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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1988
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Kennedy's spirit still glows 25 years later By THOMAS P. SKEEN
See related stories Page B-5 COEUR d' ALENE - Like the
Staff writer
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Eternal Flame that burns on slain President John F. Kennedy's grave in Arlington National Cemetery, memories of his assassination 25 years ago still burn in the nation's psyche. What tbe country and the world would be today bad be not fallen into the gunsights of Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas is a matter of speculation, said area residents who were interviewed this week about tbeir impressions of tragedy. But most said that since 12:30 p.m. Nov. 22, 1963, when shots rang out from the Texas Book Depository. the United States
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has yet had a president who was as inspiring as Kennedy. " A great many people looked to him in almost heroic proportions," said 1st District Court Judge Gary Haman, who recalled be was 25 and was on bis way to attend a class at the University of Idaho College of Law when be beard rumors of the shooting. He said he didn't need to be told that the shots were fatal. ''I walked into the dean's office after the class," Haman said.
See KENNEDY, back page~
Verna Driessen remembers the Kennedy assassination.
- Photo by ED McKEEVER
"Just looking at the faces of secretaries, I knew the president had been killed.'' The only thing he could think of to do was to leave the campus and drive home to Coeur d'Alene to be with his family. "It was a real shock," he said. "My first reaction was anger, just pure anger. "Kennedy to the people in my generation was almost a hero. It was as if somebody had stolen that from us." Haman said it is impossible to know what direction the nation and the world would have taken had Kennedy completed his time in of· fice. "You can speculate a great deal about that because there was so much going on during that time," he explained. "The impact of television, the Vietnam War - all of those things were coming anyway." Also coming was 1968, the year that saw the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John Kennedy's younger brother, Sen. Robert Kennedy, who at the time of his death was a strong contender in the presidential campaigns that year. Tony Stewart, a political science instructor at North Idaho College, links the three assassinations together when he thinks of the effect Kennedy's death had on the nation. "One of the tragedies in the death of all three is that those three together had inspired so many people to become involved in the world around them ," said Stewart. "Some of those people were lost because the deaths were such a crushing blow to them ... It definitely left a mental scar." Stewart, who was a 22-year-old junior at Western Carolina University when Kennedy was killed, said he first heard of the shooting when be was in the second floor of the campus' liberal arts building on his way to a history class. He was stopped in the hallway by a friend who told him the president had been shot, he said. "At first there was denial," Stewart said. "I jumped all over him (his friend) and said, 'That's not funny to Joie about things like that.' " Then the reality set in, Stewart said, he spent the next three days - as did much of the nation watching events in the aftermath of the assassination unfurl on television.
Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Frank Premo, who was a 25-yearold traffic patrol officer with the Los Angeles Police Department when Kennedy was killed, has no reservations about the former president's charisma and abilities. But be said he thinks Reagan, a Republican, has at least equalled Kennedy in popularity.
Those events included the firstever live national television broadcast of a murder when Jack Ruby on Nov. 24 gunned down Oswald in a basement corridor in Dallas police headquarters as Oswald was being led by guards for transfer to the Dallas County Jail. The shock waves of Kennedy's "Reagan in bis own way Is very assassination swept around the charismatic," said Premo. "He globe, even creeping into a Berlin has an ability to get things he cabaret where Veronika Beck, who wants, even though the (majority) moved from West Germany to of Congress is Democratic. Coeur d'Alene 18 years ago, was , "Kennedy was to the left what performing with a political satire Reagan is to the right," be said. group. Though Premo said he voted for "It was evening there, and they Richard Nixon over Kennedy in the interrupted the program for the 1960 election, be nevertheless reannouncement," said Beck, who spected the fallen president. was 21 at the time. "There was five "He didn't portray the policies I minutes of silence and then a lot of agreed with," Premo said, "but he crying, sobbing and disbelief. was doing what those who sup"I started to cry, too," she said. ported him elected him to do ... "I couldn't believe it; I liked what (and) the assassination just under(Kennedy) was doing.'' mined the democratic process." Beck, who was born in Germany Verna Driessen recalls she was a 59-year-old teacher at Coeur under Nazi domination in 1942, said many West Germans feared that d' Alene's old Central Elementary after the assassination the United School when she and her thirdgrade class learned of the shootStates "would go more towards facism, what we bad with Hltler." ing. "It was an awesome, awesome "Kennedy had a real good imthing," said Driessen, who turm 85 age, and we knew about Bobby on Nov. 'll. (Kennedy, who served as U.S. At•• (The children) were very, very torney General in his brother's adsad. Everything was closed so fast ministration) and what be was and the children were taken doing trying to get blacks intehome." grated," explained Beck, now a She feels the killing and the telemarriage and family counselor at vised events that followed as the Coeur d'Alene Counseling Associates. "There was more justice nation mourned bas bad an enduring effect on the youth of that decbeing done." Though Beck was in Berlin in ade. 1961 when Kennedy made his fa"It made quite and impression mous speech criticizing the Soviet on the children, seeing John.John Union for erecting the Berlin Wall, (John F. Kennedy Jr., who was 2 she did not see the president. But years old in 1963) holding the Oag she said she, like many of her counand walking with his mother in the trymen, felt bis presence. funeral procession." "There was a fresb energy that For Driessen, whose husband be brought that no one has brought died eight months before the assince - a hope of (Euro~ and the sassina tion, Kennedy's death United States) pulling together " just made me reall7.e bow short without the almighty dollar getting life can be," she said. She believes in the way," she said. the president's death marked the "There hasn't been somebody as beginning of an era of politics by dynamic and knowledgeable as assassination. Kennedy (in the White House)," "It left a scar on America - to Beck said. ·'With the one we have think we could do such a thing," now (President Ronald Reagan), she said. "I think it was the beginthey're just laughing in Europe ing of terrorism; presidents only in America can an actor behaven't been safe since." come president." Nor bas the nation, Driessen said, although, like Judge Haman, she feels dangerous times were coming anyway.
