LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: HOWARD STERN AND PRAYER IN SCHOOL...WHAT A COUNTRY!

To the Editor:

A clear and present danger was recently eliminated for high school students in Jackson, Mississippi. For three days last month students at Wingfield High School were exposed to hearing a 21-word prayer read over the P.A. system by a fellow student. The students had voted 490 to 96 to approve this dangerous activity. But the principal who allowed it was quickly suspended, then fired. Whew! Let's be glad that the system worked and the high schoolers of Jackson are safe from exposure to prayer in their school.

Howard Stern, the celebrated "shock jock" of radio, could have suffered a similar fate as that principal in Mississippi. It seems that a private citizen transcribed the stream of obscene material being broadcast at 7 A.M. on Stearn's radio show and sent complaints to the FCC. He asked for enforcement of the very explicit obscenity and indecency laws and accompanied his request with extensive documentation. Luckily, the FCC took months to take action, and then merely fined the radio stations in the city where the complaints originated and in three other markets. Thankfully, Stern was never threatened with loss of his broadcasting job, and his show continued to be aired freely in other cities.

However, that same citizen, upon moving to a new city, Las Vegas took the same actions against Stern's radio show there. After months of documenting violations, that station too was fined.

And what of the fate of that champion of "free speech" himself? Howard Stern's radio show is still broadcast (as of this writing) in 14 markets with complaints pending against it. He has a weekly show on cable's E! Entertainment network, an upcoming pay-per-view New Years Eve show and TV Guide reports that he wants to get his own late night TV show to compete with Leno and Letterman.

What a great country this is! We move quickly and decisively to rid our schools of those who would expose our teenagers to the dangers of prayer. But a big time violator of numerous federal laws like Howard Stem enjoys fame and fortune for polluting the airwaves. What a country!

JANINE PFANSTIEL

Cape Girardeau