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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Programs Announcements Updates Resources March 12, 2003 Hello members and friends of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition! In this week’s PAUR Report: 1) Reminder! Legislative Forums – Sponsored by the League of Women Voters and F-M Chamber of Commerce (Fargo and West Fargo) 2) Recent News and Editorials from Grand Forks Herald, Minot News and Fargo Forum 3) (Reminder)“Famous Dave” Anderson to speak at NDSU (Fargo) 4) (Reminder) ND Progressive Coalition Meeting (Fargo) 5) (Reminder) “Coffee with the Legislators” Sessions hosted by the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce (Dickinson) 6) (Reminder) The Gandhi Peace Network of North Dakota Sponsors “A Season for Nonviolence” (Bismarck) 7) (Reminder) Sisters of the Presentation at Sacred Heart Convent Presents “Peace Studies” (Various Locations in ND and MN) ********************************************* 1.) Reminder! Legislative Forums – Sponsored by the League of Women Voters and F-M Chamber of Commerce (Fargo and West Fargo) The League of Women Voters/Fargo-Moorhead Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring legislative forums on the following dates. This is your opportunity to let your state legislators know what is important to you on the laws that they are considering in this legislative session and to find out what is important to them. Mark your calendars; we'll have questions ready for you to ask on support for the proposed North Dakota Commission on Human Rights and other progressive issues! Fargo: Saturday, March 15, 2003 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Fargo City Commission Room City Hall 200 3rd St. North - Fargo
West Fargo: Saturday, March 15, 200310:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Room 112c West Fargo High School 801 9th St. East - West Fargo For more Forum dates and times (various dates through April 12th), click here ********************************************* 2.) Recent News and Editorials from Grand Forks Herald, Minot News and Fargo Forum Republican Senator dubs Division of Human Rights “Good System” Bismarck Tribune 3/9/03 See complete letter
here. NDHRC Response: Information regarding the concerns the NDHRC has regarding the decision-making of the Division of Human Rights in its probable cause determinations is at http://www.ndhrc.org/fact_sheet5.htm. Information from the NDHRC regarding the need for more progress in the abilitiy of the Division to address human rights complaints is at http://www.ndhrc.org/sb2306_ndhrc_testimony.htm. While Senator Cook refers to the Commission bill as a proposal from the Democrats, the bill was proposed at the instigation of and direct involvement of the NDHRC; it had bipartisan sponsors in both the House and the Senate. It was partisan only its defeat in the Senate; not one Republican Senator voted for the bill. The proposed Commission would have had the same ability to decide complaints and assign penalties as is in many other states, including Colorado, Iowa and Kansas. The Division of Human Rights would have had the same ability to make the initial decision to decide complaints and assign penalties as in current law; the Commission would have had the ability to hear appeals of the initial decision of the Division. The NDHRC believes that compelling reasons were advanced for the need to change the system in its testimony, available at http://www.ndhrc.org/sb2306_ndhrc_testimony.htm Cheryl Bergian Director NDHRC
Minot Daily News 3/10/03 Misunderstanding
affirmative action See complete letter here.
GOP policies set state back <snip> As chairman of the all-powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Holmberg recklessly has butchered the state budget. A true conservative, he targeted the cuts at teachers, public employees, elderly, poor, developmentally disabled and the mentally ill. See complete letter here.
N.D. Legislature: Cohabitation debate continues By Megan Boldt The Forum - 03/08/2003 BISMARCK – North Dakota’s law that makes it a crime for unmarried couples to live together is unenforceable and should be repealed, a state lawmaker argued Friday. Census data show that North Dakota has more than 11,000 unmarried couples living together, but prosecutors say the law is almost never enforced. The last North Dakota Supreme Court appeal of a cohabitation prosecution was more than 60 years ago.
See full article here.
N.D. Capitol notebook: Aarsvold serves as House speaker By Janell Cole The Forum - 03/08/2003 (snip) Do something different After Friday’s, new budget forecast, Democratic-NPL leaders said they’re disappointed with the progress of the legislative session so far. “At least we didn’t see decreases,” said House Minority Leader Merle Boucher, D-Rolette. The problem so far, he said, is that the Republican majority’s only answer to balancing the budget “is to slash programs.” See full article here.
MSUM group debates racism By Mike Nowatzki The Forum - 03/08/2003 Amid swirling rumors of hate crimes and harassment on campus, an anti-racism group Friday at Minnesota State University Moorhead debated its role in handling complaints from students. About 15 members of Training Our Campuses Against Racism (TOCAR) met to discuss their progress in the past year through student and faculty training sessions. See full article here.
