Stu: I think two other major issues: one is schools, and the funding, and the funding coming from the state has dropped off dramatically, and that property taxes have specifically, I would say, the taxes on “rec” land, that would be one issue, as opposed to the taxes on ag land. And ag land, I’m guessing, is about 40 percent of what taxes are on “rec” land. There’s too big a discrepancy. It’s good for the farmers because they’re getting by a lot cheaper, but, you know, the money’s got to come from someplace … And in an area like this where you havenothing but ag land, basically, you know, they’re not paying their fair share, you’re short on money. Everybody’s short on money, the state cuts back, and that compounds the issue with school. Every area would be different, but that tax issue I think is a big deal.

Gary: And mandate how you manage that: individual teacher, separate transportation in some cases — all those things they have mandated. The style of education — right now … As far as schools, the whole transition from [former Governor] Tommy Thompson forward was to take a … schools weren’t handled uniformly, so tech schools versus private schools versus colleges and universities were all handled in different ways, and I know the political motivation of Thompson when he did that, but it’s really created a problem with funding formulas for schools, and we know that many areas in northern Wisconsin and central Wisconsin, there are schools that are going to be forced out of their communities, and the problem with that really in a small town like this is that the only identity this town has any more is the school. The school is the most important business in town, and if the school wasn’t here, especially with the higher fuel costs, there’s really no reason that all the people who live here would choose to live in a small place because many of them work in Stevens Point or [Wisconsin] Rapids or whatever it is, and … it’s not the first time in history that small towns have been dried up and blown away, you know, in the boom days of the west, they did that all the time, but it’s really going to change the fabric of rural America.