I was in car and listening to WUSF Radio when I heard the startling news that, without consulting faculty or area school systems, USF intended to abolish its College of Education. My first thought was that Jack Gordon would be thrilled; my second thought was that Betty Castor would be distressed. Both liberal Democrats, they served together in the Florida Senate in the 1970s when Democrats controlled the legislature -- but not necessarily liberal Democrats. Anti-intellectual Senate President Dempsey Barron of Lower Alabama ran everything, along with his Panhandle pork-guzzlers. Read More
Doris writes a weekly column for LaGaceta, the nation's only trilingual newspaper, which has pages in English, Spanish, and Italian. Begun in 1922 for Tampa's immigrant community, it continues to thrive more than a century later. Her column is titled "In Context," as it aims to put contemporary issues in the context of the past.
Walter Reed And His Hospital
October 19, 2020
PART I
Both Hubby and I quite possibly could have died in our twenties were it not for the Army's Walter Reed Hospital. Hubby's tuberculosis was diagnosed there, and I suffered a late-term miscarriage and subsequent infection that kept me there for ten days. On the other hand, it may well have been the hospital's fault that I got the infection – and even that I had the miscarriage. This was during the Vietnam War and young male physicians were being drafted, and I'm sure that some who were assigned to OB/GYN resented that. I know my doctor was a complete and total jerk, without empathy and very antagonistic. Read More
I never thought I would do it, but I did
October 12, 2020
I owe an apology to my friends who long have subscribed to the New York Times: I considered that to be rather elitist and argued for our hometown papers. But because of the demise of Mother Trib and especially because of the recent cast of characters at the Tampa Bay Times, I've signed up with the Yankee newspaper. It promises to deliver a print version every day, something that seems not to matter anymore to the folks at TBT. Read More
The personal is political
October 5, 2020
It's hard to know how to begin. In addition to the insane outside world, my family is falling apart. Regular readers know that I lost my beloved husband earlier this year, and last week, I lost my oldest brother. Adding to that, an older sister and brother are in bad shape. But I used the axiom of "the personal is political" because I want to talk about the end of life and how cruel current conditions can be. Read More