1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, IA 50613 http://www.cedar-falls.k12.ia.us Edition 13

Josh Betts and Briana McGeoughSports and Feature Editors

Public service is one of the greatest things that a citizen can do to serve his or her school, town, state or nation. This opinion is shared by many elected offi cials both in Cedar Falls and through-out the nation.

High school students can have political impact even before they are of legal voting age by par-ticipating in public service.

“My fi rst public service was as a Boy Scout in Cedar Falls doing litter clean-up,” Cedar Falls Mayor Jon Crews said.

Crews’ long resume of public service also in-cludes previously teaching at UNI and serving as county treasurer.

“My earliest involvement in politics was in high school supporting Lyndon Johnson in a mock presidential convention. My fi rst real po-litical experience was being elected as mayor of Cedar Falls in 1971,” Crews said.

Crews touched on two very important issues that the City Council is working on that will im-pact high school age constituents.

“Two very important issues that the city is working on that will have positive infl uence on high school constituents are to work to attract high paying jobs for our city and it’s future work-ers and to continue to make Cedar Falls an attrac-

tive place to live and work,” Crews said.Last year a high school student participated in

a city government-planning project.“We asked to have a high school student be on

our 2015 Strategic Planning project last year. She participated and voted like all the adults,” Crews said.

Crews does not take the age of someone who submitted an idea to him into account when con-sidering the idea.

“The most important element in making good decisions is the soundness of ideas — not the age of the person presenting it. I believe I consider all letters on the basis of merit, not who wrote it.”

High schoolers that are too young to vote can infl uence government.

Crews said that the best way to get involved is “to ask questions, research a topic and propose a solution to the problem.”

Crews also offered his thoughts on what high school students can do to help improve our world.

“It starts by having concerns about things around you and believing that you can make a difference, and then acting no matter how old you are,” Crews said. “A good start would be to call the local Cedar Valley Volunteer Center and ask who needs help on a project.”

Senator Charles Grassley also has a passion for public service. Grassley served in the Iowa

House from 1958-1974. In 1974, Grassley won the third district con-gressional seat, which he held until he won the United States Senate seat in 1980 that he currently occupies. Grassley said, “Public offi ce is a public trust. Every day I remember that I’m here to be a representative of the people of Iowa.”

Grassley also said that high school students are always impacted by issues in Congress.

“Ultimately, nearly everything we do in the Congress will impact young peo-ple at some point in their lives.”

Grassley also said involvement is key, even if you can’t vote.

“Just because you aren’t eligible to vote, doesn’t mean you can’t volunteer at the courthouse, state-house or with a political campaign.”

Rep. Bruce Braley202-225-2911

www.house.gov/writerep/Mayor Jon Crews

319-268-5119jon.crews@ci.cedar-falls.ia.us

Governor Chet Culver515-281-5211

www.govelect.iowa.gov administration/contact/

Senator Charles Grassley202-224-3744

grassley.senate.gov/webform.htmSenator Tom Harkin

202-224-3254harkin.senate.gov/

webform.htm

ElectedOffi cialsContact

List

Crews, Grassley recommend student involvement

Sheila MoussaviEditor-in-Chief

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a controver-sial bill demanding a gradual rise in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour in 2009. The federal minimum was last set at $5.15 an hour in September 1997. Since then, the wage has gener-ated much debate but has undergone no changes, making this the longest gap between increases since the minimum wage was implemented in 1938.

While we’ve come a long way from the fi rst minimum at $0.25 an hour, many argue that another increase is long overdue. With continuous infl a-tion, many would agree with senior Reid Erickson that, “You just can’t

survive on $5.15 anymore.” And with the federal poverty line for a family of three at $16,090 (well over what an employee would make working full-time at minimum wage), Erickson may have a point.

