SPEAKOUT

I JUST WANTED to call to thank the police officer that help me get my car started last Thursday morning. It was so nice of him. So many bad things have been said about the police in Cape Girardeau, but this was really a fine, outstanding officer. I wanted to say thanks once again.

WE DON'T NEED another hero. It's too bad that Magic Johnson has the HIV virus, but our kids need godly parents to set an example and be role models. We don't need another basketball star for our hero. Thank you.

AS A FORMER resident of Kokomo, Ind., I am sick and tired of listening to Jeanne White tell the world that Ryan White went to school in Kokomo. He went to school in Howard County. I want you people in Missouri also to know that Ryan White had a television system just like a closed circuit in his home, and it was put in by the school. They wanted him to be happy. The people up there in Kokomo had nothing to do with it. Thank you.

I WAS CALLING about the property the Scott City Council gave away, some city property. I can't understand. Why did they give it away when they could have sold it for $3,000? Their argument was they couldn't sell it because they weren't sure the city owned the property. Well, if they don't own it enough to sell it, it doesn't look like they'd be able to give it away. If they are sure enough they own it to give it away, it seems to me like they should be able to sell it. I'm in favor of the city selling property when they can. It seems to me like that's the proper way to handle property that they don't care about keeping. Thank you.

FIRST LET ME say I'm not a sports fan, but even I knew Magic Johnson. This man has let everyone down by his actions and I think he's getting far too much credit for announcing his infection. What else could he do? Who wants their children looking up to him? Thank you.

I WAS SERIOUS when I called in about wanting to help the person who was cold, alone, lonely, had newspapers on the walls and other insecurities. I don't know how I could reach that person, but if it is at all possible I would like to help. I also read in the Nov. 11 Speak Out that a family with working parents and two children didn't have time to recycle. I find that hard to believe, but I would suggest that that family ask a friend or family to help them out. It doesn't take all that much of your time to recycle. I've been doing it for years and raised a much larger family and worked and still didn't feel like I was being put upon to recycle. I did it voluntarily for many years. I also understand how it is with people who have trash sitting from week to week now that the trash pickup has been limited. Surely there's a way that you can eliminate that problem if you just think about it. Tour a recycling center and find out what all can be recycled instead of putting it in the trash, dumping it beside the road, or leaving it in your garage. Thank you.

THE SHOW ME Center has its act together, baby, and it has nothing to do with hard rock or heavy metal. It's a thing called country, and there's a great country act coming to the Show Me Center Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. with Allen Jackson and Gene Watson. Be there.

I CAN'T BELIEVE a death deserves the sixth page in a newspaper. That is a top priority, I cannot believe that the Southeast Missourian is that dumb. Thank you.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE in for a bad day when you wake up in the morning and your waterbed is leaking and you don't even have a waterbed.

I CAN'T BELIEVE what I just heard over the news. The city of Cape Girardeau has excess funds and is asking for suggestions from various organizations on how to spend the money. Why don't they do what any intelligent person would do with extra money? Save it for a rainy day. Thank you.

WHEN OUR KIDS' report cards show a decrease in grades, when our teachers show decreases in national tests, when more of our kids drop out of school, please don't blame the teachers. How can you teach effectively when you have 35 to 40 in the classroom? You're short on books, short on supplies, short on space. That's not an adequate learning environment. Nov. 5, 1991 was a sad, sad day for Missouri education. Thank you.

I WISH I lived in Louisiana just so I could vote for David Duke, as bad as he seems to be; that is, if you can trust the news media. There is no way Mr. Duke can be as bad as we have in Congress and the White House right now. Thank you.

WHAT IS THIS country coming to? George Bush has just made the news by saying that he wants Magic Johnson to be on this committee to study the AIDS problem. Are we now as a country endorsing illegal sex just as long as it's safe sex? A great basketball player Magic was, but a hero?

I THINK IT'S ridiculous how people are making Magic Johnson out to be some kind of hero when he contracted the virus out of his own stupidity. Then they take a boy like a Ryan White and they make him fight just to be excepted, and he had no control over his situation.

I JUST WANTED to call in and say thanks to Gary Rust, Peter Kinder, Joni Adams and Ken Newton for their opinion in the Southeast Missourian on Nov. 12. I thought that it was very well done, that it was the basic simple truth and something that we have been over looking for a long time. Thank you.

I SAY THROW THE rascals out. Elect David Duke. Thank you.

