Moving to Hartford: First Weekend Explorations

I've gotten some feedback on my last post about necessities in Hartford. This weekend I plan on checking out A Dong Supermarket for Asian Food in West Hartford and Apple Tree Markets in West Hartford for fish and vegetables. I found a liquor store, Harvest Wine and Spirits on Farmington Ave in West Hartford. Otherwise, spending the weekend unpacking and finishing my rakusu. Jukai coming up on the 28th.

More input on things to do finding necessities is welcome, and I'll report back on my weekend trip. Am close to finding an Audi mechanic I think.

Public Health Law II - Updates

For those of you following my journal and registering for my advanced class in public health law, I must apologize that the syllabus is not yet ready or available. Blackboard is not yet functioning for the class. If I do not have Blackboard on Monday, I will email readings and syllabi to those of you currently enrolled in the class. If you are interested in the class but have not enrolled, do so as soon as possible.

Back to Work Zen & Hsin-Hsin Ming

The latest Back to Work I heard, #46 is outstanding on meta-distraction and more importantly the widespread misuse of Zen. Back to Work is a show by Dan Benjamin and Merlin Mann. Listen. I tend to be a practitioner whose inclination is to hit people with a stick.

Also, check out the Hsin-Hsin Ming. Someone pointed me to this page with the original text and a detailed discussion of the characters.

Moving to Hartford: Finding some Essentials

After much back-and-forth between Massachusetts and Connecticut, I am finally settling down in Hartford permanently since taking my teaching position at UCHC. I realize that there are a lot of things I need to find that I'm used to having. Hartford and the area seem to make it difficult to find some of these.

Click to read more ...

Public Health Law II - Advanced Topics in Public Health Law

Public Health Law Over Two Semesters

At the the University of Connecticut Health Center, which houses the Graduate Program in Public Health at the University of Connecticut, we require Public Health Law as a core course for graduating and obtaining an MPH from our program. After teaching the course in the past, I proposed to the curriculum committee that the material could be better presented if split into two classes: Public Health Law I and Public Health Law II—known as Public Health Law and Advanced Topics in Public Health on the PUBH side. Using principles of backward design. They agreed.

I redesigned the original course to provide core basics that every public health student should understand and am designing the second course to allow students with a interest in law and policy to drive more deeply into public health law as applied and some of the more difficult legal issues, e.g. preemption, administrative law, and public health law research.

To accomodate as many students as possible, the curriculum has been altered slightly. I will be teaching Public Health Law II in the Spring of 2012 and the Spring of 2013. I will also be teaching Public Health Law I in the Fall of 2012. This post is to clarify information for students interested in taking the class and to answer some logistical questions. If you have questions about the class not answered here, feel free to contact me.

Schedule The second course Public Health Law II / Advanced Topics in Public Health Law (PHLAW2) conflicts with the core MPH course Environmental Health on Wednesday nights. We looked at many alternatives. There was no way to move the course. Environmental Health and PHLAW2 will both be held in the Spring on Wednesday nights in 2012 and 2013. We hope this will give everyone a chance to take the course if you are interested. You should plan your schedule accordingly knowing that if you do not take your core course in 2012, you must take it in 2013.

Books PHLAW2 will require three books:

1. The Cigarette Century by Allan Brandt.
2. Food Politics by Marion Nestle
3. The Bluebook

All other readings will be cases or materials available online for download. No materials will be required on reserve.

Topics The course will cover the following topics:

• Preemption
• Administrative Law
• Complex Torts
• Commerce Clause
• Non-Profit Governance
• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
• Public Health Law Research

Again, if you have questions, feel free to contact me. The syllabus should be complete soon and will be posted online.

Scott Burris on Public Health Law

Commonplace Book: Song of Zazen

This has recently become a favorite. I've captured it from Monkey Mind and one of my teacher's Roshi Ford's blog. He has a link to a monk chanting it if you're interested.

The text:

Song of Zazen - by Hakuin Ekaku

All beings by nature are Buddha,

As ice by nature is water.

Apart from water there is no ice;

Apart from beings, no Buddha.

How sad that people ignore the near

And search for truth afar:

Like someone in the midst of water

Crying out in thirst,

Like a child of a wealthy home

Wandering among the poor.

Lost on dark paths of ignorance,

We wander through the Six Worlds,

From dark path to dark path--

When shall we be freed from birth and death?

Oh, the zazen of the Mahayana!

To this the highest praise!

Devotion, repentance, training,

The many paramitas--

All have their source in zazen.

Those who try zazen even once

Wipe away beginning-less crimes.

Where are all the dark paths then?

The Pure Land itself is near.

Those who hear this truth even once

And listen with a grateful heart,

Treasuring it, revering it,

Gain blessings without end.

Much more, those who turn about

And bear witness to self-nature,

Self-nature that is no-nature,

Go far beyond mere doctrine.

Here effect and cause are the same,

The Way is neither two nor three.

With form that is no-form,

Going and coming, we are never astray,

With thought that is no-thought,

Singing and dancing are the voice of the Law.

Boundless and free is the sky of Samádhi!

Bright the full moon of wisdom!

Truly, is anything missing now?

Nirvana is right here, before our eyes,

This very place is the Lotus Land,

This very body, the Buddha

Commonplace Book: Keizan

Know that in a remote place in a cloud-covered valley,

There is still a sacred pine that passes through the chill of the ages. 

- Keizan

Commonplace Book: Shunryu Suzuki

"Whatever we see is changing, losing its balance. The reason everything looks beautiful is because it is out of balance, but its background is always in perfect harmony. This is how everything exists in the realm of Buddha nature, losing its balance against a background of perfect balance. So if you see things without realizing the background of Buddha nature, everything appears to be in the form of suffering.”

Drawing my lines in the sand: Email, meetings and getting in touch with me

I get a lot of email and found that as used it was a barrier to completing tasks that are essential for me. Email cedes too much of my time and my context to other people. Using email as I had been meant that I had to check my email daily and skim through to find what required immediate attention and then process the rest. This had to be done daily and took a lot of my time. I also had email pushed on my phone. It became a constant distraction. Finally, I realized, that it ceded a lot of control over my life to other people. It allowed others to dictate what was urgent or an emergency. This made me constantly reactive to others and made it difficult to focus on the tasks at hand that I needed to complete. I have started using AwayFind. I tried it for one week and started a paid subscription. It is the first system/service that has allowed me to get control back. AwayFind works simply, but it's key features are 1. allowing you designate what email gets pushed directly to you and 2. creating a means for individuals to bypass your filters to find you immediately. I now have a basic system set up.

1. I check my email twice per week. That's it. It isn't pushed to my phone.
2. If we are friends, family or close colleagues, you probably have my cell number and can use it if you need me right away.
3. If you don't have my cell or work number and can't wait, you can get into contact with me immediately using my AwayFind contact form. This puts the responsibility on the shoulders of those contacting me. The AwayFind contact form is the equivalent of making a 911 call to me. I will get the communication on my phone by text and by voice. I no longer have to determine urgency, you do.

The amount of dedicated working time this has given me hasn't increased. It is just more productive. In this current economic and labor environment where everyone is being asked to work substantially more for less money and with the same amount of time every moment counts. I also have more about contacting me over at my FAQ on this topic, including how to schedule meetings with me.

Much of this approach is inspired by the approach taken by M. Mann and is generally taken from him.