There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “Sometimes you have to look back on where you’ve been to know where you’re going.” While I’m not a fanatic about history, I believe it certainly has its place in our society today.

When I take a road trip across Kansas or some other destination across our great land, I often stop along the way to read historical markers. More often than not they are half hidden by vegetation and often include details about battles, pestilence and devastation as well as discovery, success and progress.

When Mom and Dad were alive we sometimes drove to a handful of cemeteries in rural Kansas and Missouri to pay homage to our relatives. Below the headstones rested the remains of men in our family who spent their lives planting and harvesting behind sweating teams of horses, butchering hogs on bitterly cold days and teaching new sons about the soil.

Also down there were the remains of women who collected eggs, washed clothes by hand, cooked skillets full of fried chicken and managed to be good wives and mothers under sometimes nearly impossible conditions.

They are the ones who wove the fabric that serves as the yardstick for our new and dynamic future. What happened with these early pioneers has a direct bearing on our present successes and failures.

One such winning story revolves around the strides agriculture and its people have made in the interests of conservation. Not everything that has happened in conservation can be limited to the last 10 or 20 years. Many of the innovations in conservation began taking shape in the years after the Dirty ‘30s, nearly 80 years ago.

Thousands of shelterbelts were planted in Kansas and other Great Plains states. After rain finally began falling again, ponds dotted the landscape holding this precious resource. Landowners learned to make the water walk and not run, conserving it for livestock and sometimes for thirsty crops.

Terraces snaked their way across thousands of miles of farmland holding soil and water in place. Soil-stopping strip cropping created patterns and reduced wind erosion.

Slowly but surely conservation measures continued to slow the soil erosion gorilla that had stomped across the High Plains leaving in its wake gullies the size of automobiles, drifts of soil as high as fence posts, withered lifeless wheat and corn and starving livestock on barren pastures.

Yes, with knowledge, education, patience, understanding, hard work and Mother Nature’s ability to heal herself, the rich, fertile land recovered. Throughout this renaissance of the land, farmers and ranchers learned that stewardship of the soil, water and other resources is in the best interests of us all.

Guess what?

We’re in our fourth or fifth year of another drought depending on which part of the state you live in. Some farmers and stockmen from the eastern third of Kansas believe the drought is moving their way. And if you haven’t traveled to the western third of the state, crop and livestock conditions are turning from bad to worse.

It is important for all of us to understand what has happened in the past so we can place present events and future needs in their proper perspectives.

A new, modern twist may be nothing more than an old theme or something coming around after having gone around. After all human history is comprised of human ideas. Nearly all ideas are timeless, just waiting to be dusted off, reshaped and used again.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

It’s been a while since my last article. Reason being that my son, who was supposed to arrive around Easter, decided to show up in February instead. Peter Riley Bain was born on Feb. 23 – 4 pounds and 4 ounces, 18 inches long and eight weeks premature.

I was out of the library through March and April, but returned to work on May 1 with a slightly different work schedule. I’ll be working Tuesday to Saturday instead of Monday to Friday. Peter is now 8 pounds and just as healthy as he can be.

While it’s hard for me to leave my newborn each morning and I hurry home each afternoon, I am genuinely happy to back at work. It’s great to see my patrons, answer research questions and get back into the swing of things. I’m also excited to be developing my summer programming.

May 17 is the 60th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education. This famous case which made racially segregated schools unconstitutional was filed in Topeka by 13 parents representing twenty students. To commemorate this anniversary, I’ll be showing the documentary “With All Deliberate Speed,” which was made 10 years ago on the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board. Free coffee and donuts will be provided.

Due to the overwhelming success of my Kansas movie nights last summer, I’ve decided to add a new film to the docket: the 1955 classic Picnic. This movie stars Kim Novak and William Holden and depicts twenty-four hours in the life of a fictional rural Kansas town. I’ll be showing this film on Thursday, May 29 at 6 p.m. in the Schmidt Gallery. There will be free popcorn, movie theatre candy and pop. If you enjoy classic films, summer themes and free concessions — then these movie nights are for you! Look for screenings of “Paper Moon” and “The Wizard of Oz” later this summer.

