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Monday, September 14, 2015

SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

NOVEL, EVEN BRILLIANT! A ND state representative has suggested a resolution for the Fighting Sioux controversy. Scott Louser of Minot suggests donating the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo to a trust principally for the benefit of ND Sioux Indians. The trustees might then rent the nickname to UND and collect royalties on sales of logo merchandise. Even the NCAA would have difficulty labeling that arrangement hostile and abusive.

ROLE REVERSAL The NDSU Bison and UND Sioux each went to the mountains for the first game of the football season -- NDSU to play Montana at Missoula and UND to play Wyoming at Laramie. Four-time defending national champion NDSU lost; UND, which lost 7 of its last 7 encounters with FBS teams, won. Yes, it was only one game for each, not a trend.

BAD INVESTMENT Wyoming paid $325,000 to lure UND to the Cowboys’ stadium (Elevation 7,200 feet) believing they had a cream puff for their first game.

NEW AMERICANS Merrill Lynch furnished a map showing the largest country of origin for recent immigrants (excluding Mexico) for each state. Minnesota, no surprise -- Somalia; ND was counterintuitive -- Bhutan; SD was a surprise -- Ethiopia; Montana -- Canada; and Wyoming -- Philippines (think nurses). For at least 16 states, India provided the most immigrants.

FARGO IMMIGRANTS You have people from almost everywhere in the world coming into Fargo and the whole community now has to understand the whole cultural value system, how to relate to us as new Americans, that we are not criminals." -- A spokesperson for the New American Consortium for Wellness and Empowerment discussing the goal of Welcoming Week, that is, to create a smooth social and economic integration for immigrants. The Fargo Forum was criticized for publishing a letter, “Demand a 20-year moratorium on LSS ‘refugee’ program in ND.” The Forum’s critic called the letter “ridiculous, racist and, frankly, a hate piece.”

CAN’T CHOOSE “The city must counteract the potential ‘stain’ of hate speech on Grand Forks.” -- A UND professor concerned by recent visits to GF by an anti-Islam speaker. City leaders were unable to agree on a collective course of action because of the inherent conflict between freedom of speech and potential discrimination. The unspoken issue related to the welfare of the city’s Muslim immigrants.

GLUM FARMERS Just three years ago ND farmers were exuberant -- corn was $7.60 a bushel. Today, corn is $2.80 a bushel and a break-even price is considered to be around $4.00. A built-in loss. "Now farmers are wondering if we are ever going to see those (2012, 2013) prices again," said a NDSU crop analyst.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE “There is no way North Dakota” can meet the EPA’s 45 percent emissions reduction “without either shutting down some of the state’s coal plants or operating them at drastically reduced levels.” -- Initial analysis of Robert McLennan, CEO of Minnkota Power Cooperative in Grand Forks.

MENARD’S is a Midwest home improvement store chain -- 289 stores in 14 states. So, building a new store is routine, unless, you are in a town like Jamestown (pop. 16,000). Menard’s opened this week in Jamestown with a large, new store. It’s a big deal, it turns retailing upside down for Jamestown and its marketing area, which includes Foster County (Carrington) to the north and LaMoure County to the south. Previously, Stutsman County farmers and DIY folks traveled 100 miles either way to Bismarck or Fargo. Menard’s will open a Williston store about the same time.

THE U.S. NEWS ANNUAL RANKING of colleges and universities has been released. Valley City State was named the top public regional college in the Midwest, a category of smaller regional colleges. UND and NDSU are ranked with other national universities and received weak ratings of 180th and 185th, respectively.

MINNESOTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS overall are among the best in the nation, but there is an anomaly. The state has one of the largest achievement gaps in the U.S. between white students and students of color, moreover, the gaps are concentrated in Minneapolis and St. Paul which have the state’s lowest-performing schools. The StarTribune reports that officials in those schools resist state efforts to measure and improve the schools.

MINNESOTA JIHAD "Not being in a position to disrupt or prevent a catastrophic event, I think, keeps us all awake at night." -- FBI Special Agent in Minneapolis talking about the possibility of a terrorist attack in Minnesota originating in the Somali community. To try to prevent that from happening, Minnesota's FBI office is creating another squad focused on international terrorism. He said, “The FBI . . . is surging resources ... to do everything we can to ensure that the people of Minnesota are as safe as they can be from this threat." A NPR report stated that as many as 60 Somali from Minnesota attempted to join or have joined terrorist organizations in Syria.

IS THIS A WINNING MOVE? If you want to be Miss America you need a hook. Miss ND, Delanie Wiedrich of Hazen, has decided “bullying” is her hook. She feels perfectly qualified, claiming to have been a victim of bullying in middle and high school. She said her worst incident occurred when the girl in front of her in English class made a threatening remark. She will be running for Miss America on the platform “A New Stance on Bullying.”

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