SPEAKOUT

Rules at Blanchard are questioned

I'd like to know how the principal at Blanchard elementary School is permitted to allow students only one recess a day, while all other students in the Cape girardeau School district get to enjoy two or three recesses daily. this is especially hard on the kindergartners. In addition, I believe the practice at Blanchard to punish a child for talking during lunch by sending the kid to a separate table and force it to eat standing up is cruel. How is it possible that at one of our shcools the principal is allowed to get away with this? I think children at this end of town are already punished enough by having to wait unreasonably long to move into their new school building.

THIS IS a reply from Barb Kohlfeld, principal at Blanchard Elementary School, regarding "Rules at Blanchard are questioned." Students at the school are allowed 20 minutes of free play, or a traditional recess, each day before lunch. There is also a 20-minute period of physical activity called Mini-gym each day. Twice a week the students participate in a gym class for 40 minutes each session. During lunch, students are asked to eat quietly at their tables. When they have finished eating, they are allowed to leave the table and move to another area to visit with classmates. In some instances, students who were talking at the table when they should have been eating lunch were are asked to stand at the table as a consequence for not following instructions.

What about other examples?

IN REGARDS to your editorial praising Poplar Bluff schools for illegally having prayers at games, you just don't get it, do you? Some things are constitutionally protected and not subject to the whim of the majority. If I form a lynch mob to hang you for your hateful, right-wing editorials, even though every member of the mob wants you hanged, I can't legally do it. If you decide to editorialize in favor of bringing back slavery and your staff is 100 percent for it, you can't legally do it. By the same constitutional token, even if everyone in the Bluff wants to turn football games into a snake-oil service, they admittedly can't legally do it. Are you advocating abolishment of the Constitution?

Need more recreation in Thebes

TO THE village of Thebes board members: I along with several other people have lived in this town almost all our lives, and all we have ever heard is how broke it is. If you would take the time to look for the real answers and quit trying to cause trouble for the people who live here and try to help them, we could arrange for you to have more recreational things to do. Now that I am no longer a youth, I can see the same thing happening over and over. And before you blame the sheriff's department and the people of the county, you need to look in the mirror. Always remember the same people who voted you in can vote you out. So get it together.

Poking fun at ourselves is good

I JUST wanted to say thanks to the Southeast Missourian for doing the Swampeast Missouri contest and helping us to poke fun at ourselves. I think especially at this time when there's so many serious, sad things going on in the world that it's nice that we can have a little bit of humor and laugh a bit. Thanks, Missourian, for all your hard work in covering the news in our area.

Parents blamed for child's thievery

I'M WONDERING if the parents of the young person who stole our 16-year-old son's 15-speed bicycle from in front of Save-A-Lot on Sept. 27 care where their child obtained such a fine bike free of charge, or if they are even aware or care that their child is a thief. In the meantime, our law-abiding, parent-obeying, non-drug-involved, wholesome, American son who used his bike primarily for running errands and going back and forth to work has now been deprived of a Christmas present from us, one given in love for the fine young man we have raised. You, on the other hand, should be ashamed. Not for your child, but for yourself. Because it's parents like you who continue to raise, or should I say not raise, but rather procreate and thrust onto society the punks, the hoodlums, the druggies, the whores, the leeches and the scum of the earth that pervade our society today. Shame on your child, but mostly shame on you for having failed so miserably as a parent and a human being.

American has had it with Clinton

NO MORE of Gore. America has had it with this Clinton administration. Only Bill Bradley can save the Democrats. Only Bill Bradley can restore trust, truth and triumph to the Democratic Party. He's fair, honest and one of the people, not a Beltway-entrenched power politico like Gore. Gore moving his power base to Nashville won't save him or cover up his Clinton stain.

Thank you-uns for the contest

THE "YOU are so Swampeast Missouri if ... " joke contest was thoroughly enjoyed. I read through every single one of the jokes and got a kick out of each one of them. I look forward to next year's fun and will be sure to participate. Thank ya to all you-uns who entered.

Here's the acid test

YOU ARE so Swampeast Missouri if ... you think any of those jokes are funny.

My debt doesn't get canceled

I WANT to comment about this trip Clinton took to Africa. It appears now that he's going to cancel $5.7 billion dollars in debt that they owe. I couldn't get my debt canceled like that. I owe the government, and they will take your scalp if you owe them money. But beyond that, look at the people who have lost their jobs and the government won't help them get new jobs. I think it's ridiculous that the Africans are having their debit canceled when people in this country don't get this treatment from their own government.

No sense of God's priorities

I'VE CALLED to address the column on the issue of wearing tennis shoes in church, written by David Chartrand. I would just like to say that Mr. Chartrand has an inside track on how God feels about people wearing tennis shoes to church. I wear tennis shoes to church sometimes for evening service because of foot problems. Children are wearing tennis shoes to church -- at least the children are in church. When I was 8 years old, I was fortunate to have shoes, much less tennis shoes. This gentleman does not have any idea about church priorities where God is concerned.

We could have had a good law

ISN'T IT interesting, despite all the spin and propaganda put out by the Republicans, that if we would have followed the lead of Governor Carnahan, we would currently have a law on the books that would prohibit partial-birth abortions. By following the lead of Peter Kinder and the Republicans, we do not have anything on the books that would stop partial-birth abortions.

Rate of speed in chase questioned

SOME FRIENDS and I were talking about the high-speed chase through Cape Girardeau the other day that resulted in a accident of two police cars down on Sprigg Street. The police department is saying they were only doing 20 miles an hour when they hit. They seem to forget that there were people out on the street who saw these things. If they can sell that to the public, we've got some swampland we'd like them to peddle for us.