Speak Out A 07/23/03

City of neighbors

I DON'T need a Tennessee firm to tell me the attractions of our town. Cape Girardeau is where neighbors still help neighbors, be it pushing a car that is stuck in the snow or passing out tomatoes from the summer garden. Cape is where the country and city entwine on the river bank. Those who move away can't wait to return.

Bring back the roses

I HAVE always thought of Cape Girardeau as being the City of Roses. That's what it was called when I first moved here in the early 1950s. Then progress came along, and the roses were all removed for the new highway between Cape and Jackson. But don't you think $42,000 would buy and plant an awful lot of roses and restore the name City of Roses for Cape Girardeau? Let's vote on it and get all the other people involved and have a rose festival like Charleston does with the azaleas in the spring. It would be something instead of spending so much money.

Fireworks responsibility

IT REALLY doesn't matter whether it was a policeman's home or a fireman's home that burned. We either need to ban the fireworks, or we need to make the person who set off the fireworks responsible for where the fireworks landed. That would be a novel idea.

Paying administrators

THANK YOU to Callie Clark and the Southeast Missourian for trying to tell it like it is regarding administrative salaries in the school systems. Being a teacher, I see firsthand what building administrators spend their time working on. The majority of them use their time wisely. Ever-increasing discipline problems with students, parents, professional development, behind-the-scenes structural changes, committee meetings and school events require hours and hours of time away from their families. These positions warrant a competitive salary structure. I do not support, however, higher pay for a public relations job such as superintendent in lieu of hiring more teachers or compensating the current teachers.

Smut like this

I AM truly at a loss for words after reading the article about bikini bull riding at a local bar. It's not the bull riding that bothers me. I think the writer and everyone who reads this article needs a cold shower. I didn't expect to open the paper and see smut like this.

Test teens, elderly

I THINK the government should test teenagers and elderly people to make sure they can drive well enough to be on the highways every two years. Teenagers and elderly people are sometimes what causes road rage and accidents.

School inequities

ANY WAY you look at the article about the school administrators' salaries, teachers are still on the short end of the stick. One would think that teachers' responsibilities would garner a pay raise equal to administrators. There are too many chiefs, too few Indians and not enough wampum. Crowded classrooms equal reduced educational access for students. Many teachers are leaving their chosen profession to be able to support their families.

A river facility

FINALLY. A public restroom at Riverfront Park. Please give a big thank you to those responsible.

Alternative needs

I COMMEND the Cape Girardeau School Board for its plans to improve our schools. We are fortunate to have these leaders. In tailoring the curriculum and needs to each building's needs, I hope the alternative school will not be shortchanged. The students are there for various reasons, but each deserves a chance. Some are being deprived of classes they need for graduation and for getting job skills. There is need for more staff accountability and evaluation. The board members and administration should address concerns at the alternative school as carefully as at each of the other schools.

Not the lowest bidder

DO WE really want our nursing homes to end up in the same kind of shambles as our airlines just in order to continue repeating the disproven fantasy that what the marketplace says is always best? Are there no other values other than making a buck? Do you really want your grandmother's health and safety determined by the lowest bidder?

Small-town mentality

THE $42,000 for a consultant is not just for a slogan or nickname. It is to figure out what the city's identity should be in order to develop an entire marketing scheme that might appeal to people who don't know that much about Cape Girardeau and might not have otherwise ever considered coming to Cape. It goes much farther and deeper than just a catchy name or phrase. But that is Cape Girardeau for you: small town-minded.

Went too far

I SHOULD not continue to be amazed at the envelope we continue to push, but this time you guys have shocked even me. I am downright angry that you would print Matt Sanders' article and its descriptive verbiage as it relates to atmosphere surrounding the bull riding at Our House Bar & Grill. This is not responsible journalism. This is downright trash. You could have done the responsible thing and just printed the necessary information as it relates to what people need to know.