Senior Andy Frederick, who works at Roots Market for $7.50 an hour, said he has it relatively easy. But he can imagine a different context: “When you have a little bit of support at home and don’t have to worry about those ex-penses, money can be used freely. But once you’re on your own and you’ve got kids to feed, I can imagine it would get really overwhelming if you’re only making minimum wage.” Fredrick’s argument pertains especially to the nearly 50 percent of the minimum wage earners who are over the age of

24 and considered adults.On the other hand, there are those

who argue that the percentage of Amer-icans living at the minimum wage is too small to justify the negative effect that raising the minimum wage will have on businesses. Many businesses may have diffi culty weathering a raise in minimum wage.

Lee Cronkhite, manager at Pablo’s Mexican Grill, said he thinks sacrifi ces will have to be made to compensate for a minimum wage of $7.25. “We’re not going to sacrifi ce our food quality since we use all fresh ingredients, so our prices will have to go up quite a bit,” he said. To many, like junior Nick Pat-ten, the result (higher prices) offsets the benefi ts of raising the minimum wage. See MINIMUM WAGE, page 3

Businesses, student employees wrestle with minimum wageRaise?

http://www.cedar-falls.k12.ia.us1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, IA 50613 Volume 47 Edition 12

‘Ask not what your country can do for you ...’

SPECIAL

Katy Schult Graphic

As the federal and state governments iron out details for raising the mini-mum wage, Palbo’s Mexican Grill business manager Lee Cronkhite and junior employee Nick Patten contemplate how the potential changes would affect them.

Robb Klassen Photo

HOGConfinement

Brian McGeoughFeature Editor

Whether it be the bacon at breakfast, the ham sandwich at lunch, or the pork chop at dinner, chances are good that a meal will include an Iowa grown pork product. But as 18,000 Iowa farm-ers raise 25 percent of the nation’s hogs, they must face the challenges this presents for the environment and principally Iowa’s water supply.

With water being essential to survival and only one percent of the Earth’s water supply being suit-able for human consumption, ev-eryone from environmentalists to politicians to farmers is concerned about water quality. The people of Iowa are no exception.

Eighty percent of Iowans get their drinking water from groundwater. This can pres-ent concerns, especially in northeast Iowa. In this corner of the state, lime-stone bluffs and crevices are exposed with little, if any, topsoil nearby. This is called karst topography. Water can easily penetrate these cracks and sinkholes and fl ow unrestrained to the stores of water resting below. Little fi ltering occurs as this water enters aquifers and later becomes the water that humans consume, so polluted water could also be a threat to human health.

Water quality is tested in relatively few locations. This means that if con-tamination occurred there could be a serious problem and experts could be unaware.

Newly appointed Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Rich Leopold is concerned about Iowa’s water quality.

“My eyes are on clean wa-ter. Most areas have poor

water, and that is unac-ceptable. Farmers and environmental-

ists need to work together to get some-

thing done about this,” Leo-pold said.

The central area of concern involv-ing hogs and Iowa water is the manure that these hogs produce.

“Manure is contained in concrete pits. We have design standards and operation standards,” Tom McCarthy of the Iowa Department of Natural

resources said.With Iowa hogs producing 50 mil-

lion tons of manure each year, farmers have their hands full with the task of keeping track of and containing all of it. As a result, occasional spills occur, and these spills can have disastrous consequences.

“The biggest impact is to the aquatic ecosystem. A large fi sh kill can occur, and that knocks out the food chain. Raccoons and other animals that would eat the fi sh struggle to fi nd food,” Mc-Carthy said.

Over the last four years there have been approximately 50 of these spills into Iowa streams, rivers and lakes that were serious enough for fi nancial penalties. Overfl owing manure storage lagoons have been responsible for the

largest of these spills, but applica-tion of liquid manure into fi elds has been the cause of the most frequent spills. Although spills have been relatively infrequent, they have re-sulted in the death of an estimated 1.1 million fi sh.

In measure of volume, the larg-est of these spills occurred in 1995 when a malfunctioning lagoon in

Webster City spilled 1.5 million gal-lons of manure into the Iowa River, killing almost 9,000 fi sh, polluting 30 miles of river and closing one of the areas primary recreational spots.

Iowa farmers generally do a good

job of making an effort to prevent spills.

“Most spills are accidental. Very few are intentional, but those are the ones that are crimes. The punishment depends on the severity of the viola-tion,” McCarthy said.

