THE MONTH OF MAY AND BEING A TEACHER
May is always a busy month as teachers prepare for the end of the school year and plan for next fall. It is an exciting time, seeing students finishing the year, preparing for graduation and sharing their sense of accomplishment. It’s particularly important in my school, where graduation isn’t assumed, and instead it’s a conscious choice that the students take on, day by day, credit by credit. 
I also completed my last SEED 2 class, which is a class I have been teaching to Northfield School teachers for the past 10 years or so. SEED stands for Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity and attempts to give teachers experience and ideas for making their classrooms more inclusive to all types of students as well as the ability to talk with others about issues we all face in our diverse world. I learned years ago I would need to understand this in order to be a successful teacher. Fortunately for me I had two excellent mentors at St.Olaf, George and Bobbi Helling who taught me how important it is to recognize the uniqueness of each person. “You must treat them all with an unqualified high regard.” As I remember George advising me.
This year’s class was an excellent group of teachers that took the issues of diversity and equity very seriously and wrestled with them in a thoughtful way. In April, there did not seem to be time to meet so they each found some activity to volunteer for and many helped with a dinner and discussion with Latino families in Northfield. Those who participated said they found it a very valuable experience that they would use to better understand the lives of the students in their classrooms.
May 20th, the Alternative Learning Center held an Open House for next year’s ALC parents and students because we are making some changes to reach out to younger students who are struggling to succeed in school. Cheryl Mathison, and NHS assistant principal, Marnie Thompson helped them get acquainted, we showed them around, and went over our plans for next year so they’d have a better idea of what to expect.
Finally, on May 27th,we held our graduation ceremony. This year, 30 students graduated from our program, and we helped an additional 40 finish the high school graduation requirements by finishing credits they could not fit in their schedules or by making up at the high school. It is easy to develop strong friendships with the students we work with as they grow and transform and learn to take on greater responsibilities. Here two students, Josh Taylor and Adam Jacobsen pose for a graduation picture
and the staff and students visit at the reception.
May 14, Carol Overland, my campaign manager, and I attended the Minnesota Network for Progressive Action (MNPA). I’d been invited to present at their Local DFL Candidate Fair. 
Many members have ties to the Northfield area and hope to lend a hand in the campaign. Other candidates included Chris Halbron, Jim Carlson, Mark Solomon and Theresa Daly.
After talking about our campaigns we listened to an excellent and inspiring presentation by Mattie Weiss, 
contributor to the book How To Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: the anti-politics, un-boring guide to power, from The League of Pissed Off Voters. Mattie is from the Twin Cities, but has also lived in Nicaragua (where her parents, Pam Costain and Larry Weiss, worked in solidarity with the Sandinistas in the late 1980s), Bolivia and South Africa. She graduated from Swarthmore College, and organized students and staff around issues of global economic justice, local race politics, and a campus-based living wage campaign. She has also worked as a community muralist and a union organizer in Minneapolis, and as a writer and researcher for the Applied Research Center, a racial justice “think and do tank,” where she wrote and published a major report on youth organizing around the country.
Her chapter in the book, and the subject of her talk, was about the Wellstone method of engaging and organizing young voters to get involved in politics. Her practical experience began in her pre-teen years when she worked on Paul Wellstone’s campaigns with her mother, Pam Costain,
on Wellstone’s campaign. Pam who is now a primary staff member of Wellstone Action. Her aim is to turn the elections, from federal to local, and is also working on a Voter Guide project that may reach Northfield.
Martin Booth (1944-2004)
May 25, 2004 News
I had a saddening surprise this last week when I went looking for a reference to my writing tutor at Oxford University and discovered his obituary. I met him in 1973 when I went to Oxford University as part of the St. Olaf foreign studies program. He became my writing tutor and mentor and generously shared with me his time and interests. Iron age pottery, fragments of a gone world, bones of a Roman soldier, the intrigue of Hong Kong – his childhood home, mysterious manuscripts, the magic one can create with your mind. He was very encouraging and heaped praise on my writing. Generous also with his colleagues, he introduced me to Ted Hughes, George MacBeth, Robert Graves and several other prominent British writers. He brought me to a seminar with Andrew Harvey and Andrew Motion, both young poets my age, and since then, Andrew Motion has become the poet laureate of England, having taken the post after Ted Hughes’ death; Andrew Harvey is a well respected author and translator of mystical poets like Rumi.
