Speak Out 02/05/04

Audit is good idea

I AGREE that Cape Girardeau School District superintendent Mark Bowles and the board need to have the state audit the district's spending. Let the taxpayers know up front if we are spending correctly as the state says we should. How else will we know if one program is favored over another program? Is the district spending money where it should be spent, or is it being spent for programs way in excess of what the state suggests or what comparable districts are spending with better results? Let the state tell us.

Appropriate award

A RECENT comment suggested that the Missouri Coalition for Peace and Justice did not deserve the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award because the group stands for nothing. I wonder what part of peace and justice this person fails to understand. Being in favor of peace and justice, the group is against the war, but then so would King have been, just as he opposed the Vietnam War.

Pay-freeze exemption?

I SEE where the schools are going to make some of the students from low- and middle-income families exempt from paying the extracurricular fees. Some of the school employees make low- or middle-income wages. Are these people going to be exempt from the pay freeze?

Phone is returned

HOW REFRESHING. We lost our cell phone. We notified our cell-phone provider just in case someone turned it in, although we doubted they would. Two days later, one hour prior to having to buy a new phone, someone did turn the phone in to a store. Thank you so much. You have no idea what you returned -- not just a phone, but restored faith in people. We are grateful. Thank you again.

Good Show Me events

THANK YOU to the planning committee for events at the Show Me Center. You are doing excellent booking concerts. I really enjoyed 3 Doors Down.

Safety starts at home

INSTEAD OF worrying about banning fireworks in Jackson and Cape Girardeau, why can't the council focus on more important issues? Why is it such a big deal? Do we even remember why we shoot fireworks? If it is a safety issue, then talk to the parents who let their children use them in an unsafe manner.

Message stays the same

DOES DAVID Limbaugh have anything else to say besides "George W. Bush is great and the Democratic candidates are idiots"? I don't have to read his columns anymore. They all say the same thing. Time for a new angle. It's getting boring.

Work to pay

TO THE low-income parent who doesn't know how she is going to pay her kids sports fees: Tell your children to get a summer jobs and pay their own fees. That way they can learn if they want something bad enough they can earn the money and pay for it themselves. Middle-class America pays for everything, and we are also tapped out. A lot of middle-class kids will have to have jobs to pay their sports fees.

Respect for governor

THE EDITORIAL staff of the Southeast Missourian can try to sugar coat what state Rep. Rod Jetton did at the State of the State address, but he's not the outspoken hero for the common man. Whether you think Gov. Bob Holden's an idiot or not, the governor deserves a certain level of courtesy. Jetton's a rude jerk.

They work for us

I THINK the Cape Girardeau County commissioners need to face reality. I have attended several commission meetings. They seem to think that no one can tell them what to do. They are paid by the taxpayers and make too much money to work two days a week.

Young voices

KUDOS TO Amber Karnes, Emily Hendicks, Sam DeReign and others for the super job of writing they do on Voices of 2Morrow and other Tuesday features. The creative and unique ways with which they express themselves, often superior to hypercritical adults, deserves special praise. And, it would be remiss not to thank the Southeast Missourian's Laura Johnston for putting this wonderful feature of the paper together.

Good commanders

THERE ARE many Democrats who would make as good a commander in chief as the one we have in office right now. David Limbaugh shouldn't say Democrats are not commander-in-chief material. There have been a lot of good commanders in chief that have been Democrats. So lay off of them for a while.

Suburban school

THE Cape Girardeau School Board has proven that it was important to save administrators' positions and assistants and to let teachers, counselors and librarians who work directly with students be tossed away. I moved here from a big city, and this is exactly the kind of thing that happened as the city schools went down in quality and people moved to either private schools or to suburban areas. Maybe Jackson is going to be the suburban area where everybody in Cape Girardeau wants to move so their kids can go to a public school and get a high-quality education.

Wrong issues

Our city council seems to be majoring in minor things instead of taking care of the big things that are wrong in this city. I know of a lot more cases of houses burning because of space heaters and kitchen fires than have ever been lost in this area due to bottle rockets. I think the city is looking at the wrong issue. Maybe it should start looking at how people's houses are wired.

In defense of music

I'M VERY concerned about all the controversy over our band teachers in Cape Girardeau. This is in response to the comment that implied that since band is an elective, it isn't as important as core classes. Foreign languages, home economics, journalism, computers, physical education and art are also electives, but you don't see anyone saying they're any less important than our core classes. We are responsible for educating children and giving them the building blocks to gain knowledge and to become well-educated, well-rounded adults. There have been numerous studies that prove children who participate in musical programs perform significantly better in math, science, English and social studies. They also tend to exhibit more desirable behaviors and discipline than children who do not participate in musical programs. We don't need to be cutting our music programs in our schools. If anything, we should be expanding them.

Keep Cottonwood open

MY SON has been a resident at the Cottonwood Treatment Center since August 2003. Recently I learned that the Department of Mental Health is planning to close this facility in June. I don't feel this decision is the right one. I can't speak for other children or families, but Cottonwood has been the lifesaver for my son and me. We have tried all of the resources available to keep him home, but none was successful. I finally decided to admit him to Cottonwood as the last resort and will never regret my decision. For the first time in three years, I feel like we have some hope. I honestly don't know where we would be today if Cottonwood had not been there for us. I ask for your support in the form of letters, phone calls, e-mails or whatever it takes to keep this much needed facility in operation.