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Home My WebLink About02-02-1999 Articles4c the Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Sat . Jan- 30, 1999 Police reviews face discussion City attorney tells council: Don't treat allegations as fact By Lynn M. Tefft Gazette Johnson county Bureau IOWA CITY — The Police Citizens Review Board needs to be careful not to treat allega- tions of misconduct against po- lice officers as fact, the city attorney told the City Council on Friday. "An accusation is not an in- ference of guilt, culpability or anything," City Attorney Elea- nor Dilkes said. Council members met with Dilkes on Friday to prepare for their meeting with review board members on Feb. 11. One issue up for discussion is whether officers should be iden- tified in the police chiefs re- ports to the review board in a way that allows review board members to track them. Dilkes said she is concerned about how the information could be used. She cited a recent review board decision that upheld Po- lice Chief R.J. Winkelhake's rul- ing that an officer had not used profanity during a traffic stop. However, the board's report stated: "It should be noted that this is the second incident with- in a six -week period that an allegation of the use of profanity has been filed against the offi- cer." The previous allegation, also refuted by the police chief and the board, should not be used to judge the officer in the subse- quent complaint, Dilkes said. Council member Mike O'Don- nell said he saw no reason to identity the officers. "Each com- plaint is individual and investi- gation is warranted," he said - Such a tracking system could harm officers who, by virtue of the beats and shifts they work, are likely to thaw more coil' plaints, council member Dee Vanderhoer said. But Karen Kubby argued that identification is necessary be- cause one of the review board's purposes is to track trends. FOUR OF the five review board members observed Fri- day's meeting but did not partic- ipate. Board Chairwoman Leah Co- hen said later that identifying officers with a number system does not bias the board. Cohen also disagreed with Dilkes' suggestion that tracking information could be provided separately from the police chiefs reports. "It doesn't do much good to have it after the fact," she said. THE COUNCIL agreed to give people 90 days, rather than 60, after an incident to file a com- plaint with the board. However, only some council members agreed with Dilkes' suggestion to allow the police chief to investigate complaints and file his reports with the board in a "timely manner." The chief currently has 30 days and can ask for extensions. "The accurateness of the in- vestigation overrides the time factor," council member Dean Thornberry said. Council member Dee Norton, who favors a specific deadline, replied, "If I thought time was related to accuracy, I'd buy that." Council members also differed over whether the review board should see all complaints filed against the police department. or only those filed through the board. People have the option of filing a complaint without hav- ing the board review the chiefs decision. City Manager Steve Atkins said he and the assistant city manager also handle informal complaints against the depart- ment and do not document them. Vanderhoef said the board could be provided general data about the other complaints, but her colleague Connie Champion said the board needs to see all the complaints to fulfill its job. "The (review board) is sup- posed to ensure that police are acting in a way citizens want them to act," Champion said. "How can they do that without information?" Thornberry said he doesn't want the board to have an ad- versarial relationship with the police department. Police Union President Dan Dreckman, who observed Fri- day's meeting, said officers have felt it was adversarial and said he was encouraged by Thornber- ry's remarks. Cohen said the relationship isn't adversarial at all. "We feel right now that the board has been in existence a year and a half and it's time to change some things," she said. "Everyone needs to negotiate to make it acceptable to all." Opinion Iowa City Press -Citizen Letters Let board do its job 1 agree with evervilime in your editorial, "Council cull heart out of Police Board:' except the conclusion. The Police Ciii/ens Rev ic�� Board has developed .aid ahidcd by a set of standard operutin,, procedures. The Review Board ,md the City Council are ,ChedulCd to meet on Fch. I I hom ? to 7 p.m. III the council Chamhcn: to dis- cuss their disagreements over some of the prcedures. The council could have ed until aler this nICCMI' to decide which procedures to olli- cially adopt. Two council incmbei,. myself and Connic Champion. voted to deter It decision until then. The majority said that we could return to the Revicw Board procedures after the