SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - JUNE 6, 2016
LAGGING THE NATION “Though we’re ahead of the nation, I want our North Dakota students to be exceptional.” -- A November 2013 statement by Kirsten Baesler, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, despite NAEP scores indicating 4th grade white students in ND ranked 44th in reading in comparison to white students in other states. Today, Baesler has changed her tune and is talking about ND’s “Honesty Gap,” the difference between results on the state’s old proficiency tests and NAEP findings. The state has a new proficiency test and Baesler said, “Our national benchmark will continue to be the NAEP results. It is the only assessment that all of the states give to a statistically sound sample of students.”
SELF-DECEPTION ENDING As early as 2007, this newsletter stated that ND was misinterpreting and overstating the performance of its schools and students. By 2012, I said the state’s students were average at best and slipping and, in 2013, that invalid comparisons stood in the way of improvement. The state is beginning to face up to the dilemma of its schools and the fact that 35 percent of ND high school graduates entering the state’s colleges and universities needed remediation. In his column last week, Mike Jacobs said, “A day-long seminar on higher education (in ND) pointed instead to problems in the public schools.”
OPPOSITES The GF Herald calls it a “mayoral battle of opposites.” Incumbent Mike Brown is a medical doctor who believes Grand Forks should make more community investment and have generous social programs. City Council member Terry Bjerke is a USPS letter carrier who believes the city should be lean and focused. Bjerke’s supporters “believe in lower taxes, less spending on making the city ‘something it doesn’t need to be.’ “ Brown has the advantage of having presided over years of growth and stability.
WATCH OUT! Donald Trump was in Bismarck last week and found it easy to deliver applause lines in a state that is receptive to blunt talk. On the eastern side of the state, UND provides an example of the opposite extreme as it slides toward political correctness. Last year the school hired an Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion -- one of her first actions was to caution students about inappropriate Halloween costumes. More recently, Sandra Mitchell sponsored a webinar on “how to recognize and deal with microaggressions.”
MICROAGGRESSIONS are subtle, often unintentional, comments that may seem like slights, particularly, to racial minorities. Advocates of microaggression theory say such comments cumulatively diminish the self-esteem of individuals; critics call the theory oversensitive and say it fosters a culture of victimization.
ESPN COMMENTATOR LOU HOLTZ was a speaker at the Williston Petroleum Conference in Bismarck along with Trump. Holtz said, "I think being politically correct has hurt this country tremendously.” He said he was a target of bullying when he was young, but learned how to live with it and move on. “Good lord no,” Holtz said, “Don't worry about being politically correct. Let's worry about being correct."
COLUMNIST ROB PORT claims to have figured out the recipe for Donald Trump’s secret sauce. He says it’s explained by a Trump statement in Bismarck: "The federal government is in the way. We've got to get the federal government out of the way." Port says Americans are “tired of federal meddling.”
WHAT WOULD TEDDY THINK? Inmates at a correctional facility in Bismarck removed large, old cottonwoods as part of a flood control project. The logs were loaded on semis and hauled to Dickinson where they will be shaped with hand tools into 30 to 60-foot long square logs. The logs will be used to build a replica of Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn cabin on the grounds of a planned presidential library.
LUCKY Last month, a mile-long BNSF train crawled through Jamestown at 35 mph. It was about this time that Dennis Schneider (60) was attempting to cross the tracks in his motorized wheelchair and caught a wheel in the tracks. The 5,000 ton train attempted to brake, but struck a screaming Schneider. Was this the end of Dennis? It wasn’t, he is recovering in a swing bed hospital in Valley City.
PROPERTY HIT AND RUN, refusal of DUI test, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an injury accident, no insurance, no registration and no driver’s license. Aside from that, Mohamud Jama (36) of Fargo had a good day. The Cass County state’s attorney and W. Fargo city attorney are studying the charges.
DOWN FOR THE COUNT As recently as 1995, ND was nearly on life support. A reader referenced a New York Times Magazine article at that time which asked “Is North Dakota necessary?” The article suggested the state could be divided among neighboring states or, along with other stretches of the Great Plains, revert to territorial status. The article noted many ND counties that, based on population, had fallen back into frontier status. Of course, two decades later, events have changed that story.
SIMILAR AND UNIQUE Fargo and Sioux Falls, SD, stand out on many lists of desirable and growing cities. They have similar metro populations, Fargo is 234,000 and Sioux Falls is 244,000. Both have distinctive, revitalized downtowns. In other respects they differ -- Fargo is much more a college town and has greater downtown housing; Sioux Falls exploits its riverfront and has a downtown performing arts center.
