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On Brownback to tour in support of his higher education budget
voevoda 4 years, 10 months ago
If Gov. Brownback wants to protect higher education from the depredations of the state legislature, why is he going "on the road"? I'm not against his visiting campuses, but universities aren't the ones who are calling for cuts to higher education. Is he planning to bring the nay-saying representatives (all from his own party) along on the trip in hopes of convincing them that higher education is a worthwhile investment?
tomatogrower 4 years, 10 months ago
Oh here we go again. It's not his fault, it's the legislators fault. Did they know they were going to be the fall guys? Did they sign up for this when Brownie got them elected? Hey, we aren't going to let the people of Kansas forget what you have done, Brownie. Be ready to leave office in less than 2 years. Start packing now.
chootspa 4 years, 10 months ago
Gosh - who could have predicted that a bunch of extremists would be so extreme? I'd give the guv props for standing up for higher education if his PAC weren't responsible for getting all those tea partiers in office in the first place. Now he's just busy posing as "good cop" and hoping his approval numbers rise a little.
tolawdjk 4 years, 10 months ago
One tech school, two community colleges and nothing "west" of Wichita.
It's not that he can't claim he doesn't have time given that its taking about a month and a half to do this circuit.
A strong argument could be made that the people he needs to sway to his way of thinking are west of the I-35 line and he's seeminging purposely avoiding them. I mean if you are hitting KC with two schools on one day, one would think that hitting Hays in the morning would allow Barton or Colby in the afternoon.
That's nine schools and not one west of I-35. There is a message in that.
Scott Tichenor 4 years, 10 months ago
The emperor has no clothes.
Paul Geisler 4 years, 10 months ago
What a bunch of phony baloney from Gov. Brownslack! Orchestrating cuts to K-12 & Higher Ed via the Republican-led legislature and then saying on national TV that he's done all this wonderful (wacky) tax stuff in Kansas without having to make any funding cuts to education was an outright lie! And since he doesn't agree with the ruling in January from the judicial panel who confirmed what is sufficient State funding for education he wants to strip them of their authority and leave it up the State legislators! And now he wants to do a higher-ed tour in Kansas to garner support for his budget plan but he doesn't even have the guts to come to Lawrence to speak at the University of Kansas! Guess this dark spiritual area is too much for him to handle!
Bob_Keeshan 4 years, 10 months ago
There's only one question that needs to be asked at each of these stops. It's a simple yes or no question, so it should be a short conversation.
When his partisans in the legislature send him a budget that cuts higher education, will he sign it? Yes or no?
Paul R Getto 4 years, 10 months ago
Send in the clowns.
UneasyRider 4 years, 10 months ago
Bet Brownback will be on road to his first stop Friday so he will not be able to greet Obama at KU.
Scott Tichenor 4 years, 10 months ago
We'll just have to agree to disagree. After all, this is the state that throws out the welcome mat for war criminal Cheney, the man that single-handedly bankrupted the U.S. with his silly Iraq War and weapons of mass destruction.
Dave Trabert 4 years, 10 months ago
A new 10-year comparison of state aid, university spending and tuition increases is now available at http://www.kansaspolicy.org/researchcenters/education/studies/104135.aspx
This study looks at the six state-funded universities - KU, K-State, Wichita State, Emporia State, Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State. State funding was flat between 2002 and 2012, while undergraduate tuition increased 137%, inflation rose 25% and FTE enrollment increased 12%.
Tuition and fees at KU increased 194% and enrollment was up 1.8%.
State aid to the entire Regents system, which includes KU Med Center, K-State Veterinary Center, K-State Extension Service and the Board of Regents is up 5%.
University officials often site a lack of state funding as the cause of tuition increases, while some legislators point to large tuition increases as rationale for funding decisions. This 'chicken-and-egg' debate may well come down to a matter of perspective.
One of the interesting facts we discovered is that those six universities had a $96 million cash reserve increase in their General Fees funds, which is tuition. That means they collected $96 million more in tuition than they spent out of that fund over the last ten years. They also had a $152 million cash reserve increase in their Restricted Fees funds. Universities could absorb a small reduction in state aid by using a portion of those cash reserve buildups from prior years' tuition and fees that weren't spent.
We also found that Institutional Support, which according to Board of Regents reports is basically administrative spending, increased 78% - or a little more than three times inflation.
chootspa 4 years, 10 months ago
The Center for Budget Policy and Priorities disagrees with your figures. Or, more precisely the framing. Granted, it's a shorter time span, but it's better observation of recent trends involving the Great Recession. From 2008-13, they claim that Kansas overall has had a 24.5% cut in state funding, while it has seen an overall 15.4% increase in tuition.
