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Civic Ed
Courtesy Sara Gifford
Sara Gifford and Victor Allis co-founded ActiVote.
Meet the reformer: Sara Gifford, putting tech savvy to work for civics
Oct 23 2020
In recent years, more and more technology experts have been developing new tools for boosting civic engagement. Sara Gifford embodies the trend. At the end of 2018 she set aside her budding tech career — after a decade at supply-chain software firm Quintiq she'd become chief operating officer for Dispatch, which makes software connecting home-service brands with contractors and clients — and co-founded ActiVote Inc. Its free app aims to increase political participation by giving voters access to information about candidates and elections, as well as encouraging their civic engagement. Her answers have been edited for clarity and length.
What's the tweet-length description of your organization?
We are a safe, nonpartisan space for voters to learn about their elections, the races, how to vote and which candidates believe what they believe. An informed voter feels empowered. And an empowered voter shows up to vote.
<h4>Describe your very first civic engagement.</h4><p>My parents voted at our elementary school in rural Connecticut and would take my sisters and me to the polls with them. I remember not being allowed into my classroom until my parents voted. When I whined and complained, they would tell me there is nothing more important than voting and not to take school — or democracy — for granted.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><h4>What was your biggest professional triumph?</h4><p>When you build something the question is always: But does it work? Well, last month we finished <a href="https://activote.net/2020/09/28/voters-turnout-with-activote/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a study</a> showing that downloading our app increases your chance of voting 33 percent. This was very encouraging for us. More importantly it should be encouraging to everyone else in this space. It means there are new and innovative ways to get people to the polls.</p><h4>And your most disappointing setback?</h4><p>There is an old saying, "It can take years and years of hard work to become an overnight success." We are working hard for our overnight success to come! But, no worries: See the answer to the question below about advice.<br></p><h4>How does your identity influence the way you go about your work?</h4><p>I have heart. I am relentless. I am dedicated. I take all of those values and apply them to life and to our work increasing voter participation, because it takes all of those things to maintain our democracy.</p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><h4>What's the best advice you've ever been given?</h4><p>Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." We may not always be as successful or as fast as we would like, but the one thing we can control is our endless drive to want to do good and to work hard to get there.<br></p><h4>Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.</h4><p>Vote Ready: Strawberry and vanilla ice cream with blue sprinkles built on top of chocolate brownies.</p><h4>What's your favorite political movie or TV show?<br></h4><p>"The West Wing," which ran from 1999 to 2006 on NBC and is now available on Netflix.<br></p><h4>What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?</h4><p>Set up my white noise app so that I sleep like a baby.</p><h4>What is your deepest, darkest secret?<br></h4><p>As a kid I once hid the last piece to a puzzle my little sister and I were doing, knowing it would drive her crazy. But when it came down to finishing the puzzle I couldn't remember where I hid it. Still have never told her!<br></p>
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Civic Ed
True
Thomas Barwick/Getty Images
Many non-college people in their late teens and early 20s are employed — but they also experience higher rates of joblessness. And they are far less likely to be politically engaged than their enrolled peers.
There's still time to engage the 16 million young voters who aren't in college
Oct 19 2020
Stern is the youth civic education and engagement coordinator in Texas for the Children's Defense Fund, which advocates to improve the health, welfare and education of young people.