Thlnday,-Aprl 13, 1989
Foul play--NIC students Roger Branscome Robb Brennen and Lynn Westhafer from Tony Stewart's state and local government classes puzzle over a mock murder.
Mock trial continues by Robb Brennan Who dunnit? The students in Tony Stewart's state and local government classes, getting hands-on experience with the judicial system through a mock murder trial, are trying to find out. The students were presented with the fictional facts of the murder of a Coeur d' AJene businessman, Pierre Milk. The classes arc performing every aspect of the mock trial, from about 18 witnesses to both the prosecution and the defense. Tony Stewart will be acting as the judge. Some of the facts of the case are that Milk was found dead at his desk Jan. 2, 1989, from natural causes, such as a heart attack. But as an autopsy discovered Milk had died from a rare poison in bis drink. Milk had an appointment the day of bis death with a Mr. E.B. Swede of Sweden, who was found dead in Spokane on Jan. 3 at the Sheraton Hotel. Swede's cause of death was determined to be the same as Milk's-poison. The connections between the murders are that there was a cancelJed check from Mr. Swede to Mrs. Elizabeth Milk for $100,000 which was deposited into Mrs. Milk's account on Oct. 1, 1988, and Mrs.
Milk's fingerprints were found on both glasses in which the poisoned drinks were found. Upon Mr. Milk's death, Mrs. Milk obtained 90 percent of Milk and Associates Financial Consulting Enterprises, worth over $6S0,000,000. Mrs. Milk's father, Charles Top, owned the remaining ten percent and became Chairman of the Board. Both Mrs. Milk and Mr. Top were arrested on Jan. 10, 1988 and charged with premeditated first-degree murder of Pierre Milk. Did Mrs. Milk murder her husband? If so, what role did her father play? Or was it Col. Mustard in the study with the candlestick? The mock trial has been going on since March 24. Pre-law student Elaine WilchesPena, prosecuting attorney, said she will rest the case Friday, April 14. The defense should be prepared to cal) two witnesses to the stand on that day. "AJI of us have gained a lot of insight as to what this is alJ about. Speaking for alJ of us, we have learned by alJ the errors we have made," Wilches-Pena said. Tony Stewart said the trial will go on through the end of April.
Judge: NIC fees are illegal NIC
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 1989
10 THE COEUR D'ALENE PRESS Monday, Apr. 24, 1989
By RITA HOLLINGSWORTH Staff writer
The $11-per-semester outdoor facilities fee paid by North Idaho College students that accumulated more than $30(),000 over m yean was illegally collected by the college, a lat District Court judge ruled Friday. The college began charptg students the $11-per-semester outdoor facilities fee in 1982. As the money was collected each semester, it wu deposited in a special reserve account to accumulate funds to build an outdoor sports arena or pave parting Iota. As of June 30, the account balance
was '279,M5. In bis declson, Judge Ricbanl Magnuson agreed Idaho statute permits junior colleges to charge students fees for special services, such as laboratory fees. But, be said, the outdoor facilities fee ls illegal because the college failed to provide a service to the stadenta who paid it. • Magnuson said the college urged the court to rule that Idaho code does not control the amount or types of fees that junior colleges can charge students to provide special courses or services. In response, Magnuson ruled that Idaho law prohibits junior colleges from collecting money from its students to pay for capital ei-
CONTINUED FROM Page 1 penditures or for operating and maintaining the college. "When the Legislature provided that operation and maintenance expenses were to be raised in various non-fee ways and specified capital expenses were to be raised in non-fee ways, it prohibited the college from using student fees to pay these expenses," Magnuson said. In bis decision, Magnuson asked attorneys for the Associated Students of North Idaho College to prepare an order that suggests what should be done with the money that bas been collected from NIC students since the board of trustees began collecting the fee in 1982.
"That's the second shoe to fall in this lawsuit," students' attorney Norman Gissel said tbls morning. "We've opened the door to the safe, and now we have to determine bow the money will get distributed.,, This morning, ASNIC President Mary Jo Hansen said the students will discuss what should be done with the more than $300,000 at a meeting Wednesday. "I think the money should be returned to the students they stole it
from," Hansen said. Hansen, a 35-year-old sophomore who steps down as president Wednesday, said she was surprised and delighted the decison was reached while she was
still in office. Friday's decision was in response to a lawsuit the college filed in September 1988. The suit
named the student organization as defendant and asked that the col¡ lege be permitted to continue charging the fee. The dispute over the fee erupted in April 1988 when President Bob Bennett asked the board to increase the outdoor facilities fee to $21 a semester, which be said would be added to the $279,000 already on reserve and eventually be used to renovate and remodel buildings on campus. At that time, ASNIC said the fee was illegal and demanded in a letter to the board that it stop charging the fee and return the money it bad collected to the students who paid it. In response to the students' demand, the college discontinued the fee and filed the suit decided Friday by Magnuson, who beard oral arguments March 17. When contacted tbls morning, NIC's attorney Steve Wetzel said be bad yet to receive a copy of Magnuson's decision.
