Glory is Fleeting

Wow! It has such a long time since I have written an entry. It is like I got out of the habit. So it is time to catch up. The biggest news is that dormgrandpop gained some additional media attention. Not long ago, a reporter and photographer from the Associated Press came for a Sunday night dinner. The fine story the reporter wrote, titled “it isn’t only students who live in the dorms” received a surprising amount of coverage – on internet news postings – especially CNN – and a number of print outlets. Then there were television interviews for the Fox News channel and USA Channel 9, calls from a reporter in Philadelphia and, since I have been out of town for a few days, who knows what else.

This moment of celebrity has been fun. I don’t deny it. And it is great publicity for American University students and for the concept of faculty members living on campus at all Universities. Fortunately I have had previous ‘media experience’ during the time I worked with the Club of Rome on sustainable development modeling and then with The Hunger Project. If one is not careful, media attention can have the same effects as drug or alcohol addiction. You need greater and greater fixes to achieve the same high. If you feel yourself slipping into that beguiling trap, one should be mindful of George C. Scott’s final words in the movie “Patton,” “Glory is Fleeting.” (from the Latin ‘Sic transit Gloria mundi.’)