Speak Out 9/3/05

Good luck to band

LAST WEEK when I picked up my child at Central High School, I was able to watch some of the marching band practice. The band looks and sounds awesome. It is great to see such a large group of disciplined and hard-working teenagers. Good luck this season, Marching Tigers.

Scooter slowdown

I LIVE on Jackson Boulevard. I am sick and tired of young people and their motorized scooters. If they are going to drive a vehicle, they should drive one that goes over 35 mph. They do nothing but slow traffic and make the rest of us wait. They slow down school buses. Won't somebody please think of the children?

More work, less fun

THERE HAVE been many comments regarding people driving to Farmington or Poplar Bluff to go to the water parks. Going to a water park 12 times in one summer seems excessive to me. Doesn't anyone have jobs anymore? Kids should have summer jobs as well, no matter what the age. Be it a lemonade stand, washing cars or sweeping sidewalks, kids should be working part of the summer instead of daydreaming about going to the water park again.

Meaningful scores

SAT MATH scores are at a record high. The reason scores like ACT and SAT are rising while National Assessment of Educational Progress scores are mediocre or declining is simply because students realize the first two scores mean everything while the latter means nothing to them.

Using their brains

I GREW up without a water park. My children grew up without one. I guess the days of children entertaining themselves by using their imagination is over. If you can't spend a lot of money (either your own or the taxpayers') on children's entertainment, they must be terribly deprived. Those who are thus deprived may actually be the luckier ones. They're children who can play or read or draw while using their brains.

Church and state

LONG AGO, men were ruled by kings who claimed their authority was divine. Churches both granted and preached that divinity as long as the king adequately compensated the church. Kings were allowed their wars. The true purpose of most of these wars was both to protect gold and to acquire gold from areas with different kings and different churches. The people were generally content as long as their basic needs were provided and they had some access to gold. The people revolted when they had no choice but to blame their divine king for disaster, both natural and man-made. This is why Americans separate church and state. When a leader or a political party claim to be the only choice for a certain faith, we ignore the tragedy in history.

Rescue expenses

THE PEOPLE in Louisiana and Mississippi had plenty of warning to evacuate. If they didn't leave and had to be rescued, they should be responsible for paying the expense for their stupidity.

Lovely chimes

THERE ARE eight different selections that are played on the carillon at Southeast Missouri State University, including "Alma Mater," "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" and "The Missouri Waltz." I think it's lovely to listen to the rotation of these songs throughout the day.

Basic education

I DISAGREE with Mike Devaney's column advocating selective status for Southeast Missouri State university. I'm a nontraditional student. I already spend three or four hours every week studying, and I only take 12 hours. Going to selective status would likely cause me to drop out of college since I wouldn't be able to increase my study time while working to support my kids and pay tuition too. Please, SEMO, remember that not everyone wants an ivory-tower education like Harvard.

Vet can't get a job

IT IS a sad day when, after serving this country faithfully for 20 years, a decorated military veteran cannot come home and get a decent job because the citizens in this community whose rights he has fought for won't hire him. What does this country stand for?

Alarm over oil

WAKE UP, America. This is a wake-up call for oil. Why are we shipping oil from the Alaskan pipeline overseas? Why are refineries in the United States owned by foreign companies? Wake up, federal legislators. Let them know how you feel about these gasoline prices.

Insightful, delightful

THANK YOU for the new Garrison Keillor column in the your paper. He is always insightful, delightful and right on target.

Prepare now

THIS IS just a heads up to the people in Sikeston, Cape Girardeau and St. Louis areas. If anything catastrophic ever happens here like an earthquake or tornado, you better secure your downtown areas now, because certain people who will try to loot those areas. Be prepared for what may happen.

Build on high ground

MY HEART goes out to the residents of New Orleans. We will be making a contribution to the Red Cross. But when we rebuild New Orleans, I wonder if we shouldn't look at the flood plain and only build houses in places that are above the flood plain. It doesn't make sense to build houses in a hole where a levee break would flood houses again.

Doesn't make sense

ISN'T IT odd that the Division of Family Services can track down deadbeat dads and collect child-support payments, yet they can't find the person the money is supposed to go to. I find that very ironic.

Think about savings

SCOTT CITY schools should be thinking about the high price of gasoline and what they can do about basketball and football practice so parents don't have to spend so much on gas running back and forth from school to pick up and drop off their kids.

Four-day schedule?

WITH THE gasoline shortage the way it is, I believe businesses should offer to let their employees work four 10-hour days. I'm sure people would rotate enough to save gas at least one day a week. I hope some businesses in Cape Girardeau will consider this. It's just an idea, but it sure would help our budgets.

Disgusted with scum

WITH THE disaster on the Gulf Coast, the suffering loss of life and misery, you still have the scum of the earth looting and stealing. They are taking advantage of a national tragedy that should have everyone working together. These same people are also in line for help by the government. It makes one sick of some of our so-called human race.

Mental muscle

MATH BUILDS mental muscle, and English majors should be required to take it. Mental muscle is also built by playing video games and may be one of the reasons our national IQ has risen several points in the past few decades.

Near minimum wage

I REALIZE there has been a tragedy that affects gasoline prices, but is it fair for the federal minimum wage to be $5.15 an hour while a gallon of gasoline is nearing $3?