Daily Nebraskan Special Edition
The Map of Nowhere
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016
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The map of nowhere If you’re reading this, the statistics say you’re not reading it at your farm. Looking at U.S. Census data collected between 2010 and 2014, you can see the continuation of a pattern more than a century in the making. Metropolitan Nebraska is on the rise. In fact, Nebraska grew in population by 2.8 percent, with more than 51,000 new Husker fans joining us between 2010 and 2014. But these people are, of course, moving to Sarpy, Douglas and Lancaster counties, which house the Omaha area and Lincoln. Sarpy took the top spot, growing 7.8 percent in just four years. There are jobs there and Omaha suburbs to expand and fill. But if you take those three counties away, Nebraska lost more than 1,000 people in four years. It’s an old tale, a slow exodus of citizens moving from rural areas to urban. These days, only one of every five U.S. residents lives in a rural area. But going back only 150 years, the majority of Nebraskans lived in rural areas. It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that urban areas became more and
more tempting to those who had grown up out on the homestead. What becomes of the towns outside the glowing lights of Lincoln and Omaha? What of those who’ve made their homes among the Sandhills and the plains? They begin to disappear. Those who do stay lose neighbors and resources. Of Nebraska’s 93 counties, 62 saw a population decrease between 2010 and 2014. And many of those counties don’t have much more to give away. But those who call small-town Nebraska home still find ways to hold on to their ways and traditions. This year, the Daily Nebraskan’s annual endowment issue looks to shine a light on these people and the triumphs and losses of living in the sparsely populated parts of the state. This issue contains stories of towns mending after tornadoes to towns who have accepted their eventual disappearance, and the people in between. Join us for a glimpse at the shrinking of rural Nebraska.
Mary Kay Lyon of Loomis, Nebraska has been a farmer her entire life. Only 8 percent of Nebraska farms are run by women.
FRONT PAGE PHOTO BY CALLA KESSLER | DN
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Road Map 8. 4.
12. 15. 6.
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P.C.
PHOTO BY ANDREW BARRY | DN
4. Harrisburg: How a six-man football program is dwindling despite community interest
6. Loomis: Cattle rancher is one of 4,000 women running Nebraskan farms
7. Loomis: A small town bridal shop boasts a big city feel
8. Pilger: How a village and its people stood resilient in recovering from a tornado
10. Louisville: For a small town filmmaker, it takes a village to achieve a dream
12. Omaha: A mental health facility reaches out to rural teens
15. Lincoln: Farm policies affect more than agricultural negative (OPINION)
Online
Dannebrog: Country club offers one of the few courses in the country with sand greens A first generation Nebraskan watches his town crumble before his eyes (VIDEO) Pawnee City business owner reflects on her community (VIDEO) : Sixth-generation farmer and UNL grad returns to rural Nebraska with future wife
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Banner County football program fights for survival CODY NAGEL DN
On the afternoon of Sept. 4, 2015, the Banner County Wildcats began their six-man football season with six total players. It had three seniors, two sophomores and a freshman. The two juniors were out with injuries. Home is more than three hours east, in a place called Banner County, home of fewer than 800 people. Behind the Wildcats’ sideline, humid air radiated off a cornfield, flush with green stalks. The Wildcats were not used to the humid air this far east of the panhandle. Where they live, in the southwest corner of the state, the air is dry. As they walked onto the field, first-year head coach Brady Cross was hoping his guys could just get through a full game.
PHOTO BY ZACH HENKE | DN
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DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM After receiving the opening kickoff, Cross called a few run plays for senior running back Austin Dolberg, who also played middle linebacker. The Wildcats were stopped on third down and forced to punt. That’s when Dolberg’s legs began to cramp. On the next play, senior running back Calyn Werkmeister sprang free for a 61-yard touchdown run for Maywood/Hayes Center. Over the next quarter and a half, the Wildcats played from behind. The Maywood/Hayes Center Wolves would open up a 25-point lead. With just more than a minute to go in the half, Cross noticed his tight end, Garrett Grubbs, seemed woozy. Both teams finished the half with five players. During halftime, a delirious Grubbs was loaded onto the ambulance and taken to Community Hospital. The Wildcats were forced to forfeit, and over the next week, Banner County School administrators would have to decide what to do: forfeit the rest of the season because of the lack of players or continue on. Superintendent Lana Sides, principal Charles Jones and Activities Director Kari Gifford left the decision up to the players on the football team. They decided not to continue the season. And for the second time since 2006, there were no Friday night lights in Banner County. * * * Between Interstate 80 and Scottsbluff sits Nebraska’s eighth least-populated county, Banner County. A 2014 census estimated a population of 764. Here, there are more cattle than people. Farms connected by gravel roads scatter the rolling hills of the 746 square mile agriculture production county. Four miles west of Highway 71 lies the sole town in Banner County, Harrisburg, which is too small to be considered a town by the U.S. Government. Technically, it’s a village. Tucked behind a hill, traffic passes by as if it doesn’t exist. A one-story courthouse sits on State Street. Next to the fire station, on the west side of town, sits the old Banner County Bank building. Established in 1890, it stayed in business until 1934. Banner County School stands in the far northeast corner of Harrisburg. Previously known as Harrisburg School District, it was the first countywide K-12 district in Nebraska. The population of the county and enrolled students at the school has decreased over the last 16 years, according to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. The 2000 census counted a population of 819 in Banner County, a difference of 55 compared to today. With the lack of a younger generation, the population could fall close to 700. In the 2000-01 school year, the K-12 enrollment of Banner County School was 196. Now, it’s 151. The high school currently consists of 41 students: 16 boys and 25 girls. It held 81 students in the 2010-11 school year. Students not wanting to participate in activities is not the issue. Thirty-three of the 41 high school students participate in at least one NSAA sponsored activity; 27 in at least one sport. The reality at any school, regardless of size, is that some students do not participate in activities. The issue in Banner County is the sheer number of students in the dwindling county. * * * It’s early spring and the middle of calving season. Six miles west of Harrisburg, Brady, 24, and his dad, Joel Cross, 57, load a tagging kit into a Chevrolet flatbed truck. Joel drives through several herds of cattle in
PHOTO BY ZACH HENKE | DN a pasture west of his house, looking for untagged newborn calves. Brady prepares the tagger as his dad drives the truck next to a calf, closely guarded by its mother. He opens the truck door slowly and approaches the calf with caution. The mother of the calf inches backwards, giving Brady enough space to place the tag on the ear of the calf. As he finishes, the mother cow lowers her head and lunges toward Brady. He backs away, and the protective mother retreats. “Well, that doesn’t normally happen,” Brady said. Brady isn’t a city person. He doesn’t even enjoy driving in nearby Scottsbluff, a town of 15,000. Along with helping his dad, he tends to his own crops and cattle. Brady is one of a few young men in Banner County who has stayed to run his own operation. Most kids go to college to get degrees so they don’t have to come back. But not Brady. He graduated from Banner County School in 2009. In 2006, he played on the only Wildcat football team to win a state playoff game, defeating Spalding Academy in the first round, 48-32. At the time, they played 8-man football. The Wildcats made the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, before winning one game from 2009-11: 46-0 against Creek Valley. The entire 2013 season was forfeited because of a lack of players. Banner County School dropped down to sixman in 2014. With 14 players, including eight seniors, the Wildcats finished with a 2-6 record. Following the season, head coach Heath Johnson left Banner County School to take a principal position at Laurel-Concord School District. He recommended Cross, who was an assistant at the time, to fill his place. Watching his alma mater fail to win games was tough for Brady. He accepted the position because he wanted to make a difference. Brady has seen the mental toughness and work ethic of younger generations decrease since he played the game in high school. He didn’t want to be another coach that yelled at the players and told them how bad they were. “I was a pretty disciplinary coach, there wasn’t no screwing around for darn sure, and the kids really respected me,” Brady said. He made sure the kids were in shape, and whenever they would run, he ran with them. Compared to the 2006 playoff team, Brady said the younger generation of today doesn’t know what it is like to suck it up and push through something. “We could have broken a damn leg and done
