#479 – Dick Bernard: A chance encounter with James Quentin Young, a creator of religious art

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Sunday, while doing my ’rounds’ as an usher at Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis I happened to notice a piece of religious sculpture on the wall (click to enlarge photos). (Photos of all of the art on exhibit can be seen here, and are posted with the permission of the artist.)

Shatter Proof Cross by James Quentin Young, 2010


The creation was intriguing: a combination of wood, metal, plastic and foil. Artist James Quentin Young’s note at the side of the piece said “This cross can be seen as strong and sturdy, a force against the brokenness that exists in our society.”
Now I paid closer attention: James Quentin Young is an unusual name, and many years ago in Anoka-Hennepin School District I knew the name of an art teacher, James Quentin Young. I wondered, “one and the same?”
If so, he likely would now be retired, as I am.
A little later, I noticed another cross design a short ways down the same wall: “James Quentin Young”. Another, another…in all there were 18 creations by this James Quentin Young on the outer walls of the Basilica, each unique. I go to church at Basilica, but normally don’t see the outer walls and had completely missed this exhibition (which, unfortunately, ended November 20).
Downstairs, where we always have coffee after Mass, there were many more attractive works of art on the walls. They are like most such exhibits: one admires the ability of the artist and the representation without necessarily noticing who did the piece. This time I looked:
James Quentin Young.
The exhibit ended the same day I saw it, so the best thing I feel I can is make others aware of this retired art teacher and his work. Likely there will be other exhibitions. His website is here. He’s in the Minneapolis phone book, if you are interested in making contact. Kathy Dhaemers, who handles art exhibitions at Basilica, notes that Mr. Young has a following in the twin cities. I can see why.
Monday, I made a special trip over to Basilica to take photos of all the works – there were, in all, 75. By good fortune, I arrived at the Church about the time the artist James Quentin Young arrived to take down his exhibit. We managed to meet briefly by yet another of the crosses in the sanctuary, this one composed of a portion of a rack of clothes hooks. As best as I can recall, James Q had rescued this rack from some garage sale or other, and the hooks-as-cross symbolized for him the assorted kinds of things on which we human beings hang our lives.
James grew up on St. Paul’s west side, and spent a year in Mexico City, and his art has a strong strain of both common roots and Hispanic influence. It is both beautiful and thought provoking.

James Quentin Young, November 21, 2011


Here’s the text on the flier which accompanied the exhibition: “In reviewing his art from the past 53 years, James Young discovered that from the beginning of his study in art he sought to use Christian themes. It was a journey with Biblical references using reoccurring symbols of doves, fish, angels, and portraits of Christ. For the past eleven years the cross has been the primary symbol in his work. Young often creates his art from old wood, metal and found objects. Using discarded and broken items, Young’s art portrays Christ’s acceptance of our flawed and rejected lives and transformation through His death and resurrection.”

#478 – Dick Bernard: The Greatest Generation, the Boomers, Millenials and all that.

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Sunday afternoon, after the Vikings lost, I watched the endless rerun about the coming end of the world on the History Channel. For those who’ve missed it, the end is scheduled for December 21, 2012. All that is certain is the date: exactly what, or who goes where, is open for endless debate.
Idle speculation about our future is foolish, in my opinion. Best to do the best we can with whatever time we have left. (We may have only ten minutes, but what good does it do to worry about that?)
But ‘officially’, apparently, we still have 13 months. And the Mayans and Nostradamus and Merlin and the others could be wrong, or their writings misinterpreted. Till we check out, we’ll be part of the solution, or part of the problem. There’s no neutral zone, in my opinion. It’s not “their” fault.
Earlier Sunday, I read a very interesting analysis of the assorted generations stake in our future. The piece was written by Lori Sturdevant, a long-time and highly respected columnist on politics for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She has earned her accolades.
Here is her take on the data about the assortment (baby boomers, millenials, etc.) It is a recommended read.
Here’s my very brief response to her writing:
It’s not easy to challenge the opinions and labels of pollsters. We live in a time of polling and the Pew Research data cited by Ms Sturdevant can be seen here, along with endless other pieces of interesting data.
I’d challenge only a bit Pew’s categories.
I was born in 1940, my oldest child in 1964, and for a long while I’ve known I was in the Silent Generation, which Pew for some reason classifies as the folks born between 1928-45 (Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Ed in Sturdevant’s telling).
I’d start the Silent Generation a bit later, perhaps 1937. The folks born before 1937 were old enough to have living memories of the bad times of the Great Depression, and the oldest were old enough to have vivid memories of, and some even old enough, to be drafted into World War II before it ended in 1945.
We silents were too young to have much of a direct memory of the era experienced by what Tom Brokaw called “the Greatest Generation”, but our entire early living experience was with and around people immersed in that era. We couldn’t avoid WWII or the Depression, even if we didn’t comprehend exactly what they were. But all that is unnecessary argument.
But the very interesting analysis of Pew, further analyzed by Lori Sturdevant, is well worth your time, before you wander into the political minefield of Turkey Day.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving (research does show that the vast majority of us do have more than adequate resources to have a happy day on Thursday.) Enjoy. But as the ubiquitous disclaimer on beer, wine and spirits ads suggests: “with great privilege comes great responsibility”)
Related here and here.

