State Education officials have joined with the Governor’s office to send a letter asking Iowa’s schools to adopt anti-bullying policies. The Legislature passed a bill saying such a policy is a good idea, but did not require districts to adopt a policy. Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson says the 2002 Iowa Youth Survey showed 19-percent of students said they’d been beaten up or fought in school, while 17-percent reported they didn’t feel safe at school. She says all students have a right to feel safe in schools, and they should feel there’s a place to turn in a time of need. She says, “unfortunately, that’s not the case in Iowa.” Pederson says research shows childhood bullies are six times more likely to commit violent acts as adults, and children who’re bullied miss more school and suffer academically. She says if we deal with this issue as if it’s not really serious and it’s part of growing up and not really a problem — then she says we’re not really looking at the research and what the data tells us.17-year-old Jenny Chen of Ames is the chair of the Youth Action Committee and says she knows bullying in Iowa is a problem. Chen serves as a mentor for a freshman girl she says was the brunt of harassment in middle school. She says the girl would call her at night after friends teased her and says the girl had suicidal thoughts because of the experience. Chen says the committee is distributing ani-bullying packets to schools while the Department of Education is using federal money to send trainers to an internationally recognized bullying prevention program. She says if they can stop bullying from devastating one person’s life, then it’s completely worth it. Pederson says the Youth Survey will be modified next year to try and gather more data on harassment.
Sioux Center company recalls thousands of pounds of pork
More than one-thousand pounds of pork processed at Sioux-Preme packing company in Sioux Center is being recalled. Officials say 110 pork shoulder butts are being recalled because a microchip could be embedded in the meat. The metal devices are used to measure scientific data. Sioux-Preme Vice President Jim Malek says the device was discovered in the meat after it had been processed and shipped out. Malek says the hogs that were processed at Sioux-Preme were part of a research herd that had been sent to slaughter without the proper notification that they had the chips implanted. The hogs were slaughtered on September 10th and sent to meat processors in Iowa, Colorado and Mexico. The recipients of the meat have been notified to return it. The meat then will either be reinspected and cleared for use or destroyed. Malek says he doesn’t know whether or not any of the meat has been sold to the public.The hogs were healthy and had been cleared by the U-S-D-A inspectors for processing.
Kerry returns to Iowa to campaign
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry will return to Iowa on Thursday — a state where the presidential race is too close to call. Joe Lockhart, a press secretary to President Clinton, has just signed up to speak for the Kerry campaign. “We’re going to do what it takes to win Iowa, and if it means coming back there and making our case, we’ll come as many times as we need to,” Lockhart says. Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, spent a great deal of time in Iowa campaigning for support in the Caucuses, yet the Bush/Cheney ticket is neck-in-neck with Kerry/Edwards in Iowa. Lockhart says the Bush/Cheney campaign “expended an enormous amount of effort in Iowa” the past six weeks. Lockhart says despite the amount of campaign advertising and personal visits to the state, Bush and Cheney haven’t changed the dynamic in Iowa. Lockhart says Kerry and Edwards will be in Iowa a lot between now and November 2nd. Lockhart concedes Kerry was challenged because his general election campaign “season” ended up being five weeks longer than Bush’s because the Democratic National Convention was so much earlier than the G-O-P convention.Lockhart says by “being somewhat frugal,” the Kerry campaign now has more cash on hand than Bush does. Kerry will hold a “town hall meeting” in Davenport and a rally in Cedar Rapids on Thursday.
Democrat Senate candidate endorse by economists
The democrat who’s running against U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley has been endorsed by a group of economists, including three who’ve won the Nobel prize for economics. Democratic candidate Art Small has been attacking Grassley for the tax cuts Grassley has helped enact as chairman of the Senate Finance committee. The group of nine economists has issued a statement, saying the nation’s finances are deteriorating and calling the government’s financial position “alarming.” The economists say Grassley has played a “crucial role in the corrosion of our nation’s finances” that has put the country on a “new and dangerous course.” The economists also say the tax cuts Grassley shepherded through the Senate made the system less fair. An economist at M-I-T, another at Berkley and one from Stanford who’ve won the Nobel prize have co-signed a statement attacking Grassley and backing Small. The statement’s also signed by three University of Iowa economics professors, including the chair of the University’s Economics Department.
Corning woman charged with stabbing boyfriend
A Corning woman is charged in the stabbing her boyfriend this weekend. According to a release from the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, Corning Police received a call that help was needed at a home in Corning. When officers arrived they found 48-year-old Glade Figgins of Corning collapsed in front of the residence suffering from apparent stab wounds. Figgins was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center where he underwent surgery and remains in critical condition. Lisa Arnold, who lives with Figgins has been charged with domestic abuse.
Study says gifted students not always moved ahead in school
A University of Iowa study finds accelerating gifted students works well, but too many schools still refuse to move kids up. Researchers at the U-of-I’s Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development analyzed 50 years of data on student acceleration, things like grade-skipping, advanced placement and early admission to school or college. Center director Nicholas Colangelo urges more teachers and parents to get involved and consider giving young minds more challenges. Colangelo says “Acceleration is the single best overall intervention on behalf of high-ability kids and it works. It works not only in terms of academic achievement, it works in terms of social adjustment.” The problem is, the vast majority of schools hesitate to accelerate a child as they either don’t know about the research or don’t believe it. Colangelo says there’s an assumption by schools that “doing nothing means no harm” as far as moving a student up, but he says that assumption is wrong. He says students need to be challenged, adding, “When students who are ready for something much more complex don’t get that, you are then enhancing the possibility that student will become bored, disengaged from school.” Colangelo says there are many ways to gauge whether a student should be accelerated. Kids who score very high on a standardized test or in a talent search may be candidates, as are children who are recognized by teachers as gifted in a certain area. The full study, called “A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students,” is on the Internet at “www.uiowa.edu/~belinctr” or at “nationdeceived.org”.
ISU celebrates win with week off
With no game this week the Iowa State Cyclones can take some extra time to celebrate Saturday’s win over Northern Illinois. The Cyclones roared back from a two touchdown deficit in the third quarter to beat the Huskies 48-41. ISU will take a 2-1 record into the Big-12 opener at Oklahoma State. Cyclone coach Dan McCarney says they have a lot of work to do to get ready for conference play and hope to get several injured players back. McCarney’s team managed to win despite a sub-par day from the defense, by he says the most important thing is that they won. Austin Flynn came off the bench and had a strong second half in the comeback, including a touchdown pass and touchdown run in the fourth quarter. He says he knew all along he’d have to come in a produce when he had the chance. Flynn says he expects the rotation with Bret Meyer to continue. He says they both will continue competing and that will help the team continue to get better.
