SPEAKOUT

I JUST WANTED to call and thank the sponsors of the U.S. Air Force band that performed Wednesday night at Central High School Auditorium. It was terrific. Thanks again. It made my birthday a special day.

I WANT TO respond to the statement in Speak Out where someone is blaming us old folks for voting down Proposition B. I'm one of these old folks and I did vote for Proposition B, and I will continue to vote for legislation that will improve education. Did you not stop to think that a lot of us old folks have grandchildren and great-grandchildren that we care about and want well educated? Even though we have a few years on us doesn't mean that we can't be young at heart and use good common sense. We do care about the education of our children and the generations to come. Thank you.

LET ME ASSURE YOU, speaking to many of the voters in Cape Girardeau and surrounding communities, this Proposition B was beaten for one reason. That is today's voters do not and will not accept a tax increase. That is the simple answer as to why this Proposition B was so overwhelmingly defeated.

MAGIC JOHNSON MADE the same mistake many people have made: having sex with someone whom he didn't know very well. It may be too late for him and for us but we, like him, have to reach the young to let them know that it doesn't happen the next day after sex or the next week, but many years down the road. Please, parents, talk not only to your teens but to your very young. These kids know more than you think they do. Thank you.

IT'S SAD MAGIC Johnson has the HIV virus but something more scary than that is the way our kids look up to him like he's a God or an idol. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Magic Johnson or no other would do that. We don't need another hero. Magic is just another man like the rest of us who chose his lifestyle and sexual preference, which ultimately resulted in HIV or AIDS. So wake up and realize who put him and all of us on Earth and who can remove us.

MAGIC, YEARS AGO you captured our hearts. Thursday you broke them.

DID ANYONE ever hear of the word morality? We suddenly are making Magic Johnson a hero. I would like to know the answer to why we think he is such a great guy. Thank you.

I'D LIKE TO commend the city. It's about time somebody went out there and put left-hand turn lanes on Route K. I had my car totalled there about two years ago because I was trying to make a left turn. I'd just like to say thank you.

THIS IS TO the junior at Central who called in and said that the class of '93 has less spirit than the class of '92. I'm a senior and I really regret we have that lack of spirit in our school. I wish we were more school spirited. Thank you.

TO THE PERSON who commented that the schools' methods of teaching aren't working, listen up. I'm a graduate of '91. You obviously haven't been around a school in a while. We are taught how to balance checkbooks, do tax forms, about insurance, job market prospects and how to read. Kids have the choice to take these classes and many don't. By the way, teachers do care. The students have to make the effort to show they want to learn. Thank you.

BILL HEITLAND'S COLUMN in Sunday's paper about Magic Johnson is a sad example of a small man glorying in what he thinks is the fall of a big man. Have we all forgotten Magic Johnson's charity work on the behalf of inner-city children? Magic Johnson's charity work still stands tall. His role model for children, telling them they can achieve without drugs, still stands tall. His teaching of children everywhere that they can be somebody through personal excellence still stands tall. The only person who lost his dignity in this affair is Bill Heitland.

I AM NOT a sports enthusiast. I seldom watch basketball games or read the local sports page; however, the announcement by Magic Johnson caught my attention as it did most people. I'm extremely sorry for this young man. But for him to say to the youth of our country that only safe sex is the way to go is truly unfortunate. For commentators to say it can happen to anyone is erroneous and misleading. Why can't we face the truth even if the liberal and gay communities scream louder. Engaging in sex outside marriage is wrong. When the person chooses many sex partners or sex partners of their own sex, they're choosing to open themselves to the HIV virus and AIDS. Thanks, Bill Heitland, sports editor of this paper. Yes, Magic was slain by his own indiscretion, and I will add by breaking God's rules and the Ten Commandments that still count, even though many chose to ignore them. God is still in charge. He's a God of love, but people who break his rules certainly aren't showing they love or care about him. Thank you.

I WOULD LIKE to congratulate Roger Allgood for his letter in the Public Mind Sunday. He really captured exactly why Proposition B was defeated. They say there's not enough money for education in the state, but I guess there's enough that people living in it can see a bad proposition when it comes down the pike. They're taking one-third of my money out in taxes the way it is now. The average taxpayer, according to statistics, works five months out of the year right now just to pay for taxes. We don't want any more of this. I was reading in the same paper about the Kansas City desegregation case that the state is supposed to pay $71 million to desegregate Kansas City schools. No matter what you think, I'm not for desegregation; but $71 million in 1991 is an awful lot of money when you consider the millions of dollars that have already ended up down the pike in that one case, not to help educate the students but to do social engineering. I want money I pay in taxes to buy me a product. I'm tired of money getting thrown down the pike. Thanks.

I SAW WHERE a caller asked us to shut up about the stupid trash pickup but the caller offers us no solution. We can shut up but my garbage still stinks.

ACCORDING TO CONGRESS the Democrats do not want the Republican congressmen to know who the check bouncers are. They don't want to be judged by standards that did not exist for them. Why should they be allowed to bounce $1,000 checks or even $5 ones? They insist they need to protect their privacy. Are the Democrats the only ones who bounced checks? No wonder they keep blowing our money and asking for more.

THE OUTPOURING OF praise and sorrow for Magic Johnson and his situation is understandable, but we also need to realize he is a man with a free-wheeling lifestyle who has been giving this disease to others. That point seems to be forgotten.

THIS IS IN response to the person who wrote they hate country music. Well, I love country music and don't care what you think.

PROPOSITION B MAY have had a chance for success at the polls if the people who were voting could have had some assurance that the teachers, who are doing a terrible job in educating our children, would not get any of the additional money that would result from the proposition passing. We have teachers who work part time less than 8 hours a day in the schools, nine months a year and want more money for doing an inadequate job in teaching our children. They refuse to be tested for their competence and don't want children tested at the end of each year to determine if they have adequate knowledge to advance to the next grade. They don't like this because it would prove how inadequate our teachers are. More money for doing a bad job; that's what Proposition B said.