Student Loans and Private For-Profit Colleges

I know someone, let's call him Mike, who has attended a number of for-profit colleges, mostly on-line.  They've promised him all sorts of things and helped him get student loans from the government. 

Charter College Graduation - Faculty

After he graduated from high school - a questionable achievement from a small rural school where a relative was involved in deciding who graduated - he applied to University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA).  They told him, after he took some tests,  he had to take a number of remedial courses.  This seemed like a hassle so he looked around online and quickly found schools eager to enroll him for online classes, and they would help him get federal student loans.  The tuition at all these private colleges was MUCH higher than at UAA.

I'm writing about this because of a NY Times editorial  today about new regulations for colleges regarding student loans.

The Obama administration has proposed tough and much-needed regulations for lucrative for-profit colleges. Industry is predictably pushing back hard, with legions of high-priced lobbyists and organized letter-writing campaigns. The administration must hold its ground.

The final rules, due out in November, must be strong enough to rein in businesses that have made an art of enrolling students who have no chance of graduating and stripping them of state and federal grants and loans. Besides ending such abuses of students, the regulations are needed to protect taxpayers, who foot the bill for waste and abuse in the college aid program.

Lt. Gov Campbell - Grad Speaker

Mike has never finished a program, but has huge debts now that likely will never be paid.  The money goes from the government loan program to the college.  Then the student owes the money.  If he doesn't pass his classes or pay his debt, the college still has the money and he has the debt. This is someone with developmental problems.  He can do many things well and seems normal, sort of. He's a good person, but there are serious gaps in his cognitive abilities. 

He's been taking classes at Charter College and recently went through graduation, though he hasn't completed all his coursework yet.  We were invited and attended at the Atwood Center in the Performing Arts Center downtown.  

I've been wondering how to address this event and this seems like a reasonable context.  I don't know how good the classes are.  Mike told me that basically you just have to go to class and pay your bills.  But that's just one person's story.  I'm sure that you can learn things.  I'm sure he's learning something.  But can you get a degree without learning much?  It sounds like the answer is yes.  And they charge a lot more than UAA and it seems there is a big incentive to get the student loan money that is available. 

In Lobby after Grad Ceremony

After hearing Mike's tales of woe, and how he talks about his $40,000 student debt which - has resulted, almost, in an AA degree - I tend to think that some sort of legislation cracking down on these private colleges (and public colleges that have large numbers of defaulting loans from students) needs to be passed and enforced. 

Of course, there's a much larger context to discuss - what is the purpose of a college degree?  What kind of jobs really require one?  Should everyone go to college?  What sort of status does a college degree confer?  There are complex issues, but they'll have to wait for a different post.

Tim Wise - Native American Calling Monday Morning

Tim Wise was picked up at the airport Sunday night.  I've been working on getting little things ready for his visit - name tags and food (it's going to be good) for the workshop and other sorts of last minute work. 

You can listen to Tim Wise on Native American Calling on KNBA Monday Morning.  That's 90.3 FM in Anchorage.  But this show is going nation-wide and you can call in.  Here's information from their website:

Native America Calling Airs Live
Monday - Friday, 1-2pm Eastern (9-10amAlaska Time)

To participate call 1-800-996-2848, that's 1-800-99-NATIVE

Monday, September 13, 2010– Healing Racism in Anchorage:
Several incidents with overt racist overtones divided the city of Anchorage, but a group called Healing Racism in Anchorage is determined to bring people back together. They are holding a series of events that take the issue of racism head-on, including bringing in “one of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation.” Are white people just too insensitive when it comes to what they think is funny, or is it that Native people can’t take a joke? Guests are author/anti-racist activist Tim Wise and Liz Medicine Crow (Tlingit/Haida) of the Alaska Native Policy Center.

I'm not sure how much work Tim has done with Native American groups, so I suspect he'll be doing some learning in this setting, but this should be interesting.  

If you aren't in Anchorage you can listen to it on affiliate stations in Alaska and 15 other states - mainly those with significant Native American populations.  Here's the list below.

