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‘Ask not what your country can do for you ...’
Crews, Grassley recommend student involvement Josh Betts and Briana McGeough Sports and Feature Editors
Public service is one of the greatest things that a citizen can do to serve his or her school, town, state or nation. This opinion is shared by many elected officials both in Cedar Falls and throughout the nation. High school students can have political impact even before they are of legal voting age by participating in public service. “My first public service was as a Boy Scout in Cedar Falls doing litter clean-up,” Cedar Falls Mayor Jon Crews said. Crews’ long resume of public service also includes previously teaching at UNI and serving as county treasurer. “My earliest involvement in politics was in high school supporting Lyndon Johnson in a mock presidential convention. My first real political experience was being elected as mayor of Cedar Falls in 1971,” Crews said. Crews touched on two very important issues that the City Council is working on that will impact high school age constituents. “Two very important issues that the city is working on that will have positive influence on high school constituents are to work to attract high paying jobs for our city and it’s future workers and to continue to make Cedar Falls an attrac-
tive place to live and work,” Crews said. Last year a high school student participated in a city government-planning project. “We asked to have a high school student be on our 2015 Strategic Planning project last year. She participated and voted like all the adults,” Crews said. Crews does not take the age of someone who submitted an idea to him into account when considering the idea. “The most important element in making good decisions is the soundness of ideas — not the age of the person presenting it. I believe I consider all letters on the basis of merit, not who wrote it.” High schoolers that are too young to vote can influence government. Crews said that the best way to get involved is “to ask questions, research a topic and propose a solution to the problem.” Crews also offered his thoughts on what high school students can do to help improve our world. “It starts by having concerns about things around you and believing that you can make a difference, and then acting no matter how old you are,” Crews said. “A good start would be to call the local Cedar Valley Volunteer Center and ask who needs help on a project.” Senator Charles Grassley also has a passion for public service. Grassley served in the Iowa
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House from 1958-1974. In 1974, Grassley won the third district congressional seat, which he held until he won the United States Senate seat in 1980 that he currently occupies. Grassley said, “Public office is a public trust. Every day I remember that I’m here to be a representative of the people of Iowa.” Rep. Bruce Braley Grassley also said that high school students are always 202-225-2911 impacted by issues in www.house.gov/writerep/ Congress. Mayor Jon Crews “Ultimately, nearly 319-268-5119 everything we do in the Congress will jon.crews@ci.cedar-falls.ia.us impact young peoGovernor Chet Culver ple at some point 515-281-5211 in their lives.” www.govelect.iowa.gov Grassley also said involvement administration/contact/ is key, even if you Senator Charles Grassley can’t vote. 202-224-3744 “Just because grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm you aren’t eligible to vote, doesn’t mean Senator Tom Harkin you can’t volunteer at 202-224-3254 the courthouse, stateharkin.senate.gov/ house or with a political webform.htm campaign.”
Raise?
As the federal and state governments iron out details for raising the minimum wage, Palbo’s Mexican Grill business manager Lee Cronkhite and junior employee Nick Patten contemplate how the potential changes would affect them.
Edition 13 Volume 47 Edition 12
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Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a controversial bill demanding a gradual rise in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour in 2009. The federal minimum was last set at $5.15 an hour in September 1997. Since then, the wage has generated much debate but has undergone no changes, making this the longest gap between increases since the minimum wage was implemented in 1938. While we’ve come a long way from the first minimum at $0.25 an hour, many argue that another increase is long overdue. With continuous inflation, many would agree with senior Reid Erickson that, “You just can’t
Katy Schult Graphic
Businesses, student employees wrestle with minimum wage survive on $5.15 anymore.” And with the federal poverty line for a family of three at $16,090 (well over what an employee would make working fulltime at minimum wage), Erickson may have a point. Senior Andy Frederick, who works at Roots Market for $7.50 an hour, said he has it relatively easy. But he can imagine a different context: “When you have a little bit of support at home and don’t have to worry about those expenses, money can be used freely. But once you’re on your own and you’ve got kids to feed, I can imagine it would get really overwhelming if you’re only making minimum wage.” Fredrick’s argument pertains especially to the nearly 50 percent of the minimum wage earners who are over the age of
24 and considered adults. On the other hand, there are those who argue that the percentage of Americans living at the minimum wage is too small to justify the negative effect that raising the minimum wage will have on businesses. Many businesses may have difficulty weathering a raise in minimum wage. Lee Cronkhite, manager at Pablo’s Mexican Grill, said he thinks sacrifices will have to be made to compensate for a minimum wage of $7.25. “We’re not going to sacrifice our food quality since we use all fresh ingredients, so our prices will have to go up quite a bit,” he said. To many, like junior Nick Patten, the result (higher prices) offsets the benefits of raising the minimum wage.