#476 – Dick Bernard: An extra special evening with Old Soldiers at the Minneapolis MN Veterans Home

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Related post here.
My cousin, Mary Busch, alerted us to an appearance of the Minnesota State Band at the Minnesota Veteran’s Home near Minnehaha Falls on Wednesday evening, November 16. Mary is in the band (French horn, far right in below photo), as is her friend Bob Stryk (bass clarinet).
We’d never been to a program at the Vets Home before. It was a moving and extraordinary evening (click on photos to enlarge them). Here is the program booklet, including description of the pieces played: MN State Band Program001

Minnesota State Band Nov. 16, 2011


Portion of audience at MN Veterans Home November 16, 2011


The program for veterans was a salute to the Civil War, which began 150 years ago (program order below). It became nostalgic for me. One of my earliest ancestors to Minnesota was Samuel Collette, who arrived in St. Paul area about 1857, and as a 22 year old was enlisted into the so-called Indian War of 1862-63. Samuel became a resident of the Veterans Home in 1907, and for all but a few months in 1908, lived the rest of his life there, dying at 95 in 1934. I wondered if he ever heard programs like this one.
The Vets Home auditorium is designed specifically for disabled persons: There are no rows of seats. The band performed on a stage lower than the audience so that more of the audience could see them. Most of we ‘normal’ folk don’t think of the problems encountered by the profoundly disabled.
The band’s program is below, and except for “Around the Campfire”, I’ve linked each song to a YouTube page with various renditions of the songs. I couldn’t find a YouTube rendition of Around the Campfire (by Julius S. Seredy). In a real sense you can listen to the same program as performed by the Minnesota State Band.
Washington Greys by Claudio S. Grafulla arr. Loras J Schissel
William Tell Overture by G. A. Rossini/ Arr. Erik W. G. Leidzen
Lorena by H. Webster
Around the Campfire by Julius S. Seredy arr Lester Brockton
A Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copeland/ Tr. Walter Beeler
The Blue and the Gray by Clare Grundman
Hymn to the Fallen by John Williams Tr. Paul Lavender
Armed Forces Salute Arr. Bob Lowden
America the Beautiful Arr. Robert Wetzler
Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
I noticed folks during the presentation. Many were quite profoundly handicapped by the ravages of age or disability.
My cousin related the next day that the attendance was lower than at their previous appearances, and the reason was sadly simple: there weren’t sufficient volunteers to wheel the other veterans to the program. Many had to remain in their rooms. I am guessing that it wouldn’t simply be a matter of volunteering at the event…there are protocols for such.
I made a memo to self to offer to become a volunteer there. We take such services for granted.
Next to me was an elderly guy in a wheelchair who seemed quite engaged in the music. As we left, I asked him “which branch of the service?” With no hesitation he said, “Army, 5th Infantry Division, WWII.”
It didn’t occur to me till I was going out the door that my Army days, in early Vietnam era 1962-63, were spent in that same division, the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized).
Whatever one’s thoughts might be of war, one must not forget those who served.

#475 – Dick Bernard: The Occupy Movement (OWS), Move to Amend, and organizing generally: "There ain’t no power like the power of the people, like the power of the people, say WHAT?" "There ain’t no power…."

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Related post here.
Today is the two-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street (OWS). This writer urges that the movement build on its initial success by changing tactics.
Pre-Comment from William in east suburban St. Paul: “Dick, this OWS may be cathartic for the demonstrators but will not have any lasting effect unless it results in actual political activity at the caucus level in getting candidates for office that support their positions and getting out the vote (theirs and others ) in the 2012 elections. The same holds true for all of the rest of us of course!”
*
During a number of years of participating in protests and demonstrations, I always heard the phrase that heads this post. It was a common ‘call and response’ one, catchy, pertinent, easy to recite: “ain’t no power like the power of the people.”
The phrase carries a great deal of meaning. But I wonder if the people reciting it really catch what it really could mean if they were doing, as they were reciting, the phrase.
As best I can gather, OWS and the Tea Party have the active allegiance of similar numbers of the “99%”. Both groups are small relative to the total population. The Tea Party has a two year head start, but is flagging badly in the court of public opinion. The Tea Party has been co-opted by the very real “power” of the 1%ers. This is a crucial time for OWS.
In our society we are familiar with assorted manifestations of power. A very long list can be made.
Perhaps 25 years ago I heard them explained in a particularly useful way, and a few years ago I created the slide which is shown below. Of course, this is only a partial list: how about, for example, gaining power through the correct marriage?