Martin was generous to young writers and told me often, “I might not be a great writer but it is my hope to find them.” He had piercing eyes, liked being dramatic, told great stories, and liked going fast in his Spitfire letting his long hair blow back. He liked giving you that feeling that life was important, that your life was important, that words were powerful and knowing how to use them made you a powerful force for good or evil. He was on the side of good but was intent on keeping a keen eye on what could be evil, not only in others, but in ourselves as well. He knew we are all capable of evil and believed that only being keenly aware of what evil is can protect you from becoming the evil you despise.
I knew him only a short while — those six months in Oxford — but he left a lasting impression on me. I communicated with him a few times, sending him poems or a letter. He always responded with exclamations. “My God!! You must write. Your poems are amazing.” But I always shelved them away, not ready to share them with others. I regret I was not able to speak to him one more time, hear his voice filled with excitement and a vital sense of what the future must hold for everyone willing to work hard. He never scolded, only urged me to do what I seemed reluctant to do. “You must publish! What are you waiting for? – To be discovered!?”
He died of a brain tumor Feb. 14th at 59, eight years my senior. He seemed much older when I knew him. The London Telegraph says, he “cast his net wide as a novelist, biographer, children’s author and social historian. . . viewed himself as an artisan rather than an artist, and appeared mildly surprised when one of his novels was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1998.” It was not until he gave up on poetry and wrote fiction that he became a successful writer and left regular teaching, though he never tired of teaching – something he was always doing. When I knew him, he was wondering why no one was writing a novel about Vietnam. Hiroshima Joe a novel about a war survivor, was his first big success. 
Other novels followed, among them A Very Private Gentleman (1991), set in rural Italy, and Adrift in the Oceans of Mercy (1996), about a Russian cosmonaut marooned in outer space. The Industry of Souls (1998) tells the story of a British businessman sentenced to 20 years’ hard labour in a Russian gulag for spying. It was deemed unsellable by Booth’s then agent; so the author took it to Dewi Lewis, in Stockport, an agency which had almost no experience of handling novels and which paid him £1,000. When the book was finally published, no one gave it a review. This was the novel which went on to make the shortlist for the Booker Prize in 1998.The book was inspired by a visit Booth made to St Petersburg in 1994. “I went to the huge war cemetery there,” he recalled. “I found it very depressing, but also uplifting. There was an old man walking around. I looked at him and had that feeling you get when you see old people: what have you seen? I often start with a character, rather than a set narrative structure, and it develops organically from there.” Islands of Silence (2003), a novel about World War 1, is prefaced by the Emily Dickinson quote, “This is my letter to the World that never wrote to Me-”
Booth wrote a number of books for children, including War Dog (1997); Music on the Bamboo Radio (1998); Panther (1999); POW (2000); and Dr Illuminatus (2003).
Among his works of non-fiction are Rhino Road (1992); The Dragon and the Pearl: a Hong Kong notebook (1994); Opium: a history (1996); The Doctor, The Detective and Arthur Conan Doyle (1997); The Dragon Syndicates: the global phenomenon of the Triads (1999); and Cannabis: a history (2003).
He also wrote literary criticism – his British Poetry, 1964-1984, published in 1985, has become a standard text at schools and universities – film scripts and articles for newspapers and magazines, and he contributed to wildlife documentaries.
From 1968 to 1981 Booth ran the Sceptre Press, an imprint under which he published more than 400 poetry titles, including work by Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, Brian Patten, and Seamus Heaney.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1980, a Fellow Commoner of St Peter’s College, Oxford, in 1972, and a Fellow Commoner of Corpus Christi, Cambridge, in 1980.
Sixteen months ago Martin Booth was diagnosed with a brain tumour; despite this, he continued to write, completing two further children’s books and an autobiography about his childhood in Hong Kong.
