Speak Out 10/3/06

Still at war

I SUPPORT all law enforcement and all the military. We're still at war.

No on Amendment 2

VOTE NO on Amendment 2. It is deceptive. Supporters say the amendment would ban cloning, when in fact it allows the cloning of embryos to be harvested for stem cells. Where do you think researchers will get all the eggs to create these embryos? They have to surgically get them from women, putting them at risk of stroke and many other things. Sure, we all want stem-cell research to continue. Adult stem-cell research has produced many cures and will continue to do so. We do not need embryonic stem-cell research.

Protection and values

WITH NEARLY half of the nation's cases of sexually transmitted diseases occurring among adolescents and young adults, I think a condom machine in the dormitory is a good idea. Parents have had all those years to raise their children. If they don't have good Christian values instilled by then, they're not going to have them. Sex should be saved for marriage. You can't protect adults. By age 18 a child is an adult. Children see condom machines in public bathrooms, and they don't buy them there.

Protect the children

WATCHING THE tragedy of the man entering the school in Colorado and killing a girl and himself, I am alarmed. My grandchildren are in elementary school in Cape Girardeau. On many occasions, I have been uneasy when I have walked to the school and looked for the principal's office without anyone questioning why I was there. We should be more concerned about predators entering elementary schools than violence in the high schools. We need a better security system for all the doors at elementary schools. I don't think it would be an inconvenience to parents, grandparents or anyone else who had business in the school. But it might protect our children.

Unrefined production

I LOOKED up the meaning of several words to describe the picture on the Arts & Leisure page of Friday's Southeast Missourian touting the new production "Noises Off." After looking at several negative descriptions, I decided on "unrefined" since the definition is "marked by good taste and broad knowledge as the result of the development and education." Is this indicative of what we can expect of the Department of Theatre and Dance at Southeast Missouri State University?

Don't spoil the park

PLEASE DON'T spoil Common Pleas Courthouse Park by building memorials. It is a small park and has beautiful natural beauty with the large trees. We need more natural areas downtown. Don't spoil it with memorials.

Signs don't work

THE PERSON who commented about the political signs splattered all over must be a sign salesman. Anybody with good sense knows you are not going to learn anything from a big sign that says "Vote for ... ." All it is going to do is tell who has the most money to spend. You have to read about the candidates. You can't look at a big sign that is blocking the view to get any information.

Warning signs

READ RESPECTED Princeton historian Niall Ferguson's essay in the current issue of Vanity Fair magazine. The parallels between conditions prior to the fall of imperial Rome and current U.S. conditions are indisputable.

Too much explaining

MEMO TO members of Congress facing a tight race: If you have to explain -- and keep explaining -- to your constituents why the programs you support are good for them (this is specifically true of all the comprehensive immigration reform advocates), it's probably not good for them, and they know it on a level that you'll never be able to explain away.

Paying for electricity

I READ the comments about the businesses in Jackson complaining that they don't get the 10 percent discount on their electric bills and the rate is going up. How do you think low-income families are responding to this? I am one of those families. Trying to pay an electric bill that is $250 to $300 a month is hard. When you call to make payment arrangements, you're told you can't do it.

Teaching at home

PARENTS, START teaching your child about making choices at home. The school day is being eaten up with teaching social and behavioral skills that were never taught in schools 30 years ago. Parents have stopped caring how their children act in public and have told themselves that these skills are for the schools to teach their children. Parents are teaching their children less and less. Teach your children how to navigate our society.

Protection in a shot

I HAVE seen people die from cervical cancer. I would not hesitate to have my daughter vaccinated to prevent it from happening to her. Vaccinations have stopped children and adults from having to suffer from some pretty nasty diseases. I would think any parent would support such measures.

Teaching nutrition

I SUPPORT the ban on sodas and candy at schools. Parents who feel that their authority has been threatened by it likely abuse sugary food themselves and don't want to admit it or face the looks from their children when they come home from school every day. Thanks are in order for the state officials who are trying to save children from their careless parents by teaching them a thing or two about good nutrition.

Teaching choices

TOO MUCH time is wasted teaching children good choices? A lot of time in my classroom is spent on teaching students to make good choices, but it is not time that is being wasted. I cannot teach reading, writing, math, science or social studies when I have students who think it is acceptable to crawl on the floor, hit and kick people and make rude comments to other people in the classroom. Yes, it is sad that teachers have to teach some students the appropriate way to behave in public, but that is the way things are.