Rounds Brushes Off Fargen as Inexperienced Freshman

Remember that really nice guy we liked so much more than those mean and nasty fellas, Kirby and Barnett?

Governor M. Michael Rounds graces the editorial page of Monday's Madison Daily Leader (Jon! you really need to put these letters online!) with a snarky response to District 8 Representative Mitch Fargen's criticism of the governor in last week's paper. I don't have a copy in front of me, so lengthy excerpts will have to wait. But the governor's several-inch response boils down to calling Fargen an inexperienced freshman who needs to learn his place.

I get a bit cranky when I hear that kind of talk from veteran legislators. The state legislature is not high school or a Greek frathouse. Sure, Mitch is a freshman legislator. But he is also the elected representative of over 20,000 South Dakota citizens. Whether he has served that role for eight weeks or eight years, his voice—our voice—matters as much as anyone else's in Pierre. Fargen appears to already know his proper place: to do the job we elected him to do, to speak up and fight for our interests, interests that aren't served terribly well by a governor who would tax the poor and cut funding for education, Birth to 3, and the arts (and, for the many Madisonians for whom this is a big deal, just won't get behind the Highway 34 expansion, no matter how many stickers John Goeman hands out).

Fargen criticizes the governor on policy; Rounds still thinks he's homecoming king. Who'd got the guts again?

HB 1198: "Pay to Play" on House Ed. Wed. Agenda

Yesterday's post on referee and judge pay provoked a discussion of "pay to play," charging students fees to participate in extracurricular activities. HB 1198 would do just that. This bill was on last Friday's House Education committee agenda, but it got deferred to tomorrow (Wednesday).

Now note that this bill does not require fees for participation; it actually increases local control, allowing school boards to impose fees if they see fit. It is also limited to "any interscholastic activity for which no academic credit is earned." It occurs to me that debaters might not be subject to such fees, since some schools (quite rightly, given the semester's worth of speeches the typical debater makes in one weekend) make competition in speech contests part of the requirements for earning credit in debate or speech classes.

A few of my readers have argued that all extracurriculars should be off budget, supported entirely by non-school clubs (as in Europe). I don't know if I could go so far. Extracurricular activities have a fair amount of educational value (yes, even football). I don't like the idea of creating fees that could price some kids out of extra-curricular activities. But schools manage to set up free/reduced lunch prices; it wouldn't be hard to establish a similar program for activity participation fees.

There are no free lunches: balls and pads and debate briefcases cost money. The question HB 1198 poses: should immediate users of those items pay a higher proportion of the costs, or do those activities provide a public benefit that we all should support equally with our tax dollars? Let's hear our man on House Education, Rep. Mitch Fargen (D-8/Flandreau), lead that discussion in committee tomorrow.

Pay Check: Debate Judges vs. Sports Officials

By the way, as I review Madison school board minutes, I notice that we pay basketball officials anywhere from $75 to $119 (e.g. Jeff Deslauriers). I see some wrestling officials get $181 to $230 (Dave Cornemann, Kurt Heeren). Gymnastics judges can get $356 (Jenny Christian).

Is that last figure for a full month of contests? Must be. Madison pays debate judges $50 (e.g., Gabe Jorgenson) for one one-day contest, and that's only when the coach is not available to judge rounds. When I judge the National Qualifying tournament in Sioux Falls, I might make $100-$120, and that's for being available Friday from 3-10 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. until the tournament is done (and I've judged final rounds at 2 a.m.).

Maybe sports really do help you get better paychecks.

Netbooks, Cell Phones, and Stimulus for the Classroom

Quick classroom tech notes:

Elkton Netbook Update: On today's Dakota Digest, South Dakota Public Broadcasting's Cory Klumper reports on Elkton's classroom netbook project. As reported here previously, if Elkton HS tech director (and DSU grad) Gabe Pooler's idea works, this tiny rural school may be able to equip its students with computers for 30% of the cost of the state's Classroom Connections program. Klumper stops by Madison HS to chat with Rob Honomichl about Tablet PCs as well.

No Place Safe from Cell Phones: If you think laptops are just a distraction in the classroom, this should really set your teeth on edge: cell phone makers are now pushing schools to use phones in the classroom. Just like with the personal planners and other products and logos foisted on the captive K-12 audience, cell phone manufacturers know that branding the kids early will boost future sales. Consume, citizen!

I Thought Compromise Meant Meeting in the Middle: Whatever doodads schools think they need, they won't get to pay for as much of it with the stimulus money as hoped. Both the House and Senate versions of the plan included $1 billion for education technology, but somehow that number got knocked down to $650 million in conference. The conferees did jack up the rural broadband funding, though: the House proposed $6B, the Senate $7B; final figure, $7.2B Now that's compromise!

