October 21-23, 2014
Oct 21 04:30 Franken's 6 extra words Oct 21 04:32 More MnSCU projections Oct 21 05:16 Hitching Post Wedding Chapel vs. Coeur d'Alene Oct 22 01:46 Leaders Lead Oct 23 11:50 Dayton's MNsure dishonesty exposed Oct 23 12:52 Elizabeth Warren's Populism
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Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Franken's 6 extra words
Whenever a DFL politician talks about major construction projects, whether it's the Sandpiper Pipeline project or the PolyMet Mining project, they always say these 6 extra words :
'We need to do this right.'
This time, the politician was Al Franken and the project he was talking about was PolyMet. Unfortunately, Sen. Franken loves using the environmental activists' code words. Here's a perfect example:
The Minnesota Democratic senator, who is in a re-election contest with Republican challenger Mike McFadden, spoke about the copper/nickel/precious metals venture during an interview at the Mesabi Daily News Monday morning. The senator said he believes 'a vast majority of Minnesotans want to see those (PolyMet) jobs ... no question about that.'
Franken said he has regularly been in touch with PolyMet officials. And he has also heard from critics of the project. 'One thing I'm very aware of is that we haven't done this before here,' the senator said. 'But boy, can I understand how people are frustrated' about the nine years of environmental review. 'Believe me that's not lost on me.'
Franken said he aligns himself with the Iron Range Legislative Delegation on the issue - 'Get it done based on the science.'
"Get it done based on the science" is code for 'let's let the environmental activist organizations drag this out with lawsuits, PR stunts and propaganda wars'. DFL politicians are experts at that. DFL politicians like Sen. Franken and Rep. Nolan are professionals when it comes to looking like they're doing something while dragging their feet.
That's what they've both done since getting to DC. Nolan voted for HR 761, then promised environmental activists that he wouldn't vote for it again if it came back for final passage:
Northern Minnesota is known for its great fishing, so perhaps it's fitting that tracking 8th District Congressman Rick Nolan's position on a bill that deregulates the mining industry and fast tracks the permitting process for PolyMet is a bit like watching a fish flopping around on a dock: first he's against it, then he's for it and now he once again opposes it, this time promising to vote against the legislation if it 'comes anywhere near close to becoming law.'
This weekend, Nolan told Tom Hauser that he voted to streamline the permitting process. Sen. Franken couldn't say that because he hasn't lifted a finger to make PolyMet a reality. Nor has he done anything to streamline the permitting process in the future.
Instead, Dayton, Franken and Nolan have worked hard to walk a perilous tightrope. Dayton, Franken and Nolan have to appear to be friends of the miners without overstepping the environmental activists' boundaries.
The PolyMet supplemental draft environmental impact statement is currently in the comment review phase, which Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr said earlier this month should be completed in early-2015.
If the project receives a certificate of adequacy from the SDEIS, permits can follow, with construction beginning. The venture is projected to create 360 permanent jobs, hundreds more spin-off positions and more than 2 million hours of construction.
'We've got an incredible deposit of minerals,' Franken said. 'But if this had been done too soon and it was tainted and the watershed contaminated, it would be mitigated for decades or centuries. And what would that have meant for the second or third project?'
Throughout this process, environmentalists have portrayed mining companies as deadbeats that destroy the environment, then skip the country while taxpayers foot the cleanup bill. They've also portrayed mining companies as thugs who love destroying the environment in their lust for big profits. This is dishonest.
That isn't what happens. These companies have a history of following the rules. They have a history of doing things right.
Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4:30 AM
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More MnSCU projections
More on Projections
by Silence Dogood
On April 14, 2014, the seven MnSCU universities were required to project their final FY14 FYE enrollments and FY15 FYE enrollments. At that point in the semester, with only four weeks left in the semester, the registration numbers for FY14 should be pretty firm. The table reproduced below came from SCSU's Office of Finance and Administration's website:
A graphic representing the difference between the "Projected FY 2014" and the final actual FY2014 FYE enrollments (taken from MnSCU data) is shown below:
Clearly, some universities did a better job of projecting final enrollments than others. Moorhead's, SCSU's and Winona's projections were significantly different than the eventual final enrollment. Remember, these are projections of the final enrollment only four weeks from the end of the semester. In the case of Moorhead, they underestimated their FY14 enrollment so at least the surprise was a good one. In the case of SCSU and Winona, the actual enrollments were significantly below their projections. Most financial people don't like 'surprises' especially if they are bad ones! For SCSU, the decline of 62 FYE only represents an error of 0.5% so it might seem like 'making a mountain out of a mole hill.' However, clearly from the data, four universities did a better job than SCSU. Additionally, assuming that 1 FYE produces a total of $11,500 (tuition and state appropriation), 62 FYE accounts for a total of $713,000. That mole hill is beginning to look like more of a mountain!
Switching to the FY15 Projections. The data in the table also shows each university's percent change in their enrollment from their estimated FY14 FYE enrollment as compared to their estimated FY15 FYE enrollment.
A positive value (shown in blue) indicates that a university is expecting an increase in enrollment from FY14 to FY15. A negative value (shown in red) indicates that the enrollment is expected to go down. For some universities, there is a lot of 'red' in the figure.
Winona was the only MnSCU university to project an increase in enrollment for FY15. Metro projected that their enrollment would remain constant in FY15. Both Bemidji and Mankato projected slight declines of 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. Southwest projected a slightly larger decline at 1.2%. Both Moorhead and SCSU projected declines greater than 3%, which by any measure is a significant decline in enrollment.
Last year, Moorhead went through retrenchment and layoffs and reduced its faculty and staff by 10% as a result of a three-year decline in enrollment of 11.4%. As a result, you might expect to see an enrollment decline simply resulting from fewer course offerings because of having fewer faculty.
SCSU is the clear leader in projecting an enrollment decline at 3.5%. Following declines of 5.9%, 5.4% and 5.1% during the last three years, an enrollment decline of only 3.5% would be a significant improvement.
For a number of years Tom Fauchald, a Bemidji State University faculty member, has provided information about enrollments within the MnSCU system. In his latest report, he compares the FYE fall enrollments for all of the MnSCU colleges and universities. The data he presented was based on enrollment as of September 13, 2014 and was compared to the enrollment on the same date the prior year. The percent change for Fall semester at each of the MnSCU universities is shown in the following figure:
Clearly, the data shows enrollment at all of the MnSCU universities is down compared to the prior year on the same date.
A more interesting comparison might be how the enrollments compared with each of the university's predictions. The following figure shows the difference between the projected percent enrollment (for FY15) and the percent FYE enrollment decline on September 14, 2014 (year-to-date comparison):
The red in the Figure shows that the enrollments at all of the MnSCU universities are lower than their projections. More red in the figure, the larger the decrease from a university's projected enrollment. It is important to note that the enrollment projection made by the university was for the entire year and the enrollment data is only year-to-date enrollment data for fall semester (summer was not included and spring has yet to occur). As a result, these numbers may change. Concurrent enrollment is only significant at Southwest, SCSU and Mankato so they may see a small improvement in the enrollment numbers. However, it is not likely that the numbers will change substantially as the last of the concurrent enrollment is registered and spring semester is added.
Bemidji and Mankato seemed to do the best job at predicting their enrollments with errors of 1.0% and 0.5%, respectively. The remaining five universities all varied in their underestimation of their enrollment decline between 1.7% and 2.7%. Since SCSU is the largest of these universities, SCSU's actual FYE decrease is much larger than any one else.
If Mankato is SCSU's main rival, it is clear that there is a significant difference in almost every measure of recent performance. It also appears that the difference is increasing. And SCSU is not on the 'right' side of the changes!
Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4:32 AM
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Hitching Post Wedding Chapel vs. Coeur d'Alene
When the city of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho passed a non-discrimination ordinance, they opened up a nasty First Amendment can of worms :
Two Christian ministers who own an Idaho wedding chapel were told they had to either perform same-sex weddings or face jail time and up to a $1,000 fine, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court. Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers who own the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d'Alene.
