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Saturday, February 19
Pella Chronicle Publisher orders "From the Left" Column Scrapped
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 19 Feb 2005 09:38 PM CST
 Pella Chronicle Publisher Orders “From the Left” Column Scrapped
The Des Moines Register
By Rekha Basu
Mike
Corum, who writes the From the Left column for the weekly Pella
Chronicle, stopped by to welcome the new publisher [Sandy Selvy] to the
community from Ottumwa. It wasn't until later that day that Corum
understood why she seemed disengaged.
The publisher's first official act related to the newsroom was calling up the editor and ordering him to scrap Corum's column.
The
editor, Hal Hatfield, refused, and resigned in protest. He thinks
the publisher's move is a nod to conservative advertising and business
interests.
But
Selvy denies that either is the case. She says the paper doesn't have
enough local content, and that "no one cares about what Mike thinks
about Bush and what's going on in the war."
(click here to read the entire story)
If
you would like to write a letter to the editor expressing your views about the decision to limit
dissent in this central Iowa community, write, call or fax your
thoughts to:
The Pella Chronicle
Phone: 641-628-3882
FAX: 641-628-3905
E-mail Sandy Selvy
E-mail The Register:
 Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
March is Social Security Month for Democracy for America as Bush Tries to Sell his "Plan"
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 19 Feb 2005 11:39 AM CST
 March is Social Security Month for Democracy for America as Bush Tries to Sell his "Plan"
QC Times
It's
almost that time again...the March Democracy for America meet-up topic will
be Social Security, and Democracy for the Quad-Cities is all over it as Dr.
Alta Price reports they are already inviting local seniors to attend
and discuss the Bush "plan." Be sure to watch this space
for Caroline Vernon’s upcoming series honoring DFQC seniors - four of
their group’s “most loyal” attendees. Thanks Alta and DFQC for
the great idear!
By Ed Tibbetts
WASHINGTON, D.C. — [George W.] Bush tried Tuesday to assure older
Americans that any Social Security reform would not hit them in the
pocketbook, a message the White House hopes will resonate in places
such as Iowa where 1 in 6 people get benefits from the 70-year-old
government program.
Bush met
in the Oval Office with reporters from a half-dozen newspapers,
including the QUAD-CITY TIMES, based in states where there is a large
elderly population as he seeks to reform [dismantle] the Social Security program.
“Benefit
cuts is an interesting word,” Bush said. “Benefits are scheduled to
grow at a certain rate, and one of the, one of the suggestions, for
example ... was they grow at a, they grow, but not at a rate as fast as
projected. You can call it anything you want. I would call it an
adjustment to reality,” he said.
(click here to read the entire story).
To find or start a Democracy For America meet-up in your area, click here.
Iowa School Board Association Should Join Anti-Bullying Effort
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 19 Feb 2005 08:28 AM CST
 Iowa School Board Association Should Join Anti-Bullying Effort
contributed by David Leshtz
by Dr. Carolyn E. Cutrona
Ames, Iowa
All
children deserve a safe, high-quality public education, regardless of
whether they are Christian, Muslim, black, white, brown, gay, straight,
girl, boy, fat, skinny, short, tall, rich or poor. Unfortunately,
this is not yet the case for many of our children. Their reality is
filled with words like “faggot,” “dyke,” or “queer” and the constant
stress of verbal and physical harassment, sometimes just for being
friends with a kid who may be gay or lesbian. Some students are
ridiculed for being unable to afford designer clothes; others suffer
from physical appearance attacks such as “pizza-face” or “banana-nose;”
or disabilities (“Retard!”). Painful, painful stuff.
One of
Iowa’s largest and most powerful education associations - the Iowa
Association of School Boards - is resisting its members’ being required
by law to intervene to protect students from all types of harassment.
This organization opposes anti-bullying legislation that would protect
all of Iowa’s children, regardless of gender, race, religion,
disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical
attributes, or any other characteristic, from harassment and bullying.
Fortunately
for Iowa’s young people, the Iowa Association of School Boards stands
alone in their opposition as the rest of the education community - the
Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa State Education Association, and
School Administrators of Iowa - have gone on record stating that all
students should be protected from bullying and harassment in their
support for safe school policies, including gay and lesbian youth,
overweight youth, and youth with any other characteristic that may
trigger mistreatment.
A group
of parents, educators and concerned citizens has been working for three
years to encourage education policy makers and the Iowa Legislature to
pass safe school policies. We have approached this as a
non-political, bi-partisan issue, reaching out to both sides of the
political aisle and bringing people together on a value upon which most
Iowans can agree —that all students deserve a safe, high-quality
education. As the mother of two Iowa children, this is a value I
hold close to my heart, as I want my children and their fellow students
to have a safe place in which to learn and grow.
We need
to send a clear and direct message that Iowans believe that all
students should be protected from discrimination, harassment, and
bullying in our schools.
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