The one I wish to focus on in the above list is the last one, which the speaker called “referent power” for some reason. It is one about the “power of the people”; the power of relationships within the 100% of humanity.
To give “ain’t no power” meaning, we really need to get into action, into what is called civic engagement, with and among people who may not share our precise view of reality.
I recently witnessed this kind of call to civic engagement action at the annual celebration of the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers Nov. 8. Perhaps 300 of us, mostly in the “graying age” and “birds of a feather”, were there to listen to a representative of the group Move to Amend, whose focus is on challenging corporate personhood and re-creating democracy. The evening was really generated by the actions of two brothers, Laird and Robin Monahan, who, the previous year, had walked across the United States in protest of the Supreme Court decision in January, 2010, which declared corporations as persons under the law.
Their walk only started their action.
Our speaker was there to encourage action and dialogue. He yielded part of his speaking time to a young representative of the Occupy Minneapolis group.
At the end of the evening, the Director of the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, led his 150 person choir in song, and in between encouraged us, without becoming overtly political, to become aware of the issues facing the Gay Community. (The Gay Men’s Chorus is a phenomenal group (photo below, click to enlarge). Check out their website and let others know of their program.)
There were other examples of encouragement towards civic dialogue within this same meeting. It was a great night.
Personally, I think it is a good time for the Occupy folks to regroup and take their message to the people where they live. I think their visible presence these last two months has been incredibly effective, but it is back home with friends and neighbors and relatives that the real impact will be made. That is the “referent power” in the illustration. My friend, Jeff, said it well yesterday: “I think the OWS people in NY have taken the right view, its not the “place” , it’s the movement, so you “move on”….” William, at the beginning of this post, makes a similar point.

Twin Cities Gay men’s Chorus Nov. 8, 2011, at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church

Comments from some others who were there Nov. 8.
From Val in suburban St. Paul:
[Our speaker] took great pains in laying the groundwork for taking action…love of God and neighbor, purpose of church, and everyone’s role in working toward justice…justice as an expression of love. He could get all the gray haired grandmas willing to go to jail for the cause.
The ‘Move to Amend’ movement has a much broader scope than just un-doing the Supreme Court decision of 1/21/10. I was surprised by this – not bothered by it. I appreciated his knowledge and background info on the subject.
What better way to send folks out into the night than the voices of the 100+ male chorus.
Grateful I was able to attend,
Bob from suburban St. Paul:
I was there and found his presentation to be quite powerful and motivating. I also felt some pride that one of my fellow Greens was taking on the issue of corporate personhood. It has occured to me that we need a international political movement to take on the transnationals who are now in charge of the Global economy. The Green Party has a presence in 90 countries and is the fastest growing political community in the world, which could present a vehicle for challenging corporate dominance. The labor movement has not found the formula for addressing the ability of corporations to just keep moving their facilities to the cheapest labor sources.
“There ain’t no power like the power of the people, like the power of the people, say WHAT>” “There ain’t no power….”

#474 – Dick Bernard: American Education Week

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This week is the annual observance of American Education Week (AEW), and today is Parents Day.
Lots of information about this week dedicated to the approximately one of six Americans who either attend or work in schools can be found here. Note links, including a history of the week, under American Education Week on the left hand side of the page.
Make no mistake: children are our future.
As I once heard Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith state so powerfully, young people in one or another way say “you can pay now, or you will pay later”. She was talking, then, about short-changing kids in a summer jobs program in a major midwest city – they said they couldn’t afford the program – and the major consequences for many kids with nothing to do, including the high costs of prison – the end of the road for those left without opportunity.