State Affairs Deadlocks on Pipeline Tax: Try Again Wednesday!

SB 171, the pipeline tax, got stuck in committee Friday. The Senate State Affairs Committee split 4–4 (Dave Knudson was absent) on whether to impose a piddly two-cent-per-barrel tax on oil pipelines to create a cleanup fund.

Once again fighting for Big Oil was our favorite recipient of TransCanada campaign dollars, Russ Olson. At a time when Governor Rounds has challenged legislators to find new sources of revenue, Senator Olson says no to an easy tax on a foreign company that would protect South Dakota's water and soil.

Two cents a barrel is nothing for TransCanada. They're going to pay 400+ workers around a million dollars a week to work on the South Dakota stretch of the pipeline this summer. Losing $100 a barrel since July hasn't killed the Keystone pipelines; neither will South Dakota taking two pennies.

State Affairs will take another swing at SB 171 on Wednesday. Talk to Senator Abdallah, Russ, and flip your vote!

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p.s.: While Senator Olson votes to protect giant Canadian petro-corporations from what at $40/barrel is a 0.05% tax, he has voted to impose a 4% tax on his local pal Randy Schaefer, should Randy decide to get into the storage unit business.

Anecdotal: China Beating U.S. on Alternative Energy Innovation

A little note for my Policy friends debating the alternative-energy resolution: Thomas Friedman's latest NYTimes column provides an illuminating anecdote on international competitiveness in putting alternative energy to work. While attending the Energy and Resources Institute's climate conference in New Dehli, Friedman is propositioned by two American women half his age (tell me you wouldn't want to be Thomas Friedman) who offer to drive him around New Dehli in their plug-in/solar car:

We head off down Panchsheel Marg, one of New Delhi’s main streets. The ladies want to show me something. The U.S. Embassy and the Chinese Embassy are both located on Panchsheel, directly across from each other. They asked me to check out the rooftops of each embassy. What do I notice? Let’s see ... The U.S. Embassy’s roof is loaded with antennae and listening gear. The Chinese Embassy’s roof is loaded with ... new Chinese-made solar hot-water heaters.

You couldn’t make this up.

I wonder if the Chinese have a translation for "Drill, baby, drill!" They probably don't need one.

For the Sake of Argument: Overheard at Mundt Debate

...and what about that Mundt curse?

At this weekend's Mundt Debate Tournament at Madison HS, I judged dramatic interp, oratory, Lincoln-Douglas, and policy. Here's a sampling of interesting things I heard:

• One interper offered a stage rendition of Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart," complete with really creepy ventriloquized heartbeat sound. Neat trick!
• An orator said she visited her grandparents in China last year. She was trying to concentrate on listening to their arguments about Communism, but she was distracted by all the fireworks, which apparently have only recently been re-legalized in the country of their birth. Freedom marches on... ;-)
• The champion extemper won Mundt by explaining that China's stimulus program is all about energy and infrastructure, with a focus on connecting the outlying poverty-bound rural areas that haven't shared in the country's explosive economic growth. Brilliant speech!
  
• One young man based his argument against an international court on Robert Bork's contention that "international law" is an illegitimate construct used by the leftist American intelligentsia "to attack the morality of its own government and society." He won my ballot (take that, Sibby!).
• In response to an alternative energy plan that sought to strengthen the American economy and lessen the chance of international chaos and nuclear war, two young women argued that the harms of nuclear war are greatly exaggerated. These same two young women also argued that the affirmative plan would be a disaster because it would cause electric rates to rise 4%.
• Madison's Rod Goeman dropped in to judge some Public Forum debate. Word in the tab room is that he couldn't say enough about how much fun he had judging... and how smart the kids he heard were!
  

Friday night at Mundt: future Marine Matthew Wollman and debate maven Jacqueline Adams, both MHS seniors, stand ready (o.k., sit ready) to address any emergency at the tournament tab table. Backing them up: John Wayne and his Winchester (gotta love a public school that permits displays of firearms—the spirit of the West still lives!). And hey—there's Brett Kearin back by the library desk running the show!

And then there is the dark side of Mundt Debate Tournament: the Mundt Curse. Whispered in the halls, even Googled
Friday night by a nervous Sioux Falls debater (or so says my SiteMeter), the Mundt Curse says that if you win at Mundt, you won't qualify for Nationals. Now I'm not fully clear on the folklore here: I'm not sure if the curse extends to all events or just Policy debate. I would welcome perspectives in the comment section here.