IN RESPONSE TO one of Tuesday's callers regarding Mr. Johnson unfortunately contracting the AIDS virus, this person says that people need to not break God's rule, the Ten Commandments. They say that God is in charge and he's a God of love. The people who break his rules aren't showing that they love or care about him. By this person's logic it sounds as though, if you break God's rules, God will kill you. That does not particularly sound like a God of love. I doubt that God is at fault so much as this person's logic. Maybe if they opened their heart and stopped closing their mind they might understand things. Thank you.

FOR THE PEOPLE who had in Speak Out "Hurray for Kentucky," you can have Kentucky. I just moved from Kentucky and I know what it's like. It is a depressed area. There are no jobs. If you don't know anyone you will not get ahead in Kentucky. The taxes are high. The real estate taxes are high, the sales taxes are high. Go over there and try to live. Although Missouri does have tax on food, Kentucky has no tax on food, but you still pay three times the price for groceries. Go over there and try to buy a gallon of gasoline for 95 cents a gallon. When Missouri gas is 95 cents a gallon, Kentucky's is $1.15, $1.18, sometimes $1.20. So you can have Kentucky. You can have all of the politics, all of the, I know you, help me out. You can have all of it. You can have Kentucky.

MAYBE SOME FOLKS don't realize that everyone who calls Speak Out may not get the paper thrown on a daily basis and they never know whether their comments were printed. I know because it happened to me several years ago when we didn't get the paper because of a mixup on the route. I had called Speak Out shortly before that. Thank you.

I WAS JUST wondering why the Doonesbury comic strip is not in our unbiased paper. Thank you.

WHY DID you take out Doonesbury?

I FOR ONE miss Doonesbury. As a daily reader of the Missourian and Trudeau's Doonesbury, I'm disappointed in your apparent lack of faith in your readers to distinguish between fact and fiction. Are we, your readers, being protected just this week by your censorship or is this a permanent change?

I'D LIKE TO know what happened to Doonesbury. Does it agree with editorial viewpoints or what? Bring back Doonesbury. I like a liberal cartoon. Thank you.

A reader survey we conducted earlier this year ranked Doonesbury dead last in popularity among all the cartoons we carry. After publishing Doonesbury for years, we have made a decision to discontinue publication of Trudeau's cartoon. We agree with our readers: Trudeau is no longer funny. Decisions to add or drop certain features, columnists or cartoons, are routine in this business. Due to a contractual obligation, however, Doonesbury will continue to run in our Sunday comics for the time being.

I'VE GOT AN idea about the city spending that extra money. Why don't they buy an extra trash truck and a bigger dump?

HELP THE HOMELESS, not the bums. Thank you.

WELL, IT LOOKS like the luck of the Irish has run out. How about them Tennessee Volunteers. Go, Big Orange.

WHY DOESN'T THE Southeast Missourian write the cause of death in obituaries, especially in the case of the year-old boy who just recently died. Thank you.

Families of deceased persons decide whether they want that information included in obituaries when they provide information concerning the deceased to area funeral homes. The funeral homes, in turn, report the deaths to us, and we abide by the wishes of the families. When death is caused by other than natural causes, such as in the case of an accident or homicide, we carry a story separate from the obituary about the death.

I'M THE caller who congratulated Roger Algood on his letter. When you printed my comment, you quoted me as saying I'm not for desegregation. Everybody is for desegregation; I said I'm not for segregation. You need to proofread these things more carefully because that makes me sound like a racist, which I definitely am not. Thank you.

Sorry we didn't catch it. Thank you for the correction.

I'M CALLING IN regard to the budget cuts in the school program. I'm not the only one; I've talked with a lot of other parents. I think the first thing they ought to cut is sports. It came out in the paper, and it's pathetic, that Missouri is ranked 49th in education out of 50 states. That's sad. They need to be educating these kids instead of having so many sports, and pushing that, while they have so many kids flunking because they are more interested in sports. Missouri should be ashamed and Cape could at least do something about it. They ought to cut the sports out first and do more with education. Thank you.

I HAVE JUST finished reading the editorial in the Tuesday, Nov. 12, Missourian, and I want to thank you for putting into words exactly what I have been feeling. I believe that every word of what was written was very true, and I wish there were many who would listen to it.