He married, in 1968, Helen Barber, who helped with the research for all his books; she survives him with their son and daughter. (London Telegraph, 2004)
Poet, Alan Brownjohn wrote the obituary in the Guardian,
Novelist and poet with a sharp eye for authenticity
Here is a recent poem I wrote remembering him:
Angle of Variation
Many assume what brought my mother and father together
Was their size, she was 4’11″ he was 5’3″. But I am quite certain
That was not the deciding factor.In a crumbling world they were both survivors, and the fragile
Nature of their mutual existence made what each had to offer
The other, a matter of necessity.Survival for me is a mystery, fortunate for me it has never been a question.
My father’s survival was always a physical threat and for my mother
Always psychological, she kept him alive and this nurtured her.Ancient sailors calculated their course by understanding the variation
Of magnetic north from true north. This was the role he played for her
And when he passed away her compass swung around as thoughThe magnetic field had suddenly reversed itself. Causing all of our
Souls to cast about like ships unable to find safe harbor.
The emptiness in the eyes of everyone I meet astounds me.The woman today who told me her sad story of survival which changed
Only when she found the blend of Sicilian and Irish anger in her blood
That pushed her to change everything and stand up to prove everyone wrongOr my friend who taught me to believe in my writing again and urged me
To do as he had done, write with mad discipline that would keep the train
On the rails just ahead of the exploding ambushes.It made me stop and shiver in my shoes accidentally discovering his obituary:
He survived against dire predictions a cancer in the brain,
Enduring pain and disappointment to finish his last booksuntil in the middle of the night, the angle closed and death took him.
DFL State Convention
May 23, 2004 News
Saturday, I attended the DFL State convention at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. It was inspiring to once again rub shoulders with so many dedicated party activists, from first time convention goers and legislators to party leadership.
I got a chance to compare notes with several other candidates and current house members. I talked with Sandra Peterson, former MFT President and Education Minnesota vice president. 
She is running for the House seat in New Hope, Minnesota. She will bring some important experience and expertise to the House of Representatives. She told me she reads the blog from time to time for ideas, and it’s nice to know it’s not just the Republicans in the audience! Office holders and candidates stood together on the stage as the DFL class of 2004, united in our work to take back the House. 
My St. Olaf classmate former Senator Ember Reichgott Jung gave me a few doorknocking pointers. I also talked with Sen. John Marty, 
former Speaker Phil Caruthers,
the ever feisty Rep. Tom Rukavina gave me pointers on attitude and decorum, Rep. Mike Nelson, who was just in Northfield recently, Alan Weinblatt, who assisted with the 25B recount, and candidate Jeremy Kalin (17B), from the Chisago area. 
The DFL has a winning slate of high caliber candidates who are prepared to take back the majority. 
Along with doing the party business, delegates heard speeches from Party chair Mike Erlandson,
Presidential contender John Edwards, 
and Senator Mark Dayton. Dayton gave an inspired, firey speech that brought delegates to their feet. I was impressed with his passion and the courage he has shown on the Armed Services committee. Teresa Daly, 2nd Congressional District candidate, gave one of her best speeches. A recurring theme they emphasized was the importance of getting the State and the country back on the right course to prosperity for all, not just the top 1%.
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If you’re looking for something to do this Thursday head out to the Hustvedt auction, proceeds to go to the John Kerry campaign and the Rice County DFL party:
On Thursday, May 27 at 5:00 PM, we will be doing an auction for the estate of Lloyd Hustvedt in Northfield. The auction is located at 5026 90th St E in Northfield. This is approximately 1 mile West of Northfield on Hwy 19 and then South about 1/2 mile on 90th St. (lunch will be available) There are many nice items on this auction including a number of books about Scandinavia and a large number of books written in Norwegian. There are Norwegian clothes and there are a number of children’s “everyday” bunads. There is furniture, decorator items, linens, yard and garden items, sleds, kitchen items, a nice oak dining room table and chairs, Singer sewing machine, collectibles, etc, etc. This will be a nice estate auction in it’s own right. What makes it extra special is this: Lloyd Hustvedt was a lifelong DFLer. Ester will donate the proceeds of the auction to the John Kerry campaign and to the Rice County DFL party. Pass the word along to anyone you know who may be interested in attending this fine auction.
