Washington, DC
Tuesday, July 10th

Today I taught my last class of the summer. I still have dorm responsibilities but the classroom duties are over. I will miss that part. The best part of teaching is the sharp kids, they do all the reading and they actually discuss with each other what going on. The word engaged is a definitive understatement. The other part of the way we teach the case study that I truly enjoy is NO GRADING!!! I do not know anyone in education who really likes that aspect of teaching. I could truly make a case that the giving grades is a true impediment to education. That’s a rant for another day.

The case study that I taught today was Hurricane Katrina: Responding to an “Ultra-Catastrophe” in New Orleans. In essence of the case goes into the lead up to Katrina heading to New Orleans the preparation, or lack there of, for the hurricane, and how various NGO’s, city, state, federal agencies worked together to respond to the crisis and its aftermath. It is an excellent case to shed light on the failures and successes of inter and intra agency cooperation in the face of a national disaster. I think anyone who followed the events can guess the overall grade for interagency cooperation. Contrary to popular belief there were some examples of great work. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Coast Guard’s search and rescue operations evacuated over 60,000 people who were stranded in and around the city. I loved teaching the case.

The United States Naval Academy

The students headed to back to Annapolis to visit the United States Naval Academy. After a tour they met with Dr. Stephen Wrage, who teaches military ethics at the Academy. He discussed the Captain Rockwood case in Haiti. He is quite good and he was brought in to teach at the academy specifically to deal with ethics issues. His class is now a required course there. The students had favorable things to say about his presentation.

Here are some photos from Busboys and Poets

I did not go with the students. I took care of housekeeping duties and then went to a bookstore in the Shaw district of DC called Busboys and Poets, 14th NW and U Street. I came here on the recommendation of Bill and really enjoyed the place. Where the other bookstore, Politics and Prose, centered on Politics and Public Policy, the focus of Busboys and Poet’s collection specializes in the poetry and specifically the African-American story. One of the performance rooms is named for Langston Hughes. It is more coffee house than bookstore. Either the way the place has a great feel. It acts as an anchor in a neighborhood that is historically a cultural lighthouse for blacks in the US. Howard University, a historically black college is right around the corner. The neighborhood is one of the most rapidly changing, for the better, but it is coming at price. Gentrification is a major problem. Many of the longtime Shaw residents are being forced out as the property taxes rise astronomically. This place helps preserve the culture and improves the neighborhood at the same time. If you ever in DC it is a must visit.

More Photos of the Coffee House

The Langston Room of Busboys and Poets