I'M CALLING ABOUT sports. A lot of people watch sports. I think people ought to keep an eye on the Buffalo Bills. They could be the No. 1. team this year. Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH STATED that he would veto the unemployment bill and he did. How an American president can do the American worker the way they are being done is beyond me. A lot of this unemployment is due to the fact that our lawmakers are stubborn and will not limit imports into this country; therefore, they are causing people to lose their jobs. What does the government expect these people to do? They had the money for the war in the gulf. They still haven't received that country's share of the expense. They have money for Russia and they have money to forgive debts to these foreign countries, but they cannot help the American worker. I predict that George Bush will be defeated as president in the next election. I for one, who voted for him before, will not vote for him again nor will I vote for Sen. Danforth because he stated that the raise the congressmen and senators got was just a cost-of-living increase. This man is a multimillionaire and has been in the Senate long enough. Americans need jobs, and the best way to do that is to limit the imports into our country and make imports and exports balance out. Thank you.

I WOULD LIKE to say that I'm in favor of the recycling program. However, I think that a once-a-week garbage pickup is not enough. Next summer the "City of Roses" will not smell like a city of roses. Thank you.

I AGREE TOTALLY with the people who think the class of 1992 is sad. I am a senior at Central High School and I am very embarrassed with our lack of school spirit. I always thought being a senior would be fun, but it's really just a big joke. Thank you.

ON PRIOR OCCASIONS I've noticed that there have been messages in Speak Out stating that you will not print any more comments on a particular issue. I would like to request that you do this on the topic of abortion. Thank you.

THIS GARBAGE PICKUP they've got stinks. I wonder if they're going to cut our fee in half since we're only getting half the service? Thank you.

I KNOW THE REASON I had to get a good education: so I could do a good job of wrapping my garbage. Things are getting fancy. The other day my garbage collector wrote me a sweet note telling me that it wasn't general-garbage collection day so, therefore, they were not going to pick up my garbage. It seems like they need their stuff separated in different containers. Now I know my calling: I'm to be an assistant to the garbage man. I am to do this for that poor, underpaid, public servant. They have put their garbage boots on and are kicking the city of Cape Girardeau in the butt. It doesn't make any sense why our prices should go up and our sewer bills, and then we have to separate our garbage and pay them to recycle it and sell it and make money off it. I think the people of Cape Girardeau are getting what they call the royal shaft. Also, this is supposed to be a democratic government, but I don't remember voting for this.

AS A PARENT of the member of the Central class of 1992, I address this statement to the class of '57 spokesperson who called Speak Out. I highly resent your statement stereotyping all the members of the class of '92 needing to grow up. As in any class, some may need to grow up and some are quite mature. There are many serious students in the class of 1992 who are working hard for good grades, good college-entrance scores and striving to get into the best colleges so that they can become productive citizens. Let's give them a chance and help them instead of stereotyping them as bad. When we look at the world we have created, how do you think they judge us? How grown up are we? Maturity has nothing to do with years lived. That is quite obvious. How grown up can a 52-year-old who would write such a letter be?

PERHAPS THE CALLER who considers people who can't get a good job in 26 weeks of unemployment in this area too lazy or too picky is just too complacent or too smug. There are plenty of people in this area who can't find a good job in a lot longer than 26 weeks, and it's not because those people are lazy or too picky. Where are all these wonderful jobs and where are all these wonderful employers? Thank you.

REGARDING THE RECENT "Christian Nation" response in Speak Out: I still challenge your view that the U.S. was settled by Christians and developed as a Christian nation. That notion is still incorrect. We are a nation under God but not exclusively a Christian nation. You seem to exclude non-Christians. Your creditable proof mentions nothing specifically about Christians. It speaks of God. To my mind a nation under God is much broader than a nation under Christ, and I celebrate the diversity that allows. Many non-Christians are part of our heritage and many continue today as responsible citizens, contributing to the development of our wonderful nation. Would you like me to list some of them? Your narrow position about Christians causes me to be embarrassed for my fellow citizens and some friends who are of other faith such as Buddhists, Jewish, unitarians and even native Americans. I rejoice that there is room for even my friends who profess no faith. You apparently don't understand or acknowledge the very great distinction between the concepts of under God and under Christ. I'm still interested in your proof. No need to fill the column; just give me one good reference. Can you back up your Christian nation position through such documents as the Bill of Rights or the Constitution?

AS FAR AS Ted Kennedy being insulted all the time by callers on C-SPAN, I wish people would speak out more on the sleaze factory episode and the Iran-Contra affair. As far as the Smith affair of rape, the way I see it, I can't understand the woman charged into the hotel where the Kennedys were staying and wanted to know if the man that raped her was a Kennedy. I assume if he hadn't been in the Kennedy family, that would have stopped there once and for all.