'Right now they are at risk of being prosecuted,' their ADF attorney, Jeremy Tedesco, told me. 'The threat of enforcement is more than just credible.'
According to the lawsuit, the wedding chapel is registered with the state as a 'religious corporation' limited to performing 'one-man-one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy Bible.' But the chapel is also registered as a for-profit business, not as a church or place of worship, and city officials said that means the owners must comply with a local nondiscrimination ordinance.
It's difficult seeing this ordinance passing constitutional scrutiny by a real court. It was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The next step will be to the Supreme Court. The First Amendment doesn't just protect citizens, as we learned in this summer's Hobby Lobby ruling.
I suspect that this is just another attempt to strike down that ruling.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told me it's 'open season on Americans who refuse to bow to the government's redefinition of marriage. Americans are witnesses to the reality that redefining marriage is less about the marriage altar and more about fundamentally altering the freedoms of the other 98 percent of Americans,' Perkins said.
Governments, whether they're local governments or the federal government, don't have the authority to tell religious institutions what they must do. That's what Coeur d'Alene is attempting to do. Their city attorney, Warren Wilson, apparently isn't that schooled in constitutional law.
Thankfully, the Knapps are standing their ground, with assistance from the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council. It's important that government not have the authority to tell people how they can practice their faith. That's a major reason why people left Europe. It's important that we fight against being returned to European-style governance.
Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2014 5:16 AM
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Leaders Lead
Leaders Lead!
by Silence Dogood
According to an article published on NBCnews.com on October 19, 2014,
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/university-president-takes-90k-pay-cut-gives-money-staff
Dr. Raymond Burse, the President at Kentucky State University in Frankfort is taking a $90,000 pay cut "so the lowest-paid workers on his campus can get a wage boost." Essentially, 24 employees will get a pay raise from $7.25 to $10.25 per hour.
Dr. Anne Blackhurst, the new President at Minnesota State University - Moorhead during homecoming week celebrations two weeks ago led a fundraising effort by running 12.5 miles (50 laps around the track) and personally donated $1,000 per lap out of her own salary towards the effort for a total donation of $50,000. Her fundraising efforts raised a total of $1,200,000, which is the largest fundraising effort in MSUM's history!
What has President Earl Potter done?
At SCSU, President Potter is once again heading to China for several weeks. This, despite the fact, the university is facing a $9,500,000 shortfall in this year's budget, enrollment is down over 5% for the fourth year in a row, Coborn's Plaza is hemorrhaging money costing SCSU $6,400,000 in the first four years of operation and an incredibly low approval rating of President Potter and his administration as evidenced by the results of the Great Place to Work Survey.
Winona State University's Faculty Senate on Monday unanimously voted "no confidence" in MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone.
http://blogs.mprnews.org/oncampus/2014/10/winona-st-profs-no-confidence-vote-in-mnscu-chief/
According to the article the reason for the vote by the Winona Faculty Senate was
'a recurring pattern of secrecy in MnSCU decision making regarding the hiring of private consultants, questionable spending decisions by the System Office, and an unwillingness to incorporate greater student and faculty input into long term planning.'
Let's look to see if these same issues occur at SCSU.
Anyone familiar with SCSU knows that has become easier to hire a consultant than hire a part-time faculty member. While some consultants may be performing worthwhile functions, the sheer number of consultants that have been hired the last few years is simply stunning - and those are only the consultants we know about! Consultant contracts range on the low end from a few thousand dollars to nearly half a million dollars.
SCSU also seems to have several questionable spending decisions of its own - most notably the contract with the Wedum Foundation for the Coborn's Plaza Apartments, which has taken $6,400,000 from the university's budget in the first four years of operation. On top of that, spending $720,000 on a three-year contract for additional police officers in the community surrounding the SCSU campus, $450,000 for the Confucius Institute and $459,000 on a 'Rebranding' campaign. This is only a partial list of major expenses!