Earlier, Wetzelsaidthecasebad the potential to reach the state Supreme Court. Today, be said Magnuson's decison may resolve the dispute. "We wanted the guidance of the court,'' Wetzel said. "The main reason for the suit was to have the issue clarified. It may be possible to completely resolve the whole ,~
matter."
Hansen was assisted in the yearlong legal battle by Gayle ¡JenDings, a member of the student board. The pair, appointed to the case by the ASNIC board, said they have invested "hundreds and hundreds of hours" into the case. "It totally gutted our budget," Hansen said. "We restricted travel. We restricted activities. We have bad a very quiet year." Hansen said the student organization bad to dip into its budget to defend itself in court alter the college filed suit and declined to provide additional money to pay the students' legal fees. Hansen said the college should not be permitted to keep the money that cannot be returned because some students who paid the fee cannot be located. Instead, she said, that money should be given to ASNIC.
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Judge rules for Students on NIC fees By Cynthia Taggan Scaff writer
COEUR d'ALENE - North Idaho College oollected nearly $300,000 from its students that it was not authorized by state law to collect, a Ist District Court judge has ruled. But Judge Richard Magnuson won't decide until later this year what should happen to the money, which has been building up in a special account for almost seven years. The board of the Associated Students of NIC will meet Wednesday to decide how to recommend Magnuson handle money accrued from the $I I-per-semester fee. "They (NIC) collected the money illegally. I don't think we have a choice; an attempt will have to be made to return it," ASNIC president Mary Jo Hansen said. "We don't see any other alternative. And the unreturned amount should be left up to ASNIC to spend as it chooses." Magnuson's decision, rendered late Friday, may end a yearlong dispute between NIC's board of trustees and its student body over the legality of the outdoors facility fee. For the students, the decision was a cause to celebrate Monday. "What a neat graduation present," Hansen
said. "When I found out I was so excited I cried. I wasn't surprised we won, just that we won so soon." Said Pam Marcheski, one of the students who initially questioned the fee's legality, "It's always nice to be told you're right. We were so sure there was something wrong there from the first day we went to our attorney." In his memorandum decision, Magnuson wrote that colleges may impa,e fees for servi~. but reasoned that NIC's outdoor facilities fee does not provide a service. The NIC board voted in 1982 to begin charging students the fee that year to raise funds for a sports facility and parking lot expansion. Th¢ college put the fees in a reserve account to accumulate until there was enough money to complete the building projects. The fee came under question last spring after NIC President Bob Bennett reconunended the board increase it by $10 per semester. Bennett said the money would go toward construction of a new library/computer center and parking lot expansiom instead of the sports complex. Students cried foul. They maintained that community colleges couldn't charge fees for capital improvement projects and that NIC should spend any fees collected from students
during the year in which they are oollected. Students don't stay long at the two-year school and should receive some direct benefit for the fees they pay, they said. . The board agreed to put the fee on hold until the dispute was settled. After several meetings between board members and ASNIC representatives the board decided to let a judge rule on the f~'s legality. In September, the board filed a lawsuit against the students _ the only method by which NIC could receive a judicial opinion on the issue . · . ~ e attorneys for both sides battl~. ~e case m court, caits mounted and the di~1~n deeeencd between NIC students and admirustratJon. Attorneys for the board contended that NIC had ex~ .a.nd implied rights to ~ the outdoor facilities fees. They categorized the parking lots and the library as services to students. . . Attorneys for the students mamtained that state law provides other .funding ~ ~ student fees for oommumty college capital 1mprovemen~. Those sources i.nclude supplementa1 tax Imes and state funding. They also said the students were receiving no servi~ for their fees because NIC hadn't
THE HANDLE THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW• PAGE 81 • TUES0AY-'- APRIL25, 1989
spent the money. Magn~n agreed with the students_ that commuruty colleges should use tax Imes to !11llintain bu~dings and grounds and for buildm~ construction. . . 'The college took a big gamble with over a quarter-million dollars and they lait the whole thing," ASNIC attorney Ray Givens said Monday."The students didn't look for this lawsuit, the colleg~ sued thef!1." . The.case has raised questions on both sides regardm, other fees NIC charges.. Of the $380 paid each semester by full-time students, half is in fees for such things as health services, insurance, student activities and record keeping. The rest of the money goes for tuition. ASNIC representatives will study NIC's other fees and will share with students from the state's five other colleges and universities what they've learned from the lawsuit Hansen said. ' "There's a message here. It says, 'Hey wait a minute. You can't just charge students witty-nilly,'" she said. For Bennett, the lawsuit's outcome sent a different message. "I think this will force us to take a hard look at how higher education is financed in Please see FEES:BI
Idaho," be said. "We're at our taxing limit and it's not covering all the bases. Do we need a new interpretation of the fees? Or should we raise the tuition limits?" The board will digest Magnuson's ruling and decide soon whether to appeal it, Bennett said. When ASNIC files its motion to disburse the money, it also will ask that NIC pay legal fees for the students. Hamen said the bill is S1S,000 to $20,000. Bennett said NIC's bill is in the same range.