ON THE STATEMENT of the lady who asked when the Republicans are going to learn how to play scandal politics, I say they learned it a long time ago. I'm 82, and that's a lot older than she is. I think she has the party mixed up. All through, election after election, especially in the presidential elections, it has been scandal after scandal.

CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS is a virtue now.

DO YOU ALL think it's fair to pay for a trash pickup and recycling pickup and then for the city to sell our recyclables and make money off of our fees? I would like an explanation of this from those in charge.

I'M SICK AND tired of this garbage deal. I've had my garbage out the last three times and they pass over it and left a little yellow sticker while they picked up all my neighbors' garbage around me. I called public works and they told me to look at the map I had, but I could not even find my street with these little blobs of color. I had to pay just the same and I got no service. If I had good service it would be different.

FOR THE PAST several years the top fifth of Americans have taken home as much money as the other four-fifths put together. This must stop. There are people right here in Cape Girardeau who can't afford to go to the doctor and can't afford to put food on the table. Our government has to help us.

I THINK WE should rename the City of Roses the city of garbage since we can only get three bags of garbage picked up a week. I think that name would be appropriate. Thank you.

POLLS MAKE ME sick. The poll-takers can make them say whatever they want them to say. It depends on who and where they get them. Most people I know haven't ever been asked about anything. Thank you.

WITH ALL THE talk about the need to give Missouri schools more money, why isn't the media giving us the real story about what's happening to Missouri school money? I mean the millions and millions of dollars the federal courts have ordered Missouri to pay to schools in St. Louis and Kansas City, money for busing programs that expose inner-city students to dangerous interstate traffic every time they go to or from school, and for narrow, special-interest magnet schools that cost a fortune but do not succeed in drawing white students into expensive buildings in the ghettos. This is all coming from money that could have been used to make better schools for all Missourians. Instead it is a real insult to blacks. The idea is that their education can only be improved if they sit in classrooms next to whites. Then, adding even more injury, both blacks and whites in both Kansas City and Independence have seen exorbitant raises in their local taxes for these court-ordered programs. When stories in the media try to shame Missourians for spending less than other states for education, do they add in these integration costs? It's true they're not helping education, but they are school expenses and they are costing us plenty.

I NEED TO know as a grandmother if there's a way I can go over my son's head and get some help for my grandson. His dad doesn't think anything is wrong, but there is something wrong with him. Anyone he comes in contact with doesn't like him, grownups or children. He misbehaves, he doesn't do good in school, the kids all hate him. He gets in fights, he's real loud, he doesn't mind anyone. He constantly has gained so much weight. his mother doesn't wan to be around and, as she puts it, she has other things to do. I need help. If anyone knows where I can get help and go over their heads, please write Speak Out. Thank you.

I AM SICK and tired of all of these feminist groups ranting and raving and acting as though they speak for the majority of women. The fact is they are in the minority. They certainly do not speak for me. Thank you Speak Out.

I WOULD LIKE to know how Cape Girardeau got its name. A lot of people who have moved here recently would like to know, too. Could you reflect with something in Speak Out so that we will find out? Thank you.

The city derived its name from a Frenchman, Ensign Jean Baptiste Girardot, who established a trading post at what now in known as Cape Rock, in about 1733. His sons, Jean Pierre and Pierre, also were involved in trading with the Indians along the Mississippi River as late as 1776, and it is believed they perpetuated the name, Girardot, from which Girardeau came.

I'M CALLING IN regards to Proposition B. I think it's really odd that they didn't know what the money was going to be spent for, and as soon as it's voted down they start cutting back on all these school programs that the money was not going to help anyway. I think the administrators need to start telling the citizens the correct things that are going to be happening to the money, and I think our representatives need to write bills that pertain to our schools and our kids and help them in education because they don't know what they are talking about. They pulled one over on us on the lottery; they said the lottery money was going to go for education and it clearly did not. Now they are saying they never said that. People in Missouri are not going to stand for any more legislation that is not clear and to the point. Thank you.

THE SLOGAN USED to be hire a vet. They served our country with pride and dignity. Now we seem to be forgotten even after the Storm. We're remembered only on Veterans Day. I personally just wanted a chance to work and give something back to the community. In the past six months I haven't had a chance. Please consider the price we all paid and hire a vet. You won't regret it. Thank you.