Ed Kuhlman
Here’s a little bit about Lloyd in case you didn’t know him::
Lloyd Hustvedt (1922-2004) 
Lloyd Hustvedt was born on April 18, 1922 in Goodhue County to Lars and Matilda Hustvedt, both of whom were the children of Norwegian immigrants. He attended a one room country school where studies were conducted in English.
tribute to Lloyd Hustvedt at the Syttende Mai celebration at St. John’s church last Sunday.
1979: Lloyd Hustvedt named knight in order of St. Olav
“St. Olaf professor knighted by Norway” was a headline in the Feb. 1, 1979, News — 25 years ago. The story began, “Lloyd Hustvedt, chairman of the department of Norwegian at St. Olaf College, has been named Knight First Class, Order of St. Olav, by the Norwegian government. Professor Hustvedt received the award from Olaf Solli, Norwegian consul-general, who made the presentation on behalf of King Olav V at a ceremony in Boe Memorial Chapel at St. Olaf.
“A member of the St. Olaf faculty since 1954, Hustvedt was in November named the first holder of the King Olav V Professorship in Norwegian Studies, established at St. Olaf through a grant from the Norwegian government. That appointment will be effective in September.”
by Maggie Lee
Hustvedt member of St. Olaf College faculty for 33 years
by Maggie Lee
Hustvedt once said that he had a “running start in Norwegian,” using it as his first language on the family farm in Goodhue County where he was born. He became interested at an early age in the works of Norwegian writers.
After graduating from Cannon Falls High School in 1941, he was encouraged by his high school teachers and his minister to attend college.
“Once the decision was made to go on, there was little question as to where I would go,” he was quoted in a story that appeared in the News at the time of his retirement from the St. Olaf College faculty. He also said that, having the capacity to read Norwegian, it didn’t take him long to decide on Norwegian as a major field of study at St. Olaf.
He took a year off to work and then enrolled in St. Olaf in the fall of 1942. But seven months later he was on his way to a special training program in the U.S. Army. Aim of the program was to help coordinate with the Norwegian underground forces an Allied invasion of Norway.
When that plan was scuttled, Hustvedt joined American forces in the Pacific, seeing action in New Guinea and during the invasion of Luzon. When World War II ended, he remained with occupation forces in Japan for six months.
He returned to St. Olaf in 1946. He was able to complete his work for a bachelor’s degree in three years. Next he obtained a master’s degree in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Minnesota.
He was then off for Norway, attending the University of Oslo as a Fulbright award recipient. While in Oslo, he met Ester who was to become his wife.
Born in Mandal in Norway, she attended Oslo University before coming to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, on an honors scholarship. Studying English and Norwegian, she earned her bachelor of arts degree there.
After he returned to the United States, Hustvedt accepted the position of assistant professor of Norwegian at Luther College.
When Ester graduated, she returned to Norway, then came back to marry Hustvedt at Urland Lutheran Church which is within walking distance of the farm on which Hustvedt grew up. There had been a hang up about her return to this country, however. She’d had to wait several months for her visa.
Hustvedt accepted a position on the St. Olaf faculty in 1954. He was promoted from assistant professor of Norwegian to associate professor in 1963, a few months after he had obtained his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin.
In September of 1967 Hustvedt, chairman of the Norwegian department at St. Olaf, received the McKnight Prize in Literature for his book about Rasmus Bjorn Anderson.
In March of 1969 that it was announced that Hustvedt had been promoted to full professorship. He was not only chairman of the Norwegian department, but since 1958 also executive secretary of the Norwegian-American Historical Association which has its headquarters on the St. Olaf campus.
He was also a member of the board of directors of the Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa.
In June of 1976, Hustvedt participated in a seminar honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of O.E. Rolvaag, well-known author who taught many years at St. Olaf. The seminar was held at the novelist’s birthplace, Donna, a hamlet on the west coast of Norway near the Arctic Circle.
Building a Better Future
Twice in the last few weeks, the Carpenters have come down to Northfield to host a “Builders Brat Feed” for construction workers in Northfield. “The Carpenters” are the Lakes & Plains Regional Council of Carpenters and Joiners, and thanks to local resident Ben Miller, an organizer, they’ve been bringing down their big black truck and serving lunch. Why?
