TODAY'S YOUR CHANCE TO SAY YOUR PIECE ON TERM LIMITATION

Today, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. the University Center Fourth Floor Party Room will be the scene of an important hearing. The third in a series of nine hearings statewide, today's hearing is sponsored by a group calling itself Missourians for Limited Terms. This is a bipartisan, grassroots group seeking to amend the Missouri constitution to limit the number of years members of the General Assembly may serve.

Leaders in the term limitation effort include respected former legislator, state treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Jim Spainhower (Democrat), and Congressman Mel Hancock of Springfield (Republican). This cause is chaired by St. Louis attorney Greg Upchurch, who lived with his family here in Cape Girardeau before moving away nearly 30 years ago.

During the last year, the newly emergent concept of term limitation has been on the ballot in nine states and cities across America. Everywhere they're mentioned, term limits meet with passionate and well-funded opposition from entrenched political elites. So far, however, term limits are batting a thousand where it counts with voters. It'll be interesting to see how this cause fares in Missouri.

* * * * *

As whites and blacks joined Hispanic youths in the recent Washington disturbances, a TV reporter observed in deadly seriousness that the uproar had turned into a "multicultural rioting event." Ah, yes, diversity it means so much.

* * * * *

A few trendy morsels culled from Val Dumond's The Elements of Non-Sexist Usage: A Guide to Inclusive Spoken and Written English:

Out: Waiter, waitress. In: "Waitperson".

Out: Man-made. In: Synthetic.

Out: Snowman. In: Snowperson.

Out: Bull session. In: Talkfest.

Out: Peeping Tom. In: Voyeur.

Whe~w! I'm sure glad we got those settled. (And some readers have suggested I exaggerate in referring to what I call the "Feminist Thought Police").

* * * * *

"See the senator sober. See the senator being a regular family man. See the senator living up to his family responsibilities. See the senator trying to resurrect a reputation that is making him an embarrassment to this state and to his colleagues ... Kennedys don't have to play by the rules ...

"... You're raised like a star athlete, all your life coaches tell you you're special, the same rules don't apply. ... Tomorrow it'll all be over anyway, and your friends in the media will kiss it and make it better."

Columnist Rachelle Cohen, writing in the Boston Herald of May 14, 1991, commenting on the Boston Globe's Mother's Day front-page color photograph of Sen. Ted Kennedy pushing his mother's wheelchair.