Fch. I I meeting if warranted. The need to truck trends was one of the kev reasons Ibr the creation of the Revicw Board. The council majority's vote ro change the procedures hwn- strinis the ability of the Rey ic\o Board to fulfill its Clutic,. Don't get rid of the Police Citizens Revieti Bo,trd. Change the standard ohcra- ing procedures ,o Ilya the RcCiew Board can do the joh it �cas intended to do. Karen Kllbbv Ioea City Page 13A Saturday, January 30, 1999 Page 3A OUU Thursday, January 28, Iowa City Press -Citizen 1999 Local lawyer gets nominated for 6th District By Jeff Charis-Carlson Thr Mese-CiliCen A local commission of Iowa district judges named an Iowa City lawyer as one of two nom- inces for6th Disuicijudge. The 6th District Judicial Nominating Commission inter- viewed 23 applicants Tuesday. After the com- 1OWa City mission mem- hers voted, only two candidates remained: Douglas S. Russell and Robert Teig. Russell is a partner in the Iowa City firm of Stein, Russell and Pugh. Teig is an assistant Icdcral uttornev in Cedar Rapids. The two names will INC sub- mitted to Gov. Tom Vilsuck, who will have 30 days to (IMLIC between the nominees. Whoccerthe 8'O%CInOI appoints will succeed htda' • Van D. Lintntcl, who wes ,lpponitad to the lone Court of r\ppC,de- .'I'In very honored to he nominated;' I2us*ell said. ' I nt cen hunomd to ha\i the oppor- lunit to be con'idcrcd liar ,hi+ position, which I think is a very important one Russell graduated from the Ullocuiry of Iowa School of Law in 1978. After graduation, he worked as an assistant Johnson County attorney for 20 months. He went into private practice. in 1980 as an associate in the firm Leff, Hauperl and Traw. In 1983, he became a Partner in his present firm. Russell also serves as the attorney for the Police Citizens Review Board. A district judge is appointed initially for a one-year term, until the next general election. If retained, the judge may stand for retention every six years. Since the present retention system began in 1963, only four Judges have not been retained. " f'hose were for grave mis- conduct:said William R. Eads, chairman of the nominating Conuni»ion. The 6th District judge will xene Benton. Iowa, Johnson, Joncc, Linn and Tama counties. The full-time position includes an annual ;glary of S97,6(X. G M 0" go cc � a a o o>� oc�aVmcO•o ''o O '4; ti 7 �tl 6 A U Q El�wI C awi ° °' v �v, �y F: 0, F Y O Ui W Y wY°5° O>' _ OA U OmOr�m ..Y3 LA m y° A tw C' w y Occ y m lO gyro! A CA { N. ❑�75 F m> E .0 G m .a 00 Ci G y Y i+ m A ctl W%, N F x T O w0 w .C, y Y .. O G. d'Cy �E m o cam c03w0,a0 Q c."mm m'O en rv��"NUmd E=5 O.n dx >N .b .b O U N H _.Oiw0 0 � •O o> 3 C 3 ti cOq 'i� 3 w m v $'G 0. 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TY.�Aa�°Ow O " m C Cyr �w c p g 0 8 0 d m$ C O O >i W O ^' ai 'i+.r a wU co° S C �6) m O V Y o 'ro`� y m 8 w> aCi > F on O,O M 2 a U A d a- 1. 8'6D °.° � ASSISTANT if-AS.ACI>�r, Eijirntt. 315-_284-s06; Q br Des 10iloille5 lieQl51fC e0lice complaints Complaints fairness doubted treatment uestioned By FRANK SANTIAGO AND TOM ALEX RIU;I II.11 fit �I'F VPItrII iev Most people who file com- plaints with the Des Moines Police Department say their gripes don't get fair treatment and that police show a bias to- ward fellow officers when de- termining fault, State Ombuds- man William Angrick said in a study released Wednesday. 1n a report that stems from the 1991 controversial arrest and alleged beating of a mail, Angrick said the findings are based on a survey of 90 people that showed 70 percent believe police usually favor tine offic- ers targeted in complaints. Also. 67 percent said they weren't satisfied with the de- parturent's final decision after investigation, and 61 percent said they didn't like the way the situation was handled. The survey of crime victims, suspects, witnesses and peo- pie who called the department for various reasons was done for the ombudsman by a pri vat firm. "I was hoping for a much q POLICE Continuedfrom Page LLI lesser proportion of people who were dissatisfied," Angrick said after the report's release. "The results show that the system can be im- proved, or shotdd be improved. I'm not sure I'm willing to ,jump to the conclusion that there is actually bias because people believe that. But it does concern me that the dissatis- faction is that high." Cidef Skeptical Des Moines Police Chief William Moulder, who was out of town and not available to comment, said he was skeptical in a letter contained in the 24-page report. "This survey is an attempt to mea- sure dissatisfaction. We can agree that people who file complaints are dissatisfied," he wrote. Assistant Chief William McCarthy said Wednesday: "We are the only police department in Iowa subject to this review. To say it is the result of an incident that occurred so many years ago is to stretch credulity." Milton Arrest The report is an