Speak Out 10/9/07

Laying the groundwork

HOLD ON to your wallets. The Southeast Missourian article to the effect that our sales tax is about average for the state falls into the category of laying the groundwork for a tax-increase proposal which will have the support of our local newspaper.

Driving consideration

I WISH drivers would stop endangering other people's lives. I had a person weave between me and another car near Cape County Park. He didn't use a turn signal and didn't slow down. I know the police can't be everywhere at once, but it would have given me great pleasure to see the driver get pulled over and ticketed. It seems that some people have a need for speed, even at the expense of other people on the road. Please be considerate and responsible drivers.

Pay to Play

Nathan Cooper entered the fray,

Flubbed up and must the piper pay.

Getting a court-ordered delay

Won't rub out the reckoning day.

Cancer awareness

I WANT to give kudos to Lifestyles Salon in Jackson for putting on the Breast Cancer Awareness Month event. They are doing a lot for being so little. Other businesses in both Cape and Jackson should follow the wonderful example being set.

Channel students

BEING ON the honor role in many high schools is meaningless. It serves to reinforce the American "anyone can do anything" false dream. Through IQ, achievement and other tests, students must be channeled into an appropriate occupational area at an early age. It would be the best for all concerned, including students at large. Parents who stand in the way of this are doing a disservice to community, state and nation.

It's a sure sign

IT MUST be fall. Someone has already complained about burning leaves in Cape Girardeau.

Great Science Day

GREAT JOB, science department at Jackson Junior High School, on your Science Day. My student really enjoyed the day, and he learned more about science. Keep up the great job.

Switch to plastic

I WORKED in banking for over 20 years. I watched as more and more checks were done away with. The debit card has replaced well over 80 percent of check's being written. Which brings me to the question I have for the Missouri Department of Revenue: Why in today's world would you not take debit cards or credit cards at license bureaus? Instead the Department of Revenue continues to pay a higher price for the processing of checks. Make sure you have all you need when you go to the license bureau is bad enough. Missouri should follow other states that have done away with state inspections and have computers for those needing to renew their tags. Stop wasting our money and use it for better things.

Ban candy, too

IF SOME people want to ban smoking because of littering and health concerns, then I want to ban candy bars and Little Debbie snacks, too. Every day I have to pick up those nasty plastic wrappers out of my yard thrown out of passing vehicles driven by overweight heart attacks waiting to happen. Have a heart, people. I'm a smoker, and it makes me out of breath to walk outside and pick up your snack packages.

Another first

WOW! ANOTHER first-place win for the Central High School Marching Tigers Saturday in Washington, Mo. Congratulations. Good luck for the upcoming events in Potosi and St. Louis.

Outstanding band

THE CENTRAL High School Marching Tigers did it again with another outstanding performance at Washington, taking first place and all the awards in their division. Keep it up. You have worked hard getting there, and it is showing with your outstanding performances.

Absent teachers

TO THE people who are complaining about teachers missing so much school: You should question the people in charge, not the teachers. I know teachers who have missed four days of school already this year, and it is because they have had to attend a meeting they did not ask to go to. Most of the time when teachers miss it is for professional development, not illness. Trust me, teachers hate being gone as much as you do.

Case for expulsion

AS A teacher and parent, I disagree with the comment that said strategic use of suspension will negate the need for expulsion. Some students commit such dangerous acts that to allow them back on campus until they have matured and received extensive counseling would create a serious risk to other students. I've had a student who set other students on fire. Even when placed in in-school suspension after having his pockets and backpack searched every morning, he somehow smuggled matches back in and set his study carrel on fire. Another student brought a gun to school. Sorry, but children like that do not need to be in school until they receive some help and are no longer a threat to others.

Mandated misses

THE MAJORITY of teacher absences are school mandated. Most teachers receive three to four personal days with strict regulations on when they can be used. All teachers, especially new teachers, miss school for meetings: collaborations, balanced literacy training, mentor/protege days. I'm not saying I agree with all of these mandatory meetings, but I'm sick of people who think that teachers are in education because of all the cushy perks. Insinuating that a teacher is not doing his or her job because he or she has been absent is ridiculous.

Jackson statue

JACKSON'S NEW mascot should be a mobile statue of none other than its namesake, Andrew Jackson. President Jackson was the founder of the Democratic Party, and his rough and tumble ways would make him a perfect fit.

Early education

THANK YOU for the editorial about the need for still earlier childhood education intervention. Unfortunately, the record shows that these efforts are effective only until about the third grade. Then the factors that make a difference in achievement dominate again: socio-economic status of the parents, educational level of the parents, birthweight of the child, whether or not English is spoken in the home and so forth.

Brain and economics

THE BUDDING science of neuroeconomics (using functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain) is demonstrating beyond doubt that many economic decisions we make are irrational. Thus, the foundation of Adam Smith's capitalistic theory that, if left alone by the government, man will make rational economic decisions for his own and, indirectly, the community's good. Who would have thought that brain-based science would have dug the grave of capitalism and inferred that it needs replacement with some kind of benevolent, paternalistic economic system?

Fight for right

CAPE GIRARDEAU decided it is cheaper and more pragmatic to pay off a lawsuit than to fight it. If our police department is right and this criminal is wrong, we should pay the extra to fight this lawsuit. I know it will cost more than giving in. Sometimes you have to pay the extra cost for what is right.

Proudly Serving

As I move about Baghdad with a pack on my back,

I pray for the future of the people of Iraq.

I wish that the anti-war crowd could for one second see

The smiling children who long to be free.

"No WMD, no problem" is what I would say.

We're still killing al-Qaida each and every day.

Don't pity my sacrifice or service in a foreign land

For I choose to serve my country and raised my right hand.

Frivolous lawsuits

I SEE where Cape Girardeau settled with an inmate currently in the Missouri Department of Corrections for $1,000. I understand the city's side of it, but I don't like reading about this on the front page of our local paper. What this story does is invite all of our local criminals to start filing even more of these frivolous lawsuits against our city. These inmates have nothing else to do but harass the law-abiding public, and it needs to stop.

Indian pride

I'M NOT sure what percentage of Cherokee Indian I am, but I'm proud to live in the home of the Jackson Indians. It was a shame that Southeast Missouri State University Indians became Redhawks. To some it's just a name. To others it's pride. Those of you who take offense at schools using the name Indians: Tough. Get over it. We are not changing our name. Next you will want Trail of Tears State Park name changed.

Right-wing group

WALTER WILLIAMS promotes the National Center For Policy Analysis for information on climate change. This is the right-wing think tank that gave us the discredited Newt Gingrich 1994 Contract With America and the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that have driven the nation into near bankruptcy. The center pushes the same tired and distorted deceptions as all the other climate skeptics use. But Williams, of course, picks just what he want to use and doesn't present the right-wing extremism of NCPA in a balanced manner.

Making discoveries

IF COLUMBUS discovered America, why were there already settled communities of Native Americans living on both sides of the Mississippi River? I thought when you discover something, you're the first person to see it. I could claim I discovered chocolate milk. It's been here a while, but I claim it as mine in the name of George Bush.