#473 – Dick Bernard: Occupy Wall Street – Minneapolis (OWS) and the Tea Party

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As I write, 6:30 p.m. on November 14, a big rally of Occupy Wall Street is apparently taking place in downtown Minneapolis. I say “apparently” because I don’t know for sure if, or how, plans may have changed due to posturing by local government, and response by the OWS folks to that.
That will be part of the news tomorrow IF the news media choose to cover the event*.
I’m one of those gluttons for punishment, accepting into my e-mail in-box anti-Obama hate mail, Tea Party, right and left wing commentaries. It tends to get overwhelming at times, but it is good to see what the assorted folks are dispensing as their particular reality.
Both OWS and Tea Party claim support of the “99%” of the country who are not wealthy. My support is strongly with the OWS folks, though I couldn’t see sufficient reason to travel to Minneapolis this evening.
Occupy Wall Street is the more recent visitor to the news. It began with an unpublicized protest in Zuccotti Park in New York City in September. It took a couple of weeks to get any news notice. OWSs apparent website – “unofficial” it emphasizes – is here.
It has since spread nation-wide, and at this writing seems to be enjoying positive momentum.
So far, OWS appears to have managed to resist the pitfall of many spontaneous movements to be co-opted by the traditional Power structure (see ** here). It is my hope that OWS retains its present character, which enhances its potential for long term success.
The Tea Party, on the other hand, was almost without any question born as a creature of power: angry people were considered a tool by the very people against whom their anger was directed.
If not that, the “Tea Party” was quickly taken over by the radical right wing power structure. Its populist members seem to despise government generally (except those very limited functions that apply directly to them, personally: Medicare, Guns, etc.) and have in a short time gained an immense amount of power (a function of being a part of the traditional power structure)…but have not used that power wisely. (Below are some common elements of Power. Relationship Power (“power to the people”, shall I say) is seldom used in our society, including by those who could most successfully leverage it. Rather, we stick with the old traditions that kept kings and the like in control of their subjects. It strikes me as an odd reality.)

For all intents and purposes the Tea Party partisans control Congress, which in turn has an approval rating which remains at about 9%, lower than any time in history. Like Occupy Wall Street it is somewhat difficult to identify exactly who the Tea Party is; it is not as difficult to identify where it gets its power, and its not from the people at large. Long time right-wing Republican politician Dick Armey was early and visibly involved in Tea Party activities, as were others like present day Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.
Amongst my flood of e-mails recently, have come a couple of recent commentaries that have helped me, at least, become informed about these polar opposite movements. Neither article is written by a partisan for either, and if you have any interest, the two commentaries are worth the time to read:
1. A recent commentary, here, describes the Tea Party as it currently exists in the United States**. Writer Eric Black is a retired and highly respected writer on politics who spent most of his career with the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
2. A second commentary describes the deep, seemingly unbridgeable, gulf between what are considered the Left and the Right in this country. You can read it here.
I remain fascinated with the ‘relationship’ between the ideological poles which seem so very similar in so many ways (here).
At the same time, as noted in the article in #2, the poles are very different: on the right side there seems an obsession with the absolute rights of the individual, including the right to control others; on the left seems an equal but opposite obsession emphasizing what I would call larger community ideals – “we’re all in this together”.
Whatever….
In the end analysis, in the fall of 2012, the deciding votes will not be those who occupy the poles, but rather those in the silent middle of the ideological landscape.
Those at the poles are best advised to consider the moderate middle in all of their actions.
UPDATE Nov. 15 a.m.:
* – There was relatively little news about the demonstration. Here is the account on page two of the Nov. 15 Minneapolis Star Tribune.
** – A ‘takeaway’ for me on reading this article was the relatively tiny actual membership in active Tea Party groups. 200,000 in the United States would translate into one member per app. 1500 population in the U.S. Their political clout has obviously been much, much greater than their relative strength in terms of membership.
From Lee, in St. Paul:
The recently approved and implemented Hennepin County Board Building Use policy regarding OccupyMN demonstrations at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis is not in fact
“aimed at shutting down the occupation” as its supporters claim. That’s overblown rhetoric.*
I’ve followed this issue because the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in Minneapolis by OccupyMN could possibly become another 2008 Republican National Convention “train wreck” that diverts media and public attention from important “peace and justice” issues to preventable law-enforcement issues. Unfortunately, “train wreck” damage is already occurring with Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in other cities.
As I told one OccupyMN organizer whom we well know, the 2008 RNC civil court decisions on where and when protesters could march and demonstrate near the Convention site (the Xcel Energy Center) in downtown St. Paul, and the upheld criminal court convictions of protesters for illegal trespass and other law violations clearly reinforced the fact that “free speech” rights aren’t necessarily the same as occupancy rights on public or private property–especially when there’s probable cause to believe that occupation is violating city and county codes or even state laws that protect public health, safety and free access to government or private property.**
Moreover, the mounting law enforcement costs of securing the Government Center (reportedly about $200,000) are apparently diverting funds from other public needs at a time when county and city budgets are very tight and state aid to local governments has been sharply reduced.
Yes, OccupyMN demonstrations should continue and deliver their vital messages, but in ways that respect the rule of law and budget priorities. One unnecessary and costly Minnesota “train wreck” is more than enough.
Richard Lee Dechert
*See “Board Approves Changes to Building Use Policy” here
**See “The ‘RNC 8’ ‘criminalizing dissent’ conspiracy: A blatant case of ends-justify-the-means anarchy” here.