outgrowth of the arrest of Larry Milton, who claimed that his head and face wounds were caused by excessive force by three arresting officers. Milton's com- plaints brought race relations to the fore because he is black and was ar- rested by while officers. Moulder said after a department investigation into the arrest that the force used by an officer was "prop- er." A report by the ombudsman concluded that Milton had grabbed an officer's weapon, and a second officer was juslified in hitting Milton seven to eight times with a flashlight. Angrick then began another inves- tigation to look at the department's handling of complaints. ''The new study concludes that the THURSDAY j�R JAN[,.tRr 2�8, 1999 M DM Survey response ■ A survey for the state ombudsman's office showed dissatisfaction with handling of complaints. ..Say pow ,Za favoritism to.f officers,, ,M...' ...are dissastisfied with explanation of final decision. are u6 " " how cotttp{ were han say police don't keep them informed during investigation. SOURCE: State ombudsman's office. NL\Rt: \L\RTIIRELL(VIIIE RWISTCR Police Department is doing a better job, but improvements are needed in reviewing complaints. Recommendations Angrick has recommended that complaint investigations not move up the chain of command in the de- partment because, in part, "a super- visor might be motivated to ensure complaints are not sustained." Rather, the results of an investiga- tion, usually done. by the internal Office of Professional Standards, should go directly to the chief, he said. Angrick recommended that "all pertinent" aflegations of police mis- conduct be recorded "regardless of whether the matter is formally in- vestigated." He said police kept a record of only a portion of the complaints. McCarthy said most people in Des Moines believe their complaints will be taken seriously and that there will be corrective action. Romelle 11, Slaughter, admaustra- lor of the Iowa Commission on the Status of African -Americans, said he has not gotten a complaint about the Police Department in the four years he has been on the job. THE PRAIRIE PROGRESSI 6y ��R RIGjyTS aVR I.tBERT`Pro ,fcF �-yE WILL MAINTgIf� wE PR VE February 1999 A NEWSLETTER FOR IOWAw DEMOCRATIC LEFT Millennial Honor Roll for 1998 ay attention, friends, 1999 is as good as over. This might be the last Honor Roll of the 20th century, and soon there will be no more talk of building a bridge to the next one. The past year was less than glorious forhog farmers, Friends of Bill, and the people of Iraq, but '98 had its moments of honor. Most notable were some remarkable prairie union triumphs. 650 Titan Tire workers repre- sented United Steelworkers Local 164 have been on strike in Des Moines since May 1. The battle against CEO Morry Taylor is a tough one, but the workers have successfully resisted management efforts to drive genera- tional and racial wedges between the strikers, and continue to maintain a united front. More than 600 workers repre- sented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1634 went on strike against Rockwell Collins in Coralville. Unions from across the state joined the IBEW picket line, spurring the workers to victory and a contract free from concessions in health care and benefits. 450 nurses joined United Food and Commercial Workers in Sioux City. 700 workers joined a coalition of three unions at Prairie Meadows. Nearly 120 Head Start teachers, counselors, and social workers voted to join Service Employees International Union in Linn, Johnson, and four other counties. SEIU was also starred in the year's most dramatic labor victory, not only in Iowa but in the nation, when 1900 nurses and professional staff at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics gained representation by voting for SEIU's Local 150. Leading the PP Honor Roll are attorney Matt Glasson and the hundreds of UIHC staff who demanded accountability and respect from one of Iowa's most paternal institutions. •irt• In an election year, only Kay Chapman, Minnette Doderer, Ed Fallon, Mary Mascher, and Dick Myers of the Iowa House of Represen- tatives voted against an $85 million tax cut that disproportionately favored wealthier Iowans. Said Myers, "There's more to being in the Legisla- ture than supporting tax cuts." All five were re-elected easily. One of the physicians who deliv- ered the McCaughey septuplets, Paula Mahone testified at the Iowa legislature against the so-called "partial birth" abortion ban, raised money for an African -American history museum in Cedar Rapids, and participated in the Economic Justice conference spon- sored by the American Friends Service Committee. In contrast, the McCaugheys endorsed Jim Lightfoot and did TV ads for an electric drill. Quiet and cautious Iowa City council member Dee Vanderhoef cast the tie -breaking vote in favor of allowing same -sex couples/domestic partners to