Editorial
i NelSaskan
Editorial Board
U'"’
Jana Pedersen, Editor, 472;]766
Matt Herek, NewsEditor
Brandon Loomis, Columnist
John Payne, Entertainment Editor
Darran Fowler, Sports Editor
Brian Shcllito, Art Director
Michelle Paulm&n, Photo Chief
LB1059 can work
Repeal of bill only will hurt schools
Starting July 10, Nebraskans wiil have less money in
their paychecks and will hand out more money in
sales tax. Sounds like a bad deal, right?
Wrong. The tax changes initiated by LB 1059, effective
July 105 are positive steps toward a more equitable state
wide education system.
I^urrenuy iNeDrasxa ranics secona in rne nation ror local
property taxes used to support schools and second to last
in state support of schools. With LB 1059, those figures
will change, shifting more support to the state level.
By moving some of the burden of paying for elemen
tary and secondary education off of local property taxes
and onto state sales and income taxes, local troubles, such
as lowered values for agricultural land, won’t have as
devastating an impact on local educational systems.
Plus, a lawsuit pending against the current Nebraska
i system of educational financing charges that the system
f doesn’t equalize educational financing across the state.
LB 1059 helps solve that problem.
And according to a pamphlet provided by the Progress
> for Nebraska with LB 1059 Committee, allegations that
| LB 1059 actually will increase taxes are false. Nebraskans
J will pay an estimated $13 million less in taxes after
LB 1059, and Nebraska will rank 27th of the 50 states in
t overall burden for state and local taxes with or without
LB 1059, according to the pamphlet.
Two petitions that seek to place LB 1059 on the No
'% vember ballot for a vote to repeal are due tomorrow. If the
bill is repealed, Nebraska school systems will have to
i scramble to cover for lost revenue, and local schools will
suffer.
There are no guarantees that LB 1059 will accomplish
all it has set out to do. But nothing will be accomplished
I if Nebraskans repeal the law before giving it a chance.
~ Jana Pedersen
for the Daily Nebraskan
I
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^ T , > • * ^
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Meaning of July Fourth changes
U .S. freedom worth celebrating, but remember rest of world
When i was young, before col
lege and rock V roll started
putting all kinds of anar
chistic views in my noggin, I was an
All-American boy.
I played baseball, and actually
wasn’t too bad. I was a good fielder,
though my hitting was sporadic. When
I was 12, my dad suggested that I use
a wooden bat, which didn’t help much,
but swinging that stick with Mickey
Mantle’s signature on it sort of made
me feel a part of the great American
tradition, which I guess I was.
1 played football, and although I
was super scrawny, I was an all-star
fullback. The defenders, who usually
were twice my size, just couldn’t catch
me as I squirmed through the line.
In junior high, I was one of those
wrestlers who couldn’t gel over the
100-lb. mark no matter how many
sandwiches I ate. I went to practice
every day and was taught to kill. So
were my opponents, who were half
my height and twice my bulk. I lost
every match until I finally met up
with another scrawny guy. I think that
was the greatest moment of my lifc
thc moment when one secs persis
tence overcome adversity and pay off
in masculinity dividends. Fora brief
moment on that mat, I lived the
American dream. I achieved the great
ness that my forefathers instilled in
me. I sprawled on my back for three
periods until my opponent was too
drained to avoid being flipped over
and pinned.
When I was a little league all-star
ballplayer, my teammates and I got
decked out in our uniforms on the
Fourth and went to the logging show
one of the more popular events in
lown-and sold pop to get money to
travel to the stale tournament.
1 remember how “from sea to
shining sea” used to just make my
heart pound, how the president was
the closest thing to God on earth, and
how America fought only noble wars
and Vietnam never really happened
until college. I remember a time when
America was amber waves of grain
forming a home of the brave in a
sweet land of liberty. Man, I loved
Gerald Ford.
What was the Fourth of July to
me? Many a flag-waving grade school
teacher asked me to write about that.
And 1 wrote. I wrote about men laying
down their lives to protect me and my
culture. I wrote about Betsy Ross and
Paul Revere, about bald eagles and
George Washington. I was a proud
Brandon
Loomis
What is the Fourth of July to me
now? It’s a day off, fried chicken (or
maybe a hot dog) and Pabsl Blue
Ribbon beer.
Thai’s the problem with America,
right? People lake everything for
granted. After all, if no one had stood
up to stop Hitler, I wouldn’t have the
right to drink bad beer. Have I ever
seen combat? What gives me the right
to brush off all the symbols that made
America and the Fourth of July great?
Simple. I have come to figure out
that the Fourth of July, the Pledge of
Allegiance and “My Country Tis of
Thee’’ arc all the things that my fore
fathers and relatives fought against.
Nationalism has been the driving lorce
behind nearly every war, if not every
one. Hitler thought Germans were the
best, so he tried to buy a little extra
room for them to live in. World War
I was partly the result of colonial
pride.
And the American Revolutionary
War, the event thatcrcatcd Pabst Blue
Ribbon Day, was a revolt against a
power which fancied itself superior
and thus had no problem justifying
economic repression.
Don’t misread this. I’m glad the
Revolutionary War was fought. There
was no other way around the oppres
sion. I like living in America (though
I also think Canadians have it pretty
good).
But consider why you celebrate
the Fourth of July. If you do it be
cause we kicked some butt a couple
of centuries ago, then you’re missing
the point. I wouldn’t tell anyone not
to celebrate their freedom. Freedom
is a good thing to celebrate, so long as
you also think of the rest of the world’s
freedom. Next Fourth of July, wave a
Mexican flag. Offer your sincere
apologies to a Japanese American for
the concentration camps of World
War II (which also didn’t really hap
pen until college, or maybe in a pass
ing reference in high school).
I have respect for veterans. My
father is one. I just don’t think that
America is so morally righteous that
I should sit around and get all teary
eycd over wars which may or may not
have been justified.
If I have children (thus perpetuat
ing the American institution of the
family), I want them to learn the truth
about Vietnam, about the Bay of Pigs,
about Japanese internment, about
slavery and about America-a melt
ing pot of human nature and a good
place for some to live where it is
possible for bad things to happen. 1
want them to learn those things be
fore they are loo old to change their
minds or accept them.
They will be educated enough to
know the problems this country faces
and to do someth ing about those prob
lems. They will play baseball, if they
want, not because it is America’s
game, but because it is fun and chal
lenging. They will drink Pabst Blue
Ribbon on the Fourth of July.
Loomis is a senior news-editorial major
and the Summer Daily Nebraskan editorial
columnist.
