Speak Out 10/19/06

Another statistic

THANK YOU, Brian White, for your insight into the day of a public school teacher. I too will likely become a statistic at the end of this school year. I'm in my ninth year and thought I could do this for at least 10 years, but it's not going to happen because of dealing with the problems in schools, no respect from students, administrators, parents and community and, above all, living paycheck to paycheck. Who needs it?

University spam

I HAVE just returned from Southeast Missouri State University's fall break, and I have 289 e-mails, only 10 of which are work-related. The other 279 are prescription drug ads -- most of them for male enhancement products and even a few for adult toys. This has been going on for months. Commercial e-mail services offer spam-blocking services. Sifting through these spams is a waste of my time and the university's time. So why isn't someone fixing this problem? Everyone is complaining about this. Isn't anyone listening?

God in the school

PUBLIC SCHOOLS were organized to teach children to read the Bible so they would know how to behave. Thirty years ago I was teaching in Cape Girardeau, and after I dismissed the class one girl suddenly could not move. I decided to pray. That day the girl and I learned that God, the supreme judge, is not dead, and he does allow prayer in school. Jesus Christ bypassed the nurse, the doctor, the policeman and the Supreme Court. While I was praying, God healed that girl. She walked out thanking God. This is a true-life example of what God does when he is not locked out.

Traffic changes

DOES ANYONE believe that driving conditions are the same as they were years ago when the driving age was set at 16? Have you been to St. Louis or Memphis lately? Have you driven between Cape Girardeau and Jackson recently? How many 16-year-olds do you know who are really capable of driving, talking on their cell phones and chatting with friends in the car at the same time? Don't say it doesn't happen, I see it every day. Times change. Traffic has changed dramatically. It's time the driving age is changed.

Green-space rules

I HAVE a senior design project that entails building an office building in Rogers, Ark. Rogers has a bunch of requirements for green space. Times are changing. Cape Girardeau should have requirements for green space. City officials: Go to Rogers' Web site and look at its requirements. It's time to put the sign ordinance debacle behind us and do something good for our community.

For student loans

MOHELA ASSETS should only be used for student loans and scholarships. They should not be used for college and university buildings. If you know a Southeast student, please e-mail him and let him know what is happening.

Post-election plot

SOMETHING'S ROTTEN in the Middle East. I heard on the news that OPEC has decided to cut the production of oil by a million barrels a day as of the first of November. They're suckering you rednecks into thinking that gasoline is going to be cheap. After the election, they're going to put it to us. Gas prices will be back above $3.

WMD in N. Korea

WE FINALLY figured out where the weapons of mass destruction are. They're not in Iraq. They're in North Korea. What's our president going to do with this situation?

Beautiful trees

THANK YOU for the wonderful article about trees on the front page. The photo showed how beautiful Lorimier Street is. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell more people not to cut their trees along Lorimier Street. I know the city recently took out two, and someone around the corner took out another huge one. Our trees are so precious to us. The same day after I had read that article I saw trees being cut down on Sprigg Street, beautiful old trees just like the ones pictured on Lorimier Street. I would caution everyone to understand how important these trees are to our survival.

Homework, projects

I TEACH in higher education. If public schools are requiring more from students in junior high and high school, you sure couldn't tell it by what we see. Homework and projects teach students how to be responsible and how to take accountability for what they do, something we also are having problems with in higher education.

Neglected campus

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI State University should be ashamed of itself. It's spending a lot of time, money and physical resources on the River Campus, but it isn't taking care of the main campus. Ceiling stuff is falling on students whose parents pay a lot of money for that residence-hall room. Janitorial work is not being done in the classrooms. I have two students at SEMO. They say the trash cans aren't emptied but about once a week in the classrooms. The floors are filthy. When I visit SEMO it's in horrible repair. Computer labs are not kept up-to-date and have computers that don't work. Things like this are neglected. This is wrong.

Awesome job

THIS MESSAGE is to the principals and teachers at Central Middle School in Cape Girardeau. Keep up the good work. You guys are doing an awesome job. Keep caring about the kids and keep moving forward.

Lack of wisdom

MY 12-YEAR-OLD daughter made a statement that got me to thinking. She said that she didn't believe that wisdom came with age. Having been around elderly folks for more than 47 years, I would have to agree. Wisdom does not come with age. It comes from opening a book or reading a newspaper, something that only 12 percent of American adults do on a regular basis. Perhaps that would explain how people like George Bush and Karl Rove get to run our country.

Need more trees

I AM glad the Southeast Missourian had an article about trees. Cape Girardeau does not care about trees. Look at Mount Auburn Road or the two beautiful trees in front of the armory. They're gone. On Siemers Drive, about half of those nice oak trees are gone just when they were getting to a nice size. The more cars there are, the more we need the trees and green spaces.