qualify for federal housing aid. In her tenth year on the city council, Karen Kubby showed why she's the longest -serving member since John MacDonald. Frequently on the short end of a 6-1 vote, "the socialist pot -maker" maintained her commitment to open government and fiscal fairness by opposing a local -option sales tax ballot, opposing a $12 million parking ramp, opposing a plan that would have made the landfill the most elevated spot in Iowa City, and opposing Dean Thomberry for Mayor pro tem. Kubby also worked to imbue the "peninsula project" with citizen input from start to finish, and to give local developers some opportunities for creativity along with profitability. When a district judge threw out charges of "public indecent exposure" against the Southern Comfort Free Theater for the Performing Arts, Scott County Sheriff Michael Bladel threw in Honor Roll, Continued on Page 6 THE PRAIRIE PROGRESSIVE • FEBRUARY 1999 • PAGE 1 Johnson County Legislators Promote Regressive Taxes Johnson County progressives face a real dilemma in the upcoming election on a regressive local option sales tax. Liberals and progressives support progressive taxes, but also support maintaining the quality of our local civic institutions funded by the sales tax. How did we get into this dilemma, which gives us the choice of supporting the local public library only at the cost of a tax that raises the burden on those least able to pay? The short answer is that our Democratic legislators from Johnson County created this situation. In 1982 Terry Branstad was elected governor and Democrats took over control of the legislature. Since that time, whether in the majority or in opposition, Demo- crats from Johnson County have cooperated with Governor Branstad in a major restructuring of our tax code. The burden of taxation has been shifted away from corporations and investors, and placed squarely on the backs of the wage-eaming majority of Iowans. The local option sales tax is only part of a much broader re -structuring of our tax code, which has been brought into conformity with the principles of Ronald Reagan. Contrary to what many Johnson County progressives believe, our legislators have not reluctantly capitu- lated to the Reaganite agenda on taxes, but have been key players in putting it into place. When I first moved to Iowa City in 1977, I was amazed to hear our legislators routinely defend the sales tax, claiming that it was "not really regressive" because food and prescrip- tion drugs are exempt. When challenged, they would concede that the sales tax is in fact regressive, but change the phrase to "not so bad". From their point of view, the fairness of the tax code was less important than raising money for state government. Local activists on the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee had an entirely different view in 1988, and the county party played a key role in defeating the first local option sales tax referendum by actively campaigning against it. (It will be interesting to see what role the central committee plays this spring.) But local party opinion had little affect on the views of local legislators, who had voted to make the local sales tax an option precisely in order to provide more funding for municipal government. There have been six key pieces of legislation in the regressive restructur- ing of Iowa's tax code. In the 1980s Iowa's 3% sales tax was: • first raised to 4% • then raised to 5% • a local option tax made it 6% in many Iowa communities. Then in the nineties, legislators • cut the relatively progressive income tax by 10% • eliminated most of the burden of the inheritance tax, which falls largely on unearned income and capital gains. Finally, in 1998 • they added a local option tax for schools, pushing the potential sales tax rate to 7%—more than double the 1982 rate. On the spending side of the budget, these regressive changes in tax rates were accompanied by a shift in funding toward economic develop- ments grants to investors in the eighties, and by an unprecedented expansion of state prison system in the nineties . With a very few exceptions, our Democratic legislative delegation from Johnson County has provided solid support for this regressive re -writing of our tax code. The exceptions are worth noting. Although the majority of our local delegation voted for the local option sales tax for schools in 1998, both Dick Myers and Minnette Doderer voted no. State Rep. Doderer sup- ported the sales tax increases of the 1980s, but courageously broke ranks with the Johnson County delegation and stood entirely alone in opposing recent income and inheritance tax cuts. Some members of our delegation are now suggesting that it is time for Rep. Doderer to retire. Last month, as President Clinton launched 450 cruise missiles on Iraq without so much as a courtesy call to Congress or the U.N. Security