Speak Out 05/26/04

You're appreciated

I WANT all the police officers and firefighters to know that, despite a few nasty comments in the paper, you are very much appreciated by the people of Cape Girardeau. We have become a city that does nothing but make negative comments about jobs that we know nothing about. Every job is important for different reasons. All the parts in an engine are important from the biggest to the smallest spark plug, but they are all necessary for the engine to run. The same goes for the city.

Testing for alcohol

I THOUGHT the law in Missouri stated that if you refused a blood alcohol test to determine if you were driving drunk that your license would be revoked for one year. If that is true, how can someone get by with a reduced charge of careless and imprudent driving? This is after an accident while driving drunk and admitting to the police they were drunk but didn't want to waste the officer's time by taking a blood alcohol test. We might as well take drunk driving laws off the books.

Dollar signs

I WAS just reading the Southeast Missourian editorial about DNA testing of Rubin Weeks. Does the editorial staff of the Southeast Missourian have any opinions about truth and justice that don't have dollar signs at every conclusion?

Not that dumb

CAPE GIRARDEAU School District superintendent Mark Bowles must think the readers of the Southeast Missourian are stupid. He apparently thinks we all believe the sometimes bad experiences of teacher Jason Bandermann were shared by all public school teachers. Give us some credit. We're not that dumb.

Prize-worthy reporting

CONTRARY TO complaints from Cape Girardeau's school superintendent, Callie Clark captured beautifully the experiences of resigning first-year teacher Jason Bandermann. Her series is worthy of a prestigious prize.

Sickos in the woods

I WENT to Trail of Tears State Park to have a picnic with my daughters this weekend. I was offended to see grown men doing inappropriate things in the woods. Someone has got to arrest these sickos. It's getting to the point where I can't take my children anywhere.

Accurate stories

AFTER READING the final story on Jason Bandermann's teaching experiences, I think it is important to let the general public know that what you have been reading -- and even the final result of Bandermann leaving teaching for less stress and more money -- is not an isolated incident. The stories have been an accurate representation of what teachers and administrators are dealing with on a daily basis. With a lack of young students going into teaching and the majority of seasoned veteran teachers opting to take their retirement, does it not lead you to question why this is happening? Parents must raise their children, not simply feed and house them. Teachers must educate these children. The community must support the teachers, both professionally and financially. We do not get to choose who we allow into our classrooms, and do not get the opportunity to negotiate a salary that we are worth.

It will take time

GARY RUST'S thesis via a recently reprinted piece was that it didn't take us long to win the war in Iraq. That's indisputable, if it is meant by that the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime. It was an amazing military effort. However, winning the peace and establishing a viable pro-Western representative democracy may take a while longer.

Obesity is a disease

REGARDING THE comment that obesity is an abuse: In a way that is true, but obesity is a disease. Food addiction is a real disease. It is abuse to your body that some cannot control, because its like a drug addiction.

Tougher law

I THINK Missouri should pass a law like the one in Illinois. I think Missouri police officers should be allowed to pull over anyone not wearing a seat belt or if they see a child not restrained.