SPEAKOUT

More interstate rest areas needed

I DON'T understand why the rest area on Interstate 55 is 10 miles away from Cape. What about the people who have to go to the bathroom more often than that? I think there should be a rest area every five miles along the interstate.

REPLY: In general, rest areas along interstate highways throughout the United States have been designed with rest areas about an hour's drive apart.

Tailgate parties and student drinking

I SEE on the front page of the paper that college drinking is causing some concern at Southeast Missouri State University. This seems a little strange because a few weeks ago they were promoting the drinking at the tailgate party for the homecoming game, and it just doesn't seem to make sense to me. Two or three weeks ago, they're promoting the tailgate parties, and now they're concerned about the drinking. It seems like they need to get something straight, because they're promoting one thing and then seem to be concerned about the drinking. It just doesn't make sense to me.

No movies for grandchildren

THIS PAST weekend we wanted to take our 4-year-old granddaughter to the movies. Out of 25 movies, the only one that was suitable for a 4-year-old was "Hercules," and she had already seen that one. The rest were pretty well R rated, so I guess that's why they show all the R-rated movies: because that's what the people of Cape Girardeau want to see. And TV is just about as bad. This is just one man's opinion.

Library busy, thanks to TV

I KNOW I am going to be visiting Riverside Library quite often during this season of TV shows. As far as I can see, there's nothing worthy of turning the TV on. The new shows are just stupid, and I will not be stupid enough to sit here and watch them. Riverside Library, here I come.

Dangerous intersection for trucks

ATTENTION CITY traffic department: A safety hazard exists for large trucks hauling sand from Diamond Sand Co. turning at South Main Street at the 1400 block. This is the bottom of Main Street hill, and these large, slow-moving trucks interfere with cars coming down the hill. Some trucks spill sand at this corner which is slippery to brake on. Another hazard is to members of Red Star Church leaving the parking lot across the street. Water Street is now paved, and sand trucks could turn south on Water Street and enter Main Street at Sloan Creek where visibility is better and less traffic. Also, school buses stop at the bottom of the Main Street hill.

Try topping trees instead of cutting

A WHILE back the citizens of Cape Girardeau were worried about some of these historic homes being razed for a new federal building. I understand a lot of people are concerned about old trees being torn down, trees that have been there for who knows how long. I like to see these old trees too. Some of them have been around for so long they just become a part of your property or part of the front of your house. The thing I can't understand is why isn't it easier to top these trees than to take the whole thing down? I mean, that would be my opinion, to go along and top them so that you wouldn't have to do anything to them for years instead of taking the whole thing down. When you take them down, you lose them forever.

Lots of technology, poor programming

I'D LIKE to say that I agree with the person who called Speak Out saying that television this season has very little to offer, and I also agree with them that the commercials are lousy also. It's really a sad time when we cannot put decent programs on with all the technology we have.

New twist to old adage

ACCORDING TO a survey recently published in the Southeast Missourian, SEMO students may lead an old proverb to be modified: "Drink and be merry and to heck with eating."

Poor PR for Missouri Day

I'M CALLING in regard about a teacher who called in dealing with Missouri Day. I didn't even know that we had a Missouri Day. The Missouri Tourism Department didn't tell anyone about it. I'm just surprised we had one.

Police pitch in to pick up trash

I WAS at the City of Roses Festival, and I saw some of Cape's finest policemen out there pitching in with the crowd picking up trash. I thought that was a wonderful sight.

Response to urine-test concerns

IN RESPONSE to the person who called in regarding employment urine testing. Apparently you have lived in a cloud all your life and never worked or been associated with drug users or think you haven't. These people will lie, cheat, steal and kill to keep up with their habit. If you were an employer, would you want to employ a drug user?

Which grows faster: greed or trees?

