SPEAKOUT

In favor of school uniforms

I'M CALLING in response to the comment where someone referred to school uniforms as being a lot like Hitler's uniforms and said uniforms bring bad memories. The uniforms in which that person was speaking of were Hitler Youth uniforms. That's right. We do the same thing only we call it Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts. Uniforms are not a bad idea. I think I've been out of school for about 10 years. When I was in school, who ran with who and your social ranking were determined by the clothes you wore. Even though the styles are different than 10 years ago, it still happens today. All the uniform does is take away the other reason for going to school: who's the coolest. School is for learning, not for what's in style. That should be an extracurricular activity.

Republicans should use this

IF THE Republicans don't use this Chinese issue as a political pull to stand on, they may lose the election. Here we go again. Republicans are forgetting that this thing with the Chinese getting a lot of information about our weapons was under Carter. It was also under Republicans. It was under Reagan, it was under Bush and, of course, under Clinton. How come you all never talk about your senators?

Not heroes, but destroyers

THIS IS in response to the comment, "Board member confuses duty." I think the caller is the one who is confused with the duties of a board member. I'm not a friend of Bob Fox or his wife, so this is not a personal defense. I am, however, a parent and a taxpayer. Yes, a board member is supposed to do what is best for the district as a whole, but alienating your staff and taxpaying parents is not a good idea. I respect Fox for his vote. The others think they are doing what's best for the district but, in the long run, they're not. They have done nothing but cheapen the quality of education here in Cape. As a parent, this makes me very angry. They don't care if we are losing good staff because they have stated they can be replaced with someone cheaper. They'll pat themselves on the back for being tough and saving the district money. Central High School has always in the past graduated more with honors and scholarships and sent them off to good colleges. But you'll be glad to know that this will all change. Then we'll be like all the other districts in the area that just have one prep period. We'll just be mediocre. Our children will be the big losers in this situation. Eventually, hopefully and prayerfully, the big tough guys who say it's our way or the highway will realize instead of being the heroes, they are the destroyers.

Smart political move

A SPEAK Out commentator wondered why Southeast Missouri State University went all the way to Texas to try to find an architect. It's because they want to start doing business with concerns in the state currently run by the next president of the United States. I think it was a smart political move.

Bridge in wrong place

I WAS just reading about the concerns about the bridge that somebody's head should roll in Jefferson City. I agree 100 percent with that. I think that bridge was put in the wrong place to start with.

One carpenter against unions

REGARDING THE ads in the paper you recently ran about the carpenters' union. I just want to say that the carpenters' union is the last thing we need here in Cape Girardeau. As a carpenter, I don't need my hard-earned money going to pay union dues and those dues going out of town to some wealthy union boss in Chicago or Las Vegas or New York. I think local carpenters know what's best, and the last thing we need is a union.

It the parents' responsibility

IN REGARD to the person who thinks the preachers need to get on the kids about drinking: The last time I checked, it is the parents' job to get on the kids make them understand that drinking and fighting are wrong. That's part of what's wrong with our society. Parents keep trying to push the responsibility for their children off onto preachers and teachers and to anyone else. It should be their job to get on the kids, it's not the preacher.

Like a three-ring circus

I'D LIKE to comment on Southeast Missouri State University. I've gone there for two years. I would like to say it is like a three-ring circus. I talk to friends who go to other schools. They say SEMO's a joke with all its silly billings and parking situation.

Chaffee resident unhappy with police

I WOULD like to express my disappointment in the Chaffee Police Department. Apparently some of the officers do not have anything better to do than harass people. On one occasion an officer followed me around town and passed me at least six times before pulling me over for a brake light being out. Why didn't he stop me the first time that he passed me, instead of the sixth or seventh? On another occasion, my friend was stopped by an officer as she was walking across the road, and he told her that if she waved at someone again and they pulled over and talked to her that he would write them both a ticket. I guess in Chaffee it is against the law to wave at someone now. Well, they had better start writing a lot of tickets because I see people wave at other people all the time. Also, when there is a new officer on the force the other officers like to show off and pull over to people and shine their flashlights in people's faces (for no apparent reason, other than to show off) and ask them what they are doing and why they are there. It is none of their business what the person is doing. This city has a new ordinance every day. How is a person supposed to keep up with them all? Maybe they should publish them in the paper so everyone would know them all. Then worst of all, when you go the police station to complain about an officer, they laugh it off. No one does anything about it. And they tell the officer that someone came in and complained about them. In turn, the officer comes and tracks you down and tells you things like they can be nice to your or mean to you by making your life in Chaffee harder than it already is. That sounds like a threat to me. Certain officers in Chaffee need to find more constructive things to do while on duty than harass people, and the city needs to find better officers to do their jobs. No wonder there are so many houses for sale in Chaffee. No one wants to live there anymore~. So when you come into Chaffee and see the signs that say "Chaffee -- The City With a Smile," think again, because it's anything other than that.