At the end of the list of states, there's an internet hook up, so you can listen live on-line even if you don't have this on a local radio station.  For the Alaska stations click on the link.

ARIZONA
KUYI	FM 88.1	Keams Canyon
KGHR	FM 91.5	Tuba City
KNNB	FM 88.1	Whiteriver
	FM 89.9	Cibecue
	FM 105.3	Vernon
KOHN	FM 91.9	Sells
KPYT	FM 100.3	Tuscon
Radio Phoenix	http://radiophoenix.org	Phoenix
CALIFORNIA
KIDE	FM 91.3	Hoopa
COLORADO
KSJD	FM 91.5	Cortez
	FM 91.1	Pleasant View & Dolores
	FM 104.1	Mancos
KSUT	FM 91.3	Ignacio - Southern Ute Tribal Radio
IDAHO
KISU	FM 91.0	Pocatello
MONTANA
KGVA	FM 88.1	Fort Belknap
Brave Nation	http://bravenation.stlabre.org/	Ashland
NEW MEXICO
KABR	AM 1500	Alamo
KUNM	FM 89.9	Albuquerque/Santa Fe
	FM 91.9	Espanola
	FM 91.9	Taos, Las Vegas
KRRT	FM 90.9	Arroyo Seco, Cuba
KRAR	FM 91.1	Cimarron/Eagle Nest
KBOM	FM 88.7	Socorro, Nageezi
KCIE	FM 90.5	Dulce
KGLP	FM 91.7	Gallup
KTDB	FM 89.7	Ramah/ Pinehill
KSHI	FM 90.9	Zuni
KSJE	FM 90.9	Farmington
NORTH CAROLINA
WPVM	FM 103.5	Asheville
NORTH DAKOTA
KEYA	FM 88.5	Belcourt
KMHA	FM 91.3	New Town
KABU	FM 90.7	St. Michael
OKLAHOMA
KCNP	FM 89.5	Ada
KGOU	FM 106.3	Norman
	FM 97.9	Ada
	FM 103.1	Siminole
KROU	FM 105.7	Oklahoma City
OREGON
KCUW	FM 104.3	Pendleton
KWSO	FM 91.9	Warm Springs
SOUTH DAKOTA
KLND	FM 89.5	Little Eagle
KILI	FM 90.1	Porcupine
UTAH
KRCL	FM 90.9	Salt Lake City
	FM 90.9	Park City
WASHINGTON
KSER	FM 90.7	Everett
KSFC	FM 91.9	Spokane
KYNR	AM 1490	Toppenish
WISCONSIN
WOJB	FM 88.9	Hayward
WYOMING
KWRR	FM 89.5	Ethete
INTERNET (additional)
Native Voice One		http://www.nv1.org/

He'll also be doing a workshop for US Fish and Wildlife employees in the early afternoon and a public workshop in the evening which is sold out.

But you can also listen Tuesday morning on Talk of Alaska on KSKA and in the evening at a free event at Wendy Williamson Auditorium at UAA at 7:30 again Tuesday.

Rafael Nadal's Uncle

The New York Times had an article by Karen Crouse on Rafael Nadal's uncle who is his coach and, well, his uncle.  In today's world one has to be skeptical of everything we read, but it would be nice to know that Toni Nadal is really the guardian angel he's portrayed in the article.  We all need an uncle like this in our lives.

“I am happy when Rafael plays good tennis, but I take more pleasure when people say Rafael is a very good person,” Toni Nadal said. “For me, it is so much more important to be a good person.” 

. . .After the match, his uncle talked to him about his demeanor. “I tell him you must be always grateful of the life,” Toni Nadal said. “I think one of the most important things I say always to Rafael is to have a good face. Because in this life, the ball going out is not a very big problem.” 

“When you think you are the king of the world,” Toni Nadal said, “you are really stupid in my opinion because in this life every person is important.” 

