Speak Out 08/18/04

Bikes on highways

ALL THE people who are complaining about the bicyclists need to slow down and get used to it. There are no good roads with shoulders to ride on, and sometimes we have to be on these roads for at least some distance in order to get to another road that isn't so traveled. As a avid bike rider, I try to stay off the main or busy roads, but when you are trying to ride 20 or 30 miles, that can be hard to do in Cape Girardeau County. Motorists need to learn the safety rules of the road. Bicyclists have the same rights as cars when on the highways. And motorists have to treat them just as they would another vehicle.

More school supplies

THE FIRST day of school in Jackson is over. The children like their teachers. They got to see all their friends. And I got my homework assignment to fill out all the paperwork and another school-supply list. What's the point of buying everything on the list before school to then have to turn around and buy more after school starts? Do the schools not supply anything anymore? Where is our money going?

It takes money

TO EVERYONE who wants Cape Girardeau to build a water park: Remember the water park in Jackson? Oh, I forgot. It went under and is demolished. It seems like a lot of money was invested there to provide that park. Unlike the government, a privately owned business cannot print more money or raise taxes to cover costs if they are running in the red. People are in business to make money, and a water park in Cape is about as profitable as having a casino on the Diversion Channel. Drive down and look at all the tax money spent there.

Swimming rules

IN RESPONSE to the comment about rude lifeguards at the Central Junior High School pool: It's harder than you think. I do not work at the Central pool, but I am a teenage lifeguard employed locally. We receive comments like this quite often. Frankly, the complaining is getting a little ridiculous. Being a lifeguard is stressful at times, and we may get frustrated at a child who is acting up. I find it annoying to have to tell children to obey the rules more than once. It is a tough job enforcing rules. Sometimes the situation may call for the lifeguard to inform a swimmer of his or her wrongdoing in a sharp manner or tone.

Deserve better facilities

JACKSON KNOWS that the school district already uses funds very efficiently. In fact, Jackson's expenditure per pupil was one of the 10 lowest among all of Missouri's school districts. This levy will help ensure continued success by getting these students out of crowded conditions and getting them into the facilities the teachers and students deserve.

Move the teachers

IT SEEMS to me that transferring the students is not the answer when students do poorly on standardized tests. Instead of disrupting the children's education, maybe the teachers should be moved around to ensure that quality, experienced teachers are teaching at the schools with the low scores. The more experienced the teaching staff, the better the education the students will receive.

A place to go

I AGREE the Cape Girardeau-Jackson area needs a water park and some type of indoor entertainment arena for kids. Jackson no longer has the water slide, which will be missed. And the pools in some areas don't stay open past 5 p.m. (Jackson's pool closes at 8 p.m.). Let's get something our kids can do year around that would keep them off the streets -- a place they can go be themselves and have fun and could also take their parents.

Killing downtown

A BUNCH of people have been working to build up the downtown area. This is all going to be history as soon as they make Main Street a two-way street. What are people supposed to do to get around trucks that have to deliver to these establishments? I will no longer go down there, because I am not going to sit and wait for 15 minutes to get around a truck. They'd better come up with some better idea than what they've got or they're going to kill everything they've been working for. I agree with moving the clock.