Stories from Sunday, March 22, 1998

To the editor: I must address the comments made by the Speak Out caller March 15. The caller stated that "PTA officers who typed the school directory knew in mid-July which teachers the students would have." I was the officer responsible for preparing the Clippard school directory. I received teacher-student information the same way all the other parents did: Lists were posted at school about a week before school started...

The Meyers are once again in the midst of planning another walk to help combat multiple sclerosis. This year's fund-raiser is set for April 19. Chad and Mary Meyer are serving as co-chairmen of this the 19th annual Walk for Multiple Sclerosis. The Meyers first got interested in participating in the walk in 1988 when they treaded through the first Super Cities Walk in St. Louis...

25 years ago, 1973 Jackson Community Betterment Association Wednesday night installed 1973-74 officers, made number of plans concerning upcoming projects and heard Stone Manes of Ceramo Co. speak on company's efforts to curb pollution; Manes explained Ceramo's $500,000 expansion program is in progress and was to include equipment to eliminate dust; however, equipment failed to serve purpose and company has invested additional $15,000 in equipment which will be 99 percent effective in eliminating pollution; new officers for betterment group are Mrs. ...

Five Jackson women received awards at the Tsalagi Service Unit Girl Scout Banquet March 9. Front row from left, Theresa King, outstanding volunteer award; and Geneva Hartle, outstanding leader award. Back row, Rebecca Myracle, outstanding volunteer award; Betty Brooks, outstanding leader award; and Coleen Mouser, outstanding volunteer award. Not shown, Jean Dudley, outstanding leader award...

Smells of exotic foods and the music of faraway lands will permeate the air at International Festival -- "A Celebration of Spring" March 29 through April 4 on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. International students and their friends will sponsor the week-long festival that will feature events that focus attention on the 179 international students from 37 countries enrolled at Southeast. All events are free and open to the public. Children are welcome...

Southeast Missouri State University will celebrate its 125th anniversary during the 1998-1999 academic year. The celebration will kick off on Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. with the annual Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce "Welcome Back" picnic at Capaha Park. Jim Biundo, assistant to the president for university relations, chairs the school's 125th Anniversary Committee...

Members of the Jackson Middle School Student Council are participating in a new program called S.H.A.R.E. ( Students Helping, Aiding, Reaching the Elderly) at Jackson Manor. Each Tuesday students come to Jackson Manor from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and visit with Jackson Manor residents...

THE NEWS keeps saying they are talking about impeaching the president for lying. When they find all those women have been lying, can they be sued by the president? I would like to see them sued. AFTER WATCHING this White House crisis day in and day out, it appears to me that everybody is out of step except Bill Clinton...

At Leopold High School this past week, it was my pleasure to deliver a Senate resolution honoring the Lady Wildcats' state championship in Class 1 girls volleyball. So proud, so enthusiastic were those youngsters, it was wonderful just to be among them...

To the editor: It is common experience to try to put off until tomorrow what one should be doing. Who wants to go to the dentist or see the doctor? Or who wants to answer that correspondence today, or pay those bills? Or go to church when there are so many other things to do? Have you told a family member or friend that you really care for them?...

A long-simmering dispute over payment of United States' arrearages in dues to the United Nations has once again bogged down over the abortion issue. It is said that America's owes as much as $1.3 billion. Also jeopardized are billions in proposed American funding for the International Monetary Fund, supposedly to help ease the Asian monetary crisis. Setting aside for the moment whether that is an accurate or a disputable figure, how does abortion enter in?...

The evolution, over the last 15 years or so, of the debate over the future of Social Security is one of the most fascinating in American public life. This supplementary program for assistance in old age is the principal legacy of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. By the early 1980s it was so ingrained in American life that politicians dubbed it the "third rail" of American politics. The warning to politicians was blunt: Touch it and, like that middle rail on an electrified subway train, you'd die...

This seven letter word, composed of a preposition and a verb appears on two of the eight banners currently hanging on the interior of our Church. It reminds us of one of the key challenges of each Lenten Season. Lent is that season in the Church Year of worship in which all members are challenged to grow in their ability to "mirror" Christ Jesus to one another. And the Scriptures assigned for the Weekday and Sunday Liturgies repeatedly stress that "forgiving" is at the very core of discipleship...

First we're told an asteroid might ram into the earth in the year 2028. Then one day later we're told the asteroid will miss by 600,000 miles. My question is, did the White House spin team have anything to do with this new calculation? Because if so, about a month from now we'll hear, "the asteroid did have a close personal rendezvous with Earth planned 30 years from now, but nothing more."...

It's hard to picture the Cape Girardeau landscape without Southeast Missouri State University in its midst. But 125 years ago, Cape Girardeau nearly lost out to Arcadia in its bid to land what was then called the Third District Normal School. Today, Arcadia is a small town, population about 600, in Iron County. But in 1873 it was a formidable rival to what was then another small town, Cape Girardeau...

Spring planting has been delayed again. Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois farmers are usually in the fields by late February, but wet weather conditions have prevented fieldwork. Following rains of more than 3.5 inches during the past week, leading to the first day of spring Friday, farmers must wait another week to 10 days to get into their fields...

Thom Hartmann has a simple explanation for why some schoolchildren have so much difficulty paying attention: They are hunters in a world of farmers. In other words, the distractibility, impulsiveness and risk-taking that can make it hard for them to sit comfortably in a classroom are the same characteristics that were once essential for survival in a hunter-gatherer world...

