The State of Iowa - An Introduction to the Hawkeye State from NETSTATE.COM The State of Iowa Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines Welcome to Iowa, the Hawkeye State. With its fertile, rolling prairies, Iowa is one of the foremost farming states in the United States. One fifth of the nation's corn harvest is produced in Iowa. Wet springs combined with warm summers create a favorable environment for plantings of corn and soybeans in the state's top-grade farmland. Although agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, Iowa has also encouraged the growth of manufacturing and service industries. If you are going to have large farms, you might as well ensure that you have the right equipment to work those farms, and in that spirit Iowa produced the first gasoline-powered tractor in 1892 (John Froelich, Clayton County). Today, the state claims the largest tractor manufacturing plant in the U.S. THE STATE NAME: The state of Iowa, originally a territory of Wisconsin west of the Mississippi River, was named after the Iowa River. The Iowa River was named after the Iowa Indians who lived in the territory.

The tribal name "Ayuxwa" was spelled by the French as "Ayoua" and by the English as "Ioway." "Ayuxwa" means "one who puts to sleep." James Fenimore Cooper The Hawkeye State This popular nickname for the state of Iowa is said to have come from the scout, Hawkeye, in James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans published in 1826. According to the Iowa State web site, "Two Iowa promoters from Burlington are believed to have popularized the name." The nickname was given approval by "territorial officials" in 1838, twelve years after the book was published and eight years before Iowa became a state. The two men responsible for the promotion of this nickname are thought to be Judge David Rorer of Burlington and the newspaper publisher, James G. Edwards of Fort Madison and, later, Burlington. Burlington had been established in 1833 after the Black Hawk War of 1832. Mr. Edwards changed the name of his Burlington newspaper, The Iowa Patriot , to The Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot in tribute to his friend Chief Black Hawk.

Judge Rorer is said to have suggested "The Hawkeye State" after finding the name in The Last of the Mohicans while Mr. Edwards proposed the nickname "Hawk-eyes" in 1838 to "...rescue from oblivian [sic] a momento [sic], at least of the name of the old chief," Black Hawk. Marshall County, Iowa The Corn State This nickname pays tribute to Iowa's corn crop. Iowa leads the country in the production of corn. Iowa has also been called the "Land Where the Tall Corn Grows," in tribute. Land of the Rolling Prairie Iowa has been referred to as the "Land of the Rolling Prairie" because of the vast rolling prairies that covered the state. THE STATE QUARTER: United States Mint Image The Iowa quarter is the fourth of 2004, and the 29th in the 50 State Quarters® Program. On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted into the Union.

The Iowa quarter design features a one-room schoolhouse with a teacher and students planting a tree, and the inscriptions "Foundation in Education" and "Grant Wood." The design is based on "Arbor Day," a painting by Grant Wood, who was born near Anamosa, Iowa. He spent his career as a proponent of small-town values, which he celebrated in the iconic images of small-town plain folk and verdant Midwestern vistas for which he is world-renowned. Iowans have had a commitment to education since the State's earliest days. When Iowa became a state in 1846, it already had a number of rural country schools in each of its counties. Iowa established its first high school in the 1850s, although high schools generally did not become widespread in the United States until after 1900. Private and public colleges also quickly took root in the new State. Although Iowa has long been a leader in agriculture, the State is unique in that it is the only one whose east and west borders are completely formed by rivers - the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. In May 2002, Governor Thomas J.

Vilsack established the 16-member Iowa Quarter Commission, which worked with libraries, banks and credit unions to solicit ideas and concepts for the state quarter design. The Commission received nearly 2,000 submissions, which were narrowed to five candidate themes, including "American Gothic," "Foundation in Education," "Feeding the World," "Sullivan Brothers," and "Beautiful Land." In July 2003, the United States Mint forwarded five approved candidate designs to Governor Vilsack for final recommendation. Three designs were emblematic of the "Feeding the World" theme, and the other two represented the "Young Corn" and "Foundation in Education" concepts. Governor Vilsack chose the "Foundation in Education" design, which was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury on August 26, 2003. For more about the state commemorative quarters, visit this page . This 50 State Quarter Map is a great way to collect and display all 50 State Quarters. Sources... University of Missouri-Kansas City in the School of Education. 28 September 2002 < Carpenter, Allan & Provorse, Carl. .

Mahwah, N.J.: World Almanac Books (An Imprint of K-III Reference Corporation, A K-III Communications Company), 1996. The Hawk Eye Iowa (World Almanac Library of the States) , by Michael E. Martin. 48 pages. Gareth Stevens Publishing (August 2002) Reading level: Grades 4-6. Filled with the most up-to-date information, including the latest Census results. Full-color photos bring to life the story of Iowa. In addition to an in-depth factual profile of Iowa in the form of a state Almanac, this book offers fascinating and lively discussions of the state's history, people, geography, government, economy, culture, and lifestyles. A section on Notable People, a calendar of events, and enough primary source documents, time lines, maps, and other tools to make this unquestionably the best young adult reference material on the USA available anywhere. Iowa Past to Present: The People and the Prairie , by Dorothy Schwieder, Thomas Morain, and Lynn Nielsen. 99 pages. Publisher: University Of Iowa Press (January 1, 2003) Reading level: Grade 5.