That's adjusted for inflation (ie real dollars), which your figures should be. Serious people tend to talk in real dollars when they're discussing changes in spending over time. Propagandists just list it as a separate item, so the people reading their propaganda reports are more shocked. You're giving us used car salesmen messaging in reverse -trying to make it sound like it's more money than it is.
For instance, your overall calculation lists a 53% change in "per student spending" (a number you just made up by dividing all the figures by FTE) for the combined six universities you studied. In real dollars, my quick math says it's only a 16% increase. Sure, that's a change in spending over time, and it's a point of discussion, but it's not the same shock value you're proposing. If you're not interested in having an honest and intelligent conversation about policy, please don't bother coming in here to copy and paste your propaganda. There's good reason we mistrust everything you say: because we should.
Paul R Getto 4 years, 10 months ago
Thanks, Dave. We appreciate you clarifying all of this for the Sheeple. What would we do without your perspicacity?
UneasyRider 4 years, 10 months ago
Without Dave we would never know what the Koch's intend for Brownback and his toadies to rant about. Dave has never been one to let facts get in his way. He knows what the wanted conclusions are, so he makes sure to provide "facts" to "prove" the Koch's previously determined conclusion
Lynn Grant 4 years, 10 months ago
So is Ft. Hays just out of the loop?
Boston_Corbett 4 years, 10 months ago
Dave Trabert once again shows his intent to not discuss this issue with any intellectual honesty. Either that or he is just ignorant of state budgeting and accounting by suggesting that "restricted fee" and "tuition" should be budgeted to offset state support. I will let you chose which one.
1) "restricted fees" is just that. Fees that are restricted (frequently by law or contract) from general use because of the source of money. Including: Dormitory Fees, Student Health Fees, laboratory fees, amounts received by researchers and the university for completton of federal grants, funds maintained to replay bond issues, including reserves for capital improvements and maintenance, insurance of bonded projects, etc etc etc. The funds are received for purposes that are not directly instructional purposes, and can not be spent otherwise. Does he want Dorm fees to pay for a professors Salary? Does he want to violate federal law by stealing from a federal grant to pay for the same. Does he want to violate the law by stealing from income pledged for a bonded project?
This is the same hokum that Trabert and his friends have used in discussing public education budgets and restricted fees in school district budgets. The suggestion that these funds be raided/used for general instructional purposes in many cases are clearly illegal by law or contract. In other cases, they would simply not be good stewardship or good business practices.
But,. boy oh boy, aren't they fun to type up and spread around in pursuit of blowing smoke up everybody's arses. It doesn't matter to him that it is illegal, because it just sounds good.
2) Tuition. Again, Trabert is being pretty cute in his information. Tuition balances at universities vary widely throughout the calendar year, since it is collected largely in two times in front of each semester. And tuition is collected several months in advance of the providing of educational services. At those points, tuition balances looks wildly high, but has been committed to be spent over the ongoing months. His suggestion is for the universities to steal from next year's students to pay for this year's faculty salaries. Some would call that fraud. I would use the same term to describe Mr. Trabert's discussion of higher education financing. He is either being intentionally misleading, or he is an idiot. I will let you choose.
Shelley Bock 4 years, 10 months ago
Excellent observations!
Dave Trabert 4 years, 10 months ago
If you read the study, you would find that we very carefully point out that Restricted Fee balances can only be used for the purpose the fees were collected.
You would also note that we use year-end balances so as to avoid the issue you raise on fluctuating balances. Further, we only use the increases in annual ending balances, which reflect the difference between revenues collected each year and the expenses paid for the year.
chootspa 4 years, 10 months ago
You point it out, but then use it as part of your calculations anyway, so as to make the numbers look better for your cause.
You don't list undergrad/graduate in-state/out-of state enrollments or tuitions, either, and fluctuations in those numbers could make a huge difference in revenue and spending in a given year. All your data should be broken down to account for that, and it isn't.
Dave Trabert 4 years, 10 months ago
Not true. The calculation we did of universities' ability to absorb a small reduction in aid was based solely on General Fees, which are not restricted. See page 7 and end note #10.
More data is always good. Unfortunately, the analysis you suggested would require some data that is not available and may well not exist. KBOR publishes enrollment data by graduate and undergraduate but not FTE enrollment for in-state and out-of=state on an annual basis. They also do not publish revenues, which even if available would have to provided separately for each cohort. And both sets of data would have to be reflected net of scholarships.
chootspa 4 years, 10 months ago
"More data is always good. Unfortunately, the analysis you suggested would require some data that is not available and may well not exist."
