Dakota Beacon

THE BIG PUSH Federal, state and local government have formed a strike force to curb organized crime in the Bakken oil fields. Bismarck, Dickinson, Williston and Minot will each have a task force.

THE BIG TRIGGER would have hit ND in June if oil prices remained below $55 for the fifth consecutive month. The trigger would have lowered oil extraction taxes for the next 24 months. Whew! Oil prices rose enough to escape the trap. OPEC’s strategy of maintaining low oil prices has caused stress for ND producers, but not catastrophe. They have settled into a “new normal” lower rate of growth.

GOODBYE “Mohamed has several alias and other potential convictions, which investigators are sorting through.” -- GF County State’s Attorney Office. Mohamed Aweis Mohamed (31) is charged with attempted murder, terrorizing and reckless endangerment. If he pleads guilty or is convicted he will be deported to Somalia.

STUDENT SUSPENSIONS In Fargo-Moorhead minority students are suspended at a much greater rate than white and Asian students. A Forum editorial asks, “Is Fargo-Moorhead, which has seen an influx of refugees from troubled corners of the world, doing a poor job of integrating its New Americans? Or are minority students . . . difficult to deal with?” The Forum’s conclusion: “Nobody knows for sure.”

COLUMNIST LLOYD OMDAHL weighed in with his take on the suspensions: “In most cases, the problem of unruly kids goes back to parenting, or the lack thereof. If there is no discipline exercised at home, there will be no discipline practiced in school.” He went on to say, “The lack of discipline can have many causes, some of which we are no longer free to discuss because of the demand for political correctness, such as the importance of fathers in a home.” Omdahl said solving the unruliness problem “will take concentrated effort to undo years of cultural experience.”

MEADOWLARKS "That's the iconic sound of the North Dakota prairie." -- Birder Ron Martin of Minot commenting on the steady decline of western meadowlarks in the state. The Bismarck Tribune wrote, “So distinctive is the call of the western meadowlark that it would be hard to find anyone who grew up in North Dakota who couldn't recognize the melodious and lengthy tune of the colorful bird.” The decline is not unique to ND and has been happening for 50 years. Martin said, “It’s a lot of things together, not one certain thing.”

TRI-COLLEGE UNIVERSITY is a coalition of F-M colleges and universities which increases student options. Students at one school may take courses at the others. The name represents the three founding schools: NDSU, Moorhead State and Concordia, but community colleges Minnesota Tech and the ND College of Science have been added to the group.

UNBEARABLE “If there's one thing that breaks my heart more than just about anything else, it's seeing and hearing women cruelly pick apart and tear down other women.” -- Dr. Susan Mathison in the She Says section of the Forum lamenting “beauty bullying.” An example: “I can’t believe she’s eating a doughnut. Has she looked in the mirror lately?” Mathison said, “Imagine if every single woman on the planet took a pledge, today, to never engage in beauty bullying again.”

SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED ND colleges and universities have the nation’s highest rate of non-teaching jobs according to the National Education Association. This is an area that has been viewed suspiciously by ND legislators. There is not a clear explanation. ND has a small population and 11 public colleges and universities -- the definition of “non-teaching” could also be a problem. Expect the issue to get careful legislative scrutiny.

DAKTOIDS Enough said -- Nerdwallet recently named Moorhead as the Best Small City in America . . . In his weekly column, Mike Jacobs noted the high level of political activity following the legislative session. One of Jacobs’ observations, the new chancellor of the University System will be looking for at least one new president -- “Robert Kelley at UND is past retirement age and besieged by students, faculty and alumni” . . . It doesn’t hurt to ask -- the Forum reports the CEO of the NDSU Foundation asked for $600,000 of termination compensation -- he got $100,000.