Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 23

Minneapolis Star and Tribune! Wednesday November 161983 3B. Ontario gold find stirs interest in state lease sale yesterday were Molycorp, Boise Cascade Homestake Mining Co. and Exxon Corp. which is based in Colorado, was the other company to recently receive permits from St. Louis County, and it has started drilling near Ely.

"I'm sure that there's a lot of interest in prospecting for gold in Minnesota because of that discovery in Ontario," said Rafn. "For one thing, the maximum bids were higher this year Minerals continued on page 6B i and St. Louis. It received bids on state tracts in all but Cook and Marshall counties. None of the tracts is within a mile of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), according to Elwood Rafn, who heads the DNR minerals division.

"We're still tabulating how many acres these bids cover," Rafn said. "But it was a very good sale, and we know it involves a very substantial amount of state land." The 409 bids cover 350 to 375 "min ing units," which are tracts varying in size from 40 acres to a square mile. The largest number of bids 201 was submitted by Kerr-Mc-Gee the big Oklahoma-based oil and minerals company. No other company or individual submitted more than 37 bids. Kerr-McGee recently received six permits from St Louis County to drill exploratory holes near Ely.

'The company declined last week to specify what mineral it is seeking. Among the other companies submitting bids By Dean Rebuffoni Staff Writer Amid speculation that tbar's a lot of gold in the north woods, Minnesota officials Tuesday opened 409 bids for mineral leases on state land in seven northern counties. The bids were from 15 companies and two individuals who want to explore for copper, nickel and "associated minerals" such as gold. The Minnesota Executive Council next month will decide which leases to kon gold rush," said Joe Alexander, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "But we do know there's some gold in this state.

Whether it's worthwhile mining depends on the size (of the deposit) and whether it's marketable. We think it can be, using modern mining technology." The DNR offered leases on 1.1 million acres in nine counties: Beltrami, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, Lakewf the Woods, Marshall, Roseau State universities won't list courses in admission rules Pfiww' wSsrA sxmT iM J-i; 1 -tail PV. ti ill (I fTtrF sf 4 i Zf XjrMMt- A Staff Photo by Art Hager By Gregor W. Plnney Staff Writer The Minnesota State University Board declined Tuesday to require that high school students take certain courses to be admitted to the state's universities. But the board, adopting a proposal from its staff, said that a list of courses will be developed and recommended to high school students.

The action by the board was in re sponse to the Minnesota Legislature, which ordered last spring that all the collegiate systems develop admissions proposals for incoming freshmen by Nov. 15. The proposals were to specify required high school courses. Also yesterday, the board raised Ition rates by 15 percent for the school year. Undergraduates from Minnesota, for example, will pay $26.85 a credit Instead of the present $23.35.

That increase is in keeping with assumptions by the Legislature of a tuition increase. Despite its failure to recommend course requirements, the board response yesterday does not constitute a failure to comply with the legislative directive, said vice chancellor Sheila Kaplan, who presented the staff proposal. Interviewed after the meeting, Kaplan said, "We're laying out our requirements and recommending no changes. And we're say-ting the issue is a complicated one. To do it in a way that doesn't recognize that would cause chaos out in Jhe high schools." The state universities have admissions requirements, but they are cast in terms of high school class rank or "scores on college aptitude tests.

No particular courses are specified, but it is understood that all incoming 'students have taken what is required to graduate in Minnesota. Those requirements, for grades 9 to 12, are years of communications skills, 'three of social studies, one of mathe-Tmatics, one of science, one and one- Paper firm puts rocks on Mississippi bottom to stop erosion on 100 feet of the bottom. St. Regis Is paying for the $500,000 project, which Is expected to be finished in January. Park Construction Minneapolis, Is doing the work.

A barge was loaded with granite boulders to be dropped Into the Mississippi River below the St. Regis Paper Co. dam at Sartell, upstream from St. Cloud, In an effort to halt erosion of the river bottom. About 8,000 tons of rock will be used to put a 4-foot-thlck lining Michelle Race says father had two life rafts sell to the would-be prospectors.

It will be the eighth state sale of copper-nickel leases since 1966, but this year's sale is drawing unusually strong attention and, in come cases, higher than usual bids. The geologic formation available for leasing is similar to a formation near Hemlo, Ontario, where a gold deposit estimated to be worth more than $5 billion has been discovered. "There's a lot of interest In our sale, but so far it doesn't look like a Yu sixth of physical education, one-half of health and nine and one-third in electives. Critics of American education have said that high school curriculums have become too lax, allowing students to take too many easy electives. Some have blamed colleges for not requiring more solid courses for admission.