Lakes & Plains Regional Council of Carpenters and Joiners is bringing the big black truck and serving lunch to elevate recognition of organized labor, and specifically the Council of Carpenters & Joiners, in the local communities where they are working; to support signatory contractors that are doing business with the union; to promote these contractors, and to encourage members to get politically active and vote for labor endorsed candidates. 
The first appearance was at the 3 Links “Common Bonds” project on Greenvale Avenue in Northfield, and sponsored by the carpenters and Shaw-Lundquist Associates, Inc., the general contractors. Representatives from Three Links and Shaw-Lundquist Associates joined us for lunch. This 3 Links project is noteworthy because not only is this project built by union labor, but unlike most new construction, it will remain in the hands of the developer to own and operate as senior housing, and they have incentive to assure quality – this building will be theirs. It was a beautiful day for lunch over a stump speech!
I talked to the workers about the need to invest in Minnesota again. I told them as a union member myself, I was pleased to be with them and glad to thank them for the good work they were doing in our community. We need to recognize the important part that the working people of Minnesota are playing in getting our country on the right track again. Right now our Governor and our House of Representatives say we all have to contribute to make things better while at the same time they have taken extreme measures to protect those who have benefited the most from good economic times, and who are now also benefiting from the economic downturn. At a time when it is obvious the importance of investing in education, support those who struggle to have a better economic footing, and solve the problem of the rising cost of Health Care insurance, they are instead shifting the tax burden to the middle class and the poor. They make all kinds of promises to protect education, and yet the don’t keep their Promises. The middle class and the prosperity that our state has known, outpacing all of our neighbors in the region, are at risk if we allow their policies to go forward.
The project manager on site said that way too many corners are cut in the construction business, particularly where the developer is selling the building to another to own and operate and where the project is driven by profit. Those trade-offs are not being made on this project. One carpenter said between bites that he gets a lot of satisfaction out of doing a good job, and he wants to know that the building is solid and well-built, that the site is kept clean and safe for workers and residents nearby. He is paying child support, day care and insurance for his kids, and because he has a union job with union wages, he is able to get by – at a non-union pay rate he probably couldn’t make it. He was concerned about the state of the economy, because in construction he felt the ups and downs more quickly than other sectors.
Both the project manager and worker noted that union members have the experience and training to get the job done right, from the simple things like reading a tape measure correctly the first time to troubleshooting the inevitable quagmires of logistical and scheduling problems.
At the next Carpenters visit, lunch was served at the emerging new Northfield Middle School.
This time, both myself and Teresa Daly, DFL endorsed candidate for the 2nd Congressional District, talked with a large group of workers about issues, and again, it’s the economy, there’s no getting around it.
We also heard from “the two Rons,” Ron Colburn and Ron Miller, who both urged them to participate, as Ron Colburn said, “they’re spending our tax dollars, and we need to let them know what we want. We need to let them know that Labor is on the job… we need to send the message that we’re out here, and we have to support Labor candidates.”
Ron Miller put it bluntly, “Look around you, look at those who don’t have the benefits you do. We have the right to fair wage where we’re working.” We have to remember that it’s past union members putting themselves on the line that gave us the lifestyle we have come to expect, 40 hour workweeks, health benefits, job security. And we have to do more than remember – we have to let those in office know we aren’t going backwards.
Another speaker also urged workers to let your neighbors and community know that you’re a union member, a union construction worker, and that we have a stake in our community.
In closing, I reminded the workers that this election is one of the most important elections in the history of our country, and more than any other time, we need to vote. We need to deliver the message that we can’t allow the moneyed powers that are stealing our democracy to win. Unions are the only force that stands against them to see that wealth is more fairly distributed. Over the last twenty years, unions have been hurt by laws that weaken the ability of workers to organize, and these laws came at the hands of Republican leadership. We must make a change to protect the dignity and rights of hard working Minnesotans. We must make a change so that our economy benefits everyone and not just a few. We must make a change so that all Minnesotans have an opportunity to prosper through good education and jobs with living wages.
St. Olaf PAC Dinner
May 7, 2004 Environment, News
Last Tuesday, I was invited to speak to the St. Olaf Political Awareness Committee at their monthly dinner. Prior to speaking, I had a chance to visit with Janine Wetzel, PAC Coordinator and Kristin White. They are both Juniors and pursuing Political Science majors and thinking about law school. Janine is from Oklahoma where one of my favorite politicians, Fred Harris was from. Kristin is from South Dakota.
