Speak Out A 1/15/01

Refuting the facts

SINCE I am an anti-rationalist and believe in intuition and going with your gut feeling, it was comforting to me to read where SEMO's Art Wallhausen flatly denied the fact-based empirical study concluding that schools supposedly as affordable as SEMO are too expensive. For a top-ranking university official to flatly refute precise empirical data because of his abiding faith that the facts are wrong is heartwarming. There are higher truths than mere facts, and Wallhausen is privy to them. Good for him, and good for SEMO.

More administrators

IT'S REALLY ironic that, at a time university employees are not getting raises and the cost of insurance is increasing, we are hiring three more vice presidents. That's three, at a time when the governor is cutting the budget. The university's budget has been cut twice, but it can find the money to make three new positions at the vice president level. I wish somebody would look into this in earnest.

Not worth it

IF IT were my car that was stolen, I would not want a police officer to speed to investigate. My car is not worth even one life.

Vote for experience

I AGREE the voting public is at fault. Many people vote for the most popular candidate. Many unknown candidates seek office to serve the people, because they understand what is taking place. They don't run for office to have fun. Running for office is very time-consuming. There are times people have the opportunity to vote for a less-well-known candidate with experience, yet vote for the popular candidate. In the times we live in, which would you want?

Not God's resume

UNLIKE "WRONG resume," I do believe in a loving God who created this universe, the earth and mankind living on earth. The longer I live (65-plus years) and look around me, I too realize something is greatly wrong. Mankind has rejected the source of its existence. We have in effect said: "I want to live my way with no regulations and discipline from a mythical God hampering my fun and experiences." From the time of Adam and Eve there has been the freedom to make our own choices. And look at the results: war, diseases, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime and corruption. It appears this is a case of reaping what has been sown. If this is the best mankind can do, I am not impressed. So don't sign God's name on that resume. It would be a forgery.

A bag of tricks

STATE SEN. Morris Westfall wants to raise taxes $436 million annually to support increased spending by the Missouri Department of Transportation. This increased revenue would come from a 5-cent-a-gallon increase in fuel tax (total of 22 cents a gallon) and a three-eighths percent increase in the state sales tax. Most of the new fuel-tax money would go for roads. The sales tax increase "is largely intended to offset the diversion of existing fuel tax revenues away from other state agencies." But 20 percent of new sales tax revenue would go to other modes of transportation. Lots of luck in getting the voters to pass this bag of tricks.

Good vs. evil

MARION CARLSON'S letter to the editor was right on target. Those who are in this country illegally do not have the same rights as a citizen, and they should be deported, the sooner the better. As stated by Carlson, this is a battle between good and evil, not some emotional game with terrorists.

Big Brother's eyes

THE ONLY way you can live in our society without Big Brother keeping track of you is to use cash only. If you use a credit or debit card, your purchase is recorded by computer and kept on a computer server. A profile of you is developed by your shopping habits. If you own an automobile, one only needs your plate number to find your Social Security number. The list goes on and on. If you do not think Big Brother is watching you, think again.

TEACHERS DO not fear a competency exam. They correctly realize that there is no correlation between effective teaching and a so-called competency exam score. The decades-old classic movie, "Teachers," had it right. In that film, the best teacher by far was a certified psycho who would have had no clue on a competency exam, but he could motivate students to learn. As an apt analogy, give me a hands-on country doctor who may lack some technical knowledge as compared to a clinically cold, distant, impersonal, know-it-all, seemingly uncaring, but marginally more informed physician.

Careful spending

BEFORE SOMEONE accuses David Broder of wanting to carelessly throw more tax money at public schools, let me say that my reading of his column indicates he wants to distribute it rather carefully.

Sports is a privilege

IN REGARD to the comment that home-schooled children should have the right to participate in high school athletes: I couldn't disagree more. Schools have certain rules, regulations and disciplines that athletes must follow. How would a home-schooled student be regulated? Participating in extracurricular activities is not a right, but a privilege.