our damnedest just to walk back to that huddle,” Brady said. When the players made the decision to forfeit the season last September, Cross went to the school board to see if there was anything he could do to persuade the kids to play through. The board told him no. “I had to bite my lip and walk out on the deal,” he said. He wanted to motivate the athletic kids in the school to go out for football, but they were done. * * * Jim and Peggy Sandberg say their oldest son, James, is the reason his grandpa, Tony Sandberg, is still alive. Sixteen years ago, the sophomore quarterback and middle linebacker was born on April 21, 2001. Tony had just gotten out of open-heart surgery. An improved heart and the emotion of holding his newborn grandson carried him through the recovery process. Tony graduated from Harrisburg High School in 1943. He still holds the school record for pole vault, an event the school no longer has. Today, at the age of 90, he travels three hours north from Centennial, Colorado, to watch James compete for his alma mater and the county he was raised in. James is an option student from Gering, meaning he doesn’t live in the district zone but still drives 22 minutes to school from his house. Of the 151 K-12 students at Banner County School, 54 are option students. The beginning of James’ freshman year at Banner County School was difficult. Like any new kid, he wanted to fit in. In one year, he went from being the reserved new kid to a leader on the football team. James admits he has a passion for sports. Baseball, basketball or football, his competitive attitude drives him to become a better player every day. During the first couple practices of the season, James was a player that struggled when the team would perform conditioning drills. Halfway through the drill, his sprint turned to a jog, then a walk. But he never gave up. Cross kept him motivated and prior to the game against Hayes Center, he hustled throughout the entire drill. He never complained about the coaching. When Cross gave the kids a playbook, James would have it memorized by practice the next day. The cancellation of the season was devastating
to James. It was supposed to be his first season starting at the high school level. He wanted to change schools, again. It was tough for his parents too. As the owner and operator of J.R. Sandberg Farms L.L.C., Jim enjoys taking a break from work to go watch his son play sports. With the cancellation of the football season, he wasn’t able to do that. Neither could Tony Sandberg. * * * Football was not the only Banner County School athletic team to forfeit games this year. The boy’s basketball program was forced to forfeit the first six games of the season because of a lack of players. Even with the constant question of whether or not there will there be enough kids, Banner County School Athletic Director Gifford knows how important it is to provide students with the opportunity to play sports. Not just for the athletic experience, but for the leadership skills and work ethic they can gain. Because of that, in her mind it’s not an option to shut down sports altogether. “Everybody wants our kids to have the opportunity to do the same kinds of things that maybe they did growing up,” Gifford said. Normally when a high school’s enrollment is too low to fill a roster for sports, it will consolidate with a nearby school. But for the Banner County School, that’s not an option. The nearest school to congregate with is Gering, 23.2 miles north. After that it’s Redington, 25 miles east. Then Kimball, 27 miles south. The closest thing in any direction is the state of Wyoming, 18 miles west. “It is difficult based on where we are at,” principal Jones said. According to Jones, enrollment numbers don’t seem to be increasing. In turn, the football team will likely not grow any larger than 10 or 13 in the coming years. Without consolidation, the possibility of a few injuries or mishaps could lead the Wildcats to a fate similar to the one they met this season. In other words, they’re stuck. * * * Adversity struck the school and football program again in December when Brady announced he would not be able to coach the 2016 season. His newborn son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. It was decided that first-year Jones would coach the team in place of Brady. “As far as I’m concerned, Brady is welcome anytime he wants to come back,” Jones said. “I’m not trying to do anything to undermine anybody.” Jones has 11 years of experience as head coach in six-man football – seven years at Maywood/ Hayes Center and four in Colorado. The football program is expecting 10 to 13 players for the 2016 season, a comfortable number compared to 2015. Expectations are to have Friday night lights return to Banner County next season to compete against the other 24 six-man programs in Nebraska. But even with the promise of a season and enough players, the school and the county are shrinking. Eventually, there may not be a Wildcat football team. “When I was a senior, it was eight seniors, so we obviously had enough to play,” Brady said. In seven years, Banner County School has gone from comfortably filling a roster for an eight-man team to not being able to put six players on the field. Despite the adversity, the support from Banner County will remain. “We are going to keep rolling along,” Gifford said, “and provide the opportunities and see what happens.” SPORTS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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Loomis farmer one of 4,000 women leading Neb. farms SARAH WONTORCIK DN It’s the front feet that come first. Then the head. The rest of the body comes out fast. Sometimes Mary Kay Lyon, 57, has to assist. Sometimes she just has to pull the calf out. Sometimes she needs to wear a glove that stretches all the way up her arm. On a March afternoon in a muddy pen on Lyon’s 2,500-acre cattle farm near Loomis, Nebraska, a village in Phelps County with a population of about 382, cow number 113, 6 years old, gave birth to a male calf. After more than an hour of labor, Lyon thought she was going to have to pull the baby animal out. She left to prepare, and when she came back just minutes later, the wobbly calf was working to take his first breaths. Lyon poked him in the nose to help clear his nostrils and he lifted his head off the ground and tried to figure out how his body worked. Within five minutes, the red calf, still slimy with amniotic fluid, struggled to stand while his mother cleaned him off with her tongue. For Lyon, this is a regular day on the job. Her work uniform consists of worn blue jeans, work boots and old leather work gloves. An average of eight to nine calves are born each day on her farm. According to the United States Depart-
“The ‘kink in the tail,’ we always call it,” ment of Agriculture’s 2012 census, 8 percent of the 49,969 farms in Nebraska are run by Lyon said, describing the tail of a cow about female principal operators. Lyon said, while to give birth. Kreutzer has been helping Lyon with the it is still uncommon for a woman to run the farm for about 20 years, but Lyon has been farm operations, it’s more prevalent now farming her whole life. than it used to be. She said she’s never had “Mary Kay is the best farmer there is,” any gender-related problems while doing business with others, whether it’s a machin- said Joel Bergman, a neighbor and childhood ery dealer, fertilizer sales person or anyone friend of Lyon. The house she lives in was built by her else she works with in running her operation. “I’ve always gotten along well with any great grandparents, who moved to Loomis business people that I’ve dealt with,” Lyon in 1888 from Sweden. They lived in a sod house for six years until they built a permasaid. nent home in 1894. Lyon’s parents live in the With 180 red angus simmental crossbred house as well, and her dad, LaMonte Lyon, cows, Lyon says she seldom needs to get incan still point to the room where he was born volved during calving season. Her main job is to periodically check the yard to make almost 92 years ago. “There aren’t that many sure there aren’t any probhorses anymore,” he said of lems. From the time calving Mary Kay the changes in farming he’s season starts in mid-February is the best seen in his lifetime. “I ‘drove’ to the time it ends around the a horse to school.” first of May, Lyon checks the farmer there is.” Lyon grew up helping her cows at least once every three dad farm. Despite going to hours, throughout the day. JOEL BERGMAN University of Nebraska at KeShe and her brother-in-law NEIGHBOR, CHILDHOOD FRIEND arney for accounting, she said Scott Kreutzer, 53, who lives a she always planned to take quarter of a mile up the road, alternate the night shifts. When it’s Lyon’s over the farm. As she gradually took over the farm renight to check the cows, she drives out on her red four-wheeler with a spotlight and sponsibilities from her dad, Lyon said she didn’t make too many changes. She grows looks for any new calves or signs that a cow alfalfa, corn and soybeans, but one she’s chois nearing labor.
sen not to raise is pigs. “We did have pigs, but I got really sick of pigs,” Lyon said. “So we will not ever have pigs again. But I like the cows.” Sometimes, when a cow gives birth, it can get very defensive of its calf, Lyon said. She said she’s learned to tell when a cow has notso-friendly intentions. “They will try to kill you,” Lyon said. “You learn to read their eyes and their disposition and their attitude. There’s a time when you just run. Get out. Don’t argue. They’re bigger than you are.” But there are quiet moments too. Like turning the cows loose in the summertime when the pastures are lush and the calves are playful. “Life is really good then,” Lyon said. “They look really cute out on the green pasture.” As Lyon does her afternoon rounds, checking on the cows, she notices all of the new calves. One is all red except for splashes of white around its face that look like a mask. Another is red with white patches scattered along its stomach and legs. “See that one that looks like he’s got socks?” Lyon says. “Cute little bugger, isn’t he?” NEWS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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‘Say Yes to the Dress:’ Loomis, Nebraska SARAH WONTORCIK DN Four hundred dresses hang along the wall: white, ivory, lace, beads. Sparkling jewelry and high heels fill the front room. Necklaces are displayed in a refurbished antique china cabinet. Mirrors cover the walls surrounding three main bridal fitting areas. A small chalkboard hangs on a nail next to each door with the bride’s name written on it. “A personal touch,” owner Karla Axtell said. Bridal Isle is everything one would expect of a big city bridal shop, but gravel roads and farmland replace busy streets and tall buildings. The brick storefront sits at the end of a strip of businesses in Loomis, Nebraska – population 382 – just down the road from a grain elevator and across the street from Double D Welding and Repair. With its modern black accents, wooden paneling and crisp, white window trim, Bridal Isle stands out next to the other brick buildings and pale shades on Commercial Street. Near the shop’s cash register is a sign: “Isle start my forever in this dress.” “When they find that gown is the exciting part,” Karla said. “Watching girls try it on, when they really see the one they love, that’s got to be the most fun.” Brides-to-be from around the world have traveled to Bridal Isle to find their dresses.