Missing important information

IN A recent editorial, you criticized the Sierra Club for filing suit to block federal highway funding for environmental reasons. What was not mentioned is that the Sierra Club's suit is targeted only at the St. Louis metro area, which is where the biggest air-pollution problems are, and not Southeast Missouri. Apparently you forgot to mention this seemingly important bit of information. On the other hand, according to the American Lung Association, the particular pollutant in question is usually harmful only to children with asthma and the elderly. I can see where any group putting the health of those people ahead of economic development could be considered pretty extreme.

Working but in need of help

I AM 66 years old. My doctors and everyone have said I am capable of going back to work. In the past three years I have lost my husband, had two eye operations, had two strokes, had a heart attack and had surgery for it. I have gone back to work. Now that I am back to work, the government is taking approximately 23 percent of my pay, yet they say that I'm making over $900 a month. I'd like to know how I'm doing that on $6 an hour and I'm only working 25, possibly 30, hours a week. I'd like to know why I can't get at least a little bit of help with food stamps, if nothing else. I'm busting my buns, and I don't know which way to turn. I've still got my rent to pay. I've still got my utilities to pay. And they say this is above what a single person should do. Well, single or not, this single person is still paying the rent, the utilities, everything. I just don't understand it. Maybe somebody else out there can explain it to me.

No trust in lying president

THE PRESIDENT of Yugoslavia has accomplished his goal. He's run off or killed most of the Moslems and Serbians in Yugoslavia. Now he wants peace. But our president doesn't trust the Yugoslav president because the president is a known liar. Oh, that's the Yugoslav president who is the known liar.

Who are the extremists?

NOW LET'S see: On the one hand we have Bond, Emerson, the Southeast Missourian and all their friends leading the fight for more highways and more air pollution. And on the other, the Sierra Club and the Coalition for the Environment fighting for clean air in St. Louis, air that humans can safely breathe. Who exactly are the extremists here?

Petty reaction to old announcement

IT HAS taken me a while to make a comment, but I want to comment on the person who criticized the couple whose wedding announcement was deemed too old to publish in the paper. What a petty, rude and insensitive person you are to be so judgmental of others. If the announcement was deemed too old for you to read, then why did you even read it and act upon it as your actions clearly reflect that you did? Grow up, get a life and stop being so petty.

Build a levee around cities

THE SOLUTION to the Corps of Engineers New Madrid-Mississippi Levee pork barrel welfare boondoggle is so obvious it's trivial. To protect the East Prairie population and enterprise zone, the corps should build a levee around the twin cities. This would protect the population and allow the farmers to continue to enjoy the deep, fertile flood plain soil. Meanwhile, the wetlands and wildlife would be left to prosper. This is a win-win solution yet too obvious apparently to occur to Southeast Missourians, our local politicos or the Corps of Engineers.

We waited on our wedding photo

THIS IS to the person or persons who have been calling Speak Out moaning and whining about couples waiting several months before publishing their wedding photos. Have you ever stopped to consider the possibility that maybe the couple was waiting for the photographer to get their photos returned to them? I really doubt that you have. My wife and I were married July 1998. Our wedding announcement was published this past Sunday. Why the wait, you ask? When working with the photographer, you have to wait on him. I seriously doubt many professional photographers take their film to the one-hour developer. We wanted a quality picture in the papers. A lot of friends and family would be seeing it. You doubted that most marriages last a year. However, you should be teary-eyed with joy that couples like my wife and I wait on the announcements, because it shows we have enough fortitude to stay married for a year. To paraphrase a wise man, it's better to not speak and have people think badly of you than to open your mouth and prove why they should think badly of you.