INDIAN RESERVATIONS are an easy place for criminals to hide "because jurisdictionally it's a no man's land.” -- U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s comments to FBI Director James Corney during a Senate hearing on reservation crime. Heitkamp believes problems on ND reservations have worsened, she said, "I honestly believe the drug problem on the reservation (Ft. Berthold) is worse than it was two years ago."
SELF-DECEPTION ENDING As early as 2007, this newsletter stated that ND was misinterpreting and overstating the performance of its schools and students. By 2012, I said the state’s students were average at best and slipping and, in 2013, that invalid comparisons stood in the way of improvement. The state is beginning to face up to the dilemma of its schools and the fact that 35 percent of ND high school graduates entering the state’s colleges and universities needed remediation. In his column last week, Mike Jacobs said, “A day-long seminar on higher education (in ND) pointed instead to problems in the public schools.”
OPPOSITES The GF Herald calls it a “mayoral battle of opposites.” Incumbent Mike Brown is a medical doctor who believes Grand Forks should make more community investment and have generous social programs. City Council member Terry Bjerke is a USPS letter carrier who believes the city should be lean and focused. Bjerke’s supporters “believe in lower taxes, less spending on making the city ‘something it doesn’t need to be.’ “ Brown has the advantage of having presided over years of growth and stability.
WATCH OUT! Donald Trump was in Bismarck last week and found it easy to deliver applause lines in a state that is receptive to blunt talk. On the eastern side of the state, UND provides an example of the opposite extreme as it slides toward political correctness. Last year the school hired an Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion -- one of her first actions was to caution students about inappropriate Halloween costumes. More recently, Sandra Mitchell sponsored a webinar on “how to recognize and deal with microaggressions.”
MICROAGGRESSIONS are subtle, often unintentional, comments that may seem like slights, particularly, to racial minorities. Advocates of microaggression theory say such comments cumulatively diminish the self-esteem of individuals; critics call the theory oversensitive and say it fosters a culture of victimization.
ESPN COMMENTATOR LOU HOLTZ was a speaker at the Williston Petroleum Conference in Bismarck along with Trump. Holtz said, "I think being politically correct has hurt this country tremendously.” He said he was a target of bullying when he was young, but learned how to live with it and move on. “Good lord no,” Holtz said, “Don't worry about being politically correct. Let's worry about being correct."
COLUMNIST ROB PORT claims to have figured out the recipe for Donald Trump’s secret sauce. He says it’s explained by a Trump statement in Bismarck: "The federal government is in the way. We've got to get the federal government out of the way." Port says Americans are “tired of federal meddling.”
WHAT WOULD TEDDY THINK? Inmates at a correctional facility in Bismarck removed large, old cottonwoods as part of a flood control project. The logs were loaded on semis and hauled to Dickinson where they will be shaped with hand tools into 30 to 60-foot long square logs. The logs will be used to build a replica of Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn cabin on the grounds of a planned presidential library.
LUCKY Last month, a mile-long BNSF train crawled through Jamestown at 35 mph. It was about this time that Dennis Schneider (60) was attempting to cross the tracks in his motorized wheelchair and caught a wheel in the tracks. The 5,000 ton train attempted to brake, but struck a screaming Schneider. Was this the end of Dennis? It wasn’t, he is recovering in a swing bed hospital in Valley City.
PROPERTY HIT AND RUN, refusal of DUI test, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an injury accident, no insurance, no registration and no driver’s license. Aside from that, Mohamud Jama (36) of Fargo had a good day. The Cass County state’s attorney and W. Fargo city attorney are studying the charges.
DOWN FOR THE COUNT As recently as 1995, ND was nearly on life support. A reader referenced a New York Times Magazine article at that time which asked “Is North Dakota necessary?” The article suggested the state could be divided among neighboring states or, along with other stretches of the Great Plains, revert to territorial status. The article noted many ND counties that, based on population, had fallen back into frontier status. Of course, two decades later, events have changed that story.
SIMILAR AND UNIQUE Fargo and Sioux Falls, SD, stand out on many lists of desirable and growing cities. They have similar metro populations, Fargo is 234,000 and Sioux Falls is 244,000. Both have distinctive, revitalized downtowns. In other respects they differ -- Fargo is much more a college town and has greater downtown housing; Sioux Falls exploits its riverfront and has a downtown performing arts center.
INDIAN RESERVATIONS are an easy place for criminals to hide "because jurisdictionally it's a no man's land.” -- U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s comments to FBI Director James Corney during a Senate hearing on reservation crime. Heitkamp believes problems on ND reservations have worsened, she said, "I honestly believe the drug problem on the reservation (Ft. Berthold) is worse than it was two years ago."
DAKTOIDS: Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said ND can only afford 500 to 1,000 refugees a year . . . Cass County Electric hailed its new solar array, the largest in ND, which represents only 1/100th of one percent of the co-ops annual energy production.
DakotaBeacon