#472 – Dick Bernard: Penn State/Joe Paterno/Relationships between Vulnerable Children and Authority Figures

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There is no need to recite the volumes already, or to be, written about the story at Penn State. (I write, when they are on the field against Nebraska, at this moment, behind 10-0. Entering the game they were the 12th ranking football team in the nation, their opponent the 19th ranking team).
Of course, all that is totally irrelevant. As one commentator said a few minutes ago, it is as if the quarterback, Paterno, fumbled the ball on the goal line at the edge of the greatest victory in history….
I have another perspective that may add a bit to the necessary conversation.
Being human, with a fair amount of seniority amongst my cohorts in today’s population, I know a little bit about human nature.
Being Catholic, I know how stupidity plays out among power people who think that they can contain and control incidents of sexual abuse within the confines of their church authority (that began to unravel in the 1990s, a long time ago, and continues to this day.) It didn’t and doesn’t work. But some in authority still don’t quite get it.
But I have another insight, born of representing public school teachers in a teachers union from 1972-2000 and seeing the statutory transition from, initially, restrictions on corporal punishment (spanking), to mandatory reporting of even a suspicion of abuse of a child by an adult. The transition was complete long before my staff career ended. What astonishes me in the current situation is that this bunch at Penn State could have been so utterly clueless.
There have been, are, and will continue to be incidents of abuse in public education and elsewhere. We are humans, after all.
But in my particular venue, public education, the incidence was very, very tiny, but when uncovered very, very visible. (In the United States today there are perhaps nearly 50,000,000 children in schools; and perhaps 6,000,000 school employees including substitute teachers, aides, bus drivers, cooks, and on and on and on. With such an immense cohort, in school for an average of 171 days a year in Minnesota, there is no end of possibilities for problems, but amazingly few problems occur.)
In Minnesota, the relevant statute has existed since 1975, and can be viewed in its entirety here. It has been amended frequent times, and doubtless Penn State will cause it to be revisited once again.
I remember the general evolution of this law.
It began pretty simply, probably in 1975, essentially prohibiting spanking of, in anatomy terms, the gluteus maximus (to we lay people, the “rear end”). I don’t recall the genesis of the Law, but probably it was from some excess by someone, somewhere. It was a difficult adjustment for the enforcer in a school, often the shop teacher, more often the principal. The paddle had to go. To this day, there are some who advocate the paddle….
As years went on, the Law evolved.
I wish I could remember the year, but I think it was sometime in the 1980s, when the mandatory reporting provision was first enacted. This came to be called the ‘no touch’ rule in my public education jurisdiction.
The reaction was in the direction of zero tolerance of adult-child touch, in any of its manifestations.
I remember the most dramatic aberration (response): kindergarten teachers, virtually all female, became fearful of doing such innocuous things as helping a kid tie his or her shoelaces.
As time went on, the system and the individuals found more equilibrium, but the point remains, as it relates to Penn State, that the business of adult-vulnerable child relationships has been an active part of legal policy discussion since at least 1975 – 36 years.
There is an entire additional discussion, in this case, of the role of football as a symbol of power and authority in our society. Joe Paterno was an institution because he “brought home the bacon” for Penn State in prestige and money.
But, as I say, that is an entire other discussion.
UPDATES (Notice also comment included with this post):
Comment from Bonnie, Minneapolis: Well said, Dick. Hard to understand their cluelessness. Thanks for continuing your good work.
Comment from Bob, suburban St. Paul, Nov. 12:The only moral response by Penn State would have been to forfeit the remainder of their season to emphasize the significance of this horrendous criminal behavior. The students and fans who want to deify their coach and gloss over this criminality need a strong message from the university that this behavior is to be abhorred and treated as a criminal matter.