<p>With just days to go before the voting stops in 2020, this question remains: Will this be the year when younger voters decide the course of the elections? </p>
<p>Across measures of engagement such as donating money, attending a demonstration or volunteering for campaigns, <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/poll-young-people-believe-they-can-lead-change-unprecedented-election-cycle" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">youth are more involved today</a> than they were even two years ago, when turnout by younger people reached <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/23/young-people-actually-rocked-vote-new-census-data-find/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> a 30-year high</a> for a midterm election. Stories abound of high schoolers filling <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-to-get-involved-election-if-under-18" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">phone banks for candidates</a> and college students <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/experts-are-worried-about-poll-worker-shortage-these-students-are-n1236548" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signing up to serve as poll workers</a>, fueling enthusiastic predictions about even more impressive turnout for the 2020 presidential contest.</p><p>But not all youth are students. In fact, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">43 percent of Americans ages 16 to 24</a> were not enrolled in school last year. And these 16.2 million young people are at even greater risk of being ignored or locked out when it comes to voting and other forms of civic engagement. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The relationship between formal education and civic engagement <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/thats-not-democracy-how-out-school-youth-engage-civic-life#:~:text=31)%2C%20the%20correlation%20between%20years,surveys%20of%20formal%20civic%20behavior." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">has been called</a> "the best documented finding in American political behavior research." Anemic K-12 civic education means that higher education is often the first place young people learn about civic opportunities — and yet college campuses remain overpriced and inaccessible for many. </p><p>The consequence is clear: Unenrolled youth are more than twice as likely as their peers in college <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/thats-not-democracy-how-out-school-youth-engage-civic-life" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">to identify as</a> "almost completely disengaged from civic and political life." </p><p>These youth live in communities across the country and represent every demographic group. But several marginalized groups are also overrepresented. Unenrolled youth are more likely <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/education-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">to identify as</a> Black, Latino or Native American. They disproportionately grew up in the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tbe.asp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lowest socioeconomic</a> 20 percent and in <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/286729723.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rural communities</a>. Many are employed — but they also experience <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">higher rates of joblessness</a>. Over a quarter have <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/thats-not-democracy-how-out-school-youth-engage-civic-life" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">children of their own</a>. Youth who are <a href="https://www.schoolhouseconnection.org/youth-homelessness-and-higher-education-an-overview/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">unhoused</a>, involved in the <a href="https://jlc.org/issues/education" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">foster care or criminal justice systems</a> — or are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0276562415000256" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LGBTQ</a>, <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/supporting-undocumented-youth.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">undocumented</a> or <a href="https://ccrscenter.org/sites/default/files/Improving%20College%20and%20Career%20Readiness%20for%20Students%20with%20Disabilities.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">disabled</a> — also have lower rates of college enrollment.</p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>These patterns are not random. They exist because current policies and practices restrict access to higher education and civic engagement, creating three kinds of civic barriers: People can't participate. They don't want to, or nobody asked. </p><p>All three barriers to engagement are increasingly concerning this fall as Americans — especially youth with no college experience — face the intertwined crises of the coronavirus pandemic, economic devastation and systemic racism. We fully explain the barriers in <a href="https://cdftexas.org/policy/policy-priorities/education/democracybeyondthecampus/" target="_blank">our new report</a>, but to summarize:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><strong>They can't.</strong> Growing economic inequality increasingly leaves unenrolled youth working low-paying jobs with inflexible hours and no benefits. Young people with no college experience struggle to be civically engaged if they lack government ID, face housing instability, have full-time childcare responsibilities, depend on unreliable public transportation systems or face other financial and time limitations</li><li><strong>They don't want to. </strong>Unenrolled youth are more likely to grow up in communities that are under-resourced and over-policed. As a result, some become legally disenfranchised while others develop a justified distrust in institutions that have not served them well or have actively discriminated against them.</li><li><strong>Nobody asked. </strong>One of the best predictors of civic engagement is direct mobilization. But young people with no college experience are still less likely to be contacted by campaigns or organizations, or to engage with institutions that promote civic engagement. Consequently they are rarely invited to participate in civic life.</li></ul><p>Every young person deserves the opportunity to participate in our democracy through voting, advocacy and other forms of engagement. While we continue pushing for policies that strengthen civic opportunity for youth, we must also help youth overcome these three civic barriers. My organization has a list of recommendations to empower unenrolled youth to be active civic participants because somebody asked, because they want to and because they can.</p><p>In the last two weeks of the campaign, we must ensure that somebody asks — through creative outreach and partnerships with organizations that serve unenrolled youth. </p><p>We must ensure they want to engage — by emphasizing the issues young people care about and following their leadership in get-out-the-vote campaigns. </p><p>And we must work so they can engage — by providing resources such as IDs and transportation and promoting paid civic activities to unenrolled youth. For example, the <a href="https://www.powerthepolls.org/?source=CDFTX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ongoing push to recruit poll workers</a> provides an opportunity for youth facing financial barriers to be paid for their civic engagement.</p><p>Unenrolled youth are well aware of the issues facing their communities and in many cases are already mobilizing to support each other. We cannot ignore the voices of 16.2 million young people as we work to increase youth civic engagement, not just in the days before the next president is elected but beyond.</p>
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Civic Ed
True
Frederick Bass/Getty Images
A new, unifying form of news can help fix a broken democracy
Oct 15 2020
Coan is a depolarization strategist who volunteers for Braver Angels, which encourages people to befriend and understand those with differing political opinions.
