The Iowa Board of Regents will consider a new policy Tuesday that says professors should avoid teaching from one perspective.
One professor says the proposed policy’s language is short on definitions.
The Board of Regents is considering a policy that would encourage free and open discussion among faculty and students over relevant controversial topics. It also says teachers should instruct in a way that avoids indoctrination of one perspective.
Michael Olsen is a mechanical engineering professor at Iowa State University and the president-elect of the Faculty Senate.
“The problem with the policy is not the motive here. The motive here is to avoid indoctrination. I agree with that. The problem is, just, in the definitions. Where, exactly, where are the lines drawn? And that could be problematic,” Olsen said.
The policy originally limited instruction related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but the Board revised it after receiving significant pushback.
*Additionally, people who use a recreational trail in a section of the Okoboji Great Lakes area can now see several pieces of public art.
Last week, seven new art sculptures were added to about a half-mile of trail that is adjacent to the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji near Highway 71. The project called the Sculpture Trail Loop is modeled on similar such trails in Sioux Falls and Mason City, Iowa, officials said during the August 7 unveiling.
More than 100 people attended the event, then walked the trail to see the seven sculptures. Two of the artists were on hand, including Tim Adam, of Webster City, Iowa, who said he was pleased to have a piece in the distinctive trail.
This new trail segment to the north of the art center hooks into an existing trail, which goes west near the Dickinson County Nature Center.
Art center officials are proud of how an outdoor gallery has art that connects with nature. The plan is to have seven annually rotating sculptures on that trail loop, to freshen the look for trail users over time.
*In other news, Monday marks the first day for which Sioux City Council candidates can file nomination papers.
Sioux City Council candidates can start filing on August 11, Woodbury County Auditor Michelle Skaff explained. There will be three city council positions that go before voters, for terms that will soon end for Councilmen Alex Waters, Dan Moore, and Matthew O’Kane.
Those three Sioux City Council contests may have a special extra primary election on October 7, if more than six candidates file papers by August 28.
More broadly throughout Northwest Iowa, the November 4 election will include contests for school board, city council, and mayoral positions,
Outside of Sioux City, the filing period for people to file for those positions runs from August 25 through September 18. People have to get a certain number of signatures on petitions to get on the ballot.
*Additionally, wind and solar energy in Iowa are facing a slew of challenges with federal policy changes.
The tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed last month significantly shortened the timeline for wind and solar energy tax credits.
But the U.S. Treasury may issue a new rule this month that could make it harder to qualify for the credits, even before they expire.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley recently announced he will delay three presidential nominees to the Treasury unless the agency follows what he says is the intent of congress.
The U.S. Departments of the Interior and Transportation have also released new policies for wind and solar projects and have indicated more are coming.
Around 60 percent of Iowa’s energy comes from wind.
*Also, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins was at the Iowa State fair this past weekend where she hinted that Iowa could become a destination for USDA jobs being moved out of Washington D.C.
She recently announced plans to move more than 2,000 jobs to North Carolina, Colorado, Utah, Missouri and Indiana.
Asked at the state fair why Iowa wasn’t picked, Rollins said, there will be more announcements coming.
Rollins says the USDA is giving $152 million to 19 rural development projects in Iowa. She also announced President Donald Trump has nominated Glen Smith of Atlantic, Iowa to serve as Under Secretary of Rural Development at USDA.
Rollins also visited Nebraska where she promoted the White House’s agriculture agenda and highlighted the administration’s priorities in funding research.