See MINIMUM WAGE, page 3
HOG Confinement
State faces big questions on regulating animal waste resources said. With Iowa hogs producing 50 milFeature Editor lion tons of manure each year, farmers have their hands full with the task of Whether it be the bacon at breakfast, keeping track of and containing all of the ham sandwich at lunch, or the pork it. As a result, occasional spills occur, chop at dinner, chances are good that a and these spills can have disastrous meal will include an Iowa grown pork consequences. product. But as 18,000 Iowa farm“The biggest impact is to the aquatic ers raise 25 percent of the nation’s ecosystem. A large fish kill can occur, hogs, they must face the challenges and that knocks out the food chain. this presents for the environment and Raccoons and other animals that would principally Iowa’s water supply. eat the fish struggle to find food,” McWith water being essential to Carthy said. survival and only one percent of Over the last four years there have the Earth’s water supply being suitbeen approximately 50 of these spills able for human consumption, evinto Iowa streams, rivers and lakes eryone from environmentalists to that were serious enough for financial politicians to farmers is concerned penalties. Overflowing manure storage about water quality. The people of lagoons have been responsible for the Iowa are no exception. largest of these spills, but applicaEighty percent of Iowans get their drinking water from Farmers and environmentalists need tion of liquid manure into fields has the cause of the most frequent groundwater. This can presto work togther to get something been spills. Although spills have been ent concerns, especially in northeast done about this. relatively infrequent, they have reIowa. In this corner of the state, limesulted in the death of an estimated stone bluffs and crevices are exposed —Rich Leopold 1.1 million fish. with little, if any, topsoil nearby. This In measure of volume, the largis called karst topography. Water can Director of Iowa Department of Natural Resources est of these spills occurred in 1995 easily penetrate these cracks and when a malfunctioning lagoon in sinkholes and flow unrestrained to The central area of concern involv- Webster City spilled 1.5 million galthe stores of water resting below. Little filtering occurs as this water enters ing hogs and Iowa water is the manure lons of manure into the Iowa River, killing almost 9,000 fish, polluting 30 aquifers and later becomes the water that these hogs produce. “Manure is contained in concrete miles of river and closing one of the that humans consume, so polluted water could also be a threat to human pits. We have design standards and areas primary recreational spots. operation standards,” Tom McCarthy Iowa farmers generally do a good health. of the Iowa Department of Natural
Brian McGeough
Water quality is tested in relatively few locations. This means that if contamination occurred there could be a serious problem and experts could be unaware. Newly appointed Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Rich Leopold is concerned about Iowa’s water quality. “My eyes are on clean water. Most areas have poor water, and that is unacceptable. Farmers and environmentalists need to work together to get something done about this,” Leopold said.
job of making an effort to prevent spills. “Most spills are accidental. Very few are intentional, but those are the ones that are crimes. The punishment depends on the severity of the violation,” McCarthy said. The DNR inspects hog confinements to make sure that they are up to code. “We look at the site itself. We make sure the tile lines are operating properly and that they are taking care of dead animals. We look at their manure management plans and where the manure is going,” McCarthy said. The frequency of inspections of a confine depends on its history. “If they have had no problems, we inspect them every few years. If there have been some problems, we inspect more frequently,” McCarthy said. One of the most landmark court cases in regards to hog confinement and whether it is in the state or local government’s control to regulate these confinements was the 1998 case of Goodall vs. Humboldt. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled to strike down a series of ordinances set by county government to add restrictions to livestock industry and protect groundwater. This means that the state government has almost complete control over confinement regulations. Supporters of local control believe that decisions about the regulations of these hog confines should be left to individual communities because the people of these communities are the ones who have to deal with the odor and pollution that these confinements generate. Since the terrain and overall environment varies across the state of Iowa, local control advocates say one set of uniform laws across the state is inadequate. Opponents of local control recog-
nize that many communities would like to do away with hog confinements altogether. As a result, hog farmers would have fewer places where they would be allowed to raise hogs, and these farmers would have to relocate to places with a less favorable climate for raising hogs. Hog confinement regulations are laid in two different ways: laws and rules. “Laws are big deals. The legislature works to make them. I don’t see any changes in statues. Rules change all of the time,” Leopold said. One of the rules that is likely to change in the near future is the regulation of applying manure to soybeans. “The change would be about applying manure in the fall to the ground where soybeans grow. Soybeans make their own fertilizer. It would restrict how much manure could be applied to these areas,” Leopold. According to Leopold, although this alteration in regulations could have a significant affect on water quality, most farmers should be unaffected. “This will have little impact on most farmers. A few may have to spread their manure a little more lightly,” Leopold said. This may, however, affect farm costs. “It might add expense. It costs time and money to transport manure. It is a different cost to move manure five miles versus a half mile,” Leopold said. No matter what happens in regards to the issues of hog lot regulation, local control and manure application, it is certain that the new Director of the DNR, governor and legislators will be giving pork more thought than most Iowans do when they are digging something out of their freezer in preparation for their next meal.