Lastly, the lack of input and consideration of a wide array of opinions prior to making major decisions is the norm at SCSU. Most decisions are simply announced after the fact. Multiple administration positions have been filled without searches or consultation with the faculty. Some of these positions have been filled this way for several years. Even when the faculty requested inclusion in the process for removing grades from student's transcripts, the President denied the request. So much for being 'open and transparent.'
Perhaps the wrong senate took a vote of 'no confidence' in the wrong person.
The Winona State University (WSU) vote was taken by the 28 faculty members who comprise their Faculty Senate, which is the governing body for the faculty at WSU. The Great Place to Work Survey conducted at SCSU with 634 of 1,582 of those invited responding was clearly not a vote of confidence in President Potter and his administration. However, with such abysmal results for the senior leadership, it certainly could be viewed as a vote of no confidence in President Potter and his administration.
President Potter, with the support of Chancellor Rosenstone, simply refuses to see his part in the decline of what was once bragged to be the 'flagship' university in the MnSCU system. It truly is a shame because without leadership that is supported by the faculty and staff, things simply aren't going to change for the better.
Posted Wednesday, October 22, 2014 1:46 AM
Comment 1 by Crimson Trace at 22-Oct-14 09:08 AM
What has President Potter done? A lot of damage. The video I just watched is stunning beyond belief! WTF! The loss is in the millions of dollars now.
http://youtu.be/PCooO5sPgW0
Comment 2 by Crimson Trace at 22-Oct-14 10:28 AM
So the enrollment management plan has been found after Saffari was terminated in 2011? Did it fall behind a copy machine? Why was headcount reported instead of FYE's? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Comment 3 by Patrick-M at 23-Oct-14 12:08 PM
The latest 'happy talk' email (SCSU 30th day enrollment) from EP3 tells the SCSU community don't worry, that enrollment management plan has been found and the school is on track. The message trumpets that even though there was '5.1% decrease from 2013, however we remain the largest head count in MnSCU'. Sad to see the demise of a once great institution.
Dayton's MNsure dishonesty exposed
In September, Mark Dayton insisted that PreferredOne's leaving MNsure was competition in action :
Gov. Mark Dayton says a key provider's decision to drop out of the state-run health exchange is competition in action.
The Star Tribune is reporting it's nothing of the sort :
Sometime after the insurer PreferredOne submitted its proposed rates for the first year of the MNsure exchange, state regulators asked the company to consider lowering the numbers . Ultimately, the insurer responded with 'a total rate decrease of 37 percent,' according to a July 2013 letter from an outside actuary to the company. Those final rates were the lowest in the Twin Cities, and across the country, in many cases, and helped Preferred'One to grab nearly 60 percent of the MNsure business.
Now, those subscribers face an average premium increase of 63 percent if they stay with PreferredOne, a yo-yo scenario that health policy experts say points to the challenge in setting prices under the federal health law. The big swing also suggests that the low prices were out of step with the reality of the business.
Dayton's dishonest numbers, combined with his disdain for competition, have caused Minnesota insurance prices to skyrocket. Dayton's dishonest health insurance numbers were always dishonest. Now it's verifiable.
Posted Thursday, October 23, 2014 11:50 AM
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Elizabeth Warren's Populism
Elizabeth Warren's populism just took a hit :
Given her populist image, it would be more in character for Warren to fight such a narrow industry interest. In this case, she did not. When Fidelity's top executive, Abigail P. Johnson, personally lobbied the SEC in 2012, Warren stayed out of the fight. At the time, Warren was running for Senate against incumbent Republican Scott Brown, whose biggest source of funding came from Fidelity employees, according to a news report by the Globe's Beth Healy .
Given Sen. Warren's constant rants that "the game is rigged" and that Republicans rigged it, it's astonishing that Warren is getting hit with this news. Perhaps that's why Warren has declined running for president thus far.
Posted Thursday, October 23, 2014 12:52 PM
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