SPEAKOUT

AS A FORMER teacher I am appalled at the comments in Speak Out. I no longer teach by choice. Today's public schools have their hands tied so tight by state and federal bureaucracy that it is impossible to educate students. Parents do not support schools as do the parents of my generation. Discipline is impossible in a classroom where teachers, administrators, and uncertified personnel are threatened with lawsuits with the drop of a hat. Today's society needs to wake up. We're losing too many excellent teachers because of the situation that exist in today's schools. Money isn't the real issue. Support of our educators is needed by all aspects of society. You would be amazed what a small thank-you for our educators today would do. It would show we really do care. Why don't you show us that you care also.

PLEASE TAKE "Northern Exposure" off the air immediately. I can't find words to describe Monday night's episode.

POLITICS GOT DICK Wadlington fired as Cape Central's basketball coach. If he was such a bad coach, why didn't they fire him when the team was several games below .500 two years ago? People always talk about how much talent Cape Central has and how they should always be the best basketball team in the Southeast Missouri area. If they have so much talent, why don't Central's players ever get recruited heavily by major colleges? Is that the coach's fault, too? I doubt it. If there is somebody who plays for the Tigers who has big-time talent, then I guarantee you that Missouri Coach Norm Stewart and even SEMO Coach Ron Shumate will know about him, no matter what type of high-school coach the player had. This year Scott County Central had two Division I players on its team, Marcus Timmons and Mark Mosley. Where are Cape Central's players going to college to compete? No where special, if anywhere. And people think Cape Central should be better than Scott County Central or Charleston, when they had Lamont Frazier, who is now at Missouri. Give me a break. People in this town are not in touch with reality. They think their kids are superstars when they're not. Can't you people just be satisfied with your kids being fine, young people who might go on to college and move into nice careers? Do they have to be stud athletes all the time? Maybe you parents should stop trying to live your fantasies through your children just because you weren't much on the playing field yourself.

TO THE PERSON who wrote in and asked why Peter Kinder doesn't write about Nancy Reagan and the way she went on with all those men, instead of the Democrats: Well, if this is any indication of the intelligence level of the Democrats, then hooray for the Republicans.

TO THE PARENTS of the many children who live on Northbridge Drive in the north subdivision: You must be more concerned about your children's safety. Parents, that is not your private street; it is a public street and others besides yourself and children are allowed to use it. While the speed limit is 30 mph, drivers must constantly go well below 10 mph in order to avoid a nasty wreck. Even with mothers watching nearby, the harm that a car going 10 mph can inflict on a careless toddler can be very serious, even fatal. I love children, even your children enough to be concerned for their safety and your emotional wellbeing. This might seem trivial to most of you but the gang on Northbridge is a very real problem. Everyone comments on it, and, if the parents on the street love their children, they'll start making some changes. Thank you.

I LOVE MY dogs and I love other people's dogs. We do our best to curb our dogs barking. I don't like hearing my animals barking excessively. Take the other night, for example. I woke up twice to quiet my pets. When I went outside the first time, my neighbors cat was in a fight; naturally the dogs barked. The second time I spotted a fox running through the yard; obviously he was trying to get some other individual's pigeons or chickens they have cooped up. Then there are those pets owners who allow their dogs to run, alarming our dogs, and then they bark. Then there are those loud, obnoxious, unbehaved street kids who run the neighborhood with no supervision. I blame mostly the parents for not teaching them respect for other people's property. They throw things in other yards, leaving their toys exactly where they fall, damaging other's yard ornaments. Shoot, as long as I have my choice I'll take my dogs any day.

MR. KINDER: I would like to suggest to you that you quit being an armchair quarterback when it comes to education. What I would like to suggest to you also is that you make arrangements with different school districts in the state to go and sit with a teacher all day long from the time they get there, which is normally 30 to 45 minutes before school starts. Stay with them until school's over, which is normally 30 to 45 minutes after school's dismissed. Go with them to the PTA meetings they have to attend; go with them to the different activities they are expected to go to; go with them and look at the equipment that they have to deal with, both in the rural areas and in the better city school districts. You are only looking at it from what you used to be: a student. You've never been in a position of an educator, and, if you would go into the schools not just walk down the halls and look but sit with the teachers, listen to the classroom, be there all day long in several different schools I think you would get a better picture of what these teachers are saying about low pay, low respect and no parental support. I think you would get a better idea and would stop being that armchair quarterback for education.