I began my talk by explaining that I got hooked by politics in 1968, perhaps the most tumultuous political year in my lifetime, beginning with racial strife, escalation of the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., followed by race riots. Then came the presidential campaign of Gene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and Richard Nixon, which was interrupted by Robert Kennedy’s assassination in California and the Democratic Party convention in Chicago. They were intense times. In the following years anti-war protests increased and so did political unrest.
In 1970, I hitchhiked to Richmond, California, to spend a month with an African American friend from high school. His mother and siblings took me in and fed me and gave me an excellent education in how a family survives in difficult times. They were living within their modest means and had high expectations and high aspirations. I believe my friend wanted to show me that even though he had come to Northfield to have what we called “A Better Chance,” that the designation of this program did not mean that he was poor in spirit or that his background was “worse” as opposed to “better” when part of “A Better Chance.”
There was poverty in Richmond, there was struggle and strife, as there was across the country. Richmond was essentially a segregated community, and in the month I lived with them, I saw only a few white people. While there, I had the opportunity to attend a city ward meeting, where I witnessed our democratic system at work in a meaningful way. This experience instilled in me a sensitivity to social and economic justice and an awareness of how important respect and dignity are to achieving that.
I also talked about my first teaching job in Milan, Minnesota, a small railroad whistle stop community in the western corn, soybean and sugar beet farm belt. I was surprised by the fact that as a vegetarian, I had assumed that in a farm community, I would be living among an abundance of produce, but found that wholesome food I’d gotten at the food co-op was hard to come by. ‘Lettuce’ was iceberg lettuce.
Farmers were then in the early stages of hard times, which would be followed by harder times and so many farm foreclosures in the eighties. 
My reading of Veblen had caused me to be on the lookout for examples of predatory economics in the midst of these producer farmers. I talked a bit about Veblen’s notion of the evolution of economics and the importance of being able to tell the difference between Predators, like
John D. Rockefeller, and Producers, like
Henry Ford. While Rockefeller wanted to monopolize the oil industry and drive down wages increasing his profits, Ford recognized the importance of fair wages and the need to democratize the economy. After all, what is the point of mass production without mass consumption. If workers could not afford the cars they made, where would the economy be. Where is their market? Producers want to make something. Predators want to make money at someone else’s expense. Veblen’s bottom line: The goal of predatory economics is leisure, getting others to do your work for you. The goal of production is prosperity.
However, it can’t be ignored that this prosperity comes at a cost. American prosperity means that we are the focus of an imbalance of a very large magnitude, because although we are a small percentage of the world’s population, we consume a very large percentage of the world’s goods and resources and create a very large percentage of the world’s waste. Ford produced something that would make life better for humans but would cause havoc with the environment, a concept that was not even acknowledged in his day. I explained to the St. Olaf group that I believed that unless we can turn the know-how and ingenuity that produced American Industry around to save the environment, we are doomed. We have to have a broader more inclusive strategy for closing the loop to end the piles of waste and pollution we spread all over the globe. We have to focus on prevention and taking away the incentive for pollution by making the polluter pay for their destruction. It does not work to address environmental problems after the fact, and it isn’t fair to make the taxpayers pay for mitigation and clean up when polluters are profiting from their harmful acts.
Nature does not produce waste — it creates cycles of food as organisms consume what others produce. We have to insist the producers learn to do the same and their products must have the capacity to be recycled and made into something new. We have to use products that do not create environmental hazards and use our market power to force these changes where producers are resistant. I was pleased that the students agreed that the future depends on our ability to shift our thinking to value ecologically sound industries and an economy that is about people and not numbers.