It's not Tolstoy. It's better than that. I'm talking about "Green Eggs and Ham." This isn't the science experiment in your refrigerator. This is that Dr. Seuss book that you read about a million times when you were a child. Our daughter, Becca, loves the book. It was a huge hit with her entire kindergarten class on St. Patrick's Day...

I don't know about you, but my NCAA Tournament bracket got pitched about as soon as the final buzzer sounded during last weekend's stunning Rhode Island win over Kansas. And if I hadn't thrown it out then, I probably would have tossed it Saturday after Utah put a serious whipping on defending national champion Arizona...

The Southeast Missouri State University baseball team worked hard Saturday to earn a doubleheader sweep of Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky. Of course, most of the hard work started seven hours before the first pitch at 2 p.m. "We pulled the tarp at 7 this morning," said Southeast head coach Mark Hogan with a smile, following the final game that ended near 6 p.m...

Several of the area's high school baseball teams have high hopes this season -- and with good reason. Cape Girardeau Central had a disappointing campaign last season but the Tigers return a host of players who gained valuable experience a year ago. Notre Dame had a banner season before being upset in the district finals and the Bulldogs also return quite a bit of talent...

High school softball in Missouri might seem like it's taken more seriously in the fall, when teams compete for state championships. But don't tell that to squads that compete in the spring. For those teams, things can be just as intense even though no postseason play is involved...

The weather hasn't cooperated very well this spring with track and field coaches across the area, but when the sun finally breaks through and meets begin the competition should be interesting. A look at some of the local track and field teams: Cape Central...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, Commerce Back of Southeast Missouri and K103/KZIM are teaming up to host the Southeast Area Special Olympics Track and Field Meet. The event will be held Saturday, March 28 at Southeast Missouri State University's Abe Stuber Track Complex. Opening ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m., with the track events scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m...

A workout designed for boys high school basketball players to demonstrate their skill to college recruiters will be held April 10 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Murphysboro (Ill.) High School. The workout is for high school sophomores, juniors and unsigned seniors. More than 30 colleges -- including several from the Division I level -- are expected to be in attendance...

A league meeting for the 1998 Cape Girardeau Girls Softball League will be held March 31 at Drury Lodge. Registration for the 1998 season will be held April 4 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at Venture Court in West Park Mall. For more information, call Rick McDonald at 334-3043 weekdays after 6 p.m...

A final signup for the 1998 Jackson Girls Softball/Tee Ball season will be held March 28 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Jackson City Hall. Registration fee is $30 per player. Checks should be made payable to Jackson Girls Softball League.

A final Scott City youth league registration will be held April 4 from noon-1 p.m. at the Scott City Park. Tryouts will follow. For more information, call Phillis Spinks at 264-3411.

A SEMO South Babe Ruth baseball meeting will be held March 23 at 7 p.m. at Scott City High School, room 9. Coaches interested in having their teams play in this area should attend. For more information, call Phyllis Spinks at 264-3411.

Tryouts for the Jackson American Legion baseball team will be held April 18 beginning at noon in the Jackson City Park. For more information, call Robert White at 243-4810 or Tom Campbell at 243-0165.

St. Vincent High in Perryville will hold its annual round-robin alumni basketball tournament Easter weekend. Action begins Friday, April 10 and concludes Saturday the 11th. Cost to compete is $25. To register or for more information contact athletic director Bruce Valleroy at 547-2560 or Ken Schumer at 547-4173...

The spring turkey hunting season in Missouri doesn't open until April 20, but there are many people eager to "talk turkey" at any time. This interest in the wild turkey is not a recent development. More than 200 years ago, noted statesman Benjamin Franklin proposed that the wild turkey be adopted as the national symbol for the United States of America...

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. -- Helen Elizabeth Schoenberger, 81, of Murphysboro died Thursday, March 19, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Sept. 12, 1916, in Murphysboro, daughter of Sebastian and Frances Salfer Hauner. She and John Henry Schoenberger were married Nov. 15, 1938, in Murphysboro. He died Jan. 6, 1974...

KARNAK, Ill. -- Eileen Kuhlman, 83, of Karnak died Saturday, March 21, 1998, at her home. She was born Oct. 3, 1913, in Frankfort, Ky., daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Reardon Harrod. She married Casper Kuhlman on May 30, 1948, in Greenville, Ohio. He survives...

Vinson Luckman Rueseler, 77, of Cape Girardeau died suddenly Friday, March 20, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born Jan. 20, 1921, son of Albert P. and Lucy Luckman Rueseler. He and Catherine (Kitty) Leah McGowan were married March 3, 1945, in Augusta, Ga...

EDDYVILLE, Ky. -- Gertrude M. Bruer, 79, of Eddyville died Saturday, March 21, 1998, at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. Arrangements are incomplete at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms, Ill.

Jean Bell Mosley's new autobiography, "For Most of the Century," is only available in serialized form in the Southeast Missourian. Return each week for her continuing story. When we moved into our new home in 1936, the property across the street, a little to the southeast, was a wooded area. ...

A one-sixteenth scale John Deere 8640, at rear, a John Deere 4650, left, and a one-forty-second scale John Deer A. Telker has about 2,000 toy tractors, plows and other farming implements in various scales. Mike Telker is a 41-year-old maintenance engineer at Lewis Bakeries in Sikeston. But ask him about his farm-toy collection, and he's a 12-year-old boy growing up on the family farm north of Charleston...

A program on Native American Genealogy will be presented at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at the Trail of Tears State Park Visitors Center. Dr. Herman Viola, curator emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution, will present the program. Viola is an adviser on exhibits and archives at the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Museum of the American Indian and is developing a new exhibit called "Forces of Change."...