This summer will also mark the return of the photo scavenger hunt. Beginning June 1, you can go to the library’s website or pick up a clue sheet at the front desk for this summer’s Hays photo scavenger hunt. Clues will lead you to ten locations throughout Hays. Have your picture snapped at each location and submit them to me via email or in person and you will be entered to win a prize. This scavenger hunt is a great way to spend a summer afternoon and really explore your own backyard.

Speaking of appreciating Hays, I am excited to announce a new series of programs called “Kansas Room Staycations.” Over the summer, I’ll be leading several day trips to nearby locations with historical attractions or festivals. The first “staycation” will be right here in Hays on Saturday, May 24.

Participants will meet at the library at 9 9 a.m., and we’ll be visiting both Old Fort Hays and Blue Sky Miniature Horse Farm. The library will provide transportation and admission for both tours. Please call (785) 625-9014 or email [email protected] to reserve your spot as spaces are limited. Later this summer we’ll be heading to a Lavender Festival, Greensburg, Abilene and Hutchinson – so keep your eyes and ears open for the announcements!

Don’t hesitate to drop by the Kansas Room with any local or state history questions or if you’d just like to say hello. Remember we have a library subscription to Ancestry.com that is available for FREE in the Kansas Room if you’d like to jumpstart a family tree project.

The Kansas Room is located in the basement of the Hays Public Library and is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and by request.

Lucia Bain is Kansas Room librarian at the Hays Public Library.

We have three weeks to the deadline for filing for office in the state, and many of us Statehouse insiders are watching every day to see who has filed, who hasn’t and who just might have filed as part of a ruse to select their successors.

The statewide state offices, of course, are filling up. Only Republican Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is retiring, meaning that whatever happens, there’s going to be a new face there.

Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach hasn’t filed, though his Democratic opponent, former State Sen. and former Republican Jean Schodorf of Wichita, has filed. Kobach? He could just wander downstairs in his office building on a coffee break and sign up.

Neither of the likely major party gubernatorial contenders—Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and Democratic House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence—has formally filed yet. Neither has Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, though his Democratic challenger A.J. Kotich has. Republican State Treasurer Ron Estes has filed and he’s alone in the race so far.

But we figure the statewide offices will take care of themselves…it’s the Kansas House where the insiders’ curiosity is focused.

There have been a few announcements of retirement from the House, notably its experienced Tax Chair Rep. Richard Carlson, R-St. Marys, and of course Davis, who can’t be on the ballot twice in case his gubernatorial bid goes south.

But when business closed down Friday, there were 23 House members who hadn’t either filed or formally announced they won’t seek another term.

And it is the House members—remember the full Senate isn’t up for election this year, just two races there due to retirements—we’re watching.

Some very frankly were recruited two years ago in a hurry after a federal court reapportioned state districts and both parties scrambled for candidates. This year, they all know the boundaries of their districts and incumbents can decide whether they are actually having a good time in Topeka, or whether they’d rather be home to carry out the trash.

But what many are watching for on filing deadline day are those slam-bam removal/replacements that can, with a little secret planning, see a filed candidate—especially one without an opposite party challenger—virtually appoint his/her successor.

It happened a few years ago when a Senate member who had filed withdrew his candidacy and a friend filed moments before the deadline for an unopposed run for office. It’s a switcheroo that just might occur again this year.

There are some incumbents who just aren’t having a good time who have filed, ready for the switch if they choose. And some incumbents haven’t filed and are so far unopposed. That last-minute stuff can mean a candidate files just before the noon June 2 deadline and virtually be guaranteed election.

But, remember, sine die adjournment of the Legislature is May 30, and some of those un-filed House members may just be waiting…because the state pays their mileage to come to Topeka for the final adjournment.

Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.

“Bachelor’s Degree in Just One Year!” These billboards appear several places around Kansas.

