Speak Out 9/7/06

I am a teacher ...

NOT BECAUSE I make a lot of money. It is almost the end of the month, and money is getting tight. Not because I have my weekends and summers off. I spent July getting my classroom ready, and I have been at school until at least 6 o'clock almost every night since school started. Not because I think I can change the world, earn respect from everyone in the community or magically raise test scores to where they need to be. I am a teacher because I love children. I know that each day I walk into my classroom is a day I can make a difference in someone's life. I believe in a better future for your children, for my children and for society as a whole. So, please, instead of bashing teachers, complaining about school food rules and dress codes and getting angry about paying school taxes, think about this: The goal of almost every teacher is to teach. We touch lives, share knowledge and provide children with the academic and social skills they need to become productive members of society.

Nicotine levels

I'M NOT a smoker, but all of the media hype to the effect that higher nicotine levels in cigarettes increases a cigarette's addictive potential is simply not true. Cigarettes are highly addictive regardless of the nicotine level. Besides, if the level of nicotine correlated with the level of addictive potential, wouldn't cigarette companies lower nicotine levels instead of raising them in hopes of getting people to buy more cigarettes?

Religious clubs

THE CHURCHES in this area have almost become clubs. Some of these churches have unwritten rules about what kind of people can join and what kind of clothes to wear. It makes me sick when I think about it.

Parental support

I BELIEVE the reason two elementary schools didn't meet their annual yearly progress is due to a lack of parental support. The teachers at Jefferson and Blanchard elementary schools are wonderful and hard-working, but they fight an uphill battle many days. Many parents do not want to discipline their children or emphasize the importance of a good education.

Worship in jeans

MAYBE THERE is a poor family whose members own just a few changes of clothes. Their clothes are worn out from manual labor. They would like to worship God without ridicule about what they wear. Do you think God is going to turn me away from heaven if I die with my work jeans on? What should matter is I love God and want to worship him.

Not logical

SOMEONE SAID tobacco smoking should be banned to everyone except those who have smoked for years and are addicted to tobacco. That's like saying alcohol should be banned to everyone but alcoholics and all illegal drugs should be allowed to addicts.

Safety first

MY CHILD is 15 years old. If there were a car seat to keep her safer, I would put her in it. I hope there are seat available for the sizes that are required to use them.

Double taxing

IF THE county commissioners rip us off by taxing us double this year, I will never vote for anything they want again. The road tax must be removed this year or we will be cheated.

Real diseases

DRUG USE and drinking are not diseases. Cancer is a disease. You choose to do drugs and to drink beer. If your life goes downhill because of that choice, don't call it a disease. It belittles those people who have real diseases.

No respect

MANY IMMIGRANTS come to this country from nations awash with corruption. If the first lesson we give them is that the rule of law is meaningless in this country as well, why should they ever have any respect for our culture?

Respect for military

RECENTLY I had lunch with my son, who is in the military. A kind gentleman who was sitting at the table next to us finished his meal. As he was preparing to leave he came over to my son and asked if he were coming or going to Iraq. My son stated that he had returned from Iraq a few months ago. That kind man wished my son well and thanked him with God's blessing for his service of protecting our freedom. What a kind gentleman he was. I thank God that there are respectful people who support our military men and women. Thank you for making my son's day and also mine. God bless you also.

Fat or fit

BELIEVE IT or not, obesity is taking over most of the world. Ironically, the rich are less fat than the poor because they can afford dues for health spas and low-fat delicacies. The social Darwinist view is that those who survive the obesity pandemic should and will be the most fit.

Take down signs

HERE IT is Monday, and the people who had a yard sale in the 1500 block of North Main Street in Cape still have their yard-sale signs up at the corner of East Cape Rock Drive and Country Club Drive and also at Main and Fourth Street. This is what caused the city council to vote to restrict yard-sale signs. If you have a yard sale, be responsible for taking down the signs when it's over.

Left-wing response

IT TOOK the Democrats a long time to figure out how to answer right-wing radio propagandists and Bush apologists, but they've done so with hard-hitting left-wing documentary movies like the just-released "Iraq for Sale." Readers of the Southeast Missourian might have to rent these documentaries on DVD as the powers that be have evidently realized their political impact and conspired to keep them out of Cape Girardeau. Witness the glaring absence of Al Gore's tremendously successful "An Inconvenient Truth" from area theaters.

Put them on TV

FOR TOO many years, Cape Girardeau County business has been a system of making decisions by few for the many. The county commission meetings should be televised like city council and school board meetings.

Slow down

WHY IS everyone in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois in such a hurry all the time? Where are they going? To a big chain store to spend money that they should put into family-oriented businesses? Slow down, take a deep breath and look at what is important.