Karla said she’s sold dresses to people from as far away as Germany and Brazil, as well as to San Diego Chargers running back Danny Woodhead’s wife, Stacia. Bridal Isle features dresses from a number of designers including Alfred Angelo, Christina Wu, Mary’s, Stella York, Bonny Bridal, Mori Lee and Allure. Bridal gowns start at $200 and go up to $2,000. It’s important to Karla for every bride to feel welcome at Bridal Isle, no matter her budget. “(I want customers) to be kind of wowed that this beautiful store is in this tiny town,” Karla said. “And I want every person, no matter what their budget is, to feel important. Because you only have a little bit to spend, I don’t want your experience to be any different from the person who has more money.” The dresses are hand selected by Karla and her daughters, Sydney and Haley, from a large three-day market in Chicago twice a year. Each designer holds his or her own runway show at the Chicago market. Haley looks forward to the trips, saying it’s much better than the old method of picking dresses from a book. “You can kind of get a feel, but you can’t really see how it lays and what the fabric looks like,” Haley said. “It’s nice to see all the fabrics and dresses in person.” Karla’s goal is to bring the big city glamour to small-town Nebraska. That’s what sets her apart from other bridal shops in Lincoln and
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Omaha, she said. She doesn’t think of Bridal Isle’s location as a disadvantage. Instead, she believes it adds to the store’s charm. A search of Loomis, Nebraska, in Google Maps brings up just four pinned locations: a church, a bank, an elementary school and Bridal Isle. “If you’re in Lincoln or in Omaha, people might just stop in your store just for fun. If they come to Loomis, Nebraska, they’re there for a reason,” Karla said. “I think we give them more of that small-town hospitality than you would get in a big city where people are going to be running in your store constantly. We have a little bit more time to spend with you.” The shop’s busiest days are Saturdays, when all three areas are filled throughout the day: Nine brides, three at a time, each with her own personal consultant. The consultants do their best to make the first appointment 100 percent about the bride and give her the time and attention to help her find her perfect gown. “I have some ladies that get so wrapped up in their customers that they have that they’ll cry right along with them when they find their dress sometimes,” Karla said. “You can see it in their face, usually, when they’ve found the right one.” Karla attributes the shop’s success as a small-town business to its atmosphere. Although it has a modern appearance on the outside, the inside of the store is warm with tones of light brown and white. Christian music plays
softly in the background. Karla said with a manager, seamstresses and consultants who are more like friends than employees, the team is able become more invested in the customers and want the best for them. “I really am blessed with amazing people all around me,” she said. “I wouldn’t say there’s one of them that is here just because it’s a job. Every one of them loves what they do.” It wasn’t until January 2015 when Karla made what she calls her spur-of-the-moment decision, to become the owner of Bridal Isle. She called Haley, before making her final decision, thinking her daughter would talk her out of it. “I totally expected her to say, ‘Mom, that’s crazy,’ and she didn’t,” Karla said. “She said just the opposite. That was all it took.” Founder Marie Thorell opened Bridal Isle’s doors in 1984 in her own home. She remained the owner for 25 years as the shop shifted out of her home and into its own storefront. Seamstress Jonell Mueller purchased Bridal Isle from Thorell in 2009, and the shop moved again to its current spot on Commercial Street. Karla had been working as a consultant for 10 years when she bought the shop from Mueller. Her first priority as owner was a new look. Behind the notso-glamorous ceiling tiles, Karla knew there was an intricate tin ceiling above the whole store. Two months later, her first project as owner
BRIDAL SHOP: SEE PAGE 13
o t h g u o t o o t n w o t The die
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Two years after a tornado killed two in Pilger, the village is working to rebuild, rebrand despite a population drop. BAILEY SCHULZ DN On an overcast Sunday afternoon in February, the town is silent. The roads of Pilger, Nebraska, are empty, cracked and covered in dirt from nearby construction projects. Downtown, the street signs stand bent and crooked. From the corner of 2nd and Main streets, the town is entirely visible. There are the seven grain bins at the local Farmer’s Co-op, shiny and new, just a block away. The overgrown baseball field can be seen in the opposite direction in the northwest corner of town. There, a concessions building stands. A cardinal is drawn on the wall near the window, the mascot faded from what was once was a radiant red. A sign advertises food for a crowd that doesn’t show up: Iced tea – $1. Popcorn – .50 cents. Suckers – .05 cents. After most of the trees were uprooted and felled almost two years ago, the 193-acre village is now visible from one end to the other. The 200 mph winds that blew through the center of town on June 16, 2014 destroyed more than 300 trees and flattened the landscape. The tornado that came that day was categorized as an EF4 – a label reserved for tornadoes deemed “devastating.” In its wake, dozens of Pilger residents were injured and two left dead: a 74-year-old man and a 5-year-old girl. The tornadoes also destroyed 73 homes, damaged approximately 50 and took out the entire business district. Kimberly Neiman, 53, has lived in Pilger for a little more than 20 years and said the damage was akin to seeing her hometown being run over by a bulldozer. “It was just devastation,” she said. * * * Before the tornado, the village – Pilger is too small to be considered a town – was home to 352 people. When it reopened a week later, only 160 remained. Neiman, Pilger’s village clerk treasurer, said many families left to be closer to a school district. Widowed seniors left, too, not wanting to rebuild a home for just one. While things have improved – the population is now up to 212 – residential growth is beginning to decline. Neiman said that even if Pilger were to return to its original population of 350, it would likely take years for it to do so.
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The tornado wiped out about 75 percent of the village, which is still working to recover. Main Street is filled with construction work. Signs with phrases such as “Future home of … ” and “Coming soon!” are scattered across the village, promising a better Pilger to come. Six construction projects are currently underway, including a new convenience store, the Midwest Bank and Saint John’s Lutheran Church, which is undergoing its second attempt at rebuilding after it was taken down by a windstorm in December of 2015. Now, the church sits across a lot that holds a large pile of lumber. Even though there’s been ongoing development since the disaster, Neiman said residential construction has slowed down immensely. Neiman has taken on many roles in the town. Along with acting as the village clerk, she’s also a volunteer firefighter and EMT. These days, her office is in the temporary fire hall, a large metal warehouse that houses the trucks and other equipment until the new firehouse can be built. Her cat, Panzer – named after the armored German tank – keeps her company most days, sleeping on an old sweatshirt by the window and basking in the light. Neiman calls her the village’s comfort kitty. Panzer is a survivor of the tornado, as well. She spent three hours underneath a destroyed office until she was found. Neiman assumed she had died, but the cat proved to be about as resilient as the tank she’s named after. Neiman was sent out with an ambulance to rural Stanton on June 16 after a tornado was spotted, the first of four that would touch down in northeastern Nebraska that day. While out on the road, she saw a second tornado descend on Pilger. By the time the ambulance pulled into her town, Neiman knew her house was gone. “You could see just debris and devastation, and you could hear people yelling and screaming,” she said, smoothing the pinpricks of goosebumps on her arms. Almost immediately upon return, Neiman took on a leadership role, one she continues. She helped create a search-and-rescue plan with first responders and returned to the front of the office to start directing others. She then received permission from the mayor to declare disaster to start getting state aid. As village clerk, Neiman ensures all rules and regulations are followed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. “My responsibility is to the village and to make sure that we get anything and everything we can get, and get everything fixed back to the way it was,” she said. Clean-up has come with a price tag. Just clearing the debris from the town cost almost $1 million. Neiman said total village costs for repairs will total about $4 million. FEMA declared 13 projects in the village and will pay for 75 percent of the costs, but Pilger will still have to cover the remaining 25 per-
PHOTO BY JAMES LIU | DN
People wrote “OK” on their doors in Pilger, Nebraska to indicate their status after a tornado came through in June 2014.
cent. “The village will have debt by the end because of it,” Neiman said. She estimated the total amount of debt for the village by the end of construction to be around $5 million. One blow to the residential rebuilding process came from floodplain regulations. A majority of Pilger’s 60- to 70-year-old homes were built in the floodplain, which covers three-fourths of the town. While today’s floodplain regulations state that homes must be a foot above base flood elevation, those restrictions weren’t in place when many of the homes were built. Because of these regulations, the new homes built on floodplains can’t have basements. For those living in tornado alley – especially for a community that lost two of its own – this comes as a worry. * * * Paul Unruh, a project coordinator from the nonprofit organization Mennonite Disaster Services, oversaw the construction of five homes and minor rehabilitation on around a dozen more in Pilger. All homes built by Mennonite Disaster Service have either two or three bedrooms and are what Unruh calls “simple housing.” But each comes prepared for the worst – all were built with hurricane strapping and a storm shelter on the property. “We view it as bordering on unethical to build a home without a storm shelter after tornadoes hit,”
Unruh said. Volunteers began rebuilding in February 2015, with the volunteer team braving weather that was as cold as 10 below zero with 25 mph winds, Unruh said. The disaster services fields a total of 4,000 volunteers every year, and a rotating group of 10 to 25 would work in Pilger every week during the construction. Unruh said the organization-built homes provided housing to those who wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford it. After the families go through an extensive application process with a long-term recovery committee – mostly comprised of locals – they are given the home at no cost. But Unruh said the service doesn’t view it as charity, “because nobody likes to receive charity.” Even with restored homes, Gene Willers, the senior credit advisor for the Pilger Midwest Bank, said he hasn’t seen a lot of growth lately. It was hard to imagine regrowth after seeing the town back in June, he said. Willers was in the basement of the bank at the time of the tornado and helped lock other employees and customers in the vault for protection. By the time he climbed out of the bank, the building was a pile of rubble. “The town looked like World War III,” he said. Today, Willers is the chairman of the effort to create a Pilger Community Center and chair of the Pilger Reinvention Committee, a steering committee of several groups in the village.