The Board of Directors of the NORTHWEST COALITION AGAINST MALICIOUS HARASSMENT
Invites You to a No-Host Dinner Quality Inn Pocatello, ID May 2, 1989
6:30 p.m.
Speaker: Bill Wassmuth, Executive Director Northwest Coalition against Malicious Harassment
" UPDATE: BIGOTRY IN THE NORTHWEST - Problems & Progress"
No-Host Dinner $8.00 per per80f\
Spokane, Wash., Tues., May 23, 1989. THE SPolcE.sMAN-REvlEw
RSVP by May 1st 232-1114 or
1-800-572-8887
83
Coalition able to keep director COEUR d'ALENE- An aggressive fund-raising campaign and a $4,000 grant will enable the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment to keep its executive director at least through the summer, a coalition officer said Monday. "Our income will be higher than our expenses through the summer," coalition President Tony Stewart said. ..It gives us a little breathing room." On March 1, the coalition hired as its first director Bill Wassmuth, former president of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. The coalition had only enough money to last through the end of May when it hired Wassmuth for the $25,000.pcr-ycar post. Since then, Wassmuth said in a telephone interview, the coalition has landed a $4,000 grant from A Territory Resource, a Northwest organiz.ation funds groups seeking social change. The money will help fund anti-racism symposiwm on a college campus in each of the five Northwestern states next school year. Wassmuth will be the guest of honor June 13 at The Blackwell House in Coeur d'Alene at the first of a number of fund-raising receptions for the coalition. Former state legislator Jeanne Givens and a h~t committee of 86 is sponsoring the event. The Seattle-based coalition has 303 member organiz.ations.
The Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle
Spokane, Wash., Sat., May 27, 1989
THE COEUR D'ALENE PRESS Saturday, May 27, 1989
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REGIONAL DIGEST FROM STAFF ANO WIRE REPORTS
Post Falls school board, teachers report progress Negotiators for the Post Falls school board and its teachers union said Friday they have agreed to seven employment issues in a proposed contract but haven't resolved what next year's teacher salaries and benefits will be. "We just wanted the community to know we're making progress," said Sandy Sbopwell, who chairs the school board and is a member of its negotiating team. "It's not a stalemate by any means." The school board team and representatives from the ~t Falls F.ducation Association have met weelc)y since mid-April, hoping to negotiate a contract for the 1989-1990 school year before the current session ends in early June. Both parties agreed not to disclose the seven agreed-to working conditions and employment issues until the contract was approved, Sbopwell said. "It's kind of a code of honor between the two of us. I wouldn't violate it."
District to call for mediator By RITA HOLLINGSWORTH Staff writer
The Post Falls School District and its teachers agreed to call in a federal mediator to help negotiate a salary and benefits package for the 1989-90 school year. According to a joint statement issued Friday, six weeks of negotiations mediated by volunteer facilitator Tony Stewart led to agreements on seven employment issues but stalled on salary and benefits talks. Stewart, North Idaho College instructor and president of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, praised
the cooperative spirit of both serving 15 years and earning a negotiating teams, and said be ~up- . ,master's degree plus 18 credits. ported the joint decision to call in a ¡ This year - 1988-89 - all federal mediator. teachers, even those frozen at the "These negotiations have con- ~P of the sched~le, received a $606 firmed my view that the Post Falls incremental raise. teachers, administrators and Last year - 1987-88 - teachers board members are commited to received a 2.8 percent increase in educational excellence," he said. their base pay in addition to their " The professionalism de- annual $606 incremental raises. monstrated by all members of The last sizeable increase in each negotiation team over the their base pay, nearly 13 percent, past six weeks bodes well for the came in 1984-85, when the lowest next phase of the negotiations." rung increased from $12,962 to Under the district's salary $14,776 and the top end jumped schedule, inexperienced teachers from $33,647 to $26,596. with a bachelor's degree begin at The Post Falls District employs $15,140 and top out at $27,261 after 168 teachers.
OPINION THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW • PAGE A10 • MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1989
.N ie flap shows fees ·mustn't be overused I
: Even though a judge bas said North Idaho College students who for seven years have paid an illegal fee are entitled to a refund, they will not get all of the $300,000 back. . First deduct the cost of advertisements ·to alert more than 6,000 current and former NIC students that the collection of outdoors facility fee sinoe 1982 was "ilfegaL Then take out attorneys' fees estimated at $15,000 to $20,000. The remainder will be used to settle the claims '. of students, who will recommend to a 1st · District judge what should be done with · any leftovers. : Returning the money will cost the college as well - about $10,000 including : the cost of records searches, printing and : postage - money that must come from · somewhere within the college's tight : budget. ' Tiie issue, however, was much more · than money. The Associated Students of . North Idaho College pressed for estab, lishment of a principle that will guide the operation of colleges throughout the • state: Namely, that the fees a student : pays for services should benefit the stu: dent directly. That was not the case with the $11 per
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semester that was charged to full-time students since 1982. The fee was intended to create a ~ account that eventually would be used to build a sports facility and expand the parking lots. But the issue did not ignite protest by the Associated Students of North Idaho College until last spring, when NIC's president recommended an increase to $21 per semester to fund construction of a library computer oenter and the parking lot expansions. Now administrators and students are searching for other, similar problems in the fee structure. It would be a significant problem if others are found. Total fees for full-time students, around $760 this year, plus tuition of $350, make up 23 percent of NIC's $15 million operating budget. There is a temptation, as Idaho's share of a public college's budget drops as a percent of the total, to increase student fees to help make up the differenoe. Maintenance and operating costs continue and indeed climb, as do salaries and benefits. But this ruling, coming at a college whose charges to students are among the highest in the nation for community and junior colleges, underscores that there are limits.
