Right Angle Club (RAC) Monthly Member Newsletter
for
December, 2021
Zoom Speakers & their Presentation Topics
12/3 Joe Conyers Joseph H. Conyers, assistant principal bass of The Philadelphia Orchestra and acting associate principal will talk about Project 440 an after-school entrepreneurial program that provides guidance to high school musicians who want to positively impact their urban communities.
12/10: Annual Christmas Party (Dinner but no speaker)
12/17 Heather Blakeslee is the founding editor of Roots Quarterly, a heterodox take on the Philadelphia arts and culture scene. She will talk about her belief that I believe in empowering people and communities to create a thriving economy and a living future, and that we can do that in part through the humanities.
12/24. No lunch or speaker. Holiday observance.
12/31. No lunch or speaker. New Years observance
Previous Month’s Speakers’ Presentations Summarized
(prepared by Bob Haskell)
November 5, 2021. John Fromer, former Director of Housing, City of Philadelphia and now an adjunct professor at the Fels Institute of the University of Pennsylvania, discussed his most recent book, Philadelphia Battlefields: Disruptive Campaigns and Upset Elections, which describes how upstart political candidates beat the odds in key Philadelphia elections….and what their experiences can tell us about the best opportunities to promote civic engagement and revive true democracy in America today. For example, Richardson Dilworth, Ed Rendell, Maria Quiñones Sánchez, and Rebecca Rhynhart all won their elections during years in which it was widely believed that the city’s political establishment was unbeatable. They did this by promoting grassroots engagement in politics and by finding creative ways to exploit the weaknesses of an anemic Democratic party infrastructure. The basis of the research and comments were derived from Democratic elections and campaigns in Philadelphia, but the results can be generalized to Republicans, and other cities, as well. From the 1950’s on, the Democratic party has had control of the City, where there is a 7 to 1 Democratic registration advantage. Republican party has remained impotent because of accommodating with the Democrats in return for patronage jobs. Once in the Party hierarchy, it is for a lifetime. But outsiders won without Party support fairly frequently. How did they do it? Examples were provided. There were two big primary election turnovers in 2020. First, PA Senate 1st District – Nikil Saval, a writer and community organizer defeated Pennsylvania State Senator Larry Farnese. Farnese’s campaign spent about $180,000 on cable television commercials, about six times as much as Saval spent on TV, according to the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics. Farnese raised more than $830,000, more than twice the $305,000 Saval raised. But money didn’t beat a motivated base of organizers, and what mattered most was Saval’s hard-core volunteers that turned out the vote. Second, State Representative James Roebuck was a 35-year, well-liked incumbent who lost in a landslide to progressive Rick Krajewski, who had never run for office. Krajewski prevailed by organizing a mutual aid program during the campaign to connect local constituents with resources during the pandemic. In 2017, Rhynhart beat Bukowitz for City Controller. The Rhynhart campaign paid $3K to the campaigns of four DA candidates also running (Negrin, Khan, Untermeyer, Krasner), and got them to include her name on their sample ballots. In a 2021 primary, Krasner triumphed over Carlos Vega by 66 percent to 34 percent in the Democratic primary. Vega did not turnout the Latino community. Two important elements of success are identity, defining yourself in a compelling way, and voter education, explaining what to vote for and convincing voters that you are responsive to issues they passionately care about. “Registering someone to vote without educating them about what to vote for is like giving someone a driver’s license without teaching them how to drive.” Is the Party an important element? Philadelphia consists of small geographic units known as divisions. Political party members in each division elect two representatives—the committee people—and this pair meets with counterpart pairs in nearby divisions to elect a ward leader. That person joins with other ward leaders in organizing the resources of the political party they represent and in (it is assumed) promoting voter registration and education. Although this model may appear to be ideal from an academic perspective, it has become, in many respects, a failure in practice. But is it a failure because of some inherent, uncorrectable flaw—or is it a failure because the leaders of the system have been, more often than not, the wrong people? To the extent that more people learn more about how the system works and why it is not working effectively, the more likely it is that any changes that are subsequently instituted will be the best ones. Ambitious individuals succeeded in long-odds elections by employing creative campaign strategies, by finding the most effective ways to communicate with voters, and by understanding the political opportunities available in the social and economic environment in which their campaigns were taking place. In this way, the book is intended to convey a positive message: under certain circumstances, reform candidacies can succeed again and again. Citizens who are concerned about the future of American democracy need to be aware that elections held every year at the municipal and county level will, in the aggregate and over the long term, determine the extent to which government at the national level could fundamentally improve, or not. Recent political history demonstrates the obvious: if more citizens are committed to political activism at the grassroots level and are educated about the best ways to join in—whether the vehicle be the Tea Party or Black Lives Matter—the more likely that big results will be achieved. There were 25 in-person and 0 Zoom participants.