In other words, you do not have the data you require in order to come to accurate conclusions, but you're going to foist your ideology on us anyway. Intellectually dishonest to the core.
Dave Trabert 4 years, 10 months ago
Again, not true. You don't like the results (and/or the provider of the results) and therefore claim that additional data is necessary, which is not the case. More data would possibly provide additional insight but it's absence in no way detracts from the validity or reliability of available data.
chootspa 4 years, 10 months ago
The data isn't being questioned. Your presentation and analysis is. The data says that there is a slight increase in real dollars of tuition over the price of inflation in a ten year period, but it doesn't actually provide any true insight into why, nor does it tell us the long term impact of the policies you advocate.
As I've stated before, your penchant for using raw dollars when real dollars are the norm is a pure scare tactic used to artificially prove a point that you don't seem able to make with intellectual honesty. If you can't be honest with the little things. You can't be honest with the big ones.
Dave Trabert 4 years, 10 months ago
What a cute but absolutely misleading statement. "A slight increase?" You call 85.6% slight?
There is nothing misleading or intellectually dishonest about showing changes in raw dollars AND the inflation rate. In fact, Table 2 shows the annual change in inflation, tuition and state aid so readers could see exactly what took place each year.
chootspa 4 years, 10 months ago
"Cute but absolutely misleading statements" are the only thing that comes out of your mouth, Dave. I did forget to include that I meant when reductions in state spending are included, but the point remains. We all know tuition is increasing beyond the cost of inflation for a variety of factors, but you don't want to have an honest conversation about why.
Yes - it absolutely is dishonest to make the claims in nominal dollars and only put inflation in a separate column in this paper. You want to discus changes in spending over time. The variable you absolutely need to exclude for that conversation to happen is inflation. Ideally you'd also exclude other variables, but at a minimum the conversation should always be in real dollars. It's nothing but sloppy and misleading of you to do otherwise.
KSManimal 4 years, 10 months ago
"Cutting funding for the community and technical colleges that support the CTE program would hinder students from obtaining industry-recognized credentials by the time they graduate from high school and diminish the workforce pool for businesses," Brownback said.
Gee, Sam....if businesses want an educated, skilled workforce...a workforce produced by our public educational system...how about we ask those businesses to pony up some income taxes to pay for it?
btw, Sam, you forgot to tow the party line about how all private businesses build themselves without any help from government. Prepare to bear the wrath of your Koch masters.....
tomatogrower 4 years, 10 months ago
Exactly. Whatever happened to apprenticeships? Companies used to just expect people who can read, write and do math. They trained their workers themselves. Now they expect us taxpayers to pay for it? More corporate welfare.
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Jessica Tuchman Mathews has been taking this all in from her offices in the heart of Washington D.C. She is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). The Endowment held a series of discussions on the Iraq situation from late April to late July of 2002. Participants included a former U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and retired Air Force General, several former UNSCOM (United Nations Special Council on Iraq) inspectors, former IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Iraq Action Team members, scholars and diplomats.
Together they produced the report "Iraq, A New Approach." The document suggests a tactic called "coercive inspections" "in which a multinational military force created by the UN Security Council would enable international inspections teams to operate effectively in Iraq. The U.S. would forswear unilateral military action against Iraq as long as inspections worked unhindered. This 'comply or else' tactic would place the burden of choosing war squarely on Saddam Hussein."
Key Points in the Coercive Inspections Plan
The authors of "Iraq: A New Approach" state that their plan evolved as a middle approach standing between inaction and all-out pursuit of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The authors found previous inspections greatly tilted in the favor of Iraq. Their plan relies on a multinational military threat serious enough to "coerce" compliance by Saddam Hussein. But the authors suggest that the changes in the international climate since September 11 may serve to make such cooperation possible, and necessary.
Core Premises:
According to Ms. Mathews, the coercive inspections plan rests on several key assumptions:
Negotiating the Inspections:
The CEIP plan depends on the continued international authority of the United Nations Security Council. Perhaps the most difficult element in the path toward creating the new UN resolutions related to this plan lies in this negotiation phase. "The critical element will be that the United States makes clear that it forswears unilateral military action against Iraq for as long as international inspections are working." The U.S. need not forswear a desire for regime change, but hold off on military action once the coercive inspections process is underway. Mathews, in her introduction to the plan terms this posture as a "declaratory policy," similar to the United States' stance on Cuba.