Well, before hitting the post button, I just had to see what others said about Toni Nadal.  It's not all good.  In a June 2009 post, Khalid Siddiqui writes at Bleacher Report:

Hey jou fan!!!! What jour problem? 'Ow dare jou cheer for anywon except my Rafa? Jou stupid French don't know greatness when jou see eet. Jos becoz Rafa eez from Spain..."
(And the rant continues.)
Seriously, Toni Nadal has emerged as a completely sore loser . . .

The Guardian also covered this incident.

And there's a June 2010 Tennis Country piece about Toni's illegal coaching:

World Number One, Rafael Nadal, was fined $2000 for illegal coaching by his long-time coach, uncle Toni, during a match at Wimbledon last week.  As his comments in his post-match press conference below indicate, Nadal did not believe that he had received illegal coaching.  However, Rafa does seem to state that his uncle Toni did “coach” him during other matches in the past, which is clearly against the rules.  This admission by Rafa is actually quite surprising and disturbing given that coaching from the stands is not allowed in men’s professional tennis.

In his post-match press conferences, Nadal said the following:

Was it fair to be warned about coaching? You looked very angry.
RAFAEL NADAL: Sometimes, yes. Not today, in my opinion. But, yes, sometimes in the past Toni talk maybe too much. And when it happened, and the referee or the umpire give me an advice, and if it is continuing, later a warning.  But not today, in my opinion. Yeah, no. . .

Interesting that Karen Crouse didn't mention these other two incidents in her story.  The first three pages of her archived NYT stories are mainly about tennis, swimming, and golf, so she is a regular sports writer.  She had to know about the illegal coaching incident because it was in June this year.  My skepticism is, once again, proven, unfortunately, to be well founded.  Even the NY Times gives us a puff piece that leaves out important information.

If Toni Nadal had stories written about him daily, it wouldn't be necessary to mention the previous issues - people would be expected to know about them.  But there aren't that many stories on Toni.  For many, if not most, readers, I'd guess this is the only one they've read that focused on Toni Nadal, so it needs to be more balanced. 

While I think Uncle Toni is still probably a great influence on nephew Rafael, he's not quite as perfect as Crouse portrays him.  And none of us are. 
 

"Natural Resource Extraction"

We took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked over to the Thai Kitchen for dinner last night.  On the way we passed these woods off of Laurel Street.  We walk along here fairly frequently.  Tonight we saw a blue sign.

You don't see the blue sign?  Look carefully, it's right in the middle. I guess if you were driving by, it would be easy to miss, and impossible to read if you did see it.  But we were walking, so we could see more, and walk up the hill to read what it said.

So, with that basic information, we walked on.

The view from the Thai Kitchen is often pretty spectacular, if you can ignore the strip mall decor in the foreground. Tonight was no exception.  Dinner was good and then we walked home down 42nd Ave.

Since it was too late to call, I tried the Muni website.  It took quite a bit of poking around from the basic www.muni.org  to finding the page where I could look up case # 2010 - 110.  Which didn't exist.  So I tried 2010-110, and there it was:

Staff Report | View Case Comments | Submit Comments
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION
Hearing Date:	Monday, Oct 11, 2010 *
Case Number:	2010-110
Petitioner:	Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office- (TLO) 718 L Street Ste 202 Anchorage, AK 995010000 E-Mail: timothy.spernak@alaska.gov Day Phone: 9072698688
Representative:	Lounsbury & Associates Ken Ayers 5300 A Street Anchorage, AK 995180000 E-Mail: k.ayers@lounsburyinc.com FAX: 9072729065 Day Phone: 9072725451
Application Date:
Request:	Zoning conditional use for a natural resource extraction
Site Address:
Detail:	A conditional use to allow for a natural resource extraction. Providence-Chester Creek Subdivision, Tract C-2. Generally located east of Laurel Street and north of E. 40th Avenue
Legal Desc.:	PLI Public lands & institutions district
* Community Council review comments are due to the Planning Department 10 days prior to the public hearing date if they want them included in the Board or Commission packet.

