The Public Pulse, July 30

NU should pay up to Big 12

When the University of Nebraska decided to leave the Big 12 Conference, the school knew it would be required to pay a hefty financial penalty. But from the first days after the Huskers let their intentions become known, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman has balked at paying the penalty. He said an exit fee would be inappropriate.

What kind of message does this send to NU students? First, the school breaks its agreement with the Big 12, then tries to get out of facing the consequences for going back on its word.

As a welcome byproduct of NU’s joining the Big Ten, UNL students are joining a group of schools recognized as of better academic reputation than the Big 12. But Nebraska kids are pretty smart in themselves and recognize the human trait that was behind NU’s move to the Big Ten. That trait, of course, is greed — more television money going into the NU coffers.

I think Chancellor Perlman and Athletic Director Tom Osborne should stop stonewalling. Pay the penalty for leaving the Big 12 and just get it over with.

Ricky Fulton, Omaha

Getting ready for the State Fair

As the Nebraska State Fair open-class superintendent for needlework, I am excited about the opportunities Nebraskans have to share their time and talents by exhibiting and volunteering in the open-class departments.

For details, visit www.statefair.org and click on entry books/open class. Any Nebraska resident may enter an exhibit in open class at the State Fair. Entering the same exhibit in a county fair is optional, not a requirement.

An increase in the number of open-class exhibits would help take this tradition to a grand level. Viewing the displays gives fairgoers a chance to learn, reminisce, get inspired, feel good about they’ve done and see what Nebraskans are doing with their talents.

Exhibitors benefit, too. It’s a chance to display their work for friends, relatives and all the other fairgoers. Judges’ comments identify what is well done and provide suggestions and inspiration for improving skills. The awarding of ribbons and sponsored awards varies with departments.

Many departments need volunteers. Names and contact information are included in the entry books.

Nancy Schmerdtmann, Grand Island, Neb.

Learning how to save creatively

I’m excited about the $25,000 that the City of Omaha and Douglas County will save annually with new lighting at the parking garages.

Now, how about the free parking spots provided for city and county department heads, judges, City Council members and the mayor? At $65 per month, that could save thousands of dollars. Make sense?

Don O’Neill, Omaha

Vice president, Local Union 251

He’ll surely be remembered

The way Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle is raising taxes, I predict the City Council will name a street for him.

Alfred Marchese, Omaha

Taxpayers keeping city afloat

I think Mayor Suttle is delusional for putting forth a budget that ignores the recession. If Suttle is not willing to subject city employees to furloughs, he has no defense for advocating tax hikes.

The budget is filled with duplicity and subsidies. The proposed budget gives more than $1 million to the Building Bright Futures Foundation to fight truancy, but taxpayers already pay Omaha Public Schools, the Learning Community and educational service units to address these problems.

The mayor seems to have ignored the Matrix Consulting Group study, which recommended reductions in the police and fire departments.

The mayor also ignores the problems regarding payout of pensions. The World-Herald reported that Steve Scarpello, administrator of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, lost his job. He had worked for the city less than 10 years, yet beginning in November 2018, he will receive about $18,000 annually from the city pension fund.

Pensioners are looting the taxpayers. Omaha taxpayers are paying for a truly spoiled plutocracy, and Suttle’s response is to whip the taxpayers harder.

Andrew L. Sullivan, Omaha

Coffers refilled before potholes

Is the delay in fixing the potholes Mayor Suttle’s way of lobbying for a wheel tax increase? Hitting one of our potholes is not very subtle. It’s the end of July, and many potholes in our neighborhood are still there despite having been reported repeatedly.

Dennis Moench, Omaha

Program didn’t pad deficit

This is in response to a July 24 letter.

Congress’ passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act in 2003 created a new voluntary prescription drug benefit plan that was funded through the fiscal year 2004 budget resolution, which reserved $400 billion for the prescription drug benefit.

By including the Medicare prescription drug benefit in the budget, Congress acted responsibly in ensuring that the program would not contribute to the deficit. The program has created a competitive delivery system among private-sector plans that has resulted in seniors paying, on average, 60 percent less in Part D premiums than the Congressional Budget Office originally projected.

Millions of seniors now have access to affordable prescription drugs, an option they did not have before.

Lee Terry, Omaha

U.S. House representative, R-Neb.,

2nd Congressional District

Racism means something to me

Mark Jorgensen’s July 26 letter appears to come out of denial, ignorance, lack of experience or all of them.

I have encountered racism at different points in my life. I first came to this country as a graduate student of an Ivy League school at age 21. In 1959, I experienced racism for the first time when a white companion and I ordered service in an East Coast restaurant. I was told to take my drink to the car while the wait staff served my companion.

Later, while a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University, a few students and I went out for dinner on the outskirts of Baltimore. We enjoyed each others’ company and decided to depart reasonably early.

Unbeknownst to us, a group of white, young men and women was waiting outside to verbally and physically assault us because they did not like a racially mixed group in their neighborhood.

As a tenured university professor and administrator, I have had my honesty questioned at different times in Omaha, and I was mistaken for a security guard because of the color of my skin.

I don’t find racism meaningless.

Sunny Andrews, Omaha

Ruling in flag case was wrong

Just when I thought I had seen everything, the City of Bellevue is going to pay a mother $17,000 for having her son stomp on the American flag during the funeral of one of our soldiers.

I don’t blame Bellevue for this, because it appears it was being held hostage by our American judicial system.

What is this country coming to?

Gary Petri, Omaha

Of oil spills and blockades

Much goes missing in news coverage of important issues. Take the BP oil spill and the blockade of Gaza by Israel.

BP has been guilty of bad behavior for many decades. When it was known as the “Anglo-Iranian Oil Company,” it was a prime mover and beneficiary of the 1953 overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iran. This outrage ultimately resulted in the fiercely nationalistic Islamic Revolution in that country.

In addition, BP has one of the worst safety records in the oil and gas industry. Two refineries owned by the giant corporation account for most of the flagrant violations found in the refining industry in the past three years.

Israel’s blockade of Gaza was in defiance of a free and fair election of Hamas. No less than the International Committee of the Red Cross has called the blockade “collective punishment,” a crime under international law. Per capita income and unemployment levels show Gazans are some of the poorest people in the world.

Who’s to blame? In regard to the Gulf of Mexico spill, it’s obvious: the anti-environmental, anti-regulation policies of the Republican Party.

In regard to Israel, Democrats and Republicans alike are in the “Israel can do no wrong” camp and are thus responsible.

Stuart Williams, Omaha

Restoring our nation of the past

Why does Congress seem to get praise only when it is interfering with the system? We have a wonderful document of less than 10 pages, called the Constitution, which spells out what government is allowed and not allowed to do.

Through the years, the federal government has been pounding square pegs into the round holes of the Constitution to the point that it has become so misshapen, the founders might not recognize it.

In the first part of the life of our country, we grew, unfettered, into the greatest country in the world. The second part has consisted of adding social entitlements and regulations on business to the point where we don’t produce much of anything or are no longer the world’s financial power.

Members of Congress should not try to justify their jobs by introducing as many bills as possible. In fact, I would have a higher opinion of those who introduced acts to repeal much of what has been added during the past 100 years — sending us back to when business grew fast enough to match the growing population and when enterprise was actually free.

Kevin Rooney, Omaha

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