The National Commission on Excellence in Education has recommended that high school students be required to take four years of English, three of mathematics, three of science, three of social studies and a half-year of computer science. In addition, it said, college-bound students should take two years of a foreign language. Only 15.6 percent of today's college-bound students meet the national commission's criteria, according to a sampling by the National Center for Education Statistics. No good data of that kind is available for freshmen entering the state universities, said Kaplan. The rec6mmended course list may be similar to the national commission's list said Kaplan.

Individual universities may adopt it as an admissions requirement But Kaplan said she could not guarantee it will be adopted. And the board yesterday showed no interest in forcing the universities to take such action. Indeed, it said that admissions requirements should remain the prerogative of each institution. To that extent, yesterday's statement was similar to one last week by the the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, responding to the same legislative directive. The regents declined to change admissions requirements and further said such decisions should remain with each collegiate unit within the university.

Some university units do require specific high school courses, but others rely on rank and test scores. May, and moved with her husband to a larger apartment also In Wahpeton. The county's residency policy, adopted in April 1981, requires employees to live in Minnesota. Employees living outside the state when the requirement was adopted were not required to move, but If they later moved, the policy said, the move must be to Minnesota. Jensen sued after the commissioners voted 3 to 2 not to reconsider the termination.

Davison also said the residency requirement was not changed by the county's current personnel policy, which prohibits discrimination based on residency. leased by the Becker County Sheriffs Department, fired at what he thought was a deer 30 to 40 yards away. One bullet struck Isdal In the arm and another hit a tree near him and shattered. Two of the fragments from that bullet hit Isdal in the chest, the coroner said. Isdal was dead on arrival at St Joseph's Hospital In Park Rapids, Minn.

Steve Thorne, deputy Minnesota natural resources commissioner, said Tuesday the four deaths so far this year compare with two last year. Press reports. a sinking. A second raft aboard the 'boat leaked, Race said. He donned a scuba diving suit and tried to swim with his wife toward shore, he said, but turned back to the boat after they became separated.

Debbie Race's raft has never been found, and prosecutor John DeSanto contends that lt didn't exist. In cross-examination he asked Michelle Race if her father had suggested the story to her, and he pointed out that she hadn't told it to authorities until shortly before the trial began. "Isn't that because you actually knew your father had one yellow-and-blue raft before your mother's death?" DeSanto asked. Legislators Around Minnesota help in creating jobs essential for desperate Breckenridge Judge OKs firing of social worker over residence rule it "I knew he had two," she answered Sylvia and Frank Selvey of Staples, said that their daughter, Debbie Race, was happy and headstrong, a devout Christian with a lively temper. Both said they voluntarily testified on Race's behalf.

'in. Sylvia Selvey was unaware that Larry Race had extramarital affairs, as women had testified for the prosecution, she said. Frank Selvey, who was with Larry Race during the police interrogation following the recovery of the body, described Race as "very broken up." told state tor jobs. The private sector jobs amount to only 25 percent of the total, still short of the 40 percent goal, Samargia said. He added that he's confident that goal can be reached.

"Most of the activity and emphasis now is being placed on private sector development so we can achieve our 40 percent target," he said. Developing private jobs takes much more time than it does for public jobs, he said. But Samargia said the 1984 Legislature may have to consider expanding the emergency jobs program if the economy doesn't get better. 'A State Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL' Minneapolis, chief Senate sponsor pi the jobs legislation, said however that he assured supporters last session that the program would be "a one-shot deal." "It would take a groundswell of support in the Legislature for md to change it, but I certainly think the peed is out there," he said.

As of Monday, 27,516 eligible people had applied for jobs under the program, and more than 60 percentjof the applicants have no income, he said. The legislation provided funds to subsidize an estimated 12,600 jobs for periods of up to six months. To be eligible, job seekers must unemployed Minnesota residents, and ineligible for unemployment Insurance benefits or workers' compensation. Private businesses must repay 70 percent of the subsidy- if they do not keep an employee beyond the six months' subsidy period. Michelle Race, soft-spoken but composed, testified that her father owned two blue-and-yellow rafts, and that both had been stored In the family's garage shortly before May II, 1982, when her mother died of hypothermia in the 37-degree waters of Lake Superior.