Implementing the Inspections:
If the plan is adopted by the Security Council, a new multinational inspections group, the Inspections Implementation Force (IIF), would be formed. This group would have inspectors and an accompanying military force. If Iraq remained intransigent, the UN could then authorize the "use of all necessary means." The IIF must have four critical features in order to combat the weaknesses of previous UN inspections programs.
Provision for two-way intelligence sharing with national governments. UNSCOM experience proves that provision for intelligence sharing with national governments is indispensable.
Detailed Information:
For detailed information on the proposed implementation and the ramifications of the CEIP Coercive Inspections plan please use the following links:

subset: commoncrawl


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Each year, rather than focusing on a gift for each other for our wedding anniversary, my wife and I have decided to share an experience. More often than not that experience is centered around travel.
Just 6 weeks before arriving on Corn Island we'd never heard of the place. I was traveling without the family and was in Newport Beach on business. I had a long stretch of time between meetings and decided to hit the spa at the Fashion Island Marriott, where for just $20 you can sit all day in their sauna and steam room in between laps in the salt water pool or reading Cigar Aficionado in the "Relaxation Room." But as I sat poolside I put down the Aficionado and picked up a travel magazine. There was an article on Nicaragua and the author had spent a few days on the Corn Islands. It sounded like paradise. This little island of 5,000 people, the most westerly in the Caribbean, is best explored by $1 to $3 taxi rides or renting your own golf cart. Driving around the whole island on your golf cart will take you about an hour. We were already going to be in Texas to visit family and the flight to Managua was just 3 hours from Houston–and pretty cheap too.
We left Houston on Monday morning and arrived in Managua around 11:30 a.m. local time. Got outside and the air resembled the air in that Marriott steam room: hot and humid. We walked about 100 yards down to the end of the terminal where there was an old building that served as our terminal for our flight to the Corn Islands. We got checked in and got our boarding passes–laminated cards with a map of Nicaragua with "Corn Islands" in bold text. While hanging out on the curb waiting to board our flight we hung out with a couple from Richmond, Virginia who were popping around Central America for a month. They had flown into San Jose, Costa Rica about a week earlier and were coming to the Corn Islands until they decided to leave. That was the full extent of their plan, and I loved it.
Flight from Managua to the Corn Islands was interesting but uneventful. No pressurized cabin and little air circulation. I don't think we ever got about 10,000 feet. It was a beautiful ride. When we got to the Caribbean Coast there was a storm brewing and the pilots opted to fly below the storm. The last few miles as we flew over the ocean and approached the island we could not have been more than 1,000 feet above the water. As we approached the island I thought to myself, "this is just how I pictured it…. paradise."
The landing strip was quite the scene. Little shacks and people's houses right along the way with clothes out on the line. We got our bags and left to get a cab. And were there cabbies. If you've seen the Disney movie Finding Nemo–and because you're interested in family travel I assume you have–the cabbies at the airport resembled the scene from Finding Nemo with the seagulls: "Mine, mine, mine…."
Quick ride and $2 fare and we arrive at our place, Casa Canada, and we're thinking "wow." Sitting on the porch of our little cabana we had an infinity pool right in front of us that looked out to the Caribbean. Even at low tide, the sea could not be more than 50 yards away from our front door. We were surrounded by palm trees, woke up to birds chirping, and the only sudden noises were falling coconuts.
Casa Canada has about 20 guest rooms and there were two very sweet ladies who were in charge of the place. Our little blond haired blue eyed toddler became a quick hit with the staff. Speaking of our little guy, it was now time for us to get creative on sleeping arrangements.
Travel almost anywhere in the United States and all it takes to have a crib is a call to the front desk. But this is no Holiday Inn Express and this is not the States. We found a spot–hardly perfect–but it worked. For naps and bedtime we'd slide a little couch to the foot of our bed. The space then between the one side of the bed and the wall became an enclosed area. We'd then take the couch cushions off the couch and lay them on the floor in the enclosed area. Put down a sheet. Viola! A baby bed!
When Jackson went to sleep we'd step outside onto our front porch. The arrangement was almost perfect, although there was the worry as we sat outside that he'd try to climb out of our makeshift bed and crash onto the tile floor. And then there was the night he figured out he could just crawl under the bed.
But taking a family trek requires that you be flexible. If we'd insisted on a perfect scenario before travel we would have missed out on an incredible family vacation on what must be one of the most beautiful islands in the world. I'd waited 30 years to swim in the Caribbean. Now I was swimming in the Caribbean with my son before his second birthday.
All that time in the water–both the ocean and the pool–allowed me to watch my son develop so much over a period of a few weeks. I watched him start kicking his arms and legs to swim–and even try to push me away to swim on his own, even though I knew he wasn't ready for that. He'd occasionally swallow water–and occasionally let out a big burp. He made me so proud when I watched him slip on a step and go under–and when he came back up he wasn't coughing, which meant he'd held his breath under water!