I believe mandatory reporting started in about 1970 in Minnesota for a host of professionals such as medical personnel, social workers, all mental health professionals, and education staff. Defining abuse to include corporal punishment by teachers must have come later or in 1975. Prior to the mandatory reporting law it was very hard for doctors and others to report abuse for fear of being sued by the parent for violating confidentiality. In 1969 or so I attended a conference at the U of Denver where a Dr Kemp had identified the “battered child syndrome”. I was with a contingent from Ramsey County including the local juvenile court judge, the head of psychiatry at the old St. Paul Ramsey, a county attorney, a police officer and others. When we came back we developed the Ramsey County Child Abuse Team to facilitate coordinated action by the various entities that intervene in abuse cases. Mandatory reporting has been on the books in Pennsylvania for many years. The Penn State staff had to know about their legal obligation to report. It is the same old story of those in power believing that their sacred institution (Church or Football Program) has priority over civil law.
My dates or years are a bit fuzzy but I believe roughly correct without doing in-depth research.
Note from Dick: whatever the actual dates, awareness about abuse, and the laws on reporting, have a very long history.
From Jeff, south suburbs, Nov. 13: The parties involved need to be punished severely… that means the offender
Sandusky, and if any coaches or university officials condoned or did not
report the crime then they also should be prosecuted if they broke the law
in PA.
Obviously Penn State will pay a very heavy price in lawsuits and settlements
in regard to this matter. These civil actions will help Penn State and
other institutions understand that protecting innocent children is paramount
and institutional protection of football or a university’s name is nothing
compared to this. Just think of how Penn State would have been held up as a
correct role model had they handled the situation the way it should have …
morally and legally.
As to the matter of football games. I personally differ on this. if the NCAA
or the State of PA wants to punish the football program at Penn State in the
future that is fine. The games that are set up are contracts that are
certainly not inviolate, and Penn State could forfeit them of course. I
think it would have been difficult last week. My feeling is however that
the players in the program today, and the students at the University today
should not be punished for things they had no involvement in. if the
program is punished in the future in some way , and both criminal and civil
sanctions and punishments are metered out as they are justly deserved I
think that is enough for now.
I do have sensitivity to the fact that sports or a sports program should not
supersede the criminality and heinous nature of the offenses ; but I also
think that punishing students and student athletes today for things that
happened 10 years ago and for which they had no control would be wrong in my
eyes.
Another followup comment from Bob in suburban St. Paul: Dick, I just attempted some research on the origins of our law in MN without much success. I did learn that in 1962 the medical profession began bringing the subject to our attention. In 1974 the federal government passed legislation providing funding to for state programs to address the issue. I do know we were in Denver in 1969 learning about how to develop a multi-disciplinary team at the local level. Just when MN outlawed child abuse remains question for me. Until states passed laws to make child abuse illegal it was dealt with under laws prohibiting cruelty to animals. What is stunning about the subject is the fact that it took us so long to define child abuse as criminal. Until then children were considered chattel. A doctor called me one time when I managed Child Welfare Intake for Ramsey County. He was trying to tell me through the use of obscure language that this young teen-age girl was a victim of incest. He could not be explicit or give me facts to go on because the law did not mandate reporting and he was going out on a limb legally. When I asked him for facts or how he knew these things, he said I just had to trust his medical acumen. It was obvious that this doctor was very nervous about telling me anything but wanted to tip us off. After the law was passed he was required to report and was protected legally. Thankfully we have advanced somewhat, but obviously not at Penn State. Bob
And yet another, from Bob, on Nov. 13: Dick, Try as I may the earliest mandetory reporting law I can find for Minnesota dates to 1974. This seems at odds with my memory of Judge Archie Gingold and others pushing for such a law as early as I969, and our child protection interventions prior to 1974. Perhaps we used other other child protection laws and the mandatory reporting law came along later in 1974, which also provided legal protection for the reporter and really changed everything. My memory is obviously flawed. Bob