The DNR inspects hog confi ne-ments to make sure that they are up to code.

“We look at the site itself. We make sure the tile lines are operating proper-ly and that they are taking care of dead animals. We look at their manure man-agement plans and where the manure is going,” McCarthy said.

The frequency of inspections of a confi ne depends on its history.

“If they have had no problems, we inspect them every few years. If there have been some problems, we inspect more frequently,” McCarthy said.

One of the most landmark court cases in regards to hog confi nement and whether it is in the state or lo-cal government’s control to regulate these confi nements was the 1998 case of Goodall vs. Humboldt. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled to strike down a series of ordinances set by county gov-ernment to add restrictions to livestock industry and protect groundwater. This means that the state government has almost complete control over confi ne-ment regulations.

Supporters of local control believe that decisions about the regulations of these hog confi nes should be left to individual communities because the people of these communities are the ones who have to deal with the odor and pollution that these confi nements generate. Since the terrain and overall environment varies across the state of Iowa, local control advocates say one set of uniform laws across the state is inadequate.

Opponents of local control recog-

nize that many communities would like to do away with hog confi nements altogether. As a result, hog farmers would have fewer places where they would be allowed to raise hogs, and these farmers would have to relocate to places with a less favorable climate for raising hogs.

Hog confi nement regulations are laid in two different ways: laws and rules.

“Laws are big deals. The legislature works to make them. I don’t see any changes in statues. Rules change all of the time,” Leopold said.

One of the rules that is likely to change in the near future is the regula-tion of applying manure to soybeans.

“The change would be about ap-plying manure in the fall to the ground where soybeans grow. Soybeans make their own fertilizer. It would restrict how much manure could be applied to these areas,” Leopold.

According to Leopold, although this alteration in regulations could have a signifi cant affect on water quality, most farmers should be unaffected.

“This will have little impact on most farmers. A few may have to spread their manure a little more lightly,” Leopold said.

This may, however, affect farm costs.

“It might add expense. It costs time and money to transport manure. It is a different cost to move manure fi ve miles versus a half mile,” Leopold said.

No matter what happens in regards to the issues of hog lot regulation, lo-cal control and manure application, it is certain that the new Director of the DNR, governor and legislators will be giving pork more thought than most Io-wans do when they are digging some-thing out of their freezer in preparation for their next meal.

State faces big questions on regulating animal waste

In measure of volume, the larg-est of these spills occurred in 1995 when a malfunctioning lagoon in

Webster City spilled 1.5 million gal-lons of manure into the Iowa River, killing almost 9,000 fi sh, polluting 30 miles of river and closing one of the

Iowa farmers generally do a good

Farmers and environmentalists need to work togther to get something

done about this.

—Rich LeopoldDirector of Iowa Department of Natural Resources

“No, parents should raise their own kids, not the school.

You don’t really learn anything in preschool, and this is

important parenting time.”

Robert BoodySenior

Student Snapshots Iowa Issues

Should the state provide preschool for all children?

Patten, who works at Pablo’s for $5.75 an hour, said he reversed his original opinion on raising the mini-mum wage to $7.25 after considering the effect it would have on businesses like Pablo’s.

“It’s just not worth it,” he said. “The cost of living would increase, and it would eventually balance out anyway.”

Cronkhite supported this conclu-sion. He said, “I think the minimum wage should be raised, but $7.25 is a little drastic. This is still the Midwest, and people still want a simple life.”

Cronkhite’s fear that raising the minimum will only lead to higher costs of living is a common one. Many would agree with his argument that, “If people wanted to pay $8 for a side of french fries, they’d probably move to California.”

Though Cronkhite is probably jus-tifi ed in fearing an increased cost of living, UNI’s Economics Professor and Department Head Dr. Fred Abraham said he believes that the difference will not be as drastic as many businesses anticipate. “This will be a one-time in-crease in costs,” he said. “Once they’ve found a new level, they’ll reach equi-librium and stay there.”

According to Abraham, once the businesses have adjusted to the new prices, there will be no need to fear a continuing infl ationary trend.

