TOP NATIONAL HONOR RECOGNIZES VOCATIONAL SCHOOL IN CAPE

The newly named CAPE GIRARDEAU CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER received a major national award Tuesday morning.

Approximately 200 people were in attendance when Dr. CARROLL TOWEY of the U.S. Department of Education presented the award to Dr. DAN STESKA, superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District.

Steska praised Director HAROLD TILLEY and staff as true winners of this recognition.

Only 10 such recognition awards were given nationwide this year (only 66 total since the establishment in 1985 of the SECRETARY'S AWARD for OUTSTANDING ADULT EDUCATION and LITERACY PROGRAMS).

Along with the new technology center building program under construction, the new SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE under construction (most of the site work completed) and the SIKESTON TECHNOLOGY CENTER (new building nearing completion) and the AREA CAREER CENTER in Perryville, Southeast Missouri is providing the resources to meet the technology demands of today.

As I left the breakfast, a bus unloaded 27 students from Advance -- who along with students from Chaffee, Jackson, Delta, Scott City and other area communities -- participate in the Cape program.

Some comments made by the speaker during this VOC ED Week program:

"Adult education is a sacred trust." "Knowledge is power." ... and it takes HEART to, day in and day out, bring assistance to those who want to improve themselves.

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I recently learned of the achievements of DANA MEYER in the face of adversity that would have turned many of us inward.

She is the daughter of STEVE and CATHY MEYER (both graduated from SEMO UNIVERSITY) and the granddaughter of CARL and MILDRED MEYER who are longtime Cape residents.

Dana is 17 and played basketball, soccer, volleyball and track before being paralyzed in June 1995.

She is now a junior at Lutheran High School South in St. Louis where she maintains a 3.96 GPA (on a scale of 4) and participates in multiple school activities.

She began playing wheelchair sports in the fall of 1996 and has won numerous wheelchair tennis awards including: the U.S. Open championship in San Diego, Women's A Singles championship, Women's A double finalist and over 18 other championships or finals in various tournaments around the U.S.

Dana recently won the mixed doubles championship in Tourbe, France, competing against many European teams.

She's in her fourth season of wheelchair basketball and was awarded Most Valuable Player in 1998 and 1999 on her high school junior varsity tennis team.

She sets an example for all of us in many ways with her "never give up ... just deal with it" attitude.

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Real life trumps media images every time. -- Henry Jenkins

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Quotes: When I'm confident of the source, I'll attribute the quote. Otherwise the source is anonymous.

"You have the capacity to learn from mistakes. You will learn a lot today."

"The man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." -- Harry Emerson Fosdick

"Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them ... and they flew." -- Guillaume Apollinaire

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them." -- Ann Landers

"Anyone can become angry -- that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way -- that is not easy." -- Aristole

"Good enough never is." -- Debbi Field, founder of Mrs. Field's Cookies

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Sent to me a couple weeks ago via e-mail: This should be printed in every newspaper around the world. It says it all about this world we live in.

Dear God, why didn't you save the school children in Littleton, Colo.?

Sincerely, concerned student

And the reply ...

Dear concerned student,

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely, God -- Chris Rimel, publisher, Dyersburg News/Tennessean

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The Pentagon's failed attempt Jan. 18 to shoot down a mock nuclear-armed missile with a missile of its own missed by only 100 feet, Defense Secretary William Cohen told reporters.

"The technology is certainly proving to be on the right track. The miss that was involved was not by much ... within about 100 feet, perhaps the distance between home plate and second base. So it is not much of a miss," Cohen told reporters at a press conference at the Pentagon. "It was a mechanical engineering type of problem rather than a science one. The science is there, and I believe that the problems that accounted for the near miss will be corrected in the future" Cohen said.

Until now, no defense official would say how close the two rockets came in space. They started 4,300 miles apart.

The Pentagon believes the culprits in this failed test were the infrared sensors that help the intercept missile home in on the target missile in the target's last six seconds of flight.

The heat-seeking sensor apparently worked without a hitch in a successful intercept test conducted last fall.

Cohen said he is "reserving judgment" on the developmental $18 billion national missile defense system. It has one additional intercept test to go before the president decides in June whether to deploy it in 2005. It will take about five years to get the system ready for an initial deployment of 100 interceptors. -- UPI news story

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Last week, the Southeast dance team, the Sundancers, learned it was selected for the NCAA Collegiate National Dance Team championships.

This is Southeast's third invitation in three years. The Sundancers were ranked seventh among the top 20 Division I teams. This year's national dance championship will be April 5-9 in Daytona Beach, Fla., and will be televised on CBS and USA networks.

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Cape has surpassed PADUCAH as the place to shop for antiques. Take a day and visit the many fine collectible and antique centers which have been strengthened by the recent additions of the CURIOUS GOODS shop of CHARLES KENT and NEEDFUL THINGS/QUALITY CONSIGNMENTS & ANTIQUES owned by PAUL MENZ located in a former church on the corner of Broadway and Spanish streets.

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~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.