These so-called “accelerated programs” are becoming common, providing “…a variety of methods to earn credit without setting foot into a classroom.” By describing a bachelor’s degree as a union card to get in the door, these operations pitch to adults with job and family commitments who “simply do not have the time and money to go back to school.”

How do they do this? “Accelerated classes,” credit transfer, life experience credits, professional certificate credits, work experience credits, military service, and test-outs allow you to “earn” a bachelor’s degree in just one year. Somehow, they can provide you with this supposed four-year program in just one year because you are just too busy in a full time job and raising a family. Amazing!

A key to awarding these “fast degrees” is “Prior Learning Assessments” or awarding credit for prior life experiences.

This gimmick is now coming to Kansas public higher education. The Kansas Board of Regents has distributed “Credit for Prior Learning: Best Practices for Kansas Public Institutions. A Guide to Prior Learning Assessment in Kansas” to the academic community for comment.

The innocent-looking Trojan horse in this proposal is the long list of current credits by examination that have some limited legitimacy because they are already used by regents universities: Advanced Placement (AP) exams, College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams, the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Educational Support (DANTES) Subject Standardized Tests (DSSTs), etc.

However, a rigorous school such as K.U. may require a score of 5 for AP credit toward a college course while another regents school may also accept a 3 or 4. This proposed document goes far beyond “guidelines” to establish policy. Under the proposed system, all credit for prior learning must transfer across the Kansas system. Therefore the system drops to the lowest school’s criteria.

Limited credit for experiences in the military may be defensible, but only if limited to specific academic skills: an air force medic might have the knowledge provided by a human anatomy and physiology class—or perhaps not. But this proposal goes far beyond the currently recognized AP, CLEP and other established assessments to replace courses with tests.  This document makes no distinction between an examination and an education. If this philosophy was applied to law and medical students, a student could sit for the bar exam without taking law school or for the medical boards without completing medical school. While this credit-for-experience plan does not yet destroy those programs, it clearly fails to understand that students learn to prepare a case or conduct surgery in their course work, not in preparing for a test. This “prior learning” plan threatens to gut all other fields of academics.

We already have a model for such a disaster in the Kansas dual credit or concurrent enrolment policy. Originally designed for the few exceptional Kansas junior or senior high school students—our few “Doogie Howsers”—it was changed so students who had finished their freshman year of high school could take courses for college credit. Designed for a few exceptional students recommended by their high school administrators and envisioned for students attending part time at a nearby college, it rapidly became a flood of mediocre students taking regular courses at high school for college credit. Turns out, everybody has a Doogie Howser. The result has been many students entering university with a year or more of weak “college credit” and graduating with lesser abilities: essentially a bachelors degree of three genuine years of college.

This new “Credit for Prior Learning” proposal now risks reducing the value of a Kansas bachelor’s degree to just one year.  Once this barn door is opened, Kansas schools will race-to-the-bottom as they compete to offer the cheapest degrees in the continued pursuit of tuition. The document even promotes credit-for-prior-learning as “a recruitment tool”!

Dual credits taken in high school should be limited to three to six credit hours—total! Similar tight limits should be placed on “prior learning.”

Most citizens and employers recognize today’s for-profit and online operations that are diploma mills. But every Kansas citizen who has earned a valid bachelor’s degree should be concerned with this new proposal that will devalue the degree they legitimately earned.

In this graduation season, the Kansas student who has worked hard over four years to earn a bona fide bachelor’s degree should not be followed across the stage by a “student” who has barely accomplished one year of academic work. Everyone loses if this cheap degree plan passes.

Funeral planning and end-of-life issues are difficult subjects. But those who attended last week’s Extension program found that these topics could be interesting, thought-provoking and sometimes even a bit humorous. If you missed our presentation on end-of-life issues, the following summary provides useful information to think about now, so that you’ll be better prepared when the need arises in your family.

Because death is something you may not want to think about, funeral or memorial service planning is something you might put off. The reality is that most people will be involved in making funeral arrangements at some point in their lives.