SATURDAY JUNE j 0, 1989
DEATH TOLL RISES IN SOVIET UZBEKISTAN WORLD,A3
Crowd protests apparent firing of CdA principal By Cynthia Taggart
Scaff writer
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COEUR d'ALENE - Shaking P,l&cards and angrily chanting ..Ludwig out, Toney in. ' about 200 Coeur d'Alene School District teachers, students and raidents rallied at the district's office Friday to demand Superintendent Merlin Ludwig's raignation. The protest followed the superintendent's announcement Thursday that the school board bad notified Coeur d'Alene High School Principal Warren Toney that bis contract would not be renewed. Toney did not attend the march. • "We are here to express our conc:em over the dismiual of an outstanding educator, Warren Toney, as principal of the high school and over the continuing turmoil that Dr. Ludwig's leadership bas caused the administration, educators, staff, parents and children of this district," teacher leader Sandy Kravik told the crowd. But the protest over Toney's dismissal may be premature. Ludwig claimed Thursday that the trustees bad decided unanimously not to rehire the principal. But the superintendent admitted Friday that the board bad yet to take formal action on Toney's employment for next year. The board will decide Monday night wbctber to rehire the 51-year-old principal, Ludwig said. . Ludwig said board members tackled the matter in executive session three weeks ago and directed the board clerk to send Toney a dismiml letter. Retiring trustee Ron McIntire on Thursday said be didn't know about the decision not to rehire Toney. "But nothing surprises me anymore," McIntire said Trustees Jerry Johmon and Irma Anderl were unavailaPlease see TONEY: Al
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;Toney ble for comment Friday. Ann Smart, who resigned from the board two weeks ago. said the board did disc~ Tency in executive session, but "no decisions were reached so it certainly oouldn't have been unanimous." Relations between Ludwig, his employees and many community mcmben have worsened steadily since February, when the superintendent rcaaigned Bryan Elementary principal Bob Olson to a teaching poJition. But for many people, disgruntled ovÂŤ a teachers' contract stalemate and Ludwig's plans for the district, Toncy's apparent dismissal was the final straw. "We have a feeling of total frustration and we're somewhat angry at the board for letting this go on this long." retired Coeur d'Alene teacher Roger Young said Friday as protesters marched in a circle in front of the district office. "I've held my tongue a long time," Rep. Dean Haagcnson, R-Cocur
d'Alene, said. "This is the last straw. imperative the school district take Every report on Dr. Toney is poJitive. into consideration the citi7.CIIS' wishEvery indication is that he's done a es." superior job." No school board members attended Besides Haagenson, the protestors Friday's protest. Board Chairwoman included Rep. Hilde Kellogg, R-Post Irma Anderl visited the district office Falls, and Sen. Mary Lou Recd, D- as protesters gathered. But Anderl Coeur d'Alene. quiclcly left without a word to the Do:r.ens of placards proclaimed the group. Crane, the only administrator crowd's fury at Ludwig and his direc- in the office, refused to speak with tor of curriculum. Gayle Crane. "Re- reporters or protesters. tire the Widow," one placard read, New trustee nm Olson didn't atreferring to Crane. "You fired the tend the march, but said Friday he wrong dr.," and "We need leadership has asked Ludwig to review the deci- fire Ludwig," read other signs. sion on Toney. Ludwig, who was not in the office Trustee-elect Vern Newby also during the march, said from his home missed the march but shared the proFriday afternoon, "I have no inten- testers' sentiments. tion of resigning. I have a t~ycar "In my opinion, I'd lilce to see contract and I intend to carry it out." Ludwig resign and I've let him know North Idaho College political sci- that," Newby said. "If he's willing to entist Tony Stewart, who watched do something to bring the public marchers parade around 10th Street, around, I could work with him. But I : said, "I don't recall this ever happen- don't know that his personality type ; ing before in this community. This could ever win over the community type of protest is not common. It is now." -=---------========-""""'====== I
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200 march on district offices Demand rehire of Cd' A High principal By RITA HOLLINGSWORTH Staff writer
Scores of teachers, students and parents marched on the Coeur d'Alene School District office Friday to protest the firing of high school Principal Warren Toney. About 200 protesters chanted "Rehire Toney! This is baloney!" as they waved placards and paraded in the warm after-
noon sun.
Toney was notified Thursday the school board had decided not to rehire him.
Speaking from the steps of the district office, Ron Canady told the crowd that Superintendent Merlin Ludwig said Toney's dismissal has not been approved by the school board. Canady, a supervisor for General Telephone Company, is chairman of the high school's parent-advisory committee. He said during a meeting with Ludwig Friday morning, Ludwig told him Toney's letter of dismissal will not be official until it is approved by the school board at Monday's 7:30 p.m. meeting. Ludwig had said Thursday that the trustees had decided unanimously not to rehire Toney. However, on Friday Ludwig conceded that the board bad yet to take formal action.
