We Are "This Close" to Ending Polio: Thank You Rotary!

By T. R. Shaw Jr.

            If you’re a certain age, born in mid-20^th Century, you might have heard of polio from your grandparents or maybe even know someone who suffered from the crippling childhood disease.

            If you were born in this century, it’s likely you’ve never heard of it.  Be grateful!

            Poliomyelitis (Polio) is a paralyzing and potentially fatal virus that plagued the 20^th Century and still threatens children under five in some parts of the world.  It disabled Franklin D. Roosevelt and many other Americans of that era. 

The good news is, polio is about to become the second pandemic virus that has been eradicated from the face of the Earth.  In 1947, Dr. Jonas Salk, a physician who turned researcher and immunologist, developed a vaccine to prevent polio with the help of the Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.

Salk, was hailed a hero in 1955 when news of the vaccines’ success was made public.  Salk deemed it a “moral commitment” to immunize all children, and advocated an aggressive immunization campaign in the U.S. and around the world.  He refused to pursue personal profit and a patent for his discovery, believing public health was a greater concern.  When asked, he stated, “There is no patent…could you patent the Sun?”

Generations from the 1960’s on, grew up with vaccinations, and without the threat, or fear of polio.  Gone were leg braces, iron lungs, social embarrassment and isolation.  The disease became a relic of another era.  In a brief time, polio was eradicated in the United States thanks to Salk’s vaccine, aggressive administration, and his generosity with the cure.

Polio has continued to be pandemic in the rest of the world, especially in developing countries with little or no healthcare.  The problem is not a cure, but distribution and vaccination. 

This is where Rotary comes into the picture.

In 1985 Rotary International launched its Polio Plus program to rid the world of polio through mass vaccination of children.  From that time forward, Rotarians have traveled throughout the world sponsoring polio days and administering vaccinations to children in some of the most remote places on Earth.  It’s simply two drops on the tongue.  The battle was just getting it there. In some parts of the world, cease fires took place in Waring nations to allow citizens to get immunized.  Lines at some stations stretched for miles and it was common for women to carry their children 10 miles or more just to get to a vaccination.

Today, polio exists in only three nations on Earth; Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.  Only 22 cases were confirmed worldwide in 2017, a reduction of 99.9 percent since the 1980’s when the world saw more than 1,000 cases daily.  The remaining cases are the most difficult to prevent due to geographic isolation, poor pubic infrastructure, armed conflict and cultural barriers.  Until it is completely eradicated, all nations are still at risk.

Immunized children show off their
Purple Pinkies

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, formed in 1988, is a public-private partnership which includes Rotary, The World Health Organization, U.S. Center for Disease Control, UNICEF, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Rotary’s focus is advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, administration and awareness.  Rotary has also contributed more than $1.8 billion raised by Rotarians in the 33,000 clubs worldwide.  Rotary’s Advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $7.2 billion to the eradication effort.

Rotary has had an ongoing “This Close” campaign with a growing roster of public figures helping to raise awareness, including Bill Gates, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Queen Noor, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Jack Nicklaus to name a few.  These ambassadors help educate the public about polio through public service announcements, social media and public appearances.

Rotary plans to recognize World Polio Day on October 24 to raise awareness of the organization’s efforts and make the final push towards total worldwide eradication.  Many Rotarians may have a “purple pinkie”, a purple fingernail which might raise curiosity.  The purple pinkie campaign reflects the fact that once a child has been immunized, their pinkie is dipped in purple ink as a way of marking their immunization.

Rotary is counting down to History and hopes to end this disease in the very near future.  We are “This Close” to that day!

If you would like to contribute to Rotary’s Polio Campaign, visit www.endpolio.org or www.rotary.org for more information.

T. R. Shaw Jr. is CEO of Shaw Communication in Battle Creek, a past president of the Cereal City Sunrise Rotary Club, and a Paul Harris Fellow.  He is also Public Image Chairman for Rotary’s District 6360 and is a contributor to Polio Plus.

Is It Time To Retire The Term "Rust Belt?"

By T. R. Shaw Jr.

            My hometown of Battle Creek is getting some much appreciated attention lately.  The community has been featured in major business journals, national and international newspapers, and most recently a series of stories in Crains Michigan Business, and it’s not about cereal! 

           

However, in nearly every report, journalists couldn’t resist using the term “Rust Belt” when framing our region.  A term many of us scoff at from our past.