<p>Can news be unifying? Will Americans want to watch or read unifying news?</p><p>The emphatic answer is "Yes" to both questions. </p><p>A new concept, unifying news can reduce the divides that so many Americans desire to to be rid of. This is especially true of unifying news to help bridge our political chasm, which seem most pronounced this election season. </p><p>Unifying news would provide informative and newsworthy content, but also other data or context that facilitates greater social cohesion. It can include a focus on hot-button political issues; articles that highlight useful research or unifying activities; and human-interest stories that show examples of good character, collaboration, and relationships across political divides. Finally, unifying news can potentially focus on aspects of society that are contributing to disunity, with the goals of reducing their influence or changing their behavior. </p><p>Since news is constantly happening, unifying news can create a drumbeat of unifying content. As the old marketing adage says, it can be necessary to reach people <a href="https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en/resources/blog/marketing-rule-7-and-why-its-still-relevant-b2b" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">seven times</a> to get a message across. </p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Politically unifying news will often depolarize, but it's helpful to understand the several meanings of this. The most common form of polarization is the increasing <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charts-americas-political-divide-1994-2017/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ideological</a> divide, but many researchers are more concerned about other types. One is <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">affective</a> polarization, which in the American context has essentially translated into increasingly negative emotions and attitudes toward those in the other political party. Another is how Americans have overly monolithic and extreme <a href="https://perceptiongap.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">misperceptions</a> of the other side. </p>
<p>These are frequently more concerning because of their potential to spiral into catastrophic outcomes. Increasing affective polarization can lead to viewing the other side tribally, as "the enemy," and being willing to do nearly anything to defeat them — even if that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329825963_Toward_a_Theory_of_Pernicious_Polarization_and_How_It_Harms_Democracies_Comparative_Evidence_and_Possible_Remedies" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">damages the democratic republic</a> or leads to <a href="https://www.dannyhayes.org/uploads/6/9/8/5/69858539/kalmoe___mason_ncapsa_2019_-_lethal_partisanship_-_final_lmedit.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">physical violence</a>. </p><p>And misperceptions can act as a catalyst for increased division: Behavioral responses <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/d6bpe/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">are tied to </a>assumptions about the other side, and overly aggressive behaviors based on misperceptions lead to increasingly dramatic emotional and behavioral responses. These types of polarization can create a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154620301078" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">vicious cycle</a> and continue to worsen. </p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><p>Yet the situation is not hopeless. It is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10584609.2020.1760406" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">possible to address </a>affective polarization, and <a href="https://pcnl.asc.upenn.edu/?page_id=677" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">especially misperceptions</a>. Those would be main targets of unifying news. Ideological depolarization would tend to follow, when readers feel more comfortable having overlaps with others across the political spectrum.</p><p>Americans are familiar with highly divisive news, so it may be difficult to imagine what unifying news would look like or understand how it can work. The ideas may evolve as research progresses. </p><p>For actual news, it can highlight survey data <a href="https://vop.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Common_Ground_Brochure.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">showing overlaps</a> across political divides, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/our-hierarchy-needs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shared needs and goals</a>, and <a href="https://moralfoundations.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shared morality</a>. It is still possible to explain disagreements, especially across a spectrum instead of between two binary categories. This approach should reduce misperceptions and build on <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/similarityattraction-theory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the theory</a> that people with similar attitudes tend to like one another.</p>
<p>Other stories can highlight people whose actions may be considered respectable or admirable by those on the other political side. This type of story relies on many social psychological principles including <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/processes/n57.xml" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">decategorization</a> (highlighting unique individuals rather than stereotypes), <a href="https://cmsw.mit.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/The-Parasocial-Contact-Hypothesis.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">parasocial contact</a> (seeing positive portrayals of the other side) and a <a href="https://www.overcominghateportal.org/uploads/5/4/1/5/5415260/the_moral_emotions.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"moral emotion" of elevation</a> (induced by seeing exemplary examples from the other side).</p>
