RUST COMMENTARY: VOTE YES -- TWICE -- ON CAPE GIRARDEAU'S SCHOOL BOND PROPOSAL

Because I will be absent from Cape Girardeau County on school election day Tuesday, April 1 ... I voted by absentee ballot last week at the courthouse annex in Cape Girardeau. (I was only number 25.) It was easy and educational -- educational in the sense that the wording on one of the funding ballots was not clear.

To make it simple ... if you want to support one of the most important issues in Cape Girardeau's present, past and future ... VOTE YES TWICE!

This is no time to nitpick the issue and find faults that you think might justify your no vote (easy to do, but self-defeating in the long run).

The Cape Girardeau public school system needs new buildings and equipment for the present students and for the growth that is coming and will come to this community with improved schools. I know of two major industry decisions that might be swayed for or against Cape by a positive vote (for) or a negative vote (against) the school issues. The area will benefit from the proposed new vo-tech school ... including not only the students, but existing businesses and industries which already rely on the training support the overloaded present school provides.

Today in some Chicago schools 62 percent of the high school students drop out, and 50 percent of the remainder score in the lower 1 percent of testing programs. Few industries locate in Chicago or other communities with poor educational qualities.

Nowhere else can an investment of our money potentially bring such a great return (financially and in moral values). This is not an issue to be flippant about ... but to seriously take the time to inform yourself and friends and then go to the polls and vote.

If you're going to be out of town election day, vote absentee at the courthouse in Jackson or the courthouse annex in Cape, or call either for information on mail requests.

The board and new high school administration have been open, responsible and sincere in presenting the issue and answering questions.

VOTE YES TWICE!!!

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MURRAY STATE carried the Ohio Valley Conference banner well in its intense 71-68 loss to DUKE in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Often, there's just a play or two difference between any of the Division I basketball schools on a given night. Fouls, injuries and intensity are more often than not the turning point in games by what are generally well-coached teams in the OHIO Valley Conference. And that was basically the difference in SEMO'S missed opportunity to be No. 1 in the conference this year.

And JACKSON has to be proud of its Lady Indians second-place finish in the state tournament. A great six-year run under Coach RON COOK. Congratulations.

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Standard Education

There is great concern among those involved in education at state and local levels that once Washington creates national standards, mandates will follow. Setting world-class standards for our schools will be successful only if it is done by parents, teachers, administrators, businesses and local taxpayers.

Wisconsin is one example. While the state is developing model standards, it is up to each school district to adopt that model, modify it or establish its own standards. A community with a strong computer industry, for example, may want to have higher or more specialized math requirements.

The pressure for higher-quality education must come from the community-most important, from parents. -- Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson.

I agree. And PARENTS, grandparents and those who know the importance of education must get more involved.

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Get Real

Athletes are secondary role models. Your parents are your primary role models. There [are] not many Grant Hills or Michael Jordans out there. Every kid wants to be, but they're not going to be. That's unrealistic. They have a better chance of being what their mother or father are. And that's reality. They should listen to their parents and get a good education. -- Charles Barkley on "Meet the Press."

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Transportation

President Clinton unveiled a long-awaited, $175 billion plan to improve the nation's highways and bridges over the next six years. It comes as Congress is beginning to wrestle with the reauthorization of the 1991 omnibus highway law known as the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). The law, which authorized more than $157 billion for fiscal 1991-97, expires on Sept. 30.

Clinton's proposal would boost spending on core road-building programs by 30 percent and increase spending on programs designed to combat driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and to increase the use of safety belts and child restraints.

The blueprint would also increase spending: for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration by 25 percent to $395 million, and for programs to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality by 30 percent to $1.3 billion a year. It would dedicate $600 million to deploy intelligent transportation technology to cut travel time and improve safety. -- The R&P Report, A Review and Preview of Congress Today.

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.