Speak Out 10/1/05

Wrong on ethanol

RUSS KULBERG is wrong about ethanol. He cites a study done by two professors who came up with the idea that ethanol is negative. They used outdated numbers on how much fertilizer is used and how inefficient fertilizer plants used to be. They used outdated numbers on yields of corn and outdated numbers on yields of ethanol from the corn. Everything is becoming more efficient precisely because costs are high. Ethanol does not create energy. It uses sunlight to change fertilizer and air into carbohydrates. Once you have the carbohydrates, you can use them as ethanol in cars.

Stop sign needed

I'VE LIVES at the corner of Fairlane and Janet at Randall for 38 years. I can't begin to count the number of accidents I've seen at this dog-leg intersection on the southwest corner of Alma Schrader Elementary School. Motorists cannot see from the top of the hill if traffic is coming north of Fairlane, and neither can they see children walking back and forth to school. Children on bikes do a figure S in order to get up the hill because it's so steep. This is an accident waiting to happen. There are no sidewalks. A four-way stop sign is needed, not just a speed bump. The cost of a child's life cannot be compared to a four-way stop sign. I urge the city to do something about this.

Oil from soybeans

IF RUSS Kullberg wants to find out more about an energy-efficient renewable energy source, tell him to look into bio-diesel made from soybeans. Soybeans in this area are typically grown with no fertilizer, no nitrogen used and no tillage, so that greatly reduces the amount of energy used to produce soybeans. And it doesn't take much energy to convert the soybeans over into soy diesel. You just squeeze out the oil, and there it is. That's an energy-efficient way to transfer sunlight into energy.

Louisiana mistrust

THE TWO U.S. senators from Louisiana want the federal government to send $250 billion of our money to their state for hurricane relief. This amounts to $50,000 for every resident of the most corrupt state in the country. Louisiana is the last Southern state controlled by Democrats, and its history of corruption is legend. To entrust Louisiana politicians with federal money is folly.

Price of corn

THE RETIRED professor from Southeast Missouri State University doesn't think the price of corn should go up. My father was a farmer and got $1 a bushel for corn in the 1940s and 1950s. My son had to sell his corn for $1.37 a bushel yesterday. How much has the salary of a teacher gone up at SEMO since 1940? I know the tuition has gone up.

Parent phone line

I THINK the Jackson School District could be more accommodating to parents. One way is by having a parent telephone line to hear school announcements. As it is now, parents are more or less left out, unless you're child happens to tell you something.

Drug therapy

I'M A single mother who's kids are grown. I do not particularly like Rush Limbaugh. I do not, in any way, agree with his politics. But this mess with his drug addiction has got to stop. Drug addiction is a private affair. The man has acknowledged he has a problem and is attempting to resolve the problem. We need to let his doctors and therapists take care of it and stay out of it. Leave the man alone.

Beer littering

LAST NIGHT, my husband, three children and I went to Cape Rock Park and saw a group of boys with fraternity shirts and a case of beer. We watched them throw their beer cans down onto the shore of the river. I know better than to ruin such a beautiful site where I take my children. I'm disappointed in society today and especially college people who are supposed to run our country some day.

Spreading meditation

I SEE the Christians are trying to take over meditation. I am a Buddhist living in Cape Girardeau, which is like being a needle in a haystack. I have been meditating for about five years, and this is the first time I have heard of Christians talking about meditation. I have always been demonized, especially by Christians, for being of a different faith and practicing it to the fullest. Now all of a sudden Christians meditate? I find that interesting. I am not trying to be condescending. I just find it interesting.

TV outrage

WHAT ARE school kids doing watching TV in the classroom? And with commercials? Let no teacher or principal say the schools don't have time to do something as long as they have time to watch TV each day. I understanding it's a specialized news program for kids, but these kids are already watching loads of TV at home. This is an outrage.

Passing lane

THANK YOU to one of the very few people who knows that the left lane on a four-lane highway is the passing lane. I have tried to get this point out before and was just told I needed to slow down. Maybe that isn't always the case. Maybe other people need to drive the speed limit or stay in the right lane so I can pass them. Maybe everyone needs to re-read the driving handbook.

Try harder

I WOULD like to know how people in this country came under the spell of thinking that, as an employee, you deserve a "fair wage." This is nonsense, just as much as the rhetoric that the rich are the winners of life's lottery. You deserve the wage the market dictates the job you are doing is worth. Hard work, perseverance and an ambition to succeed are what you need to attain the wages and lifestyle you wish. If you aren't where you want to be in life, its because you haven't tried hard enough.

Possible propaganda

I HAVE been concerned about Channel One, which is shown in schools, for years. The commercials are troubling, but I find the fact that Channel One has the attention of millions of students and can broadcast its version of the news to an audience that may not be able to distinguish between propaganda and unbiased information.

Spread the pork

THERE HAVE been many comments about pork-barrel projects: a river overlook, the East Main Street interchange and interstate improvements. This money is coming to an area that is already thriving. But other areas of our state. Go a hundred miles to the west and take a look. Roads are still narrow and curvy. Businesses, communities and schools struggle in an area that looks very much like it did 20 or 30 years ago. I hope when our federal legislators are carving up the pork they remember the rest of the state.