Speak Out 4/25/05

Safety first

I'M GLAD the schools kept students from leaving during the recent storm. I remember one year at St. Mary's School there was a tornado warning. Even the parents waiting in the parking lot to pick up their children were asked to come inside and wait until the storm blew over. Thank you, St. Mary's, for caring about your students and parents instead of worrying about schedules.

Growth factor

I AM a Cape Girardeau resident who is moving to Jackson solely because of the school system, which offers more opportunities academically and athletically. The Jackson school system has made it to the top by the hard work of everyone in the community. Please keep it that way. If something is not done with the outdated high school, Jackson will see its past efforts depleted by younger generations leaving for better schools. Why is Jackson growing so fast? Excellent schools.

Blowing our finances

I JUST finished reading about the moronic decision made by the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents and student government to raise student fees to pay for a new pool. As a 22-year-old full-time student whose spouse also is in school, not to mention we both work as much as we possibly can to barely put food on our table and pay for school, we think this increase for a pool is just fabulous. Why did the university close the Parker pool? Why does it keep finding new ways to blow our finances all over the place? I would like to thank all involved for asking the student body how we felt about it. We all should be proud to be a part of Southeast Missouri State University.

Wonderful weed

I CAN understand complaints about litter, but now someone complains about my dandelions? What other flower provides one with so much enjoyment. It's a pretty splash of yellow when it blossoms. When it goes to seed it gives my children great enjoyment as they blow the little parachute seeds off the stem. Not only that, but the leaves provide a delightful tea.

Boat in the desert

I DON'T understand how Southeast Missouri State University can say it's losing money running these learning centers in Sikeston, Kennett and Malden in one sentence, and in the same breath approve the building of a new aquatic center. If that isn't talking out of both sides of one's mouth, then I don't know what is. SEMO, if you live in the desert and your well is going dry, you don't build a boat for a flood that might come in the future.

Principal is the difference

MY DAUGHTER attends North Elementary, and we supported the Jackson School District bond issue. Why, living out in the county, did we do this? Because of the greatest principal I have meet in this district so far. Mr. Gross knows every student by name and most of their families. He can be seen greeting students in the morning, doing the morning announcements and assuring they are on the right bus in the afternoon. He is available to the students and their family and works hard to keep children looking forward to going to school.

Quick solution

SUGGESTION: Eliminate the taxpayer-funded retirement program for elected officials. Let them pay into the Social Security system like the rest of us. As a bonus, make them pay for their own health care -- and watch how quickly that issue gets resolved.

Change focus

YOU HAVE to love the logic at Southeast Missouri State University. It wants more students, so it raises student fees. The justification for the aquatic center is "everybody else has one." Instead of always being an also-ran at keeping up with the Joneses, why doesn't the university focus on being a really great small school?

Generous donations

I WOULD like to thank all the people and especially the high school kids for their generous donations at our roadblock on April 15 for the American Cancer Society. We have all been touched in one way or another by cancer. The support we received from in Jackson will help in someday finding a cure. Thanks to everyone.

Good ideas?

IF THE economy is so strong and privatizing Social Security is such a good idea, why is it that my stock market portfolio is consistently month-by-month going down? And if the Bush tax cuts were such a great idea, why is it my taxes are going up?

Paying for shrubbery

SINCE SOUTHEAST Missouri State University moved to a higher sports division, it has raised fees, tuition and board tremendously. My daughter and her husband -- both graduates of Southeast -- chose to send their children to Springfield. They no longer liked Southeast's attitude toward their students. Springfield is not cheaper. CBS News had a segment on choosing a college. The presenter stated that parents should check to see if increases in fees were to pay for a better education or to pay for more "shrubbery." How much shrubbery can Southeast get out of its students?

Costly athletics

A RECENT comment mentioned that there would be nothing to do in Jackson if it were not for the high school. That kind of thinking is exactly the reason I continue to vote no for any improvements. Not all of Jackson's residents hold the view that the world revolves around Jackson football. I'll vote yes on a bond issue if Jackson eliminates all of these costly athletic activities and sticks to reading, writing and arithmetic.

Walking dogs in street

THE DOG walkers on Ridge Road in Jackson are back with a vengeance. I nearly ran over them this morning. These women have got to learn that they have a right to walk their dogs, but not in the middle of the road during peak traffic hours. There are ample safe roads to walk on during those hours. They should have enough common sense to see the entire field of play and stay out of the middle of the street.

Make users pay

I PRAISE Southeast Missouri State University for making students pay for the pool improvements. Jackson School District wants everybody to pay whether you use its services or not.

Separate sections

I APPRECIATE separate sections for smoking and non-smoking customers, but why in most restaurants do you have to walk through the smoking section to get to the non-smoking section? And what good does it do to have sections if the smoke is allowed to drift into the non-smoking? I do not have anything against someone who wants to smoke, but I should not have to breath that smoke.

A bad plan

IT IS ludicrous to reduce the number of state legislators to one per county. If that were to happen, some counties such as Cape Girardeau County would get an advantage over the much larger counties around St. Louis and Kansas City. Would it be fair for Cape Girardeau County to have the same influence as St. Louis County? This kind of unequal representation was one of the ways black voters were diluted by grouping large black populations together in one district while dividing up the white areas into many districts with less population. Fortunately, this practice was deemed unconstitutional in the 1960s.

Abuses of the wealthy

EVERYONE TALKS about how horrific the Medicaid situation is, claiming that it is being severely abused. If people are going to obsess about abuse of Medicaid money, then let's talk about the wealthy who lie on income-tax returns, insurance companies that won't pay claims, large corporations that pay top executives outrageously large salaries while failing to provide insurance to faithful subordinates and pharmaceutical companies that charge inconceivable sums of money for medication while funneling millions of dollars to doctors just to smooze them. Let's talk about politicians who abuse taxpayer money by traveling first-class and dining in the finest restaurants that the average American cannot afford. When people start addressing the abuses of the wealthy, then maybe I'll start listening to all the rhetoric about Medicaid abuse.