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Futurist offers ideas for continued success of area
Norfolk may not be located close to the ocean or in the mountains, but it's still a logical place to build a theme park.
At least that's the opinion of Dr. Marv Cetron.
The president of Forecasting International, which is based in Washington, D.C., is helping organizers of the Visioning 2026 project help Norfolk and Madison County envision their future. As part of that process, he's throwing out some ideas that local and area residents might want to consider.
And a theme park is one of them.
"There's nothing from Kansas City to Colorado," Cetron said.
He envisions a "family-friendly" park that would take people back to the early days of Nebraska's settlement.
Sort of like the "Williamsburg of the Midwest," he said, referring to Colonial Williamsburg in Virgnia, which is a living-history park that depicts life as it was when the first European immigrants arrived in America.
"Prosperous amusement parks bring vacationers and entertainment-seekers to their communities, provide jobs and contribute to the local tax base," Cetron said.
Cetron said he believes a theme park would be successful because of the pressure families feel to fit quality time into busy schedules.
"They offer a total break from the routine, guaranteed to release the tensions of a hurried, high-stress life," he said. "And they offer activities for the whole family."
Cetron also suggested that communities looking into the future consider changes to the traditional education model.
His suggestions include replacing some traditional classes with online classes, which, he said, would reduce school costs while maintaining high educational performance.
And despite what some skeptics say, Cetron supports the concept of merit pay for teachers.
"Offer merit pay for two achievements . . . subject knowledge and classroom performance," he said. "Under no circumstances give it for having attained a credential whose value cannot be demonstrated in the classroom."
Another one of Cetron's ideas deals with a topic that's had a lot of discussion this summer - oil.
Unlike many people, Cetron does not believe the world faces an oil shortage. In fact, he thinks that in the next few years, oil prices will stabilize at around $45 a barrel.
"There is no sound reason to believe that oil production has peaked," he said.
So what does that mean for the ethanol plants sprouting up around the Midwest?
Dropping oil prices may lessen the demand for ethanol, Cetron said.
Even now, he said, ethanol is used mostly in the Midwest, and even some of those states have few outlets for fuel that is 85 percent ethanol. And there are not many vehicles on the market that can burn E85.
Plus, he said, there is a concern that the demand for corn to make ethanol may put a dent in the world's food supply.
So Cetron suggests that other products - such as grasses - be grown and processed into fuel instead of corn.
"That way you're not taking away from the food supply," Cetron said.
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