Speak Out 1/5/06

Big Brotherism

STATE SEN. Jason Crowell is bending over backward to ensure the libertarians among his constituency that he will support traffic cameras only under certain conditions. That's not good enough. He must pledge not to support their installation under any conditions. Big Brotherism is bad under any conditions.

Paying teachers

THIS IS in response to the person who said teachers have jobs that pay $20 an hour for 180 days of work. Your numbers appear to be correct. However, you are not taking into account that teachers pay around $500 a month for health insurance. There are MSTA dues to be paid, which comes with liability coverage just in case you decide to sue a teacher because he disciplines your little Johnny or Suzie. There are professional development and additional college hours that teachers are required to attend (and pay for out of their own pocket). At approximately $500 per graduate course, the additional training is expensive. I am sure you are overlooking the fact that teachers put in far more hours after 3 p.m. than they do at school. There are lesson plans to be made, papers to be graded, extra-curricular activities to be supervised, numerous parental contacts to be made, fund-raising activities to be conducted, and the list goes on and on. Teachers are unfamiliar with the phrases "overtime" or "time and a half." When all is said and done, I bring home approximately $19,000 to support my family. I will be taking on a second job to try and make ends meet. I'm not complaining. I chose my profession, and I am proud of the job I do. On my worst day, I am some child's best hope, and that hope cannot be bought with any amount of money.

Credit card info

IN RESPONSE to the story "Credit cards": Credit-card minimum payments before last October were based on a 20 -year payoff plan. Now they are based on a 10-year plan, which is federal law as of last October. The banks lobbied for the law, but lawmakers created the law. Customers not being informed beforehand is no excuse. I and many others set out to inform cardholders of the change. Perhaps if they took a break from unwise spending and read the newspaper they would have been informed.

Jackson sidewalks

JACKSON SHOULD also require sidewalks in all new subdivisions. Old subdivisions could be grandfathered in, but all new ones should have sidewalks. There are so many unappealing subdivisions being developed in Jackson. If these new neighborhoods had sidewalks, they would look a lot better. Developers want to make the most money possible by doing the least amount of work instead of trying to beautify the area.

Changing old habits

ACCORDING TO those suggesting Water Street be one way northbound, let's also suggest that the floodwall be repainted to coordinate. We don't want to see the end of the murals before we get to the beginning. Old habits are had to change, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be.