The Free Press
June 24, 2006 01:03 am
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Thumbs up
To Minnesota responders for focusing attention on Florida’s response to disasters. It makes no sense to reinvent the wheel when Florida has had success in streamlining its disaster response. Disaster experts from numerous states, including Minnesota, traveled to Florida this week to learn more about its methods.
Deciding that its own response was a disaster, Florida officials after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 made major changes. For example, as the Associated Press reports, instead of scrounging for fuel, emergency responders from health, law enforcement and fire divisions were able to access a single statewide fuel center route during Hurricane Katrina. The program worked so well the state disaster agency was able to launch rescues in neighboring Mississippi two hours after the storm. Within 48 hours, they had set up a camp with food, water and supplies for six counties.
That unified type of response makes much sense and is one that other states are smart to steal for their own use.
Thumbs up
To the area residents who have worked diligently on the Envision 2020 process.
For months, a core group of volunteers from various walks of life have met to put together a blueprint for the city of Mankato through the year 2020.
The process has come to the point where the various ideas are being forwarded to the groups that can implement them. The visions vary widely, from urging the city to find or build a community center to a plan to bring area entrepreneurs together to support each other and pool resources.
Such planning efforts can easily be neglected after the initial burst of interest. But civic leaders in Mankato have a good track record on following through on such efforts in the past and the current Envision project is getting good support.
Not everything that is proposed will come to fruition. That is the nature of any long-term planning process. But having a blueprint that guides overall efforts for the next 15 years or so is a necessary part of successful community development.
Thumbs down
To the Republican leaders in the U.S. House, for clinging to an impractical and punitive approach to immigration reform.
Unlike President Bush and the Senate, the House has chosen to forgo any attempt to deal realistically with the millions of illegal immigrants already inside our borders — a low-pay workforce crucial to many sectors of our economy.
The resulting standoff means nothing useful will pass this year.
The GOP leaders apparently believe their hard-line stand will pay off in November by propelling their otherwise disgruntled base to the polls. Perhaps. But in the long run, even that may backfire. California, two decades ago, was a reliable Republican state. Today, thanks in no small measure to an anti-immigration measure backed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, California reliably votes Democratic.
Thumbs up
To the University of Minnesota’s veterinary school, for taking a new, refreshing approach in choosing students for admission. Instead of solely using applicants’ grades, the vet school considers personal traits and values as part of the admissions process. A committee actually interviews finalists.
It’s a practice every business uses in filling positions in a workplace. It makes sense to go beyond how people look on paper to consider how they interact with human beings.
It’s obvious the process wasn’t adopted to make entry easier for students. Only 90 students were picked from 900 applicants last fall. If done fairly, the process should be one that rewards applicants for being well-rounded, not just technically or academically prepared. Other institutions should think about doing the same.
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