SCHOOLS TEACH BASICS AND A GREAT DEAL MORE

A number of items in the news recently are deserving of brief comment. We offer a thumbs up sign to items deserving of praise, thumbs down to those we would have preferred not to learn about.

Schools are charged with instilling our young people with basic educational skills. They can also go a long way toward helping adolescents learn more about the world outside the classroom. In recent days, schools have featured guest speakers that offered some of life's lessons. At Cape Central High School, there was a program last week on the prevention of head and spinal cord injuries; included in the presentation was the warning of a Farmington man who is paralyzed from the chest down because of a swimming accident. At a number of area high school, including Notre Dame in Cape Girardeau, students heard from former pro football player Ken Johnson that life in the fast lane can come to a bad end; he cautioned the young people about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. We urge our educators onward in the teaching of reading, writing and arithmetic; we also commend them for taking the extra steps that teach more.

Southeast Missouri State University is making significant strides in its "New Vision of Excellence" fundraising endeavor and got another boost last week with the announcement of a six-figure gift that will enable construction to begin on a new athletic complex. The complex will be named for Marvin Rosengarten, long-time coach, athletic director and currently director of athletic development at the university. It is a fitting tribute for Rosengarten, who has done a great deal of the work leading to athletic progress at the university. It is likewise a tribute to those benevolent parties, in the recent case an anonymous philanthropist, who are willing to provided financial support for the advancement of the school.

Few things are as heart wrenching as the deaths of young people. Certainly, last Friday's residential fire, in which three teens were killed, left this community poorer. From that tragedy, however, let us take whatever lessons we can. The house that burned had no smoke detectors. It would be conjecture to suggest that those young people would be alive today had smoke detectors been in place; it is not conjecture to note that smoke detectors have saved lives on many occasions. Smoke detectors are effective and low in cost. Every house should have one or more. Some tragedies can be averted.