Dr. Will's Neighborhood

{jwplayer}http://www.drwill.com/images/podcast/SportsTech.mp3{/jwplayer} Hi-Tech Sports The news that the famous Olympian Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorius is charged with the murder of his girlfriend. That heinous act aside, his participation in the games using hi-tech prothetic legs wowed the world. Although we don’t discuss this incident in particular, the conversation today is with Alan Karpick, Publisher of Gold & Black Illustrated and Dr. Glenn Sparks is about the emerging role of technology in athletics in training and performing.

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/EuroEnvy.mp3{/jwplayer} Euro-Envy! How does life in the United States compare with our friends in Europe? Sometimes the polarized American media rhetoric gets heated about this topic with some chest thumping about our esteemed way of life. Well okay, sure. Nonetheless millions of Americans look with eager anticipation to a trip across the Atlantic to revel in the life of the Western European countries. We take millions of photos recalling awesome sites, warm hospitality and amazing food. There are many aspects of life in Europe that deserve our envy. Europeans are more relaxed, less stressed, walk and bike more, eat less health food but have less obesity, enjoy better mass transit and drive smaller more economical cars. Today Glenn & I talk about Europe in honor of World Radio Day!

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/MidLevelLeadeship.mp3{/jwplayer}   Leadership Challenges We talk about the challenge of organizational leadership in situations where the workers are entry level or low paid workers. How can a leader cultivate loyalty  and commitment to the mission in the face of limitations of pay, influence and workplace culture. Easy to inspire entry level professionals, not so easy at the level of first hand customer encounter by the lowest paid employees.

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/GreatWomen 2.mp3{/jwplayer}   Cool Women Deuxième Partie! Continuing conversation with author Angie Klink talking about the research for her upcoming book on the women who served as Deans  throughout the twentieth century establishing and defining the role as women were increasingly admitted to higher education.

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/greatwomen.mp3{/jwplayer} Angie Klink & Cool Women Author Angie Klink talks about the research for her upcoming book on the remarkable women who served as Deans throughout the twentieth century. They helped establish and define this unique role as women were increasingly admitted to higher education. 

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/higherEd.mp3{/jwplayer} Higher Education Revolution No observer can deny the inevitability of the structural change that will eventually overtake America’s college and university system. Technology in general and online learning in particular are forcing all of higher education to rethink their future. The debate is merely how soon the changes will overtake a particular institution. Glenn Sparks talks about the revolution that is underway and where it might be headed.

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/backtocollege.mp3{/jwplayer} Back To School There are almost 20 million people enrolled in college in America. And more than a quarter of them are age 25 and older. The trend of returning to college some years after high school is a growing trend. We talk with Don Fears today about his experience returning to college after six years in the Marines and five more in business before enrolling at Purdue. Graduating with distinction Don is nearing completion of his MBA. A remarkable and increasingly typical story of late start education

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/AlloParents.mp3{/jwplayer} Allo-Parents! This curious term - "Allo-Parents" - refers to adults and other individuals who participate in the supervision and rearing of children beyond the biological parents of the child. Dr. Glenn Sparks joins the conversation about what it takes to raise a child beyond the narrow profile of a child’s biological parents.

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/WillThoughts1.30.mp3{/jwplayer}   Random Thoughts Trying something different with a few random thoughts from moi solo on a few topics of (hopefully) interest to you. Let me know if you like it. New guest tomorrow for the weekend. Cool shows coming up.

{jwplayer}http://www.drwill.com/images/podcast/Government.mp3{/jwplayer}   The G-G-G-Government! Regardless of your political preference every one of us has strong opinions about the role and competence of the government. At every level, from the Post Office, Bureau of Motor Vehicles all the way up to National Defense and the I.R.S., there is exasperation with the government. Today we talk about it with no real solutions offered. Hopefully it’s a good vent and will have you saying, “yeah, what HE said!”

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/gettinghealthy.mp3{/jwplayer} Getting Healthy … For most of my life I have had the luxury of ignoring my overall health. Through no credit to me I am blessed with a system that does not often succumb to sickness, have very few colds or flu and feel good most of the time. That is, of course until August 24, 2009. On that day, without any family history, symptoms or warning I crashed with sudden cardiac death - affectionately known as the “widow maker.” I had a 100% blockage in my descending artery and was out and dying. Mercifully it happened at my office which is two doors down from the fire house. I was one of those lucky souls who was defibrillated within that limited window of a few minutes and was saved. I “coded” twice in the ambulance and thanks to the heroic efforts of the West Lafayette Fire Department and medical staff at St. Elizabeth Hospital emergency room I survived and recovered. Since then I have been a late comer paying attention to my overall health, including diet, exercise, weight and overall health habits. Today Sally and I talk about the experience we have had getting serious about our well being over this past year.

{jwplayer}http://www.drwill.com/images/podcast/Politics1.28.mp3{/jwplayer} Politics Première Partie Most everyone I know has strong opinions about politics. We cannot avoid the topic, but we can choose to have cooler discussion about it. I am suspicious of anyone who holds rigid, ideological views with no willingness to reflect on reasonable opinions to the contrary. The heat from both extremes is a threat to progress. Critical thinking is honored at the University and its commitment is the challenge to us all. Winston Churchill once remarked, “A fanatic is someone who can’t change their mind and won’t change the subject.”

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/PMO.mp3{/jwplayer}   Purdue Musical Organizations Jon Renard is on the leadership team of the Purdue Music Organization (PMO) and talks about the challenges and discipline leading this large, nationally renowned student organization. Always interesting to hear how artists choose different career paths. Choral Music & Personal Ego (MORE…)

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/MBA.mp3{/jwplayer} What’s an MBA?  Most everybody is familiar with the term MBA, even familiar with its full term, Masters in Business Management. According to Forbes Magazine, over 168,000 MBA’s were awarded in 2009! But the degree’s very name indicates a broad range of expertise. Today we talk with MBA student Don Fears from Purdue's Krannert School of Business about the degree and its impact on a career and the general state of business in America.  

{jwplayer}http://drwill.com/images/podcast/JeffAnderson.mp3{/jwplayer} Singer Songwriter Jeff Anderson A chat with another performer about the career and its challenges.