A really tough gun law

I READ so much and hear so much in the paper about gun control and the fact that gun control will reduce crime and that gun control will infringe on the Second Amendment. If people are concerned about guns, our legislators should pass a law that says anyone, regardless of age of type of crime, who uses a gun in committing a crime will be given six months to be tried. If they are found guilty, they have six months to appeal. If they're still found guilty after the appeal, they have one month to before being put to death. Anyone who uses a gun under that kind of a law would be someone who is trying to commit suicide, Other people would leave the guns at home, or at least in their pocket. They wouldn't take it out and shoot someone. All this other stuff as this Band-Aid stuff is not going to have any effect on a criminal.

Where's the solution?

CONGRATULATIONS, SOUTHEAST Missourian, on your consistency. Any time there is a human health or environmental issue, you can be counted on to echo the Republican position and argue the wrong side. In your pro-pollution editorial about air quality and highways, you argue at length about highways and label as extremist Missourians who care about clean air and mention not a word about how to make St. Louis air fit to breathe. We know vehicular traffic is a major cause of the problem. What is your solution?

Mosquitoes in Scott City

TO THE city workers of Scott City or whoever is responsible: The mosquitoes in Scott City are so bad that our children can hardly play in the yard day or night. Maybe it's due to the water that was over the Diversion Channel. But they have always sprayed this town in the past. Where is our tax money going?

Show support for marriage

I AM calling to respond to the person who commented about the wedding photograph. My husband and I published our wedding announcement in the Southeast Missourian seven months after our wedding. This delay was the result of the lengthy amount of time it takes to develop wedding photographs. I can assure you that we did not wait to publish the announcement because we wanted to see if our marriage would last. The mere suggestion that anyone would do such a thing is ridiculous. I take offense at this statement. How can someone judge the strength and commitment of a marriage based on the number of months it took to a couple to publish their wedding announcement? There are still couples in this society who get married because of a profound love for each other and a desire to spend the rest of their lives together. The wedding announcement declares that desire to the community and seeks support and congratulations, not discouragement because it was published a year after the wedding. My support and congratulations go out to the couple who waited a year to publish.

Cost too high for gospel singing

TODAY I was just really disturbed. I looked in the newspaper and I found a gospel singing that was going to be held called Heartland Concert. I called Ticketmasters and was really disturbed at the price that they're wanting for gospel music. Those of us who are older and are on fixed incomes cannot afford to do things like that at a cost of $25-30 for a ticket. I remember the time we used to travel as a quartet, and we did it on love offerings alone. We never charged. Sometimes we didn't make enough money to pay expenses, and our expenses were paid out of our own pockets. But I believe God was pleased with our message in song, and I believe God was blessing the people we sang to. Now, I'm wondering if they're doing this for the gospel of Christ or if they're doing this for their own selfish rewards. I believe the cost of gospel tickets should be lower than that. Above all, I think if you can't afford to go to a singing and support your church, just support the church and forget about gospel music altogether.

Need stop sign at school

I WAS calling just to say that somebody needs to put a stop sign at the end of Notre Dame's parking lot, because they're pulling out onto Route K. While the kids are out of school, it's a good idea. That way when they get back in, they can start the first year off with a new habit. Those kids pull out of that parking lot too fast, and somebody's going to end up dying.

Parents don't need a pulpit

IN A recent issue of the Southeast Missourian, graduation exercises were held at a local high school, somebody reported. The high school was in our area. The ceremony completed, a party was held to celebrate graduation. Drinks flowed freely at this party, it was said. The report went on to say "the time has come for preachers to do something about this." I have a question. What will you do about graduates who will not be attending church when the subject is coming up? Another question. Why pass the buck to preachers? Parents have a responsibility on this score, haven't they? And we parents, I want to add, don't need a church pulpit.

Educated and making minimum wage

I'M CALLING about the caller who called in about the students being forced to major in English. I feel these colleges don't prepare students properly for work. I'm a junior in college. I have a associate's degree in psychology, and I am unable to find any work except minimum-wage jobs as a psych aide or in a juvenile delinquent treatment center. The college does not tell you that you cannot get a job in just any field. They have you coming in thinking that within just a couple of years you'll be able to find a good job. Also, I went to computer training and spent six months doing that. I'm not a business-type, technically equipped person. I can't type or use computers. I really feel that the colleges ought to make the students aware of what's available for them with what kind of field they choose to go into. Unfortunately, right now, I'm unemployed. I would be glad to have a job as a housekeeper. I'm tired of working midnight shifts for minimum wage. The ones of us who are the least educated in my field of psychology are put in the most dangerous position. The ones who have master's degrees sit behind a desk.

