SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - JUNE 3, 2019
MEMORIAL DAY Del Tiedeman (age 99) is a native of the Lisbon area and a UND graduate who flew C-47s in key WWII battles in Europe. The plane he piloted towed gliders and dropped paratroopers at D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. All of the soldiers Tiedeman knew were killed liberating Europe or have since died. He is the last of his group and now a resident of a retirement community in Healdsburg, California. Speaking of the young paratroopers, most who were killed, Tiedeman said they had dignity, selflessness and patriotism — “they were gentlemen.” Del, also a gentleman, started reading this newsletter in 2008.
THE INTERIM UND PRESIDENT is Med School Dean Joshua Wynne. He has a good salary ($690,000), good education (MD, MBA, Master of Public Health) and keeps his Med School duties. Med School and State Hospital doctors are usually the state's highest paid employees. The Forum could not resist a final swipe at former president Mark Kennedy saying he “stumbled out of North Dakota.”
UND PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH There are two sharply conflicting views about how the search should be conducted. One is reflected in a new ND law which restricts the release of candidates’ names to three finalists. The idea is to promote more and better candidates by protecting their identities. Advocates of that view would also keep much of the search process private. The other view is complete transparency from start to finish. Judith Wilde, an academic who studies search processes, says transparency "does not mean telling people afterwards what you’ve done.” Wilde also said it’s important for the entire community, including faculty, staff, students and the Grand Forks community as a whole, to be involved with the process and to know what’s going on the entire time.
THE ND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION sleeps and belatedly wakes up when the university system loses one of its leaders, nearly guaranteeing a poor result in searching for a replacement. This is essentially the view of columnist Mike Jacobs who sees maintaining strong leadership as the board’s most important responsibility and believes they should be continuously engaged in succession planning.
POPULATION & OIL The 2018 census estimates for cities have become available. The five largest ND cities in 2010 (Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot and W. Fargo in that order) kept the same positions in 2018. W. Fargo had the highest percentage increase (42%) of the five, while Fargo had the largest absolute population increase (19,300). Williston with 84% growth moved from 9th to 6th place passing Mandan, Dickinson and Jamestown. Wahpeton was 10th in 2010, but will be easily displaced in 2020 by Watford City, which led the state with astounding 318% growth. The state grew 13% during the 8-year period.
MINOT safely remains the 4th largest city, but its population peaked in 2015 and has been declining. Communities such as Minot and Stanley have declined from oil boom highs as growth concentrates around Williston and Watford City. Wahpeton, Jamestown (9th) and Devils Lake (11th) all had little or no growth. In general, ND’s rural towns and market areas are losing population.
THINK ABOUT CUSTOMERS A federal department of transportation official said the politically right thing at a UAS confab in Fargo: [ND is] “the epicenter of drone innovation in the United States” and is the “most active” of drone test sites. However, an executive from private industry had a caution, “Don’t just think about the technology, think about the business aspect of what we’re trying to accomplish here.” If ND is overly focused on research, others will reap the commercial benefits.
THE JAMESTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT is operating at about 55% of its authorized force due to vacancies, limited duty and training. The department is curtailing basic functions such as traffic enforcement. Chief Scott Edinger said better pay and benefits would help — starting pay for officers is $44,600 annually. The Stutsman County Sheriff’s Department has similar salaries, but does not have a staffing problem.
TARIFF MONEY Columnist Mike McFeely hints darkly that bailout payments to American farmers are socialism or welfare. A GF Herald editorial says “No, sir,” those are payments which permit President Trump to hang tough in his trade dispute with China.
FISHER SAND AND GRAVEL is a Dickinson-based company which made the national news twice this week. Once, because President Trump urged that Fisher be awarded a contract for a portion of the Mexican border wall. Again, because a private group had Fisher build a section of wall on private land in New Mexico — the project is 80 percent complete.
JACK ZALESKI sees student violence in Fargo schools getting out of hand. The columnist says “special needs students have become socially engineered danger zones” and “one-size-fits-all laws and regulations prevent teachers and administrators from removing violent kids from the classroom, and the results are not pretty.” He believes the rights of students, whose learning is routinely disrupted, are not respected.
LAST OF THE PRAIRIE HARDWARES Customers of Carlson’s Hardware hold up the item they have selected as they rush out the door. Mrs. Carlson dutifully records the sale on the customer’s charge account. The motto of the Gilby ND store: “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.”
EVIL EMPIRE An ag educator at the U. of Minnesota pointed out an organization that “is not respectful enough of Latinos, not aggressive enough in promoting women of color to leadership positions, has a dress code that marginalizes people who don’t subscribe to conventional gender norms and in general reflects a leadership that’s predominantly white, heterosexual and Christian.” What is this evil empire? According to Brandon Roiger, it’s the National FFA (Future Farmers of America). FFA national leaders say they are considering his comments.
B&B WASHOUT LLC is the aptly named SD feedlot business of Bob and Becky Blom, the couple behind a fraud which may be between $30 and $40 million. One alleged victim said, ““He’s going to get thrown in jail for five years, and be out in two or three. Meanwhile we suffer for the next 20 years trying to get out of this deal? There’s something wrong -- something WRONG.”
DAKTOIDS: ND had the nation’s fastest growing housing stock from 2010 to 2018 with an increase of 19%. The national average in that period was 5% . . . Fargo weatherman John Wheeler warns draught is coming — he says as recently as 1988 and 1989 Fargo severely restricted water usage . . . The UND Flying Team is again national champion and has finished first or second in 30 of the past 36 years . . . ND is one of only four states where the legislature meets every other year. The others are Montana, Nevada and Texas.
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