Council, progressive Democrats held rallies, not to protest this unconstitutional and cynical exercise of military power, but to defend the President and "the integrity of the constitution." As soon as the impeachment trial is over, Clinton will of course join with the very people who are trying to remove him from office, and partially privatize the social security system. The assault on the key values of the New Deal/Great Society Democratic party is not merely coming from the White House, but from Democratic elected officials at all levels of govern- ment. In local as well as national politics, it appears to be impossible to be an active progressive Democratic without being put in the position of promoting an agenda that undercuts liberal and progressive values. )( — Jeff Cox THE PRAIRIE PROGRESSIVE • FEBRUARY 1999 • PAGE 2 Wellstone Out, Darling In I ran for Governor of Wen alifoia in 1978, my latform was clearly ahead of its time, but today it doesn't sound so far-fetched. For example, I promised that if I continued my political career and were elected President, I would start the Presidential Network (PTN.) As President I would wear a small video camera to record everything I said, saw and heard. This camera would broad- cast to every television set in America, 24 hours a day. Americans should have the option of seeing what the President sees. After all, we pay the bills. On PTN, the President could inform Americans of events on a daily basis, and he could take the pulse of the people by holding daily elections. When a national consensus is required, the President should not rely on polls they are conducted today. We need an honest, inclusive polling system that reflects America's diversity. We could vote with Total Democracy Voting Cards, designed for television sets, VCRs, gas pumps, and/or comput- ers. American technology could make this a reality. With regards to campaign reform, I support a system that would make every political campaign in America subject to the same scrutiny as our current President has recently been subjected. A campaign should be a contract, and a politician should be held accountable for any and all statements made while seeking office. What is true on the campaign trail should be true after an election. Here is why I am running for President: Someone must convince Congress to alter their attitude toward education. A President need only study our public schools to understand America's major problem. An unedu- ited population is not ideal for .ontinuing democracy, and if we don't beef up our schools, this nation is lost. If America elects me as their next President, I will focus all of the power of the Presidency on solving the education crisis in America. I will not sign one budget until education is on top. We must train and hire far more teachers, and we must build hundreds of new schools. Wherever uncrowded classrooms are needed, we must build them. This revolution can occur in every nook and cranny of this nation, and in so doing we can rebuild America and inspire the world —to say nothing of restoring our children's faith in their future. "Where will the money come from?" That is what politicians always say when asked about education. Here is my answer: America will retire as a world military power. We will bring our troops home, and their only job will be to protect our nation from the threat of foreign invasion, natural disaster, and to meet America's contribution to the United Nations. We will be one nation among many, an equal partner in world peace. Following WWII, General Dwight Eisenhower issued a severe warning against our succumbing to the military - industrial complex. Had we taken his advice, America's dominant bureaucracy today might be health and education rather than the Pentagon. It is, however, not yet too late to restore our priorities. America should once again become the great international experiment. We are the testing ground to see if the people of Earth can actually get along. Everyone is represented here —every race, religion, nationality, philosophy, cult and ideology. Perhaps that's why we feel compelled to tell the rest of the world what to do, but we can no longer afford this behavior. If you support my basic concepts - that we must make education bigger and better than ever, and that we must make it available to every child -help send a mandate to Washington, DC. Support my campaign for President of the United States. Support PTN. Support total democracy. Help find a way for every American to be educated, safe, and healthy. In order to finance my campaign, I am asking for contributions just like every other candidate. And like every other candidate, I hope to receive matching federal funds. Unlike every other candidate, however, I am promis- ing to return my contributors money along with half of mine. I will hire my contributors to talk about my