Stories from Saturday, June 11, 1994

To the Editor: With a congress that regularly exempts itself from the laws they pass, is it any wonder they feel exempt from the laws they haven't passed? Noted economist Walter Williams regularly cites this basic law of human nature: "When you tax an activity you'll get less of it; when you subsidize or legalize an activity you get more of it." Just as it would be foolish to pass a law that violates the laws of equilibrium, so too is it folly to ignore this law. ...

For 11 years John Lewis wondered what could be causing the symptoms he suffered -- fatigue, joint pain, disorientation, vertigo, and blurred eyesight. He was tested for a variety of different ailments ranging from multiple sclerosis to lupus, but everything turned up negative. In 1989, he was diagnosed with Lyme disease...

The federal government, which through the Agriculture Department reimburses schools to the tune of $4.3 billion a year for food served to students, has come out with new guidelines based on the fact that healthier is better. Indeed it is, but forcing the nation's 92,000 schools to comply with its new low-fat rules under the threat of withholding reimbursement is hardly the way to accomplish it. It's another example of the government saying "do it our way or else."...

A report this week by a private commission revealed alarming statistics concerning an increase in heavy drinking by college students. That in itself is sad, but the number of crimes the commission found being committed by students who were drinking is even sadder...

Recently, the Southeast Missourian newspaper published an article and editorial on the issue of road tax funding. Even though a county-wide transportation sales tax option to replace or reduce the existing property tax is not under consideration at this time, the Southeast Missourian suggested that more discussion be advanced on the issue of the transportation sales tax option...

To the Editor: I've been watching the paper carefully, but the big guns have been conspicuously silent. I'm referring to the article "Students dance May Pole for last time" in Saturday's edition. The sixth-grade teacher admitted knowing that the dance is traditionally a "pagan fertility dance" and then quickly added: "Of course. we don't use it that way."...

Cape Girardeau County's two state representatives and a Bootheel legislator serving as a Democratic leader in the House, joined many colleagues around the state Friday in criticizing a plan by Gov. Mel Carnahan to forgive loans made to symphonies in St. Louis and Kansas City...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's proposal to ban any type of religious expression in the workplace finds itself in the spotlight again, and U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson is helping lead a campaign against it. In a two-page letter to President Bill Clinton and the EEOC Friday, Emerson expressed outrage over the commission's proposed religious harassment guidelines to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act ...

Dan Milligan, former Cape Girardeau Central High School principal, said Friday that his decision to leave school a week before commencement was based on a series of meetings starting six weeks earlier requesting special treatment for one senior. Following commencement Friday night, Clark said his actions have been portrayed "out of context" by Milligan. The superintendent said he will not comment on this issue in the future...

Central High commencement speaker Patricia Washington told seniors that serving mankind should be a goal as they proceed into life. On Friday the Class of 1994 graduated, lead by valedictorian Kimberly Pulley and salutatorian Aaron Bruening. Washington is a Central graduate, and press secretary to St. Louis mayor Freeman Bosley. She is also a regent at Southeast Missouri State University...

A recent Senate Appropriations subcommittee this week were told what most already knew: Kids today are having sex and conceiving babies at an alarming rate. Single mothers now account for nearly 70 percent of births to women between 15 and 19, and committee figures show there were nearly 370,000 births to unmarried teens in 1991, up 31 percent from 1985...

JACKSON -- Although they are not quite sure what is causing it, Cape Girardeau County officials are hoping that double-digit increases from the half-cent sales tax will continue the rest of 1994 the way it has the first half. "I guess business has just been good," said Auditor H. Weldon Macke, reporting an 11.2 percent increase over 1993 for the first six months of this year...

Southeast Missouri State University has been selected as the site of a statewide mosquito testing lab for the coming year. Under an agreement with the Missouri Department of Health, the lab will conduct mosquito surveillance. The mosquitoes are being probed in the 3B Safety Lab in the Rhodes Hall of Science. Christina Frazier, Southeast professor of biology, is the project coordinator...

