Letters, 12/6: Idea for new State Fair

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I’m 53, originally from Lincoln, and I’ve been to every State Fair since I can remember. Somebody needs to tell the State Fair board the emperor has no clothes because the State Fair is gone as we used to know it.

Most people my generation think it began declining 25 years ago. What goes on in Lincoln now is just a glorified county fair with a slightly bigger midway and some lesser showbiz acts and monster machines.

If you really want to have a state fair, combine Husker Harvest Days (near Grand Island the second week of September) with the county fairs of Adams, Hall or Buffalo counties book-ending one week on the weekends. Throw in some nearby concerts like Comstock has with some monster trucks or tractors and a rodeo in central Nebraska. There’s even car racing nearby in Doniphan and Hastings, and you’ll have everything the old fair used to have.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln needs the State Fair site for the future, but there’s no reason to move the horse racing, since that was tried in Omaha, and the site isn’t as good as Ak-Sar-Ben used to be.

George Howard, Hastings

City employees give back

Last week, city employees were criticized for their lack of participation in the United Way campaign.  While I cannot speak for employees outside of the fire department, I will say that I am very proud of what fire employees give back to our community.

According to our United Way representative, 52 percent of our employees contributed to United Way for an increase of 3 percent this year.  While we are pleased to have more than half of our employees participate, fire employees are involved in many other charities, donating money, raising money and volunteering time.

For 2007, firefighters raised more than $14,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).  This year, firefighters contributed more than $25,700 in cash and an unknown amount of in-kind donations to various charities in this community, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Food Bank, Bubba’s Closet, sponsoring a midget football team, giving out Christmas food baskets to needy families, giving gifts to children who are in the hospital during Halloween, donating money and volunteer time for Boo at the Zoo, and spending countless hours volunteering their off-duty time for many different charities.

One such charity is the Salvation Army.  Every year, off-duty firefighters spend two days ringing bells to raise money for the Salvation Army.  Every year, we receive the trophy for the most money collected by any group. This year we will donate 271 hours ringing bells.

We typically do not believe that it is necessary to publicize our charitable activities.  We don’t do it for publicity; we do it because we care about Lincoln.  I believe that is true of other city employees.

Focusing in on one charity does not tell the whole story. Lincoln’s employees do give back. We should never criticize anyone for how much they give or what charity they give to; we should just be glad  people care enough to give.

Dave Engler, president, Lincoln Firefighters

Many served in Hastings

As an employee of the Hastings Regional Center, I am disturbed by how the facility has been portrayed lately in the media. I am concerned that the public is being led to believe that the entire facility is up and running and serving only one client.

That is simply not true. There is one program at HRC in which the client population has dropped to one. However, there are other programs running at HRC.

There is a chemical dependency program that consistently serves 40 youths, which is the maximum capacity for the facility as the regulations are written at the present time.

These youth range in age from 13 to 18 and come to HRC from Kearney Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center. Each is struggling with drug and/or alcohol addiction issues as well as having criminal records. They are under 24-hour supervision, undergoing treatment for their addictions, as well as having the opportunity to continue their education. The staff assigned to work with clients from both programs is shared between the two programs.

As a taxpayer, a citizen of the community and an employee of HRC, I feel it is important that accurate information be shared.

Kris Sorensen, Hastings teacher, Nebraska Youth Academy, Hastings Regional Center

Don’t lower drinking age

In response to Stacie Beins’ letter  (“Let’s lower drinking age,” LJS, Nov. 30), I would like to offer a contrasting view from an 18-year-old.

As a freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I have learned two things about drinking in my first semester of college: First, underage drinking is an issue; second, lowering the drinking age will not solve the problem.

The right to consume alcohol is not equivalent to the rights Beins attempted to compare it to — the right to vote, to join the armed forces, and to marry, among others.

Beins believes a lowered drinking age will result in less binge drinking, which is a frequent occurrence in Nebraska. Perhaps, if Beins is serious about her proposition, she should consider that lawmakers would be much more willing to lower the drinking age if binge drinking were curtailed. The latter should be the cause, the former the effect — not the other way around.

I wonder why drinking would be less commonplace if the drinking age were lowered. Surely, many (if not the majority) of today’s teens drink often enough that they have “become used to it.”

It is insulting to my intelligence to be told that lowering the drinking age would lower the frequency of underage drinking. Of course it would! But why lower it to the age of 18? Why not eliminate the established drinking age altogether? This would, in turn, eliminate illegal underage drinking.

Those are just some of the reasons why I believe the drinking age should not be lowered.

James D. Dawson, Lincoln