Medicaid abuse

IT IS truly a shame that the only ones offended by truth are the ones that should not be. It seems to me that those that truly are trying to make ends meet are the ones that are ashamed of having to accept Medicaid, whereas those who abuse the system seem to have no problem or shame at all. But then again, those that abuse are probably not capable of reading Speak Out.

Pursuing deadbeats

I WISH Morley Swingle spent as much time prosecuting deadbeat parents for nonpayment of child support as he did writing letters to all the parents about supplying alcohol to their children for prom parties. I will make sure to do my research on our elected officials, and the ones that don't have their priorities in the right place will not have my vote in the next election. These officials need to realize that if deadbeat parents were forced to pay their child support or go to jail, maybe there wouldn't be such a great need to cut Medicaid for the people who really need it.

Rugged question

A RECENT letter stated that our country is based on "rugged individualism." I really don't understand that. I thought the country was based on democracy and the will of the people. Can someone explain what the author of that letter meant?

Graduation money

HOW DARE a person suggest that the senior class and the parents should pay for the rental of the Show Me Center for the Jackson High School graduation. The money these parents have worked so hard to raise goes toward the senior all-night party, the senior breakfast and to graduating seniors for scholarships. To the person who recommended this I say, Why don't you foot the bill?

Graduate at JHS

THE PERSON who suggested Jackson High School have its graduation ceremony at the Show Me Center has been given incorrect information. Jackson High School has the Show Me Center on reserve if bad weather occurs. I also believe the senior class and the parents should not be responsible for this fee either. It is ridiculous for someone to suggest that the students pay for their own ceremony. After all, it is in their honor. I graduated from Jackson three years ago. There is plenty of seating for the families of graduates. There is also no better feeling than to walk across the stage on JHS grounds. Why have it at the Show Me Center if you don't have to?

Skate park rules

THE NEW skate park in Jackson opened up yesterday. It looks great. I'm glad all the skateboarders now have a place to go. Sad thing is, the rules have already been broken. There is a nice sign in front of the area stating different rules. The one rule that was broken the first day of opening is no bikes. There were kids on the ramps with their bikes. I wonder how those children are getting through school if they don't know how to read. It is an unsupervised location. There may have to be supervision by police every hour doing a drive-by to make sure rules aren't being broken. The bikes will tear up the ramps.

Look at yourself

ALL OF us need to look within ourselves when we pass judgment on someone else. When we pass judgment and spread gossip it makes us feel better about their circumstances. It takes away the pain and not having to face up to our own. Unfortunately, the long-term effect just hurts others.

Bush's oil plan

It never really was a secret, but in case you did not know George Bush has made it clear that oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge is just a first step. Now he is pressuring governors across the country to turn national and state parks over to mining, oil and timber companies. If he has his way, pretty soon there will not be a wild area or a tree left standing on public land.

Sour grapes?

Sounds like Ron Clayton has a touch of the "sour grapes." A classic example of a university professor moving to our quaint town with the intent of changing things and attempting to put his sort of culture into our dull little inconsequential lives. He's lived in our "out of touch cultural backwater" with the "corn pone parochialism" for 20 years. I hope they build a big enough office for him at the River Campus to accommodate his huge ego. I see his bitter hatred of Lucy as pure jealousy. Lucy has been very successful as an artist, Clayton has not.

Socialist differences

I just want to clarify, for readers of Rex Curry's interesting letter, that the "socialists" of Hitler's Germany and the socialist party that ruled the USSR should not be lumped together. Their viewpoints were about as far apart from each other as Rush Limbaugh is from Michael Moore, and true Socialist thinkers would never condone killing, suffering and torture. Readers should not confuse today's socialists for monsters such as Hitler and Stalin.

Dobbins in charge

Ken Dobbins believes himself to be an expert in economic development, urban renewal, real estate development, accounting, management organization and virtually every facet of higher education. Professor Clayton should not be surprised that the president also fancies himself an art expert. What is surprising is that all decisions at a taxpayer-financed institution like SEMO are made by one man.

Worried about Limbaugh

I'm really beginning to think that David Limbaugh has a problem. He seems obsessed with being persecuted "as a Christian" and with that "evil Hillary Clinton." All he does is attack and then talk about being attacked. Is it possible that he's slipped over into la la land, but we're all so used to it that we're not noticing? I'm really beginning to think he needs to seek professional help. I mean it.

Corn pone and angst

This is in response to professor Clayton's editorial attack on artist Gary Lucy and the typical lack of support for one of its own alumni found among the university's "corn pone intelligentsias." There is no better location than the entry of the new River Campus to exhibit artist Lucy's work -- even if it is not technically a mural. Has Clayton taken the time to view any of Lucy's work before writing his ridiculously aberrant editorial? Lucy's work is among the greats in landscape painting, akin to Albert Bierstadt and the Hudson River School (hmm, another river connection). Mr. Clayton's lament about teaching art at the River Campus against the mural's example raises the question of which example Mr. Clayton views as appropriate. Maybe the controversial Chris Ofili's "Madonna" is more to his liking, the dung-smeared art piece that nearly brought down the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Teaching art at SEMO has flourished nicely beneath the heft of one large mural, a painting by another collectible artist and previous SEMO art professor, Jake Wells. What Lucy paints are marvels of light and color. What Clayton condones are angst and Willem de Kooning.