November 12, 2021. Richard Bartholomew, a retired partner in the architectural firm Roberts Wallace & Todd (professional career focused on urban design), discussed his experience in writing an autobiography, My Life So Far: what led him to take up this task, how he approached it, how he recalled events and decided what to include and what not, and what lessons were learned, and rewards reaped, in executing this project. His early years, education, and preparation for his career, together with the successes he experienced, are the major focus of his biography. But he also shares the poignant story of his care for his wife who had early onset dementia. Why did he write his autobiography? His son and wife’s plans of traveling the world were put on hold because of the COVID 19 pandemic, and they suggested that he write about his own travels, which expanded to writing an autobiography, with their help. What was the process? He used Google Docs to create and share text with his son, who was the editor; used shared Apple Photo files for illustrations; produced the layout with Affinity Publishing software; and printed the book through LuLu Self-Publishing in North Carolina (https://www.lulu.com/). How is it organized? The book is chronological. The table of contents includes growing up, time at Penn, time at Cambridge University, starting his career, “hitting my stride”, retirement, and the journey with his wife’s Alzheimer’s disease. Various technical facts include: 72,500 words; 63 photos; 16 drawings; 208 pages; 6” by 9” book size; $15 printing cost per copy; all black & white, except for a colored book cover. Most pages have a photo or illustration at the top with text underneath. The idea was to follow how people might typically scan through a book by reading the captions under the pictures to get the essence of the book. In retrospect, he would have included more photos. How long did it take? It took 6 months to write, two months for layout and proofing, and 2-3 weeks for printing. The overall elapsed time was 9 months from start to first printing. It would have taken less time, except for a long delay in shipping the manuscript by the USPO. After first publishing, the manuscript required and additional 50 or so corrections and a second publishing. How did he remember the details? He had been a prodigious note taker on trips, and during his college years. There were old diaries, office desk calendars, old letters, travel notes, travel guidebooks, photos and slides (18K – 30K slides), Internet searches, and 80 pages of notes taken during his wife’s 12 ½ year struggle with Alzheimer’s. Lessons learned were one cannot proofread their own material; there are regrets regarding memories left out; he would have included more images to help tell the story; it is necessary to get outside help doing the layout; being a notetaker and saver was essential; he remembered more about the early years and less about his professional life. The rewards were: there was a two-way learning dynamic, where he received 11K words of wonderful feedback from readers, some of that indicating how he was inspiring others to do the same thing; the process and resulting book put his own life in perspective. There were 24 in-person and 0 Zoom participants.
