Speak Out 12/12/08

Beautiful decorations

I THINK the downtown merchants and Old Town Cape have done a good job with the street decorations. They're beautiful. Downtown should be very proud of them.

Time for change

THE CALLER who was offended by the comparison of president-elect Obama to Abraham Lincoln needs to chill out. After Lincoln was elected, he named some of his most bitter rivals to Cabinet posts. That is exactly what Obama is trying to do: move us forward from the poisoned partisan policies of the past. In doing this, he is going to anger both Democrats and Republicans bent on maintaining the status quo. He campaigned on change, and he has a clear and refreshing vision for our country, which we all need. Let's give him the chance to succeed or fail trying to do something positive. With our country in the shape it's in, this is no time for sour grapes. Change is needed, and change is good.

Wearing coats

IT HAS come to my attention that some elementary schools have been requiring children whose coats have been lost or stolen to wear one from the school's lost and found pile. The argument is that the child is required to go to recess. This is a health concern, especially in a time when staph infections are on the rise. Teachers would, no doubt, be offended if their forgotten coats were loaned out to complete strangers. I understand the need to address a situation where responsibility for personal property is repeated, but this is ridiculous. Have you never misplaced your coat, keys or wallet?

Teacher assessment

MY CHILDREN all graduated in the top 5 percent of their classes, taking AP courses and advanced courses from ninth grade on in the Cape Girardeau School District. They rarely had to study, not because they were so smart, but because the curriculum in those classes was watered down. The exception was AP chemistry. All three went to college, and two are in graduate school. All of them found they were woefully unprepared, especially in writing. I work with at-risk junior high and high school students. They say their teachers act like they are a waste of the teacher's time. Get some teachers and administrators who love children and love teaching, not those who are merely working toward retirement.

Don't blame unions

UNIONS ARE not the downfall of American companies. Businesses succeed or fail from the top down, period. There are plenty of businesses with no union affiliation, such as AIG and Lehman Brothers, that failed because of mismanagement. The automakers made massive profits for decades with union workers. These automakers are failing because no one wants cars that get 12 mpg anymore.

Employees of the year

I WANT to congratulate the city's 2008 employees of the year for the police and fire departments. They have earned it. I also want to make sure that all of the city's employees of the year are recognized. We shouldn't forget those in public works, parks, city hall and developmental services. They are no less important than the police and fire department and deserve to be recognized just the same. Congratulations to all of our city employees of the year. The public works department would like to have our 2008 employee of the year recognized. We want to publicly thank Cyndi Laster for all of the hard work she does and let her know just how appreciative we are. Thank you so much for everything that you do, Cyndi.

Marking the lanes

I AGREE that lines on streets needing to be better marked. When it is raining, you cannot see the white lines or the yellow lines on hardly any street in Cape Girardeau or Jackson. This situation has been mentioned in Speak Out for a long time, and nothing is being done about it. Route K-William Street is especially bad. Are we going to wait until someone loses his life? We need to take tax dollars and get these lines painted immediately.

Academic success

I AM a parent who gets free lunches for my child. My child is on the A honor roll. I would like to see a survey in the Cape Girardeau School District of the grades of students who don't get free or reduced lunches. Preparing for academic success in the freshman year is useless. Do this in third grade. And who cares if teachers have advanced degrees? If they don't teach, it doesn't matter anyway. Last week the English teachers took off two days to grade papers. If they're not in the classroom, they can't be teaching.

Free air for tires

THIS IS to answer the person who has a problem with paying for air to put in tires at the gas station. There are a lot of places where you don't have to pay for your air. Go to another station.

Finding graves

I WANT to commend Terrell Weaver for the wonderful job he's doing in helping families locate the unmarked graves of their loved ones buried in Cape Girardeau's cemeteries. I understand he has spent many hours searching records and working with funeral homes trying to locate burial sites. He recently helped me locate a grave site and place a marker for my great-grandmother. Thank you, Mr. Weaver.