Speak Out 09/17/03

Fair assistance

SINCE I cannot walk a long distance, a woman and boy in a motorized cart at the fair very graciously offered to drive up and get a box of taffy for me. I did not get their names, but I want them to know how much I appreciated their kindness. Thank you.

Those video games

AS WOMEN, we fought so hard for equal rights in the 1960s and 1970s and against sexism, yet today our young people's games, particularly video games, seem to be filled with top-heavy women. It also concerns me that young men think it's OK when they get married and have a child to lay around a few hours and play video games. I wonder where the responsibility is for the youths of today and the parents who can buy this merchandise. Where are their values? And what type of young people are we raising today?

Elect a Democrat

THANK GOD for the Democratic senators and the six Republicans that voted against President Bush's rich-man's overtime bill. He wanted to cut out overtime, turn the clock back and help Big Business. We made the mistake of electing a rich-man senator and Big Business senator. Let's get a good Democratic senator who represents the poor and the working people. Let's go to the polls and vote this time. Just remember what they tried to push through.

Thanks for the start

I WOULD Like to thank the two young men who helped my husband and me when our car wouldn't start on the Dollar Store parking lot. There are still people who take the time to help elderly people.

Funding is out there

IN RESPONSE to the editorial "Let the public pay for the monument": Your editorial hits the mark. Too often people use the force of government to fund their projects. If the proposal is worthwhile, there will probably be plenty of funding without using force to meet their desired ends.

Dangerous place

IF WE were to fail to stay the course and convince Iraqis that representative democracy offers them and the parts of the Muslim world that are non-democratic more hope than Baathist fascism or Islamist totalitarianism, then our mission will end in miserable failure and the world will become a much more dangerous place than prior to the war.

Travel destination

STATE AUDITOR Claire McCaskill is auditing public school travel expenses in part because she hopes the public will approve and help her travel from the auditor's office to the governor's mansion.

Reporting math

YOU DO the math. A comment in Speak Out said that students get four grade reports for quarterly report cards instead of three with the new system. With quarterly reports, you get two each semester, four a year.

A new trend

I MUST say that the recent disruption of the World Trade Organization by poor countries and protesters was a refreshing change. Usually the rich get their way with everything. Maybe it'll start a trend.

Can't reach everyone

ONE OF the subgroups that lower overall MAP scores for a district is special-education students. This group includes learning disabled, emotionally disturbed and mentally retarded children of all ages. Teachers can teach and teach well, but if a student has a documented below-average IQ or has spent the night out on the town because he has no curfew or has to work full time to put food on their family's table, the last thing these kids are worrying about is a MAP test.

Mess in Iraq

I'LL TELL you what I want. I want someone in the White house to take responsibility for the huge mess in Iraq. I'm tired of all of the pretending that everything is all right. It's not, and someone needs to take responsibility for the mess.

Education thesis

YOUR EDITORIAL thesis that the No Child Behind law is designed to help lower-achieving students is questionable. It seems true only if one accepts the view that, as a consequence of the No Child Left Behind statute, the public school system will one day become the exclusive province of lower achievers.

Special interests on top

AFTER THE special session, it has become even clearer who runs Missouri: special interest groups such as the gun lobby. Why else would the legislature vote to prevent folks from legal action against gun manufacturers for the damage they cause? Is not the right to take legal action a basic democratic freedom? So now the Republicans stand clearly against freedom and legal rights.

No time for a raise

IN SPITE of record enrollment and raised tuition rates, SEMO president Ken Dobbins sees the need to cut faculty and staff to meet the economic crisis. The primary duty of a university president is to raise funds to ensure the university's financial health. What was the board of regents thanking when it gave Dobbins a raise and a bonus?

Bush's backers

THERE ARE only two kinds of people who could still believe in President Bush and his administration. First, there's the very wealthy. That's Bush's real constituency. Then there's the other group who must be completely ignorant about what's actually going on in the Middle East and with the economy. How else can you explain it?

Residency requirement

I DON'T know if East Prairie has to hire a non-resident as municipal judge, but given the probable lack of lawyers there, it would be understandable if they did. Cape Girardeau, however, has an overabundance of lawyers, and many should be well qualified for the municipal judge job. If the city council, in its poor judgment, decides to eliminate the residency requirement, the voters should seek to change the city charter to reinstate the residency requirement.

ALL DOGS will and can bite. But the difference between a pit bull and a poodle is the size, power and bite. Not all pit bulls are bad, but it isn't just the way they are raised. It also has to do with breeding. When a pit bull does attack, it inflicts serious damage. No one is looking to ban the breed. We are asking for more responsibility to be put on owners. Stricter laws and enforcement of these laws are needed. If you are responsible, you have nothing to worry about.

In praise of the grumpy

DID R. Joe Sullivan ever see the movie "Grumpy Old Men"? It's funny and offers lots of insight. Grumpy old men are great people. Give a toast to the grumpy old men.

Part-time payroll

I READ the article about the municipal judge. The city constantly complains about budget problems. Now it plans to pay an out-of-city resident a whopping $50,000 year for a two-day work week? Weren't there other qualified applicants who met the requirements who would have taken the job for the current pay?

Open up other city jobs

IN REGARD to the recent municipal judge issue, I think that the Cape Girardeau City Council acted inappropriately in hiring someone in violation of the ordinance, then deciding it would change it later to fit. There are reasons why the judge is to be a city resident. Cities the size of Cape should have enough lawyers applying, unlike smaller cities that have no choice but to consider non-residents. Someone also suggested that maybe this non-resident was just clearly better than the rest, justifying the skirting of the ordinance. Maybe the next race for mayor should be opened up to non-residents too, as I am sure there are extremely well-qualified applicants in the St. Louis area who may want to apply.

Waiting to kick in

ALL YOU unemployed people and low-wage workers cheer up. It's just a matter of days or maybe weeks at the most before those tax cuts kick in and provide millions of high-paying, high-benefit manufacturing jobs. Don't laugh. The president actually believes this.

GOP speaks for the elite

I AM so proud of Peter Kinder and the Republicans for disregarding the will of the people and overriding the veto on the right-to-pack-heat law. I will not forget that at election time. I am glad to see that the Republicans came out of the closet and finally showed that they speak for the elite and ignore the masses. Vote Republican. It is easier than thinking.