Omaha World-Herald. September 21, 2017
Big news for Midlands on the workforce development front
The Omaha area takes big steps forward this week on the workforce development front - by launching a local initiative to encourage women in technology fields and by unveiling a set of buildings at Metropolitan Community College offering cutting-edge training in the construction trades and advanced manufacturing.
The kickoff today for the STEP Forward initiative salutes 60 women in technology fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Production) in Nebraska and western Iowa.
The event will promote networking and mentoring as these technology leaders serve as role models for girls and young women.
Young women have great potential to pursue rewarding careers in technology fields. The National Science Foundation says that while only 18 percent of bachelor’s degrees in computer science currently go to women, 45 percent of eighth-grade girls scored at the proficiency level on a national test of technology and engineering skills.
It’s fitting that the STEP Forward kickoff is being held at the new Center for Advanced and Emerging Technology on Metro’s Fort Omaha campus. This is one of three new buildings in a $90 million project, half-funded by the private sector, to boost high-tech skills training and overall academic support.
Metro developed the Center for Advanced and Emerging Technology and the new Construction Education Center through close collaboration with local manufacturers, contractors and unions. The buildings, plus the new Career and Academic Skills Center, will be unveiled to the public Friday at a grand opening.
Metro’s advisory boards include wide-ranging private-sector representation to ensure that the training and facilities match up directly with real-world needs. Programs aim to develop students’ skills flexibility so they can adapt to ongoing technological change.
Employees in modern manufacturing are no longer machine operators, in many cases; they’re technicians who need to understand sophisticated computer operations. Metro’s new facilities will address that need, focusing on the growing connections linking information technology with advanced manufacturing and construction.
When it came time to equip the technology and construction centers, Metro President Randy Schmailzl told The World-Herald, “industry stepped up to help. From top-notch industrial shelving to state-of-the-art HVAC systems to data center equipment, our industry partners either donated or provided us the equipment we needed at cost. As a result, our labs are equipped with what our graduates will see on the job site. So on Day 1, real- world, they’ll be ready.”
A particular benefit, Schmailzl notes, is that every program at the Construction Education Center is connected with a high school career academy “to build the pipeline” of new talent.
Metro’s third new building, the Career and Academic Skills Center, offers a range of supports to help students navigate procedures and strengthen their learning skills.
These projects - the STEP Forward women-in-technology initiative and Metro’s new skills-training centers - show commendable vision. They can open up important new opportunities and position the Omaha area well to compete strongly in the modern economy.
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Lincoln Journal Star. September 21, 2017
Husker fans, negativity doesn’t win football games
Nebraska football fans proudly bear the mantle of the “greatest fans in college football” and walk beneath gates proclaiming the same.
Yet, during last Saturday’s nationally televised game against Northern Illinois, swaths of those fans booed a bunch of 18- to 22-year-old men at halftime. After the Huskers’ stunning 21-17 loss, plenty more fans spouted off, calling for the jobs starting quarterback Tanner Lee, head coach Mike Riley, various assistant coaches, Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst and seemingly everyone short of Li’l Red.
Disappointment after a 1-2 start is certainly merited. This season’s results aren’t consistent with the annual high expectations for Husker football.
But allowing the resulting frustration to rumble into a cloud of negativity, in turn, could very well hurt the program these same fans profess to love - regardless of the fates of Riley, Eichorst or others - by scaring away potential recruits and staff members.
To many, Husker football is Nebraska’s chief export on a national scale. The football team’s prominence and history of success is a justifiable point of pride in the Cornhusker State, from Agate Falls to Falls City.
Cheering for opponents as they walk off the field, win or lose, is a hallmark of Memorial Stadium. That courtesy should extend to Nebraska’s players, too, regardless of the result - but it didn’t on Saturday.
In the Big Eight Conference days, Nebraska fans believed they existed on a separate moral plane than the perceived hooligans at Missouri and Colorado, who became synonymous for poor sportsmanship toward Husker fans and players.
Pushed by a 3-6 record in the last nine games, Nebraska fans are nearing the ledge of a pit, one occupied by the fans they look down upon for similar behaviors.
