SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - DECEMBER 9, 2019
ANDREW ARMACOST is the new UND president following an unusually open selection process which forwarded three finalists to the State Board of Higher Education. Armacost is a brigadier general who was dean of faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He had a broad range of responsibilities at the Academy including managing large budgets and directing a faculty of 550. UND’s 13th president will start in June with a salary of $370,000.
A YOUNG ROCKET SCIENTIST Armacost is 52-years old with degrees in engineering and science from Northwestern and a PhD in operations research from MIT. He sees a great partnership between UND and the GFAFB (including Grand Sky) to further UND’s strategies in aviation education and unmanned aerial systems. An article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune listed Armacost’s numerous challenges at UND including poor employee morale.
HIGH EXPECTATION Armacost's selection was met with enthusiasm in nearly every quarter: State Sen. Ray Holmberg (R): “He’s worked with Congress. He has certainly worked with the academic world. I think he has a very bright future;” State Rep. Corey Mock (D): “I think he’s going to be a great fit in Grand Forks and at the University of North Dakota; and Jeffrey VanLooy, chair of the UND Senate: "I think he’s a fantastic person. I think he has a lot of integrity and honesty that he brings with his character. It’s something that UND really does need.”
A JAMESTOWN FARMER/LEGISLATOR was the author of an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. Terry Wanzek is a state senator and grows a variety of crops on a family farm near Jamestown. Wanzek is a proponent of moving federal agencies out of Washington, D.C, and locating them nearer the lives and businesses they regulate. Examples, the Bureau of Land Management is moving to Colorado and USDA Economic Research is moving to Kansas City, Mo. Because of improvements in communication technology and transportation, it’s no longer necessary for all agencies to cluster in Washington, D.C.
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES received approval to continue its refugee resettlement program in Cass County (Fargo), a decision made by the County Commission. Resettlement is a county-level decision in ND. The Burleigh County (Bismarck) Commission has delayed a decision. Between 2007 and 2017, ND consistently took over 400 refugees a year, mostly in Fargo; in 2 the state took a little over 100.
CONNECTIONS? “N.D. firm that boasts about border wall building gets contract.” — Headline from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The accompanying article was about a $400 million contract awarded to Fisher Sand and Gravel of Dickinson to design and build 31 miles of border wall near Yuma, Arizona. President Trump touted Fisher (the company) and CEO Tommy Fisher is a political ally of Trump.
LOW PAY FOR ND ATTORNEYS ND has 85% of its attorneys in the seven largest counties and a shortage of attorneys in rural areas. Three counties have no attorneys. ND has 1,670 licensed attorneys working in the state — the lowest number for any state. Cass County (Fargo) has 507 attorneys, the most of any ND county, followed by Burleigh (Bismarck) with 472. ND attorneys earn an average of $107,000 compared to a national average of $144,000.
ATTORNEYS LIKE MINNESOTA On a per capita basis, Burleigh County has 50 attorneys per 10,000 residents, the state’s highest ratio, while Cass is second with 28. ND’s average is 22, the second lowest state, while the national average is 39. In adjoining states the average is 45 in Minnesota, 23 in SD and 30 in Montana. Minnesota’s average doubles ND; SD’s average is very close to that for ND.
SOGGY The three-month period ending in October was the wettest in ND in 125 years. A National Weather Service hydrologist said, “The wetness we've experienced over the past few months is greater than once-in-a-generation.” The Governor’s Office began coordinating planning for spring flooding.
PERSEVERANCE “I’ve seen a tractor with tracks pulling a grain cart with tracks through a wet spot in a field. I’ve seen combines buried to the axles. I’ve seen four-wheel drive tractors idling at the side of fields, waiting for the combines to get stuck. I’ve seen tractors hauling bales far across fields to trucks that are sitting on the only dry ground available.” — Jenny Schlect, Forum News Service. This sounds like a case of hopelessness, but quite the contrary, Schlect sees it as evidence of the indomitable spirit of ND farmers, who, one day at a time, are finding a way to salvage their crops.
A PLAN FOR FRONTIER VILLAGE A Jamestown businessman proposes to hire a specialized national consulting firm to develop a master plan for Frontier Village. He envisions a bustling interactive cultural park. Brian Lunde hopes to find outside money so the study can be done at no cost to the city. City leaders say they are cautiously excited to see what Lunde finds.
LOW HIV RATE ND has a relatively low rate of HIV diagnosis and cases generally receive fast, effective treatment. At the end of last year, the state had 457 residents living with HIV/AIDS. The cases are concentrated in the state’s four largest cities where blacks are 13 times more likely to have the disease than other residents.
FCS PLAYOFFS In the first round of FCS playoffs, UND played Nicholls State in Louisiana — UND lost 24-6. In the second round, Nicholls will play No. 1 seed NDSU at the Fargodome tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 7.
DAKTOIDS: Drinking by UND students is 40% less than 10 years ago — reason is unclear . . . “Dakota Attitudes” is a new book by Jim Puppe containing synopses of interviews he conducted in 617 ND towns during the last 11 years . . . The Creighton University economic index for nine Plains states slipped into negative territory in November . . . Moody’s Analytics ranked ND’s financial condition near the top — Louisiana and Illinois were the bottom . . . Ken Vein of Grand Forks, who has many years of experience in construction, has been named director of design and construction for the T. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora.
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