A short list of wishes for the New Year

New Year's weekend is a good time to list the good things we'd like for the New Year.

So here goes:

First and foremost, no tragic accidents like the one that killed two children the week before Christmas or the one that claimed the lives of volunteers during Relay for Life last June.

Or others, lamentably.

To accomplish this, we will all have to be attentive. We can make our town safer, but it can never be completely safe. Preventing accidents will always be chiefly a matter of individual responsibility.

Second, no flood.

For this we depend partly on Nature -- but in Grand Forks, we also have our flood-control system in place, thanks to funding from governments at local, state and national levels.

Not all communities in the Red River Valley have our level of protection. Getting it in place throughout the valley is a high priority.

For this, we depend on scientists and engineers -- but also on politicians and public opinion. All of us have a role in effective flood protection.

Third, a public library.

Grand Forks' library is crowded. And it's not state-of-the art.

Still, it is the most-used public library in the state, measured on visits per capita.

The Library Board is completing its plan for a new library. Achieving this will depend on our votes at a special election.

Fourth, a tech center on the UND campus. This building will house technology serving all of the state's colleges and universities, and it is the Board of Higher Education's top priority in the upcoming legislative session.

Unfortunately, the amount of money in the governor's budget is short of what's needed for a fully functioning building useful for research as well as day-to-day technology needs.

Achieving full funding for the center will require hard work by our legislators, especially those on committees that appropriate money. And it will require support from citizens and community leaders.

The governor's budget doesn't include money for enlarging the UND Medical School, either. Preparing a solid plan for that important undertaking is an urgent priority, and that means extra work by officials at the Medical School and in the UND administration.

And enthusiastic support from North Dakotans whose health will be better, and who will live longer, because of the Medical School's good work.

Then there's Devils Lake.

We all wish the water would stop rising and the region would be secure from flooding.

But that doesn't seem likely with the extraordinary snow cover and the super-saturated soils in the Devils Lake Basin.

What's needed now is a clear-headed approach that recognizes the urgency of the situation at Devils Lake -- and that understands the need for concessions both south of the lake, in the Sheyenne River Valley, and north of the lake, in Canada.

There's more for the list, of course.

Continued development of North Dakota's mineral resources, for example, but that seems assured given the world's appetite for oil.

A good yield in fields and gardens.

A poor crop of mosquitoes.

All of this and more lies ahead of us -- achievable by our effort and Nature's cooperation.

Let's have a good year, everybody -- a year in which we work together to make things better.

And, in which we remember to acknowledge one another for our respective efforts, by every one of us.

Oh!

And a national championship for UND would be a good thing, too.

-- Mike Jacobs for the Herald