A textbook for fifth grade students which traces the history of Iowa from its earliest inhabitants to the coming of modern times.. A Good Day's Work: An Iowa Farm in the Great Depression , by Dwight W. Hoover. 256 pages. Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher (June 25, 2007) Despite beautiful landscapes and bountiful harvests, farming is hard work and always has been. The Great Depression in rural America, which began in the 1920s and lasted until World War II, made it still harder. At a time when tractors were replacing horses and the family farm was giving way to the large, single-crop enterprise, the struggle to survive and modernize in a period of economic scarcity was especially sharp. In A Good Day's Work , Dwight Hoover, who grew up on an Iowa farm in this era, recalls the events of day-to-day life on a single farm, offering detailed descriptions of daily work in each of the year's four seasons. A Good Day's Work is a fascinating if grim reminder of what it was like to be a child with adult responsibilities. Mr. Hoover's unusual memoir recalls the rough edges as well as the happy moments of rural life.

It is an honest re-creation of a world that was vanishing. Iowa State Nickname Iowa State Nickname Sauk Chief Black Hawk ( public domain photo on Wikipedia ). Official State Nickname of Iowa Adopted early in the state's history, Iowa's nickname is "The Hawkeye State" as a tribute to chief Black Hawk, leader of the native American Sauk tribe (relocated to Iowa after unsuccessful fighting of settlers). Iowa is also called "The Corn State" - 90 percent of the land in Iowa is devoted to agriculture. All State Nicknames Iowa State Symbols: Iowa Tourism Map, Travel Guide, Things to Do: Travel Iowa Iowa became the 29th state on December 28, 1846. Founded at the confluence of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers; originally a military outpost. Nickname: The Hawkeye State The nickname was adopted early in the state's history. Two Iowa promoters from Burlington are believed to have popularized the name. State Banner and Motto Iowa was almost 75 years old before the state flag was adopted by the General Assembly.

Creation of the state flag had been suggested for years by patriotic organizations, but no action was taken until World War I, when Iowa National Guardsmen stationed along the Mexican border suggested a state flag was needed to designate their unit. This prompted the state's Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to design a flag in 1917. The Iowa General Assembly officially adopted the design in 1921. Designed by Mrs. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt of Knoxville, Iowa, a member of the DAR, the state flag consists of three vertical stripes -- blue, white and red. Gebhardt explained that the blue stands for loyalty, justice and truth; the white for purity; and the red for courage. On the white center stripe is an eagle carrying in its beak blue streamers inscribed with the state motto: "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain." The word "Iowa" is in red just below the streamers. All schools must fly the state flag on school days. The flag may also be flown on the sites of public buildings. When displayed with the United States flag, the state flag must be flown below the national emblem. State Song: Song of Iowa S.H.M.

Byers wrote “Song of Iowa,” the state’s official state song, in 1897. The Iowa Legislature adopted the song in 1911. Byers’ lyrics share his love for Iowa, and the song is set to the tune for “O Tannenbaum.” State Flower: Wild Rose The 26th Iowa General Assembly designated the wild rose as the official state flower in 1897. It was chosen for the honor because it was one of the decorations used on the silver service which the state presented to the battleship USS Iowa that same year. Although no particular species of the flower was designated by the General Assembly, the wild prairie rose (rosa pratincola) is most often cited as the official flower. Wild roses are found throughout the state and bloom from June through late summer. The flower, in varying shades of pink, is set off by many yellow stamens in the center. State Bird: Eastern Goldfinch The Iowa General Assembly designated the eastern goldfinch, also known as the American goldfinch and the wild canary, as the official state bird in 1933.

It was chosen as the state bird because it is commonly found in Iowa and often stays through the winter. Seeds from dandelions, sunflowers, ragweed and evening primrose are the main source of food for the eastern goldfinch (carduelis tristis). In late July or early August, goldfinches build their nests from plant materials and line them with thistledown. The pale blue-white eggs of the eastern goldfinch hatch after two weeks and then, following two to three more weeks, the young birds leave the nest. The top of a male's head is topped with black and their bright yellow body also has black wings and tail. The female has a dull olive-yellow body with a brown tail and wings. The male goldfinch acquires the same dull plumage in the winter months. State Tree: Oak The oak was designated as the official state tree in 1961. The Iowa General Assembly chose the oak because it is abundant in the state and serves as shelter, food and nesting cover for many animals and birds. It is difficult to find a tract of natural woodland in Iowa that does not have in it at least one species of oak. No other group of trees is more important to people and wildlife.

Acorns, the nuts of oak trees, are a dietary staple of many animals and birds. Deer, wild turkeys, pheasants, quail, wood ducks, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, bluejays, nuthatches, grackles and several kinds of woodpeckers are a few of the species that depend on acorns for a significant portion of their diet. State Rock: Geode The Iowa General Assembly designated the geode as the official state rock in 1967. Because Iowa is well known for the presence of the geode, it was chosen as the official rock in an effort to promote tourism in the state. Legislators who favored making the geode the state rock pointed out that it is among the rarest and most beautiful of rocks and that Iowa is known worldwide because of the large number found in the state. Other rocks considered for official status were limestone and fossil coral. In Latin, the word geode means earthlike. Geodes are shaped like the earth and average about four inches in diameter. Geodes are found in limestone formations and have a hard outer shell.

When carefully broken open, a sparkling lining of mineral crystals, most often quartz and calcite, is revealed. Geologists attribute the crystal growth to the percolation of groundwater in the geologic past. Southeastern Iowa is one of the state's best Geode collecting areas. Geode State Park in Henry County is named for the occurrence of the geode. The Great Seal of the State of Iowa The Great Seal of Iowa pictures a citizen soldier standing in a wheat field surrounded by farming and industrial tools, with the Mississippi River in the background. An eagle overhead bears the state motto. Iowa Quarter: Nation's Only Education Quarter In 2004, when Governor Vilsack and the head of the U.S. Mint unveiled the 29th commemorative quarter at the foot of the Iowa Capitol, the focus was on education. Schoolchildren, teachers and dignitaries were on hand for the event as the Iowa quarter was introduced as “the nation’s only education quarter.” The coin features Iowa artist Grant Wood’s “Arbor Day” painting of a one-room schoolhouse and teacher with students planting a tree.

