Dakota Beacon

You know the phrase “win-win” --  that’s a decision that is good for all concerned.  The decision to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname is the opposite -- “lose-lose.”  UND loses a great tradition, valuable brand and unique and exciting image.  As for ND Indians, little changes for the better, they lose future benefits and one of their most positive identities.  The dysfunctional leadership at Standing Rock deserves much blame, but they weren’t alone.  The State Board of Higher Education and UND administration and directors did little to provide leadership towards a positive outcome.  Political leaders of all stripes, conflicted by this issue, cowered in the background.

To gauge the impact of the decision to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname at UND, hardly anything was more telling than a televised news conference with the athletic director and major coaches at UND.  Their reactions were a combination of anger, disappointment and resignation.  They were straight talking -- the SBHE decision surprised and disappointed them.  As one said, a favorable outcome was “so close in all our minds.”  They found the abruptness of the decision hard to understand.  When asked about the impact on recruiting and financial support for athletics, the AD could only say “there will be pushback,” you can’t “walk away from an 80-year tradition” and expect differently.  

Was the Fighting Sioux nickname a problem in recruiting?  Absolutely not, said the coaches, it was a plus and source of pride for the teams.  One coach mentioned the uniformly positive recognition the teams receive as they travel and pass through major airports.  UND’s eagerness to join the Summit League has been given as a reason for retiring the nickname.   When asked which would he prefer, the Summit League or Fighting Sioux -- a coach answered, Fighting Sioux.

The GF Herald asked for online reaction to the SBHE decision -- comments, which ran well into the hundreds, could be summarized in a word, “furious.”  There was tremendous hostility toward the SBHE for not giving the Standing Rock Sioux time to have a referendum vote.  The Standing Rock Council was seen as the number two villain.  Disappointment with the whole process was summed up by a Minnesota writer: “Well, I never thought I’d see a state such as North Dakota crumble.  I thought it had more backbone than to say one thing then do another.”

“Snarky” (look it up -- snide, derogatory, mocking) would be a way of describing the Fargo Forum’s editorial response to the SBHE decision.  The Forum has been a strident critic of the Fighting Sioux name, now, they seem to have had their way.  Wouldn’t this have been a good time for the Forum to let up and graciously acknowledge there are two valid sides in the controversy?  It didn’t happen -- nickname supporters were characterized as “ossified,” arrogant time wasters who have stained the state’s image.

Minot relishes its boom.  ND’s number four city has been in the shadows for awhile.  Now, it has become a minor oil and gas capital, Canadian tourism is good, and the Air Force base is expanding.  Property owners in Minot learned about the other side of the “boom coin” -- their property tax bills skyrocketed.  The average increase is 9.5 percent, following last year’s 8.5 percent increase -- both increases follow demand driven rises in market values.

NDSU Acting President Dick Hanson referred questions about a new scandal to athletic officials.  And well he might, the list of problems which have become public at NDSU will be sufficient to occupy both him and the new president.  The caper involved 10 current or former NDSU students who conspired to steal $150,000 of merchandise from Best Buy in Fargo.  Most of the 10 are associated with NDSU athletic programs.  Drunken driving, behavior problems, possibility of deportation, academic failure -- the 10 are a lovely group.  This is not an aberration -- NDSU athletes are often found in crime reports.

A Fargo woman was nearly hit when she turned in front of a fast moving Chevy pickup -- she responded by giving the other driver the finger.  He responded by completely shattering her windshield with his bare hands.  Rumor has it NDSU recruiters are eagerly pursuing the man -- he seems ideal for their football team.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy has received official recognition.  Citizens Against Government Waste have given him a prominent spot in the “Congressional Pig Book,” in fact, he was designated King of Pork for leading the U.S. House in earmark spending.  Pomeroy shrugged it off: “They call it pork; I call it doing my job.”

When a river floods, homes are inundated and it can be devastating, but it goes away.  Folks around Devils Lake feel they are the forgotten ones who have to live for years with the menace of the lake.  Loren Janzen, a farmer west of Devils Lake said, "It seems nothing is getting done. Fargo gets a flood and gets in the news and gets their stuff taken care of, but Devils Lake sits here with this water all the time that doesn't go anywhere and we're just stuck with it."  Elevation changes around the lake are very subtle, the Minot Daily News reported, “Even a one foot rise can consume thousands of acres of farmland and cause innumerable problems.”  Ramsey County, where the city of Devils Lake is located, has 1,600 identified flooding problems which must be constantly considered in routing emergency services.

ND shares a problem with other states -- its state pension plans are underfunded.  The state has reported a $700 million shortfall, but Tom Dennis at the GF Herald says if conservative investment assumptions are used, the shortfall could be as much as $4 billion.  That estimate, which is equal to two years of state tax revenues, comes from the Journal of Economic Perspectives.  To add to the bleak picture, the director of the state plans, Steve Cochrane (53), killed himself.  An audit, which is said to be customary when there is a change of top management, has been ordered by the state Investment Board.

A mysterious van bristling with high-tech equipment quietly drove into the town of Marmath (140) located where the old Milwaukee Railroad meets the Little Missouri River, the southwest corner of ND.  The mystery deepened when six people from the van divided into two-man teams and fanned out in town with strange instruments.  Tribune writer Lauren Donovan said there was no need to worry, the invaders were only “Ghost Busters,” members of the Black Mt. Paranormal Research team and were in Marmath to look for creepy things.  Did they find any?  Well, maybe -- strange sounds, colored orbs and odd electrical currents came to their attention.  It’s not definitive, they’ll be back, but first they must investigate a haunted sanitarium.

It was very thoughtful indeed -- a Bismarck motorcycle club arranged to take a terminally ill man on what would probably be his last ride.  The dying man loved cycles and was delighted to be lifted into a sidecar for one more trip.  This is the point where their thinking became a little sloppy -- the benefactors rolled the man away from the Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center and barreled towards their scenic destination . . . the Veterans Cemetery.