Speak Out 11/11/08

People ownership

WITH THE results in on the Cape Girardeau County Commission races, maybe ownership of the county can be returned to the people.

Highway engineers

REGARDING THE placement of the guard cable on Interstate 55: There is a fiber optic cable in the middle of the median of I-55. Due to this, the guard cable can't be installed in the middle of median. Highway engineers know what they are doing. Instead of complaining anonymously or blindly guessing, try calling the Missouri Department of Transportation and making a polite inquiry into the nature of the project. There are plenty of people there who are more than willing to tell you all you want to know and more.

Reading attitudes

I READ with interest the comments from a reading specialist who feels the Accelerated Reader program, which tests students over library books, is nothing more than smoke and mirrors to encourage students to read. The person suggested we do some in-depth research on the program to get the facts, so I did. What I learned was that in study after study, the findings were overwhelmingly positive. The only criticism I found was cited by some teachers who said the computerized quizzes only test recall and don't teach skills in comprehension. Isn't teaching comprehension skills the job of the teacher? Why should that be a complaint? Another gripe was that when retaking a quiz, students often cheat or just skim over the library book to make a better score. If that's a reason to drop the AR program, why not drop history and science classes? Students sometimes cheat and skim over the subject material before taking quizzes in those subjects as well. Let's be truthful. What it really comes down to is the teacher's attitude and willingness to do what is needed to make the program a success. If the teacher is positive and supportive, the students will benefit. If the teacher is negative and unenthusiastic, students will be too. As Fred Rogers often said, "Attitudes are caught, not taught.

Being accountable

I WANT to congratulate Jay Purcell on winning his seat back on the county commission. I've only met Purcell one time, and that was at a city council meeting in Cape Girardeau. I disagree with him secretly recording meetings and conversations. That was wrong. But I also understand why he felt it was necessary to do that. I hope the good old boy network that we have here in Cape Girardeau County understands that the people are not going to tolerate this concept. They will be held accountable from now on, regardless of whether it's the county commission, city council or whatever. They will be held accountable to the voters in the county.

Fulfilling destiny

I'M SO glad that Barack Obama won. We've been waiting for this for hundreds of years, to see a black man as the president of the United States. This is God's work, not man's.

Class illusions

RIGHT NOW, "Funky Winkerbean" is the worst comic strip in the paper. After some 25 to 30 years out of high school, I would like to think that people would look at me more for what I am than what I look like. If I'm clean and dressed appropriately, I would hope people would look at me at my class reunion and realize I'm a person of worth. How sad to think that you have to try to look like you did back in high school. I'd like to think that somewhere along the line I developed a lot more brain matter, that I have an empathy and caring for people and what's happened in their lives.