The motto on the coin is “Foundation in Education.” Images courtesy Wikipedia 1000+ images about IOWA, HAWKEYE STATE on Pinterest | Windmills, Tulip and Elevator Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas IOWA, HAWKEYE STATE State of Iowa (IA). "The Hawkeye State". Motto: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will mountain". Capital and Largest metro: Des Moines. 382 Pins377 Followers Charter Bus Our History We’ve been doing this a long time – since 1954, in fact. And during that time we are proud to say we have learned a lot. The result is that, today, we can confidently state that we have a fleet of motorcoaches that is unmatched anywhere in the Midwest, and a staff of drivers and support personnel that is second-to-none. Our History 1954 – Hawkeye Stages is born, with the purchase of operating authority and used coaches from Waterloo Stages.

1956 – First tour conducted, with 2 buses traveling to California at the end of December to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play Oregon in the 1957 Rose Bowl, which the Hawkeyes won. 1960s – Expansion! Purchased bus companies in Oelwein and Mason City 1964 — The company launches our highly successful Student Educational Tour division 1977 – Received Interstate Commerce Commission authority to completely plan tours. Previously tours had to be planned through a licensed broker.. 1994 – Suspended operation of final regularly scheduled “run”. Hawkeye Stages had provided daily routes across the northeast half of Iowa. 2002 – Expanded into Central Iowa (Marshalltown) with purchase of operation previously known as Marshall Coaches. 2008 – More expansion! 13 coaches and the tour business know as Northland Travel purchased from Northwest Iowa Transportation. Operations expanded to Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Waterloo, allowing Hawkeye Stages and its tour companies to fully serve all of Iowa, southern Minnesota and south west Wisconsin. Today – Still family owned, Hawkeye Stages is more than 60 years old!

Operations have expanded to Newton, Iowa and we continue to look for creative ways to extend motorcoach travel to new markets, offer travel planning services and more. In effort to reduce our impact on the environment, our offices are going green by installing solar arrays and geothermal technology. Areas We Serve “Hawkeye Stages offers charter bus and motorcoach services for travel to all points in the USA with offices located in Decorah, Fort Dodge, Newton, and Waterloo. We serve charter bus customers from all over the state of Iowa, parts of Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Safety and Professional Drivers Our drivers are some of the most friendly, accommodating and professionally trained individuals you will ever meet! They are held to the highest levels of standards in industry safety and training having been individually selected for their customer service skills, their driving history and professionalism. Each is expected to participate in regular intervals of training involving both classroom and “hands-on” continuing education. Rest assured! Our drivers are the very best in the industry and are ready to create for you, our valued passenger, a memory through travel. Fleet Maintenance Hawkeye Stages takes great pride in their fleet of 24 state of the art motorcoaches.

When not in use they are periodically inspected, serviced and cleaned from top to bottom to ensure that they are in the highest level of operating condition. In fact they are maintained at levels demanded by Federal FMCSA, DOT and DOD mandates. This periodic and preventative maintenance usually takes place at one of our five facilities statewide and completed by in-house, regularly trained personnel with just three things in mind; passenger safety, comfort and travel experience.Our fleet is comprised of some of the finest names in the motorcoach transportation industry; MCI, Prevost, VanHool and our two newest acquisitions from Temsa. They range in passenger capacity from 36 to 56 seats. We have gone the extra mile in several of the coaches creating “extended legroom” achieved by removing some of the seats! This results in greater comfort for passengers traveling on some of our longer excursions!Our coach amenities include Wi-Fi, 110V electrical outlets, and state of the art audio/visual systems. Passenger controlled overhead lighting and ventilation as well as ample interior storage for smaller bags and items are also present within our interiors. We have spared no expense on passenger seating designed for greatest comfort.

Some of which have leather interiors and in an effort to promote higher levels of safety, our newest coaches are equipped with three-point safety belts.We take great pride in our fleet! We are proud to say that it is one of the newest fleets in the country, a tradition our owners intend to maintain. We also take great pride in presenting to you our passengers, the Fleet of Hawkeye Stages, the finest equipment on the road today! Click here to learn more about our fleet. THE HAWKEYE STATE – Our liberties we prize & our rights we will maintain. I’m in the Great Hall of the ISU Memorial Union right now, waiting on Colin Woodard to deliver a lecture on his book: American Nations – A History: Eleven Rival Cultures of North America. Starting now 8:10PM ISU students introducing Colin Woodard thank the Greenlee School of Journalism for hosting the ISU Lecture Series, & announce that the lecture is currently being aired on C-SPAN. Colin Woodard is an award winning journalist & author. The book the lecture is over has been described as exploding the Red v. Blue myth in America, & doing away with the façade of partisanship.

Colin Woodard takes the stage: He goes on about how presidential candidates are supposed to say different things across the country, a country divided by The Civil War. Places like Iowa & Mississippi might as well be on different planets, right? We are no more a united nation than Europe, & most of our states are different than any two EU states are today; but we don’t talk about that. Regionalism in America is divided into physical boundaries, & in historic design. By following state boundaries you miss the true cultural fissures, which are historically based, & have existed through the centuries & cross state boundaries. Every Marylander knows the difference between the “Three Marylands”, every Texan knows the difference between the “Three Texases”. There’s upstate & downstate Illinois, the same with New York. Woodard quotes James Carville on Pennsylvania: “There’s Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, & Alabama in between.” State boundaries surely are missing something. Woodard says the men who fought the Revolution to unite us as a nation were not our true founders, they were the great-great-great-great grandchildren of our founders, & they were all very different men.