The UNI professor offered further consolation for concerned business owners: Though their prices will prob-ably rise, their competitors will be enduring the same changes. As a result, none will lose customers to the others.

He said, “If one business decides to raise their minimum wage and their prices independently, they would prob-ably lose some business to their compe-tition. But if the law says they all have to raise their minimum wage, they will end up balancing each other out.”

Even without outside competition, compensating for any changes in the minimum wage may still prove prob-lematic for many businesses. And even though a relatively small percentage of Americans actually work at minimum

wage, those who do may still have dif-fi culty coping with infl ation.

As Abraham said, “There are strong arguments that can be made both ways. The businesses will always tell you that they can’t survive with the changes, and the workers will always tell you that they can’t survive without them. If you ask an economist, his fi rst words will be ‘it depends.’”

But if you ask Rob Stanley, owner of the Roots Market, you may be sur-prised by the answer. He said he is not for keeping wages down. In fact, it is his personal choice to pay his em-ployees almost two dollars above the minimum.

“When you pay better, there’s more loyalty,” Stanley said.

“With inflation, you just can’t survive on $5.15 an hour anymore. Raising the minimum will seem

like a big jump, but that’s because it hasn’t increased in 10 years.”

—Reid Erickson Senior

Businesses, student employees wrestle with minimum wageMINIMUM WAGE , from page 1

Should the state provide healthcare

for all children?“Yes, even though parents

should be able to take care of their kids, not everyone has

that foresight.”

Should teacher salaries be raised in

Iowa? How?

“There should definitely be a blanket raise for all teachers.

In Florida, they use performance based raises

and the teachers all fight over certian classes while everyone

else gets pushed aside.”

on

What should the state do to increase

alternative energy use?“They should increase the

tax on gasoline. That will piss people off and make them

want to us alternative energy.”

Should the state allow local control of CAFOs,

or should it enforce rules from Des Moines?

“I live in the country, and so many pesticides are in the

water from nearby farms that we can’t drink the water.

They should limit the amount of pesticides farmers can use

because they always use more than they need.”

Should the state raise teacher salaries

after teachers reach new performance

objectives?“I don’t think so, because I

don’t think that there is a fair way to measure teachers’

performances.”

Elizabeth CozartJunior

Kelsey Ihde and Audrey Kittrell GraphicSource: U.S. Dept. of Labor (www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa)

1955

1958

1961

1964

1967

1970

1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

2006

Years

$8

$7

$6

$5

$4

$3

$2

$1

$0

Dol

lars

Federal Minimum Wage Rates

Current Dollars Constant 1996 Dollars

Speech team coach praises Iowa’s beautyWilla Simmet

Feature Editor

As a young girl Rebecca Kauten spent the summer on her grandparents farm in northeastern Iowa.

“Every night my grandma ma would run the garden hose before din-ner,” said Kauten. “After supper she would go outside with a fl ashlight and catch night crawlers. Basically, she would draw them out of the ground. The next day Grandpa and I would wake up bright and early, get into his blue truck, listen to the AM radio sta-tion and go fi shing until it was too hot. We would bring home a coffee can full of bullheads.”

A now 31 year old, Kauten, water-shed coordinator for the Black Hawk Soil and Water Conservation District and CFHS speech team coach, sits against the lockers in a hallway at Ce-dar Falls High School, as lively mem-bers of the Cedar Falls High School Speech team put the fi nal touches on their pieces for the Iowa High School Association District Large Group com-petition taking place in the next couple of days.

When asked why she enjoys coach-ing speech team students Kauten, glances at the three giggly students working on their Improvisation skills, laughs and says, “It’s fun.”

Kauten, sits up and says a little more seriously, “I worry that this type of program will go away. People don’t even know it exists. After seeing what the real world is like as a college graduate and a working professional, I see that these kids really are learn-ing life skills. There is nothing better than knowing how to communicate effectively.”

