Paul Thissen: Innovation in Action

Introduction/Background

2010 Census Awaits: An undercount of Minnesota residents will likely result in our loss of one Congressional district. In addition, an inaccurate population assessment will reduce our ability to identify needs for crucial services.

My Idea

While most of the work will conclude prior to the Election, Rep. Thissen can add the emphasis of Minnesotans’ full Census participation as a pillar of his campaign. Campaign stops can feature distribution of literature explaining the significance of being counted. This would appeal to residents’ pride in our state, and draw a meaningful contrast with recent comments from political figures that are suggesting the opposite.

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Introduction/Background

In our economic situation with more families on tighter budgets due to hour cuts, or job losses in the family with Schools and Teachers also on tight budgets to buy supplies for classes. A sales tax free holiday would help encourage families buy the stuff they need.

My Idea

I propose a sales tax holiday weekend every year before the start of the school year to help parents and teachers buy the supplies they need for the school year. the following would exempt during the sales tax holiday.

Pencils
Book bags
Laptops or PC’s
notebooks
papers
crayons
folders
binders
all forms of calculators
all miscellaneous educational related items

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Introduction/Background

New “hybrid” courses offered this year at Jefferson High School give students the opportunity to spend some days working online at home, in the library or at the local coffee shop and other days in a traditional classroom with an instructor.

Online courses are nothing new in the increasingly technological world, and hybrid courses are becoming more common at the college level. But Bloomington school officials aren’t aware of any other Twin Cities high schools that offer them.

Many of the classes are in major subject areas, such as physics and language arts.

My Idea

I would recommend that other schools look at hybrid courses. It better prepares students for college, increases technological skills, and its not a boring traditional method that will put the kids to sleep.

Hybrid courses are often preferable to online courses because students don’t completely give up the social interaction of the traditional classroom, said Richard Beach, a professor of English education at the University of Minnesota.

Hybrid classes work best for independent learners, good troubleshooters and good organizers.

Bloomington school officials don’t know if the classes have a positive impact on students’ test scores, but in surveys, students have said the classes are more engaging. They say they have improved their technology skills and that they feel better prepared for college.

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Introduction/Background

In a world of abundance, people are hungry. Children are eating unhealthy foods, (corn syrup, transfats, ramen noodles, etc.). Our industrial farming practices are robbing future generations of safe drinking water. We are fearful of not having enough. Not enough money for retirement, for educating our children, for caring for our older population.

Does our fear create realities of scarcity? What if we could create a Minnesota where EVERYONE knew there was always enough food to eat.

My Idea

Start a free food movement by:

1) Identifying public lands that can be responsibly used as gardening space.

2) Utilize our wasted “human resources” with a “volunteer-driven” growing free local food movement. Receiving and giving food can be a natural system.

3) Support micro-farms and micro-businesses. Right now there are lots vacant shopping centers. Can they be transformed into mini-farms AND mini-businesses. A local pasta maker, Minnesota spaghetti sauce, handmade furniture, handmade toys & instruments, etc.

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Introduction/Background

Growing “dead zones” are threatening the health of water resources.

My Idea

FERTILIZING the MISSISSIPPI

As we observed Earth Day, we paused to consider the state of our natural environment. If we are to care for the Earth, we must include the health of its oceans(71% of its area), and its fresh water lakes and streams(1% of its area). A place to start is with our own Mississippi River system. During the past several thousand years, the river has carried enough silt to build a substantial delta into the Gulf of Mexico. For more than one hundred years, it has carried other products like nitrogen(N) and phosphorous(P) from the fertilized farm fields and sewage systems of mid-America. These nutrients cause algal bloom in both fresh and salt water. As the algae decay, they rob the water of oxygen (hypoxia), making it uninhabitable for fish. This causes so-called “dead zones” in fresh water and at the ocean mouths of many of the world’s rivers.

A joint study from the Universities of Sao Paulo, Arkansas, and Cornell states, “In the U.S., over 60% of the coastal rivers and bays are moderately to severely degraded from nutrient pollution.” The demand for corn and soybeans to make ethanol and biodiesel has caused planted acreage for those crops in the U.S. to increase by 12 million acres from 2006 to 2008. Ten million of those newly fertilized acres came from conservation and pasture lands. This experience is being repeated throughout the world, resulting in coastal dead zones as the P and N from fertilizer nourish the algae.

We are currently producing about 9 billion gallons of ethanol per year, nearly all of it in the Mississippi River Basin. The federal mandate calls for a steady increase to 36 billion gallons by 2022. The above study concludes, “that continuing the current direction in biofuel production, particularly with the focus remaining on grain and sugar crops as primary feed stocks, has serious implications for coastal water quality, and it will almost certainly worsen already serious hypoxic conditions in many locations around the world.”

In adding to a river’s natural content, we tamper with Mother Nature, an activity that has uncertain consequences, often unattractive.

Rolf Westgard

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