CAPE GIRARDEANS PLAY KEY ROLES IN GOP POLITICS

Republican convention media clamor: At least 13,000 to 15,000 media folks -- reporters, photographers, TV, radio and newspaper people -- were in Philadelphia this week (and a similar number will undoubtedly be at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles starting Aug. 14).

There are only 2,000-plus delegates and an additional 2,000-plus alternates, or about three media types for every delegate and alternate.

* * * * *

Our own STATE SEN. PETER KINDER of Southeast Missouri had the distinction of being one of only eight national delegates selected at large at the Missouri State Convention. ... He was also Missouri's only representative on the National Platform Committee (after chairing the Missouri State Platform Committee) and co-chaired one of eight national convention platform subcommittees (Government Reform with JoAnne Davidson ... Speaker of the Ohio House).

Another Cape Girardean becoming well known on the national scene is 31-year-old JACK OLIVER, who was recently elevated to BUSH's national finance chairman.

On Tuesday we reprinted a lengthy feature from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about Oliver.

* * * * *

SCOTT SCHNUCK ... president of Schnucks, announced on Tuesday the 12,000-square-foot expansion and complete remodeling of the Cape Girardeau store at a luncheon in Cape. Twenty-four years ago this highly successful store opened in Cape Girardeau, and the combined 67,000-square-foot store will make it "the largest most updated grocery/drug store in Southeast Missouri."

In a tribute to popular local store manager and community leader DENNIS MARCHI ... Scott said, "You have our very best store manager. ... He's an awesome manager."

In a chain of 94 stores, that's quite a tribute.

* * * * *

Dexter STATESMAN editor BUCK COLLIER, in a column Sunday tweeking a Kansas City ad agency for labeling the BOOTHEEL as the Boothill, gave the following brief description of the BOOTHEEL:

BOOTHEEL: God's country. Land so flat you can see a tornado coming from 200 miles away. Soil so rich that it's believed to have served as the inspiration for the Mother Goose tale "Jack and the Beanstalk." Water so muddy a person can walk across ditches and not get his knees wet; hence, the reference to "ring around the ankle." Girls volleyball and boys basketball teams so good they're ashamed to play teams from outside the region. Catfish so big that beds of pickup trucks often are filled with ice to hold them while they are brought home.

* * * * *

In a recent column in the St. Louis Business Journal, MARK VITTERT wrote that he couldn't "help but feel that regardless of the circumstances, approaching each day as cheerfully as possible is the way to go."

From "Simple Wisdom" published by Running Press, "Gentle Thoughts" published by Peter Pauper and "You Can't Be a Smart Cookie if You Have a Crummy Attitude" published by John C. Maxwell are offered some wonderful thoughts. Here are just a few:

* Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with. -- Mark Twain

* Speak only well of people, and you need never whisper. -- A fortune cookie.

* Change is an easy panacea. It takes character to stay in one place and be happy there. -- Elizabeth Clarke Dunn

* Most persons would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions. -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

* I started with the firm conviction that when I came to the end, I wanted to be regretting the things that I had done, not the things I hadn't. -- Michael Caine

* Perfectionism spells paralysis. -- Winston Churchill

* The quickest way to correct the other fellow's attitude is correct your own. -- King Vidor

* It is a fact that you project what you are. -- Norman Vincent Peale

* Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion. -- Benjamin Franklin

* Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man who do it. -- Chinese proverb

* There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist. -- Mark Twain

* * * * *

Daughter PENNY and son-in-law ALAN TERRY (Dr. Bill and Eloise Terry's son) are in AMSTERDAM attending the international BILLY GRAHAM evangelistic gathering. Alan had recently returned from two weeks in Africa (one with Sen. BILL FRIST in a small plane in the SUDAN). There's a lot of story behind their recent career and residential change which I'll share more fully at a later date after I get more details.

Basically, Alan has joined the medical mission arm of FRANKLIN GRAHAM as a key administration officer, which required a move to BLOWING ROCK, N.C.

* * * * *

Freedom works: Good news for advocates of school choice. Evaluations of low-income African-American students participating in school choice programs in Dayton, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., found that these kids generally scored higher in math and reading after six to 12 months than did their peers who had stayed put in public schools.

As you would expect, younger students responded faster to the opportunities of private school than did older ones. The evaluations were conducted by a program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. These studies demolished one myth: Critics of school choice say that private schools will skim only the best and brightest students. But in Dayton, the students who switched schools initially had similar reading scores and lower math scores than did their peers. The studies found that the kids who switched to private schools experienced far less fighting in their new schools, that property destruction was significantly less and that parents reported better parent-school communications.

The initial findings from Dayton and Washington indicate that school choice will sharply reduce, if not eliminate, differences in educational performance between black and white students. Says Paul E. Peterson, director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard and a coauthor of these evaluations: These early results "indicate that private schools serve African-American students well especially if the student enters private school during the early elementary years."

Satisfied parents. Better-educated kids. How can Al Gore and his cohorts continue to trash school choice and defend the public school education monopoly? 00 Forbes magazine

* * * * *

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90 percent probability you'll get it wrong.

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.