Speak Out 10/2/06

Job future

IT'S NOT so much that graduates of our overcrowded schools will face "Do you want fries with that?" wages but that they must learn to ask the question in Spanish.

Dog or medicine

IT'S ALL about choices. A major pharmaceutical company is running a commercial that shows a woman standing in front of her house. The ad says she can't afford her medications, so this company sends them to her for free. That's great. However, the woman has a dog with her. The Humane Society estimates it costs $500 a year to keep one animal. I wonder if the woman would have the money to get her medications if she didn't have a dog.

Candidates' views

IF EVEN half of the political ads are true, there aren't many, if any, politicians, Democrat or Republican, who are worth my vote. I would love to hear the candidates' opinions on issues like health care, the war in Iraq and the economy rather than who they previously associated with or their lack of credibility. Unfortunately in today's society, if the candidates don't respond to each other with negativity, it says they're weak. Maybe if they attempted to state their views we'd see that they're the same tired ideas that both major parties have.

Nutrition and learning

PROPER NUTRITION and fitness directly correlate to higher academic achievement in school and on standardized test. Why are parents complaining that kids should have the choice to eat junk that doesn't promote academic achievement? Don't you want your school fighting to give your kids every advantage?

Society's problems

ONCE AGAIN, the government has enforced policies to cure societal woes through the public school system, this time addressing childhood obesity with its new wellness program. Has anyone thought that parents should address the problem at home by putting away the snack cakes and driving past the fast food? Parents set the lifestyle for their children. Let's address the issue where the problem really is and stop using the educational system as a Band-Aid.

Teenage drivers

MICHAEL CERVANTES, a senior at Central High School, commented, "You might as well just raise the age of driving" because of the law saying there cannot be more than one person under 19 in the car with the 16- to 18-year-old driver. That might be a really good idea, Michael. Have you ever watched what goes on in a car full of teenagers? How about teenagers having fun somewhere besides in a vehicle? Most of us would like to see our teenage population outlive us. Too many are being killed and crippled while having fun on the highways.

Driving distractions

IN RESPONSE to the story "Behind the wheel: New Missouri law aims to increase teen driving safety": Besides talking on cell phones while driving, one other thing teenagers do is fiddle with their radios and CD players. A father commented recently that his daughter seems to forget she is driving when she decides to change the radio station or put a different CD in the player, and she wanders all over the highway.

School sales

I DON'T send my child to school to be a fund-raiser. I send her to get an education. School board, I'll make you a deal. Don't tell me how to be a parent, and I won't tell you how to do your job.

Better alternative

I WOULD rather have Southeast Missouri State University giving condoms to students than the students getting pregnant and using our tax money to pay for the delivery. Condoms are cheap. I am sure the cost of handing out condoms isn't much at all. I thank the university for doing this.

Give us guidelines

I HAVE normal-weight kids and don't know all the guidelines on what you can and cannot send with your children to school. This new program is not the school's fault, but it is the school's fault for not sending home the guidelines. I feel this policy is going to backfire, because kids are going to eat and drink that much more when they get home. Don't blame the school, but ask for a list to be sent home.

Run with an apple

NOT ALL kids expect to get a soda and candy bar after school. Maybe once in awhile as a treat. I remember when a glass of Kool-Aid now and then was a huge treat. To get a candy bar was reserved for special occasions. I didn't grow up poor. Snack foods were not always junk food. Parents today are feeding their kids too much sugar. Kids are fat and lazy. Give your kids an apple or banana and make them put down the video games to do their homework or run around the block.

Don't want the truth

DAVID LIMBAUGH is correct. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are offering any substantive alternatives to the war in Iraq. However, I would respectfully offer the view that the reason is that President Bush has made such a mess of things in Iraq that there are no good options left, and neither Republicans and Democrats know the American people don't want to hear the truth.

Congrats on awards

CONGRATULATIONS TO the Southeast Missourian for winning multiple well-deserved awards.

Too rational

WHY WOULD a Southeast Missouri State University professor who lives in the Corn Belt risk alienating all of Southeast Missouri by writing an objective analysis of the real truth about wrong-headed indulgence in ethanol if it weren't true? Michael Devaney's lambasting of the ethanol boondoggle was a rational and lucid one and, for that reason, is bound to fail to have much influence.

Train's coming

INCREMENTALISM: You don't see it. You don't hear it. It creeps up on you until you can't see or hear at all. Look around, folks. No candy here. No this. No that. It looks and sounds a lot like the train of socialism coming down the tracks.

Grants for sidewalks

I SEE another comment questioning the money for the sidewalks in Cape Girardeau. As I understand it, most of the funding comes from grants. So could the money have been used for something else? Sure, but it would have been misappropriation of funds.

Proud to serve

THE ARMY has already made its 2006 recruiting goal of 80,000 soldiers, and it is only September. There are many who understand the threat to our way of life and are proud to put on a service uniform.