Student Snapshots on
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Businesses, student employees wrestle with minimum wage MINIMUM WAGE , from page 1
Patten, who works at Pablo’s for $5.75 an hour, said he reversed his original opinion on raising the minimum wage to $7.25 after considering the effect it would have on businesses like Pablo’s. “It’s just not worth it,” he said. “The cost of living would increase, and it would eventually balance out anyway.” Cronkhite supported this conclusion. He said, “I think the minimum wage should be raised, but $7.25 is a little drastic. This is still the Midwest, and people still want a simple life.” Cronkhite’s fear that raising the minimum will only lead to higher costs of living is a common one. Many would agree with his argument that, “If people wanted to pay $8 for a side of french fries, they’d probably move to California.” Though Cronkhite is probably justified in fearing an increased cost of living, UNI’s Economics Professor and Department Head Dr. Fred Abraham said he believes that the difference will not be as drastic as many businesses anticipate. “This will be a one-time increase in costs,” he said. “Once they’ve found a new level, they’ll reach equilibrium and stay there.” According to Abraham, once the businesses have adjusted to the new prices, there will be no need to fear a continuing inflationary trend.
The UNI professor offered further consolation for concerned business owners: Though their prices will probably rise, their competitors will be enduring the same changes. As a result, none will lose customers to the others. He said, “If one business decides to raise their minimum wage and their prices independently, they would probably lose some business to their competition. But if the law says they all have to raise their minimum wage, they will end up balancing each other out.” Even without outside competition, compensating for any changes in the minimum wage may still prove problematic for many businesses. And even though a relatively small percentage of Americans actually work at minimum
wage, those who do may still have difficulty coping with inflation. As Abraham said, “There are strong arguments that can be made both ways. The businesses will always tell you that they can’t survive with the changes, and the workers will always tell you that they can’t survive without them. If you ask an economist, his first words will be ‘it depends.’” But if you ask Rob Stanley, owner of the Roots Market, you may be surprised by the answer. He said he is not for keeping wages down. In fact, it is his personal choice to pay his employees almost two dollars above the minimum. “When you pay better, there’s more loyalty,” Stanley said.
“With inflation, you just can’t survive on $5.15 an hour anymore. Raising the minimum will seem like a big jump, but that’s because it hasn’t increased in 10 years.” —Reid Erickson Senior
Should the state provide preschool for all children? “No, parents should raise their own kids, not the school. You don’t really learn anything in preschool, and this is important parenting time.”
Should the state provide healthcare for all children? “Yes, even though parents should be able to take care of their kids, not everyone has that foresight.”
Should teacher salaries be raised in Iowa? How? “There should definitely be a blanket raise for all teachers. In Florida, they use performance based raises and the teachers all fight over certian classes while everyone else gets pushed aside.”
Elizabeth Cozart Junior Should the state allow local control of CAFOs, or should it enforce rules from Des Moines? “I live in the country, and so many pesticides are in the water from nearby farms that we can’t drink the water. They should limit the amount of pesticides farmers can use because they always use more than they need.”
What should the state do to increase alternative energy use? “They should increase the tax on gasoline. That will piss people off and make them want to us alternative energy.”
Should the state raise teacher salaries after teachers reach new performance objectives? “I don’t think so, because I don’t think that there is a fair way to measure teachers’ performances.”
