Today I join millions of Americans mourning the death of NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and Moderator and Managing Editor of Meet the Press Tim Russert.

It was only a year ago when Tim was the keynote speaker at the EASFAA conference held  in Niagara Falls, NY. Tim spent time with the EASFAA leadership before he spoke and made sure there was ample time to sign some books, meet with FAAs, and have photos taken with other attendees. He told humorous stories of his tight knit Buffalo neighborhood, his close Irish Catholic family, and other stories of presidents, Popes, world leaders and sports heroes.

The most enjoyable stories for me were of Tim’s dad, “Big Russ.” He taught his children how to appreciate the values of self-discipline, respect and loyalty to friends. (These lessons are told in Tim’s two best-selling books: “Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life” and “Wisdom of our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons”)

Like Tim, I also have a son, two actually. And seeing Tim’s son Luke on the Today Show yesterday (the full video is available below) made me say aloud, “My sons will be my monument.” His son Luke is blessed with the same eloquence his dad was known for … (and the image of Luke at his father’s chair will stay with me for a long time.)

Luke talked about how his mom was “grieving like a wife”, and how he was “grieving like a son” and I suppose the rest of us will grieve “like Americans” who have lost a close and trusted friend.

Tim’s career was devoted to educating the public and explaining complex issues in simple language. He asked the questions others were afraid to ask, but always with a sense of fairness, and always with dignity and respect. And by educating us all and asking the right questions Tim “held the mirror up” to elected officials and made them accountable. And I loved him for that.

In the Epilogue of his book “Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life” Tim wrote the following to his son Luke:

“Lukeman, along the way you’ll hit some hurdles and setbacks. But remember, while you are always, always loved, you are never entitled. As Grandpa likes to say, “The world doesn’t owe you a favor.”

You do, however, owe this world something. To live a good and decent and meaningful life would be the ultimate affirmation of Grandpa’s lessons and values. The wisest commencement speech I ever heard was all of fifteen words: “The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.”

So today I will make sure I stop my “busyness”, and take a quiet moment and pray for Tim’s wife Maureen, his son Luke and father Big Russ, and the entire Russert family and celebrate one of America’s most admired and trusted journalists who led by example.

It is my hope, that others will step up, and hear Tim’s words of encouragement that he left us with at EASFAA: “Go Get em!”

PS Tim, we’ll find a way to get the election results to you!

Last week the Wall Street Journal ran an interesting piece titled “Spitzer’s Media Enablers.” The article discussed the fall of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and how the situation “holds many lessons … but don’t expect the press corps to delve into the biggest lesson of all … its own role as an enabler.”

It was refreshing to see the author, Kimberly Strassel’s comment that “Journalism has many functions, but perhaps the most important is keep tabs on public officials. That duty is even more vital concerning government positions that are subject to few other checks and balances. Chief among those is the prosecutor, who uses his awesome state power to punish, even destroy, private citizens.”

The article goes on to highlight out how Spitzer “played the media like a Stradivarius. He knew the sort of storyline they’d be sympathetic to, and he spun it. … Mr. Spitzer’s main offense as a prosecutor is that he violated the basic rules of fairness and due process. Innocent until proven guilty: the right to your day in court. The Spitzer method was to target public companies and officials, leak allegations … to a compliant press … then move in for a quick settlement and kill. There was rarely a trial, fair or unfair, involved. … Politicians don’t exist to be idolized by the press, at least not any press corps doing its job. ”

As I’ve traveled the country these past two years, our members have privately shared some of these same concerns about “media enabling” leading to a guilty until proven innocent attitude without any sort of trial.Unfortunately, students seem to be the ones who have been negatively affected by this type of journalism, whether they are driven to private loans because distrust of the financial aid office has been artificially manufactured, or they are driven to panic that student loans won’t be available in the fall.

The challenge for our profession is to publicize the everyday story of financial aid administrators helping students. This way, if the profession is disparaged, people will be skeptical about negative reports because they have a positive view of the profession and all the good work we do. This is a formidable challenge because this story does not have the same media-appeal as a report that the sky is falling and student loans will not be available in the fall.What are your expectations of the press as it relates to our profession and helping students and families? How can we get our story out so people have an accurate perception about what we do?

I recently read Justin Draeger’s  “The Multitasking Myth and How to Really Increase Productivity,”  which is part of NASFAA’s “Financial Aid Hack” Series.  The article discusses how college students listen to iPods, instant message their friends, and do their homework simultaneously and insist that “no matter what anyone says, doing two things at once is impossible.”

But the article adds that those who multitask “lose more time than they gain.” I remember when I read that sentence, I said out loud, “I wish I only had to do two things at once.” (Even as I write this, I am watching a movie, entertaining my two puppies, drying a load of wash and making dinner!) 

For me, multitasking seems to be a required skill for the survival of many financial aid administrators.  During job interviews for financial aid positions, there’s always the question, “How do you handle a high stress/high volume/high accountability environment and how are you with multitasking?”   (I can usually gauge how much “multitasking” I’ve done on a particular day by how long it takes me to find where I parked my car in the parking lot at the end of the work day!)

Justin’s article talks about the “prefrontal cortex of the brain…. the portion that establishes priorities among tasks and allocates the mind’s resources for them.” 

When the prefrontal cortex becomes overloaded we seem to create “piles” on our desks.  Whenever I visit the offices of my friends, the first thing many say is “before you ask, I know exactly where everything is in each of those piles!” (Frankly, people who do not have at least a few piles on their desk make me nervous!)

I’ve attended my share of “time management” seminars too, and they emphasize the importance of daily prioritizing.  I’m usually the one who asks the question, “What happens when you’re just getting to priority #1 at 5:00 pm?” (and the room usually erupts into nervous laughter) 

The analogy I use most often describing financial aid administrators is the one comparing us to “air traffic controllers.” We have lots of important decisions, and most are interrelated with unforgiving deadlines.  Many colleagues arrive at work each morning with carefully prioritized to-do lists, and then the work day “traffic” starts.  Whether it’s a phone call, an e-mail, or someone on campus bursting into your office with, “I just thought I’d drop by and (i.e. “Mind if I interrupt you for a second? (wink, wink”), there’s always something offering you a distraction from the things that deserve our full attention. 

My staff is great at trying to limit those interruptions for me and I appreciate their efforts that allow me to focus on directing.

“Remember when we used to meet off campus for a 2 hour lunch?” a friend recently asked. “Then it changed to an hour on campus, and now it’s let talk for 5 minutes while we both eat a sandwich at our desk!”

I’ve attended more than a few campus division meetings where “institutional” issues that touch on financial aid issues suddenly become the financial aid office’s sole responsibility.  The dean opens the meeting, “Today we will discuss a new f…” Simply pronouncing the letter “f” for “financial aid regulation” sends several hands into the air with shouts of, “I think since this is a financial aid program, financial aid staff should handle it!” 

All of these make multitasking a necessity.

Do you find yourself multitasking?  When you multitask, do you find you lose more time than you gain?  Is it difficult in financial aid to prioritize tasks each day?  What are your thoughts?