But let's look at a couple recent tournaments:

• 2006 Mundt Policy Champs Emily Van Gerpen and Hannah Alsgaard of Yankton (I judged that final!) qualified for Nationals.
• 2006 Mundt Lincoln-Douglas Champ Shana Conklin of Aberdeen Central qualified for Nats.
• 2007 Mundt Policy Champs Josh Oppenheimer and Kyle Powers of Sioux Falls Lincoln qualified for Nats.
• 2007 Mundt L-D Champ Alicia Enterman of Vermillion did not qualify for Nats.

No curse there, it appears. In ancient history, I won humor at Mundt in 1989 and qualified for Nats a couple weeks later. But I welcome deeper analysis of the tab sheets by my fellow South Dakota forensics folklorists.

Update 11:36 CST: Oh yeah, and that overwhelmed custodial staff who are "already tapped out with cleaning and locking up the high school and middle school Friday night"? They didn't sound overwhelmed to me. As a matter of fact, while the debates raged, MHS custodians had time to hit the gym and shoot some hoops. See? Hosting a debate tournament can be fun for everyone.

Health Insurance, Bridges, Schools, Water, Cops: Stimulus A-Comin'!

Quick notes on the stimulus bill becoming law on Tuesday (Tuesday?! What are we waiting for? Hand the President his pen now!):

• COBRA will bite less: government will pick up 65% of keeping your old employer-based health insurance for nine months. Deal goes to folks who've lost jobs since Sept. 1 or who lose jobs through this year. That will be big help for unemployed folks to pay other bills.
• The infrastructure money includes bridge reinforcement to make up for all the meatheads driving heavier SUVs in the office.
• $54 billion aimed at states to stave off education budget cuts that could put 600,000 teachers and other school staff out of work (yes, teachers contribute to the economy immediately, along with all that long-term stuff about teaching your kids to be polite and productive citizens).
  
• EPA money: $7.2 billion, mostly for protecting drinking water supplies and improving water delivery infrastructure. Yeah, those damn enviro-Marxist whackos, wasting Porkulus on luxuries like water.
• $3.7 billion to hire more cops (I dare you to make a Porkulus joke to Chief Pulford and Officer Wollman on that one).
  
• FY 2009 deficit: $1.6 trillion. This better work.

Hmm, so let's see: in his first 28 days, young, inexperienced President Barack Obama passes significant legislation to protect and/or improve health coverage, roads, education, drinking water, public safety, and, we hope, the economy. As Frank Rich writes, those wily Republicans "sure showed that Obama"!

Update 15:15 CST: Dr. Newquist points us toward ProPublica's outstanding itemization of the stimulus bill. If you haven't read the 1000+ pages, ProPublica's Cliffs Notes will do for starters.

Mundt Debate Results: Aberdeen Central, Vermillion Win Sweeps

The 42^nd Karl E. Mundt Debate Tournament brought 16 schools to Madison Friday and Saturday for a big weekend of speech competition. Aberdeen Central won the Class AA team trophy, earning 235 sweeps points over surging Huron's 203. In Class A, Vermillion emerged victorious from a 160–160 tie with Milbank, thanks to placing one more Tanager competitor in final rounds than the Bulldogs.

Sioux Falls Lincoln fielded five event winners, followed by Huron with three. We've recognized the Madville Mundtster award winner and fellow four-year Mundt competitors; now here's a list of the 2009 event winners:

Debate:

• Varsity Policy Debate: James Kerr & Matthew Aadland, Brookings
• Novice Policy: Alan-Mark Ivanov & Alexia Schumacher, Sioux Falls Lincoln
  
• Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Jesse Goodwin, Sioux Falls Washington
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas: Christine Marotteck, Huron
• Varsity Public Forum Debate: Alexzandra Neville & Olivia Hollan, Aberdeen Central
• Novice Public Forum: Alissa McAloon & Nicole McAloon, Huron

Extemp/Oratory/Interp:

• Foreign Extemp: Jiwen Li, Vermillion
  
• Domestic Extemp: Luke Cumbee, Huron
  
• Novice Extemp: Gus Campbell, Aberdeen
• Varsity Oratory: Maggie Lawler, Sioux Falls O'Gorman
  
• Novice Oratory: Agnes Kabambi, Sioux Falls Lincoln
  
• Humor: Pete Heidepriem, Sioux Falls Lincoln
• Drama: Adrielle Munger, Sioux Falls Lincoln
• Duo: Chris Wilkins & Ryan Wilkins, Sioux Falls Lincoln

Congratulations to all of our Mundt award winners, and thanks to all of our competitors, coaches, and judges for coming to Madison for another magnificent Mundt!