All of the different regions of the original 13 colonies were founded by very different people with different cultures & consolidated their own cherished principles & values & remained rather isolated. Throughout the Colonial Republic, different regions saw one another as competitors, & sometimes enemies. Indeed nearly all the individual cultures considered leaving the Union, & many actually tried to do so (The Civil War). Woodard insists that North America is indeed divided into 11 very different nations. Note that a nation is an organization not based on government (that’s a state); but is an organization of cultural or ethnic background. The American Nations: The map of rival American nations. Not pictures: First Nation. Created by Colin Woodard, used to reference this lecture. Yankeedom, a culture founded in Massachusetts Bay, focused on helping human society, aggressive assimilation of outsiders. Prized education, community rather than individual empowerment, & broad citizen participation in government & public life. Modern North-East United States & Northern Midwest. Many areas of the Western Reserve were settled by companies & citizens of New England. New Netherland: Founded by the Dutch, at a time when the Netherlands was the most advanced society in the world. Global commercial trading culture. Freedom of inquiry & conscious.

Multi-ethnic & diverse. A magnet for immigrants, & a standard of trade & finance. The Midlands: America’s great swing nation. Founded by the Quakers, who believed in inner light, & who welcomed people of many creeds. Pluralistic. Government has been seen as an unwelcome intrusion. Ethnic mosaic. Focused on the middle-class. Large German population. Rejected government intervention, but believed in community. Tidewater: Set up by English people, but not the same English as Yankeedom. Made by younger sons of English Gentry. Economic political & social affairs were run for & by aristocrats; however, in the context of the New World, they found large difficulty finding servants. Eventually they turned to indentured servitude, & finally to slavery. Conservative. Paid little attention to economic equality. More recently has been eaten away by the federal halos of Washington DC & Naval bases. Eastern Carolinas. Tidewater seems to be disappearing, & becoming the Midlands. Greater Appalachia: Founded in later 18th century, by wave upon wave of settlers of Ireland & Scotland (Scotts-Irish). Characterized with hillbillies & rednecks, warrior ethic, & personal sovereignty & individual liberty.

Suspicious of lowland aristocrats & Yankee social engineers. Has been in alliance with the Deep South to override federal control, but during the Civil war, sided with the Union. Deep South: Democracy privilege of the few, peasantry duty of the many. Based off Antiquity. Racial caste systems have been deteriorating. El Norte: Oldest of American nations, New Mexico, Arizona, & Mexico. Spanish came North from the South where they colonized. Northern El Norte was so far from the center of Spanish control that it developed its own culture. Consists of American territory that was colonized by the Spanish. Work-centered. North Mexico. Revolutionary sentiment. Republic of the Rio Grande. Republic of Texas. 2nd generation nations, younger nations founded. Far West: One place where Woodard admits environment trumped ethnography. Area is so high & dry that it just stopped the “Eastern Nations” in their tracks. Colonized by railroads, miners, dams, heavy equipment & industry. Controlled often by distant corporations or federal government. Exploited land for external colony to the benefit of the rest of the nations. Anger has shifted back & forth throughout the centuries to these exploiters, from corporations to federal government.

Shifts back & forth. American West, Canadian West, & Alaska. The Left Coast: Settled before the Far West, 19th Century, very thin, shaped like Chile. Modern California, Oregon, Washington, & west Canada. Colonized by Merchants, Missionaries, & others by sea, beyond South America past Tierra del Fuego & up through the Pacific. Other group came through the land, through the Far West, very hazardous. Native Tribes were still trying to defend their land from intruders – Fur Traders, Miners, Prospectors, & Farmers from Appalachia. American Missionary Society tried to convert this area into the new New England. “A new light for humanity”. Combines Yankee Utopianism with Appalachian self exploration & individuality. Staunch ally with Yankeedom in Modern Politics. Less American Areas: Spanish Caribbean: Cuba, Dominican Republic, & Southern Florida. New France: Combines French & indigenous qualities. Egalitarian. Very socially liberal. New Orleans & Quebec. Founded by Champlain. Supposed to be reproduction of feudal system of France, isn’t. First Nation: Indigenous nations of northern Canada.

Land seemed useable & was left alone by colonists, & so indigenous people are now reclaiming this land & the Canadian Government has been recognizing this. Greenland is about to become autonomous nation-state, has 95% indigenous speaking population. Will become first nation in the Americas with this quality. — Iowa is the state most dominated by the “Midland” classification, almost fits entirely in that designation. Most other states are divided into 2 or 3 regions. — Woodard goes on to say how this regionalization is exploited in politics. Regions have strict divisions in voting patterns. Parties change over time, but regionalism & cultural divisions have been extremely constant. Things are changing. Southern Nations are no longer solid, cities have popped up, populated largely by Blacks & Hispanics. In 2008 almost 100% of areas in US went more Democratic than in 2004 EXCEPT the large area of Greater Appalachia. Barack Obama primaried worse here too in 2007 & 2008. Many Democrats in this area voted for anyone but Barack Obama in the 2008 & 2012 “primaries”.