JACKSON -- Secretary of State Judi Moriarty, State Treasurer Bob Holden, and U.S. Rep. Alan Wheat are expected to be among the Democrats attending the annual Byrd Township barbecue today at the Jackson High Football Stadium. Wheat, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate has said he will definitely attend, and other Senate candidates, including Jackson County Executive Marsha Murphy and State Rep. Steve Carroll may also attend...

Southeast Missouri State University has hired a New York university professor as the new dean of the school's College of Health and Human Services. The new dean is Paul Keys, professor and chairman of the Management Professional Curriculum Area at the Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Social Work...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Arthur Mallory, dean of the College of Education at Southwest Missouri State University and a longtime voice in Missouri education, has resigned. The 61-year-old Mallory had been dean of the college since 1991. He previously had served more than 16 years as Missouri's commissioner of elementary and secondary education...

Selections from the musical comedy "Cats" will highlight the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band's concert Wednesday at the Capaha Park Band Shell. The concert, which begins at 8 p.m., will also include a German band headed by clarinetists John Wiseman and John Braswell...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Carl Chamness, 59, of Olive Branch, died Thursday, June 9, 1994, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He was born Jan. 15, 1935, at McClure, son of Floyd and Maude Nolan Chamness. Chamness was a retired riverboat deckhand, and veteran of the Vietnam War...

Funeral service for Herbert H. Heise, 525 S. Pacific, will be held at 10 a.m. today at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Jimmie Dace will officiate, with burial in Memmorial Park. Heise, 84, died Thursday, June 9, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center...

COBDEN, Ill. -- Graveside service for the Rev. William Lyon and his wife, Ruth Jones Lyon, will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Cobden Cemetery. Military rites will be conducted by Carroll P. Foster VFW Post 3455 of Anna. Lutz & Rendleman Funeral Home of Cobden is in charge of arrangements...

CHARLESTON -- Betty S. McConachie, 73, of Charleston, died Friday, June 10, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. She was born May 8, 1921, in the Bridges community, daughter of Claude R. and Eva Bizzell Elmore. She and Gene McConachie were married Sept. 2, 1940...

MARBLE HILL -- Donald Lee Greer, 57, of Marble Hill, died Thursday, June 9, 1994, at Jefferson Barracks VA Medical Center in St. Louis. He was born Dec. 14, 1936, at Bessville, son of Tony and Dora Lee Myers Greer. Survivors include four sons, Donald W. ...

SIKESTON -- Robert Lee Green, 76, of Sikeston, died Friday, June 10, 1994, at Missouri Delta Medical Center. He was born July 22, 1917, in Savannah, Tenn., son of Robert L. and Mary Heulen Green. He and Myrtle M. Decker were married Sept. 18, 1937, at Caruthersville...

Son to Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Hinton, 652 S. Spring, born at home, 11:50 p.m. Saturday, May 14, 1994. Name, Antonio Alcide. Weight, 6 pounds 14 ounces. Second son. Mrs. Hinton is the former Janet Gagnon, daughter of Joseph and Cynthia Gagnon of Danvers, Mass. Hinton is a plastics engineer at M&W, and is the son of Teodora Rojas Lazo of Lima, Peru...

BLOOMFIELD -- Maxine Underwood, 69, of Bloomfield, died Friday, June 10, 1994, at Dexter Nursing Center in Dexter. She was born Sept. 21, 1924, at Bloomfield, daughter of Warner and Erma Harris Christian. She and Norman Underwood were married July 2, 1946...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Hiram B. Shell, 72, of East Prairie, died Thursday, June 9, 1994, at Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. He was born Nov. 7, 1921, in Brownwood, son of Hiram M. and Beulah Howard Shell. Shell was a retired truck driver, and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps...

MARBLE HILL -- Forrest W. Banta, 79, of Marble Hill, died Wednesday, June 8, 1994, at Bond Nursing Care Center in Marble Hill. He was born July 30, 1914, at St. Louis, son of Paul S. and Allie Lack Banta. He married Belva Bollinger Oct. 22, 1938. Banta was a retired construction superintendent for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co...