_Opinion
Jessica
Kennedy
Paying up
Low salaries for state senators
making office privilege for wealthy
Historically, Nebraska is truly a state of and for the people.
A state that, until recently, avoided the mire of big-time politicians.
State and city governments were run by the people's people, not career
politicians. But that fact, that attitude, is changing.
This metamorphosis is occurring as more and more Nebraskans
choose soccer practice over rotary; a night at home instead of at the city
council meeting. Citizens are finding that it is simply too high a cost to
be informed and involved.
Once again, the question of increasing senators’ pay is in the news.
And once again, it looks as if our elected leaders are going to be left
high and dry. Nebraska's senators are not being compensated enough
for the time and energy they do, or should, put into guiding our state.
During his weekly news conference Monday, Governor Ben Nelson
boo-hooed any raise possibilities, blaming it on senatorial behavior last
session. The Lincoln Journal-Star quotes Nelson as saying, "I tried to
tell people that lawmakers would get something done in the end. But I
sensed a great amount of disgust as I visited with folks around the
state."
But that’s not really the issue, is it? Look at it this way...
Currently, Nebraska senators make $12,000 a year, plus $30-$83 a
day for living expenses, depending on how close they live to the
C anitnl
The question, then, is this: How many Nebraskans can honestly live
on that paltry a salary and still devote their full attention and energy to
the task of leading Nebraska?
The answer is very few. In fact, the 1997 poverty level is $13,330
for a family of three. We’re not evening paying our senators above the
poverty level!
To my knowledge, the only senator who devotes his or her complete
focus to the Nebraska Unicameral is Senator Ernie Chambers of
Omaha. If I recall correctly, he is the only senator without other
employment. The only senator without ties, obligations or allegiances.
We, the people of Nebraska, are slowly losing our state to the
proverbial "Rich Man's Club." The cost of participation is so great that
very, very few people can honestly devote the necessary time to gov
erning.
In my utopia, legislators would be paid enough to make Nebraska
their number one (and only business) priority. When not in session, our
leaders would be out volunteering and getting to know their con
stituents.
Granted, there are many problems with that scenario. But none so
great as to hinder or so tantamount to overcome the fear of losing con
trol of our beautiful, strong state to the independently wealthy and pri
vately financed.
As a full-time student working nearly full-time hours, I almost
made as much as a state senator. And I can tell you that there is no way
on God’s green earth that I could survive on the $12,000 alone. Nor
could I take off the 60 or 90 days a year to fulfill my governmental
obligation.
bee, not only does the obnoxiously low salary prevent many
Nebraskans from running for the Unicameral; aspirations are also stilt
ed by the chilling reality of taking two to three months a year off of a
"real" job. Unless an individual is self-employed, there are very few
businesses that can afford operating one person short for more than a
period of several days.
When senators return to Lincoln this January, they will consider
I R14CA, a proposed constitutional amendment creating a compensa
tion commission. Twenty-three states have already established similar
commissions to set senatorial salaries.
Bring back the feeling of home to Nebraska. When the constitu
tional issue hits the ballots, vote yes for increasing senatorial salaries.
By taking this stand, you are affirming Nebraska’s commitment to its
communities, its people, its future.
Re-open the halls of the Capitol so that every Nebraskan may have
the opportunity to serve our great state.
Kennedy is a senior advertising and broadcasting major and a
Daily Nebraskan Summer Edition columnist.
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Gerry
Beltz
Cola conflict
Limited choices of refreshment could lead to beverage wars
This may be the beginning of the
end of civilization as we know it.
For years now, our quiet little
capitol city has been under siege at
the movie theaters when it came to a
choice of beverage. There were no
Pepsi products available, only Coke.
We thought we enjoyed the taste
of the cool beverage immensely, but
in actuality, it is an involuntary
response from our bodies to plunk
down an exorbitant amount of money
for a container of this stuff.
We need our fix. But it’s not just a
sugar or caffeine fix, it’s a biological
dependency on an undetectable alien
by-product mixed in with the drinks.
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the problem.
It was recently announced that the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
would be a Pepsi-sponsored campus,
meaning all vending machines, resi
dence halls and UNL-affiliated busi
nesses would offer strictly Pepsi prod
ucts after selling out of their current
stock of Coke products.
This whole Pepsi-campus thing
could be seen as another simple deci
sion by the higher-ups for the stu
dents, but what is going on here is
actually an event of galactic signifi
cance.
It’s just like “Invasion of the Body
Snatchers.”
Lincoln is stuck in the middle of a
battle, a war for the rights over the
entire universe. However, instead of
weapons consisting of guns and
bombs, the ammo here is carbonated,
and instead of 38-caliber bullets, we
have 32-ounce refill cups.
There have been some recent rip
ples on both sides of this struggle.
The Coca-Cola conspiracy suffered a
setback with the introduction of
“New Coke” years ago, but with the
help of some obsessive fanatics, this
foray into chemical warfare was
quickly squelched. Pepsi, a few years
later, suffered a similar fate with
“Crystal Pepsi,” but was saved by
good taste in general.
More recently, Pepsi sintered a
major loss when it lost Barq’s root
beer to the Coke recruiters, and
replaced it with the less-than-equal
Mug root beer. In a military sense,
this would be like replacing a
Sherman tank with a '74 Ford Pinto.
It used to be enough to drink both
kinds of pop, as they would be effec
tive counter-agents, but with the
introduction of bottled tea and water
to the beverage arena, the intensity
has been taken up a notch.
Granted, these beverages can be
purchased virtually anywhere in the
world, but with the lines drawn in
Lincoln, you can see how the battle
will be fought.
See for yourself: the City Campus
runs right up to Q Street... where the
movie theater district begins.
It looks like Wendy’s may be the
first to fall, caught between the
Starship 9 and UNL’s homebase of the
Student Union. All that will be left
will be the drive-thru window and one
of those pita sandwiches.
From there, things will be at a
stand-still for quite a while. Most of
the surrounding businesses are
already firmly entrenched as Pepsi
camps, but the movie theaters have
had a foothold in downtown Lincoln
for a long time.
The lines will be quaking a bit
around the end of August, when class
es begin and the lines shift slightly
due to the new UNL standings, but
the next big battle will be in the first
couple weeks of December.
Dead week and finals week.
Pop consumption always jumps
during this period, despite the frigid
weather, but by that last Friday, it will
be the Mountain Dew faction versus
the Diet Coke camp.
Things are about to get ugly.
It’s up to us. We must fight to sur
vive.
The line must be drawn here.
Do it for your planet. Do it for
America. Do it for the Cornhusker
state.
Drink a glass of water.
Beltz is a senior English education
major and the Daily Nebraskan
Summer Edition Features Editor.
