A LOOK AT 1996

With the new year that starts Monday comes a basketful of unresolved issues and plenty of new problems, worries and potential solutions. Looking into a crystal ball provides no easy answers. In many cases a course has already been set, although the goal may still be distant. In other cases all the options haven't yet been explored.

Here is a look ahead at 1996:

-- Bosnia will likely continue to dominate the international scene. Now that American troops are involved in large numbers in the peacekeeping mission there, many Americans are torn between their uncertainty over U.S. involvement and the desire to bolster the morale of the soldiers in that foreign land. No doubt the folks at home will be unified in their support of the men and women performing their military duties, but overall backing could be sorely tested by any escalation in involvement or a breakdown in the peace process that would prolong the one-year commitment of U.S. forces.

-- Meanwhile, there are other international hot spots worth keeping an eye on. The European Community, for example, will continue to position itself in the world marketplace, providing it can truly overcome its internal struggles among member nations. The EC is quickly learning that national loyalties, identities and symbols aren't easy to replace. And much of the world also will be keeping watch on Russia as it continues to struggle into a free-enterprise economy and further implement democratic processes.

-- The Internet, which was so much in the news in 1995, will continue to create a buzz in the coming year, but the big question will remain: What's it all about? Every conceivable approach to using this monstrous communications system is being studied, weighed, tested and explored. But there is still no definitive profit element in sight. Could it be that the original concept for the Internet -- an exchange of governmental and scholarly data -- is still its most practical application? Next year may provide some answers, particularly as telephone companies and television-cable systems delve into communications hookups of their own.

-- Nationally, balancing the budget is a task that needs to be swiftly concluded. But it is a major election year, and the budget is fraught with political overtones. Along the way, Americans must come to grips with the fact that government cannot continue to provide the balm for every sore spot. And protecting critical services will mean containing them in an affordable way.

-- Tax relief will no doubt be much discussed, either in the context of serious attempts to reduce the burden or as a political football. On the national level, the proposed credit for taxpayers with dependents still makes good sense. It would generate as big an economic boost in communities across the nation as the development of a new industry in most every town. And it would benefit the taxpayers who need help the most. On the state level, it is time for Missouri to look at long overdue tax cuts. Revenue from virtually every source is producing overall gains many times higher than the rate of inflation. Yet budget planners, the governor and most lawmakers continue to look for ways to spend, spend, spend instead of seeking relief for taxpayers. This could be the year fed-up taxpayers decide to fight back, mainly at the ballot box.

-- As more and more Missourians become informed about the pitiful academic standards the state is trying to foist onto public education, they are registering deeper and deeper concerns. The Farm Bureau, a stalwart organization with members throughout the state, has led the way in rejecting the standards after a careful review. The problem is that most Missourians aren't even aware of the arguments, because the major news media aren't paying attention, probably because their liberal agendas are deciding what's news. If critics of the education reforms imposed by the Outstanding Schools Act are wrong, major news organizations could provide a service to Missourians by digging into the situation and reporting the facts, much as the Southeast Missourian has been doing throughout 1995.

-- Finding the money for the state's highways will be a major effort in 1996. The highway and transportation department has been drumming up support for a $500 million highway bond issue that would only need the approval of the Legislature. This funding source is by no means certain, however, and careful consideration will be needed before jumping into the bonding pool that hasn't been used since the 1920s.

-- In Cape Girardeau, key decisions about the leadership of Southeast Missouri State University and the Cape Girardeau public schools will be made. In April voters will decide on school board members after a disruptive process last spring that resulted in the appointment of three members by the county commission. And the school board has several important tasks ahead, including the hiring of a new superintendent and the development of a long-range strategic plan. At the university, the search will continue for a new president, and planning processes that were already under way will be completed. It can be hoped that the planning efforts are sufficient to tide the university over well into the administration of a new president, rather than starting all over again from scratch.