HOW SAD it is that the city is losing it's trees. When I read the article about the city cutting down trees over sidewalks, I was very mad at the city. The more I think about it though, it isn't the city that is cutting them down but our society. We live in a society that says you are not responsible for what happens to you. It is always someone else's fault, and you are free to sue them over it. If someone were to trip over the buckled sidewalks, they could sue the city because you and I are not responsible for watching our step -- so says society. What a sad commentary on our society and legal system. Why not run the headline "100-year-old tree lost to greed" or "Memories of childhood play cut down by lawsuit." How many this year? Forty-three. How many next year? And what grows faster: greed or trees?

We knew what we were getting

I WANT to comment about the person who says Gore is wrong on TV and he says he is a Christian first and Democrat second. There's no such thing as that. If you're a Democrat, you can't be a Christian. Of course, I guess some churches do go along with baby killing and homosexuals. But I want to tell you something, my church doesn't. We knew what Clinton was, and Clinton is everything Gore is. We knew before he got elected that he was for homosexuals and abortion and all that. This is just ridiculous.

Let sun choose its own schedule

Daylight-saving time was made into law during World War II because of the war, and they did not rescind it. For me, I don't care for Daylight-saving time. If the sun wanted to come up an hour later, it would, so leave it the way it is.

Pay raise could have been stopped

HOW MUCH free campaign support can you give our newly inherited lobbyist-congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson? Hypocrisy stinks, wherever found. The Republican Party, in control of both houses of Congress, planned a pay raise for Congress. It was agreed that there would be no recorded vote on the pay raise. That vote would have disproved the lies that must now be told with a righteous face. Political cover was carefully planned, especially for the most vulnerable politicians. But nine Republicans could have stopped the pay raise in its tracks by just requiring a recorded vote, and Jo Ann Emerson was strangely silent. When are you going to stop spreading propaganda and become a newspaper? I certainly won't hold my breath. And by the way, either of our Republican senators could have stopped the pay raise also.

Positive effect of showing lifestyles

TO THE person who feels that showing gays on television is a disgrace. If you find Ellen offensive, then you can change the channel. You say you won't stop gays from living their lives. However, if your wishes were heeded and no gays were ever shown on television, then many people would never get a chance to realize that gays are human beings too. Discrimination would thrive, and gays would be hard-pressed indeed to live their lives unhindered. Homosexuality is not a choice. It is a trait no different from having brown hair or green eyes. Many gay teen-agers, alone and confused, don't realize that, especially when faced with blind prejudice in their communities. As a result, many more homosexual teens attempt suicide than their heterosexual counterparts. If exposure to Ellen DeGeneres or other gay celebrities can show gay teen-agers that they are not disgusting or monstrous and thus prevent them from attempting suicide, would you try to take even that away from them?

What happened to Walter Williams?

SYNDICATED COLUMNIST Walter Williams thinks Social Security should be privatized. That leads me to believe Walter Williams has been lobotomized.

Commercials miss the mark

I COMMEND the efforts to reduce drunk driving but there are a lot of commercials on TV that are just not specific. One says do what it takes to keep a friend from driving drunk. I don't understand what that means at all. Does it mean take out a knife and slit their throat or what, disable their car, bang it up, get a baseball bat and break their knees? What are they talking about? Assault them, is that what they're saying, assault the person? I don't think so. I just don't agree with that. And then there's somebody else around town saying that these drunk drivers are causing more deaths than speeders are. According to the 1996 figures it was 27.1 percent of fatalities were caused by drinking and 38.2 percent were caused by speeding. So, let's see here, speeding, you can't even go to jail for that. The most you can get is a $200 fine or so. It's not even a misdemeanor, it's an infraction. Meanwhile, if they really wanted to stop drunk driving, they would put patrol cars outside of bars at about 1 a.m.

Please admire, but don't touch

DEAR FRIENDS and others I do not know. Thank you for your kind words and admiring looks you give my little baby. We are happy you notice him, but please refrain from touching or kissing his little hands because after you do, he puts them right into his mouth. That's a perfect way to spread colds and other infectious diseases. I'm sure you don't realize this, and I'm too polite to say anything to you. Thank you for helping to protect my child.