Stories from Saturday, March 18, 1995

To the editor: It is time to sound the diabetes alert. For 24 hours on Tuesday, March 28, the American Diabetes Association will be actively trying to identify the more than 175,000 people in Missouri who have diabetes and don't know it. Like many Americans, many Missouri residents believe that since diabetes is treatable, they don't need to be concerned about getting it. ...

To the editor: I am a college student and within an age bracket considered to be irresponsible and careless by many adults older than myself. However, there is an understanding of responsibility that I, as well as nearly all othr college students I have spoken to, have that older adults beat on: the simple, lifesaving value of a seat belt on a child...

To the editor: On March 11 a letter to the editor written by Bill Zellmer was right on the point when he said aborition wasn't a political issue, but he was dead wrong to say it wasn't a moral issue. Abortion is without question the taking of life. Zellmer appears to be a pro-abortion Republican who is concerned that the abortion issue will split the Republican Party. ...

There is a streak in human nature that often defies the niceties of civilized behavior. More than one behavioral scientist has likened the armies of the football fields and the basketball courts to the warring tribes that once settled all political, economic and social differences with swords, spears and fists...

A great deal of attention today is being paid to the nebulous matter of outcomes based education. Parents of school-age children, in particular, are becoming increasingly alarmed at the state of public education. I urge anyone interested in the topic to read the series of columns by Peter Kinder published in this paper. ...

Michael and Rachel Sweet were deeply moved Friday when they learned their decision to follow the path their son paved through acts of kindness saved five lives. "We didn't know if donating Mikey's organs was the right thing to do," Michael Sweet said. "But after getting this letter from Mid-America Transplant Services, we know it's what Mikey would have wanted. He was always trying to help people."...

Southeast Missouri State University wants to close one of its residence halls and raise room and board charges for the remaining dorms by about 5 percent. The proposal will be considered by the Board of Regents when it meets Monday. The board also will be asked to hike tuition by $4 a credit-hour for in-state students and $8 a credit-hour for out-of-state students...

After spending four months working in the AmeriCorps program, Morgan Marino has insight into how Cape Girardeau County deals with juvenile offenders she couldn't find in the classroom. And, Marino plans to use her hands-on experience working in the county juvenile office when she seeks a job after she graduates from Southeast Missouri State University next year...

The 142-year-old Old St. Vincent's Church has a place in many hearts. For B.W. Harrison, a non-Catholic who was married in the church in 1947, that translates into carrying on the work of his late wife, Hazel, who worked toward the restoration that was completed shortly before she died in 1990...

Lord help me, but I'm turning into the kind of single person parents hate. You know how we are: Your child tears through a major department store like the proverbial bat out of hell, and we say, "Why do you let him do that? If he were mine. ..." Then we come up with some sort of brilliant parenting tool that leaves actual parents staring at us in disgust...

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Wendell Corzine, 67, of Dongola died Thursday, March 16, 1995, at Union County Hospital in Anna. He was born Jan. 9, 1928, in Dongola, the son of Orlan and Edna Holt Corzine. He was married Feb. 26, 1950, to Colleen Fisher. Corzine, along with his wife and sons, owned and operated Corzine's Hardware and Appliance Store in Dongola for many years. ...

ESSEX -- Amna Beatrice Lasater, 80, of Winfield, died Friday, March 17, 1995, at Lincoln County Caring Center in Troy. She was born April 13, 1914, at Essex, daughter of John F. and Lenora Corlew Triplett. She married Leland Ralph Lasater, who died Aug. 17, 1974...

SIKESTON -- Lilly Violet Summers, 81, of Mayfield, Ky., formerly of Sikeston, died Thursday, March 16, 1995, at Volunteer General Hospital in Martin, Tenn. She was born March 27, 1913, in Foreman, Ill., daughter of Peter and Myrtle Huckleberry Gore. She and Leo Summers were married Feb. 25, 1929. He died Feb. 4, 1967...

