Oh, to have a UMM commencement for 2020

(B.W. photo)

Wouldn't yesterday (Saturday, May 16) be the day for UMM's annual commencement? Think of the sense of "buzz" in our community. Think of the exhilaration and joy. Yes, an injection for the local economy. But let's weigh instead the intangibles. Our local college is liberal arts which has a lot to do with the intangibles of college.
Such knowledge builds wisdom, and wisdom leads to prudent guidance with our economy and general welfare. We gain a sense of wide perspective. You'd never guess we as a nation value such an asset, when you look at the occupant of the White House. Or, at the prevailing political party in D.C. now, in control of the Senate as well as the presidency.
Why do we put so much emphasis on this one person we call the president? I don't think our system was set up with this in mind. I began hearing concerns about this as the Nixon presidency deteriorated. Why does this one mortal person hold forth with such commanding effect? Why can't he be more of a low-profile executive within the overall balanced nature of government?
Our system at present is allowing the executive branch to consolidate enormous power. And the main power is owned by the GOP, a party that is not suited by its basic nature to respond to something like this unprecedented pandemic.
Why am I weaving in these thoughts in a piece inspired by our UMM? Well, I suspect the states of the nation, who are not allowed to run deficits, are going to need the feds to do some heavy lifting before all this is over.
Ah, "when all this is over. . ." A philosopher might wish to pick that apart. Is "this" the death, the inconvenience, the anxiety or the mystery? All of the above? And then there's the assumption that a true "end" will arrive, a resolution followed by resumption of totally normal life. What about the after-effects or "hangover" from the incredible steps being taken to have some modicum of stability?
And the poor states, deficit-less: how can they re-establish normalcy without navigating some rough waters caused by a prolonged shutdown? I mean, how can we just shut everything down as if we're a big bear in Yellowstone Park, hibernating? Even if we're "smarter than the average bear" (homage to Yogi Bear), how indeed can we just land on our feet?
Let's trot out "when this is over" again and assume that Republicans in D.C. are not going to bend over backward helping states out. After all, we are not Wall Street. (Rimshot)
The states, which would likely feel pressed under normal circumstances, are going to be pressed in spades. So, it's likely there will be an exhaustive review of state spending with little hesitation in applying the scythe. "No mercy," as the bad guy character in "Karate Kid" said. (That actor is now playing a good guy in TV commercials.)
So I have to wonder, how are colleges going to come through, like our wonderful University of Minnesota-Morris? In normal times we can spin the most effective lobbying messages for our beloved campus. We here in Morris believe all of it. While I have privately harbored concerns re. the viability of the liberal arts, I'm delighted with the ship steaming ahead: our campus on the east end of town.
It's an extended campus if you include the K-12 public school on the higher ground. And in between is the thing tying the two together: Big Cat Stadium. I have never been a big advocate for that, but then you might be aware I'm quite the harsh critic of football. The best thing that happens there all year is the Irondale marching band practice and exhibition in summer. I suppose that's off for 2020. What isn't off?
  
My sentimental practice
I have the 2018 and 2019 UMM commencement programs lying on my late mother's bed. They are there permanently, to be joined by new programs when or if normal life resumes. Yes I specify "if." Interesting: Trump professes closeness or at least some sympathy with the anti-vaxxer crowd, yet he is now making a bold, and I think misleading promise for a cure-all vaccine within an unreasonable timespan.
Vaccines are fundamentally needed but it's reasonable to have some apprehension about them. I'm sure my parents availed themselves of the polio vaccine the second it became available. I was born in 1955. Our State Fair had to be canceled because of the polio scourge.
I am profoundly scared by the idea of a "rushed" vaccine because these can indeed be dangerous. Trump might rush this, I fear, out of desperation to look good and win re-election. Is there anything he wouldn't do?
Of course there is no guarantee we'll even find a reliable vaccine for the pandemic we have now. What kind of future can we envision then? Dystopia, the stuff of science fiction fantasies or apocalyptic projections? I'll site again the 2006 movie "Children of Men." If our states of the U.S. have to plunge into retrenchment, due to obstinance by the feds, what might happen to state-supported colleges?
On the positive side of the ledger, the U of M is top-tier. That's why an element of the Morris community fought so hard to get it. The second-tier colleges have a lot to be worried about now. But the U is top-tier and its research purpose will always be of the highest priority. That said, I wonder about the satellite bricks and mortar campuses. That's us. And we're liberal arts, a mission that often has to be promoted with language that comes off rather as platitudes.
Platitudes are sweet-sounding and they don't originate from whole cloth. But the forces of retrenchment might not be so impressed. This is just speculation but I don't think politicians like Jeff Backer are enthused about UMM, though they might say the opposite. They'll respect what the institution provides as an economic asset within their district. But conservative Republicans like Backer are suspicious of liberal arts institutions, I feel, because the schools allegedly nurture future political liberals.
The liberal arts promote critical thinking as with the scientific eye toward climate change - this can run counter to the emotions-based arguments of the deniers. So it's verifiable facts versus emotions and I tend to favor the former. Just my bias.
I must put forward a bleak scenario, that maybe UMM will sit idle for a year or two until we "come out on the other side." Again, the federal government can run wild with deficit spending and the states cannot. And can we trust the GOP-controlled federal government to be the truly helpful asset we need it to be? Or, is it too preoccupied feeding Trump's ego with the hugely expensive "Space Force" with its rockets? An expansion of bureaucracy with Space Force. Republicans like to talk like they're against expanded bureaucracy. Watch what they do, not what they say.
I shared my thoughts about UMM's prospects with a friend a few days ago. He is conservative by nature. He said much of the gloom and doom is being put forward by "economics" commentators who are inclined toward such projections. I will admit such people have been getting proven wrong over the past few years. But why? Have the laws of economics changed?
My friend said that inflation cannot re-surface like in the '70s because of some "new factors" not present then. Yes, the Federal Reserve has been doing incredible things to try to plug the hole in the dike as it were. The Fed just prints and does "repo" on and on, to the point where the agency appears to have our fate in its hands. Some are pointing out that the money-printing does not appear to be causing inflation. OK, if true let's just have the Fed print and print and print, and just spread it around with hardly any prerequisite for working and being productive. Ultimately that is absolutely absurd.
Money-printing without productivity simply must cause inflation or we're living in a fantasmagorical dreamland. OK, so maybe we are? Ask Peter Schiff.
So in summation I'm worried about the future of our local liberal arts campus. I'd be delighted to be wrong. What's to become of music at UMM? Kids standing shoulder-to-shoulder in choir or seated side-by-side in band? When can we envision such things returning?
Most of all, I am so profoundly sad that I cannot place a 2020 UMM commencement program on Mom's bed. Please stop by our family monument at Summit Cemetery sometime: a black bench in the new portion. Sit a spell. Take a load off. Remember UMM's past. Whistle a happy tune.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Where our UMM commencement would be held on a nice day (B.W. photo)