Is It Naptime Yet

Dear (enter legislator’s name here),

As a born Nevadan and a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Governor Gibbons proposed budget cuts to the higher education system worries me.

My husband currently is attending UNLV and is studying towards his Masters degree. If the proposed budget cuts go through our future will be greatly diminished in the opportunities that he is able to have in the workplace, for who knows if his program will survive the proposed cuts and if he will be able to graduate in 2011.

I also have two children that I am raising here in Nevada and plan on sending to state universities, if we see ourselves here for that long. Even if we do not live in Nevada long enough to send our two daughters to the universities here, I know preserving Nevada’s higher education system is worth it to whatever students who are fortunate enough, and have the drive,  to attend college here in the future.

Please know that I am willing to pay for higher education as a citizen of Nevada.

Governor Gibbons said “Nevada government should meet the needs of the people; people should not meet the needs of Nevada government.”

That makes no sense because the government and the people are the same, and the needs of the people must be met by the people.

We pay for state services because they are needed, not always personally needed, but as a whole are needed to help our state and the people herein.

The education system is needed to help the future of Nevadans stay bright. Without an educated population the state will eventually shrivel and die. By cutting costs now we will lose teachers and professors and those who are needed to teach our population and they will not come back once the money comes back, they will be lost forever and possibly never replaced.

My husband also works for UNLV and if he loses his job we will be forced to leave our home state and build our future elsewhere and invest in another state’s future.

Governor Gibbons has promised no new taxes, but the proposed 6% income decrease is a tax, and though we do not live paycheck to paycheck and can weather  a 6% decrease many of our teachers cannot, nor should. The state employees who provide the services to the people should not be the only people fighting to keep the services and the only ones “taxed.”

Please know that education is important to Nevadans and that we know now is a time to invest in our future. Please do not support Governor Gibbons proposed cuts and know that the time to tax is now, so we can save our childrens future and the future of Nevada.

Thank you,

Lacey ********

With the recession going on and life as my generation knows it changing, lots of economic turmoil is to be found.

Right now Nevada is facing it’s highest unemployment rate since 1983 at 9.1%, well above the national average of 7.2%.

With unemployment and business being down for downtown, the state of Nevada’s income has plummeted and the state budget has changed dramatically.

The Governor, whom I greatly disagree with, proposed his budget to the legislative earlier this month and the legislative will begin voting and deciding what to do come February.

Governor Gibbons wants to kill education for K-16 because he promised no new taxes, but he’s willing to “tax” state workers by proposing a 6% income decrease. This includes teachers, state employees, college employees, university employees, legislators, and himself, though I could care less for him.

Of course his proposed income decrease would affect us, but also his cut to higher education which would also mean a 50% cut to the higher education system that my husband works for.

Governor Gibbons wants to kill higher education in the state of Nevada.

But I am so thankful for a democracy and that he is not solely in charge of Nevada’s future.

Of course the fact that Jon works and is attending a public university greatly concerns me. Since he’s not yet finished with his master’s, but his program could be cut and he might not finish his masters concerns me. The fact that he may not have a job in a year and a half concerns me, but what mostly concerns me is that the Governor was not willing to step up and say, even though now we are facing a hardship we need to step up and continue to help the government so the government can help you. We need to tax the people, or some of the big businesses who have come here because of our tax breaks and grow up as a state and say yes we want a bright future for our children not, I promised no tax increase so I’m suggesting we do nothing and just kill education. I want our state to be less educated and kill our future.

The state services and education services are not businesses. Cutting costs won’t help us if it kills the opportunities for others.

The following is somewhat harsh speech given by Chancellor Rogers on the State of the System. I encourage all to read it or listen, at least those who live in Nevada, and I encourage all to write to their legislators to tell them we are willing to spend on our children.

The time is difficult and I’m not saying this just because I want my husband to stay employed, I’m saying this because I want my husband to continue his education, and still be allowed that opportunity in this hard time.

I’m saying this because what we need is more support for our education system,  our children’s future, and our future. For without an educated population we will fail and just become buildings in the desert.

This is just a post of a few things that have happened lately.

First off Eden did the cutest thing last night. I had a stomach ache after introducing mashed potatoes to my diet and was telling Jon how my back hurts when I get these stomach aches. Eden overheard and brought me a little pillow from their things because she wanted to help me since I had a sore back. ( I’ve been using another pillow, so she knew pillows help my back.)

Last night Lilah had turned off the TV while I was getting Eden her sandwich. I had been watching some entertainment shows, my guilty pleasure, when I came back in Lilah was sitting on the couch with a Friend magazine opened and wanted it to be quiet so she could hear Heavenly Father read to her.

Lately it seems we haven’t been eating together that often. I eat when I need to so I’m not always at the table for meals. This morning when I sat down with the girls I realized it must have been a while because all they wanted to do was talk, and not eat, a sign that we’ve been separate at meals.

Some of their favorite things to talk about include: black widows and tarantulas and how we should kill them or stay away from them, kids who are mean and what to do when they are mean, why they are mean and why we should not be friends with mean kids, and mommy having another baby, which I’m not, but they would like me to.  I know there are other very redundant conversations, but those are the three that stick out in my mind.