Speak Out 06/26/04

Help is appreciated

Lorie Peats must be an awesome woman. Her hard work and donations are impressive and appreciated. Jackson is a lucky city to have her there, and Cape Girardeau appreciates her donations to the police department and Safe House. You go, Lorie.

Worse treatment

IN VOLUME II of the "War in the Pacific" by a retired Maine Corps general, one illustration of how our boys were treated as prisoners makes the recent episode in Iraq look like nothing. The described how a dozen American airmen were shot down, tortured, beaten, beheaded and mutilated. Believing that the flesh of an enemy boosted morale and improved one's own health, the enemy ate body parts of some of the slain Americans.

Sacrificing programs

IN RESPONSE to the request for more teachers: You get what you pay for. In the 1800s the residents of Southeast Missouri went out on a limb and made sacrifices to construct an institution of higher education. Rock was mined on site to construct the first architectural marvels that would become the cornerstone of our own regional hub for liberal thought. Today, resources are limited, so programs are cut that are not suited for what we consider today's job market. We have progressed from making sacrifices to build an institution designed to teach new ideas to the dilemma of sacrificing programs that are necessary to foster the holistic approach of a liberal-minded environment. So we are left with a glorified community college. We have trimmed the fat only to make it easier for those who enroll to become fatter, not necessarily wiser.

Double the salaries

IN EVERY other field except teaching the general understanding is that you must pay well in order to recruit and retain qualified employees. If you really wanted to fix public education, all you need to do is double the salaries for teachers while cutting administrators.

Rough riding

ROUTE F near Whitewater needs to be repaved. That road is so rough you can barely drive on it. Workers filled the potholes, but it only lasted a couple of days. We deserve as much as those in Gordonville and other area towns.

Better than stopping

IF THE people complaining about the roundabout would realize that it is not designed to drive around at breakneck speeds, you'd see that it works just fine. I sure think it's better than a four-way stop where people can't figure out whose turn it is to go next.

Catch 22

THE REASON the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that citizens can't sue HMOs in state courts is in part to keep down the rising costs of medical care you already can't afford.

Leaves a big hole

CAPE GIRARDEAU without the Pladium will be like ancient Athens without the agora (public forum), ancient Rome without the forum, Great Britain without a parliament and Cape absent all coffee shops.