The board will officially vote Monday night whether to rehire Toney, Ludwig said. He said board members discussed the matter ir. ~xecutive session three weeks ago and directed the board clerk to send Toney the dismissal letter. Attorney Charles Dodson, who represents the district. watched the protesters from inside the central office. Dodson said Idaho code requires that the school board reach decisions on all hirings and firings during open meetings. Dodson said he is unaware whether the board has approved the decision not to rehire Toney. Turmoil has surrounded the district office since Ludwig assumed command a year ago.
The board's decision to demote Bryan Elementary School Principal Bob Olson and Doug Cresswell, director of personnel, drew a stream of protests in February. In April, a citizens group lauched an unsuccessful attempt to recall three board members. Then, in May, a plan to end double shifts resulted in a no-confidence vote by the staff. But Friday was the first time elected officals joined citizens in their protest against the administration. "Something isn't working right for people to demonstrate," Rep. Hilde Kellogg said. "Usually when people demonstrate
See PROTEST, Page 4>
Sen. Mary Lou Reed chats with protesters as Connie Tremblay totes a sign.
PROTEST CONTINUED from Page 1
it's because they haven't been heard." Saying, "It's time that this community get out of the morass we're in," Rep. Dean Haagenson said Superintendent Merlin Ludwig should either be fired or be reassigned. "We need to cut our losses with this administration," Haagenson ¡said. "I understand (Ludwig has a contract), but I don't think it specifies what job he has to have." Businessman Dick Hyneman, a former teacher at Coeur d'Alene High School and North Idaho College, included Gayle Crane, assistant superintendent, in his call for a change in administration. "It's disintegrated into utter chaos," Hyneman said. "The (school) board is just going to have to make other arrangements as far as the superintendent and assistant superintendent go.
"We ¡can't go on like this. This is killing us. It 's killing us economically." Using a softer tone, North Idaho College instructor Tony Stewart took a firm stand against unresponsive officials. "All government agencies must make decision in cooperation and harmony with the public," Stewart said. "You just can't say, 'We don't take that input.' That's what causes these kinds of problems."
High school juniors (left) Susan Moss and Lori Harger listen to speeches.
Former NIC students must file by July 7 for fee refund Former North Idaho College students who pahl an outdoor facilities fee are eligible for a ~ fund, but must file by July 7 to receive their money. 'lbe deadline was established this spring by 1st District Court Judge Richard Magnuson, who ruled the fee illegal. Students who attended NIC between fall semester 1982 and spring semester of 1988 are eligible to receive $10 or $11 per semester, plus interest, depending OD the fee charged at the time they attended. Part-time students are eligible for a prorated refund.
Advertisements explaining the refund process have been published in 13 newspapers throughout Idaho and western Montana. The ads contain a refund application. Refund applications also may be obtained at the NIC business office in Lee Hall. Students may apply their ~ funds to outstanding NIC student loans. Unclaimed money will be given to the Associated Students of NIC to fund student projects.
2 human rights groups join forces to create youth camp By RITA HOLLINGSWORTH
Staff writer
Two area human rights groups have joined forces to create an annual youth camp designed to teach high school students the skills they need to become ambaaaadors for human rights. 'lbe first weekend camp, a joint effort of the Kootenai County Task Force for Human Relations and the Spokane Interstate Task Force, will be held this winter at Lutherbaven.
'lbe Rev. John Olson, pastor of Spokane's Grace Lutheran Church and the Christian Coalition, bas been hired to serve as director of the Human Relations Youth Camp.
Fashioned after a ~year-<>ld succeuful youth camp offered by a task force in Rockville, Md., one portion of the cuniculum might be called Racism 101, Olaon said. That's where students will be introduced to the 'basic facts" of racism - its history and bow to
recognize it, Olson said. During the two-day camp,
stu-
dents also will participate in bands-on learning ezperiences designed to foster leadersblp and team-building stills, Olaon said. The camp will be limited to 28 students, with seven coming from each of four area high acbools selected each year to participate. Students from Coeur d'Alene, Worley and two Spokane b1gb schools will be eligible to attend the first camp set for this winter, Olson said. Applications will be available this fall at each of the four participating schools. Students will be selected based OD interest and leadership abillties. Those who attend the free camps will be aated to sign a contract promising they will wort to promote human rights in their acboola by organizing positive programs to combat racism or developing support programs for students wbo are harassed, Olson said.
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Vol. 62 No. 9
Thursday, March 1, 1990
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Thursday, March 1, 1990
FEES from p.
Bill defines tuition, fees by Linette Freeman
The senate bill, which was sponsored by District 2a Sen. Mary The lawsuit is over, the money Lou Reed and District 23 Sen. was returned to be claimed by the Laird Noh, specifically defined students who paid it, the leftover what tuition and fees can be used funds were turned into student for. The bill clearly says that fees scholarships, and now, thanks to cannot be used for capitol the Idaho State Senate, the move improvements-which was the is toward law. reason for the debate which evenSenate Bill No. 1531, which tually led to the Board of Trustees passed the senate unanimously vs. ASNIC lawsuit in the fall of Feb. 26, was the product of many 1988. long hours of work by North Another aspect of Bill No. 1531 Idaho College students and the is that it allows for the cap on legislators who support them, ac- community college tuition to be cording to Associated Students of raised $20 a year for the next five NIC adviser Tony Stewart. years.