In 2012 GOP nominated Mitt Romney, a son of a Yankee Governor of Michigan, & himself was Governor of Yankee Massachusetts. Barack Obama spent his whole adult like in Yankeedom, in Chicago. By nominating a Yankee, the GOP did not have a massive gain. In 2012 Santorum represented Greater Appalachia, & Gingrich Deep South. Votes can be tagged down to county level as following this essential model in the 2012 GOP primaries. Blue Coalition: Yankeedom, New Netherland, Left Coast Red Coalition: Deep South, Greater Appalachia, Far West The real fight has been to bring in the swing regions: El Norte, Midlands, Tidewater, & the Spanish Caribbean. He describes historic supermajority regional coalitions. We do not have this today. Until we have a party ideology brings in one of these swing regions, the systemic gridlock will persist. George Bush wanted to pull in El Norte to the Red Coalition. But that did not work; due to many in the GOP having a very narrow ideology of what being an American is, “racism”. El Norte might actually flip Blue, due to demographic changes, namely increasing Hispanic population.

Tidewater & Spanish Caribbean also seem to be going Blue. Some states in the Far West are heading Blue as well, Barack Obama lost Montana by 2 points. “Finding the Lost Region” attempt to reinvigorate interest in the history of the Midwest, Midwestern Studies, which has disappeared overtime. focus to bring back Midwestern identity. Geographically speaking what is the Midwest? Why has Midwest identity fallen off over time? Obviously, there are three competing cultures in the Midwest: Yankeedom, Appalachia, Midlands. Midwest is also split into three areas based on dialects, people speak differently in the North, Mid, & South Midwest. Dialect map Woodard referenced, made by Rick Aschmann, READ ABOUT IT Credit: Rick Aschmann The Midwest does exist, but as a federated entity. Woodard shows a map of religions spread across the USA, it maps his distinction of 11 separate nations beautifully. Will post after the lecture. — Q & A Man stands up & asks a questions. Microsoft employee, has moved across the country. All places he enjoyed are places that have similar cultures & are part of the Blue Coalition. Woodard responds: “People say how do original settlements detail cultures today?

People move around! This must erode cultural differences!” But it doesn’t happen that way. Part of the reason, he says, is what the man said, that people move to areas that are culturally appealing to them. People move to where likeminded people are. Another man: References “What Happened to Kansas?” Why does it have three separate regions like Iowa? Woman: She feels that Iowa is half Yankeedom & half Appalachia. Wants to know how Woodard determines county nationality? Woodard: Counties have been stable & constant overtime. Easier to study on the East Coast since it’s older, harder in west because it’s younger & also more sparsely populated. Yankeedom took amazing records, involved in genealogy & ancestry. Residents of Yankeedom went along & kept histories of their own areas & small towns & families. Man: In Modern times people are becoming more ideologically condensed. Do you think that this form on condensing has caused secessionist sentiment in Texas? Woodard: That could play into the Zeitgeist; partly loyalty, politics, & regional identity are all syncing up. Man: Why did you not mention Florida?

(Woodard didn’t mention it the entire lecture.) Woodard: Left out areas that weren’t really in America, most of Spanish Caribbean is in the Caribbean. Wasn’t included in the book, didn’t get that far. Doesn’t intersect with most of the American story. Like Hawaii, which is part of Greater Polynesia, & Newfoundland. Spanish Florida came not from the El Norte Spanish Empire, but from their Maritime outposts, based in Havana Cuba. Angry south Florida newspaper columnist said “Author says South Florida Not Part of US!” End lecture. Iowa GOP Have a Candidate in SD26, Held by Democrat Mary Jo Wilhelm Waylon Brown of St. Ansgar announced that he will be a Republican candidate to run against Democratic State Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm Senate District 26 in 2016. Brown is the Vice President of the Mitchell County Farm Bureau & was a candidate for Mayor of St. Ansgar in 2013. Brown & his wife are the parents of two 7 year old twins. He is a farmer, & owns a construction company. — Wilhelm is considered vulnerable in 2016.

In the presidential election year of 2012 she won out against Merlin Bartz by only 126 votes. Democrats must hold her seat, right now they only hold a 26/24 advantage in the Iowa Senate. Share this: Senator Grassley Holding Judiciary Committee Field Hearing in Des Moines Next Week Chris Boden, associate counsel to Senator Chuck Grassley announced that the Senator will be holding a Judiciary Committee hearing in Des Moines next week. Grassley, current Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is holding the field hearing in Des Moines on October 13. The hearing will discuss meth abuse. Here are the details: I just wanted to make you aware that Senator Grassley is holding a Senate Judiciary Committee Field Hearing on Tuesday October, 13th in Des Moines. Witnesses from Iowa dedicated to battling meth abuse will share their experiences and expertise at the hearing. The hearing is open to the public and the media. It would be great if you and students in your program could make it to the hearing.

The details are below: WHAT: Senate Judiciary Committee field hearing titled “The New Era in the Fight Against Methamphetamine in Iowa WHEN: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. CST WHERE: Cowles-Kruidenier Auditorium of the State Historical Building, 600 East Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319 I can’t make it, but I’d like to read coverage afterwards if any reader is planning on attending. Share this: “Wage Inequality: Why it Matters & What to Do About It” by Dr. Heidi Shierholz | ISU Lecture Series My notes from a lecture delivered by Dr. Heidi Shierholz, Chief Economist at the US Department of Labor. She is an alum from Iowa State. The lecture, Wage Inequality: Why It Matters & What to Do About It, was delivered on October 5th. Economics: The Science of Explaining Tomorrow Why the Predictions You Made Yesterday Didn’t Come True Today Dr. Shierholz mentions quotes from three different economists: 1: Robert Gordon “US Growth is going to slow down dramatically. There’s nothing we can do.

