Dakota Beacon

Minot’s June flooding was the worst in its history.  Over 11,000 people fled the Souris River for the second time, an event covered by hourly state and national news coverage.  Broadway in Minot was bumper-to-bumper with trucks and trailers carrying household goods.  The Minot area already had an acute shortage of housing and lodging.  Before any estimate of the Minot  damage, interim Legislators were advised that public works flooding damage in the state had reached $90 million.

There was serious stuff in the entire Souris Valley.  Burlington is a town of about 1,000, 10 miles northwest of Minot on U.S. Hwy 2.  They mayor had this message: “We’re no longer able to save the city.”  A third of the town’s houses are expected to be lost.  Burlington was founded in 1883 and is the oldest town in Ward County.  Sawyer on Hwy 52 to the southeast of Minot has been evacuated.

Last week I commented on the remarkable manner in which Nodaks are facing floods and contrasted their stoic, trusting behavior with other communities.  I have been told that I may not have fully considered differences in circumstances.  Perhaps, but I will stand by my comment that hardly any area of the country has the high level of social capital seen in ND.  Just one example, the Diehl family in Minot had to quickly evacuate their 1928 home.  The Wall Street Journal reported that 20 volunteers came to their home and moved “everything,” cabinets, doors, light fixtures  -- the house was gutted.  Minot was swarmed by volunteers from all over the state. 

He came right out and finally said it -- UND President Robert Kelley wants to get rid of the Fighting Sioux name.  For many, this was suspicion confirmed.  Kelley never defended the name, never attempted a constructive resolution with name opponents, and, if you believe his most severe critics, may have poisoned the well.

Kelley is an outstanding president in most respects: he has supported higher academic standards, has recognized UND’s potential as a research university, and has been instrumental in better relations with NDSU.  But, as to the Fighting Sioux name, he has been tone deaf.  His efforts to sidestep the issue were unrealistic -- he would have been wiser to have taken an honest position, one way or the other.  Kelley may survive what is about to happen, but he will be badly mauled.  This is an unnecessary outcome.

“Hidden due to low comment rating” is a description used by the GF Herald for comments coming to its website which it chooses not to post.  An unusual number of responses in this category pertained to an article about Robert Kelley.  We don’t know what was in the comments, but they appear to have been censured because of objectionable content. 

Herald Editor Mike Jacobs says “It’s time to reframe the argument” about the Fighting Sioux nickname.  “We can debate the merits of the state’s compromise forever. We can accuse one another forever. We disagree about the nickname forever.  But we can’t afford to keep the name.”  Jacobs translated the argument into dollars -- for UND, Grand Forks and the state.

“The point is, when is enough enough?”  The editor of the Minot Daily News tried to be restrained, but was clearly miffed about raises given to state university presidents -- a view shared by many in ND.  The presidents of UND and NDSU each make over $300,000; the salaries of other state university presidents are in the $175-200,000 range.  UND and NDSU recently hired new presidents and nearly all candidates came from outside the state.  While  $300,000 salaries seem high by ND standards, they are necessary to compete in the national market.

Columnist Lloyd Omdahl discussed the dysfunctional nature of the state university system and the Board of Higher Education.  He said “the board has doled out favors to all institutions because in the North Dakota culture, we think everyone ought to get something, regardless of merit . . . we misallocate resources to keep everyone happy.”  

The GF Herald’s Tom Dennis picked up the same thought when he discussed UND’s and NDSU’s new spirit of cooperation to find and build on complementary strengths.  He quoted a former UND president who said, “The governor has encouraged North Dakota to develop a few centers of excellence, not a whole list of ‘centers of fair.’”  The Legislature has doled out centers of excellence money, in some cases, with little regard for capability or results.  One year, a tribal community college received money for medical research.

Sen. John Hoeven was a speaker at the Great Plains Young Professionals Summit in Fargo.  He heralded the success of ND’s pro-jobs, pro-growth climate.  He acknowledged the role of strong ag and energy sectors in the state’s financial health, but added that other states with large farm and energy sectors aren’t having the same success.  Hoeven’s message: less regulation, less tax, more freedom.

In most areas of the country, the outlook for young professionals is bleak, in ND it’s uniquely upbeat.  A Minot real estate agent said she could leave her job tomorrow and find 10 more openings.  Young professionals in ND said they are willing to put marriage and families on hold while they search for careers of personal significance (a luxury their parents did not have) -- this may mean frequent job changes.

ND has a history of wanting to fix its problems at any cost -- with other people’s money.  The Bismarck Tribune took a refreshing break from that tradition when it wondered if it was really necessary to spend $100 million to repair the Amtrak roadway near Devils Lake -- even if it was mostly other people’s money.  The Tribune suggested that Amtrak find a way to “make do,” while politicians addressed the more important problem of lowering the lake.  A series of fixes ($100 million here, $100 million there) for symptoms of the rising lake have run the total bill well past $1 billion.

In mid-June the upper Missouri reservoirs were full, the Montana snow melt was just beginning, and heavy rains were a constant threat.  Tribune columnist Clay Jenkinson said it was far too early to relax, “We’re in a cruel false lull.”

Most people try to avoid being clowns, but not Ken Gillespie of Minot.  He will be president of the Midwest Clowns next year -- what higher honor can a clown get?  Maybe this, he was also International Shrine clown of the Year in 2009.  “Dizzy the Clown,” as he is known professionally, will be the grand marshal of the ND State Fair Parade this year (hopefully, there will be one).

DAKTOIDS:  The laws of supply and demand are at work -- in the past ten years the value of Minot property doubled (prior to the floods) . . .  After Devils Lake was done beating up on Amtrak, the Souris River took over.  Once again, Amtrak suspended service on the Empire Builder between St. Paul and Havre, Mont.