May 1-5, 2016
May 01 10:09 Sartell bonding referendum May 02 09:45 Progressive dishonesty May 02 10:35 MnSCU's spin & dishonesty May 03 03:40 SCSU's disgusting sights May 04 00:56 Potter's mean-spirited policies May 04 18:01 Joe Davis's mythical Minnesota May 05 03:36 The same tired excuses May 05 03:54 President Potter's listening tour
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Sartell bonding referendum
It's long been known that Sartell residents would be asked to approve a bonding referendum that would increase school capacity. This was known since before ISD 742 voters rejected their referendum last November. This morning's St. Cloud Times Our View Editorial has some important information in it that Sartell residents should discuss.
Specifically, the Times editorial says that Sartell-St. Stephen school district residents "will be asked May 24 to cast ballots on a $105.8 million bond referendum" and that "enrollment is projected to grow 8 percent between now and 2026." There's little doubt that Sartell's population is growing and that that population growth will necessitate increasing school capacity. What isn't known is whether they need to spend $105,800,000 on the initiative.
After the ISD 742 bonding referendum was defeated, Kevin Allenspach wrote this article , which I quoted from in this post . The important information from Allenspach's article came when Sarah Murphy and Claire VanderEyk, who are both Tech graduates and architects, said that Tech could be renovated for less than $20,000,000. At the time, the school board said repairing the building would cost $85,000,000 to fix the building up for a decade.
Something tells me that Sartell's $105,800,000 price tag is inflated.
Posted Sunday, May 1, 2016 10:09 AM
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Progressive dishonesty
This post is proof that progressives aren't interested in having an honest conversation about policy. First, Sen. Stumpf saying that "we have a responsibility in the state of Minnesota to take care of property, the things that the public owns, to make our economy keep moving along" is intellectually dishonest.
It isn't that Republicans don't think that government shouldn't maintain essential infrastructure. It's that Republicans think that projects, like bridges, are multi-generational and shouldn't be paid for with tax increases that are paid for by this generation. Republicans think bonding makes sense because multiple generations pay for a multi-generational piece of infrastructure.
Ms. Bierschbach wasn't being honest when she said that "But that's not how House Republicans see things. Many of them consider borrowing for infrastructure just more government spending, akin to credit card debt." That's false. The best way to illustrate the absurdity of that statement is by applying certain principles from home life. It's one thing for a couple with a good credit rating and money in the bank to take out a mortgage to buy a home. It's quite another to make frequent use of a high-interest credit card to pay for day-to-day things.
State bonding for things like museums, civic centers and hockey arenas isn't wise. State bonding for things like highways and other critical infrastructure should be prioritized. It's that simple.
Further, it doesn't make sense to raise taxes to pay for building multi-generational pieces of infrastructure. Similarly, taking on long-term debt to pay for things like civic centers, museums, etc. is foolish, too.
Finally, it's time to rethink the criteria we use for bonding projects.
Posted Monday, May 2, 2016 9:45 AM
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MnSCU's spin & dishonesty
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!
by Silence Dogood
The day after a news report came out saying that the MnSCU Board of Trustees approved changing its name, University Communications published a 'clarifying' email:
The email clearly states:
Additionally, this is included:
Here's the appropriate reaction to those quotes:
OK, so maybe it's not too much of a protest. However, it clearly states that a final decision hasn't been made and that a final decision will not come before the June Board of Trustee's Meeting. I guess they didn't tell the MnSCU's (excuse me Minnesota State's) IT services folks! If you search for MnSCU, the following webpage appears:
Look at the header for the page! It looks to me like MnSCU has now become "Minnesota State." Looking at the webpage for the Board of Trustees you find:
Clearly, it looks like a similar header indicating MnSCU has now become 'Minnesota State.' It doesn't take a lot of effort but it is not difficult to still find the 'regular' MnSCU header on its' webpages.
Clearly, the web folks haven't updated all of Minnesota State's webpages yet! Still, it contradicts their "No final decision have been made" and "is anticipated for June" statements. Compare that to Jack Nicholson's famous line in the 1992 movie A Few Good Men:
I think most of us can handle the truth. In fact, we typically demand the truth. Having the Chancellor (he is ultimately responsible for all of the PR that comes out of his office) lie is simply unacceptable. 'Rebranding' is all the rage in organizations and when someone questions the wisdom of spending money on rebranding when at least 19 of 31 of the colleges and universities in 'Minnesota State' have submitted financial recovery plans is almost beyond belief.