Anything who doesn’t agree is an ostrich & can’t face reality.” “US GROWTH IS OVER.” 2: Eric Brynjolfsson “US is at a point of inflection towards faster technological change.” “Growth is not dead! The new machine age is digital, exponential, & combinatorial.” 3: Andrew McAfee “We won’t see a zero-labor economy, but we’re going to head into a labor-light economy. Of course, people like me have been saying some version of this for 200 years, but I think this time is different.” People have also been saying growth is dead for 200 years. On productivity: She mentions that economics are bad at predicting productivity growth; but, & I find this funny, productivity growth has been pretty constant since 1948. Increased 250% since then. About 2% per year on average. Dr. Shierholz predicts that productivity will continue at that rate. It’s useful to acknowledge change will always happen, to accept it, to adapt, & foster an economy that works for everyone. Productivity is 242% of what it was in 1978-1979.

In that same time, 95th-99th yearly income has increased 61.9%, this percentile of income earners income has essentially traced productivity growth at around 2% a year, almost exactly the same growth. This is the only group to follow this trend. 90th-95th is a little less. Bottom 90% saw wage growth of 15.2%. Top 1% saw wage growth of 137.7%. SINCE 1979. Hourly compensation has dropped off, followed productivity until 1970, & then stopped. Currently at 110% of what it was, while productivity is 242%. This is the median number. Compensation measures both wages & employer provided benefits. Hourly wage also accounts for hourly wage of salaried workers. Salary / Hours worked. This gap in wages & productivity can be broken down to: decline in labor share, shift & decline in how much income in the economy is earned by workers in the form of wages & benefits, & an increase in owners of capital.

Vast majority in that gap is extremely made up of an increase in inequality in income of workers & those earning predominantly capital gains. Dr. S says our economy has been working great for top 95-99th percentile & top 1st. But it is not working for bottom 90%. This is a policy failure, she says. & is the fault of our government. Since 1979, the hourly earnings of men went from $20/hr to $18.35/hr accounting for inflation. Women went from $12.50/hr to $15.21/hr. Women made many gains in the 80s & 90s, due to education & other factors, but women have not gained since 2001. Both are currently on a downward spiral. Due to de-unionization? 35% of American labor force has a college degree, & only 33% of those have seen an increase in wages. College educations are necessary but not sufficient to thrust you into the groups that are actually benefitting under the current economic model.

Late 1990s is the ONE PERIOD in 1979-present era where you saw substantial wage growth for the average wage worker. Sustained compensation growth. The unemployment rate averaged 4.1%. That is the labor market it takes to see workers reaping gains. If labor market is slack, you don’t have any other options, your boss doesn’t have to pay good wages to keep you, slack hurts wage growth, tight labor market increases wage growth. Slack means high unemployment, tight means low unemployment. This is particularly important for Black workers, generally 1.8 times the average rate for all Americans. The one time it was below 1.8 times average in last 25 years, was late 90s. Since the 2009 recovery has maintained high unemployment rates, wages have gone down. In late 90s, low unemployment lead to massive increases, more for Blacks actually. US provides no paid sick days to employees. Employers are not required to give 1 paid sick day. Lowest 25% of income earners: only 31% get 1 paid sick day. Next 25, 66.

Next 25 73%. Top 25, 84%. If you look at just restaurant workers, 75% do not get one paid sick day. Which means sick workers come to work & make your food. If women 25-54 had the same workforce participation as in peer countries, Canada, we’d have 5 million more workers in USA. Median income traced productivity increases, until late 70s. Since 1948, has increased 137%, productivity has increased 240%. Gap is smaller than individual wages. This is due to women’s increased labor force participation. The increase in their labor force had a positive effect, moved towards gender equality, but doesn’t mean a clear win for the middle class. Families work more. Not because they’re actually gaining from the productivity growth. POVERTY: Poverty was at steady decline prior to the 1970s as the GDP rate grew. GDP continued to grow, but poverty rate levelled off around 14.5% & has maintained that rate ever since. Share of income in the bottom 20%, & where does it come from. 9% from cash transfers like Welfare.

20% come from in-kind benefits like SNAP & Medicaid. More than 2/3 come from wages & employer benefits. From 1983-2013, what share of growth in net worth went to different income distributions: Bottom 60%, in this period, saw net worth drop. Where is it going? Top 5%, gained around 75% of all net worth gain, with 40% going straight to the top 1%. Poor people need higher income to build up assets. When you think about the decisions that are important in people’s lives: medical, legal, financial. Doctors & lawyers are legally required to act in your best interests, most people believe financial advisers are also required to act in your best interest: they are NOT. Leave a job with 401K, to go to a new job. Financial adviser might know that best thing to do is best thing to do is leave it with other employer, or part it indexes fund & not withdraw it, but that the Adviser’s personal interest is to actively manage it to gain compensation. Billions of dollars are wasted by investors acting in this “conflict of interest” situation. Obama Administration has proposed laws forbidding this behavior.

Useful way to think about economic inequality is to think of it hand in hand with economic mobility. A lot of inequality, & low mobility, is hereditary poverty. US has a lot less mobility than the myth suggests. People whose parents were in the bottom 20%, 2/3 ended up in bottom 40%. 18% ended up in top 40%. Denmark, ratio is 47.3%, 33.3%. “Isn’t there something genetic? Isn’t there a genetic endowment to hereditary poverty?” No. Adopted children have same tendency & the same data. Strengthen labor market standards: -Increase the minimum wage. Federal wage is extremely low in historical standards. When Fed fails to act, states & localities tend to act. 29 states have higher minimum wage. When you increase this wage, you see increases in lowest earners, but also people just above that because employers like to maintain wage ladders. -increase threshold below which workers can’t be denied overtime. Fair Labor Standards Act 1938. Workers are supposed to get time & a half over 40 hours. Exemption was designed for high-level managers with savvy & leeway.