So, the request is for "Zoning conditional use for a natural resource extraction"


Maybe they're going to drill for oil?  Mine for gold?  Coal?  Or is this a timber harvest?  Do you think the Muni Planning Department, now that they have a website for this stuff, could give us a few more details?  Is it vague like this

• because they don't want us to know?  
• Or because it just never occurred to them to put up more information?  
• Or they don't have the computer ability to add more information? 
• Maybe they just like talking to people, so they just put up a little info so people need to call them.
• Or maybe they think people will give up in frustration.
• Or maybe they just have so much to do they didn't get around to it. (I'm not being sarcastic here, with budget cuts, there are fewer people to do more work.  And if the public doesn't find out about these things, then businesses - and in this case a quasi governmental body - don't have to face the public before they get regulations waived.  Ergo, less government is better. Now I am being sarcastic.)

We were in London and Berlin and Brussels and Washington DC this summer and they all have these little pockets of trees amidst all the buildings and roads.  They are little oases amidst the concrete.  Anchorage still has these clumps of original forest here and there in the middle of town.  Some people argue that we don't need to preserve this greenery in town because we are surrounded by thousands of acres of wilderness.

But you have to get in a car and go to that wilderness.  We need to have wilderness, or at least green spaces, that kids can walk to from home.  Places where we can connect with nature.  When they are mostly cut down, it's almost impossible to get them back.  The city has to essentially die, like Detroit, before you can reclaim the land.  And it takes a lot longer to get real trees going in Anchorage than it does in Detroit.

The announcement also says this is on Laurel "north of East 40th."  That's an interesting description.  While East 40th may exist on their maps at this point, it's just woods going up the hill like the rest of this land right now.  And it's green between two buildings between Laurel and Lake Otis.  That road, funded by the State, will be a gross invasion on this little paradise with this lovely forest covered hill that doesn't take up much space, but preserves our connection to wilderness.  And cleans the air.  And buffers the noise.  And moderates the wind.  And percolates the rain water.  And gives refuge to migrating birds.  This isn't some wimpy green fantasy.  This is about recognizing the ecosystem's natural recycling and cleansing functions that we cannot duplicate for much greater costs.

This is all Mental Health Trust land, just south of McLaughlin Youth Facilities.  I think the abstract idea of a land trust for people with mental health problems (arguably a fairly large portion of our population) is a great idea.  But practically, like the land for the University, it is a way to take otherwise almost, sometimes, inviolable land, and putting it for sale, because it helps the mentally ill and it helps education.   And then legislators can say, "Why come to us for money?  Just sell your land?"

This post is full of links - many to past posts - which all relate to what is covered here.  If what I say in this post isn't clear to you, then click on the link for more depth on that particular point.

Birthday's Eleftheriades Got Best Actor at Cannes Independent Film Festival

I just learned that Natalie Eleftheriades, the star of Birthday, shown at the Anchorage International Film Festival last December, won the Best Actor Award in May at the Cannes Independent Film Festival (CIFF), which runs alongside the more famous Cannes Festival and is for low budget films.

From the CIFF website:

Best actor: Natalie Eleftheriadis for BIRTHDAY (Australia)

The site also mentions her experiences at Cannes.

With the mission of integrating low-budget indie films into the lifeblood of the Cannes experience, the Cannes Independent Film Festival works to level the playing field for new filmmakers to get their works shown, and sold, in Cannes.

Actress Natalie Eleftheriadis, who also produced BIRTHDAY, used the screening at CIFF as a jumping off point for selling her film to buyers gathered for the March du Film. She, and the film's director James Harkness, spent their days working the Croisette, enticing sales agents and buyers to attend BIRTHDAY's screening at the CIFF Villa. Eleftheriadis said "Being a part of CIFF has provided a unique 'entree' into the market with its boutique, intimate screening facility and wonderfully supportive indie filmmaker vibe. Participating in the festival has generated considerable buzz for our film, and we have planted the seeds for many future international collaborations. The Cannes Independent is a gem in the festival circuit."

In a post last December, I let the Anchorage Film Festival judges know I thought they blew it by not awarding Birthday a prize and I'm pleased to see the film and the star recognized in France. 

And here's the trailer. 




The official Birthday website is here.