Next it will be said that MnSCU has always been "Minnesota State" and the latest effort is simply refinements and polishing the brand. It remains that $600,000 pays for a lot of polishing! In the political world that's called spin. In less refined circles, it's called BS so maybe MS (more of the same) is really what this rebranding as Minnesota State (MS) is all about!
But in the American cattle business, where branding got its start, a new brand does not fundamentally change the bull. The simple truth is that if Dr. Rosenstone can't tell the truth about the rebranding fiasco, then it is time for Dr. Rosenstone to go. Waiting until 2017 for him to retire is too long for Minnesota State to start a process of recovery.
Posted Monday, May 2, 2016 10:46 AM
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SCSU's disgusting sights
You Can Only Defer Maintenance For Only So Long!
by Silence Dogood
A year ago, as a result of declining enrollments, the SCSU parking ramp ran a deficit of $50,000. The simple solution to the shortfall was to defer some maintenance. Unfortunately, deferring maintenance is only a short-term solution. At some point, things need to be fixed and replaced. However, maintenance funds are an easy target when you are strapped for cash. Given SCSU's repeated deficits, maintenance funds have become a stopgap to solve the financial hemorrhaging. The results around campus are obvious.
As a result of declining revenues, cuts have been made to cleaning services and spiders seem to have taken over some of the windows:
While deferring window cleaning may save some money, at some point it starts to look pretty disgusting! The image shows an example where it has gotten to looking disgusting!
Small maintenance projects on some of the buildings on campus are also being overlooked. Unfortunately, some look really bad! The South side of the 'Administrative Services' building (i.e., the home of the administration) is shown in the following image:
While it should not hard be too for a college student to figure out the name of the building - think Wheel of Fortune; it really is embarrassing. However, at least historically, it seems that building signage has never been a priority. After the renovation and addition to the Electrical and Computing Center (ECC), the Mathematics department moved out of the "Math and Science Center" into its new offices. It only took just over twenty years to finally rename the building to indicate that the math department was no longer housed in the "Math and Science Center." That's why I'm not holding my breath on the timeline for fixing the "INI TRA IVE SERVICE" building. Perhaps this is how it should be listed on campus maps to make it easier to find and avoid confusion.
Somewhere on campus, there must be a huge stash of trashcans since it seems that many, if not most, have been removed from the hallways and staircases on campus. As a result, students seem to feel free to leave their trash just about anywhere whenever there isn't an available trashcan. The following image shows the resting place for a student 's not quite finished beverage:
Unfortunately, the maintenance staff has suffered significant cuts since 2011 so that it may take several days before a partially consumed beverage like this one finds its way into a trash container. Even where there are trash containers, it seems that they don't get emptied on as regular a schedule as needed because often times they are overflowing. The following is an image of a trash container from 8:30 am so it has probably been full for a while:
In the end, the issue comes down to setting priorities. Given the repeated budget deficits, there clearly aren't enough resources to do everything that needs to be done. As a result, the administration is often faced with a decision between two bad choices. That's why they're paid the big bucks. However, while such decisions are not always easy, the bigger and perhaps more important thing to understand is how SCSU got into this situation in the first place.
A 1905 quote attributed to George Santayana in its original form:
Unless SCSU can understand how it ended up with a 24.5% enrollment decline and repeated multimillion-dollar deficits, it's hard to believe that the path forward will put the university onto a course to return to its' flagship status in MnSCU (or Minnesota State if the rebranding goes forward). However, that may not be President Potter's plan for SCSU - as the acceptance rate creeps up over 90% it might just be to become the largest junior college in Minnesota. If that's the plan, it appears that it's succeeding.
Posted Tuesday, May 3, 2016 3:40 AM
Comment 1 by Patrick-M at 03-May-16 06:40 AM
Well done Silence, well done.
Comment 2 by Dave steckling at 03-May-16 10:32 AM
While going to school at SCSU, I was able work there during summers on a construction crew. I worked on Atwood, Math & Science and Hallenbeck. I felt proud to see neat structures being formed from some of my sweat and labor. Toda, I am ashamed to admit I attended SCSU- it's a disgrace to the city.
Comment 3 by Nick at 03-May-16 11:01 AM
Where's the pride in keeping SCSU clean? I guess there's none because of Potter.
Comment 4 by h at 04-May-16 07:42 AM
Can't some student club volunteer to help with some cleanup : school pride like Dave quoted?