Americans spend billions of dollars every year to arrange more than 2 million funerals for loved ones. Funerals rank among the most expensive purchases many consumers will ever make. Yet, when a loved one dies, grieving family members are confronted with dozens of decisions about the funeral – all of which must be made quickly and often under great emotional stress.

Consumers who make funeral plans in advance can compare prices and services so that the funeral reflects a wise and well-informed purchasing decision, honors the deceased and is meaningful to survivors. Advance planning can also reduce the temptation some people have to “overspend” on a funeral or burial because they think of it as a reflection of their feelings for the deceased.

Pre-planning does not have to mean pre-paying, so even those who are uncomfortable about paying for services in advance can benefit from planning ahead before any dollars ever change hands. In either case, leaving preferences or instructions for family members can be helpful. Explain whether you would like to be buried or cremated, how and where you would like services to be conducted, your choice of cemetery including information about a burial plot, and the location of documents verifying prepayment of funeral expenses or funds set aside.

Funeral expenses generally fit into four categories. Being familiar with these types of typical expenses may make planning and comparison shopping easier.

• Professional services: These include the services of the funeral director and staff, including the use of facilities and equipment, and the casket and vault.

• Grave site or cremation: These include the cost of the grave and opening and closing the site. There are also costs associated with cremation and an urn, if desired.

• Monument or marker: These include costs for a monument or marker for the grave or a niche for an urn.

• Miscellaneous: Costs for items paid directly by the family or through the funeral director for flowers, limousines, death notices, burial clothing or transporting the body.

The Federal Trade Commission is charged with enforcing laws regarding funeral costs. The FTC offers these tips for shopping for funeral services.

1. Plan ahead. It allows you to comparison shop without time constraints, creates an opportunity for family discussion, and lifts some of the burden from your family. If you are planning your own service, and especially if you are paying in advance, you may want to review your arrangements every few years.

2. Ask for a written price list. By law, funeral homes must give you written price lists for products and services. Compare prices from at least two funeral homes.

3. Resist pressure to buy goods and services you don’t really need. Recognize and avoid potential emotional overspending in your desire to honor a loved one.

4. Recognize your rights. Funeral and burial laws vary from state to state. For information about the Kansas rules and laws and other helpful resources, go online to the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts at www.accesskansas.org/ksbma/.

For more information, talk to your local funeral director. You’ll find he can provide a wealth of helpful information and advice.

K-State Research and Extension also has two new publications on Decisions After a Death. Find them on our Ellis County Extension website at www.ellis.ksu.edu under “Home and Family: Aging.”

The Federal Trade Commission also offers many helpful resources. Search for “funerals” at the FTC website www.ftc.gov.

Linda Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

Beef. That’s the four-letter word which has been at the heart of a growing economy in southwest Kansas for decades, as beef cattle production and processing have expanded.  But now there’s another kind of cattle production going on in southwest Kansas that centers on a different four-letter word: Milk.

Last week, we learned about Steve Irsik, the entrepreneurial agriculturist whose family has helped build the ag economy in southwest Kansas. For decades, their family operation has centered on the irrigated grain production and beef cattle feedyards which have been the hallmark of agriculture in southwest Kansas.

One day, Steve and his banker were on an eastern Kansas agricultural tour which visited a modern dairy. Steve said to his banker, “Do you think I should have one of these?” His banker replied, “You bet.” Steve answered, “Well, call me if somebody comes along who can run one.” Six weeks later, Steve got a call. A man with large dairy experience in Washington State was coming to Kansas.

That led to the creation of Royal Farms Dairy in the year 2000. Today, Royal Farms Dairy milks 6,300 head of dairy cows. Another 7,000 head are in heifer development.

One of the striking things about Royal Farm Dairy is the innovative way that water and nutrients are used in the operation. For example, the dairy cattle generate 30,000 tons of manure per year. The dairy is using that manure as organic fertilizer to fertilize the crops.