The Anchorage International Film Festival has had some excellent films and recognized them as such. The other films in 2009 were good - particularly Hipsters. But Birthday should have been in amongst the winners.

First Permanent Fund Dividend Checks To Go Out Sept. 16

[UPDATE Sept. 16, 2010:  I've put up a new post after calling the Governor's office who said the official announcement will be Tuesday, Sept. 21.]

From the Permanent Fund Dividend site: 

Prior Year Dividends in eligible status by close of business September 10, 2010 will be direct deposited and mailed September 16, 2010.  [Update 10am - Anon 8:40am points out this says "prior year".  I'm not sure why prior year checks would wait until now, I don't have time to check now.]

2010 Dividends and Prior Year applications in eligible status by September 24, 2010 will be direct deposited and mailed October 7, 2010.

As I write this I can't find anything that tells us how much this year's dividend will be.  But the timing of the amount announcement varies. [UPDATE Sept. 16:  Governor's office says the announcement will be Tuesday, Sept. 21.]

The last three check amount announcements were:

•  September 19, 2007   ($1654)
  
  
• September 5, 2008  ($2069 + $1200)
   
• September 23, 2009.  ($1305)

But if some are going to be mailed out on September 16 this year, they are going to have to know the amount pretty quick. 

A July 31 ADN article predicted it would be pretty close to last year's $1,305 - between  $1,250 and $1,320.


The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation website (different from the PFD site) explains how the amount is calculated:

Each year, the dividend distribution is calculated using a formula set in state law. The formula is based on an average of the Fund’s income over five years in order to produce a more stable flow of dividend amounts from year to year.

How the PFD amount is calculated

1. Add Fund Statutory Net Income from the current plus the previous four fiscal years.
2. Multiply by 21%
3. Divide by 2
4. Subtract prior year obligations, expenses and PFD program operations
5. Divide by the number of eligible applicants

Once the dividend amount has been calculated, the next step is to determine if enough income is available in the earnings reserve account to pay the dividend. While the full amount of the earnings reserve account is available for appropriation, the principal is not. It is possible that, in a given year, the calculation may produce a dividend although the funds may not be available to pay it.

The PF Dividend site has a link to a PDF file that shows the actual calculation for the 2009 check.   I noticed that while

the PF Corporation site says:   "Divide by the number of eligible applicants,"

the PF Dividend site says:"Divide by the estimated number of eligible dividend applicants"

Since they have two different 'eligible status' dates, and the first batch of checks goes out before the second 'eligible status' date, I guess they would have to use an estimate.

Why Partisans Reject Facts

How can so many people believe Barack Obama is a Muslim for instance? A key concern of this blog - What Do I Know? - is understanding how people determine what is true.   Television broadcasters can say outright lies and not worry about their listeners finding out.  Why? 

It has become clear to me that we are often dealing with emotional issues and unless we get to the heart of those, the rational discussion cannot take place.  The emotional issues, whether  fear or anger or some other powerful emotion, need to be addressed first.  Until the emotional response is lowered, all the logic in the world will fail.  (I long ago learned to not discuss a student's bad grade right after they got the paper back, if he had a strong emotional reaction.  I'd ask him to read my comments carefully, get a night's sleep, read them again, and then I'd be happy to discuss it.)

Well, a few days ago  Wickersham's Conscience had a post which liberally cited Eric Hoffer's 1950s book, True Believer, addressing this issue of fact-proof beliefs.  Here's one quote:

All mass movements strive to impose a fact-proof screen between the faithful and the realities of the world. And, that faith becomes the things the fanatic declines to see. He avers how startling it is to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible, and that faith manifests itself not in moving mountains, but in not seeing mountains move. In the context of mass movements faith should not be judged by its profundity, sublimity, or truth, but by how thoroughly it insulates the individual from himself and the world as it is.

And this morning on NPR, I heard WBUR's impressive Here and Now,  as scholars Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler discussed a recent paper showing that not only does presentation of facts sometimes NOT change people's beliefs, it can even strengthen them.    I strongly recommend listening to this discussion here.

