North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights |
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~NDHRC PAUR Report~ May 13, 2003
Programs ~ Announcements ~ Updates ~ Resources
Hello members and friends of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition!
In this week’s PAUR Report:
1) Save the Date! NDHRC North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Fall Conference 2) Grand Forks Herald Article, The more Americans play race card, the more blurry it gets 3) Grand Forks Herald Article, N.D. home-care program remains badly underfunded 4) Grand Forks Herald Article, Columnist Lloyd Omdal: First legislative session gets an ‘Incomplete’ 5) (Reminder) Peace Rallies for the Near Future 6) (Reminder) 2003 Four Bears Pow Wow, May 29-31, New Town, ND 7) (Reminder) Sisters of the Presentation at Sacred Heart Convent Presents “Peace Studies” (Various Locations in ND and MN)
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1.) Save the Date! NDHRC North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Fall Conference
NDHRC Fall Conference Saturday, October 25, 2003 Fargo
Ideas & suggestions for topics are welcome, contact Andrea at andreadeegan@ndhrc.org
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2.) Grand Forks Herald Article, The more American play race card, the more blurry it gets
Please note that this article is for your information, and not an endorsement of the suggestions by the NDHRC.
The more Americans play race card, the more blurry it
gets May 4, 2003
WASHINGTON - The obsessing of many Americans about race is not only undiminished by decades of improvements in race relations, it seems inversely related to improvements. The better things become, the more vehemently some persons, white and black, insist that progress is, if not chimerical, certainly minimal and fragile.
The Democratic Party worries that progress threatens its ability to mobilize its African-American base by cultivating fears. Some professional civil rights groups have a stake in an undiminished sense of victimhood. And many liberals relish what they consider the black-and-white clarity of race as an issue.
However, because Hispanics have supplanted blacks as America's largest minority, it is time to remove the race question from the census form. This would move race more toward the margin of American consciousness, where it belongs, and would be more true to racial and ethnic realities. And it would fuel the wholesome revolt against the racial and ethnic spoils system that depends upon racial and ethnic categorizations.
So argued Harvard social scientist Nathan Glazer in the Fall 2002 issue of The Public Interest, an argument pertinent to Supreme Court deliberations about the constitutionality of the racial preferences in college admissions. Born irrational, the classifications rapidly are becoming anachronistic.
<snip>
View full article here
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3.) Grand Forks Herald Article, N.D. home-care program remains badly underfunded
VIEWPOINT: N.D. home-care
program remains badly underfunded
ROLLA, N.D. - There has been much written in the press, quoted in the media and e-mailed to our constituents that conveys some unfortunate misinformation regarding Service Payments for the Elderly and Disabled (or SPED), and how that program is positioned following the 2003 Legislative Session.
SPED is the support system that enables people to remain in their homes as they age. AARP North Dakota has been focusing on the issue of SPED during this session, and we feel we must respond.
• Significant changes were made to SPED. Everyone agrees on this point. Many concessions were made to tighten up eligibility, realign the sliding fees and collect new asset information.
Most of these changes were in Senate Bill 2083. However, none of these changes will necessarily limit the number of people who are eligible for services. Client numbers could still reach the level projected in the governor's original budget proposal. And any additional monies collected from clients due to the new sliding fee schedule will be minimal.
• There has been talk of prospective savings from Senate Bill 2194. This bill will let Medicaid-eligible recipients get their personal care through Medicaid rather than SPED.
However, there is no way of knowing how many people will be Medicaid-eligible. All estimates that were made by the Legislature with regard to savings due to this bill are just that - estimates. Until clients are actually reassessed, there is no way of knowing the impact this change will have on SPED.
<snip>
View full article here
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4.) Grand Forks Herald Article, Columnist Lloyd Omdal: First legislative session gets an ‘Incomplete’
COLUMNIST LLOYD OMDAHL : First legislative session gets an 'Incomplete' May 5, 2003
As I survey the consequences of the first legislative session of 2003, my support for a one-house Legislature wavers and I wonder if a three-house legislature wouldn't be a more defensible system. But, on the whole, it's really an inconclusive mixed bag. The Nebraska one-house Legislature kills good bills and the North Dakota two-house Legislature passes bad ones. So it comes out about even.
Now some chronic government-haters badmouth everything the Legislature does. This is grossly unfair. Take the recently concluded first session of 2003. It passed some good bills, some bad bills, and then it didn't pass some bills at all. On balance, it reflected North Dakota's long-term commitment to the status quo which, when sufficiently adorned, can be made to look like progress.
Among the good bills passed is the one that lowered the permissible level of alcohol in drunk drivers from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent - the difference between a grand slam into a bridge abutment and just scraping a little paint off the car. The Citizens for Drunk Driving are threatening to refer this measure, hoping that protecting maximum drunkenness will get North Dakota a "first in the nation" ranking in at least one category.
In a spirit of patriotism, the Legislature authorized public schools to put up banners declaring "In God We Trust". It must have been homage to our burgeoning civic religion, because in a Christian state such as North Dakota real theology would have insisted on "In Christ We Trust."
View full article here
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5.) (Reminder) Peace Rallies for the Near Future
The North Dakota Peace Coalition and the Red River Anti-War Coalition (RRAWC) sponsors pro-peace demonstrations in Fargo in front of the Federal Building (657 2nd Ave N) at noon.
The RRAWC has moved the rallies to once a month during the summer to accommodate vacation schedules and avoid diluting the rallies. The rallies will respond to events as they unfold and will be on the first Saturday of the month. The next rally will be on Saturday, June 7th at noon.
The RRAWC will continue to have weekly organizational meetings, which are expected to evolve into planning/strategy meetings in preparation for the monthly rallies for the fall and for the beginning of the political season.
The RRAWC meetings will move to Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm beginning May 14th.
More information is available at the Red River Anti-War Coalition's website: www.rrawc.org
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6.) (Reminder) 2003 Four Bears Pow Wow, May 29-31, New Town, ND
The pow wow will be hosted by the Three Affiliated Tribes at the Four Bears Casino & Lodge Event Center in New Town, ND. For more information contact Paul Danks at (701) 627-4781 or email fourbearspowwow@mhanation.com.
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8.) (Reminder) Sisters of the Presentation at Sacred Heart Convent Presents “Peace Studies”(Various Locations in ND and MN)
Sr. Yvonne Nelson has begun a Peace Studies program at the Sacred Heart Convent. Lectures will take place at the Presentation Center through May 30.
View Schedule of lectures here.
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***Member Reminder*** Please keep us in mind for your group or church social action/social justice meetings! We’d be happy to provide a presentation at a meeting or provide newsletter articles for your organizations.
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Do you have a Program, Announcement, Update or Resource that you would like shared on our weekly PAUR report? If so, please send an email to AndreaDeegan@NDHRC.org and we will do our best to accommodate you.
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