campaign. Their salary will be one -and -a -half times the amount of their contribution (within the legal limits.) In other words, if a contributor sends me $100, I will hire that contributor at a salary of $150. What politician has made you a better offer? Supporting my campaign is an investment. At last, a politician who pays you to do nothing but talk. I will be in Iowa in 1999, and I will hear what you have to say then. In the meantime, thanks for listening. )( — Lowell Darling is the author of One Hand Shaking, an account of his California gubernatorial campaign, in which he received 2% of the vote against Jerry Brown. Darling grew up in the Quad Cities and is the only presidential candi- date known to be a direct descendant of Marcel Duchamp. THE PRAwE PROGRESSIVE • FEBRUARY 1999 • PAGE 3 There's Something about Beloved To ensure that this movie gets its due from at least one source, I hereby bestow the Prairie Progressive Best Movie of the Year Award on Beloved. Three observations: First, Oprah Winfrey —who is both the "mother of the movie" (Demme) and Sethe, the mother it the movie —apparently can do about anything she sets her mind to. Second, Jonathan Demme need take a back seat to no other American direc- tor. And third, the timing was bad for a movie about slavery, when movies about dumb white guys are reigning supreme in Hollywood and the Southern White Male has taken over Washington. After much hope and hype, Beloved bombed at the box office. It breaks your heart to read Winfrey's journal about the making of the movie, bursting with the joy of turning her 10- year dream into reality and the belief that this compelling story of her ancestors would open the minds and hearts of millions and help stop the bleeding from our national shame. Beloved was to be her Schindler's List. How could it fail? Starring the beloved Queen of Television (there is no king), directed by an Oscar -winning director, from a novel by the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. Try to top that. Just as the novel never made it easy on the reader, the movie refused to play down to the viewer. It didn't fail. Only at the box office. Where it pays to be dumb. Not only are dumb movies bringing in big bucks, they are beginning to fool the critics. Gene Siskel, the one with the thin thumb, included There's Some- thing About Mary in his list of ten best movies of 1998. The only thing about Mary is her knack for attracting stupid white guys. There are a lot of things about the character Beloved, and most of them defy explanation. She is the reincarna- tion of the baby her mother killed to save it from life as a slave. With this act, Sethe went one step beyond the horror of Sophie's choice. The strong presence of the supernatural gave some critics an opening to dismiss Beloved as a ghost story, even a horror movie. But the ghost and the horror in the person of Beloved is the embodiment of the tragedy of slavery, what Morrison calls "the Misery," that refuses to go away. One critical mark of a good movie is that you wake up thinking about it the morning after. This one really haunts. I played "most powerful scenes" with two friends. Mine was easy: the climactic killing -of -the -baby scene. I can't imagine any other director doing it better. Another chose Sethe seeing Ohio, a free state, across the river for the first time. The third was most moved seeing the scars on the backs of both Sethe and Paul D. during a love scene, which was as gut wrenching a sight as any whipping scene. Each of these moments argues against the view that the ghost element detracted from the central theme of slavery. Every- thing in the movie is about the physical survivors of slavery struggling to survive emotionally. If the Academy is in a mood to start making up for its history of slighting Black filmmaking, Beloved has a wealth of potential, deserving nominations, beginning with the movie itself. The remarkable young women of Beloved—Thandie Newton (Beloved), Kimberly Elise (Denver), and Lisa Gay Hamilton (Young Sethe)—may have already played the most important roles of their lives. No, America doesn't have the time to deal with the slavery which stains its history, nor with a movie about slavery. It's too busy at the moment trying to hold off a pack of Southerners out to get a president whom, according to Toni Morrison, many African -Ameri- cans regard as their first black President,"Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime." And not even this president has dared issue a formal apology for slavery. The only part of slavery America wants to hear about is Thomas Jefferson's DNA. The top grosser during Beloved's rapid exit from theaters was Waterboy, a movie that, by any post -pubescent standard, is as horrible as the subject matter of Beloved is horrific. There is a great irony in this. The title Waterboy recalls the name of an actor, Stepin