<p>Stories of collaboration, friendship and close relationships should reduce polarization, using concepts such as having shared <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/superordinate-goals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">superordinate goals</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430210390533?journalCode=gpia" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">vicarious contact</a> (people knowing others in their group having positive interactions with the other group), and <a href="http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/processes/n51.xml#:~:text=Cross%2Dcategorization%20(or%20crossed%20categorization,for%20example%2C%20age%20and%20race." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cross-categorization</a> (shared identity categories). </p>
<p>Finally, unifying media can provide coverage that reduces the influence — or changes the behavior — of institutions contributing to disunity. </p><p>This must be deft, not simply criticizing unwanted behavior. Journalist Ezra Klein has documented the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/1/28/21077888/why-were-polarized-media-book-ezra-news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shifts in journalism's business model </a>that have led to a "polarized media" that "weaponizes differences." Shaming institutions may not work when polarization is a business model. However, individuals may be influenced to change consumption behavior — as evidenced by research showing how leaving Facebook for a month can leave people <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/health/facebook-psychology-health.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">happier and less polarized</a>, if somewhat less informed. </p><p>Approaches for unifying media may be academically sound, but they can only work if people want to read or watch it. There are clear reasons to believe many would.</p>
<p>First, surveys show widespread dissatisfaction with current offerings. A <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2019/stress-america-2019.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">poll last year</a> found 54 percent saying they want to stay informed about the news but following it causes them stress." Another <a href="https://www.publicagenda.org/reports/divisiveness-and-collaboration-in-american-public-life-a-hidden-common-ground-report/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">survey found</a> 59 percent believing journalism and news media promotes mostly destructive public discussion and debate — and only 16 percent believing it promotes constructive discussion and debate.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, unifying news can be designed to be "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686587#:~:text=give%20our%20children.-,In%20Contagious%2C%20Berger%20reveals%20the%20secret%20science%20behind%20word,of%2Dmouth%20and%20social%20transmission.&text=is%3A%20a%20blender.-,Contagious%20provides%20specific%2C%20actionable%20techniques%20for%20helping%20information%20spread%E2%80%94for,content%20that%20people%20will%20share." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">contagious</a>." Perhaps most importantly, it can use stories and target arousing emotions including surprise, joy, awe, hope and even love. Potentially, anger or fear could be used strategically and carefully, likely against institutions that promote divisive content. </p>
<p>In other words, unifying news does not have to be the broccoli to polarizing candy bars. Audiences can genuinely come to want the more unifying content. </p>
<p>While there is not a clear example of unifying news in use, it can draw inspiration from concepts such as <a href="https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">solutions journalism</a>, <a href="https://www.constructivejournalism.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">constructive journalism</a>, and <a href="https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">positive or "good" news</a>. </p>
<p>Unifying news would likely need to be created away from existing media outlets, at least initially. Newsrooms under <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/20/u-s-newsroom-employment-has-dropped-by-a-quarter-since-2008/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">intense financial pressure</a> may want to stick with what works, though this often involves more divisiveness and polarization. However, some training of journalists is possible, following in the footsteps of organizations such as <a href="https://spaceshipmedia.org/?home=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spaceship Media</a> or <a href="https://www.resettingthetable.org/calendar/event/1678563" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Resetting the Table</a>. </p>
<p>The audience unifying news needs to reach directly, if it hopes to be effective, may be relatively narrow. Each of the cable news networks, which often rely on divisive content, reach <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-ratings-most-watched-channel-summer-2020-primetime-2020-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">1 percent or less</a> of the total American public each evening. </p>
<p>Research suggests unifying news can reduce polarization and should attract at least a core audience. Let's give it a shot. </p>
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Photo courtesy Sterling Speirn
Meet the reformer: Sterling Speirn, promotor of 31 fix-the-system ideas
Oct 09 2020
Sterling Speirn is nearing the end of a multifaceted career at the intersection of good-governance, public service and philanthropy. Before stepping down as CEO of the congressionally chartered National Conference on Citizenship, he was on the 35-member American Academy of Arts and Sciences commission that released a sweeping 31-point plan in June for fixing what's wrong with democracy within six years. "It's a game plan and catalogue of a powerful ensemble of civic, cultural and political reforms that could inspire a democratic renaissance at this crucial moment," he says. Earlier he spent a combined quarter century running the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, what's now called the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Apple Inc.'s grantmaking. He's also been a community health center administrator in California, a legal aid lawyer in North Carolina, an Interior Department attorney in D.C. and a middle-school teacher in Cleveland. His answers have been edited for clarity and length.
