Dakota Beacon

If you were at UND on September 9th, you could close your eyes and imagine the Berkeley campus in the ‘60s.  A member of the Students for a Democratic Society denounced UND for encouraging imperialism and environmental degradation.  Matsimela Drop, director of Multicultural Studies at UND, wore an afro and dashiki as he protested poor treatment of black people.  The banner speaker was WINONA LADUKE, an American Indian activist who was Ralph Nader’s running mate in 1996 and 2000.  Her list of grievances was long—she criticized UND for “perpetuating the existing order” and lack of multicultural education.  UND was also criticized for helping the military and the coal industry.  LaDuke said the ND economy was unsustainable because it was based on a “consumption economy.”

LaDuke lives and works at the White Earth Ojibwe reservation, located between Bemidji and Fargo.  Her talks are spiced with references to her Ojibwe heritage and their wild rice culture.  SHE WAS BORN IN LOS ANGELES—her father was a supporting actor in western movies and her mother a Jewish artist.  LaDuke graduated from high school in Ashland, Oregon.

A period of experimentation by the ND dailies with comments from online readers seems to be ending.  The Bismarck Tribune attempted, often unsuccessfully, to screen the worst comments and the Forum tried a laissez faire policy.  THE CYCLE IS OVER.  Now, Forum comments must be pre approved and the Tribune will require registration by those seeking to comment.  By doing so, the Tribune hopes to decrease the “potential for obscenity, libel or slander, and spam.”  The GF Herald continues a cautious policy.

The Britney Spears “Circus” concert has come and gone—what might be routine in Las Vegas was very big in Grand Forks.  “The crowd seemed in awe of the spectacle,” according to the Herald, “THRILLED AND SCREAMING.”  Britney’s role was fairly minor: descending on a glittering platform, dragged in a gilded cage and disappearing into a magician’s booth.  The Herald decided, “What she was doing was more along the lines of strutting” with very little live music and much lip-syncing.  The audience, mainly women age 16 to 30, felt they got their money’s worth—even those in the $500 seats.

The tribal council at the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake) recognized the tribal referendum supporting the UND Fighting Sioux nickname—a potentially important step in retaining the name.  DOREEN YELLOW BIRD, a retired GF Herald columnist who has long opposed the nickname, is troubled by the Spirit Lake referendum and the possibility of another at Standing Rock.  She suggests there is a disconnect between those who live on the reservations and Indians who work and study at UND.  That is, reservation Indians are insensitive to the concerns of those on campus.

Tribal members at the STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION are trying to arrange a referendum on the nickname.  Reasonable voices encourage that end—both the GF Herald and state AG Wayne Stenehjem are urging the Board of Higher Education to allow Standing Rock to be heard before a final decision is made.  Sounds fair—who would be against it?  The Fargo Forum for one, they said: “A tribal referendum at Standing Rock on the issue . . . should have no significant effect on the university’s decision.”  In other words, an entire Sioux tribe should be ignored. 

The Forum has long opposed the nickname—you can speculate on the reasons.  The paper awarded its ultimate penalty, LEAFY SPURGE, to “North Dakota American Indian tribe members who are continuing to stir the University of North Dakota Sioux nickname pot.”  The Forum is referring to Standing Rock members supporting a referendum.

As expected, the state insurance department issued a damming report on BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD of North Dakota and documented millions of misspent dollars.  A draft of the report was leaked to and published by the Forum.  Forum Editor Matt Von Pinnon said they published the leaked report without getting a response from BCBS or the insurance department.  That may have been a mistake—in a letter to the Forum, the new CEO of BCBS, without denying the substance of the report, pointed out substantial inaccuracies.  The CEO during the period covered by the report has been fired, but his board is still around.  Current board chairman Dennis Elbert, a UND faculty member, is particularly on the spot.

Try this analogy: “Oil companies liken the technique to drilling through the top of an OREO COOKIE and turning sideways to get the creamy filling.”  The filling is the Bakken shale formation in ND.  Wells into the Bakken are drilled vertically for about 10,000 feet, then horizontally for another 10,000 feet.  The same technique is used to reach the Three Forks-Sanish formation which lies immediately below the Bakken.  As many as four wells have been drilled from one pad, reaching the two formations and tapping oil in a several-mile area.  This approach is used by Continental Resources to save money and lessen environmental damage.

Let’s hope the ND oil industry stays on a strong footing.  If it doesn’t, some western counties will face a rough adjustment.  Next year the MCKENZIE COUNTY BUDGET will increase by 35 percent.  Ordinarily, that would be alarming, but the county auditor says property owners don’t need to worry, their taxes are a minor part of the budget.  Only $900,000 of next year’s $17 million budget comes from property taxes, most of the rest comes from oil and gas taxes and royalties.

A large piece of the Badlands, a 4,700 acre ranch straddling the Little Missouri River, is coming up for sale.  Unless a single buyer emerges, the ranch will be auctioned off in 19 parcels.  There is very little the public can do to prevent the development of this property because ND laws severely limit the ownership of property by conservancy organizations.  Tom Dennis of the GF Herald observes, “But in North Dakota, NONPROFITS CAN’T BUY LAND unless they jump through absurd hoops, up to and including winning approval from the governor. Supporters hail this law as a triumph of ‘land rights,’ but it is in fact the opposite, a blatant and heavy-handed interference in transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers.”

Each year, an estimated seven million VORACIOUS BLACKBIRDS stop in ND, residing in cattail wetlands.  From the cattails, they raid surrounding fields of sunflowers.  The USDA estimates the blackbirds annually eat more than $10 million worth of sunflowers.  Federal laws regarding migrating birds prevent farmers from eradicating blackbirds, but the USDA plans to spray 4,500 acres of cattails this year—an application lasts about five years.  What comes next?  Wildlife organizations will sue the government alleging violation of the federal Clean Water Act.