Potter's mean-spirited policies
The Policy of Mean!
by Silence Dogood
In March of 2015, Director of Human Resources Holly J. Schoenherr sent an email to all faculty and staff:
Essentially, the email announced that staff would no longer be able to work alternative summer schedules (i.e., adjust their schedules during the summer to work four ten-hour days instead of the regular five eight-hour days). As stated in the email, the purpose was to "give managers the ability to ensure essential staffing levels to meet the critical needs of students and others we serve." However, there are very few classes held on Fridays in the summer so it seems that there were going to be a lot of office staff sitting around in offices in nearly empty buildings. So just what are these critical needs and who are the students and others needing to be served? This made no sense!
If you are not familiar with Minnesota's weather, because of the severity of the winters, the summer is both short and precious. As a result, allowing staff to work a four-day week and have long weekends simply is an acknowledgement that few people actually look forward to having a day off in January when it is minus 20 degrees outside.
Here's how one employee put it:
The point of contention is that the decision was made by the President's Council without any discussion with the people it directly impacted. A main criticism of the administration illuminated by the Great Place to Work Survey was that employees were not involved in decision making. As a result, this pronouncement by the President's Council certainly went a long way to help re-establish the good will of the staff towards the administration that the Great Place to Work Survey noted was sorely lacking - NOT!
It is only fair to note that this summer the administration is once again allowing staff to work alternative summer schedules, when approved by their supervisor. Perhaps the administration learned a valuable lesson.
On April 21, 2016, President Potter sent a lengthy email to all employees stating that everyone would have to complete online training:
Later in the lengthy email it stated:
Based on item #7, everyone was given six workdays to complete the training. It only takes just over an hour to complete the training and that would normally not be too difficult except that this is the last week of classes (i.e., the week before finals). For many, this is an extremely busy time with grading, test preparation and reading of papers given top priority. Adding one more deadline and one more task for some might be the straw that breaks the camel's back!
As a result of numerous complaints, the deadline was extended until Sunday, May 8th, which helps a bit. However, this still begs the question as to why this was not announced back in January at the beginning of the semester? Could it have anything to do with the arrival on campus of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) on April 20, 2016 to investigate the handling of a sexual assault complaint?
However, if you read #7, it clearly states that the administration is using the 'stick' rather than the 'carrot' approach for compliance.
It sounds like they really want everyone to complete the training.
However, it doesn't end there. In #8, it continues that
Clearly, the tone of this communication, as well as others (the most recent of which is changes in the parking program), makes it clear that employees are tolerated rather than valued. It is hard to imagine this insensitive approach will make employees at SCSU feel better about their place of employment. I guess we could find out how well the administration is doing by completing another Great Place to Work Survey (which President Potter has promised for this fall). According to the first survey, there wasn't much room to go lower. However, I'm willing to bet that the new results will make President Potter think of the first survey as the 'good old days.' I keep thinking that morale on campus can't get any worse but it seems that the administration keeps trying harder and succeeding at finding new ways to drive it lower.
Frequently, the administration says that all of the discord on campus is just a few 'disgruntled' faculty. If you analyze the results from the Great Place to Work Survey, it is clear that the vast majority of faculty/staff/administrators demonstrated that there is a morale problem at SCSU - not just a select few. Given what has transpired at SCSU since the release of the survey results, I see no reason to be optimistic that the morale has improved despite President Potter's "listening sessions." Listening is important. However, actions speak louder than words.
Posted Wednesday, May 4, 2016 12:56 AM
Comment 1 by Yeager at 04-May-16 11:28 AM
That "stick" language was added at the suggestion of the FA.
Comment 2 by eric z at 04-May-16 01:52 PM
Waste deep in the Big Muddy, and the damned fool said, "Push On."
Comment 3 by eric z at 04-May-16 01:57 PM
Gee. Make that "waist." Spell check has its limitations . . .
Comment 4 by Wolverine at 04-May-16 06:34 PM
Well, now that Holly, the Queen of Mean is leaving that will help. It was her idea for the Great Place to Work survey. Yep, that is her legacy to Potter.
Comment 5 by Crimson Trace at 04-May-16 07:04 PM
Yeager: Really? So the FA represents President Potter? Was this "stick" language discussed at the last faculty senate meeting or did the executive committee make this decision behind closed doors and then pretend to speak for the faculty association? Speaking of the FA, it is unfortunate that the executive committee continues to run interference for Potter. It was embarrassing that the holdouts for the delegate assembly's vote to remove Potter were mostly from SCSU. Some of us are wondering what kind of rewards are being dolled out by President Potter to executive committee members. Reassigned time? Pet projects? The promise of a higher paid job? An administrative job perhaps? Or maybe some cash under the table? Inquiring minds want to know. In the meantime, your enrollments continue to drop. At the current rate, entire departments might be closing.
