Brain Drain: Great topic, lousy way to discuss it

In a rare move, seven months into the Jim Pillen reign, I'm going to suggest we cut the new guy some slack.

Seems that a social media tweet raised concerns about First Amendment rights and dredged up the decades-long discussion on brain drain. Pillen tweeted from the governor's official account that he hoped the 31 Nebraska high school graduates who had perfect scores on the ACT would "return and utilize your talents here" after college.

Remember, it was Twitter and other social media that revealed President #45 was a twit. Let's hope somehow Pillen can avoid that cesspool. But, given the finger wagging and blaming so far, folks have pretty strong feelings about Nebraska's "best and brightest" who appear to be headed elsewhere to pursue higher education.

Some have complained that the governor's office allegedly turned off the replies on the account disallowing direct responses to the account and limiting debate on the so-called brain drain.

That move was criticized by Rose Godinez, the legal director of ACLU of Nebraska, as somewhat of a legal gray area because users could still weigh in via Twitter's "quote tweet" function.

A public official outright blocking a user on social media from their official government account would be a violation of the First Amendment, she said, adding, "It doesn't promote transparency or Accessibility to the top public official in the state."

Spokeswoman Laura Strimple said Pillen's communications team had a staffing change in the days before sending the tweet and the decision to limit replies - a multi-step process that the account has not repeated since the June 24 tweet - was inadvertent. Right.

Inquiries from the "Lincoln Journal Star" caused her to remove the restriction, the paper reported.

So, here's where we need to cut some slack. Is Pillen the first or only person to ever say they hope graduates come back?

I watched "Pure Nebraska" on KOLN-KGIN TV and saw a woman from Haigler who had returned to the southwest Nebraska community after an absence of more than 20 years say she hoped other natives of the community would return as well.

She's not an elected official, but the point is that many of us say it and think it. In an ideal world it might work.

The fact is that more people have exited the state than have settled in Nebraska from other states each year since 2010. Folks who study this stuff, the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, say that residents with a bachelor's degree or a higher level of education have fled the state. That continued exodus was addressed in May when 115 state businesses signed a letter to Pillen and state lawmakers opposing "harmful social legislation" as senators weighed a bill that would ban gender-affirming surgeries for trans youth.

Of the 31 Nebraska students who notched perfect scores on the standardized college admissions exam this year, 20 have made their post-graduate plans public in newspaper stories and social media posts. Fifteen of those 20 plan to attend college out of state, opting for universities that include Columbia, Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame and Northwestern, among others. Only four of the 20 say they will attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One plans to go to the university's Omaha campus.

Strimple said in a statement, "In sharing his best wishes, the governor was simply encouraging those students who had announced plans to attend college outside Nebraska to return to their home state afterward."

Again, a little slack please. These are young people bolstered by the fact that they've proven they're good at taking tests. Leo Turner of Lincoln said he'd be attending UNL if it weren't for the full-ride scholarship from the University of Alabama where he plans to be a double major in math and physics. How's that for a no-brainer?

Cameron Coen, who will study astronautical engineering - a specific program not offered anywhere in Nebraska - at the University of Southern California said he hopes to work for NASA or another spacecraft-centered agency or company after college and graduate school. He added he doesn't see a future for himself in his home state. "I'm also just excited to get out of the state (and) kind of see what's out there."

There's your bottom line. Cut through the politics and realize that spirit of adventure, the wonderment, is probably the motivating factor. Admit it, we've all had those thoughts.

J.L. Schmidt has been covering Nebraska government and politics since 1979. He has been a registered Independent for more than 20 years.