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DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM “We didn’t want to say ‘redevelopment’ or anything like that because we felt like we have a chance to kind of redefine the community,” Willers said. Before the tornado hit, Willers said the village had been in a slow decline, with many residents living in “below standard housing.” While the tornado brought tragedy, it did allow a chance for the village to recreate itself, he said. The village has set up three main phases of the recovery process. Stage one was the repairing and rebuilding of homes. Stage two has been fixing the businesses along Main Street and stage three will be attracting people to the town and boosting the population. Willers said the village’s current focus is on stage two and the revitalization of downtown, the area that took the hardest blow. The Farmer’s Co-op, one of the biggest employers in the area, was one of the first businesses to return. It rebuilt seven bins in November 2014, finished in time to take in that fall’s grain. Willers is overseeing the development of a community center, which would have a meeting space, wellness center, senior center and a large area open for events such as weddings and reunions. All in all, the 8,800-square-foot space should be able to hold 200 to 250 people, the entire population of Pilger. Construction on the space started last month, and Willers hopes to have it open in the fall. “We hope that’s going to help grow our new residents,” Willers said. “We want to have a nice community that provides all the basic services.” * * * One way to increase Pilger’s population, said Willers, is to draw in young families. The village is working on plans for a day care center to do just that, but Pilger’s lack of schools makes drawing in young families harder. The Wisner-Pilger Middle School, which employed about 10 educators and acted as an activity center for the town, was destroyed in the tornado. Since then, the middle school has joined with the school in the neighboring town of Wisner. Willers doesn’t expect another school in Pilger in the near future, if ever. “That’s just not the way it’s going in rural Nebraska,” he said. “Towns are losing their schools left and right. It’s hard. There’s just not a lot of population out in the country.” But Willers stays hopeful. The town was not going in the right direction before, he said. The tornado has given the town a chance to reimagine what it can be. That includes a bigger population, something that may be possible with a new four-lane highway. If enacted, the Transportation Innovation Act, an effort to update the state’s infrastructure, would provide funding for a four-lane highway from Norfolk to Fremont. Pilger sits right in its proposed path. Willers hopes the highway will draw a crowd of potential new residents to Pilger, specifically families looking for a small community. Angela Denton, the owner of Go-Joe Trucking in Pilger, said she is amazed at how far the village has come in such a short amount of time. Born and raised on a farm just two miles north of Pilger, she is now raising her children just south of the village. She wears a black work jacket, mud splattered on the sleeves from picking up scrap wood from the Go-Joe Trucking lot. The company’s lot is new and improved, built after the tornado wiped clean the original truck lot. The company was one of the lucky ones; Neiman said it had planned on constructing a new building before the tornado and hadn’t gotten around to it yet. While the tornado missed Denton’s house, their business lost some tools and parts that were on the lot. But she said one of the worst parts of the
aftermath was walking through her destroyed hometown. “My home church was completely wiped and gone, (the) whole Main Street where all my first jobs were,” she said, trailing off. All of those memories, she said. Gone. But Denton said they’re overcoming the disaster by building a new town. “We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time,” she said. “You just can’t help but believe that we’re going to be better than what we were.” As a member of the long-term recovery team, she said it’s amazing to see how far Pilger has come in such a short amount of time. But even with so many improvements, the shrinking population is evident. “It’s hard to see it decrease,” Denton said. “But when your ties are strong to the community that we are, it’s hard to leave.” There’s a flagpole that sits by the Pilger library. It’s dedicated to the strength of the Pilger community amid disaster and notes the date that the two tornadoes hit. Below that is the village’s slogan: “The town too tough to die.” Neiman said that the villagers take things day-by-day. “It’s been a struggle,” she said, but “we’ll get back … slowly but surely.” NEWS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
PHOTO BY JAMES LIU | DN
A new supermarket is constructed in Pilger, Nebraska, after a tornado destroyed the old store in June 2014.
PHOTO BY JAMES LIU | DN
A playground is empty on a Sunday morning in February in Pilger, Nebraska. On June 16, 2014 an EF4 tornado killed two Pilger residents and destroyed 73 homes. The population of Pilger has declined by more than one-third since the tornado.
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Louisville sets the stage for filmmaker’s career MARCELLA MERCER DN The thief sought refuge in the woods. He had evaded the police and made off with a sack of cash. The bank heist was successful. But the ruse was up. Two vigilantes had discovered his hideout – an old shed – nestled among trees so thick, the sunlight sifted through like a coffee filter. When the two men arrived, the robber wasn’t there. They crept over to the building, one in a green jumpsuit and the other in blue, cracked the door open and slipped inside. Then, the door swung open with a squawk. The robber, wrapped in a dark overcoat, filled the entryway. But that was the wrong move. The hero in the green jumpsuit broke character. “What’re you doing, dad?” Wren Senser said. “Didn’t you see how I showed you?” John Senser shrugs at his son. It’s his first time playing the bad guy. The drama instantly fades away, and Jake Bruce, the actor in the blue jumpsuit, takes the stumble as an opportunity to relax for a moment. Sam Senser, the director and cameraman, prepares the camera for another take. He’s used to the mistakes. Anyway, these things happen, especially when his film’s main actors are his family members and best friend. All he can do is try again, take after take, hour after hour. Eventually, it’ll pay off. In many ways, it already has. A 19-year-old with wavy hair past his ears, large, square glasses and a goofy grin, Sam is an award-winning filmmaker. His movies have lit up big screens from Omaha to New York City and have earned thousands of dollars in prize money. He comes from a town, a state even, that – at first glance – may not seem conducive to filmmaking success. Opportunities in Nebraska are limited, and his professors and fellow filmmakers have said as such. Tradition dictates he should seek the chances of the big cities. And he entertains those thoughts. Some days he spends hours looking at apartment listings in NYC. He dreams of directing feature-length movies with fancy equipment. He’s already flying out to cities across the country for various award ceremonies and video jobs anyway. But what the doubters don’t mention is the power of having an entire town at his back, encouraging him to succeed. They don’t talk about the bar owner, the fire chief and the sheriff’s deputy who were willing to help out in any way they could; the grocery store where he’s allowed to film as long as it’s after hours; the homecoming parade orchestrated by his old school as the final scene of his latest film. Senser has a small town with a thousand people at their side. * * * When Sam was about 12-years-old, he started playing with his family’s camcorder. First, he tried to make stop-motion movies. When that got old, he realized it could be fun to have his friend act for short films. “That’s pretty much all he’s done for years and years is make movies,” Sam’s mother, Angie Senser, said. Jake wasn’t in the picture at first. He and Sam started out as playground friends at Louisville El-
ementary School. After lunch, they’d play tag with the other kids. Sam, wiry even then, was the fastest. No one could catch him. They grew up in the kind of place where everyone knew their names. Students in Louisville, Nebraska, population 1,125. Cory Chubb, the owner of the town’s Main Street Café, said even though Louisville is less than an hour away from Nebraska’s two largest cities, Omaha and Lincoln, it exists in its own world. “The river and the hills and the farms … it’s just beautiful country here,” he said. “It’s not what a lot of people think of when they think of Nebraska. Really, I’ve been around, and there’s a reason that we live here, that’s for sure.” The town presses against the Platte River and is bordered by rolling, tree-lined hills that are the namesake of the YMCA camp about five miles away. Camp “Kitaki,” from the Pawnee phrase meaning, “Land of High Hills.” That’s where Sam, his younger siblings, Wren, 17, and Lia, 14, and their parents make their home. When Sam was in first grade, his dad accepted a job as the camp’s facility manager. They moved from Lincoln to a brown house with white shutters. Their backyard expanded into 200 acres of wilderness, complete with a lake, climbing tower, bridges and a rope swing. “It’s really shown how great it is not to live in the city,” Wren said. “Just (to be) able to walk outside and see a deer. Go hiking with your friends.” Camp is where Sam and Wren grew up, spent time with their friends and began to make films. It was in middle school when things got serious. Sam, Jake and Wren would grab the family computer and sit in the living room all night recording. Their specialty was “really crappy” fight scenes. They filmed shot after shot of two people pretending to punch one another while a third slammed a book on the table for sound effects. There was the phase, too, when Sam’s favorite song was “Back in Black,” by AC/DC, and it had to be in every movie. Each time they had to play it over the speakers because they didn’t know how to add audio. “It always just ends up being a comedy because that’s how we knew best,” Sam said. “It being amateur just made it funny.” Over the years, friends came and went from the Senser household, their appearances saved as frames in film. People moved and drifted away. Jake stayed. They grew up and goofed off. One thing for high school students to do was drive up and down Main Street just waving at people. “I don’t even know who they are,” Jake said. “Just friendly waves while you’re driving. I tried waving at someone in a city, they just looked at me weird.” Their movies would show Jake, 19, brownhaired and solidly built, sometimes as the hero and sometimes as the butt of the jokes. Wren, thin with fair hair, would star right alongside him. And then there was Sam, peering into the camera from eyes magnified behind large, rectangular glasses. Running his hand through his wavy hair when it grew far past his ears and smiling goofily when a scene worked the way he wanted. There were cameos from their sister and other friends, too. But for the most part, it was Sam, Wren and Jake. Jake, Wren and Sam. Even when Sam began to win competitions, he’d maintain they were still making the films for
