I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
May 19, 1997
By Devlyn Brooks
Staff Writer
Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College officials took a collective breath of relief Thursday as both houses of the state Legislature passed a gracious conference committee higher education budget. However, officials at both schools said it is too early to tell what the budget would mean specifically for the their respective schools.
The budget is now headed for the Governor's office, where it is expected to be signed by Gov. Arne Carlson, even though he has threatened to veto it for political reasons, according to Dave Tiffany, BSU's vice present for University Advancement.
The budget calls for about $1.016 billion in funding for the Minnesota State Colleges and University system, the governing organization of both BSU and Northwest Technical College -- the parent institution of NTC-Bemidji. Previously, a House bill had called for $1,029,500,00 in funding, and the Senate bill had slated $1,001,200,000.
The new budget also asks for $278 million for the Higher Education Services Office and $1.076 billion for the University of Minnesota system, according to Tiffany.
Both Tiffany and NTC President Ray Cross said although they are frustrated with the proposed 16.3 percent increase in funding for the U of M, they are glad to see that after three consecutive bienniums of lackluster funding for MnSCU schools, the Legislature is seeing the need to invest in them more.
"It represents a nice increase to us in some ways," Cross said Friday in a telephone interview. "Our legislators are to be commended for really responding to what has been a seven or eight year drought (in higher ed funding)."
The $1.016 billion represents a 12.3 percent increase for the MnSCU system, and adds about $111 million to last biennium's budget. The budget slates a little more than $66 million to be added to the system's base, and adds more than $44 million in one-time funding for various special initiatives.
Tiffany is quick to point out, however, that a 12.3 percent increase in MnSCU's overall funding does not translate into the same increase for each institution locally. In fact, depending upon where tuition rates are set and a few other factors, the schools are looking at a more realistic increase of 6 to 8 percent.
Not bad compared to the last six years, he and Cross agreed, and it will probably mean neither BSU, nor NTC, will have to make any cuts in programs or staff. However, it still is not enough to make up for the ground the schools lost to inflation in those years funding was stifled.
"With this bill, we being to restore what we've taken away from higher education in the past 10 years," said Rep. Gene Pelowski, chairman of the House Higher Education Finance Division, in a recent Associated Press article. "It's the best budget we've had in at least a decade."
Cross said he was also glad to see some of the non-monetary provisions that were included in the bill, some of which directly benefit BSU and NTC. For instance, the budget directly allocates $1.5 million to be used by schools impacted by this year's blizzards and floods -- of large benefit to NTC which had its East Grand Forks campus flooded and to BSU which hosted many flood evacuees while they were kept away from their homes.
Another major positive provision included in the bill is the allocation model that will be used to distribute the funds to MnSCU institutions, Tiffany said. For fiscal year 1998, next year's academic year, 70 percent of the money will be allocated based on each school's prior base funding, and the other 30 percent will be allocated on the basis of student enrollment. And for fiscal year 1999, MnSCU is to provide a detailed report concerning the proposed allocation model, suggested by out-going Chancellor Judith Eaton, to the Legislature.
Tiffany said the Eaton allocation model was one based on weighted credit hours, and would have adversely impacted many rural institutions. Now there is another year for MnSCU to rethink that model, he said.
"We have to be careful when saying that we'll get a 12 percent increase. That's not the case at all," Cross said. "It's a bit misleading when you look at the overall picture, but I think we are happy with what came out of the conference committee. And I think Gov. Carlson will sign it."
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