Speaker:
ByAdamKlinker
Staff Reporter
With an increasing optimism
surging through its younger genera
tion, the People’s Republic of China
is taking a new attitude in internation
al and domestic policy dealings, an
international affairs expert said
Wednesday.
Richard Burkholder Jr., vice pres
ident and director of international
operations for the Gallup
Organization, said China is changing
its role in the world and reevaluating
its domestic ideas on economics and
on lifestyles.
And the ideals of Chinese con
sumers are changing, Burkholder
said during his speech for the E.N.
Thompson Forum on World Issues in
the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
Burkholder said he led the cru
sade to poll the Chinese people for
the first time in the nation’s history in
1994 and again in 1997.
For the poll, Gallup interviewed
3,727 people of varying geographic,
economic and cultural backgrounds
across China.
“We tend to see China a$ one
nation and one people, when in fact
there are many Chinas,” Burkholder
said.
The interviews, though purposely
concentrated in urban areas as a result
of China’s large urban populations,
focused on the disparity between
urban and rural consumer habits, he
said.
The increasingly shifting
demands, growing prosperity and
mindset of the Chinese people is not
only encouraging, but interesting, he
said, when seen through the results of
scientific polling.
For instance, the poll found 90 per
cent of Chinese households owned a
television, a figure most Americans
would underestimate, he said.
Burkholder credited the 18- to 29
year-old Chinese population with
changing economic atmosphere and
market environment
“The younger Chinese values are
different from those of their elders,” he
said. “They’re expressing a tremendous
optimism.”
* A growing number of Chinese
want to “live life to their own tastes”
rather than striving for riches or align
mg with the socialistic view of giving
all for the good of society, Burkholder
said
Fifty-one percent of Chinese col
lege graduates polled said their ideal
lifestyle was one tailoredto their own
unique tastes, he said J
Burkholder said the survey showed
young Chinese people favor urban
lifestyles. Chinese cities and their resi
dents are becoming more cosmopoli
tan, more fashion-conscious and more
appealing to the young Chinese, he
said
Many Chinese also are expecting a
higher quality of life in their country.
The survey showed Chinese approved
of their country’s quality of life as often
as Americans approve of their own.
Sarah Shaw, a sophomore environ
mental studies major, said she found
motivated youth a positive force in the
Chinese economy which would also
enact great cultural changes.
“The Chinese have been known for
their Confucian work ethic and altru
ism,” she said. “Now with their opti
mism and ideas on living life by (their)
own means, they’re becoming more
like Westerners.”
Business bill snubbed; I
senators await respect I
By Brian Carlson
Senior Reporter
Irked by what they perceive as a
lack of respect for the Legislature
among some of the state’s business
leaders, state senators again
delayed consideration of LB939 on
Wednesday.
The Legislature voted 33-9 to
move the bill, which would extend
the Quality Jobs Act from final
reading back to select file. The vote
could delay the bill’s passage until
late in the 1998 session, if it is
passed at all.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Pam
Brown of Omaha and supported by
many business leaders, would
allow businesses an extra two years
to qualify for wage benefit credits
under the Quality Jobs Act.
Several senators said they sup
ported the bill but weren’t prepared
to pte for it Wednesday because
the^ objected to recent comments
by some business leaders.
A group of business leaders,
frustrated because it feels the
Legislature has moved too slowly
in passing tax breaks to promote
business development, has formed
the Business Summit.
The group has said if the
Legislature is unable to pass tax
relief measures, it would seek to
control state spending and taxing
through a ballot initiative.
“It’s a sad day in Nebraska
when a policy seems laudable,
enhances the population’s ability to
make money and increases the eco
nomic boom going on in this state,
and we are told as a body that we
are inept, stupid and overspend
ing,” Sen. Deb Suttle of Omaha
said.
Sen. Dsn Wesely afLinselh
said the business leaders treated
the Legislature?disrespectfully and
spurned offers by state senators to
discuss their differences.
“We’re not the ones throwing
rocks,” he said. “In fact, we have
been extending olive branches.
“But in response, rocks are
being thrown back at us.”
The motion to return the mea
sure to select file was made by Sen.
Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who
urged senators to remember that
“we are not at the beck and call of
the business community.”
Wednesday’s vote was the sec
ond time this spring the Legislature
has delayed a final vote on LB939.
On Feb. 19, senators voted to
bracket the bill until Wednesday.
Speaker Doug Kristensen of
Minden removed the bill from the
Legislature’s agenda after the vote.
The issue, he said, was not the bill’s
content but the proper respect that
should be shown to the Legislature.
But sen. uave jviaursiaa oi
Beatrice urged senators to vote on
the bill’s merits. The body should
n’t waste its time by delaying pas
sage of a bill because members felt
they had been shown disrespect, he
said. «
If senators objected strongly to
the business leaders tactics, they
should simply vote the bill down,
he said.
“If LB939 is not the issue, then
let’s move on,” he said. “Let’s lay it
on the line.”
Brown said she couldn’t control
the actions of business leaders but
still felt the bill would benefit the
state’s economy.
“This is not about one business
group, but about whether this is
good policy,” she said.
The Quality Jobs Act currently
in state statute allows wage benefit
credits for companies that, within
\ five years, invest in at least $50
million of qualified property and
hire 500 workers or invest in $100
million of qualified property and
hire 250 workers. LB939 would
allow businesses seven years to
meet these requirements.
THlr:
•Jolly Rancher Screwdriver ^ I; 1
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S Drinks §
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7 to 11 P.M. 2
skey Gin <& Tonic "*
