criticism for this reason. Various tax credits and deductions help firms such as Amazon avoid taxes.

Can billions of dollars donated by the super-rich save us? This question is as old as the industrial age (also called the Gilded age), when the newly founded millionaires (billionaires in comparison to our age) such as Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller, and others tried to answer this question. We have our own Rockefellers and Carnegies in the form of Mackenzie Scott, Bill Gates, and others, who have given away quite a lot of money to worthy causes.

At a time when the American economy has been battered by the pandemic, politicians, intellectuals are questioning why the current system persists, especially when we are fighting over something as basic as a $600 relief check for Americans.

The second approach of the wealthy giving away their wealth is a somewhat recent phenomenon, that has emerged in the past decade or two.

The Giving Pledge is an example of a modern version of how the super-rich have tried to rationalize their wealth and reach an agreement with themselves and others: the compact that giving one’s wealth away is one way to deal with the problem our societies have created: excessive wealth in a few hands.

Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth is one of the older documents in this regard that tried to address this specific problem.

What is the right answer to the problem of wealth transfer from the super-rich to the super-poor? That answer depends on the society that we have and how people feel about the obligations and rights that we have, as individuals towards each other, and the government’s role in regulating these obligations and rights. This ‘social contract’ may need revision, as we come out of the covid-19 pandemic, with deep questions being asked about the nature of our relationship to each other, to the state, and to our communities – far and wide.

This act may need a renewed imagination and a willingness to debate and dialogue with people with who we vehemently disagree.