I found the discussion riveting.  And again recommend you listen.  (I couldn't see a way to embed it here so you have to go to the link.)  I don't have much time today, but I did want to note this important discussion and line of research.  

Here are some key points excerpted from the conclusions of their paper, When Corrections Fail: The persistence of political misperceptions.  Remember, this is less than a page worth of their 46 page paper. (Well, only 22 is text, the rest is bibliography and charts.)  It's only to whet your curiosity.  And the paper answers some questions I had which weren't addressed in the interview - such as whether respondents didn't believe the facts or the sources of the facts.  I think you'll find the conclusions consistent with the Hoffer quote above. 

We find that responses to corrections in mock news articles differ significantly according to subjects’ ideological views. As a result, the corrections fail to reduce misperceptions for the most committed participants. Even worse, they actually strengthen misperceptions among ideological subgroups in several cases. Additional results suggest that these conclusions are not specific to the Iraq war; not related to the salience of death; and not a reaction to the source of the correction.

(The audio discussion is MUCH easier to listen to than this is to read.)

Specific findings were:

• First, we provide a direct test of corrections on factual beliefs about politics and show that responses to corrections about controversial political issues vary systematically by ideology. 

• Second, we show that corrective information in news reports may fail to reduce misperceptions and can sometimes increase them for the ideological group most likely to hold those misperceptions. 

• Finally, we establish these findings in the context of contemporary political issues that are salient to ordinary voters.

They acknowledge that this is preliminary work in a field that hasn't often asked these questions and suggest directions for future research:

Future work should seek to use experiments to determine the conditions under which corrections reduce misperceptions from those under which they fail or backfire.  Many citizens seem or unwilling to revise their beliefs in the face of corrective information, and attempts to correct those mistaken beliefs may only make matters worse. Determining the best way to provide corrective information will advance understanding of how citizens process information and help to strengthen democratic debate and public understanding of the political process.

Non-Profit Behind the Scenes Work: HRA Preparing For Tim Wise Visit

Sometimes I am amazed at how much work something is.  Healing Racism in Anchorage is a small non-profit without a paid staff.  The steering committee members, including myself, do the work.  Next week we're bringing one of the most active anti-racists to Anchorage for several days.  I've spent part of today just tying up loose ends - posting publicity on various websites, getting a parking waiver for people coming to the Tuesday night talk at UAA, and little things like that.  But they add up. 

I'm also pretty amazed at how much can be done by a group like this.  We've been meeting almost weekly (we have potluck dinners) for the last month or so, reporting who has done what, what still needs to be done, finding out what plans have come through, what new money has come in, etc.  Everyone is pitching in working on different events, coordinating volunteers, working with partners, getting transportation from event to event settled, and on and on.

The major public events include:

Monday, Sept. 13:  A workshop for up to 35 people at the new community room at Credit Union 1 in Mountain View.  This is essentially for folks who want to improve their skills for interrupting racism in their organizational or personal lives.  It's from 5:15pm-8:30.  Costs $50 ($40 for Healing Racism in Anchorage members) and includes a light dinner.

Tuesday, Sept. 14:  Tim Wise will talk at Wendy Williamson auditorium at UAA beginning at 7:30.  That's the parking fee waiver I was working on today.  This is a free event for the public.

Thursday, Sept. 16:  The UAA debate team, which regularly wins National level debates, will take on the topic,  “The time has come to abandon race-based preferences in university admissions,” UAA Library Room 307, 7 - 9 p.m.  (Tim will not be at this event.)

Listen on the Radio

In addition Tim will be on the radio a lot:
Monday, Sept. 13:  Native America Calling (KNBA 90.3 FM), 8:50 to 10 a.m.  This is broadcast nationally, so people outside of Anchorage can check how to listen in.

Tuesday, Sept. 14:  Talk of Alaska (KSKA 91.1 FM) with Steve Heimel, 10 a.m.  This will be broadcast statewide on the Alaska Public Radio Network.  Listeners can call in.  Click here for a list of stations statewide.
Wednesday, Sept. 15:  Bob and Mark (KWHL, 106.5 FM), 9:30 and Dave Stieren (KFQD, 750 AM), 10:00 a.m.