What's the tweet-length description of your organization?
These days I'm a senior fellow at the Bridge Alliance, a network of 100 organizations strengthening democratic values through our national diversity.
<h4>Describe your very first civic engagement.</h4><p>Attending a public hearing in San Francisco of the Bay Area Air Pollution Control District in 1969. Being on Stanford's campus from fall 1966 to spring 1970 shaped my lifelong civic engagement — and bookended every contemporary issue our democracy faces today. We had demonstrations for racial justice and against wars, the launch of the modern environmental movement with the first Earth Day, and protests for equal rights for women and LGBT people. And I graduated shortly after the Kent State massacre.</p><h4>What was your biggest professional triumph?</h4><p>While at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, launching a $75 million initiative in 2010 to address institutional racism and promote racial equity. The late congressman John Lewis graced us with his presence at the public announcement.</p><h4>And your most disappointing setback?</h4><p>Struggling to replicate the pioneering work of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and bring midlevel dental aid therapists to mainstream dental offices throughout a country where 50 million don's see a dentist every year.</p><h4>How does your identity influence the way you go about your work?</h4><p>I am a connector of people and integrator of ideas. The breadth, depth and vitality of the nonpartisan democratic reform movement across structural reforms, cultural renewal and civic learning is inspiring. The array of intensely local community-based efforts, city and state initiatives — all the way to Congress and constitutional amendments — is the ultimate challenge for communicators and boundary-spanners seeking to portray these diverse efforts as a movement and to help build momentum, support and hope.</p><p><div class="x12"><div class="htlad-Desktop_Content_Banner"></div></div></p><h4>What's the best advice you've ever been given?</h4><p>From a mentor and atypical venture capitalist during my Silicon Valley days, when I was taking on a new leadership challenge: "Be yourself."</p><h4>Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.</h4><p>It would be "RepubliCrunch: a Balm for a Constitutional Democracy in Crisis." Vanilla ice cream with peppermint (red) and blueberry (blue) candy pieces and chocolate covered almonds. Yummy, and often leaves the tongue purple. </p><h4>What's your favorite political movie or TV show?</h4><p>"Dave," the 1993 comedy with Kevin Kline as the president (and his doppelganger) and Sigourney Weaver as the first lady<em>. </em>It's a movie from a kinder, gentler era — one where a good guy and common sense made for a thrilling Cabinet budget meeting and a love story to boot.</p><h4>What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?</h4><p>My phone has long gone to its charger hours before bedtime. Without any Facebook, Twitter or Instagram apps, my phone and its headset are mostly for podcasts, live radio and the new daily diet of Zoom meetings.</p><h4>What is your deepest, darkest secret?</h4><p>I love singers and singing — and binge watching "Glee," Lady Gaga singing everything from "Born This Way" to "Shallow," and auditions on "America's Got Talent" and "The Voice." YouTube on my iPad helps get me through sleepless nights.</p>
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