fun. The first award came when he and Jake were seniors in high school, class of 2014. Their teachers encouraged them to enter a contest sponsored for a texting and driving public service announcement advertisement. In the fall, the friends started at Metro Community College in Omaha in the video and audio program. Their department held a competition where contestants had to create a film in 48 hours based on the theme “superheroes.” The first 24 hours evaporated as Sam and Jake couldn’t decide on an idea they liked. But on the last day, the crime fighting duo “Truckboy” and “Vanman” was born. Jake was Vanman, a hero who would hang out in his “van down by the river,” until being called to action. And Wren was Truckboy, a vigilante who hauled plastic blue barrels around in the bed of his truck that were prone to spilling out all over the road. It didn’t completely make sense, but that was the point. “It’s always dry, dumb humor,” Sam said. “Not cheesy, though.” After “The Adventures of Truckboy and Vanman” won that contest, their professor, Bob Maass, recommended they submit it for the 10th Annual Omaha Film Festival in the Best Nebraska Short Film category. “Sam’s probably one of the most talented young filmmakers I’ve seen come through here,” he said. “He just has a really good eye for things. He’s a good storyteller, he’s a wonderful cinematographer … he just gets it.” Sam was hesitant, though. He was afraid no one else would find the film funny. That if selected, the theater would be dead silent when the film played. But his dad was convinced they should give it a shot. He paid the entry fee. “Let them decide if it’s good,” John Senser said. Out of the 300 short films entered, 74 were accepted. Vanman and Truckboy took to the big screen at Marcus Village Pointe Cinema, and the audience laughed just like they were supposed to. * * * The little girl can’t believe it. Vanman works at the grocery store. She needs a little coaxing from her mother before she musters up the courage to approach him. “Can I have your autograph?” she asks Jake. Sometimes people will see the movie poster behind the register and double take. But this is a first. He obliges, smiling. “I’ve had some people I don’t even know go, ‘Hey, this guy is a movie star,’ to their kids and they go, ‘Really?’” he said. Jeff’s Jack and Jill Grocery takes pride in their town’s young people. Not only do they put up the movie posters, but they also let Sam film in the store, as long as it’s after hours. Ken Powers, the manager of the store and son of the owner, said he’s known Jake since he was a kid. Letting him make movies with his friends in the store is the least he can do. “You watch somebody grow up, and you see him chasing a dream, and you can have a small part in helping achieve that,’ he said. “I think that’s the nice thing about any town, but in small Nebraska towns we kind of rally behind anybody we can.” This summer, Sam, Wren and Jake decided to give “The Adventures of Vanman and Truckboy”
another shot. Filming the second one would be different than the first. They wanted to make it longer, cleaner and more intense. They used every connection they could think of. Sam’s mother, a preschool teacher, taught the fire chief’s daughter. Speaking to him got Wren and Jake a ride on the firetruck for a scene of a homecoming parade. Then, there was a friend of a friend who had an airboat and brought his whole family down the Platte River to film for a day. Tornado warnings ruined the shots. Cory Chubb owns the Good Times Bar. He’s in and out of his establishment, his hands full running two businesses and racing after his two-and-a-halfyear-old son. But when the Sensers approached him to film in the bar, he told them they could have access to whatever they needed. “I tell them, when they’re a famous director someday, don’t forget us at home,” he said. The bar was exactly the look they needed, but it was dim. They ended up dragging in their chicken’s heat lamp and a photographer’s white umbrella from a garage sale to light the scene. They also got on the roof of the bar where they filmed a scene with their drones. A man who lived across the alley didn’t approve of the technique. “If that drone hits my air conditioner …” the man warned, mimicking shooting a shotgun. They ignored him the best they could. It was only later, when they were watching the scene back and saw at the very end that the man flipped off the drone. But most people were happy to hear they were filming and wanted to help out. They were even able to get an officer to star in a scene after calling the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. One day Jake, who lives across from the high school, looked out from his house and saw a cop car chasing Wren in his truck around the track. If she got a call, the officer would’ve had to leave and attend to whatever emergency was at hand. “Luckily, she didn’t,” Sam said. Making the second film wasn’t easy, though. There were months where nothing happened. They’d cram scenes into an hour of filming, having to quit when Jake needed to go to work or when Wren had to run off to pole vault practice. John Senser pushed them, kept them on track. When Sam wanted to scrap the film, he didn’t let him. Sam wrote a banjo melody, designed the new posters and dubbed in all the audio. It was the team’s most ambitious project yet. They entered it in the Omaha Film Festival again, where it premiered March 12, 2016. This time, some people recognized the familiar story. There were whistles and cheers as Vanman and Truckboy fought crime once more. Later, Jake and the Sensers would learn their film was selected for honorable mention out of all seven shorts. But at the time, they just enjoyed watching their film with surround sound and the cascade of people laughing. After the other films were shown, all the directors were brought to the front of the room for a Q&A session. One audience member asked how they got to use their locations. The other directors spoke about their difficulties getting permission and sets. Sam didn’t have that issue. “Our hometown, Louisville, it’s a small town, so nobody has a problem with us filming any-
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DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM where,” he said when the microphone was passed to him. “You just ask, and they’ll let you in.” The Sensers were lucky enough to grow up on a movie set location. But Sam also used whatever scenes he could find in the area around him. “I don’t think we would’ve been filmmakers in a big town,” he said. There was the highway next to camp, deserted in the darkness, where he filmed the texting and driving PSA. It was his dad’s idea: two deer, driving a car at night almost run into Jake as he walks into the middle of the road because he’s distracted texting. Sam drove over to his grandpa’s house one evening and asked if he could borrow the trophy deer off his wall. “Yeah, take whatever you want,” he said. They quickly realized the heads were too big for the Kia, so they opened the sunroof and stuck the antlers out the top. To make the deer shake their heads in disappointment, people sat in the back of the car and reached over the front seat to hold them. The time on the quiet road transported Sam to that November night in New York. The PSA won the 2015 Project Yellow Light competition and was featured at the Ad Council’s annual Public Service Award Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The cheapest seat at the dinner would normally run someone $3,000. But the Ad Council made an exception for Sam and his parents and flew them out for the event at no cost. At the tables surrounding him were representatives from ESPN, the New York Times, Facebook and dozens of other household names. Rubbing elbows with so many famous companies reminded him there are opportunities in the cities they can’t find back home.
That’s the idea people have been pushing on Sam lately. That he has the potential of a real career in the film business. And that he needs to get out of Nebraska to pursue it. “He is so talented, and he probably needs to take a chance to go to L.A. or where the industry is happening,” Sam’s professor Bob Maass said. “It’s going to be neat to see if he can get to that next stage … or if he gets a chance in the industry some place if he could move somewhere.” Moving to Los Angeles or New York would be the dream. But those places are so different from what he is used to. “So many people on the street corner asking for money …” Sam said. “I’ll probably be one of those people if I move up there,” Jake replied with a chuckle. There’s still work to do in Nebraska, anyway. Wren graduates from Louisville Public High School this year and leaves for the Navy at the end of the summer. If Sam wants there to be another Vanman and Truckboy, this is his last chance. So for now, these moments are enough. Sam’s parents sit in the balcony as Sam and Jake’s advertisement plays on the screen. They have the perfect view for when actor Joel McHale takes the stage and asks Sam to get up. People cheer as Sam stands, lights shining on him in his Nebraska-rented tuxedo. “Sam, this is just the start of your career,” McHale said. “So welcome to the first of what will hopefully be many successfully-long evenings … in clothes you don’t usually wear.”
PHOTO BY ADAM WARNER | DN
(Left to right) John Senser, Jake Bruce, Wren Senser and Sam Senser stand in downtown Louisville, Nebraska. Sam has pursued his passion for film with the support of a variety of Louisville institutions, including the local police department and a main street bar.
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Omaha Health Center assists troubled rural teens NICK NIENDORF DN The waiting room is cozy. There is a smiling receptionist, a desk with stacks of papers and family photos. Homey plants are arranged around the surrounding offices. A small dog named Sampson nuzzles those passing by. A woman stands just to the right of the intersecting hallway, grazing her hand over the brick walls and voicing her displeasure about them. These walls are the only features in the building that hint at the secrets and memories that have been divulged among the inspirational posters and hand-drawn pictures. Within these white walls, residents are offered a shot at redemption: a second chance. Nancy Wilson-Hintz holds the title of executive director, but her office is kept simple. Her passions do not lie in extravagance, but rather with NOVA, the non-profit treatment community she works for. Her window overlooks a stretch of white fence and a small patch of lush trees. Sitting amid the 110-acre Cooper Farm in Omaha, Nebraska, this place is a small patch of green, tucked away among endless rows of cookie-cutter houses. NOVA was founded in 1984, and WilsonHintz has been at the helm since 2012. It’s the only Public Residential Treatment Facility in Nebraska that handles both mental health and substance abuse cases simultaneously, providing help to a population others simply can’t. Its uncommon status has made it an oasis in a desert of dilapidated health care laws and depleted funding. As of 2014, according to a report by the Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research, 78 counties in Nebraska displayed an unusually high need for mental health services. Sixty-nine of these counties were either rural or frontier counties. Despite this growing necessity, only three of Nebraska’s 93 counties weren’t state designated as shortage or partial-shortage areas for psychiatry and mental health. The counties that have escaped the deficiency are largely metropolitan ones, such as Douglas County and Lancaster County, encompassing Nebraska’s two largest cities: Lincoln and Omaha. Those living in other parts of Nebraska, particularly out west, are mostly left ignored. With the majority of its adolescent patients coming from rural areas, NOVA’s extensive set of services has proven to be the exception, within Nebraska’s treatment of its rural inhabitants. Monday through Friday, children attend classes starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 2 p.m. The hope is to keep those in treatment caught up with the school they’re missing. The curriculum is flexible, and individual planning is used for each student. The end goal is to help them earn their high school diploma, should they choose to pursue it. About half of the adolescents also take part in a 4-H program, which is held on a farm adjacent to the facility, in collaboration with Omaha Home For Boys. April 5 marked the start of the program’s fourth year. Each child is paired with a lamb or calf. He or she grooms it, washes it and eventually shows it in Dodge and Sarpy county. “It’s something they can be proud of and see from start to finish what their hard work can lead to,” Wilson-Hintz said. “I think it lends itself to the future so they can know when they really do put their mind to something, it can be accomplished.”