“We don’t buy any commercial fertilizer,” Steve Irsik said. “It is a win-win situation.  Yields are increasing, organic matter is increasing in the soil, and we are cutting costs.”

Use of water is another innovative practice at Royal Farms Dairy. At the beginning, the dairy moved 1,000 acre feet of water allocation from crop production to dairy use.

The dairy minimizes water usage by using each gallon multiple times. Water that is used to cool milk is also used to flush pens and holding areas. Ultimately, this nutrient-enhanced water is then stored in a lagoon until it is used to strategically fertilize and irrigate 1,600 acres.

“All the lagoon water comes back to the farm,” Steve said. For its efforts, Royal Farms Dairy has been honored with the Kansas Banker’s Association Environmental Stewardship Award.

“We know a bunch of people in the dairy business around the U.S.,” Steve said. The Irsiks have also added a second dairy, called the Noble dairy, located south of Garden City. “There we are milking 2,400 cows twice a day.”

What are the keys to success in agribusiness today? “It’s really important for ag operations to think multigenerationally,” Steve said. The Irsiks have organized their operations as businesses with family members involved.

“You must keep your capital together, work together to develop a shared vision, and nurture and protect what preceding generations have built,” he said.

Over time, the beef and dairy production businesses in southwest Kansas have led to population growth, in contrast to the general population loss found in most of the rest of rural Kansas. After feedyards began in the 1950s and `60s, major beef packing plants were built in Ford, Finney and Seward counties. Then came large dairies and milk processing. From 1971 to 2007, the population in Ford, Finney and Seward County grew by 64 percent. During that same time, the metropolitan counties of Kansas grew by 48 percent and other rural counties fell by 19 percent.

That’s significant, because Royal Farms Dairy has brought growth to a rural community.  The dairy is located between Garden City and the rural community of Ingalls, population 331 people. Now, that’s rural.

Beef. It’s the four-letter word which is at the center of the agribusiness complex in southwest Kansas, which has now been joined by milk. We salute Steve Irsik and all those involved with Royal Farms Dairy for making a difference by building this business while conserving water and resources. Beef and milk have helped create another four letter word: Grow.

And there’s more. The Irsiks have also helped bring about a new way of implementing an old organization. We’ll learn about that next week.

Every day, law enforcement officers risk their lives to protect the citizens and communities of Kansas. I want to take this occasion to recognize them for their service and sacrifice, and to remember the officers who were injured or killed in the line of duty.

There are more than 900,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States. Each year, nearly 60,000 assaults against law enforcement officers resulting in approximately 16,000 injuries are reported. Since the first recorded death in 1791, more than 20,000 law enforcement officers in the United States have made the ultimate sacrifice and been killed in the line of duty.

Law enforcement office fatalities have dropped for the second year in a row to the lowest level in six decades and the number of officers killed in firearms-related incidents this year was the fewest since the 1800s. In 2011, officer fatalities spiked, which led to a number of new initiatives aimed at promoting law enforcement safety. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas took part in the U.S. Justice Department’s programs to urge law enforcement agencies to require officers to wear bullet-resistant vests. The Justice Department also formed the National Officer Safety and Wellness Group and the VALOR program, which provides training to help prevent violence against officers and to help officers survive violent encounters when they do occur.

I want to thank the men and women of the law enforcement community who are doing great work every day in our neighborhoods and communities of Kansas. It is a privilege to travel the state and to meet these outstanding individuals in the police departments, sheriff’s offices and courthouses across Kansas. I am inspired and humbled by their honor, integrity and heroism.

Barry Grissom is U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas. May 10 through May 16 is National Police Week.

Dear Dave,
My wife and I have a friend we met through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. She has a 1-year-old child, and she recently asked us for some money. We don’t really approve of how she’s choosing to spend her money—she’s spending a lot of it on alcohol and cigarettes—but she does need financial help. What should we do?
Mike

Dear Mike,
I have a very simple rule for situations like this. If someone is bold enough to ask me for my money, I can be bold enough to attach requirements to the money for their own good.

