04.24.08

In God We Trust and other odds and ends

Posted in COLLEGE, Life, the Universe and All that Jazz at 12:44 pm by Meg

The Gookins reminded me that I had put this newspaper clipping aside last week to comment on and then forgot about it.

Indiana, like many states, has different license plates you can choose to put on your car. Anything, but a standard plate, has additional fees that you must pay.

Okay, that seems straight forward, doesn’t it?

But last year they figured out a way to get around the separation of church and state, since our money has In God We Trust on it…It’s alright to put that on a license plate!!

Now your first thought is probably ‘okay, what ever floats their boat.’ But this isn’t a special plate; nope, it’s for EVERYONE!

But wait, some people might throw a fit, so we’ll keep the “standard” plate and this one will be an alternative - but it won’t have any additional fees!

Do you want to know how much of an “alternative” it is? Well, when Boy and I were at the BMV getting his driving permit last fall, I watch the clerks setting people up with plates. In every case I saw (small sample, but it was about a half dozen, each with a different clerk) the “God” plate was held up first and then the traditional plate was held up and then the car owner was asked what plate they wanted.

Now, I may be only guessing, but my thought is that whatever is held up first is chosen by a very large percentage of the car owners.

So the ACLU tried to take them to court - no go..

Marion Superior Court Judge Gary Miller’s ruling, issued Wednesday, says the plate is different from special group recognition plates that carry the administrative fee. Those often require a contribution to a group or university and require special handling by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

The “In God We Trust” plate, the ruling says, “was designed by a process similar to the Standard Plate, mass-produced like the Standard Plate, and widely distributed like the Standard Plate based on consistently high sales.”

Really?

On other news, Boy and I are off tomorrow for a quick, quick trip to San Antonio. He wants to check out Trinity University before he makes his final decision next week. At this point, I’m guessing the he is down to a short list of three schools: Trinity, UPitt, or IU. He doesn’t seem really set on any one of them.

IU is in Indiana, though with scholarships it would be the cheapest option.

Trinity is in Texas, though it has what appears to be a great economics program and San Antonio can’t be so bad, can it? - With scholarships it will only be a couple grand more than IU, but he’s being very aware that will be loans he’s taking out.

UPitt is nearly twice Trinity with out of state tuition and the scholarships they are offering, but it’s not Indiana or Texas.

So we’ll take off at 6 AM on Friday and return at midnight Saturday night. Whirl-wind trip!

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