" We (ASNIC) really fe.el that the bill clearly protects us on how our student fees can be spent," according to ASNIC President Joe Newman. "We also felt that it was important that the cap on tuition be raised because tuition is used for the general operation of the college and the tuition hasn't gone up for a long time." According to college President Robert Bennett, the bill has a better definition for fees. "This is a clearer definition of what fees and tuition can be used - - -¡Please see
FEES p. 19
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for, and now we (ASNIC and the Board) are working better together as well," Bennett said. On Feb. 19 Newman, Bennett, Stewart and two ASNIC senators went to Boise to testify before the Senate Education Committee in joint support of the bill. After the testimonies, committee chairman Sen. Jerry Thome bad a few words for them. ''This is very refreshing to h_ave a group come to us unified instead of having us (the committee) solve the problem," Thorne said. According to Stewart, the bill will go to the House Education Committee now that it has passed the Senate. If the bill makes it out of committee, it will come to a vote on the floor of the House. Stewart said he does not anticipate any problems. One advantage NIC has, according to Stewart, is in Rep. Gino White, who is on the Hous.e Education Committee. White is a past ASNIC board member, past student president from the University of Idaho and brother of Mary Jo Hansen, the past ASNIC president who handled the litigation of the lawsuit. The bill should make it to the floor of the house fairly soon, according to Stewart, because legislative rumblings project a midMarch adjournment.
Senate OKs tuition ceiling at NIC, CSI BOISE - The Senate Monday unanimously passed a bill that raises the tuition cap at the state's two community colleges. Sponsored by Sen. Mary Lou Reed, D-Coeur d'Alene, the bill raises muimum annual tuition from $350 to "50, with PA> increases permitted each year. In response to a 1st District Court decision that North Idaho College illegally charged fees to build a parking lot and outdoor sports arena, the bill al.so specifies fees may not be used to fund capital expenditures.
When ruling the $11-persemester outdoor facilities fee illegal, Judge Richard Magnuson or dered NIC to return '3()0,000 to the students who paid it. Only about $150,000 actually was returned; the Associated Students of North Idaho College established a scholarship fund with the remaining fees.
Both NIC and the College of Southern Idaho receive about onethird of their funding from stu~ dents; the remaining two-thirds comes from property tues and state aid, Reed said.
NORTH IDAHO NEWS NETWORK Friday, Apr. 27, 1990
A8
North Idaho Students learn from mock negotiations By NANCY BATEMAN Staff writer
1bere was a heated labor dispute in Room 2 of the Kootenai Medical Center Wednesday night, but it wasn't between hospital administrators and the medical professionals. Twenty-one students from Lewis-Oark State College staged a mock negotiations process between labor and management of a fictitious airline. 1be 5-bour meeting was the cuhninatioo of many heated discussions between the two sides and was part of the coursework for the college's Organir.ational Relations class. To onlookers, the negotiations were as structured and tense as if they were the real thing. Laborers were sitting at one long table, facing another long table occupied by members of " Airbags Airways" management. Tony Stewart, instructor at North Idaho College, was sitting at the bead of the room as mediator, and each side bad p~
fessional Coeur d'Alene legal advisors with them. Management's legal counsel was Bob Speck, and labor bad Bill Brown and Bill Greenwood. " It's so real life it's unbelievable,'' said instructor Don Friis, who believes it is important to get students actively involved in the learning process by having them simulate what was learned during the semester. ' 'There are personalities, there's persuasion, there's power, there's interpersonal communication stills at wort, individual commitment. It's dynamic," Friis added. 1be class even brought in a certified court reporter to ensure the terms of the settlement would be correctly recorded. Issues debated included the airline's search and seizure policy, which management argued was needed to investipte employees who were suspected of using drop and alCGbol or possessing explosives. Labor felt the policy was an invasion of privacy.
LeRoy Pope represents management as he gives opening remarks during a mock negotiations session at Kootenai Medical Center Wednesday evening.
NORTH IDAHO NEWS NETWORK Friday, May 25, 1990 ~
St. Pius X Church
NIC wins grant for symposium The Idaho Centennial Com· ' mission's Second Century Project : has awarded a total of $35,000 to seven Idaho colleges and un- ' iversities for a variety of projects that promote and enhance the quality of education and examine the future of Idaho. North Idaho College was granted $5,000 for producing a symposium on "Conflict : Hostility or Harmony," educating students and the community about disputemediation techniques and negotia· tion training which will be followed by four one-day work.shops in Oc· tober. Each of Idaho's nine institutions of higher education was asked to submit a project proposal. Seven responded. Recipients include in· structors at the College of Southern Idaho, Boise State Un· iversity, University of Idaho, North Idaho College, College of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College, and Northwest Nazarene College. Second Century Project Chairman John Franden, Boise, said the funds were awarded to projects that demonstrated model ideas that would help Idahoans lookat the future of Idaho.