The recent accolades center on our community’s entrepreneurial efforts, and the growth of the Fort Custer Industrial Park, which in thirty years has attracted 70 firms from around the globe.   The Park is adjacent to Michigan’s third busiest airport with a 10,000 foot runway and lots of room to grow.

High tech companies supporting the automobile industry have occupied “The Fort” since 1974, employing more than 21,500 people.  Our biggest resident and employer is Denso Manufacturing, a Japanese owned company making heaters, air conditioners, and radiators for most of the auto industry and employing more than 2,100 associates (they don’t call them employees.)  Denso recently installed an impressive robotic line which didn’t replace any laborers. 

Battle Creek also landed lithium component manufacturer Toda USA which is making parts for the next generation of hybrid electric vehicles.  Toda recently inked a deal with BASF and will expand in the near future.  Oh, yes, Kellogg and Post are still here, but the community appears to have moved well beyond the “Cereal City” moniker.

Our economic development entity, Battle Creek Unlimited, which manages Fort Custer Industrial Park, formed in 1974 and took advantage of the former military base when it was officially closed by then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.  BCU recently cleared hundreds of acres, making them “infrastructure-ready” parcels, going well beyond “shovel ready,” and offering it to developers and corporations.  The interest in this land is overwhelming and will fill quickly; that’s very good for our region and state!  No Rust Belt mentality here!

Rust Belt is a term coined in the late 70’s and early 80’s during the worst part of the industrial decline.  Rust Belt refers to an economic region of the United States primarily in the formerly dominant industrial states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.   It came to symbolize a devastating economic change, primarily with the downsizing of the steel industry in towns like, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Youngstown.  The ripple of that economic decline has been felt throughout all the Midwest for thirty or more years, especially in Michigan where the automobile industry is dominant.

We have many “belts” in our nation, there is a snow belt, sun belt, corn belt, fruit belt and even a few Bible belts scattered throughout the nation.  Even our capital is situated within a “beltway.”  So the term Rust Belt was geographically fitting, for the decline of the steel industry and everything related to it during that era.  I question whether that term is still valid today with all the shifts and expansion in manufacturing and technology, which have replaced much of our hard industrial might?

In 1984 Scholars, Murray L. Weidenbaum and Michael J. Athey at Washington University in St. Louis, Center for the Study of American Business, addressed that topic in a point paper, The Revival of the Rust Belt.

In this study, they questioned if the term Rust Belt was then an anachronistic term with the coming changes in the Midwest.  They opined,

“The facts available to answer these questions are undramatic,

not supportive of any extreme position, and thus uncompetitive in

the marketplace for public policy viewpoints. The truth of the matter

is that some of this nation's heavy industry is no longer competitive

and is in the process of shrinking in size and importance;

steel and automobile companies have reported the most dramatic

cutbacks. Yet, on balance, the answer to each of the questions is a

clear "no."

If there is a "Rust Belt," it is far more a question of perception

than reality.”

            They went on to discuss how industry has been replaced by technology and the traditional labor jobs have given way to better ways and systems of doing things.  Basically, they denied that we truly have a “Rust Belt” under the current direction the region was moving. 

            “If industrial giants of the past such as Andrew Carnegie and Harvey Firestone

were to visit their old companies, they would be pleasantly

surprised by the array of high technology now in use: industrial

robots, sophisticated process control, laser inspection, flexible

manufacturing systems (FMS), automated material handling,

and CAD/CAM (computer-aided design along with computer-aided

manufacturing).”

            These words were expressed in 1984 and still ring true today.  So my question is, why do we continue to accept and use the term Rust Belt, when so many great things are happening, especially here in Michigan?   Under Governor Jennifer Granholm, we created “Automation Alley,” in metro Detroit.   Under Governor Rick Snyder, we’ve come a long way in “reinventing” our state and how we do business.  Detroit is seeing unprecedented investment and growth around technology.  It’s the comeback city of the Midwest.  The auto industry stands on the brink of huge new advances with hybrid and electric cars.  For the first time in many years, companies are coming back to Michigan, rather than leaving to do business.

            True, we still have a long way to go economically, but we are far from the malaise of the so called Rust Belt era.   While many journalists and scholars still employ the term Rust Belt, I’d like to see that phrase used in historical perspective. 

            Yes, we may have been the Rust Belt, but that term really no longer fits the direction we are moving.  Too many good things are happening to be labeled with a term like that from the past.

