Speak Out 9/18/06

Tea time

I THINK Cape Girardeau County residents should have a Boston Tea Party. Remember history? Our county commission and former auditor Weldon Macke can't remember their promises not to collect county road taxes if we passed a sales tax. We did that. County taxes are not due until Dec. 31, 2006, and the revenue is for 2007 use. The new sales tax starts Jan. 1, 2007, and that is also for 2007 use. That's double taxation. That is called having your cake and eating it too. If the county commissioners can't honor their promises, they need to resign. They don't own our county.

Parade trash

THE FAIR parade was terrific, but it was unbelievable how much trash people left behind. Why is it that the people of this area throw their trash on the ground for somebody else to clean up? Why is it that we have fallen so low that we can't pick up our own trash? I would hope the city and the fair board will do something about this next year.

Not the same

CONSERVATIVES SHOULD not be giddy about the increasingly likely chance that the GOP will retain control of both houses of Congress, since there is no longer any relationship between being a conservative and being a Republican.

Divide and win

TWENTY OR 30 years from now Iraq will have been divided into three mini-states and the war on terror will have been won.

Collecting twice

FORMER CAPE Girardeau County auditor Weldon Macke is wrong in thinking the Southeast Missourian owes the commissioners an apology for the recent editorial concerning the possibility of double taxation. Regardless of whether the commissioners said the property tax would be removed this year, it is obvious the county is collecting twice and should reverse that decision. By the way, I do not remember any commissioner saying that the property tax would remain in effect for another year. Will the commissioners decide at the end of 2007 that they want to collect it again? Citizens, we cannot trust politicians to not spin the truth for their advantage. Thank you, Speak Out, for printing this.

Goal is success

LAWS LIKE No Child Left Behind and tests like the MAP prevent teachers from teaching only the basics. We teach spelling, reading, writing, math, science, social studies, handwriting, computers, social skills and test-taking strategies, to name a few. If you know a teacher who is in it for the money, please tell me what district he or she works for. Teaching is not about making money. I do not know one single teacher who gets paid what he deserves for all the stress he puts up with and long hours he puts in. I do not understand the need for parents and teachers to blame each other for low test scores. We should all have the best interests of our children in mind. If students are taught concepts at school that are practiced and reinforced at home, we will all have a better chance of being successful.

Trash and trail

I KNOW everyone loves the SEMO District Fair, but can we be a little more courteous? I live on Hawthorne Road, and I am not happy with all the trash that has been left both in front and behind my house. I also frequent the walking trail, but I had to dodge the trolley more than once while on the trail. I thought vehicles were not allowed on the trail. I saw other vehicles on the trail as well. This is dangerous. We should not have to sacrifice our exercise for the fair.

Finally, it's right

THE FAMOUS roundabout has been improved greatly. The latest change is neat. The circle roadway has been raised to the level of the center section. If you are going straight ahead you only have to swerve a little bit and not slow down at all. Such a brilliant idea. The traffic engineers and designers can come out from under their desks at last.

Juicy advice

CHERRY JUICE is available at most stores. I get mine in the juice aisle. I use it for my arthritis and gout.

Dropout reason

ABOUT THE dropout rates at Central High School: I went to Central from ninth grade until my second semester of my junior year. I made A's and B's. My junior year I started getting sick and had to have my tonsils removed. I missed a lot of school and dropped out because I could not catch up. When my mother and I went to talk to the school about what I could do, the administrators were not helpful at all. They basically told me to drop out. Now I have my GED and have started college. Maybe if school officials cared a little more about their students they wouldn't have such a high dropout rate.

Law of the land

HAVING SERVED more than 20 years in the military and having followed the rules of military justice and the Geneva Conventions, I find it unexplainable how the commander in chief can break the law of this land and expect that his cronies in Congress will rewrite the law to protect him. Let us not forget that we have young men and women in harm's way. If we give up the protections fought for many years ago, they will be fair game for whoever wants to play. Call your representatives and senators today and tell them to never give any administration the authority to break the laws of this land.

What we go through

THERE ARE plenty of teachers who want to teach but do it despite the daily frustration of having to deal with students who don't want to learn, students whose parents attack the teachers whenever we point out that a student has not learned sufficiently to pass the class. It is unbelievable what teachers and administrators have to go through. We will not make any progress in students' achieving parity with the rest of the world. We used to have superiority. The pressure is to pass these students whether or not they learn anything. If we don't, we are subject to the wrath of the parents and the courts.