Flag instills pride

I WOULD just like to say to the owner of the Hucks Convenience Store on South Kingshighway: I think the large flag outside the store is absolutely awesome. It makes me very proud to be an American when I drive by there.

Standing shows praise for God

IN RESPONSE to the comment that the audience needs to heed manners at a gospel concert: I was there for God, not just for a show. If I wanted to see a show, I would have went to the movie. People were there for Jesus, and people stood up for Jesus, not for show. And if it was a show, it was to show God that they are doing his work in sharing it to others to witness to us. And it's not bad manners to applaud. Respect for God is shown by standing up and to show praise. If standing up for Jesus is offensive, next time buy a ticket to the movie. Otherwise, people will stand up for Jesus until we die.

Who knows what she's thinking?

TACKY, TACKY, tacky. David Limbaugh recently suggested Hillary Clinton may run for the Senate in order to establish her own separate identity. That's psycho-babble. How does Mr. Limbaugh know what the first lady's motives are? That would be like me saying Mr. Limbaugh is writing a column in order to establish his own separate identity. There's no way to prove that, so such an allegation is unjustified. Right, Rush -- I mean David.

College getting too expensive

AFTER READING the comment about Dale Nitzschke, I agree with everything that was said. The comment hit the nail right on the head. The high cost nowadays for these kids trying to go to school is totally outrageous. Used to, you could take a college education four years. Now it takes six, and it's more expensive every semester. Southeast Missouri State University is not Notre Dame, not Mizzou, not the University of Illinois. It's Southeast Missouri State University. It should be low-cost for this area's children to go to school. These high-priced professors who make $90,000 a year and work three or four hours a day are totally outrageous. Let's bring this school back to what it was when Mark Scully was president: a good, sound university.

Disparity in school enrollments

REGARDING THE issue of grandfathering at the schools: I think it is absolutely ridiculous that Franklin, which is where my child goes, is the only school that is going to be above capacity. The capacity is 350, and the total is going to be 397. The capacity for the new Blanchard School is 525, and it's only going to have 324 students. I think that is absolutely ridiculous. I think it's just a fact that the upper-class rich people don't want their children going to school with the children who live on the south side of town.

Preaching to a small choir

SADLY, SOUTHEAST Missourian editorials have lost virtually all credibility. Except with the relatively small choir to which they consistently preach, the occasional fluff piece is nice but really doesn't qualify as an editorial. The recent accusation that President Clinton committed treason is so off the wall that except for died-in-the-wool Clinton haters, the allegation further erodes the common sense once consistently expressed in Southeast Missourian editorials. This is very sad. Of course, I'll apologize if the Republican controlled Congress takes its lead from the Southeast Missourian allegations and impeaches the president for treason. I won't hold my breath.

More millennium math

OK, ONE more time for everybody. Neither the century nor the millennium ends Dec. 31, 1999. The new century and the new millenium begin Jan. 1, 2001. Come on, people. When you count to 100, you don't say you've reached 100 when you get to 99.

No money for Milosovic's gang

I WOULD like to speak about Kosovo. It looks like there is going to be some kind of an agreement, and certainly the people with homes and businesses destroyed in Kosovo should have help from us. However, I'm against doing anything for any aggressor who goes in and destroys and commits atrocities on other countries. I don't think Milosovic and his bunch of henchmen should get a dollar of American money to rebuild. They got bombed. They asked for it. They wouldn't have been bombed if they hadn't destroyed and committed terrible atrocities of other people.

Concerned about customer courtesy

I WOULD just like to comment on something that I see happening a lot in businesses in Cape Girardeau. Maybe it's just a pet peeve of mine, but I think that it probably affects a lot of people. When I do business some place, I am considered to be a customer, and it irks me to no end to be checked out by a cashier who's involved in a conversation of personal content with another employee. I think it's unprofessional, and I think it should be saved for a time when there are no customers present. Also, I go into a business in town on my lunch hour, and, of course, I'm in a hurry. But nine times of our 10 at least one employee will be on a personal phone call on a telephone that is at the counter where customers are waiting. What happened to customer courtesy?