            T. R. Shaw, Jr. is CEO of Shaw Communication in Battle Creek.  He is a freelance writer and aspiring author.

Crisis Communication, Michigan State University, and the Changing Paradigm of Journalism

By T. R. Shaw Jr.

            The past few weeks have been a roller coaster for those of us in Michigan.  We are enduring Penn State II as the Nasser sexual abuse debacle has dominated both the local and national news, as it should.  This is far worse than what happened at Penn State and it’s not over yet.

            The epicenter of all this is East Lansing, Michigan, proud home to our nation’s first land grant college, Michigan State University.  Lately, the school has become less known for sports and more known for a stream of abused athletes, mostly female gymnasts, coming forth with gut-wrenching stories of abuse at the hands of a university sponsored doctor, Larry Nasser.

            At this point, this episode has brought down the university president, athletic director and a few high-ranking athletic representatives.  It has also forced the resignation of several members of the USA Gymnastics Board and a tsunami of further resignations is likely forthcoming.  Nasser has begun serving a 175 year sentence.

            While most of us know the story; many complaints were made against Nasser, none were taken seriously by MSU.  As an active campus police investigation took place, Nasser continued to work for both the school and USA Gymnastics for several years and months with latitude and impunity.  Through ignorance and indifference, young people’s voices were not being heard or taken seriously.  A major university and the Olympic movement were too big to fail; something like that cannot happen at this level many assumed.

            The case went public when a Olympic Gold Medal gymnast finally got her voice heard through a journalist at the Indianapolis Star.  Yes, the power of the press had to be applied in this situation to affect change.  After that, all Hell has broken loose and finally, some resolution came for many victims who were powerless and unheard.

            As a public relations practitioner and journalist, I’ve been quite amazed at how MSU has handled, or failed to handle this situation.  MSU is known to have an outstanding journalism program and has produced many top journalists and public relations practitioners. 

To their credit, the student newspaper last week wrote an outstanding editorial following the resignation of President Lou Ann Simon and laid out a brilliant case for the future of “their” school, which demanded responsibility and accountability.  The student journalists closest to this, put it all into perspective far better than anyone has yet.

Michigan State University; Home of the Larry Nasser Scandal

So, why then did the university fail so miserably in crisis communication?  The comments which came out of the administration and the board as this unfolded were insensitive, condescending, and lacked any clear message that they were ahead of this situation, reassuring their stake holders this would be dealt with in a professional and through manner.   They failed in very basic crisis communication practices and are now suffering for it. 

A quote from the STATE NEWS editorial says it best:  “As the most well-known faces of our university, we expected you to acknowledge the horrors that happened, but instead, we were left disappointed and concerned for the future of the university you all claim to love…You sat at press conferences, unprepared to talk about the largest scandal currently facing college athletics.”

Honestly, I don’t know what kind of plan they had in place or worked from, but the perception was they were utterly unprepared to properly communicate effectively. While they cannot change what happened or didn’t happen, there could have been much better public response from the university.

Earlier, NPR sports contributor and author, John U. Bacon, who sat through the Penn State trials, commented that he was surprised this isn’t getting the national outrage Penn State received during the Jerry Sandusky era.  Bacon said what’s happening at Michigan State is hundred times worse, and he’s right.

Part of it may have been media fatigue from the endless Hollywood and celebrity scandals such as Weinstein, Rose, Lauer, Cosby, etc.  But, still that’s no excuse. 

Likewise, in this era of instant, 24-hour news and social media, the university could have handled it much better, especially with communication experts in their midst.

While this tragedy continues to unfold, it is a textbook case of poor media planning, wrong responses, and failure to send the right messages.  I’m encouraged this episode was brought to life by a journalist, especially in this era where most of the media are maligned as “fake news.” 

I’m encouraged by student journalists rising above the noise to take a strong and courageous stand through the power of the press, and the courage of 150 young women finding their voice.

The future of our nation is bright with young people of this caliber rising above the status quo and bureaucracy and using their collective voice to affect institutional change.

My hope is all other institutions and organizations take the lessons learned from this and become serious about a crisis communication plan.  There is much to be learned from a communication standpoint with this horrible event.  The world is moving too fast to not get it right the first time.

T. R. Shaw Jr. is CEO of Shaw Communication in Battle Creek, Michigan.  You can read his blog, The Reluctant R(L)eader at www.read-mor.blogspot.com