I’ve suggested that encouraging students to nominate state symbols is a bad idea because it’s a slippery slope. I felt that my concern was validated when a legislator proposed that the state declare Budweiser its official beer. But the News-Tribune has a different take on it:

As far as we know, the idea was not initiated by a group of students. Thank goodness for that.

The origin of the idea gives evidence that young people sometimes think more clearly than the adults who govern them.

So the students are actually coming up with better ideas for symbols than the adults are. Maybe we should turn over the rest of state business to them, too.