Dakota Beacon

The Forum papers in ND ran a joint editorial calling for the resignation of Hamid Shirvani, chancellor of higher education. The editorial concluded Shirvani’s future in ND is hopeless. While Shirvani certainly made mistakes, emails obtained by the Forum indicate Shirvani was surrounded by nasty, juvenile university presidents. UND President Robert Kelley appears to have tried to keep matters on a professional level, but NDSU President Dean Bresciani was snide and backbiting, while Minot State President David Fuller seemed to have no reservations. He feared Shirvani’s policies will cut enrollment and diminish the status of his school.

“There are loads of opportunities but there are a lot of entrapments as well. Easy to get in, but not easy to get out.” -- Singapore investor Danny Lim gave his impression of the investment environment in the Baaken at a conference in Minot. “We’ll come back to North Dakota when things are a little more stable and we’ll know exactly who makes it and who got killed,” Lim said. He specializes in finding bargains in distressed markets.

Ron introduced Harold who introduced Bill who was the main speaker for the dedication of the Offutt School of Business at Concordia College. It was a weekend of big names. Across the river in Fargo, Doug Burgum’s Arthur Ventures sponsored a conference on innovation and entrepreneurship featuring Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine and a Bismarck native. Karlgaard said, “All the forces are lining up for a community like Fargo” because it has great business leadership and capital.

Let’s connect the dots. Bill Gates, of course, is the cofounder of Microsoft and America’s richest man. Gates is a friend of Harold Hamm, the CEO of Continental Resources, the biggest player in ND oil. Hamm is a friend of Ron Offutt, one of ND’s leading entrepreneurs, who endowed the Offutt School of Business. To complete the loop, Doug Burgum was a founder of Great Plains Software, now the Fargo division of Microsoft.

"Whiter and brighter in the winter, cleaner and greener in the summer." -- This was the ND envisioned by William Guy, the state’s longest serving governor (1961-1973). Guy died in West Fargo at the age of 93. Gov. Jack Dalrymple described Guy as a “remarkable public servant” who led the state during a period of major federal projects, such as the interstate highway system. Former governor Ed Schafer said,

 “He will be missed as an example of how an elected official can serve with honor and integrity.”

The faculty of the UND College of Nursing prepared a long list of grievances against Dean Denise Korniewicz, who has been at the campus less than two years. The list of terrible deeds included ignoring policies and regulations and creating a “climate of fear, intimidation and retaliation.” The faculty said the dean disparaged almost everyone, but the most unforgivable charge was that the dean, who came from Florida, made “disparaging remarks regarding . . . the populace of North Dakota.” That’s it -- she crossed the line!

“The culture of North Dakota and the way that the alcohol culture is in North Dakota is such a vital piece to that.” -- Pamela Sagness of the ND Dept. of Human Services commenting on the state’s selection as the #1 (worst) drunk driving state. ND was the #2 state in both beer consumption and binge drinking -- with a little extra effort the state can be #1 in those categories as well.

Just in case you were thinking about it -- it costs approximately $10 million to drill an oil well in ND. Of course, if you hang in there, you may earn $20 million net profit over the life of the well. The good news came from Tessa Sandstrom, spokesperson for the ND Petroleum Council.

In a GF Herald editorial, Tom Dennis explained why Minnesota taxpayers should pay for nearly $400 million of infrastructure improvements in Rochester to support an expansion by Mayo Clinic. Why such a strong interest? The “aha moment” came near the end of the editorial -- Altru Health Systems in GF is associated with Mayo. Dennis said what’s good for Mayo is good for GF. Sanford Health, the dominant health player in Fargo and Sioux Falls, SD, is a competitor of Mayo.

The Marketplace Foods stores in Minot were open around the clock -- no more, they are closing at 11 p.m. Area manager Ralph Towery said, “With the influx of people to Minot in the last few years, store workers have to monitor late-night customer activity.

We've got some people who can be fairly destructive.” He stressed the majority of the stores’ customers are great people, but "We're trying to watch out for our employees, too."

Petty annoyance: No ND paper publishes a compete summary of the annual awards made by the ND Newspaper Association -- each paper lists only its own awards. Lauren Donovan at the Bismarck Tribune and Chuck Haga at the GF Herald earned much deserved awards.

Here they come again! In 2005, United Tribes Technical College President David Gipp announced a 250-room teaching hotel in downtown Bismarck that “will offer a world class education” and “The new program would catapult UTTC as a leader in hospitality training.” He apparently saved his notes -- Gipp is again announcing a 160-room teaching hotel to be built on the UTTC campus with equity financing from the newly oil rich Three Affiliated Tribes. UTTC is governed by TAT and four other tribes with a presence in ND. Most tribal ventures in ND fail through a combination of incompetence and corruption. The biggest hope for the hotel is if development, financing and management are separated from tribal politics and put in the hands of independent third parties.

DAKTOIDS: In Minot, Somalian Omar Kalmio (28) received four life sentences for the murder of his American Indian girlfriend and three members of her family . . . The U.S. Geological Survey doubled its earlier estimate of recoverable oil in the Williston Basin to 7.4 billion barrels.