Wilson-Hintz said the program tries to use the surrounding nature as much as possible, and that its location lends itself to an experience that isn’t so intimidating. But the facility’s location in one of Nebraska’s easternmost cities makes it a lengthy drive for many, as is the case with most of Nebraska’s better equipped communities. Proper treatment for those ages 13-18 often requires traveling well beyond one’s own county, sometimes necessitating going across the entire state to find a facility that properly meets each individual’s needs. “We just got a kid today from Scotts Bluff, and they had to transfer him,” Wilson-Hintz said. “It took nine or 10 hours to get (him) here, and he was transported by security in handcuffs the whole way. The kids who come from rural areas, the services just aren’t in those communities.” The choice for some rural residents has become a decision between sending their child off alone, up to seven hours away, for proper care, or choosing to fend for themselves in their own area’s depleted healthcare bubble. And many don’t even get to make that choice. Wilson-Hintz estimated that about nine out every 10 children they treat is coming while on parole, meaning a court order is deciding their fate rather than their family. Many children come bearing years of trauma, often leading to alcohol or drug abuse as a coping method. Sexual and physical abuse, as well as neglect, are not uncommon criteria for those who enter through NOVA’s door. “I think it takes a lot of courage for someone to get uprooted, come here, live here for six months and have their whole lifestyle get changed,” Wilson-Hintz said. “For a young person to come into treatment is huge. But we’re here to help them through that process.” Treatment requires months of therapy and group work to get to the core of each individual’s issues. There is no set formula, no handy “10 guaranteed steps to cracking your substance abuse” guide. Wilson-Hintz said each person responds differently, and that NOVA adapts their procedures to match the individual. But the distance doesn’t help make the process any easier. “They’re removed from their family,” Wilson-Hintz said. “So, (even) if their parents are involved, they probably aren’t going to come visit very much. We have to do therapy over the phone or Skype, and that’s hard. It’s much easier to do it face-to-face, in the moment. It’s much more personal, you know? So those children that come from far away, we do what we can to make it work, but we have to get creative.” For others, the luxury of phone calls and Skype sessions just isn’t available. With a sizeable chasm placed within families already teetering on neglect, and patients receiving treatment hundreds of miles away, sometimes the calls home to mom don’t last long. “It’s a lot,” Wilson-Hintz said. “A lot of kids get homesick. Sometimes you have kids come in and their families are not engaged. It’s hurtful if a parent says, ‘Yeah, I’ll come visit you,’ and then they don’t show. Here you have a kid who’s trying to get through treatment, (and they) don’t have that outside support.” It’s a painful, but recurring truth for those taking the leap into rehabilitation. But, Wilson-Hintz said it’s the staff who becomes a family to the patients. NOVA helps residents build their own support system, both within and outside the facility. “Whether it’s case professionals or trying to
PHOTO BY TYLER MEYER | DN help them find an AA sponsor, we try to give them a system for when they leave,” Wilson-Hintz said. “Otherwise they won’t succeed.” * * * The sheet is starkly white. There aren’t any frills or intricacies. Its inquiries are simple and straightforward. The third question asks, “Have you remained free from the use of alcohol and other drugs?” Each resident receives a copy of this survey 30 days after completing his or her stay at NOVA. For those who have moved on, it’s a chance to reflect on their time spent since discharge. This piece of paper is the only form of data NOVA is legally allowed to collect. With residents heading back to their homes, often hours away, there simply isn’t enough of a return rate to learn much from. Wilson-Hintz said that the amount of forms they get back varies, but it hangs around the 30 percent mark. However, even the questionnaires that are returned aren’t of much use. “(Of) course, most of the ones who send back say ‘yes’ because they’re proud of it,” WilsonHintz said. “But not everyone sends back a questionnaire, so it’s hard to gauge from that. (They) really just don’t give the whole picture.” Wilson-Hintz said she believes a patient’s confidentiality should never be compromised, but wishes in-house research could be done. The regulations leave facilities in the dark about the effect of their work beyond immediate results. It’s an additional risk factor in a system that is already underserving a large geographic area of the state. “Everybody’s always trying to figure out a way to stay engaged with folks after they leave so we can find out how long they stay sober and perhaps what their triggers are once they (leave),” Wilson-Hintz said. “It’s really difficult. With the substance abuse laws and HIPAA, the restrictions have just escalated. It does protect that person’s confidentiality. But it does make it hard to gauge how many out there really are sober.” Because of NOVA’s status as a dual treatment
facility, the guidelines it falls under are much broader. Both state and national conduct must be followed. The facility is responsible for keeping up to date with new laws and rules; there’s no government watchdog sending out updates to clinics. “I definitely understand that if we’re going to get funding from the state (and) from the government, then we better prove to them that we’re doing what we say we’re doing,” Wilson-Hintz said. “I don’t have any problems with that. It makes me proud to know that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. But the guidelines constantly change for each program, so you have to keep abreast of that. People don’t really tell you when they (change), you just have to monitor it on your own.” Funding put a ceiling on the scope of what the center can achieve. With a finite number of beds and staff members, waitlisting is sometimes necessary. Fourty-eight Nebraska counties in 2014 were already devoid of a mental health practitioner, according to the NCRHR’s report. But NOVA’s ability to service rural adolescents is not a factor when it comes to the money they receive. “Most of our funding is from the government, and I think the government is aware that there is an issue and a need for our programs,” WilsonHintz said. “But what I’d like them to be aware of is that we always need more money. More money (means) that we can serve more children and more adults. There is money blocked out for this particular (service), but we just need more of it.” Almost 9 percent of children in Nebraska have emotional behavioral health issues, and just over 7 percent have a dependence on alcohol or illicit drugs, per the 2015 Mental Health Associations Parity or Disparity report. Just less than 30 percent of children in need of mental health services didn’t receive any treatment at all. Wilson-Hintz said the mountains of paperwork the facility has to go through every week is frustrating when considering the lack of funding. Nebraska was one of seven states in 2014 that actually reduced its funding to behavioral health services, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness report on state activity.
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 | 13
DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM The non-profit struggles in particular with employee retention, mirroring one of the overarching problems in the state in terms of salary. “A lot of times people come to start and work for us, and they get some experience, and then they move on to find something that pays more,” Wilson-Hintz said. “But when you work for a nonprofit, that’s kind of what you expect. We’d just like to be a little bit more competitive.” According to the 2014 Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research report, more than 14 percent of licensed and independent mental health care professionals said they had an intention to relocate outside of Nebraska. Almost 30 percent of addiction counselors also said they plan to follow suit. But 2015 did show some optimistic signs of change for Nebraska. Funding to behavioral health services increased slightly after the steady skid following 2008’s financial collapse. A bill was passed last May that requires a mental health evaluation for all children in primary care. There’s also an increasing wave of scholarships and grants to fund students who will go on to practice inside the state, hopefully alleviating the attrition rate. It still remains to be seen whether Nebraska will continue on this trend or simply slide back into old habits of budget cutting. The question left is whether or not any funding will be significant enough to affect the lives of Nebraska’s rural inhabitants, and if they’ll see a single penny of it. “You never know,” Wilson-Hintz said. “You never know when it comes to money and government because sometimes they have to take money from one area to support another area.” Her hands rest on the table, and there is a pause. She nods her head briefly, and a wave of optimism follows in her body language. She said with more funding smaller towns could start getting services that are at least comparable to NOVA’s, meaning less traveling, easier transitions back into their own communities and more immediate service for those in need. But she said it takes somebody who has an idea and is willing to put in the work for a nonprofit. “(What) we’re doing collectively as a group in Nebraska is (talking) to the legislature about our situation,” Wilson-Hintz said. “We can talk to the senators and get them to advocate on our behalf for more funding. I think if we collectively keep asking as
a group, and we keep bringing it up in the government, that’s the best way to get more funding and money that (we) need.” For Wilson-Hintz, her work is everchanging and constantly growing. The road ahead is tumultuous, and no funding seems guaranteed until it’s actually been used. Between hours of paperwork and meticulously triple-checking regulations, she stays grounded through those she serves. “It’s challenging, and it’s difficult, but what keeps me going is seeing the progress we make when these people walk through the door,” Wilson-Hintz said. “When they first come in, we take a picture. It’s so interesting to compare their before and after pictures. You can actually see the physical transformation that they make. It’s amazing.” The journey through NOVA’s program for each child ends after months of group sessions, therapy and classwork. “It’s exciting for them, but it’s also nerve wracking,” Wilson-Hintz said. “Most people who leave successfully are scared to leave.” But the residents do leave. Once treatment is finished, they gather the few possessions they have in their rooms and make their way to the exit. Two lines form outside of the door. Discharged residents take their final walk in between those they’ve struggled alongside and the staff who has been by their side throughout. Some will continue to carry addiction. Some will relapse. The beatings, the abuse and the neglect will never truly leave them. They only hope to learn to live and cope. But all who return back to their home or forge ahead to a new one have taken a step toward getting clean. Among all the demons they carry and stories they exchanged with others, they also carry out a single teddy bear, called a Nova Bear. Its fur is shiny and brown. They name it themselves. Positioned at the end of their symbolic walk is Wilson-Hintz, who will lean in and whisper her final goodbye. “I always tell the children when they leave, ‘Have a wonderful life,’” Wilson-Hintz said. “Because that’s what I want for them. Whatever that is for them, that’s what I want.” NEWS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
BRIDAL SHOP: FROM 7 was to uncover those ceilings. The plan was simple: Do as much work as possible on the weekends without closing the store. “People walked out the door on Saturday, and my kids were ripping the ceiling down (while) I’m trying to get the dresses out and get them out of here,” Karla said. “That’s the way it went for a while.” Karla also added personal touches throughout the shop. Near one fitting room is a crystal chandelier from her parents’ house. Above each of the three main fitting rooms is a name of a woman that impacted Karla’s life: Great Laine for her mother Elaine, Aunt Lee for her Aunt Leola and Marie for Bridal Isle’s original owner. In between the other two fitting rooms hangs a large photograph of Karla’s parents, Bob and Elaine Turnquist, on their wedding day. “My parents were a huge influence on
me,” Karla said. “They were the best example of an awesome, Christian marriage.” While the thought has crossed her mind, Karla said she’s never seriously thought about expanding Bridal Isle to a bigger city. She wants customers to feel the glamour and have the variety of a big city store, but she doesn’t want to give up the small-town hospitality. She said location might have been an obstacle in the past, but it hasn’t been a problem in recent years. She said she believes her success comes from the friendly environment of Bridal Isle and the investment in each customer. “It isn’t just a job,” Karla said. “It’s what we love to do.” NEWS@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
Summers at Southeast will help make your future shine! 3-week and 5-week classes that transfer back to UNL!
