Speak Out 12/19/03

Leave the band alone

I'M A former Bengal Lancer. I moved here in seventh grade and joined the school band. We had one director, Ron Nall, a wonderful man. I went to junior high and senior high with one, then two, directors. My last two years in school we had a third director. Central High School's band is a competition band. You have to have the best to be the best. Cutting one director will bring down the band. Many of those kids get college scholarships based on their talents. What has happened in the last 20 years that you can't budget what you have anymore. I graduated in the 1980s. They did it back then. Why can't they do it now? Leave the band alone.

Ambulance idea

EVERYONE IS offering a solution to the Cape Girardeau Fire Department's budget issues. Here's mine. Instead of buying cheaper vehicles to drive on emergency medical calls, buy ambulances. The city already requires all of the firefighters to be medically trained and pays to maintain their licenses. They started running medical-assistance calls because residents were complaining about the level of care and the response times of ambulances. If the city started its own fire department-based ambulance service like most cities have, it could bill and recover the cost. City and the county budgets pay for emergency medical service responses twice: once by the fire department and once by a private ambulance service.

Keep band directors

I WAS at the school board meeting Monday along with many of my friends. I think the one thing the school board hasn't realized is that Mr. LaMar is still young and is an inspiration to us all. He understands our feelings and believes in us. We need to keep all three band directors with the size of our band. What doesn't make sense is that we have 120 people in band. How many people are on the football team? Less then that. Why not cut an assistant coach? There are plenty of coaches. Thank you to Mr. LaMar, Mr. Keys and Mr. Casey for all their hard work. I appreciate it.

A red-letter day

SATURDAY, DEC. 13 was a red-letter day that will go down in history for Southeast Missouri and the world: the dedication of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and the capture of Saddam Hussein. I'd like to thank our men and women who serve in armed services, President Bush and U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. Truly, a job well-done. All of you will continue to have my support and prayers.

More bang for the bucks

I'M TIRED of hearing the Cape Girardeau School District administrators whine about how much is being cut from their budgets. Let's look at the facts. I have a friend who works in the Jackson School District who tells me Jackson schools have more students than Cape and a much smaller budget. Why can't Cape look at Jackson as an example of how to get more bang for the taxpayers' buck? Why did Cape hire all the new folks in the central office last summer? That would be one place I would definitely look if I wanted to save some money. We need to protect the kids in the classroom, not some paper pusher in the administrative offices.

Multiple choice

LET ME see if this is correct. Which one is more important to the education of children? a. Three newly hired administrators at the Cape Girardeau School District central office who are not part of the budget cuts, b. seven classroom teachers who are being laid off, c. none of the above (apparently).

More information

THERE ARE probably more vegetarians and vegans out here than Scott Moyers realizes. I'm glad to see a new restaurant coming to town with some vegetarian entrees. Moyers should do us a courtesy and tell us a little more rather than making fun of what we eat.