#471 – Dick Bernard: Armistice (Veterans) Day 2011

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UPDATE: A reader sends along this Eyewitness to History link from the actual day/place in 1918.
Today is a unique date: 11-11-11 (November 11, 2011).
It is also Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, when at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, a moment was taken to recognize the hope that the end of the Great War, was also the beginning of Peace (hope always springs eternal.)
My mother, Esther, then 9 years old, remembered the day vividly: “The hired girl and I were out in the snow chasing chickens into the coop so they wouldn’t freeze when there was a great long train whistle from the Grand Rapids [ND] railroad track [about 4-5 miles away, as the crow flies]. In the house there was a long, long telephone ringing to signify the end of World War I.” (page 122 of Pioneers: The Busch and Berning Family of LaMoure County ND).
WWI was very deadly and confusing: my grandparents and most of the neighbors in their home (Wisconsin) and settlement (ND) communities were German ancestry, first generation American, and spoke German. One of my grandfather Busch’s hired men was killed in the war, and Grandpa wanted to enlist. Mom’s younger sister Mary, born 1913, remembered “there was a lot of prejudice against Germany at that time so the language was kept quiet. Being called a “kraut” wasn’t the nicest thing to hear. Most of the neighbors had German ancestors. Most of them came to the U.S. to avoid compulsory military training.” (p.136)
Esther and Mary’s Great-Uncle Heinrich Busch in Dubuque, a successful businessman who with his parents and brother had migrated from Germany in the early 1870s, wrote a passionate letter, in German, home to his German relatives Nov. 5, 1923, saying in part “The American millionaires and the government had loaned the Allies so many millions that against the will of the common folk, [P]resident Wilson was pulled into the War. England had nine million for newspaper propaganda [for war] in American newspapers about the brutal German and that the German-Americans had come to suffer under it, they were held [arrested] for [being] unpatriotic and were required to come before the court for little things as if they were pro-German. The damned war was a revenge and a millionaire’s war and the common people had to bleed in this bloody gladiator battle…..” (page 271) He went on in the same letter to predict the rise of a regime like the then-unknown Hitler and Nazis because of Germany’s humiliation and economic suffering in defeat.
War was not a sound-bite. History did not begin with Pearl Harbor and WWII….
Armistice Day is still celebrated in Europe, especially.
In the United States, in 1954, the day was re-named Veteran’s Day.
Whether intentional or not, the original intention of Armistice Day has come to be diluted or eroded: rather than recognize Peace; the effort is to recognize Veterans of War.
I’m a Military Veteran myself, so I certainly have no quarrel with recognizing Veterans.
But today I’ll be at the First Shot Memorial on the Minnesota Capitol Grounds, recognizing Armistice Day with other Veterans for Peace. Part of the ceremony will be ringing a common bell, eleven times.
A block or so away the Veterans Day contingent will be gathering at the Vietnam War Memorial.
The same kinds of people; a differing emphasis….
Ten years ago today, November 11, 2001, we were waiting to board our plane from London, England, to Minneapolis.
At precisely 11 AM…well, here’s how I described it in an e-mail March 20, 2003: “One of the most powerful minutes of my life was at Gatwick airport in suburban London on November 11, 2001, when the entire airport became dead silent for one minute to commemorate Armistice Day, which is a far bigger deal in England than it is here. The announcer came on the PA, and asked for reflective silence. I have never “heard” anything so powerful. I didn’t think it was possible. Babies didn’t even cry.”
A year later at the Armistice Day observance of Veterans for Peace at Ft. Snelling Cemetery I related this story again for the assembled veterans.
Today, whether you’re observing Veterans Day, or Armistice Day, remember the original intent of the day.
Peace in our world.
UPDATE – Noon November 11, 2011
Some photos from the Armistice and Veterans Day commemorations on the State Capitol grounds. The ceremonies were about one block apart. I spent time at each. Factoring out the band and other official personnel at the Veterans Day observance, the number in attendance seemed about the same. At the Armistice Day observance, eleven peace doves were released after a bell was rung eleven times. At the Veterans Day observance there was the traditional 21 gun salute. (click to enlarge the photos)

Bell Ringing Ceremony


Some of the eleven doves of peace released at the ceremony.


At the Veterans Day observance at the Vietnam Memorial, Capitol Ground


Statue between the Armistice and Veterans Day observances today, at St. Paul MN

#470 – Dick Bernard: Public Schools, and the kids in them, matter

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Sometimes seemingly random events have a real element of synchronicity to them: they seem to have no relationship, but in every meaningful way, they are directly related. I recently experienced two such synchronous events.
Wednesday, November 2, I was invited to a house party in south Minneapolis. The event was to recognize the first ten years in the history of a truly remarkable independent and non-partisan organization: Parents United for Public Schools (“PUPS”). The groups website (click here) says it all far better than I ever could.
I was invited to the gathering because in the first few months during which PUPS was evolving from idea into reality I participated in the early organizational meetings of the group. We were something of a ‘rag-tag’ bunch then – simply parents, grandparents and taxpayers who really cared about public schools. Back then, in 2002, there was no organization, no dues, no staff, and thus no guarantee of a future. After a few meetings, a bunch of us sat around in a circle at a library in the west suburbs and had our say. At my turn, I simply urged the group to stay in existence so that it would still exist at the beginning of a second year.
The organizers slogged on (such efforts are never easy), and here they are, still independent ten years later, a recognized and highly credible voice for Minnesota’s children.
At the gathering, Minnesota Education Commissioner Dr. Brenda Casselius stopped by to share a few words about her passion for kids and public education. (click on photo to enlarge it)

Craig Roen, PUPS Board President, and MN Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Brenda Casselius, Nov. 2, 2011