Get ahead this summer with classes at SCC and you’ll make it to graduation day sooner than you think: We offer classes in:
Accounting Art Chemistry Economics (Micro/Macro)
English History Math Music Philosophy Photography Psychology Sociology
SOUTHEAST.EDU | 11th & O Downtown
402.437.2445 or 402.437.2470
Next Sessions Start May 9, 23, 31 and June 13!
CLASSIFIEDS Services
Apts. For Rent
EVENING HOSTS
Automotive Budget Batteries CAR BATTERIES
New & used. Cheapest in town! 702 W. “O” street. Bring in College ID and get $5 discount. 402-467-0555.
Legal Services DWI & MIP
Other criminal matters, contact Jeremy Parsley, 4 0 2 - 4 2 3 - 0 0 0 9 , jeremy@jeremyparsley.com
Housing Roommates Looking for a female roommate to move into our Three Bedroom, Three Bathroom newly renovated apartment at The View. Roommate can move in any time after March 15th and will pay $444/month including all utilities (even internet and trash disposal) except electricity (about $25/month). Current residents are both female and friendly.(402) 367-2470 Roomate Needed Large 1 bed with extra storage. Located at 17th and B. Laundry on site. Heat and water paid. Please text or call (402) 413-0097 for a showing or details.
Now hiring evening hosts. $10/hour! Must be available on weekends and through the summer. Apply in person: 808 P St. Mon-Fri. 9-11a.m. and 2-4 p.m. 402-435-3889. Holroyd Investment Properties, Inc.
1-2 & 3 Bedrooms Apartments, Townhomes and Duplexes
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Jobs Help Wanted DAYCARE TEACHER
Part Time Daycare Teacher 15-20 hours/week. Pays $9-$9.50/hour depending on experience. Apply at www.kellyskidsldc.com by clicking on Employment.
Delivery Drivers
Thu, Fri and Sat evenings, 5-10 pm. Hourly wage plus delivery and tips!
Counter/Pizza Prep
Mon - Fri, 10 am - 5 pm, Hours are flexible.
DELIZIOSO PIZZERIA Apply in person or call 402.467.1199. 3001 NW 12th Street, Lincoln
Roomate Needed Seeking roommate to move into our apartment as soon as possible (or May if necessary). The lease runs until August, and April is already paid for. A $500 check will be written to whoever takes over the lease before May. The building is just on the edge of city campus and comes fully furnished with paid utilities. If you’re interested, please contact (402) 686-0809.
Help Wanted
Help Wanted
Full-Time Summer Employment
Work outdoors in the forest and learn about forestry with the Nebraska Forest Service. $10/hour, weekdays only, no nights or weekends. Possible part-time work during semester also available. Contact Aaron Clare Aaron.clare@unl.edu 402-472-4975.
GOLF COURSE POSITIONS
Pioneers Golf Course is now hiring part-time employees who will provide golfers and patrons with exceptional customer service. Responsibilities may include duties in the snack bar as well as beverage cart service out on the golf course. Apply in person at Pioneers Golf Course, 3403 West Van Dorn Street, Lincoln. (402)441-8966.
Hiring Bartenders and Wait Staff
Help Wanted
Help Wanted Join the CenterPointe Team! Part-time positions available in residential program working with substance abuse/mental health clients in a unique environment. Must be at least 21 years of age and be willing to work a varied schedule including overnights and weekends. Pay differential for overnight hours. For more information visit: www.centerpointe.org.
Oompa Loompas needed
Come help us make the magic happen at Paint Yourself Silly! If you are hard-working, friendly, honest, dedicated, and a roll-with-the-punches person we want you! Create your own application telling us about yourself, previous employment, and availability and drop it by our 70th & Pioneers location.
PART-TIME DISHWASHER
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Help Wanted
Hiring Bartenders
Hiring for day or evening hours. Apply at Mulligans Grill & Pub at 5500 Old Cheney Road. Great hourly rate and tips!
PARTHENON
Currently hiring servers, hosts and kitchen staff. Exp. not necessary. Apply in person. 5500 S. 56th St. (402)423-2222
PART-TIME LINE COOKS
Vincenzo’s Italian Ristorante is now hiring part-time line cooks for eveninings and weekends. Apply in person: 808 P St. Mon-Fri. 9-11a.m. and 2-4p.m. 402-435-3889. Positions Available Lawn Care and Underground Sprinkler Company. Looking to Hire two employees this season. Please call Chad for more details 402-430-1789
SERVERS
Vincenzo’s Ristorante is now hiring morning and evening servers. Must be available weekday mornings and Monday nights. Apply in person: 808 P St. Mon-Fri. 9-11a.m. and 2-4 p.m. 402-435-3889.
Summer Jobs PLAY SPORTS! HAVE FUN! MAKE MONEY!
Top-rated sports camp needs fun loving counselors to teach all land, water & adventure sports. Great summer in Maine! Call (617) 277-8080; apply at www.campcedar.com
SERVER AND HOST
Hiring server and host for Issara Asian Cuisine, Vincenzo’s Italian Ristorante is now hiring 1701 Pine Lake Road, (402) 261-5594. part-time dishwashers. Must have evening/ weekend availability and be comfortable with a Servers Needed Thein-NewPremier York Catering Times isSyndication Sales Corporation fast-paced environment. Some heavy lifting accepting applications for volved. Shift meal provided. Apply in person:620 serving Alcoholics Anonymous meeting Mondays 7:30 great Eighthpositions. Avenue,Flexible New hours York,and N.Y. 10018 808 P St. Mon-Fri. 9-11a.m. and 2-4p.m. For p.m. at University Lutheran Chapel, 1510 ‘Q’. compensation. Email resume to Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 402-435-3889. Open Speaker Meeting. Public Welcome. service@premiercatering.net
Meetings
For Release Monday, April 22, 2013
Playmaker’s Bar & Grill. Hiring great personalities to fill bartender and waitress positions. Please call (402)-525-8880 or apply within Sunday-Friday after 5 pm. Apply today @ Playmakers Bar & Grill 640 W. Prospector Ct. (Hwy 77 & West Van Dorn St.) Lincoln, NE 68522 Must apply in person to be interviewed.
HIRING PART-TIME BARTENDER
Thirsty Sports Bar near 11th and M is looking for an energetic and friendly bartender to work two shifts per week. $8/hr plus tips. Call Jason at 402.499.0359 for more information.
Help Wanted
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
Help Wanted
Crossword Across
38 Basic physical
1 Book after Jonah 6 Droops 10 Floating arctic mass 14 Spitting ___ 15 Opposites of departures: Abbr. 16 Lens holders 17 Native Floridians 20 Leave in, to a proofreader 21 Sir’s counterpart 22 Creepy 23 “Uh, excuse me” 25 Open ___ of worms 27 Denizen of the least populous New York City borough 33 Tendon 34 Relatives of egos 35 Fleecing 37 ___-la-la
measures … or a hint to 17-, 27-, 48- and 63-Across 42 “Cat ___ Hot Tin Roof” 43 18-wheeler 45 An A student has a high one, for short 46 The Great Lion in “The Chronicles of Narnia” 48 Clark Kent vis-à-vis Superman 52 Shade akin to beige 53 “Casablanca” heroine 54 Take unrightfully 57 Latvia’s capital 59 Winnebago driver, informally 63 Stickler’s grammatical no-no 66 Sean of “Milk”
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE S W A M I
T E L O S
D M A J
U C L A
W H A T
H A T H
E L M S T C R A Z Y I D E A
P L A T O
S A M E
I W A S H J A T E D A E N P A Z P A K S N I E I N A T N E
T A T T E R A G A R E C D
U P R E E R F R U L B E B E E R L Y U M X P L E V D
T I G R E T R E S T B H A O R M E N L E A R B O
O N E S E A S O N
Q U I C K B U C K
U R S A
E N T S
M I C E
S T I R
L A T E X
A C I D S
R E V U E
A D E P T
67 Southpaw’s
side
Edited by Will Shortz 1
2
3
4
5
6
68 Board game
14
69 Love letter
17
18
70 Häagen-Dazs
20
21
insert abbr.
competitor 71 Laid out, as cash
Down 1 Start of a pageant winner’s title 2 “How ___ Your Mother” 3 Showed up 4 Rile up 5 Rooster’s partner 6 Deli meat 7 Zone 8 Ruling house of Monaco 9 Taxpayer’s ID 10 Sitcom with the theme song “I’ll Be There for You” 11 Word repeated before “pants on fire” 12 Prefix with present 13 To be, to Brutus 18 Portent 19 Academic overseer 24 Chops 26 Players in a play 27 Booming jets of old, in brief 28 Michelins or Goodyears 29 “What’s in ___?” 30 The Bible’s Mount ___
9
10
28
25
34 38 44 48
39
32
35
40
41
45
46
49
50
52 55
31
13
26
30
37
12
22
24
29
43
11
16 19
33
54
8
15
23 27
7
No. 0318
36 42
47
51
53
56
57
58
59
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
60
61
62
puzzle by daniel landman
31 Troublesome
food bacteria 32 Charged 36 Word repeated before “moons ago” 39 Disney chief Bob 40 Like a snob’s nose 41 Without: Fr.
