KLIN

Roger Larson Perspective

Hear Roger Larson's Perspective Tuesday & Thursdays at 7:10a & 5:35p

Lincoln Radio Legend Roger Larson Is Only On KLIN

For over 52 years, Roger Larson has been one of the Capitol City's most influencial and respected voices. From the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Commission to various community boards such as the United Way and Children's Museum and management of a local radio station, Roger has served this city well. Now, he brings his unique perspective to NewsTalk 1400 KLIN with his bi-weekly commentaries every Tuesday and Thursday.

Listen to NewsTalk 1400 KLIN at 7:10am and 5:35pm Tuesdays and Thursdays for Roger Larson's Perspective. Also, look for Roger's archived commentaries here on KLIN.com.

If you would like to comment to Roger about his Perspective, email to rogerlarson@klin.com or call 488-9479.

BSDC (6-25-09)

The last few years of experiences at the Beatrice State Development Center, known as BSDC, have been a series of poor results of its attempts to fill its mission.

Staff turnover has been high, and it seems as though the management has consisted of uncaring individuals. The patients and their families are generally high in their praise of the nursing staff, but the federal agencies that oversee such facilities have warned time and time again that changes must be made in policies and management or the place would lose its federal license and also its federal subsidy. Without these two items, the place would have to close down and the state would be in a terrible position to fulfill its responsibilities to these patients living there, or needed to be there.

It is obvious to first look to the Governor and his top staff for answers, and all we hear is expressions of concern, not action. But the Legislature shares this failure by not investigating the situation and insisting upon the changes necessary.

It seems as though the patients are forgotten, abandoned, and subjected to changing procedures which have caused much deterioration of their condition. Some have even died, possibly because of this unrest and uncertainty.

It is so easy for the citizens whose families are not directly involved, to look the other way, but it is time we insist that this problem get the attention of state government. It's the law.

I'm Roger Larson, and that's the way I see it.

Helen Boosalis (6-23-09)

Lincoln lost one of its community leaders last week upon the death of former Mayor Helen Boosalis. Helen was not only a former Mayor, but also a former City Council Member and a former candidate for Governor of Nebraska.

I have many personal memories of discussions with Helen. She most often disagreed with me, and vice versa. But she many times had more solid logic, and I left, not admitting that, but realizing I had been bested by a better debater. Of course, I wasn't the only one to disagree with Helen, and she was sometimes wrong as she felt that the traffic problem could be solved by getting people to carpool, with an average of three persons per car. She even appointed a person to promote and administer that program, but it soon died, and our traffic problems continue until this day.

Being the first female Mayor of Lincoln, she was often the butt of jokes, but all in good nature as her critics soon began to have tremendous respect for her; not necessarily for her ideas, but for her commitment and her energy.

So goodbye to Helen, as she joins the ranks of other former great leaders of our city. Lincoln is a better city in many ways because Helen chose to live here and work for a better city.

I'm Roger Larson, and that's the way I see it.

Important Changes (6-16-09)

The College of Journalism and Mass Communications is losing its excellent dean who has made so many improvements in his tenure here. His name is Will Norton, and I'm sure that he never would be leaving except for the opportunity to become the founding dean of a Journalism College at the University of Mississippi where he was running the then Department before he came here.

Dean Norton has been a visionary, a great team builder, and a tremendous fund raiser. We will surely miss his leadership.

This comes at a time when the journalism field is undergoing rapid serious changes. Already, many newspapers have been forced to close and many others have changed their way of doing business to meet the changes in technology and in our society.

It is hard to imagine what a different city we would be without the Lincoln Journal Star, and we are happy that Publisher John Maher and his crew are meeting these challenges successfully. We hope they can continue to be adaptable, and be able to adapt to further changes which everyone knows are coming, but nobody knows exactly what these changes will be.

In the meantime, we should appreciate our newspaper and do everything we can to help them through this period of violent change in their industry.

A daily newspaper is an important and vital part of a community like ours.

I'm Roger Larson, and that's the way I see it.

Answers (6-11-09)

Last time I talked about some questions that bug me. Today I'm going to talk about some questions that seem to bug the nation, but in my mind, I wish these issues would just go away, since I deem them unsolvable by legislative action. I wish that the question of abortion would just fade into obscurity, to be decided by families, particularly the mothers, and that they would act responsibly enough so that the rest of the people would understand and be satisfied.

I wish the issue of gay people and especially the issue of gay marriages would also just go away. I believe that this issue will be debated for years and years, with the final solution being to just ignore it and let these folks be treated like everyone else.

I wish the issue of researching recent history would be carried out only so we could avoid past mistakes. To do so, we would have to forget the issue of blame, especially that of assigning these past errors to a particular party or set of individuals. Just figure out what was wrong, and learn from the experience.

We have too many more important issues to work on than these that occupy so much of the time of our decision makers.

I'm Roger Larson, and that's the way I see it.

Questions (6-9-09)

I have some questions that I wish I could find answers for, even though I know that is impossible in many cases. Like our parents used to say: "just because".

For instance:

Why is it when you buy a product or service that promised 24/7 service available and you need to call for that service, what you get cannot be called service. Many recorded menus to choose from, recorded by foreign folks whose accents are so prominent as to be non-understandable, followed by long waits that test one's patience to the utmost? Out-sourcing is very profitable to the sellers, but what about us customers? How long will we stand for this?

Another question: Why do some folks insist on owning dangerous pets without taking care that others are never exposed to them?

Another: Why don't we face facts, and have the courage to find suitable discipline for drunk drivers, especially those who are multiple offenders and probably driving without license? I could go on with several other pet peeves, but I'm sure you have just as many. We need to get together and solve the ones we can.

I'm Roger Larson, and that's the way I see it.

Meeting the Budget (6-4-09)

Every year, the City goes through the very tough process of meeting the needs of the City with the limited revenues available. And they have done a pretty good job of it the last few years.

Although the Mayor and council have made some tough decisions, cut some services, reduced the number of employees, and other good moves, there is still one tough decision that must be made.

That decision is to change the 401k match that the city includes in its labor policy. They are currently paying a 2 for 1 match for many city employees. This is a ridiculous expenditure, unmatched by any industry in Lincoln that we know of. Most private concerns match on a 1 for 1 basis, if that high, and for the city to be that much out of step is unfair to the taxpayers.

Someone has to have the courage to reduce this to a 1 for 1 match for all new hires by the city. It probably would be unfair to change the rate for present employees, but there is no reason we need to continue this outrageous benefit for new employees as they are hired by the city.

I'm Roger Larson, and that's the way I see it.

Good Service To Lincoln (6-2-09)

One of Lincoln's greatest resources is our taxpayer owned utility, the Lincoln Electric System. This organization has been extremely well managed through an appointed Board of Directors, who choose a CEO to run the operation. The result has been a history of good board members, and excellent choices for CEO.

Walt Canney was a terrific manager, and has been followed by Terry Bundy, who was equally competent. Unfortunately, now Bundy must resign for personal reasons, presumably health. Choosing a successor of the caliber of these two will be a challenge for the board.

The Lincoln Electric System has saved its ratepayers millions of dollars during its lifetime, and has consistently charged among the lowest rates in the nation. This is not by accident, but by good management consisting of prudent purchasing of power and by maintaining a very high credit rating.

Terry Bundy will be sorely missed. We wish the LES Board of Directors the best of luck in finding a worthy successor.

I'm Roger Larson, and that's the way I see it.