Fetchit, who has come to symbolize the degrading buffoonish roles that Blacks were limited to in the early days of Hollywood. Now it's the whites playing the demeaning parts in Hollywood's celebration of white male stupidity, while an African -American project like Beloved is too complex, too serious, too intelligent for mainstream moviegoers. Beloved may not find its audience until someday in the future, but film history is sure to reward this noble effort to face our past. )g — Jae Retz THE PRA/Rm PROGRESSIVE • FEBRUARY 1999 • PAGE 4 E• CALEN DAR January 10,1989 Karen Kubby elected to the Iowa City City Council January 30,1948 Gandhi assassinated February26-27 Envisioning Sustainable Worlds: Campus, Curriculum, & Community, a cultural studies conference at Drake University. Speakers include Sandra Sanchez, Linda Appelgate, & Ed Fallon. Free and open to the public. www.env.drake.edu/ sustain.html March 23, 1989 The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs aground, fouling 500 square miles of Alaskan waters March 26-27 Two-day Media Training Seminar sponsored by Women's Resource & Action Center and facilitated by the Spin Project of San Francisco. Trainer: Robert Bray, former media director for the Human Rights Campaign Fund and the National Gay/Lesbian Task Force. Iowa Memorial Union, Iowa City, $50, 319-335-1486 March 27 Democratic Off -Year Caucus, Johnson County, 319-338-1997 March 28, 1979 Nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island malfunctions THE PRAIRIE PROGRESSIVE has been published quarterly since 1986. Editor for this issue: Dave Leshtz. ❑ $10 1-year subscription. ❑ $_ 1999 sustaining fund gift. 0 $8 1-year gift subscription Your Name Gift Name Your Address Gift Address C) O A Special Prairie Progressive ThankYou b to Joe Sharpnack and Loretta Popp for creating the classic Beanie Baby fundraising cartoon and the Prairie Dog Beanie Babies for lifetime subscribers b to the 74 readers who have contributed $1206 and 10,000 yen since Thanksgiving 1998 b to the comrades and relatives who have stamped and labeled thousands of Prairie Progressives with passion, gusto, and bemusement City, State Zip — City, State Zip LPlease return to: The Prairie Progressive, P.O. Box 1945, Iowa City, IA 52244 G 4 � Te have no permanent �! �/ friends, only permanent issues. We are beholden to no individual or party. Let us turn up the heat until the politicians see the light." — Andy Stern, President, SEIU THE PRAmm PROGRESsrvE • FERRueRY 1999 • RAGE 5 Honor Roll, Continued from Page I the towel, saying that he would "no longer dispatch morality patrols for the state." Randy Bezanson, Gil Cranberg, & John Soloski began an in-depth study of how ownership structures of newspapers affect journalism. The UI professors are examining how and why newspapers are operating increasingly for the sake of shareholders rather than readers. The student -led Gay/Straight Alliance of Valley High and others in the Des Moines area and Ames are working against anti -gay bias in high schools. Slurs and threats of violence have failed to keep teenagers such as Andy Cowan and Erin O'Brien from providing supportive forums for discussing sexual -orientation issues. The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission voted 6-1 to recommend adding "sexual orientation" to the city's anti -discrimination ordinance. Since that vote, the Cedar Rapids City Council assured itself a spot on the 1999 Honor Roll by adopting the recommendation,3-2. Voting yes were Lee Clancy, Nancy Evans, and Dale Todd Having already astonished eastern Iowa with its first -ever endorsement of a Democrat for Governor, the Cedar Rapids Gazette urged the City Council to protect the rights of gays and lesbians in the areas of employment, education, credit, and housing. Another Honor Roll hopeful for 1999: rookie State Senator Joe Bolkcom, for resisting meth madness, prison expansion, and tax breaks for Iowans who least need them. THE PRAIRIE PROGRESSIVE Box 1945 Iowa City, IA 52244 "Justice does not help those who slumber but helps only those who are vigilant:' — Mahatma Gandhi The Iowa City Citizens' Police Review Board, formed in the wake of the shooting of Eric Shaw, got off to a slow start but showed courage by taking seriously the growing number of police stops for "driving while black." Seven years ago Miya Rodolfo- Sioson was a random victim of violence on the University of Iowa campus. Today she works for the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, where she helped pass a city ordinance to permanently fund emergency -assis- tance services for people with severe disabilities. Rodolfo's advice for activists, with or without disabilities: "There's tons of stuff you can still do. Just focus on what you can do, and don't worry about the stuff you can't do." )°o Prairie-E)q= — CI - usnH Fa.c-m.e,a I(41) Tso►J g03t�AcS��,