Seward County Independent

    Jon Ross, a junior at Concordia University, had a plan. This year was his first as president of the College Republicans group on the CU campus and he wanted to follow the group's credo to "Make a Difference."
     "Our biggest thing is that we want to make a difference and we thought that one of the best ways was to invite one of the forefront political figures in the state (to Concordia)," he said.
     The political figure was Gov. Dave Heineman and Ross initially tried to schedule an appearance for Heineman during the general election, but due to scheduling conflicts, the governor was not able to make it until Dec. 7.
     "The whole process, although lengthy, was relatively easy," Ross said.
     Ross kept in touch with the governor's office throughout the election campaign, working with members of the governor's staff to go over details of the visit such as security and what type of appearance it would be.
     "I was really impressed with how the state house handled the scheduling," he said.
     Initially, Ross had hoped to set up a luncheon and tour of the campus with Heineman, but ultimately decided that a speech would provide the best way to reach students on the campus.
     "Our students have varying degrees of interest, regardless of their political affiliations," Ross said.
     The appearance was scheduled for late in the afternoon to accommodate the class schedules of students and allow them to make it to the speech, Ross said.
     "I just wanted to make sure that we would have a good amount of people," he said.
     Members of the Concordia student body, faculty and the Seward community were present for the appearance, and following initial remarks on his plans for the upcoming term, the governor took questions from the audience.
    Governor's speech
     Heineman said that the state of Nebraska is in a "crucial time," and he would like to advance and continue the state's prosperity, largely through increasing business opportunities and the number of students in college, while reducing the number of college graduates who leave the state.
     "We've got to create jobs. Jobs, jobs and more jobs," he said.
     One way Heineman said he hoped to accomplish this was through Nebraska Advantage, a plan which offers tax credits to businesses who locate in the state and hire Nebraska workers.
     The speech also touched on reducing taxes for average taxpayers by eliminating the marriage penalty and the estate tax.
     Eliminating these taxes would help to reduce the number of college graduates leaving the state, Heineman said.
     "We tell all of you (students), 'We want you to be successful,' and then we tax the you-know-what out of your success," he said.
     The governor also touched briefly on the restructuring of health and human services in the state, stating that as part of the changes the six key areas of focus for health and human services have been identified and will each be made a separate department.
     He closed his speech by highlighting what he sees as Nebraska's assets, but saying that not enough people outside of the state are aware of those assets.
     "The fact of the matter is we (Nebraska) don't promote what we have," he said. "We have the single most important asset that any state would want and that's our people."
     Questions from attendees
     Following the speech, Heineman fielded questions from those in attendance. The questions ranged from property taxes to alternative fuels to education to rural health care.
     The majority of the questions focused on business and connected topics.
     When asked what types of businesses the state was hoping to attract with Nebraska Advantage, Heineman spoke on new ethanol plants being built, defense contractors being attracted to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha and the PayPal offices in LaVista.
     "(PayPal is) going to double in size, because of the Nebraska Advantage, in the next two years," he said.
     In response to a question about the effect new businesses, especially manufacturing and ethanol plants would have on Nebraska water tables, Heineman said the benefits of being on the forefront of alternative fuel production outweighed the costs, but acknowledged that decreased precipitation was affecting the state.
     "We're in a position to take greater advantage of alternative fuels than any other state because we're leading the way," he said. "If we don't get a little help (precipitation) from up above, then we're going to be in trouble."
     Heineman also spoke on the importance of education in providing an environment in which students were encouraged to remain in the state, creating businesses and opportunities to further promote Nebraska. He said that the increasing role of technology in our everyday lives means that higher education is more of a necessity than ever.
     "If you look at the 21st century, the most technologically advanced society...you're not going to survive with just a high school education," he said.
     He said that Nebraska has one of the highest rates of high school graduates but only an average ranking of students who go on to attend college. Allowing students to discover what their interests are and pursue them at a higher level will create a populace interested in the welfare of the state, he said.
     "Do what you love. When you do what you love, you'll be successful and you'll be an expert," Heineman said.
     He added that better marketing for higher education would also be key in creating more Nebraska students pursuing advanced degrees.
     He suggested the possibility of professors at colleges recruiting students for their departments, much like coaches recruit athletes, to increase college attendance, but said that he often encountered resistance from professors when he brought up the idea.
     He said that, whatever they may be, changes have to occur in the way colleges approach potential students.
     "We're going to have to get smarter and more effective than we've ever been before," he said.
     The final question asked concerned the effect expanding businesses would have on small communities in the state.
     Heineman said that communities have the choice to grow or not grow with business, but that they would need to be responsible for their own success.
     "What we need to be doing in Nebraska is giving every community the opportunity to grow," he said. "It's all about the opportunity. I can't force them to grow. I don't want to force them to grow."
     He said that having a positive outlook on progress and not being resigned to changes they do not want would determine how well communities remained vital. He likened the situation to his primary race against Tom Osborne.
     "If I subscribe to that, that 'There's nothing I can do about it (change),' I wouldn't be governor of this state," he said. "We won because we have a positive vision for Nebraska."