I LIKE THE comments in Thursday's paper pertaining to the choosing of coaches at Cape Central. I think the caller had valid points about the record isn't just reflective of the season, it's how the program should be overall. Instead of going out and getting a big name from somewhere, someone who's untested and unproven, I think that we ought to get somebody from one of the smaller schools in the area who knows the area and knows the talent and knows how to play our style, and let them lead us.

THE MOST SICKENING thing I have ever heard is people saying that George Bush will be re-elected in '92. Some are saying the Democrats don't know what to come up with. Well, how about the truth on George Bush? They had it within their power to impeach Reagan for the things that he did with the help of Bush and the sleaze factory. Dukakis wanted to be the nice guy and he did not fight for his own best interests. You can't win against these people if you don't bring out the truth on them. They can always start another war, you know.

I JUST WANT to say that I really wonder about the mentality of parents who buy their children slingshots and BB guns and then let them run wild with them and give them no supervision whatsoever. Thank you.

I CANNOT UNDERSTAND why one would object to a funeral home in their area. I would much rather prefer a funeral home to what we have: student housing.

OUR FOREFATHERS KNEW the destructive capability of their weapons compared to their forefathers. That did not stop them from assuring the people the right to protect themselves not only from foreign governments but from their own government. Washington, Jefferson, and other framers of the Constitution made that clear in their writings.

I THINK it's absolutely ridiculous for the non-traditional students at SEMO to expect anything to be done regarding the day-care center on the campus at Southeast Missouri University. I think it's the students' responsibility to find their own child care for their own kid. I believe they call it a sacrifice. When you have kids you have to put up sacrifices, and I don't think it's the university's problem. You go to school to learn, not to expect to be babysat. Thank you.

THE CITY CREATED a traffic hazard when they widened Broadway to four lanes from Kingshighway to Clark Street. I have come close almost three times to being sideswiped by people that are in the far right lane trying to go straight ahead on Broadway at Clark. I feel that the city should do something more to see that this traffic is obeyed on this four-lane stretch. There should be some kind of a caution light or something to warn these people before there's a bunch of accidents at this location. I have heard of other people having this same problem. Drivers are in the far-right lane and they're not paying any attention to what they're doing, and they try to get in on Broadway at Clark. Something else needs to be done to make these motorists aware of this right lane. Thank you.

I THINK IT'S disgusting that SEMO University has a Gay and Lesbian Student Association. I think it's also probably illegal. I think it's time for gays and lesbians to go back in the closet where they belong.

I WANT TO LEAVE a message. I read the Speak Out column, not to hear who's complaining about what, but just for the occasional nice things that one person has to say about someone else. Would you add to that as a nice thing that the Assembly of God Church on Perryville Road provides nice little sayings on a sign out front every day that make you smile or feel good. I love their nice little quotes. They make my day.

THIS IS SUNDAY morning. I sure am glad there's an on and off button on the TV. There is nothing on there that is worth watching. So I pushed the off button. Thank you.

I DON'T WANT to sound like a sorehead or be complaining too much, but I'm a combat veteran of World War II and Korea. I received the Purple Heart and Good Conduct Medal. I'm a short-timer; I just spent 22 months overseas the first time and 15 the second. I'm proud of the boys and I'm glad they're coming home and I support all the recognitions they're getting, but some of the old soldiers came home and got off the ship, got a pat on the back, and went home. That's the way it was. Now some of these troops are complaining about being there six months. I know some of my buddies in the South Pacific spent more days in combat than these fellows spent hours. I think we ought to get real. Some of the fellows were overseas for three or four years and came home. Thank you.

I JUST WANTED to share some good news with some people who have lost faith in the human race. I work at Paramount Caps in Marble Hill and I think they have to be among the group of the best people in the world with the biggest hearts. We had a fellow worker get hurt today and the worker was taken to the hospital in Cape. They couldn't help him so they took him on to St. Louis. They started raising money for this family for expenses and food while they were gone. In a matter of minutes this small plant had raised over $300. I just wanted to let people know there is hope for the human race, and these people have got to be one of the best groups of people on Earth. Thank you.

MY WIFE AND I have had a disagreement over pork 'n beans. I would like for the public to call in and tell us: Do most of them heat their beans or eat them cold? I'm talking about pork 'n beans out of a can. Thank you.