One of two things will happen when you handle things in this manner. They’ll welcome the help and graciously accept your conditions, or they’ll get mad and act like you have no right interfering in their business. I don’t have a problem helping people who have a good heart and really need a break. But if someone cops an attitude with me in this situation, I wouldn’t break out my wallet anytime soon.
Regardless, if you choose to do this, I’d make the money a gift and not a loan. Concentrate on trying to get her on a path where she thinks a little straighter, and, as a result, she will make better choices. Teach her how to make and live off a budget or help her enroll in a personal finance course. But right now, just handing her money is like giving a drunk a drink.

This whole situation is a lot bigger than giving someone $35 for diapers. The answer to that is easy. It’s yes. But in this case I’d probably give it to her in the form of a grocery store gift card. Many of those don’t allow alcohol and cigarette purchases. Or, I’d just go buy diapers and baby food and take them to her. Actually helping people is a lot more work than just throwing money at them. To really help someone, you have to get down in their mess and walk beside them.

Financially speaking, her problem is just as much mismanagement of money as it is a lack of money. Anyone who chooses smokes and alcohol over diapers for their kid needs to be smacked. But since you can’t really do that, you can put conditions on your help that are designed to help her improve her decision-making abilities and, by doing that, improving her life.
—Dave

Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, EntreLeadership and Smart Money Smart Kids. His newest best-seller, Smart Money Smart Kids, was written with his daughter Rachel Cruze, and recently debuted at #1. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 8 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.

“I don’t get no respect!” was the catchphrase of famous American comedian and actor Rodney Dangerfield. He died in 2004. The phrase lives on — for Kansas teachers.

The Kansas school finance bill signed April 21 ended the mandatory due-process required before experienced teachers could be fired. No respect.

When a rookie teacher just out of college begins teaching their first several years, a school could always say goodbye and not renew the contract—no reason given. But after three or more years in a district, the school has had plenty of time to assess a teacher’s professional skills. Thereafter, a teacher had some job security as a professional, and due process was required, a status often called “tenure.”

But it never guaranteed a job forever. When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was mandated over a decade ago, some Kansas schools threw all of their resources into teaching-to-the-tests. Many art and music classes were discontinued. Those veteran “tenured” teachers lost their jobs. No respect.

And it always took competent administrators to get rid of an incompetent teacher. If they somehow do not catch incompetence in the first three years, it can still be documented later. But now teachers are forever “rookies.” No respect.

If an administrator does dismiss an incompetent teacher, that administrator needs a competent replacement waiting in the wings. That talent is now going to become harder to find.

And it can be worse. In eight other states, if students’ scores on external assessment tests decline for two years in a row, a veteran teacher can be fired. No respect.

It is not just legislators and administrators who lack respect for our profession. Disrespect has been growing in American culture for decades.

In 1962, in Anti-intellectualism in American Life, author Richard Hofstadter described our growing public disdain for intellect and our shallow preference for mundane job training.

In 2000, in An Elusive Science, Ellen Condliffe Lagemann detailed our growing disrespect for teachers, and how “antieducationism has helped to undermine the effectiveness of all aspects of education.” This was made clear in our Kansas bill that has also relaxed licensing requirements, allowing districts to hire folks without any teacher training to teach math, engineering, science, technology, finance and accounting. Again, no respect.

Our governor defended this action, according to news reports: “What if you can bring a retired heart doctor into the classroom to teach biology now, which you couldn’t before? And what can that teacher do and inspire and instruct that you couldn’t do before?” —Well, a heart doctor would not know botany and molecular biology and microbiology and ecology for starters.

And Kansas needs over 700 fully-educated biology teachers in our classrooms. But you can count the number of “retired heart doctors” who would want to work a year in a Kansas public school classroom on one hand—and have five fingers left over. Our Governor’s example is unreal. But the attitude is clear. Trained teachers get no respect.