44 Place to see a
Zamboni 47 Fledgling business 49 Proof of purchase: Abbr. 50 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. 51 Pizazz 54 Org. with stamps 55 Emit, as lava
56 Arm bone 58 Not definite 60 Revolting 61 Like 2, 4, 6, 8,
etc.
62 Lie down for a
while
64 ___ de France 65 Agcy. that gets
a flood of mail in April
For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554. Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information. Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay. Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.
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OPINION
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
Growing up in a small, rural Farm policies affect more community shaped who I am than agricultural narrative
T
he town I was raised in is so small that most people don’t care about it as they drive through. Other than the McDonald’s off the interstate and the business that employs most of the town, Sidney, Nebraska, is an insignificant bathroom break for interstate travelers. My hometown, like most rural communities across Nebraska, is shrinking. In 1960 the population of the county was 14,828. The last 2010 census has it at 9,998. My family moved there when I was 4, and I left after high school graduation. Now that it has transitioned to a place I used to live, I don’t plan on living there again. Rural communities are dying, and I am part of the problem. The second I left, I knew I was never moving back. From kindergarten to high school senior year the same kids were in all of my classes. In high school, we entertained ourselves with the one two-screened movie theater, the bowling alley or a cruise down Illinois Street. My group of friends knew the roads that weren’t heavily patrolled by state troopers and would see how fast our 16th birthday presents could drive. The headlines on the front page of the local paper announced high school sport outcomes and community activities. Kids mimicked the local sports radio announcer when they practiced their three point shot. I knew everyone, and they all knew me. A trip to the grocery store with my mom always included her talking to a member of her book club or a fellow teacher. We couldn’t skip class; the principal would’ve called my dad within minutes. As naïve teenagers, we were hesitant to try buying beer because we might run into one of our coaches. Everyone knew who I was, cared about what I was doing and talked about the things I did wrong. I made teenage mistakes that were the talk of the town. A Friday night drinking with upperclassmen was spun into something different by Monday. Friends heard rumors about me from parents. Teachers confronted me about my weekend. The school police officer once warned all teachers, coaches and administration about a party at my house – one I actually wasn’t planning. When he called my mom to inform her, she told him our family was leaving town the night he thought I was hosting my “rager.” Now that I’m in Lincoln, less people care about what I am doing. In fact, most people don’t even know my name. They don’t know how much money my dad makes, and they don’t care if I’m in class Monday morning. But when strangers or friends ask questions about life in a small town, I’ve found myself offended at their ignorance. I’ve heard questions about rural Nebraska ranging from a person’s high school popularity based on the type of truck he or she drove to if I knew black people existed. In my answers
I try to explain how living far from anything isn’t that bad. After defending my hometown, the bitterness of the town leaves, and I am reminded how the positives have shaped me. There were 88 people in my graduating class. I knew each person’s first and last name. I could talk to my neighbor in each class I sat in. My group of friends did everything together, and we still could talk to a classmate who was working the cash register at McDonald’s. We all came from different parts of town and walks of life, but we lived in the same community that made us all closer. Less people were around, and that gave me more opportunity. When less students try out for the basketball team, you play more. My senior year I ranged from the fifth to ninth man in the rotation. I would’ve been cut if more people wanted to play. I showed animals in 4-H, was the vice-president of my class and had youth group leaders who became role models. My small town community allowed me to be involved in all of that. When I put effort into these aspects of my life, it produced genuine results. After volunteering at my church’s food bank, I could sleep knowing my classmate’s pregnant sister had food. My playtime on the basketball court increased if I worked out in the summer, so I shot hoops with the coach through June, July and August. Today, I carry the attitude that my work on certain issues matters; I can thank my small town for that. While living there I felt as though my community relished in my mistakes. Now, I have realized the people in my small town were also supporting me. I am reminded of that every time I talk with the people who lived within my old city limits. The boss I had when I was 16 tells me every time I see him that he loves the articles I write for the Daily Nebraskan. My 11th-grade chemistry teacher still makes me laugh, and a local lawyer still encourages me to go to law school. My rural community’s support helped shape who I am today. I’ve been home a few times since I moved. Every trip isn’t that different. When I park my car at my house, my 90-year-old neighbor waves at me, then calls me by my brother’s name. My family will go to the same Mexican restaurant, and I always order the same thing. But when my trip is over, I’m thankful I’m leaving. A rural community has no more to offer me. I aspire to accomplish more than working for the same business as my dad. I have no interest in farming, teaching, starting or working for a small local business. But I owe the outlook I have on the world, and the attitude I bring to it, to the rest stop on the interstate that most people don’t care about. NICK CASTNER IS A SOPHOMORE MARKETING MAJOR. REACH HIM AT OPINION@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM OR VIA @ DNOPINION.
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efore I moved to Nebraska, I never thought about farms. They were the foreground of suburban Illinois memory, long stretches of land to ignore on car trips and the nostalgic center of county fairs. But they’re impossible to ignore when you go to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, especially if you venture to East Campus. On my first day in an animal science class, the professor asked us a hypothetical question to get us talking: if we were to take a field trip, where should we go? I answered Worlds of Fun. Everyone else chose a feedlot. Ignoring agriculture as a UNL student is a choice to be ignorant about policies with effects far beyond the state. Gov. Pete Ricketts said, “Agriculture is fundamental to our state. It is the heart and soul of who we are.” But along with recognizing agriculture’s importance to this community, we need to consider what it means to the bigger picture. People go to college to learn new subjects, to pick up on how to do things better, but more than anything, to learn not everyone has experienced events in the same way they have. And those from rural communities have had experiences I haven’t. This makes the topic of American agriculture almost too hot for me to touch, especially because I don’t come from a farming background. Livelihoods and histories are bound up in “ag” identities, and I respect that. However, the importance of agriculture to the Nebraskan economy and lifestyle shouldn’t forbid us from questioning aspects of it. American choices in agriculture have ramifications, ones that those immersed in the world of agriculture may be reluctant to admit. While I see the need to protect agricultural interests, on a policy level, the interests being protected aren’t always the isolated, small farms that come to mind. Factory farms have the capital to lobby for themselves, and the policies put in place will naturally favor their economic interests. Recently, Nebraska was set to debate a right-to-farm resolution, LR378CA, which would constitutionally protect the right to “engage in farming and ranching practices.” In other words, the state would be unable to pass new regulations without a compelling state interest. All states have some form of these laws, in which farms protect their right to their industry without interference. And in the past, this had to do with city slickers who moved in and were annoyed with sights and smells. Now, the opposition is far more than disgruntled urbanites. The Nebraska Farmers Union opposes the bill, while the State Farm Bureau wants the issue studied. Other groups fear the lack of regulation in areas such as animal cruelty and the environment. And one of the main reasons to reject this resolution is that farming isn’t a minority group. Teachers and medical professionals don’t get special protections; agriculture
doesn’t need them either. Insulating agriculture from outside challenges ignores the larger impact agriculture has, far beyond Nebraska. For one, globalization has created a zerosum economy, and giving one interest group a preference has the potential to affect other communities. If we can’t regulate agriculture, it could potentially harm the environment. And who bears the harshest costs of these policies? Not us. Climate change will have the most drastic effect on countries already struggling to build some sort of agricultural infrastructure. Despite the fact they aren’t creating climate change, they’re paying the bill for it. And while the United States pumps money into foreign aid for these countries, it counterbalances the benefit by flooding the agricultural market with subsidized crops. Like LR378CA, retaining high agricultural subsidies gives farmers a free pass. Subsidies were meant to be used for a limited amount of time; pursuing long-term policies benefits the U.S. at the expense of developing countries. It’s as though we climbed to the top of the totem pole and then cut the rope to the top. For a capitalist country, this is a questionable decision. Ethically, it’s unacceptable. Nebraska alone receives 18.2 million in subsidies, most of these for corn and soybeans. These subsidies help farmers produce more than they would be able to naturally. While the elimination of subsidies is unwise in terms of American food security, retaining high subsidies muffles competition from other countries. Developing countries often rely on agricultural economies. But if the U.S. can overproduce crops to the point where prices start to go down, there’s no way these countries can compete. The world already produces enough food to feed everyone; yet, many people still don’t have enough to eat. And yet, as good Midwestern citizens, we pay our taxes without considering what they’re going to. I wouldn’t trust Wall Street with a blank check, and the same holds true for any group trying to make a profit. Without the right to challenge common farming practices, how do we eliminate animal cruelty or reduce our impact on the environment? How do we even begin to consider the global impact our agricultural policies are having? And, like most people who see injustice, I can’t offer much by way of solutions. American jobs rest on this system, but the choices made in the U.S., and even in Nebraska, have effects beyond the family farm narrative. We can’t just excuse ourselves from the consequences of our actions. Invading a country isn’t the only way to ruin it. KAYLA SIMON IS A SENIOR POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR. REACH HER AT OPINION@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM OR VIA @ DNOPINION.
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