This is what family treks are all about. Margin time. Time to enjoy your kids with fewer distractions. Time to think less about making a living and more about living life. We were settling into life on the island and loving it.
Stay tuned… Part II coming next week!


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Mapping Margery Kempe
Submitted by Milica on Fri, 2003-02-28 16:45
Margery Kempe, whose biography has served as a glimpse into medieval life and thought, has a website dedicated to to study of her life. Even though she died hundreds of years ago, Margery Kempe continues to have influence over modern people. A website dedicated to her, Mapping Margery Kempe, covers many aspects of her biography, considered to be the first autobiography in English.
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We act in accordance with the trust you place in us. We will treat all personal information about you as confidential, including the fact that you attended a course or event. We only divulge private information to authorities if it is legally required.
We appreciate that everyone has their own world view, ideas, beliefs, anxieties, ways of sexuality and personal boundaries. We will respect you as a person and always mind your expressed boundaries. Likewise, you are expected to treat facilitators, practitioners and other participants with the same level of respect.
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We are committed to continuous training and research to improve our quality as facilitators and practitioners. We will not teach anything that we have not ourselves experienced and feel competent on delivering to a group or an individual. All Sacred Pleasures facilitators and practitioners receive regular professional supervision. Where an issue is raised and we do not feel competent, we will tell you so and direct you to adequate support.
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2. Tell us a little bit about your blog/site/shop/you-
I'm from a South Jersey suburb of the wonderful city of Philadelphia (Go Phillies!)
Jenni from the Blog was started as a means of documenting my first pregnancy. Now? Now with two kids, I use it to remember what the hell I did yesterday. {I'm serious, I have no idea.} I also have a little Etsy shoppe, called 9 designs, where I can use my creative outlet to design custom cards, banners, announcements, etc.
3. Favorite vacation spot-
Hmm, it's a tie between St. Lucia and Outer Banks, North Carolina.
Hmm, it's a tie between St. Lucia and Outer Banks, North Carolina.
4. Favorite food - Italian. Or french fries, sadly, I'm serious. Hence the diet I'm on.5. Favorite band - Counting Crows and The Fray... love them both.
6. Some of your favorite sites/blogs/shops-You can find my favorite blogs in my blog roll. I also like to visit a lot of the blogs listed on Top Baby Blogs! As for shops, I adore Gussy Sews and unique, little Etsy shops that are hidden in the corners of the interwebz.
2. Tell us a little bit about your blog/site/shop/you-
1. Where are you from?
Hurlock, MD
3. Favorite vacation spot- I love being outdoors. We try to go camping at least once a year. Excited to be in P.A. because there are tons of great camping spots!
Barely Measured was born out of my love for fabrics and design. I have a somewhat organic approach to my bags- letting the fabric inspire my work. I don't use patterns and rarely measure, making each barely bag truely uniqiue and one-of-a-kind. I love details- from pleats and ruffles, to adding a pop of color for the lining. I've been obsessed with finding someone in the Philly area to make me some hand-braided leather handles... I'm excited about the possibility of stepping of my bags and incoorporating more luxe materials.
4. Favorite food - Anything with avacados
5. Favorite band - I've been listening/watching Karmin a lot on You Tube- why is she so rad?
6. Some of your favorite sites/blogs/shops-
what I'm loving right now:
1. Where are you from?
I grew up in Washington state, Pacific Northwest HOLLLA. I met my husband, Garrison, at a college partry in Bellingham, Washington and soon after our wedding we moved to Chicago. Now we're living a completely different (slower paced) southern life in Savannah, Georgia.
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It's a Wonderful Life is a collection of stories and pictures from our life as new parents. If you scroll to my very first posts you can see how I blog when only my mom and my little sister read what I write.
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Camping anywhere!
4. Favorite Food
Pizza! I think you could stick almost anything on good crust with sauce and it would taste good. Except maybe macaroni and cheese. And um, that's a real thing! Gross, right?
5. Favorite Band
Dang, I can't list just one band. Here's a few I'm really into lately: Carissa's Wierd, Death Cab for Cutie, Iron and Wine, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Moondoggies, Bob Dlyan.
6. Some of your favorite blogs/sites/shops
IROCKSOWHAT no duh, & Pandora


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By Ken Hoffman
You know those local magazines that get thrown on your front lawn?
One of the magazines has a crossword puzzle in each edition. A friend told me to check out this month's puzzle.
Four down.