Larry Race, 34, is accused of setting his wife adrift In a life Jacket on the night of the couple's 14th wedding anniversary. Her body was found the next afternoon along the Duluth shoreline. Race, 34, told authorities that his 33-year-old wife took to a raft in a panic on May 11, 1982, because she feared that their 21-foot cabin cruiser was Lt. Gov. Marlene Johnson world, attempting to promote foreign trade.

Johnson said their comments show "a lack of understanding of what this whole trade activity is about" "We are doing more than looking for new markets for Minnesota products. That is one of the things we want to do, and it is an important one," she said. "One of the things that needs to take place ongoing is conversation. It's like any other form of sales. Nobody makes a sale, at least in the business I was in for 12 years, it doesn't happen in the first round.

You do need to have strong focus at the beginning, which the governor's visit (earlier) and our visit last week provided," she said. Johnson and Carol Wawrzyniak, an administrative aide in the state international trade office, who also made the weeklong trip, said their expenses were about $3,000 each. Johnson's expenses were paid out of a special travel fund set up with private donations, and Wawrzynlak's from state funds. By Sharon Schmlckle Northern Minnesota Correspondent Dulvth, Minn. The 14-year-old daughter of Debbie and Larry Race backed up her father's statements Tuesday about a life raft that has become a key to the Hoyt Lakes man's first-degree murder defense.

And Debbie Race's parents also testified on behalf of their son-in-law in St Louis County District Court Defense attorney William Mahlum closed his case yesterday without calling Larry Race to the stand. Final arguments are scheduled to begin this morning. State office in Sweden aids export of wild rice By Betty Wilson Staff Writer Minnesota wild rice is going to be exported to Sweden and will soon show up in retail stores and restaurants in that country, Lt Gov. Mar-lene Johnson said Tuesday. Wild rice exports are one of the ventures of a new Minnesota trade office in Stockholm, Sweden, said Johnson, who returned Sunday from serving as host at Its official opening.

Minnesota is the only state to have a trade office in Sweden, and it will give the state "good visibility" in Nordic countries and will pay off in new markets and jobs, she predicted during a press conference. The office has generated a good deal of interest and press coverage and will reinforce cultural and business ties with Sweden, she said. Christer Ahs, a Swedish businessman, has been hired as Minnesota's trade representative and will run the office to serve Sweden, Norway, land, Denmark and Iceland. He will spend 20 percent of his time working for the state, and will be paid $35,000 for salary and office expenses from Oct 1 to July 1, Johnson said. Independent-Republicans have criticized the need for a trade office in Stockholm.

Senate IR Minority Leader James Ulland has said that DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich and other state officials should stay home and take care of businesses already in the state instead of traveling around the vThe Wilkin County Board did not discriminate when it fired social worker Connie Jensen for violating the county's residency requirement, a district court judge ruled Monday. Judge Keith Davison said the requirement was reasonable and did not violate Jensen's constitutional rights. She said she will probably appeal. Davison dismissed Jensen's suit -against the county.

Her employment with the Family Services Department was terminated by the aboard July 31. Jensen lived in Wahpeton, N.D., when she began working for the county in 1979. She married In By Betty Wilson Staff Writer Four of the 14 people who work in Steven Carlton's lawn furniture company at Emily, were hired under the state's $70 million job subsidy program. Carlton, who began his Storybook Corp. last April, told legislators Tuesday that expects to hire 30 more people soon for a new manufacturing plant and warehouse he plans to open in nearby Deerwood.

He'll get most of them through the same Min-. nesota Emergency Employment Development program that pays $4 per hour of their wages and jl per hour of their fringe benefits. "Our company couldn't have expanded to what we are now" without the state assistance, Carlton told the health, welfare and corrections division -of the House appropriations committee, which is reviewing the program enacted by the Legislature earlier this year. He said his company is the largest employer in Emily, which has a population of about 600 people and is located northwest of Mille Lacs Lake.s "A lot of people are desperately poor and desperately in need of work. Those people desperately depend on what we're providing to them.

Having this program is very important to us," he said. Joe Samargia, the program's coordinator, told the legislators that 4,861 people now are employed under the program, 3,624 of them in public sector jobs and 1,237 in private sec- Willmar4th deer hunting death posted Harry M. Isdal, 55, of Willmar, has become the fourth Minnesotan to die in a deer hunting accident this year. Isdal was killed about six miles west of Two Inlets, in Becker County. Dr.

Virgil Watson, the Becker Coun-, ty coroner, said Isdal was one of 20 hunters who were moving forward In a line, trying to drive deer out of an area of heavy brush -around noon Saturday. Another member of the party, whose identity has not been re Compiled from staff and Associated.