I leave for China May 20. They will be aghast at this Kansas action. Whenever I walk into a classroom to lecture in China, everyone stands up. If I sit with the headmaster at the back of a class, both of us stand along with the students when the teacher enters the room. It makes the hair stand on the back of your neck to feel this respect. Respect that teachers deserve. There is no way I can explain to them the disgraceful way Kansas is treating our teachers today.

My job includes recruiting excellent college biology students into secondary biology teaching in Kansas. Before NCLB, I could persuade them to enter teaching where they could ride the wave of science discovery and enjoy translating new developments to their students with labs and fieldwork. But when many Kansas school districts canceled labs and field trips and turned science teaching into test drillwork, new licenses in science teaching across Kansas dropped to one-fourth pre-1999 levels. This generation of college students is looking to other fields for decent pay—and for respect.

With little protection from arbitrary dismissal, it would be unwise for any new teacher to buy a house—they should probably always rent.

Our legislators will probably get the teachers they deserve. But our future children deserve better.

Rodney Dangerfield lives on for every Kansas teacher remaining today: “We do not get any respect!”

What’s left to say about the ugly, racist views of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and the vocal reactions to his comments?

Well, from a First Amendment free expression perspective, several things — some of which may well resonate even longer than Sterling’s repugnant remarks and the lifetime ban imposed on him by Adam Silver, commissioner of the National Basketball Association.

Sterling’s views came to light via a “leaked” audiotape given to a relatively new kind of news media, TMZ.com, which is positioned somewhere between a host of serious news media outlets and a long line of popular and widely read Hollywood gossip columns and magazines.

Not long ago, a digital media outlet like TMZ.com — and online phenoms such as Twitter and Facebook — would not have been able to create the kind of national discussion and rhetorical firestorm that followed the first TMZ.com reports of Sterling’s private-remarks-made-public.

But no longer.

A Pew Research Center’s journalism report on the State of the News Media 2014 found that “digital players have exploded onto the news scene, bringing technological knowhow and new money and luring top talent. BuzzFeed, once scoffed at for content viewed as ‘click bait,’ now has a news staff of 170.”

The Sterling incident was yet another example of what the First Amendment’s protection of speech is all about. The amendment restrains government from controlling or punishing most kinds of speech. But nothing in the 45 words shielded the billionaire from public revulsion over his views, suspended endorsement deals, instant campaigns to boycott Clipper tickets and a $2.5 million fine.

The widespread criticism of Sterling echoed earlier public revulsion over negative racial comments by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who attracted national attention about the same time as Sterling.  Welcome to another aspect of free speech protected by the First Amendment: the “marketplace of ideas.”

The amendment’s guarantee of freedom to speak one’s mind without government restriction or penalty doesn’t bring with it any assurance the speaker will find acceptance or be insulated from critics and negative public reaction. That particular civics lesson rings true across the political spectrum and over the last decade and more.

Still, some people are confused over what the First Amendment does and does not do. Witness what a CBS Radio report datelined from Charlotte, N.C., called a “Twitter firestorm” following the NBA sanctions against Sterling.

“I guess Donald Sterling is not allowed to use his First Amendment rights,” said one post attributed to “Joey Bag O’ Donuts.”

Calling the NBA sanctions “ridiculous,” another tweet, attributed to “Zac Palmer” asked, “Are we just taking his First Amendment rights away?”

Sterling may attempt some legal action against the person who made the tape — presumably without his knowledge. But that would be a civil lawsuit, likely involving state privacy laws in California where the tape is said to have been made. No First Amendment claim applies here — there is no government involvement. And for the record, there is no Fourth Amendment claim (unlawful search and seizure) either, for the same reason.

Owner groups govern their leagues but are not government. They are privately held associations, and when purchasing a team, that person or group agrees to abide by the association’s rules and regulations. In the NBA’s case, it’s Article 24(l) of the league’s constitution that empowered Silver to act in the “best interests of the Association.”

Silver said Sterling’s remarks were “contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multicultural and multiethnic league.”