Ten letters.
"Houston Chronicle columnist."
I started counting on my fingers, K-E-N-H-O-F …
That's me, 10 letters. I'm the answer in a crossword puzzle! I've made it!
About an hour later, it hit me.
Ten letters, same initials. And the "K" and the "H" match up.
I'm OK with that. I'll share a crossword puzzle with the garden queen. In fact, I'm not even checking the answer page to see if it's Kathy or me.
I'm just happy the answer wasn't 13 letters.
'Eat and greet'
I went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo more than usual this year. I'm thinking … I know the rodeo is a special event, and it's exciting waiting for it to get here, and everything wears thin eventually, but two more weeks of RodeoHouston wouldn't be pushing it. Think how much more scholarship money it'd raise.
Then again, AstroWorld failed right across the street from Reliant Stadium. AstroWorld never should have failed. But AstroWorld didn't have RodeoHouston's brains behind it.
Best thing I ate at the rodeo this year: a warm, freshly baked cinnamon roll topped with bacon at Stubby's Cinnamon Rolls. Danger! They're packed with calories and fat and butter and sugar and bacon … and I want to eat at least five of them.
Most concert performers have a "meet and greet" with fans before or after a show. The Zac Brown Band had an "eat and greet" before their performance Sunday. Chef Rusty Hamlin stuffed the band and about 100 contest winners and invited fans to a Southern banquet featuring sun-dried tomato goat cheese, squash casserole, fingerling potatoes, corn and crawfish bisque, pocket knife cole slaw, beef and pork tenderloins, and peanut butter chocolate bread pudding with caramel sauce.
Make that a tie between a bacon-topped cinnamon roll and peanut butter chocolate bread pudding with caramel sauce for best thing I ate at the rodeo. For the recipe, click on chefrusty.com. He's also got a recipe for Louisiana BBQ Landshark Jumbo Shrimp that sounds like a lot of trouble, but the photo looks delicious.
Zac Brown Band drew 75,012 fans for the rodeo closer. It was their fourth time here. They're becoming regular sellouts. Not artistically, I mean attendance.
The Grand Champion Steer sold for $400,000 at this year's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. That's still cheaper than the prime rib at Smith & Wollensky.
Tighty whities (briefs)
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* Have you heard those national "Make the Crowd Go Wild" spots on radio, with Jim Nantz describing the 30 greatest moments in NCAA Basketball Championship history? I wrote most of those spots. The one I like most: the Jim Valvano story. I know … Valvano's North Carolina State team beat the University of Houston in 1983, but Valvano racing across the court in victory still sends chills and brings tears.
* Burger King has a promotional tie-in with the NCAA Basketball Championship - two sandwiches for $5. The commercial stars former basketball star Chris Webber. Odd choice. After playing two years at the University of Michigan, Webber (along with three teammates) was accused of accepting illegal payments from a university booster. Webber was indicted by a federal grand jury, convicted of perjury and banned from any involvement with the college for 10 years. The NCAA also stripped Webber of his All-America honors. Hiring Webber to star in a commercial tied to college basketball is like having Alex Rodriguez do a commercial promoting Major League Baseball.
* I was listening to a sports gambling show on radio and one of the "investment counselors" said, "Buy my guaranteed basketball picks. If my picks don't win money for you this week … I'll give you next week's picks entirely free." If I lose money betting on your picks this week … the last thing I want is your picks next week.
I called one of those gambling services last year. They promised I would hear free picks on a recorded message. I wouldn't hear a sales pitch from a slimy betting tout. Yes, I did hear a recording with free picks. Then I got a call from the slimy betting tout. For the next month, I didn't answer the phone when Caller ID said area code 702 (Las Vegas). Last weekend, the Caller ID said "private caller." I figured it had to be important. It was the slimy betting tout. There's no escaping these guys. You can't win. They do all the winning.
* Bill O'Reilly is sneaky. Lately he's been complaining about news shows devoting too much time to coverage of the missing Malaysian airliner. He says it's embarrassing that news shows do this night after night after night. It's just a cheap trick to get ratings. So O'Reilly complains about coverage of the Malaysian airliner … night after night after night.
Columnist, Houston Chronicle
© 2017 Hearst Newspapers, LLC.