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Dear Tony , You do it again ! I dont ' know how you keep putting together events that are so positive , meaningful and affirming , but you do . The evening at Avondale was another occasion of such mastery on yrur part . Everyone left that evening feeling goad about themselves and ready to go another round for what is goad and right . I certainly feel that way ; and I have felt such at other events that you plan and lead as well . Yau are an amazing gift ta our community , Tony, and you have been a great gift ta me . I rejoice in the fact our friendship and working together is not one of the things that must end . I look forward to continuing a relationship that is bath goad for me and helpful in changing things in our society for the better . Thanks far last night. It was a wonderful and special evening that will energize me far a long time . Sincerely yours ,
-~{ Bill Wassmuth
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~~NTS
I
Aborti,on as privacy issue rai~,1~ . @tforum By RITA HOLLINGSWORTH Staff writer
A North Idaho College political science instructor shook up Republican candidates at i public forum Saturday by ukiDc wbetbel' the pabllc could 1118 the bdtlathe or referendum to vote oat a freedom guaranteed by tbe BDl of
RJcbta.
Posed by Tony Stewart during a
candidate's forum sponsored by
8111 ,of Rights, such as freedom of
the North Idaho Alliance for Women, the question did not specifically address the abortion debate tbat baa raged since the U.S. SupremeCourtin1973banded
speech, freedom of the press or the
~ Roe VI. Wade. Stewill;t during an in*'9iew
Sullday ...She uted candidates if tbeywaaldmpportaninitativeora refereadmn that took away any one of tbe rights protected by tbe
right to privacy
The quesUon, Stewart said, was
not intended to probe whether ~
candidatessuppor1edvote,1'!!411t to strike down ltate ._.. ·wtli a refer-.di'~~newcmes with an Jnitlitlfe.·..-, be llid, be wanted to detenDIDe ii candidates would ·apeat· oat aplnst voter-puaed referendaml that
0
banned a fun~tat:-:..8 fte connectlbn between guaranteed by the Bill of m,llts. Stewart's COllltitot1Claa query and "The question was very, very tbe'oagoing pro-choice-pro-life defu,w;Lamental," Stewart said. "I bate prompted candidates to apply was trym, to.find out if JQU would Stewart's ~ . " We do not
·be~tq,-•~.... Rilbl" In its landmark Roe vs. Wade, the QJart ruled the ript to privacy guaranteed women the freedom to cbooae an abortion dminc tbe fint
trimester.
wtedllt)llll'NdtbeBmofRipta," to whether or not they would sapport a referendum that banned abortions across the state, said Rep. Freeman Duncan, R·Palt See ABORTION, Page S.
ABORTION CONTINUED from Page 1
Falls. An attempt to ban freedom of the press with a simple-majority vote would be easy to oppose, Duncan said. Less clear was applying that test to the abortion issue. While the Democratic candidates lined up to say they would oppose such a referendum, not all Republicans did, Duncan said. Duncan said even though be recognizes the Bill of Rights guarantees Americans the right to privacy, be isn't sure the abortion debate can be boiled down to a privacy issue. "I wasn't sure there was a constitutional right to have an abortion," Duncan said. Even so, Duncan said he found 1 tbe,41uestion intl'iguiDg. "I haven't heard somebody relly put it that way before," Duncan said. Tony (Stewart) posed a very useful question. " But it was one that drew the ire of Kootenai County Commission Chairman Frank Henderson, a Republican legislative candidate battling to oust Sen. Denny Davis, DCoeur d'Alene. The question, Henderson said, was out of bounds in the political arena. "I think it was a question that should be asked of the Supreme Court," Henderson said. "I just didn't think it was right to ask ambitious, political candidates that question." Even so, Henderson said he believes a woman's right to an abortion is a fundamental privacy right protected by the Bill of Rights. "I favor preserving the freedom to have a choice," Henderson said. " I have an instinctive feeling that it's a protected freedom." However, Henderson said, bis view is based on his personal feeling rather than his acumen as a constitutional scholar.
Kathy Sims, chairwoman for the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, was less angered by the question that she was surprised that Democrats said they wouldn't support a referendum that banned abortion. "I find that absolutely amazing," Sims said. " I'm just absolutely shocked that elected officials would not respond to a referendum of the people." However, Sims said she doesn't think women have a constitutional right to choose an abortion even though the Supreme Court has ruled they do. "That's why we're all fighting," Sims said. Sims said even though she belives the right to privacy is protected by the Bill of Rights, the fact that Ufe begins at conception overrides the privacy issue. Stewart disagreed. The right to privacy prohibits government from intruding into individuals' choices, Stewart said. "It's a violation of your Constitutional Rights to dictate to you personal factors, such as religion and abotion," Stewart said. "I think it's very important for candidates and office holders to defend the Bill of Rights and the encroachment of the Bill of Rights."
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VVednesday, Nov. 7, 1990,Spokane, VVash.
Staff photo by Chris Anderson
Election-watchers cheer as Tony Stewart, bottom left, announce results at Cricket's Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene.
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P.O. Box 1553, Boise, Idaho 83701
November 19, 1990
Doyle Tony Stewart 1000 W. Garden Avenue Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814 Dear Tony: What a wonderful victory the 1990 election has brought to Idaho! With the help of loyal and dedicated friends like you, the First Congressional District will be represented by a member of the Majority Party for the first time in nearly a quarter century. Please know that I will not forget your commitment to my election, and that my door in Congress will a l ways be open to you. Chris joins me in sending you our sincere appreciation. With best wishes,
Authorized by LaRocco for Congress, John R. Tait, Treasurer. Contributions to th is campaign arc not tax deductible. ~