Comment 6 by Wolverine at 04-May-16 07:11 PM
Yep, Crimson Tide, you are right. The SCSU FA Exec Committee has become a shill for Potter. Look at some (not all) of what some of them are receiving. Reassigned time, overload, being on the management team when their dept. is gone. Yep, the SCSU FA country club is back.
Joe Davis's mythical Minnesota
Most people don't know what Joe Davis does or what he believes. Let's start filling in the multitude of blanks about Davis by telling people that he's the chief propagandist Executive Director of ABM. The Alliance for a Better Minnesota, aka ABM, is the chief propaganda unit of the DFL. The morning after Donald Trump's hostile takeover of the Republican Party, Davis issued a statement , saying "Republican legislators have been avoiding saying whether or not they'll support Donald Trump if he's the GOP nominee for president. Now, the path towards the nomination is clear for him, and Minnesotans deserve to know whether or not their elected officials will support Trump. Minnesota Republicans have showcased their shared priorities with Trump by focusing on things like defunding Planned Parenthood and cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. These extreme priorities have become the hallmark of today's Republican party, both at the national level and in our state, but Minnesotans just aren't that extreme."
In Joe Davis's Minnesota, every Republican wants to cut taxes for "millionaires and billionaires" and evil "big corporations." It's important to highlight the fact that Joe Davis's Minnesota, at least the one he talks about in public, doesn't exist. Joe Davis's Minnesota is just as imaginary as Joe Soucheray's mythical empire of Gumption County and Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon. The key difference, though, between Gumption County, Lake Wobegon and Joe Davis's Minnesota is that Davis won't admit that his wild statements about Minnesota Republicans are a myth.
Forgive me. I said that Joe Davis's Minnesota was a myth. That isn't true. Joe Davis's Minnesota is an intentional fabrication. Saying that Minnesota Republicans prefer "cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy" is verifiably false. It isn't even close to the truth. This isn't accidental, either. Whether you're listening to Gov. Dayton, Rep. Thissen or Joe Davis, they're repeating the line that Republicans love "cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy."
I wrote this article last May. Back then, Gov. Dayton criticized Republicans, saying "They are saving that money for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, and property tax relief for large corporations." When I contacted Rep. Greg Davids about his tax plan, he replied "My bill does not do that. Eighty percent goes to individuals. Tax relief is for the middle class.... My tax bill is tax relief for the poor and middle class."
It's time to run Davis and his dishonest quislings out of Minnesota.
Posted Wednesday, May 4, 2016 6:01 PM
Comment 1 by JerryE9 at 05-May-16 09:30 AM
Hear, hear! The problem is, this myth-making has become and continues to be the common narrative believed by too many people, and the GOP has no effective way to CHANGE that narrative, or even refute it.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 06-May-16 04:50 AM
Jerry, that's BS. The GOP has an effective way of refuting ABM's dishonest narrative. The GOP's problem is that they haven't hired me to demolish that narrative. Spending money on slick advertising campaigns might help the consultants a bunch of money each election cycle but it won't do anything to defeat, demolish & disintegrate the DFL's dishonest statements.
I specialize in substantively demolishing the DFL's arguments. Through back channels, I've been told that we can't do explanations in responding. Everything, according to the focus groups, says that we need to keep things short, short, short or else everyone will stop listening. That's BS. That might work with ad campaigns but campaigns aren't just about advertising.
The same tired excuses
Every 4 years, the same people argue that we have to unite around the GOP presidential standard bearer. They're doing it again this year. In the past, I've been guilty of uniting around the GOP standard bearer. I won't be guilty of that this time.
Mitch Berg wrote this thoughtful piece explaining why he will support Trump. I've known Mitch to be a thoughtful, principled conservative with a strong libertarian streak in him for over a decade. That's why this discussion deserves to be done in a respectful, point-counterpoint fashion.
I can relate to Mitch when he started with saying "I'm sick of holding my nose and voting for the lesser of two evils." We've all heard that too often lately. We've been there, done that, especially in 2008. Mitch made a legitimate point when he self-replied "And I'm sick of people wishing things would get better on their own. They don't. They won't. They never will. Sack up. This is life. The best thing that happens is the conservative 'movement' will grow up and realize that it can't win by speaking to the echo chamber any more than the Paulbots could."
