Winners

It isn’t every day Iowans receive good news about population growth trends. And though no one is confusing U-Haul’s 2006 National Migration Trend Report with an official census, the moving company finds that for cities with 5,000 to 10,000 families moving last year, Des Moines had the highest percentage of growth with 14 percent, outpacing Springfield, Mo. (10.1 percent) and Omaha (6.7 percent). Figures were compiled from more than 1.6 million U-Haul transactions in 2006, though none were given for how many people rented U-Hauls to leave Iowa.

Though police are correct in not recommending such action, we applaud 30-year-old Dawn Mullins of Des Moines who last week fended off two male attackers who tried unsuccessfully to take her purse. Mullins fought back with a mop handle she purchased and kicked the two men until they fled scene when a driver pulled up to help her.

Surveys are to be taken with a grain of salt, but if you’re looking for a job or hoping to retain the one you have, the results of a Manpower Employment Outlook Survey suggest favorable employment conditions during the second quarter of 2007 as Des Moines employers are expected to hire at a steady pace. From April to June, the survey says, 27 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire additional staff, while only 7 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. The remaining 66 percent anticipate maintaining their current employee levels. Job prospects appear to be best in durable goods manufacturing, transportation-public utilities, services and public administration.

Many Hawkeye fans would agree that University of Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta’s comments about the men’s basketball program and coach Steve Alford were warranted. Barta said another rebuilding year is not acceptable as Hawkeye fans continue to call for Alford’s dismissal. Next season might finally be the year it happens if Alford doesn’t deliver. During his nine-year tenure Alford has yet to win a Big Ten Conference title and his teams have won only one NCAA Tournament game.

Congratulations to Valley High School senior Spencer Gilbert who won the Poetry Out Loud in Iowa contest at the State Historical Building. Gilbert beat out hundreds of other students to win $200 and other prizes, including the chance to compete in the national finals at George Washington University April 29 through May 2.

Losers

Suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (photo below) boasted to military officials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that he personally beheaded American journalist Daniel Pearl. Need we say anymore?

State and local government employees who choose not to join a union could lose that right if elected leaders continue to ram through S.F. 413, a bill that would overturn Iowa’s Right to Work legislation that has been in effect since 1947. Groups like Iowa Citizens for Right to Work rightfully blasted the Iowa Senate last week for caving in to labor union pressure and approving forced unionism of government employees. If Gov. Chet Culver signs the bill into law, then employees who refuse to pay the fees could be fired from their jobs. Forced fees have been illegal in Iowa for both private and public sector employees since the Right to Work bill passed 60 years ago. What’s more, many non-Right to Work states don’t force their public sector workers to pay union dues and neither does the federal government, but those who are so hell bent on changing things aren’t content unless forced unionism is in full effect — forbidding individual workers from representing themselves — and that’s wrong. Fortunately, it looks like the measure doesn’t have enough votes in the House to pass.

Most college wrestling fans across the nation have accepted the fact that wrestling doesn’t receive the media coverage they feel it deserves. They realize that wrestling is not football or men’s basketball, but doesn’t a national runner-up team deserve at least equal coverage to women’s basketball teams? With all the basketball hype last weekend, you likely missed the fact that Iowa State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson and the Cyclone wrestling team were runners-up at the NCAA Division I wrestling tournament in Auburn Hills, Mich. As a rookie coach, Sanderson nearly accomplished the unthinkable… again. Those who don’t understand wrestling argue that it doesn’t have the fan base to support such coverage. Tell that to the 100,000 people who attend the national tournament. Others say that the lack of success of the program is to blame. They need to be reminded that since 1965, Iowa State has won seven national championships in wrestling, more than any other ISU sports program. The appropriate argument is that wrestling should move its season so that it does not compete with basketball for media space and time. We agree. And the NCAA wrestling coaches are the ones to blame for not getting this done. They must vote to move the national tournament to another time. Enough talk. Get it done. CV

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