A great conversation with some Aggies!
Last week I had an opportunity to speak to the members of Dr. Gastel's Risk and Crisis reporting class at TAMU. This is the 10th year I have had the honor of meeting with and presenting to the students. As always, I found them to be quick, innovative, and very smart. It gives me a bolus of optimism in a very confused communication era.
As usual, we took a contemporary issue and worked a scenario. This time it was Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5) HPAI, and we presented a scenario of changing facts and addressing public contention. Sound familiar? Then you might have endured COVID! The students picked up on the same issues and stakes and were lively and creative.
As for me, I learned long ago that presenting in a conventional fashion, that is with me lecturing, was not only a sure cure for the students' insomnia, but also could be construed by the Supreme Court as cruel and unusual. So, we work a participation event, and we played the "what if" game.
I liked it. I think they did too. As always, current events provided the fodder. I will say that we also strayed into some aspects of art and how for those in the sciences having an associated pursuit in the arts allows for a kind of mental balance, a spiritual beat if you will, that makes the other half of the brain even more acute. Just look at DaVinci, Jefferson, or any other self-respecting polymath and I think you'll find I'm right.
In any case, I love these encounters. In a time of such division and distance it was a real pleasure to have that kind of intergenerational connection. I hope I get to do it for another 10 years.
And finally, as I promised I would say, Gig 'Em.
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