Speak Out 2/24/08

Fighting drugs

IT IS a shame that we cannot get the drug task force to enforce the law south of Shawnee Parkway. The drug problem isn't limited to the thriving business in the 1200 block of South Pacific Street. It is everywhere. When you report it, you're looked at like you're crazy. Numerous times people have tried to get something done to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions?

But watch out

I WOULD like to join the chorus welcoming Dr. Jim Welker as the superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District. Of the many advantages Welker has, one big one is that, because he is local, he will be much better able to deal with the double-edged sword of Speak Out commentary and realize that finicky commentators who praise you in unison today may tomorrow turn on you with an eye-opening collective viciousness.

Making it work

OUR POWER lines were knocked down around 8 p.m. Feb. 11 till 10 p.m. Feb. 15. I have an all-electric house and no generators. I cannot afford to replace all my food. Tuesday morning I filled garbage bags and plastic store bags with ice and put them in my freezers and refrigerator. I repeated this daily till power was restored. Nothing spoiled. I have talked to several people and was surprised that no one else thought of this. Back in my parents' day, they had ice boxes not refrigerators. They brought in ice blocks to preserve their food. We fired up the barbecue grill, and our neighbors who had no way to cook all brought something to cook on it. Someone brought a tea kettle, and we made coffee and cocoa. We gathered families into one mobile home. We shared heat. One person brought candles. Another brought oil lamps. Another brought a battery-operated heater. W hung blankets and blocked off everything but the living room, grabbed the sleeping bags and stayed warm with neighbors we had never met before this happened. We shared this adventure, bonded and became friends. Someone had a Coleman cook stove, and we had a wonderful breakfast every morning together. We sang songs and shared stories, and we were never bored or depressed over no power. Life is what you make it.

Student spending

I'M AN alum of the Department of Communications at Southeast Missouri State University, which has about 600 majors. The amount of resources being spent on that department per student is nowhere close to what is being doled out to departments like theater and dance. Do students in the latter program pay more than students in the former? I think not.

Speak Out 2/24/08

Fighting drugs; But watch out; Making it work; Student spending

Fighting drugs

But watch out

Making it work

Student spending