Speak Out 9/6/05

Good for everyone

IT'S GOOD to see Southeast Missouri State University building another nice facility for its students. The students will get another recreational opportunity, and the city benefits from the construction jobs created. I can't believe some people are complaining about the construction of a new addition.

Let's be tolerant

I HAVE been watching the news. One term that keeps popping up is "looters." People are being driven away, having large guns pointed at them and are being manhandled by police for looting. I don't blame the police. The problem is that these people have nothing -- no food, water, shelter, clothing, first aid, the bare necessities. Stealing for the sake of stealing is wrong, but in a time of such chaos and desperation, certain rules should be put aside. The citizens of New Orleans, Biloxi, and all the other cities hit so hard by Hurricane Katrina do not want to have to survive in this fashion, but they do want to survive. That is why they do it. It is no one's fault that the wrath of such a storm fell on the Gulf Coast so hard. Stores can be restocked. Buildings can be rebuilt. But a human life is gone forever when it does not get the bare necessities. Anything one of these refugees needs to do to survive should be tolerated. They just want to live past this horrific event and rebuild whatever life they can salvage.

Feeling rich

I GET so tired of hearing others complain about being poor. My needs have always been met, sometimes better than others, but I've worked hard all my life for the material things I have. However, being rich is not just about having things. Count your blessings not just for what you have, but what you don't have. There's always somebody less fortunate if you look around. Why don't people open their hearts, work a little harder and maybe they won't feel poor anymore?

Greed over decency

WHY WILL gasoline prices go up? Oil companies have posted amazingly profitable quarters, yet prices rise. It's almost autumn. Winter is around the bend. I hope no one truly believes that greed will not be overcome by compassion, patriotism or old-fashioned decency when it comes to gas or heating oil in the future. Think about it.

Plenty of warning

WHEN THE twin towers of the World Trade Center were blindsided by the airplanes, nobody had a chance to escape. Wouldn't you think that if an airplane was coming straight at you and you knew this a week in advance that you would have evacuated?

In love with hair

LONG-HAIRED MEN are in fashion as much as they ever were, which means if you're an incredibly gorgeous man or an attractive movie star, you can get away it. Otherwise, you look like a freak. My friends and I laugh every time a guy with long hair walks into a bar. He's clearly more in love with his hair than anything else.

Lovely young lady

CONGRATULATIONS TO Corrie Gerecke for winning the Jackson Homecomers beauty pageant as well as being named Miss Fall Festival. She is a lovely young lady and so well-deserving.

Wait for the check

A LITTLE free advice: Don't spend any of those hundreds of thousands of dollars these movie people are going to spend while in Cape Girardeau until you have the money in the bank and the check has cleared.

Quick response

WE WANT to thank the Jackson Police Department and Cape Girardeau Sheriff's Department for the quick response to our robbery Friday night and the quick recovery of our property. The officers were courteous and professional, and they got our property back within minutes. I hope the burglars will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Use your brain

WHEN A lie seems convenient, it can get repeated often enough that folks start to believe it. Thus it is with the lie columnist Walter E. Williams is promoting that drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would only consume 2,000 acres. If you think your dining room chair only takes up 6 square inches of your room (the area where the legs meet the carpet) you might buy this garbage. But if you have a brain, you'll see through the lies for what they are.

Too little too late

AFTER WATCHING and reading anything I can on Katrina rescue efforts, I'm sick about our federal response. The U.N. offered help on Wednesday. Moscow offered to help with search and rescue. Both were told we're OK for now. By noon, the administration backpedaled and said we'll take help. People may survive a long time without food but only days without water. The death toll will rise due to a serious lack of immediate help, and it's not New Orleans' fault.

Monitoring gouging

IT'S GOOD to know that the attorney general of Illinois is closely monitoring gas prices there for signs of price gouging. I hope the Missouri attorney general is doing the same.

Drain, not boon

SMALL WONDER that the Missouri Corn Growers Association would have you believe ethanol made from corn is the greatest thing to come down the pike since toilets. The truth seems to be, however, that it takes more energy to make a gallon of ethanol than you get out of it when you burn it. It might actually be a drain on our oil resources rather than a boon.

Values lesson

REGARDING THE comment from the parent who can't pay the fees and buy uniforms for her child to play sports: Welcome to the reality of life in general. I grew up during the Carter administration. Times were tough. I got to do one or two low-cost extracurricular activities a year. It was a good lesson to learn. You can't always have everything you want, and you need to value the few things you do have.

Making the grade

I WOULDN'T worry so much about the dress code issue at Southeast Missouri State University. The main focus should be the many inappropriate student-professor relationships that are going on behind classroom and office doors. I wonder if that's how grades are really earned on the SEMO campus?