Gambling, Chaos Theory

Sunday Reads – Oct. 10

It’s a random Reads week with plenty of topics to choose: gambling, tenure debate for universities, more Covid fallout, and renewed attention on voting. It’s a lineup for chaos, or is it?

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Playing an early hand

The Georgia legislature is already prepping for the 2022 session that starts in January. The bills left on the table from last year include a pile of pari-mutuel gambling initiatives, including a constitutional amendment that passed the senate. It’s fair to say the gambling effort had serious momentum last spring until it was smothered by the fight over changes in the state’s voting laws. And now, Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) is backing the constitutional amendment that throws in horse racing, casinos and online sports betting. Dozens of lobbyists are already crowding the legislators to boost the vote and a common theme is that online sports betting won’t bring jobs but bricks and mortar locations will. The discussion is already worth watching closely in Coastal Georgia since Midway was on the short list to get a casino.

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Speaking of the voting law…

This past week, The Current and The Savannah Tribune hosted two Voter Education webinars. Representatives from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, Glynn and Chatham counties’ elections boards, the ACLU, and League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia answered common questions about the new voting law. Each group is working to make sure every eligible vote is cast and counted in next month’s elections. The panelists on both nights said they had confidence in the voting and counting processes the counties will use. If you have questions and couldn’t join the webinar, the videos with answers and other information are posted on YouTube as well as at this link. Each session lasts one hour.

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A new labor shortage

Last week we learned those who provide care services for the disabled and others are leaving the profession en masse for higher paying jobs. This week, new research finds that the labor shortage is compounded as 1 in 5 Georgia workers decided to quit their jobs to care for a family member instead of placing the loved one in a long-term care institution. The survey, done through the nonprofit Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, also found that 44% of all family caregivers employed full time said they had to move to part-time hours. Most also cited the lack of employer insurance coverage for mental health help. Stats to make this matter: Before the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted the number of people over age 65 would increase by nearly 27% in Georgia by 2025. Here’s more: There are 7,300 geriatric doctors in the U.S. and we’ll likely need 30,000 in 9 years. It’s as if Covid didn’t bring enough to think about. right?

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The tenure debate

Long a staple of research and creative freedom, tenure has been the goal for most in academia. Once status is earned, there are rare challenges to job security. The Georgia Board of Regents will consider adding to the post-tenure review process for professors in Georgia’s public colleges and universities. Supporters say the changes will make the process fair across all institutions and critics say any changes will undermine academic protections. The panel will meet this week to discuss a new policy to add student success to the levels of faculty assessment.

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The Hostess City: Food deserts, inadequate housing

Also on The Current this week, you’ll find two stories from news partner Savannah Agenda, an independent Chatham County-based site that encourages engagement by posting government meetings and agendas to help inform citizens about what their representatives are considering. The first story chronicles the last day of a small store on Waters Avenue where the closing triggers big decisions for the City of Savannah: what to do with the strip shopping center it owns in a corridor that’s known for crime and empty redevelopment promises. The neighborhood, a food desert with no place to buy fresh food for its families, has many challenges. The city’s decisions for the center will be crucial to solving them. The second story is a quick question-and-answer session with the outgoing director of the Chatham Savannah Authority for the Homeless, Cindy Kelley. Savannah Agenda Editor Eric Curl quizzed Kelley about the ongoing challenges of and for the area’s homeless citizens, how the pandemic changed the trajectory of efforts, and how recent moves have pushed the community conversation from a homeless “problem” to the need affordable housing.

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For your second cup: Know your chaos

Since we’re on the topic of gambling, it turns out the difference between “random” and “chaos” is what separates being able to forecast the weather and not being able to predict your next poker hand. A systems scientist explains it all.

Enjoy.

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