Besides helping students improve their communication skills through various speech team events such as a one act plays and improvisation

acting groups. Kauten hopes to help students understand the beauty of

their natural heritage. “When I was a teenager I had vocal

lessons at Luther College in Decorah,” said Kauten. “Every once in a while, I would get to Decorah early and sit up by Dunning’s Spring – a natural spring and beautiful waterfall and practice my music. People don’t realize that there are these kinds of places in Iowa.”

Through some of her work with the Dry Run Creek Watershed Project, Kauten hopes to help young people

understand this beauty and realize that they are living in an age where some of these natural beauties might not be in existence tomorrow.

“Dry Run creek is an impaired waterway because there are certain organisms that are supposed to be in the creek that are not there,” said Kauten. “Our most basic objective is to fi gure out why they are not there. Then we must fi gure out what to do to bring them back or keep conditions from getting worse. At the same time, we have to get people thinking about our water differently. If what we have been

doing for a hundred years was a good idea, we wouldn’t have the prob-lems that we have today.”

The Dry Run Creek Watershed, a 15,177 acre watershed encompassing

approximately 85 percent of Cedar Falls, was designated an impaired wa-terway by the DNR in 2002. Tests indi-cated that the waterway, which makes it way through the neighborhoods of Cedar Falls and is a tributary of the Cedar River, has e-coli concentrations in excess of the State of Iowa limita-tions on waters, which may be used for recreational purposes. A major concern with the test results along all branches of the creek is the potential for human contact with the water in the creek. Developers are constructing housing projects and expanding industrial de-velopment along the creek and within the watershed. Dry Run Creek is also the main carrier of storm water runoff, which worsens the water quality issue.

“Nobody wakes up and says, ‘I want to pollute water,’ ” said Kauten. “Everybody wants clean water, but when they fi nd out what they need to do to have it, they are more reluctant to make changes.”

One of the projects devoted to cleaning up the waterway includes a demonstration practice which involves the students from Malcom Price Lab School, which is located near the creek.

Kauten says involving the kids in the project is no different than encour-aging kids to pick up an instrument when they are in fi fth grade.

“It’s more likely to become a life-time habit,” said Kauten. “We want to catch younger people and get them ex-cited about this so they will be excited as adults and also so they can go home and get their parents excited about it.”

Kauten worries about the lack of

students exposed to natural heritage.“When budgets are cut, it’s too

costly to pay for fuel for a bus, to have insurance to take the kids on the trip, and it’s diffi cult to take kids out of class when they need to have high test scores so the fi rst thing that goes is fi eld trips,” said Kauten. “Parents don’t feel like taking their kids to visit these places so how will they get anywhere? It doesn’t work. I think it’s something the kids miss out on because people are focused on so many other things. “

Kauten is working hard for water

quality in Iowa because she says if people don’t do something about it then places like her favorite natural spot as a teenager, Dunning’s Spring, are going to become disgusting places.

Kauten, an outdoor enthusiast, shares memory after memory of her fa-vorite natural places throughout Iowa. She talks about camping trips at Wap-sipinicon State Park, hiking around in Ledges State Park, exploring Dutton cave and the Maquoketa Caves, trout fi shing in Echo Valley and hunting for fossils in the Rockford Fossil Park.

“I’m really intrigued by some of the areas around Dry Run Creek,” said Kauten. “They would be the coolest places to just throw rocks if I was a little kid. If I was a teenager this would be a great place to get away from my parents, you know?”

Kauten makes a note of the immense amount of natural places throughout the Cedar Valley including Hartman Reserve, George Wyth State Park, Ce-dar Hills Sand Prairie, Thunder Women Park and the Washington Union Access on the Cedar River.

Katy Schult Photos

Near the little town of Hazelton, the Buchannon County Conversation Board has maintained Fontana Park at the site where a dam had previously occupied Otter Creek for 150 years. The park has an interpretive woodland trail, a wildlife exhibit, an indoor shelter and campsites. The accompanying pictures come from a mild day in early January.

Anyone who’d like to check out the site can visit dur-ing the nature center’s winter hours from Oct. 1 to April 14. On Monday to Tuesday: 8 a.m. - noon, on Wednesday - Friday: 8 a.m. - noon, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. and on week-ends: 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.