SPEAKOUT

Message to teen-age smoker

I WOULD like to address this to the 18-year-old smoker. Yes, alcohol does kill people. However, most people can enjoy alcohol without becoming alcoholics or drinking while driving. On the other hand, you and everyone else who smokes are tobacco junkies, and it will kill most of you. You say it will be your decision to stop smoking. Over the years, you will probably make this decision many times, but you most likely will not be able to stop. Meanwhile, I will pay higher insurance premiums and higher prices for virtually all goods and services because of your stupid decision.

No government support for churches

PETER KINDER didn't do anything to improve my opinion of him this weekend. Doesn't he understand that we don't need or want support of the churches here in the United States from government sources? My family came to the United States over 300 years ago because of religious domination that forced them to leave other countries in Europe. We don't want what they had, and there's no sense in it, Peter. You'd better learn.

Is it some sort of commandment?

IS THERE some kind of commandment that requires a certain percentage of all Cape Girardeau streets be torn up and impassable at all times?

Sports has much to offer students

THIS IS for the band parent who commented in Speak Out. It's an incredibly biased view to speak out against sports and not recognize that sports is the one program or set of programs that cuts across economic barriers and provides many students who could not otherwise afford to do so an opportunity to be involved in extracurricular activities. If you want to talk about cutting the fat, the band program had three teachers last year. One retired, and they're going to, as I understand it, have three teachers again. They could easily go with two teachers. That's not the point. The point is that the sports programs try to provide or pay their way as much as possible, rely a great deal on the work of the parents of the students who are involved in the programs and are perhaps the single program that cuts across economic barriers to provide students with an opportunity to involved both in representing their school and in meaningful activities.

Caution: The Osmonds are coming back

BECAUSE PEOPLE are often so negative and cynical, I enjoy being the bearer of good news in Speak Out. However, I must make an exception in this case. This news is horrible, but it is imperative that you know about it. If you have children in the home, you may not want them to be exposed to the awful truth contained in the next sentence. Donny and Marie Osmond are coming back to TV.

Advice to parents of daycare child

TO THE couple who's child is being abused in daycare: Don't take the child back. Notify the police and Division of Family Services.

Bad decisions result in school problems

IN RESPONSE to the comment about the Impeach Dan Tallent vehicle, I'm the driver of that vehicle. Although I do not care for Dan Tallent, it is not a vendetta, and my son couldn't care less what happens at that school or to Dan Tallent, because he's out of there. The simple fact is the problems they have is because of bad spending. We've had better schools than this. Why are we going backwards? The school board has very little leadership, and two of the board members have wives who are teachers. Talk about a conflict of interest or conflict of budget, which ever you prefer, I realize being a board member is legal in Missouri when spouses are teachers, but it's still a conflict of interest. Handling rattlesnakes is legal too, but it's just not very smart. The public needs to be aware of how they're spending our money -- state money, tax money, plus bond issue money. We've had better with less, and that equals simply bad spending.

Concerned about South Cape problems

I'M CONCERNED about South Cape. Our ward representative doesn't seem to be interested in it. We have some automobiles with no license plates and yards that have not been mowed this year. It would be nice if somebody could help us in some way.

Ask to see patients who smoked

THIS IS to the 18-year-old smoker who called to complain about the high cigarette tax proposal. If you believe that smoking does not harm people as does alcohol, I would suggest a trip over to your local hospital and hospice care facility. Just ask to see all those patients with smoking-related illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, pulmonary disease, kidney failure and respiratory failure. These people have a hard struggle just to survive, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars each will spend on these treatments, medicines and hospital stays and the list goes on and on. It is a grim picture. Smoking and drinking are two distinctly different problems with distinctly different solutions. If you don't like the cigarette tax hike, find a better solution to solve the problem.