Speech team coach praises Iowa’s beauty Willa Simmet Feature Editor
As a young girl Rebecca Kauten spent the summer on her grandparents farm in northeastern Iowa. “Every night my grandma ma would run the garden hose before dinner,” said Kauten. “After supper she would go outside with a flashlight and catch night crawlers. Basically, she would draw them out of the ground. The next day Grandpa and I would wake up bright and early, get into his blue truck, listen to the AM radio station and go fishing until it was too hot. We would bring home a coffee can full of bullheads.” A now 31 year old, Kauten, watershed coordinator for the Black Hawk Soil and Water Conservation District and CFHS speech team coach, sits against the lockers in a hallway at Cedar Falls High School, as lively members of the Cedar Falls High School Speech team put the final touches on their pieces for the Iowa High School Association District Large Group competition taking place in the next couple of days. When asked why she enjoys coaching speech team students Kauten, glances at the three giggly students working on their Improvisation skills, laughs and says, “It’s fun.” Kauten, sits up and says a little more seriously, “I worry that this type of program will go away. People don’t even know it exists. After seeing what the real world is like as a college graduate and a working professional, I see that these kids really are learning life skills. There is nothing better than knowing how to communicate effectively.” Besides helping students improve their communication skills through various speech team events such as a one act plays and improvisation acting groups. Kauten hopes to help students understand the beauty of their natural heritage. “When I was a teenager I had vocal lessons at Luther College in Decorah,” said Kauten. “Every once in a while, I would get to Decorah early and sit up by Dunning’s Spring – a natural spring and beautiful waterfall and practice my music. People don’t realize that there are these kinds of places in Iowa.” Through some of her work with the Dry Run Creek Watershed Project, Kauten hopes to help young people
understand this beauty and realize that they are living in an age where some of these natural beauties might not be in existence tomorrow. “Dry Run creek is an impaired waterway because there are certain organisms that are supposed to be in the creek that are not there,” said Kauten. “Our most basic objective is to figure out why they are not there. Then we must figure out what to do to bring them back or keep conditions from getting worse. At the same time, we have to get people thinking about our water differently. If what we have been doing for a hundred years was a good idea, we wouldn’t have the problems that we have today.” The Dry Run Creek Watershed, a 15,177 acre watershed encompassing approximately 85 percent of Cedar Falls, was designated an impaired waterway by the DNR in 2002. Tests indicated that the waterway, which makes it way through the neighborhoods of Cedar Falls and is a tributary of the Cedar River, has e-coli concentrations in excess of the State of Iowa limitations on waters, which may be used for recreational purposes. A major concern with the test results along all branches of the creek is the potential for human contact with the water in the creek. Developers are constructing housing projects and expanding industrial development along the creek and within the watershed. Dry Run Creek is also the main carrier of storm water runoff, which worsens the water quality issue. “Nobody wakes up and says, ‘I want to pollute water,’ ” said Kauten. “Everybody wants clean water, but when they find out what they need to do to have it, they are more reluctant to make changes.” One of the projects devoted to cleaning up the waterway includes a demonstration practice which involves the students from Malcom Price Lab School, which is located near the creek. Kauten says involving the kids in the project is no different than encouraging kids to pick up an instrument when they are in fifth grade. “It’s more likely to become a lifetime habit,” said Kauten. “We want to catch younger people and get them excited about this so they will be excited as adults and also so they can go home and get their parents excited about it.” Kauten worries about the lack of
Katy Schult Photos Near the little town of Hazelton, the Buchannon County Conversation Board has maintained Fontana Park at the site where a dam had previously occupied Otter Creek for 150 years. The park has an interpretive woodland trail, a wildlife exhibit, an indoor shelter and campsites. The accompanying pictures come from a mild day in early January. Anyone who’d like to check out the site can visit during the nature center’s winter hours from Oct. 1 to April 14. On Monday to Tuesday: 8 a.m. - noon, on Wednesday - Friday: 8 a.m. - noon, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. and on weekends: 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. students exposed to natural heritage. “When budgets are cut, it’s too costly to pay for fuel for a bus, to have insurance to take the kids on the trip, and it’s difficult to take kids out of class when they need to have high test scores so the first thing that goes is field trips,” said Kauten. “Parents don’t feel like taking their kids to visit these places so how will they get anywhere? It doesn’t work. I think it’s something the kids miss out on because people are focused on so many other things. “ Kauten is working hard for water
quality in Iowa because she says if people don’t do something about it then places like her favorite natural spot as a teenager, Dunning’s Spring, are going to become disgusting places. Kauten, an outdoor enthusiast, shares memory after memory of her favorite natural places throughout Iowa. She talks about camping trips at Wapsipinicon State Park, hiking around in Ledges State Park, exploring Dutton cave and the Maquoketa Caves, trout fishing in Echo Valley and hunting for fossils in the Rockford Fossil Park.
“I’m really intrigued by some of the areas around Dry Run Creek,” said Kauten. “They would be the coolest places to just throw rocks if I was a little kid. If I was a teenager this would be a great place to get away from my parents, you know?” Kauten makes a note of the immense amount of natural places throughout the Cedar Valley including Hartman Reserve, George Wyth State Park, Cedar Hills Sand Prairie, Thunder Women Park and the Washington Union Access on the Cedar River.