One student asked me an important question, “Do we really need to be so concerned about predators and producers in our new economy where so many people are making money in the stock market?” I didn’t have time to give him a complete answer, but I reminded him about what happens to investors when a predator gets a hold of their money. Remember the tragedy of Orange County employees who lost their pensions to high risk investing schemes, and the Enron scandal, which allowed executives to steal the retirement funds of employee investors when they got away with millions. He missed the very point I was making about predators and producers. Stockholders are participating in the predatory economy and benefit from effective predatory practices. Look at the very nature of multinational companies who are able to make money for their stockholders by their predatory behavior all across the globe, as they exploit third world workers and operate in unrestricted environments where they are not held responsible for damage they do to the environment. Stock investors have little control over the behavior of the companies they invest in unless they make a point of investing in socially conscious companies and so they benefit from and become dependant on the exploitation of the third world. Not enough people exercise their power at annual shareholder meetings. On the other hand, shareholder derivative suits, which are the most effective way to hold corporate boards accountable for their actions, are a leading cause of the rise in insurance costs, and the reason some have a political agenda to limit ability to sue and to limit damages. Shareholder suits against directors of energy companies for misfeasance and malfeasance have cost insurance companies millions in payouts.
Corporations, through their charters, receive a benefit from government – the owners are released from personal liability for the actions and debts of the corporation. On the other hand, they have a responsibility inherent in their charters to act in the public interest, and to not act contrary to the public interest. It is our responsibility to hold them accountable.
We need to get back to an economy that produces things, manufacturing jobs are what make our middle class possible. Which leads me to another of Veblen’s ideas, the future of the industrial arts depends on our having workers that participate in production. The skills and knowledge that we are shipping over seas may never be recovered. But more about that another time.
I referred students to two books that talk about the ecological economy we need:
Elegant Technology by Jonathan Larson and
The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken
2004 Northfield Food Forum
May 6, 2004 News
This Saturday, May 8th
9am to noon
United Methodist Church in Northfield.
You Are What You Eat — but what are you eating?
Is the food you eat good for you? Is it good for the land, and the people who work it? These are just two of the questions this Community Forum hopes to address. Sponsored by a collaboration of several Northfield churches, as well as the soon-to-open Just Food Co-op, this will be your opportunity to find out what’s going on “down on the farm”
and on the shelves of your local grocery store.
Featured speakers will include: 
Dr. Dennis Keeney, Senior Fellow, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and first director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University; 
Dr. Gene Bakko, Professor of Biology specializing in Environmental Studies at St. Olaf College and Curator of Natural Lands for the college;
Steve Schwen, CSA (community supported agriculture) farmer and owner of the Oak Center (MN) General Store.
The Forum will begin with an overview provided by Dr. Keeney of the national and international picture. Nationally, he will address: What’s happened to the American farm and farmer in the last 50 years? How have the changes on the farm affected what the American family eats, and what they pay for what they eat? Who owns the food supply, and what impact is their ownership having on us and the land/water of which we are stewards? From an international perspective, he will explore the topic of world hunger, its causes, and the links between our farms and their hunger.
Dr. Bakko will then bring these issues to the local level. What’s happening to farms and land in Rice County? Are the national trends observable here in our own county?
Steve Schwen will then discuss the history and growth of CSAs nationally and locally, how and why they’ve come into existence, their purpose, and their niche in the marketplace. Why do members of his CSA join, what are the perceived advantages, are there any downsides.
Following the panel’s presentations, there will be time for questions and answers from the audience.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Bob Ciernia, Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, 663-7876
Kris MacPherson, St. Olaf Libraries, 646 6798
Last Thursday was one of those busy evenings in Northfield. First was the Girl Scouts Annual Dinner and Meeting, where at dinner I met Jeanne Daniels, of the DNR, who lived and breathed the Lake Superior Coastal Program, and is now at Nerstrand State Park. She replaced Sen. Pat Pariseau on the Girl Scout’s Board last January, and was reelected again that night. I also was seated with not just one, but two delegates to the Rice County DFL convention – the Girl Scouts are truly ecumenical!
Ray Cox was given an award, inducted into the Green Guild for his gift of $1,000 annually for five years, I missed that, but it’s on his blog, and I also missed my campaign manager’s election to the Board.
Lynn Vincent, CEO of the Girl Scout Council of Cannon Valley, was given a Lifetime Service Award, and her two adult children were brought in, to her great surprise, to join her as she received the award.