I'M READY FOR SEMO basketball. I got my tomahawk and my feathers and my war paint and I'm ready to go. Thank you.

I'D JUST BE curious to know how many people still have their earthquake kits by their back door.

THIS IS TO the person who said they hated country music. Well, I love it, I also enjoy soft rock, metal, rhythm and blues, and rap. You really should give all kinds of music a try before you condemn it. You may decide later on that you like country music or maybe even classical. Imagine that.

SINCE DR. CLARK said we have to cut $1 million from the school budget, I wish the Southeast Missourian would publish a series of articles telling us about the jobs of all those school officials and employees. They seem to have a lot of bosses. With all the directors, assistants, secretaries, and aides, we must have a lot of people without a lot to do.

PRESIDENT BUSH KEEPS on insisting that the recession is over. Let President Bush come to Southeast Missouri and check this area and see if the recession is over. Shoe workers are losing their jobs, a factory in Springfield is moving to Mexico, a factory in Sparta, Ill. closed just recently. People are out of work. I would like for somebody to tell me how lowering the interest rate is going to spur the economy. If people do not have jobs they cannot go in debt for anything and cannot buy anything. People need jobs and jobs are disappearing from this country every day. It is high time that our politicians, from the congressmen up to President Bush, wake up before it is too late. Our country, the good old U.S.A., is going to fall flat on its face some morning when we wake up, and then what are people going to do? Our lawmakers need to concentrate more on keeping factories and starting up new factories in this country. The foreign aid they are giving to these foreign countries: how far would that go in starting up factories in this country to give people jobs? People in this country, the majority of them, do not want welfare; they want to work. You have a few that wouldn't work if they had a job, but 90 percent of the people want to work. It is time that we started thinking about the American worker and the taxpayer. Thank you.

I WAS WONDERING why they took Jerry Falwell, a perfectly good minister, off the air and kept Jimmy Swaggart on when in fact Jerry Falwell has lived a straight life with his family. They are making mistakes in the world but Jimmy Swaggart has gotten away with too much. Another thing, he's made a lot of money off it. Thank you.

I HAVE TO agree with the previous caller who said Jimmy Swaggart should be taken off. I think "Highway to Heaven" episodes should be rerun on Sunday mornings. He was truly an angel and he still is. I think that will get family units back together again. I think Michael Landon has said it pretty well. Thank you.

IN REGARDS TO the $600,000 in the tourist fund that has been collected from a the motel and restaurant tax, I have a suggestion. Take the $600,000 and apply it to the bonds on the Show Me Center and do away with the tax entirely. This might bring in more tourism than spending the funds on other programs to attract tourism. Some of the reasons people have declined to go to various sections of the country is due to the fact that they do have a tax on motels and all, supposedly for the purpose of attracting tourists. By doing this Cape Girardeau will be much more attractive to tourism. Thank you.

I AM ADDRESSING the city officials. I would like to say I am trying to do this recycling thing. I bought new recycling containers and separate my recycables, but I can tell you this is not working. Once a week is too often to pick up these items. I have about four, two-liter soda bottles, six aluminum soda cans, and six newspapers. All can fit into a brown grocery bag. In the meantime I have a garage full of trash. It just makes me so mad that on recycle day I sit a tiny sack on the curb when I can't even open my back door to get into my garage because it's so full of bags of trash. Then, if I try to clean my garage or basement, I can't even get rid of my trash. This is just ridiculous and I am so mad that we citizens of Cape cannot do anything about it. We only need the recycling truck once a month but we do need our trash pickup twice a week. Thank you.

A GROUP OF US decided to watch "Friday The 13th, The Series" on KBSI and then Stephen King's "Children of the Corn." "Friday the 13th" is one of the best shows they have on KBSI. However, we were not prepared for what we met up with during "Children of the Corn." Unless they change their format, and take away the two jerks that are continually talking, I can truthfully tell you that myself and three of my neighbors will never again watch any later than "Friday The 13th." Thank you.

WOULD YOU PLEASE list the members of the Ohio Valley Conference: the schools, the towns and the mascot. Some of us want to know. Thank you.

They are: Eastern Kentucky Colonels, Richmond, Ky.; Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Morehead State Eagles, Morehead, Ky.; Austin Peay Governors, Clarksville, Tenn.; Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, Cookeville, Tenn.; Tennessee State Tigers, Nashville, Tenn.; Murray State Racers, Murray, Ky.; and Southeast Missouri State Indians, Cape Girardeau.