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Committee on Trial Court Operations
Doublewood Inn, Bismarck
June 19, 2009
Members Present: Judge David Nelson, Chair, Kay Newell Braget, Louie Hentzen, Chris Iverson, Judge Debbie Kleven, Deb Simenson, Cindy SchmitzMembers Absent: Jody Fixen
Chair Nelson called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. and called attention to the minutes of the April 17, 2009, meeting. With respect to the Committee's April 17 discussion of procedures related to juvenile cases, Deb Simenson noted the reference on page 3 of the minutes that staff in her office do not independently close out juvenile cases. She said her staff does close out cases if there is a finding and an order. She said cases are not closed out if there is no order or if clerk staff are unaware of a change in a child's status, such as in situations in which there is a shelter-care hearing, the child is released, and there is no order. There were no further additions or corrections to the minutes.
Certified Letters in Probate Actions
Committee members reviewed Attachment B (June 15, 2009) - draft procedures prepared by Kay Braget regarding clerk issuance of certified letters testamentary or administration. The draft procedure was prepared in response to discussion at the April 17meeting about when and how clerks may issue certified copies of letters that were in full force and effect on an earlier date.
Kay Braget noted that the sample certification seal included in the procedure is similar to one used in her office and is based on a seal used by Jody Fixen. The seal simply certifies that the copy is a full, true, and correct copy of the letters on file in the clerk's office and that on a specified earlier date the letters were in full force and effect. Deb Simenson said a similar seal is used in her office.
Committee members reviewed the three paragraphs contained in the draft procedure: (1) a general introduction indicating that clerks may be requested to provide certified copies of Letters noting that the Letters were in full force and effect on a particular date, (2) directing the clerk to review the file and verify that the PR's appointment had not been terminated before the date noted in the certification, and (3) making the certified copy using the sample seal and charging the appropriate fee. There were no suggested changes to the draft procedure or sample seal.
It was moved by Judge Kleven, seconded by Cindy Schmitz, and carried that the draft procedure be approved and recommended to the Administrative Council for inclusion in the Clerks Manual.
Juvenile Records Procedures - Manual Revisions
Committee members then reviewed Attachment C (June 15, 2009) - a draft rendition of revisions to Section 9.3 (Juvenile Court Records) of the Clerks Manual based on revisions submitted by Chris Iverson and discussion at the April 17 meeting. [All following line and page references are to Attachment C]. Staff said the revision leaves unchanged paragraph D regarding case closure as the April 17 discussion did not seem to reflect a general conclusion about closing issues. He noted the discussion suggested the possibility of modifying the first part of paragraph D (page 2, lines 9- 10) to provide that a case is closed when certain identified actions had occurred: no petition filed within 30 days, the case is adjudicated and there is a order of disposition or other closing order, or there was a temporary custody order that had not been extended.
Chris Iverson mentioned the possibility of requiring a temporary custodian to file an affidavit detailing that the child has been or is being returned to the home and a petition is not being filed. Staff noted the April 17 discussion (p. 4 of the minutes) regarding whether to include such a requirement in the temporary custody order.
Committee members discussed situations in which a petition is.not filed within 30 days and how cases are then handled. Deb Simenson emphasized that clerks most often do not know what has occurred with the case and therefore it is unclear how the case should be handled. Kay Braget noted that her office closes the case if a petition is not filed within 30 days.
In response to a question from. staff regarding whether it is common practice to close the case if a petition is not filed, Chris Iverson said one approach is that juvenile court staff will review docket currency reports and notify the clerk if there are cases still reflected as open that should be closed. She said there is nothing "official" that marks the transition from. open to closed.
Louie Hentzen noted that there has been discussion among juvenile court staff about encouraging the use of some kind of formal notification to the clerk's office about closing cases.
Kay Braget observed that temporary orders usually contain a provision that the order is valid only for 30 days. She wondered whether it is necessary to generate another piece of paper when the order itself directs when it ceases.
Judge Kleven suggested the possibility of closing the case in a manner similar to the administrative closing of probate cases set out in Trial Court Administrative Policy 505. Kay Braget said a tickler could be set for 30 days out and if a petition has not been filed within that time, then the case can be closed out. Judge Kleven asked whether language regarding setting a 30-day tickler should be added to page 2, lines 7-8, which addresses entry of the temporary custody order in the case management system.
Chris Iverson noted that the date the child is placed in temporary custody is entered in the system and asked whether an "out of custody" date would be entered when the case is closed if a petition is not filed. She said the time period the child was in temporary custody is information that is likely needed.
Louie Hentzen said there should be some kind of paper trail that indicates when the child is placed back in the home by social services following a temporary custody order. He said there sometimes is no notification that the child has been returned to the home and it should be the responsibility of social services to notify the juvenile court, which can then notify the clerk's office. Judge Kleven asked whether it is a court function to make sure the child is not in custody beyond the terms of the temporary order.