Other Activities
Tim Wise will also been doing short presentations with some federal agencies, a state agency, a private sector company, and the Anchorage School District.  I'm tired just thinking about his busy schedule.

What particularly impresses me is that quite a few organizations and individuals are going to benefit from Wise's visit.  If any one group brought him up just to work with them, the cost of transportation and hotels would make it really costly.  But by a lot of organizations working together, they all get time with Wise at a very reasonable price.

The administrative costs are being born by the steering committee of Healing Racism in Anchorage through our volunteer work on this, plus the help from volunteers.  And a long list of individuals and organizations that have made donations from $8 to several thousand dollars.

There are a couple more events later the follow up on Tim Wise's visit.



Wednesdays, September 22 – October 27, 2010:
HRA class, 5:45 to 8:30, Anchorage School District (ASD) Red Room on Northern Lights. $75/$65 for members plus optional fee to UAA for graduate-level credit. Includes the cost of books. Sign up through the ASD My Learning Plan for credits or Email healingracism@gmail.com to secure a spot.  This is a chance to have an in depth exploration of racism in our lives in a safe small group setting.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010:
FREE “Anchorage Is Our Home” video screening and panel discussion, Wilda Marston Auditorium at the Loussac Library, 6 to 7:30 p.m. 



You can find out more at Healing Racism in Anchorage's website.

Joe Miller's "Judicial" Record Reviewed

In my last post, I cited information from Joe Miller's website* about his legal positions in Alaska.  I had questions about being a magistrate and his language that he "stepped down from the bench" to run for office.    [* I also had stuff from McAdams website]

I emailed my questions to an attorney friend who did not want to be quoted but wrote back, "it is so puffed up that I would puke if it had been written about myself." 

I normally wouldn't post unsupported opinion like this (he did have support in the email), but it seems the vehemence that's expressed is as important as the facts.  There is a VERY STRONG personal reaction to Miller's candidacy by many as mentioned in the previous post.

And besides, more detailed factual information came from another source.

akbrite left a comment on the previous post with a link to Wickersham's Conscience where the same questions were raised AND answered:

Joe Miller has never been a judge; he has been a magistrate. A state judge is appointed by the Governor from candidates proposed by the Alaska Judicial Council. Joe Miller has been a candidate for a judgeship: the superior court in 2005, the seat Judge Robert Downes now holds. He withdrew his name just before the bar poll results came out: that’s usually an indication he was panned by his peers. A magistrate is appointed by the court to do ministerial tasks. A federal magistrate is much the same.

In his bio, Miller says, “In 2004, Miller stepped down from the bench to run for State Representative.” He was never on the bench; he was never a judge. He ran for the superior court, although he quit before he got fairly started.
He says in his campaign website he has lived in Alaska for 16 years. He told the Judicial Council in March 2005 he had “been an Alaska resident for 10 years, and has practiced law for 9 years. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1995.” So if he graduated from Yale in May or June of 1995, in March of 2005 he had lived in Alaska for something less than ten years. And in 2010 he’s lived in Alaska 15 years, not 16 years. Yale is in New Haven, Connecticut, not Alaska.
Miller also says in his bio, “He has represented clients in a wide variety of cases, a number of which have gone all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court.” As it turns out, “a number” is two reported Alaska Supreme Court decisions, one when he was part-timing at the Borough Attorneys’ Office and one domestic relations case.

 The rest of the Wickersham's Conscience post does a similar analysis of Miller's statements on offshore drilling, the Constitution, the Alaska economy, and a few other issues. 

Big Clouds? Blue Skies? Time to Reflect and Get Grounded

This big cloud appeared over the Chugach range Wednesday night last week, but there was also lots of blue sky. Our primary election has changed the political climate in Alaska and  garnered national attention. What do we do now? 

Alaskan voters are faced with two candidates for the US Senate most know nothing about. (If Lisa Murkowski does find a way to get back in this race, it really doesn't change the gist of what I'm writing here.) I suspect that's true about most elections - but usually voters  have  candidates who'd been in the public eye for a while and the voters think they know who they are voting for.