STE. GENEVIEVE -- Funeral mass for Clarence "Shim" Jokerst of Ste. Genevieve will be held at 10 a.m. today at Church of Ste. Genevieve. The Rev. John Johnson will officiate, with burial in Valle Spring Cemetery. Stanton-Wood Mortuary is in charge of arrangements...

ANNA, Ill. -- Florence S. Wiley, 93, of Anna, died Thursday, March 16, 1995, at City Care Center. She was born June 8, 1901, in Cobden, daughter of C.P. and Josephine Hartline Sitter. She married Samson S. Wiley, who died July 14, 1989. Survivors include cousins...

A 19-year-old Frohna man was killed Friday afternoon when the 1970 Ford pickup he was driving ran off the road, struck a utility pole and partially ejected him. Jason Scroll was driving southbound on Route C seven miles south of Pocahontas when the accident happened at 3:40. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The body was taken to Young and Sons Funeral Home in Perryville...

Ruth Devine, 90, of Chateau Girardeau, died there Friday, Feb. 24, 1995. She was born May 14, 1904, in Ste. Genevieve, daughter of George Anton and Ella Simon Reich. She and James H. Devine were married June 9, 1928, in Ste. Genevieve. He preceded her in death...

SIKESTON -- United We Stand American will hold a town hall meeting Thursday at the Sikeston Armory, 711 S. Main St., at 7 p.m. The meeting is one of many being held across the country to solicit opinions about a possible new political party. United We Stand America officials are asking if a new political party would be good for America and who or what group might form such a party...

Malinda Emma Hall, 89, 1548 County Road 611, died Wednesday, March 15, 1995, at the home of her daughter. She was born Oct. 10, 1905, in Egypt Mills, the daughter of B. and Emma Lehne Erlbacher. She married Raymond E. Hall July 19, 1931, in Jackson. He preceded her in death Sept. 12, 1970...

JACKSON -- Mary Laird, 66, of Jackson, died Thursday, March 16, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 10, 1928, in St. Louis, daughter of Arthur F. and Cora Meyer Deneke. Laird was a graduate of Central High School and attended Southeast Missouri State University...

Funeral service for James Russell Dean, 1242 Sailer Circle, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. Charles Dreyer officiating. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson. There is no visitation. Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel is in charge of arrangements...

LEOPOLD -- Minnie Josephine Elfrink, 90, of Leopold, died Friday, March 17, 1995, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 18, 1904, daughter of Frank and Cecilia Arnzen Nenninger. She and Leo Elfrink were married Feb. 22, 1925. He died June 5, 1991...

The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Sanitarians will present food handler classes Wednesday at 2:30 and 7 p.m. and Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Cape Central Junior High School, 1900 Thilenius. Participants will test their skills during situation-game tours of the cafeteria. The newest information and references to assist in preparation and safe handling of food will be shared during the two-hour sessions. There is no charge for the class...

There will be a Diabetes Community Seminar Monday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the second-floor Classroom C of the Regional Cancer Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Dodson Cravens, a pharmacist and diabetes educator, will talk about how to control stress, and how managing stress can positively affect an individual's health...

"Creating a Culture for Professional Practice in an Ever-Changing Healthcare Environment" is the subject of a nursing seminar Thursday and repeated Friday. The seminar is sponsored by the Institute for Nursing Excellence at St. Francis Medical Center...

Dozens of skin-care products are available to help keep skin young looking. Women have fretted about their appearance probably since the first one caught her reflection in a pool of water. They religiously scan their faces in the mirror each morning, looking for another crow's foot near their eyes or smile line near their mouths...

The Town and Country FCE Club will sponsor the fourth annual Leukemia Walk-A-Thon Saturday, May 6 from 10 to noon at Cape Girardeau County Park North. Shelter 8 is the check-in point. Sponsor forms may be obtained at Cape County Park, University of Missouri Extension Office in Jackson or by calling 243-5570. ...

Dr. Jean A. Chapman has been conferred as a master of the American College of Physicians at convocation ceremony Thursday at the 76th annual session in Atlanta. Mastership is the highest level of membership attainable in the American College of Physicians...