In response to a question from Deb Simenson about whether the juvenile case management system tracks the dates the child is in custody, Louie Hentzen said the system should track the information but there are problems with data entry for which corrective efforts are underway. Additionally, he said social services is moving to a new database, one consequence of which is that for deprivation cases and terminations of parental rights three different databases will require relevant data to be entered. With respect to the direction on page 2, lines 11-12, that clerks enter the date the child is released from temporary custody, he observed that only the social services database has that information. Committee members questioned whether the directive is necessary if the information is not available to the clerk.
Following further discussion, Committee members agreed lines 7-8 and 11-12 on page 2 regarding entering the date of the temporary order and the date of release from temporary custody should be deleted from the draft procedure.
In response to a question from Chair Nelson, there was agreement that the remaining portion of paragraph D, which addresses when the case is closed, should be modified to further provide that the clerk will administratively close the case if a petition has not been filed before the temporary custody order expires.
Judge Nelson noted situations in which more than one child in a family is involved in a case. He said his preference is that one file should be opened for each child. Louie Hentzen said the national recommendation is that one child be handled in one case.
Kay Braget said the practice in her area, the Northeast judicial district, is that if one initiating document involves more than one child, a separate file is opened for each file. She said the draft procedure contemplates only one file regardless of the number of children involved. Chris Iverson agreed the procedure is based on the opening of only one file with the goal of ensuring that cases are counted in the same way. Louie Hentzen said the court administrative staff had concluded that the one file approach would be preferable for consistent case management. He said there is, however, disagreement and there are differing practices.
In response to a question from staff, Kay Braget said the language on page 2, lines 5-6, regarding each child listed on the initiating document being listed as an individual party and the language on page 1,lines 15-16,regarding one file number per initiating document implies that there will be only one file. Staff asked whether the one file approach should be set out explicitly in the procedure so that it is clear what is intended.
Chris Iverson explained that there was awareness that cases in these situations were not being handled similarly. She said the court administrative staff discussed the issue at length and concluded the one file approach is preferable, particularly with the advent of the new case management system, which is "person-based" and which should alleviate some of the concern about having multiple children of different ages in the same case file. She said it seems that opening a new file for each child required unnecessary extra copying and handling of multiple files when there is only one incident involving the family at issue.
Judge Nelson asked whether the Manual could reflect procedures for both ways in which a clerk may receive a petition: if a petition is filed for each child then a separate file is opened for each child and if a single petition names more than one child, then only one file is opened. He said a new rule could perhaps then be pursued which would direct which method is to be followed.
Kay Braget reiterated that if a single petition names more than one child the approach in the Northeast judicial district is to open a separate case for each child. It is not a matter of a separate petition for each child being filed at the outset. Louie Hentzen said a similar practice has subsequently been implemented in the Northeast Central judicial district, while in the remainder of the state the practice is to open one file per family.
Staff noted that the draft language on page 1, line 15, provides that only one file number "should" be used, which suggests, rather than requires, that one number and one file be used.
After further discussion, Committee members generally agreed that if one initiating document naming multiple children is filed, then a one file practice is preferable to opening several files and copying all relevant documents into all the files. It was noted that if a separate "original" petition, for example, is filed for each child, then a separate case file for each child would have to be opened.
Staff will revise the draft procedure based on the discussion and the revised procedure will be reviewed at the next meeting.
Administrative Rule 41 - Rule of Court 3.4 - Proposed Amendments
Committee members discussed Attachment D (June 15, 2009) - amendments to AR 41 and Rule of Court 3.4 recently proposed by the Joint Procedure Committee and a memorandum describing the amendments. There was general discussion of the impact on clerks' offices of current rule provisions governing redaction and confidential personal information. Staff said it is uncertain whether the Supreme Court will adopt the proposed amendments on an emergency basis subject to comment or will post the amendments for comment before adoption. Committee members stressed the importance for clerks of reviewing the proposed amendments and submitting comments when they are requested.
Other Business
Judge Kleven asked whether a case transferred to a new county under Rule 20 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure must be opened as a new case in the receiving county. She noted a recent situation in which a case was transferred from Grand Forks County to Cass County. She said sentence was imposed in Cass County but the case remained on her docket currency report.
It was noted that Trial Court Administrative Policy 505, Section 6, which applies to Rule 20 transfers, provides that the clerk in the transferring county must close the case upon transfer and the clerk in the receiving county must open a new case in the same manner as the case was received.
Staff distributed proposed revisions to the Appeals Section of the Manual developed by Penny Miller and Jannelle Combs. It was noted that the revisions had been previously reviewed with clerks by Ms. Miller.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m.
Jim Ganje, Staff