Husker Nation needs to look only across the Big Ten Conference to see a rebound from a slow start, fan angst and a coach on the hot seat is possible. Penn State started 2-2 in 2016, only to win the conference title and play in the Rose Bowl.
The Huskers may or may not succeed in 2017, but fan negativity doesn’t win football games.
Nebraska fans will never accept mediocrity from the team, but they must not become mediocre fans themselves. Questioning and disagreeing with the choices made by Husker players, coaches and athletic directors aren’t wrong. Nor is dissatisfaction with results.
Yet, neither the crescendo of boos nor growing calls for a head or two to roll befit a program with Nebraska’s pedigree and pride. Instead, the best advice for fans to get through a difficult stretch can be found in the fight song they hope to sing plenty of times on Saturdays in fall: “We’ll stick together in all kinds of weather for dear old Nebraska U.”
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Kearney Hub. September 21, 2017
Gale tells panel ’no’ on voters’ records
We commend Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale. On Tuesday, Gale announced the Trump administration’s Election Integrity Commission had failed to meet requirements under Nebraska law for release of private voter information.
Earlier this year, the dubiously named Election Integrity Commission had asked every U.S. state for voter information to prove widespread fraud occurred in the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump claimed there was fraud and that the commission would sniff it out, but many political observers believe Trump’s claims were motivated by ego. Although he won in the Electoral College, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote.
Gale agreed to supply Nebraska’s voter records, but only on the condition that voters’ privacy would be protected. On Tuesday, he announced the commission would be unable to provide assurance the records would be shielded from hackers and properly disposed of after the commission finished its examination.
No assurances, no records, Gale stated.
Our secretary of state has long been a defender of voter rights and supporter of voter participation. As Nebraska’s chief election officer, it is Gale’s duty to ensure the integrity of elections. Among his duties is preventing the kind of fraud that Trump alleged had occurred in the 2016 vote, and Gale and Nebraska’s local county election commissioners and their staffs have done so admirably. We are aware of just two cases, both in Dawson County, that occurred in Nebraska in 2016.
Another key role for our state’s top election official is protecting the private information of registered voters.
State law outlines privacy requirements, but Nebraskans shouldn’t be surprised if the so-called integrity commission makes another attempt to attain our state’s records. If that occurs and the records privacy conditions that Gale has outlined still have not been satisfied, Nebraskans should stand unified behind their chief election official to support his actions.
Recent history teaches that whenever privacy is important, we can never be too careful with records. People’s privacy and peace of mind should not be at risk.
If the Election Integrity Commission cannot guarantee its own integrity, it has no business asking states for private voter records. Gale is correct in saying “no.”
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The Grand Island Independent. September 20, 2017
Krist offers a nonpartisan option to voters
A campaign to challenge a sitting Republican governor in Nebraska is a huge long shot.
But Sen. Bob Krist’s message as he announced an independent campaign for governor last week resonates.
There is a reason that the Nebraska Legislature is officially nonpartisan - the only nonpartisan legislature in the country - and we seemed to be losing that distinction during the past legislative session.
During previous legislative sessions there were signs of both Republican and Democratic legislators being able to work together to get things done. But this year, there was great partisanship and most votes split along party lines.
“Nebraskans are looking for independent and effective leadership,” Krist said as he announced that he has switched his party affiliation from Republican to Independent.
“I’ve always believed the emphasis should be on working together and building consensus, not kowtowing to a party mandate,” he said.
And there are issues that Krist can press during a campaign against Gov. Pete Ricketts, including continued problems with state prison overcrowding, violence and escapes.
He pledged to work with lawmakers from both parties on cutting property taxes and providing adequate funding for public schools, two goals that are popular and yet seem to work against each other.
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Krist, of Omaha, has served in the Legislature since then-Gov. Dave Heineman appointed him in 2009. He was elected to full terms in 2010 and 2014, so he will continue to serve in the Legislature next year.
If he gets the 5,000 signatures he needs to qualify for the ballot, he would face Ricketts, as well as the Democratic candidate, in the 2018 general election. No Democratic candidate has entered the race so far.
We hope that this independent campaign will get our candidates for governor to discuss specifics and promote ways that our state government can better serve the residents of Nebraska. It would be great to have a healthy debate over the issues that are important to the voters and let the voters, not political action committees, make the decision.
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