SPEAKOUT

Build a monument

CHANCELLOR NITZSCHKE has been so successful in Washington, verifying the correct mailing address of SEMO University so SEMO gets our tax dollars, that we may have to up our taxes even more in order to give him a raise. The least the city and the university can do is start a covert operation to raise the hotel/restaurant tax in order to erect a Nitzschke statue alongside the Stroup fountain.

It's about money

A RECENT Speak Out caller was criticizing Dick Cheney for driving a Lexus automobile, and wondering if this man would protect people's jobs. I'd like to remind this caller to look back at how Clinton pushed for the WTO deal with China and the NAFTA deal. You can't tell me this WTO thing with China isn't going to cost American jobs. So who's protecting American jobs? The politicians are all alike. If you give them money, they're on your side. If you don't give them money, they forget you.

Enforce the rules

IF JACKSON school officials want to convince us to vote yes on bond issues, they have to gain our respect again. The lack of respect in the classroom is terrible, as is the lack of discipline. Enforce the dress code. When I volunteer at the school, I see bare midriffs and navels. I see boys with pants sagging around their knees. I hear students talking back to their teachers. When I asked one teacher about this, she said that the student was kicked out of his previous school, but we can't do anything about him because Jackson wants the numbers. They want the money. That's the bottom line. I have lost my respect for the Jackson School District. It is not the upstanding district that it used to be.

Twisted logic

DAVID LIMBAUGH'S recent stab at an Aristotelian syllogism ending with "therefore the Republicans are anti-Semitic" was the most twisted and tortured attempt at logical reasoning in the history of western philosophy. Poor Aristotle, the father of logic, will be agonizing and twisting in his grave throughout the third millennium.

Street work needed

WHAT IS Jim Drury so upset about? I don't understand why he's so against getting taxes for repairing the roads. Has he ever driven around Cape for a whole day or a weekend to see how bad some of the roads are? Some aren't even paved. There's a gravel road in a neighborhood right off William Street. I'd like to know why he's so mad. Please respond, Mr. Drury.

Slap in the face

SO THE president of Venezuela is visiting Iraq asking that economic sanctions be lifted in this country. This is a slap in the face to the United States. I bet you one thing, that the U.S. is still giving Venezuela foreign aid. I'm wondering, since this president has seen fit to kiss up to Saddam Hussein, if the U.S. will continue to send money to Venezuela. Venezuela also stated a few weeks ago that they would not raise oil production.

This isn't right

I'D LIKE To say a word about our politicians. It would be really great if they would keep their promises. Our politicians keep saying to look what they've done with Medicare and Social Security. They want every American covered by insurance. I am a veteran of World War II, having served from August 1942 to November 1945. I was on the island of Guam when the war ended. I paid Medicare insurance, and when I go to my family doctor, Medicare will pay 80 percent of the office charge. Yet when I go to the Veterans Administration doctor, Medicare won't pay a dime. Now this doesn't sound right to me. Does it to you?

Jackson sidewalks

I'M A 17-year-old Jackson high school student, and I feel that sidewalks in subdivisions would be a nice addition to Jackson. Sidewalks would provide a place for people to jog and walk without the danger of traffic. They also would make the community more attractive to families considering Jackson as a future home. Sidewalks should also be incorporated into existing neighborhoods, because newer subdivisions are on the outskirts of Jackson.

History lesson

SOMEONE MENTIONED the high morals of the Republican Party. The caller mentioned President Harding. What a laugh. He conceived a baby in the Oval Office, and he had a mistress practically during his whole administration. He could make Clinton look like a disciple. And Herbert Hoover? He may have had high morals, but he ordered troops to throw tear gas at the veterans' bonus march. And he refused to do anything to help the farmers during the Depression. All Hoover did was bash Roosevelt's New Deal idea during the campaign. He was a rich man's president, just like his political descendants Reagan and Bush are. The Republicans may in some ways have high morals, but in other ways, they have very low morals by letting the poor go without national health care and letting those veterans go without their bonus. The veterans were starving after they came home from fighting World War I.

Five won't help

I DON'T know why the Chamber thinks five lanes on Mount Auburn Road will help move traffic. The people in Cape Girardeau and many surrounding areas do not know how to handle a car or drive in a lane anyway. They make left-hand turns into a right-hand lane. Make right-hand turns into a left-hand lane. They never use their turn signals except to hang their keys on. They don't even obey the four lanes that are on Mount Auburn. What difference would five lanes make?

Pave quickly

OK, MR. Mayor and city employees. The citizens of Cape Girardeau did our part: We passed the transportation sales tax. Now I'd like to ask a favor of you. Why can we not be kept better informed as to what projects are going on and how long they'll take? All the streets in Cape look like the pavement has been ripped up. I understand they're going to be repaved, but this has been about a week since I noticed it. How long is this going to take before they're fixed? Other than these things, keep up the good work.