What happens when we set standards like that, as inflation happens, the purchasing power of wage levels erodes. The threshold where you cannot be denied overtime pay is 24,000 a year. You can be under the poverty level for a family of 4, & be denied overtime pay since you are perceived under the law to have enough bargaining power to not need it. -provide earned sick leave & paid family & medical leave. -address just in time scheduling practices. Inequality in job conditions? Low end of labor market, rise of “just in time” scheduling. Employer can call you when they need you. Make you come in, work, send you home after an hour. States & localities are looking at how to address these practices. Compensation for workers scheduled for longer times that are cut? States & localities experimenting with requiring employers to provide schedules 2 weeks in advance, & if schedule is changed they must compensate employee. Requiring workers to compensate for an hour of pay for split shifts. -Ban the box. Growing number of States & Localities outlaw this. Employers can ask criminal history on initial applications, throwing out any past criminals. Major reason people with criminal history have much lower employment & much lower wages.

Effects Black males much more. Ban the check box on initial application that requires disclosure of criminal history. Does NOT force someone to hire a killer, simply requires you to give them a chance. Research shows someone convicted at age 18, by 25 they are at the same risk of criminal offense as anyone else. Just means you have to give people a chance. This increases employment of ex-cons, gives them a chance at a decent life, & reduces recidivism. -Strengthen enforcement of existing standards. -Strengthen unionization & worker voice. Unions deliver real economic gains to the Middle Class. About 1/3 of wage loss for Men can be attributed to the decline of unionization. -Tighten the labor market. Transportation & infrastructure investment? You build bridges, build roads, deal with congestion, gets construction & manufacturing jobs into the economy, & has a ripple effect. Used to be a totally bipartisan issue. Q & A Inequality between countries has increased inequality in America? If two countries trade, both are better off, by focusing on things both country is better at & more productive with. When US trades with other poorer countries, we expose our workers to competition from across the globe.

Low prison wages hurting wages outside of prison? Whenever you have workers being paid wages below the prevailing wage, then that hurts bargaining power of anyone working similar labor for a higher wage. Look into this. Single-payer health insurance? Maximum wage? We used to have effective maximum wage. 91% top tax bracket essentially meant that you could not make much more money once you met the top tax bracket. This also stops massive increases to CEO pay because it will just go to the government. Inspires increases in wages to lower wage workers. Dramatic increase in what CEOs make, makes it more socially acceptable. We have become desensitized to how rich these people are. Why does the rest of the world have to worry about the economies of Africa, China, & Greece? Spillovers. How much do economies in other countries effect the US economy? We’ve seen domestically, slowing in employment growth. Regardless of education; why does race effect the jobs you will be afforded on the job market? Racial discrimination in the US labor market. Audit studies; sending out identical resumes, with White sounding names & Black sounding names, to test racial disparity. Evidence that people incorporate race in their hiring decisions. Why have 1% seen such high gains?

Erosion of labor standards. Decline of unionization. Decline of minimum wage. Higher unemployment. Declining top tax rates Share this: “Pioneers! Oh Pioneers!” (1865) is a poem written by the 19th century American poet Walt Whitman. Interesting facts about Whitman & his connection to Iowa, found here : On 1 January 1865 Whitman was hired as a clerk at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a governmental agency within the Department of Interior. Six months later, the newly appointed Secretary of Interior, James Harlan, a former Methodist minister and senator from Iowa, fired Whitman upon discovering he was the author of Leaves of Grass, a book Harlan knew by reputation as immoral and pornographic. The incident caused considerable stir within the administration as prominent supporters of Whitman came to his defense, eventually securing him a position in the Attorney General’s Office. James Harlan was a Whig, Free Soil, & later Republican Senator from Iowa. He was also during the mentioned period, the Secretary of the Interior under Andrew Johnson. The poem was written during the period of Manifest Destiny& Westward Expansion.

In that regard, the “pioneers” Whitman describes as aren’t exactly the same as those pioneers that settled the Iowa Territory (like my ancestor, William Ingle) & later the State of Iowa. These pioneers are cut from the same cloth, some years later. The poem: Follow well in order, get your weapons ready, Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes? Pioneers! O pioneers! For we cannot tarry here, We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger, We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend, Pioneers! O pioneers! O you youths, Western youths, So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship, Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost, Pioneers! O pioneers! Have the elder races halted? Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas? We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson, Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind, We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world, Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, Pioneers! O pioneers! Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep, Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways, Pioneers! O pioneers! We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within, We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving, Pioneers! O pioneers! From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus, From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come, Pioneers! O pioneers! Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental blood intervein’d, All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern, Pioneers! O pioneers! O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all! O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress, Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress, (bend your heads all,) Raise the fang’d and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon’d mistress, Pioneers! O pioneers! See my children, resolute children, By those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter, Ages back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging, Pioneers! O pioneers! On and on the compact ranks, With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill’d, Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping, Pioneers! O pioneers! O to die advancing on! Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come? Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill’d. Pioneers! O pioneers! All the pulses of the world, Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat, Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life’s involv’d and varied pageants, All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work, All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves, Pioneers! O pioneers! All the hapless silent lovers, All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked, All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying, Pioneers! O pioneers! I too with my soul and body, We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way, Through these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing, Pioneers! O pioneers! Lo, the darting bowling orb! Lo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets, All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams, Pioneers! O pioneers! These are of us, they are with us, All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind, We to-day’s procession heading, we the route for travel clearing, Pioneers! O pioneers! O you daughters of the West! O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!

Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united, Pioneers! O pioneers! Minstrels latent on the prairies! (Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your work,) Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us, Pioneers! O pioneers! Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious, Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment, Pioneers! O pioneers! Do the feasters gluttonous feast? Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock’d and bolted doors? Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground, Pioneers! O pioneers! Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding on our way? Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious, Pioneers! O pioneers! Till with sound of trumpet, Far, far off the daybreak call—hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind, Swift! to the head of the army!–swift! spring to your places, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Governor Branstad Vetoed $56M in Education Funding to Provide $37M Corporation Tax Break I spent most of my winter, all of my spring & a bit of my summer working at the Iowa Capitol Building in the Legislative Services Agency. The Iowa General Assembly’s sessions are supposed to adjourn in the spring, & are scheduled to end sometime in May; but that didn’t happen this year. A very fun day at the Capitol Building. Instead the House & Senate Democrats fought tooth & nail with the Iowa GOP well into July over education funding. Democrats proposed an increase of 4% in education funding to make up for losses in the past. That was rejected. Democrats proposed to meet Republicans in the middle, with a 2% increase in funding. Rejected. Finally, Democrats dropped the number down to a 1.25% increase. The GOP reluctantly agreed. Compromise? In addition to the 1.25% education funding increase there was a one-time allocation of $55,700,000 that was to provide for things like promised annual wages to teachers, & funds for school supplies so that teachers wouldn’t have to spend upwards of $1,000 on supplies for their classes.

This $55.7M in education funding was vetoed, in a surprise move by Governor Terry Branstad this July. “I’m very disappointed, but not surprised, it follows the pattern that we’ve been experiencing in this legislative session. It gives us an even bigger deficit to cover.” Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Tom Ahart Superintendent Ahart claims the schools weren’t surprised; but as previously stated the public schools had promised teachers 3% raises, & that is impossible to make on an already tight budget, when the Legislature only allocated an additional 1.25%. As State Senator Joe Bolkcom put it: “The agenda for the October 13 meeting of the Administrative Rules Review Committee reveals that the Branstad-Reynolds Administration is proposing a rule change to exempt consumable supplies used in manufacturing from the Iowa sales tax.

If the Branstad-Reynolds Administration does not withdraw this rule, it will take effect on January 1, 2016, even though this $37 million annual tax cut has never been approved by the Iowa Legislature.” To sum that up: Branstad is unilaterally issuing a $37,000,000 tax break to corporations that have been lobbying him for who knows how long. This is an on-going tax break, & it was flat-out rejected by the Legislature. Senator Bolkcom went on to further state: “I believe it is illegal for the Branstad Administration to use the rule making process to create a massive corporate tax giveaway without approval by the Legislature. “I believe such a substantial change in tax policy must first be approved by the Legislature. Two years ago, the Branstad-Reynolds Administration agreed with me. That’s why the Administration drafted SSB 1242 in 2013 for the consideration of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It failed to advance out of committee. It is outrageous that after acknowledging two years ago that this change required legislative action, the Governor and Lt.

Governor are now attempting to get it done by bypassing the 150 members of the House and Senate. “Governor Branstad is skilled at getting what he wants. Unfortunately, what he wants is to give millions to large corporations and pay for it by vetoing investments in education.” This situation is eerily similar to what happened in Wisconsin earlier this year, where Governor Scott Walker’s budget slashed $250,000,000 from public education & gave $250,000,000 to the Milwaukee Bucks to build their new stadium. How much power does the Governor have? UPDATE 10/07 8:07PM The Des Moines Register reported today that the Iowa Department of Revenue found in there analysis that the actual tax break being issued will actually measure more than the estimated $37, & will likely be more around the $46M range. The Iowa Department of Revenue found in its analysis that the proposed changes would reduce the sales and use tax burden for manufacturers by up to $40 million annually and would also reduce their local option sales tax burden by up to $6 million annually between 2017 and 2020.

Share this: FREE Online Iowa Presidential Caucus College Course Dr. Steffen Schmidt, University Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University is instructing a FREE online course on the Iowa Presidential Caucuses. This class is entirely free, online, & starts on OCTOBER 13. College credit is not given, but graduates can be rewarded with a certificate of completion. The website for the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is here: CLICK! Here’s the info from the website: About the Iowa Presidential Caucuses It happens every four years. Iowa voters meet in churches, schools, even living rooms, to be part of the first-in-the-nation stop for US presidential hopefuls. The Iowa Caucuses have helped launch and end the aspirations of many candidates. This initial test in the presidential selection process will be the focus of a new massive open online course (MOOC) at Iowa State University, the Iowa Presidential Caucuses. It’s Free! The Iowa Presidential Caucuses MOOC is open to all free of charge.

Self-paced sessions, beginning in September 2015, leading up to the Iowa Caucuses in early 2016: Sep 1 – Sep 29 Role of Media and Technology Future of Caucuses Credit & Participation Participants will not earn college credit, but will receive a Certificate of Participation. The course includes videos, readings, practice quizzes and interactive discussion forums. The course material will be accessible after the sessions are over, excluding the discussion forums. Sounds pretty cool. Those wanting to participate should head over to their website, , & enroll! Dr. Steffen W. Schmidt is a University Professor of political science at Iowa State University. He grew up in Colombia, South America and has studied in Switzerland and France. Dr. Schmidt obtained his Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York, in public law and government. He has published six books and over 70 articles in scholarly journals, and is the recipient of numerous prestigious teaching prizes, including the Amoco Award for Lifetime Career Achievement in Teaching and the Teacher of the Year Award. Share this:

Question: Which is the USA’s Hawkeye State?
Answer: Iowa