EDITORIAL: N.D. can afford vital programs Grand Forks Herald 3/9/03 OUR VIEW: It's good policy to tap trust funds when they are needed. North Dakota is $8 million richer than legislative budget planners expected. OK. It's not a big cushion in a big budget. But it is what Gov. John Hoeven and his budget planners expected. And it gives them new credibility. This is important to budget deliberations because it serves to re-inforce the governor's approach to the state budget. Hoeven has been more generous with a number of programs than lawmakers themselves. In large measure, he's done this on the basis of his more optimistic assessment of the state's condition and on his willingness to use money that's accumulated in a number of trust funds. See full editorial here. ************************************************ 3.) (Reminder) “Famous Dave” Anderson to speak at NDSU March 28 American Indian restaurateur “Famous Dave” Anderson will pay a special visit to North Dakota State University next month. Please mark your calendars. Anderson, owner of the national “Famous Dave’s” restaurant chain, will present a public address at Century Theater, Memorial Union, on Friday, March 28, at 7 p.m. The program will be free and open to the public. Anderson’s visit to Fargo will be sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, the College of Business Administration, SIFE, and NASA. It will be his first appearance on the NDSU campus. In addition to his evening presentation, while he’s on-campus Anderson plans to visit with students, including members of NDSU’s Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization, Native American Student Association (NASA), and Indian students from the tri-college campuses. A success story The son of a Chotaw father and Chippewa mother, Anderson was raised in a blue-collar Chicago neighborhood. His notable achievements and accolades over the past 30 years are numerous and impressive. The founder of a chain of 52 restaurants stretching from Utah to Georgia, Anderson’s culinary talents have long been recognized with “Best Barbecue in America” and “Best Ribs” awards at Kansas City’s American Royal Barbecue Contest, Cleveland’s Great American Rib Cook-off, and the Twin Cities’ Ribfest. His “Famous Dave’s Backroads and Sidestreets” won the National Barbecue Association’s Award of Excellence as the best new barbecue/grill cookbook. During the past decade, Anderson has founded three publicly traded companies on Wall Street and helped create more than 18,000 jobs. He has been awarded a Bush Leadership Fellowship and was recognized as the “Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year” in Minnesota and the Dakotas by Ernst and Young, NASDAQ, and USA Today. In addition to the success he’s enjoyed from his restaurants and extraordinary recipes, Anderson has managed businesses for the Lac Courte Oreilles Lake Superior Band of Ojibwa in Wisconsin and helped found and manage Grand Casinos and the Rainforest Café. For more information about “Famous Dave” coming to NDSU, call Paul Boswell, Multicultural Student Services, at 231-7314. ************************************************ 4.) (Reminder) ND Progressive Coalition Meeting (Fargo) Fargo Progressives, We will meet at 5:15 p.m. on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12 at Juano's, 402 Broadway, Fargo, (back meeting room). Please mark your calendar! We will prepare for the legislative forums in Fargo and West Fargo the next weekend, plus more. Good time to talk, share ideas and support each other. TOGETHER -- we can make positive change happen! PLEASE JOIN US. Thanks. For more information or suggestions, please contact: Don Morrison ********************************************* 5.) (Reminder) “Coffee with the Legislators” Sessions hosted by the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce (Dickinson)
The Dickinson Chamber of Commerce is hosting several “Coffee with the Legislators” sessions during the 2003 Legislative Session. All Legislators from Districts 36 & 37 are asked to attend. The upcoming sessions will be on Saturdays February 22, March 8, March 22. All sessions will be held at Dickinson City Hall. Anyone who misses a session can view replays of the most recent session on Cable Channel 19 in Dickinson at 1:00PM and 10:00PM each day unless preempted by other special programming. Greg Sund, City Administrator 99 Second Street East Dickinson, ND 58601 701-456-7744, 701-456-7723 (fax), gsund@state.nd.us ********************************************* 6.) (Reminder) The Gandhi Peace Network of North Dakota Sponsors “A Season for Nonviolence” (Bismarck) “Nonviolence should mean a complete freedom from ill-will, anger and hate and an overflowing love for all.” “The nonviolence I teach is active nonviolence of the strongest. But the weakest can partake in it without becoming weaker.” - Mohandas K. Gandhi Carry the Vision: A Season for Nonviolence, January 30 through April 4 For more information, please contact Aruna and Vinod Seth at 701/223-42434 ********************************************* 7.) (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 Sacred Heart convent and lectures will take place at Presentation Center through May 30: View Schedule of lectures here. ********************************************* ***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. ************************************************ 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 ************************************************ 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 LesaCaskey@NDHRC.org and we will do our best to accommodate you. If you are not a member of NDHRC yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up now! On-line or by mail, it's all set at: http://www.ndhrc.org/membership.htm Not getting the PAUR Report directly in your email? It's so easy to be added to the PAUR mailing list! Email HumanRights@NDHRC.org If you have received this email in error, or would like to be removed From the PAUR Report mailing list, please send an email to LesaCaskey@NDHRC.org for immediate assistance.
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