We’re more able to be heard and more likely to be heard by many in today’s digital world. But as Sterling and others have demonstrated all too well, we’re also more likely than ever to be held accountable by many for our views.

Or as one might tweet: “Freedom of speech works in both directions.”

Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the Institute’s First Amendment Center. [email protected]

The gabillionaire Koch brothers feel entitled to occupy the people’s elections, barging in with sacks full of corporate cash. So, how would the brothers feel if the people barged into their political affairs?

To find out, a few citizens recently paid a visit to Koch Companies Public Sector. That’s the grandiose name the brothers give to their Washington lobbying headquarters.

From there, a covey of high-dollar Koch-headed sapsucker lobbyists flits all around town trying to get lawmakers to take away our Social Security, Medicare, minimum wage, etc. — while also making sure that the two, “free-enterprise” proselytizers keep getting their billion-dollar-a-year package of government subsidies.

So, some “commoners” came calling on the Kochs. OK, it was more than some — more like 600. They’re affiliated with National People’s Action, a scrappy, grassroots network of farmers, workers, clergy, retirees, environmentalists, students, and just plain folks.

The visitors occupied the grand lobby of the lobbyists’ building — forming a picture-perfect contrast between the powers that be and the powers that ought to be.

First, a couple of ministers in the NPA group called on the Kochs to “repent” from their narcissistic political push to pervert our democracy into their privatized plutocracy. Then, several of the out-of-towners gave personal testimony about the real-life impacts that the Kochs’ extremist ideological agenda is having.

Patricia Fuller, for example, told of struggling to make it on Michigan’s $7.40-an-hour minimum wage. She asked why the billionaires would spend millions to try to knock it lower — or, as Charles Koch advocates, scrapping America’s wage floor entirely.

Of course, the visitors were tossed out, but they made their point: It’s time to get these corporate oligarchs out of the people’s business.

OtherWords,org columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer and public speaker. He’s also editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown.

A proposed rule that would expand the regulatory authority of the Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could bring farming and ranching to a halt. Ordinary field work and everyday chores like moving cattle across a wet pasture, planting crops and even harvest may one day require a federal permit.

EPA published its new proposal in the Federal Register March 25. The Environmental Protection Agency contends its new rule clarifies the scope of the Clean Water Act. In reality it provides more confusion and less clarity for farm and ranch families and could classify most water and some dry land as waters of the United States.

Clean water is important to all of us, but this issue is not about water quality – it’s about federal agencies attempting to gain regulatory control over land use by using the claim of clean water.

Throughout this republic’s history, Congress, not federal agencies, has written the laws of the land. Two Supreme Court rulings have affirmed the federal government is limited to regulating navigable waters. EPA’s recent proposal sends conflicting messages and would extend the agency’s reach.

Farmers and ranchers are straight-forward people who believe words mean something. Agricultural producers believe the authors (Congress) of the Clean Water Act included the term navigable for a reason.

Is a small ditch navigable?

Is a stock pond navigable?

Ever see any maritime barges trying to navigate a southwestern Kansas gully during a toad strangler?

Because a farmer’s field, a homeowner’s lawn or a playground collects water after a rain does not mean they should be regulated under waters of the United States. The new regulatory proposals could do exactly that.

What about the EPA claims that agricultural exemptions currently provided under the federal Clean Water Act should relieve farmer and ranchers of any need to worry about the proposed rule?

Exemptions provided in the act are mostly limited to plowing and earth moving activities. They do not apply to farm and ranch tasks like building a fence across a ditch, applying fertilizers or other forms of pest and weed control.

If EPA’s proposed rule becomes law, many farming practices would require government approval through a complex process of federal permitting.

EPA’s so-called exemptions will not protect farmers and ranchers from the proposed waters rule. If farmlands are regulated as waters, farming and ranching will be difficult, if not impossible.

Contact the EPA and Corps before July 21 and let them know your opinion on this critical issue. Go to www.kfb.org for additional information.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. He writes for the Kansas Farm Burea.