After dinner at the Girl Scouts, I went across to the other side of the block, where I had been invited to speak to the local peace group, People for Peace and Goodwill, known as Northfield PPG. This group is part of the peace coalition that sponsored Colleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower, when she spoke at the Wabasha Mittel Schule. It’s also the same group you may have read about in last week’s Northfield News, but the group I spoke with and had a hearty and challenging discussion with did not fit the description of that letter writer. The meeting was well attended and the members put me through my paces. Our conversation ranged from economics to ecology. I shared with them some of Veblen’s ideas about producers and predators and the ill effects the later has on peace and justice in the world. They agreed that we must develop an economic system that cares about people and changes the equation that puts the economy ahead of the environment and people’s lives. It was one of the more thoughtful and insightful discussions I’ve encountered in the campaign.
Since the first of the year, PPG has had two 2nd Congressional District candidates speak, and they hope that Rep.Ray Cox will accept their invitation and join them too. Perhaps they could hold a candidate forum in Bridge Square? This quality of enlivening discussion is just what we need to help people be excited and hopeful about politics. When I hear so many people concerned about the state of our community and actively and positively working toward change, I can’t help but think, “This is a great time to be a democrat!”
Sen. Steve Kelley speaks on Education
Although Republicans tell us they will shield schools from the budget balancing they are doing, those of us in education are feeling the impact of budget cuts, constrained resources, and “choices” forced by lack of education funding that range from difficult to impossible. We are also feeling the impacts of inflexible high stakes testing where the Legislative Auditor‘s office predicts that over 80 percent of Minnesota’s school’s will be deemed failing.
Education policy has been in the hands of Commissioner Yecke, Gov. Pawlenty said he brought her here to be a change agent for serious reform. It appears just as our governor was the choice of the Bush administration so is the commissioner. Her appointment is an attempt to allow the Bush education policy to gain a foothold in Minnesota. It is not in my opinion education reform, but reform that will take us back to the 1950s and erase progress that made Minnesota an education leader in the nation. It’s time for her to go, and send a message to the Governor that Minnesota deserves better.
Last Friday, I was invited to a meeting of the Minnesota Network for Progressive Action, to introduce myself, and tell them about my campaign and share my thoughts about issues that are important to me.
I’m honored and a little bit surprised that this 25B race is getting so much attention around the state and I appreciate knowing that there is such a wide range of progressive supporters.
MNPA is grassroots progressive politics as it should be, and what’s most exciting, it’s in the suburbs! They held a bake sale recently, are holding a Candidate Fair next month, they have a “Literary Corner” and book club, and feature speakers like Sen. Steve Kelley, who came down in the middle of a hectic time, to talk about k-12 public education.
Kelley first gave a review of issues before the legislature this session.
Some Republicans think the furor surrounding public education that they’re witnessing is “politics” and “grandstanding” or a “circus” but it was clear from the assembled group, as it was at the Yecke hearing, and as it is each day for those of us on the job in education, that this is a watershed time in our state when we must hold fast to our beliefs and turn education policy around.
After his talk, Kelley was joined by Bruce Endler, a member of the ISD 196 School Board, who gave a passionate defense of public education explaining his view that the No Child Left Behind Act is hurting schools. The group was brimming with questions and concerns. One woman, a teacher nearing retirement who loves her career, said very emotionally, “I’m worried. Senator Kelley, are you worried?” He was clear in his concern, saying, “If we don’t stand up and fight for public education, I’m worried as well.” He noted that “No Child Left Behind is a conscious attempt to undermine confidence in the public schools” and we can’t operate on that basis.
Kelley related some facts, which should be considered in light of Ray Cox’s beliefs that those demanding adequate funding for schools are longing to go back to the days of 90+% tax rates which will impact the business climate. Kelly’s point is that at that time we were getting something for our taxes. He said that in 1972, Minnesota was 22nd in per capita income and the median annual income was at the national average. In 1992, we’ve risen from 22nd to 7th in per capita income and our median annual income was $8,000 above the national average. Throughout this time, our state has been 7th in taxes. What we did at that time was invest in public education and public infrastructure, we invested in our communities, and made every Minnesotan better off. And where are we now? The way we invest in kids is our measure of success.
As you know the Education Committee is recommending that Commissioner Yecke’s appointment be denied, and I hope the Senate follows the Committee’s recommendation.