But with 'unknowns' we end up grabbing labels - 'attorney,' 'mayor,' 'ivy league,' 'Alaskan,' 'hunter,' 'fisherman' - and we take them out of context and to create caricatures that have more to do with our projections than with the candidates.

We have less than two months to start collecting facts and filling in the holes so that our images of each candidate are reasonably close to who they really are. 


Joe Miller

From his website we're told he was born to a working class family and raised in Kansas. He went to West Point, was in the First Gulf war, got a law degree from Yale,  and came to Alaska. He's practiced law, been a magistrate. His wife's a teacher and serves on the Judicial Council which helps select judges.

He's been branded an extremist for calling for an end to 1) Social Security, 2) Obama's new health care program,  and 3) the Department of Education, for starters. But he's also qualified the social security claim in a letter to seniors in which he wrote, "I will not vote to cut your Social Security or Medicare benefits!" He just wouldn't allow new people in.  Is he saying one thing to one audience and something else to another?  Or is he being taken out of context?  We have to do our homework to find out. 

I've never met the man and I'm only just starting to look through his positions.  Do the Republicans who oppose him (people from Andrew Halcro to Paul Jenkins) know him well and have good reason for their fears?  Are they concerned that the Republican Party power structure, as they know it, is threatened?  It could be one, the other, both, and something else altogether.

But let's take the time to get to know the man.  Let's, of course, listen to those who already know him (Democrat David Guttenberg who defeated him in his race for the state house in 2004 was pretty strong in his opinions.)  But let's not fly off like one blogger did and make up Miller's record without doing our homework.

The unusual agreement  among people from both the Democratic and Republican parties suggests that Mr. Miller's positions really are extreme.


McAdams

Let's also get to know Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka who was seen as a Democratic placeholder so that Sen. Murkowski wouldn't be running unopposed.  With her losing the election, he's suddenly become as a serious contender.   I did get to talk to McAdams in Juneau last January and again just after he won the nomination.  I felt that he was genuine, bright, and knows quite a bit about how government works.   McAdams' website says he spent his elementary years in Petersburg, has commercial fished, graduated from Sheldon Jackson College, and has been chair of the Sitka School Board which got him involved in national school associations.

I haven't seen or heard the kind of strong negative talk about McAdams that Miller has generated.


Let's treat this like hiring our personal financial and legal adviser

It's time Alaska voters treat these elections for what they are:  job selections.  If this were a personal decision, it would be like hiring someone to handle our personal legal, financial, and family affairs.  Would you choose such a person based on 30 second ads made by a public relations firm?  Or would you study his resume carefully and consult people who know him and can tell you about his past performance? 

(Let's also hope that the public television/radio show "Running" will have a lot more depth for the general election than it did for the primary.  There was so little time for candidates that even Charles Manson could have come through the effort looking good.) 

This is probably the election that offers Alaskan voters the greatest degree of difference between the two candidates that we've ever had.  Let's not settle for facile slogans and solutions.  Let's carefully examine what both candidates say.  Let's look at the feasibility of their proposals, let's look at the likely direct consequences of their proposals, and the likely long term consequences.


Assignment

Go to the Miller website and the McAdams website.
1.   What are the issues that each highlight as important?
2.   What are the values they say are important?
3.   What do you see in their records that supports their claims?  Are their lives consistent with their values and stands on the issues?
4.   What more do you need, what evidence, to assure you that their claims are true?

This is step one.  You can learn a lot in an hour.  And doing it yourself, taking notes, will make it yours.  You'll understand and be ready for the next steps.

Next we're going to have to find:

• real - not quick and dirty - analyses of what they claim.  (This Mudflats piece digs past the superficial rhetoric, for example, though the title let's us know this is a partisan piece and an author's name would be helpful.)
   
• people who have seen these people working, people who can tell us whether they are what they say. 

The future of your state depends on you doing your homework, getting other voters to do theirs, and then everyone sharing what they've found out.