For those who lament that its impossible to change a resistant status quo, PUPS is an excellent validation of the timeless quotation of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” No one in PUPS is under the illusion that they’ve ‘won’; but their winning is in their continuing to advocate for children and for public schools. They’re in this for the long haul. They won’t quit.
The following Wednesday, I was invited to speak to a group of senior citizens in the south suburbs of the Twin Cities. My topic was public education. This group, like myself, had long before seen their children leave K-12 public education. In not too many years, the over 65 cohort will equal the number of students in Minnesota public schools. I call people like us “outside the walls” of public education.
I took on the task of attempting to briefly capsulize 150 years of Minnesota Public Education, as well as the current ‘lay of the land’ in public education. It is up to the group of 15 folks to judge whether or not I succeeded, but as I was preparing what I was going to present I had in mind the meeting the previous week.
Succinctly, at issue in Minnesota Public Education are about 840,000 public school students (one of every six Minnesotans), using about $9,500,000,000, about one-fourth of the total state budget. This seems like an immense number (and it is) but as I pointed out to the group of senior citizens (all of whom know someone who is actually in public school), this amounts to about $66 per day per student – hardly a kings ransom.
But because the enterprise is so immense and complex and far-flung, and because the consumers, the kids, cannot vote and have little say, public education is a fertile field for near warfare between assorted factions who wish to control both inputs and outcomes. Dialogue and seeking consensus can be difficult.
At the end of my talk (which was “peppered” with lots of constructive dialogue) I identified two crucial areas for the future of Minnesota public education:
1) Minnesotans have to commit to work together to help solve the very real problems in what is called the ‘achievement gap’ in the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and elsewhere where poverty is a problem. There is no room for propaganda or punishment on this need. We must work together.
2) Schools have an absolutely critical need to engage with the huge percentage of us who are “outside the walls” of public education (over 60% of households have no one under age 18 living in them; 75-85% of today’s taxpayers have no children of their own in school). We cannot be left as outsiders.
Yesterday was, today is, and tomorrow is at stake.
Thanks PUPS, and to all who care, thanks as well.

#469 – Dick Bernard: Election Day 2012 is exactly one year away.

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Today is an off-year election day. Do vote, and vote well-informed. As I wrote yesterday in this space, here, traditionally very few bother to vote in these important off-year elections. Be one of those who goes to the polls, well informed.
One year from today – the date is November 6, 2012 – is another of those most crucial elections in United States history.
One year ago, November 7, 2010, was another of those elections. A year ago only about 40% of those who were qualified to vote actually went to polls in our country, and a large percentage of those voted strictly out of anger. Paradoxically, perhaps as large a percentage of those who did not bother to vote at all, stayed away because they were angry, and did not bother to vote for exactly the opposite reasons of the other group. (I was an election judge last year: I saw the angry ones coming in, and the low turnout….)
Anger is not a good way to make a decision. That’s how we decided, last year.
Every election day is crucial. The only new difference is that elections are going off the charts in importance as we voters, through often uninformed action, and as often, inaction (not voting at all), are killing our future, and collectively we seem not to care.
It’s not as though we do not have information on which to make informed decision. We have a great plenty of information easily available.
We just don’t care. Or we’ve given up.
Whatever the case, collectively we got exactly what we wanted in 2010, and we will get exactly what we want in 2012. What we wanted a year ago appears to be, at this moment, a Congress with a collective approval rating of 9%. Only one of eleven Americans is satisfied with our closest national representatives. And we are the ones who sent them there, whether we actually voted for them or not. For a year now they’ve been saying that things will get better if only we get rid of President Obama, and doing their best to make sure that he can’t accomplish anything.
Our state governments are not much better. Watch the issues being voted on in this state or that, today. Or what those same governments are squabbling about if there is a Democrat Governor and a Republican House and Senate. We, the people, have tied ourselves in knots by electing this crew.
A few nights ago – it was Monday, October 24, 2011 – I watched Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell say with his usual plastic straight face that the reason for the problems in the Senate is the Senate Democrat majority who have not passed 15 bills sent over by the House of Representatives.
The Democrats are the obstructionists, he said.
This is the same man who has declared from almost the minute of President Obama’s inauguration that his party’s intention was to make Obama a one term President. That is his sole working objective.
The day after McConnell’s performance on television, I wrote a brief note to my local Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, with a simple question: what are these Bills, by name and file number? I specifically asked for the information in writing.
Surely, this should be a very easy question: very timely; and in the age of the internet, very simple to accomplish.
Here’s the Congresswoman’s answer as of Tuesday, November 8, 2011: not a single word, other than an automated acknowledgement of receipt of the question, about noon on October 25, 2011: Bachmann Oct 25, 2011001. (I think I could make a list of what these issues are, but I won’t: they are a laundry list of wishes that have absolutely no chance of ever becoming law, but can pass the House because of the nature of its essentially anti-government majority.)
To the vaunted 99% who are the victims: there is, indeed, a class war going on, and it is being waged against you. Here is how the 28 years between 1979 and 2007 is portrayed by the Congressional Budget Office.
I hope you cast your vote today, and a year from now, and any and every opportunity in between, and that it is always a well-informed vote.
Watch what happens today, and be well prepared when Tuesday, November 6, 2012, comes around.