Aberdeen's Holkesvik Wins 2009 Madville Mundtster Award

Congratulations to Aberdeen senior Michael Holkesvik, the winner of the first annual Madville Mundtster award!Holkesvik (shown here with proud Aberdeen Central forensics coach Colleen Meisenheimer) has come to Madison to compete at the Mundt Debate Tournament all four years of his high school career. Holkesvik and his partner Colter Heirigs qualified for finals and placed second in Varsity Policy debate. I personally had the pleasure of judging Holkesvik's oration on the impending end of the world in a preliminary Oratory round.

Holkesvik was the top Madville Mundtster, with 146 career points at the Mundt Tournament. In all, 19 seniors from around eastern South Dakota came to Madison for their fourth Mundt. They are listed below, with their National Forensic League point totals from each year. Congratulations to all, and thanks for coming to Madison to make the Mundt another great competitive experience! (More Mundt results coming up... but it's my family supper time!)

Four-Year Madville Mundtsters: 2009
School	Name	2006	2007	2008	2009	Total
Aberdeen	Alex Friedrichsen	35	27	32	13	107
Aberdeen	Michael Holkesvik	38	32	33	40	146
Aberdeen	Shawn Schnabel	37	25	35	33	130
Aberdeen	Lauren Werth	40	25	32	31	128
Brookings	Matt Aadland	41	28	9	43	127
Brookings	Keith Campbell	19	29	26	26	100
Brookings	Amie Hirschoff	23	25	8	27	83
Brookings	Jimmy Kerr	37	25	8	42	118
Brookings	Chantel Taylor	28	21	18	24	91
Brookings	Dorian Walker	28	18	28	32	106
Huron	Luke Cumbee	21	27	31	42	121
Huron	Matt McGirr	24	25	32	47	131
Madison	Meagan Abraham	15	15	18	24	72
Madison	Jacqueline Adams	15	15	18	24	72
Milbank	Scott Athey	15	22	26	36	99
Milbank	Daniel Tuchscherer	28	19	39	25	111
SF Lincoln	Pete Heidepriem	28	15	22	26	91
SF Roosevelt	Jessica Herbert	25	26	27	34	112
SF Washington	Jesse Goodwin	30	33	38	36	143
Criteria:
1: Competed at Mundt all four years of high school career, 2006-2009
2: Points = NFL points earned in actual rounds of competition, including finals

South Dakota Fiddles While Others Plan for Stimulus

I highlighted Virginia's great new citizen participation website, where everybody and their ugly sister can submit ideas (1347 since Tuesday, at my last count) for using the stimulus money. The state of Washington has appointed stimulus czars who are busy compiling ideas for using the checks soon to come from DC. Massachusetts just appointed a stimulus czar to oversee the coming spending boom. Ohio appointed a stimulus czar in January.

Meanwhile, in South Dakota...

While the one-thousand page piece of legislation will send millions of dollars to South Dakota, Governor Mike Rounds says it's still too early to know how it will benefit the state.

A budget shortfall caused Governor Mike Rounds to propose a massive amount of cuts in state government spending. Now, halfway through the legislative session, neither the House nor Senate has addressed many of those issues. [Shawn Neistadt, "State Lawmakers Waiting on Stimulus," KELOLand.com, 2009.02.13].

We've had some numbers to work with for a couple weeks. Virginia, Washington, Massachusetts, and Ohio aren't waiting to start brainstorming. But instead of breaking out the spreadsheets and calling for ideas, Governor Michael Rounds has insisted on pushing off any real consideration of stimulus spending until a special session.

Governor Rounds, haven't you figured out that the Internet is like a constant special session, just bubbling with the chance to gather and discuss ideas? You could have a team going over a list like Virginia's right now, highlighting the good ideas and tallying the dollar figures. Then the moment the money comes from Washington, you scroll down, draw your line, and say, "Here's what we can do. Go!" If there's a lot of money, yahoo. If Harry Reid snuck a line into the bill saying, "John Thune's a meathead, so South Dakota gets nothing," we lose nothing and actually have a great list of projects to do pursue in the future.

Instead, the Governor appears determined to keep the Legislature over a fiscal barrel, forcing them to act on whatever tax increases or program cuts he so eagerly wants to blame them for.

South Dakota plays politics, while other states show Web 2.0 leadership with technology and conversation. Grrr!

Stimulus Passes; GOP Puts Party First

The stimulus bill has passed; President Obama will sign shortly. By closing ranks and opposing fast action to fight the recession, the Republicans have made clear we're in for four years of partisan trench warfare. So be it. I think President Obama can lead the free world and wrassle Republicans at the same time. It would be easier if he didn't have to... but I guess you can't blame a party in decline for going down swinging.

But hey, we've got stimulus coming! Fire up the spreadsheets and the bulldozers; we've got an economy to fix!