November 19, 2021. Eric Zillmer, the Carl R. Pacifico Professor of Neuropsychology, Athletic Director Emeritus, at Drexel University, and a licensed clinical psychologist, discussed the science and the pursuit of happiness, and how to engage in a life of improved optimism, commitment, and enjoyment. American’s are obsessed with happiness, but most are not achieving it. It is not anyone’s fault, but it is a problem. Happiness is essential in one’s mental health toolbox. The drive for happiness started in June 1776 at the Graff house at 7th and Market in Philadelphia, where Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence and penned the phrase “…. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The word “pursuit” puts the burden on the individual to achieve a state of happiness. It suggests a right to pursue happiness, not a right to pursue wealth. Happiness is a behavior. It can be measured, modified, and even predicted. A simple 1-10 Likert Scale, or a progressive series of sad/happy faces, can be used to assess one’s level of happiness. On a more theoretical level, a path to happiness is expressed in Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which describes a five-level hierarchy in pyramid form, with each level having its own set of needs. The base of the pyramid (level 1) is physiological (e.g., food, water, sex, etc); level 2 is safety and security; level 3 is love/belonging (e.g., friendship, work, creativity); level 4 is esteem (acceptance of self and others); and the peak of the pyramid (level 5) is self-actualization (self-fulfillment, being “above the tree line”). In Maslow’s views, the secret to authentic happiness is reaching the top of the pyramid. It is not a sprint to the top; finding meaning in life is a marathon. It was suggested that our meeting at the Pyramid Club illustrates that we are all already at the top of the pyramid, above the tree line! There are many different forms of happiness. They can be small, like a good cup of coffee, or significant, like a happy family. Happiness and anxiety are contagious…..so it’s better to be happy. What can we do to be happier? We can learn from the populations that effectively deal with stress: the military, athletes, other cultures, and music, which all teach us how to be more comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances. 1) Military and police. There are 1.4M active military in the US. Significant time is spent training these soldiers in stress reduction, to help them be less vulnerable. It mostly works. Some troops come back stronger, but whatever is done, some troops come back broken. One essential ingredient is resilience. Rear Admiral Tom Lynch (retired) wrote the forward to Eric’s book: Military Psychology: Clinical and Operational Applications. Lynch suggests that it is important how you care for and present yourself. a) Physical: be in good condition, take care of yourself, get adequate sleep, a haircut, dress well, practice selfcare, etc. b) Cognition: only worry about what you can control, manage your cognition, be mission-driven. c) Emotions: be emotionally honest with yourself, honest about what is most important to you. d) Social: create groups of people with mutual support, build a team, a community. e) Spiritual: believe in something larger than yourself (e.g., the Eagles fans who were happy when they won the Super Bowl), believe in a bigger context, where we are in life together. 2) Sports/athletes. Consider what the crew in an eight-man boat all have in common. The main psychological ingredient is Trust: trust in self, trust in the team, and trust in the equipment. As another example, the high jump world record is an unimaginable 8’ ¼” set by Javier Sotomayor in 2021. Such a feat requires trust in oneself. One must believe and have confidence in their own abilities. Optimism leads to positive outcomes. 3) Culture. The happiest countries are Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden (Bhutan?). In these countries, there is a mutual, societal trust, and citizens take care of each other. Smaller seems to be better in this regard. Some of the unhappiest countries are North Korea, Burundi, Yemen, Afghanistan, Haiti, South Sudan. Places (Blue Zones) with the longest living / healthiest people are Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan (women); Nicoya, Costa Rica. These are all southerly islands, with natural beauty. Common themes are diet (Mediterranean diet), growing their own food, practicing mindfulness, cooking and eating in groups, social gatherings. Also important are being active (walking), having a community focus (network), and taking naps. 4) Music. Although not a population, music enables one to live in the moment, to be mindful, to be present. Music affects all areas of the brain, whether listening to, or playing, it. To illustrate, we were treated at the end of Eric’s talk to a performance of Prelude from Bach’s Suite #1, which was beautifully played by Ana Vidovic, a very accomplished, internationally known classical guitarist. She was a special guest of Eric’s. As was evidenced in her performance, “she is known for her beautiful tone, precise technique, well-defined phrasing and thoughtful artistry and musicianship.” See her website: https://www.anavidovic.com/ There were 32 in-person and 3 Zoom participants.
Carter Broach
Corresponding Secretary
broach@udel.edu
