Speak Out A 05/15/02

Placing the blame

I'VE LISTENED to so-called grunge music, which declined as a style about six years ago, since the early 1990s and to rock music all my life. Not once did music influence me to make a pipe bomb, kill or maim anyone, have sex, drink or take drugs, nor have I ever even heard reference in a song to making a pipe bomb for blowing up mailboxes. Quit looking for ridiculous scapegoats. Put the blame on the kid, not on music or movies or TV or anything else.

Can't afford it

I AM coming to the conclusion that the state and the city simply cannot afford the $35 million to $40 million needed for the River Campus project. The current budgetary problems of the state and city make this more evident. I'd like to see the city expend its resources to help reduce traffic congestion on Route K, and the university needs to do what it can to keep tuition affordable and to offer a good, basic education to young people of its service area, primarily Southeast Missouri.

State scholar champs

THE ARTICLE in Saturday's paper regarding the Scholar Bowl team was just wonderful. Congratulations to the state champs and those who work with them. It is a sad commentary on a society geared more towards PE than academics.

Policeman just watched

I WOULD like to add something to the person who called in about the police writing tickets. From time to time we hear about the city wanting to install cameras at stoplights to catch people who run them. A few days ago, I was at the stoplight at Kingshighway and William. I was in the far right lane, and a city police officer was next to me. We were both at the front of our respective lanes. When our light turned green, a pickup from the other side of the road made a left turn in front of us. To my shock, the policeman did nothing. Whatever happened to enforcing the law?

Other spending factors

NOT SO fast. The federal government is not spending more than it is taking in mainly as a result of the war on terrorism as your Sunday editorial said. Rather, it is deficit spending again mainly due to the Bush tax cut, the recession and unprecedented pork-barrel spending.

Studying the issues

NO, STATE Sen. Peter Kinder is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, opinion poll-driven politician. He seriously studies the issues and acts accordingly. Some of his constituents may be upset with him, but the Founding Fathers would be most proud because he has upheld their constitutional intent that we are a republic. He has not succumbed, as have so many spineless pols, to mobocracy.

High-tech sham

YOUR EDITORIAL paean to high-tech learning needs to be tempered with the sobering realization that there is not one scintilla of evidence indicating these gizmos in any way expedite or improve learning. Schools tend to purchase these expensive computers and related equipment because kids think they're cool, and parents do too. They wrongly believe they improve learning. Businesses put extraordinary heat on schools to invest big bucks in what is little more than a sham.

Suspect statistics

ALL I hear about the concealed-weapon debate is "statistics show" or "statistics prove." I have never in my life seen any statistics that say crime was lowered by giving more people guns, and I honestly believe that supporters have just told themselves that this is the truth. Statistics lie, and until someone tells me exactly where I can find a study not funded by the NRA that says concealed weapons lowered crime, I'm not going to believe it.

Thanks for free lunch

A LADY with whom I taught school didn't wait for the Random Acts of Kindness week to do a good deed. She secretly bought my lunch at a local restaurant. Thank you.

DON'T WORRY about criminals invading your home with guns. Your loved one is much more likely to be killed by an accidental shooting with a gun owned for self-defense. Don't worry about carjackers with guns. I would worry about the guy with no criminal record with a gun in the glovebox who'll shoot me for speeding or looking at him the wrong way on the highway. I would worry about getting hit by stray bullets after a bar fight turns into a gunfight. I would worry about the guy with the short temper who starts firing away when a petty argument turns violent or he gets fed up with his boss at work. Welcome to the world of concealed weapons. I wouldn't want to infringe on anyone's rights.

Funding flunks

THE REAL tale told by Gary Rust's dazzling display of dollars spent on public education in the 1990s is that, when adjusted for inflation, the Show Me State's financial commitment to public education is flunking.

A lack of trust

THOSE WHO are opposed to the proposed concealed-carry law being debated in the state legislature should consider this: It is already legal for people from other states to pass through this state in their cars with concealed weapons. Therefore, why is it not legal for me to do the same? If I want to carry a firearm in my auto, it has to be in plain view. What is legal for out-of-state persons is illegal for Missouri citizens. This is ludicrous. It also shows a lack of trust for Missouri citizens by our state government.

I KNOW that we've had too much rain and the storms have caused untold damage, including some deaths. My sympathy to those who have suffered and to farmers who are still waiting to get into their fields. But in the midst of all this is a certain beauty that comes only from God's hand as spring colors and lush foliage unfold everywhere we look. For this, I give thanks.