Honestly, I'm not into talking only to the echochamber. While I write posts for LFR, LFR isn't the only tool I use to influence people. I write articles for Examiner. I frequently write LTEs and op-eds for the St. Cloud Times, the Duluth News Tribune and the Mesabi Daily News. Further, I don't just pontificate on the latest political happenings. I write about important reports that highlight the things that happen when progressive/socialist policies are implemented.
Most importantly, I won't vote for Trump because he's a pathological liar who's questioned John McCain's patriotism, who's accused Ted Cruz's father of being part of the team that assassinated JFK and who's bragged that a convicted rapist (Mike Tyson) had endorsed him. I won't vote for someone that's quite possibly the most immoral presidential candidate in my lifetime. And remember, I followed Nixon's fall in Watergate and I watched Bill Clinton try explaining away a stained blue dress.
The difference between a leader and a bully is about the same as the difference between a bank robber and a police officer. They both carry guns but that's where the similarities end. Trump's bullying of the press is frightening for any First Amendment- and Constitution-loving person. Overlooking a person's squishiness is one thing. Ignoring a tyrant's actions are unforgivable. It's the line I won't cross. Period.
I'm not interested in being a loyal Republican if all I get from it is aggravation. If the GOP machine isn't interested in my ideas, then it doesn't get my vote or activism, either. As for the bad things that will happen if Hillary's elected, I'll simply say that that's what needs to happen. An addict doesn't turn their life around if they don't hit rock bottom. A call to unity is a call to not let the GOP hit rock bottom.
Finally, Trump has bought into more conspiracy theories than Ron Paul. Remember that Dr. Paul once said during a debate that he didn't want a wall built on the Tex-Mex border because he was afraid it would be used to keep people in the United States. Based on the things that Trump has said about Sen. Cruz's father, Dr. Paul looks virtually sane compared with Trump.
What won't change is that I'll work hard to keep Republicans in control of the Minnesota House, the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. I'll work tirelessly to flip the Minnesota Senate, too.
As for my presidential vote, I'm wholeheartedly opposed to Hillary and Trump. It's that simple. They can both go to hell.
Posted Thursday, May 5, 2016 3:36 AM
Comment 1 by JerryE9 at 05-May-16 09:38 AM
Your position (and Mitch's) both sound reasonable until, like Trump's pusillanimous pronouncements, it becomes time to actually make them happen. Supporting the down-ticket is great and exceedingly important. We have too many people now who believe that, if we just elect the right President, everything will be hunky-dory for four years. The problem is that, in support of the down-ticket, you may spend half your time defending the Prez candidate or distancing your candidate from him, rather than promoting him/her on the merits. The DFL will see to that-- it's their singular strategy of late. Never mind how awful their candidate is in character or on issues, the Republican is worse (long list of real or imagined failings follows).
And, I don't want to see the country hit "rock bottom" just to "teach us a lesson." We should be wise enough to avoid that situation, and we're falling too fast after the LAST time we said that, about Obama.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 06-May-16 04:43 AM
I don't want to see the country hit 'rock bottom' just to 'teach us a lesson.'Q: How has the party loyalty over everything else worked lately? A: It hasn't.
We should be wise enough to avoid that situation.We should be but then one group of idiots or another get in the way & stick us with another subpar presidential candidate. If we don't hit rock bottom, the same power brokers that gave us McCain, Mitt and Trump will give us another exceptionally flawed candidate 4 years from now. I'm tired with the 'lather, rinse, repeat' cycle. It's time for a dramatic leadership change.
Einstein's definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again but expecting different results. What the GOP has been about for the last 3 presidential cycles is the definition of insanity.
President Potter's listening tour
Is SCSU A Great Place To Work?
by Silence Dogood
Any analysis of the results from the Great Place to Work Survey demonstrates that SCSU is not a great place to work. The extremely low rankings for the administration by all groups are an indictment or perhaps even a vote of no confidence in the senior leadership. To his credit, President Earl Potter seems to be making an effort. In an email to all employees:
The College of Science and Engineering's Listening Session was scheduled for Thursday, February 25th:
Then it was rescheduled:
Then it was rescheduled again:
Now the listening session is scheduled during final exams - in fact, the day before commencement. If you want to schedule a time when fewer people would be there, I'm not sure that would be possible. Certainly, there won't be a lot of listening because there probably won't be a lot of talking. Who knows, this may have been the plan all along.
On Monday, May 2, 2016, the following email was received:
For the third time, the 'Listening Session' has been postponed. In baseball, three strikes and you're out! Clearly, 'listening' does not appear to be a priority for President Potter.
Posted Thursday, May 5, 2016 3:54 AM
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