SpeakOut 9/16

Monday, September 16, 2002

Call 471-6636

I read in SpeakOut "Pot calls the kettle black." What's wrong? Is your conscience bothering you?

I would like to SpeakOut about the Sikeston Middle School in particular, but in general about the whole Sikeston Public Schools system. My daughter is 11 years old and attends the Middle School. Today she came home starving because they did not give her any lunch. That means an 11-year-old child went seven hours without a bite to eat. They have the lunch card system, but since she forgot her card, they didn't give her anything. Usually if a child forgets, which occasionally happens because we're all human, they at least get a peanut butter sandwich and milk. She got nothing. When the assistant principal was informed, her response was that she should have at least gotten peanut butter, but the kids need to be taught responsibility. This is an outrage! At the same time, another kid had gotten his food. When they asked him for his card, he had forgotten his, also and they threw all the food away because he had already touched it, rather than letting him eat it. I think the superintendent and school board members should be a little more concerned with the welfare of our children than just how much money our children can get the school.

This is to the person who wrote in about "soap and water mix." It's about where farmhands wear the same clothes three and four days at a time. I grew up on a farm and also have a son who is a farmer. If you have ever tried to get grease and ground-in dirt from clothing, it is one of the most difficult things to do. No matter what you try, even with all the new things on the market, you can get them out, somewhat, but to say that they don't bathe and don't wash their clothes and wear them for three or four days is absolutely ridiculous. A farmhand works hard for very little money - little money. They don't work by the hour. They work at a wage rate. They get so much. If they work more than those hours, they don't get paid. I think you're way off base. I think you need to go buy detergent and see if you can do it because I know what it is to try to get the grease from the tractor and the ground-in dirt and ground-in mud out of clothing. You try it.

Concerning the Missouri-Missourah controversy, about 15 years ago, my child, as part of a fourth-grade project, set up a little booth at the mall and interviewed several hundred people about which pronunciation they preferred. It was about 55 Missour-ee to 45 Missour-ah. Considerable research at that time found out that either pronunciation was correct.


Now that the English have straightened us out on how to pronounce our state's name, how should we say "Illinois" and "Arkansas?" By the way, I went to school in New MA-drid.


Sure the name of the state is pronounced Missour-ee because that's the way it's spelled. Right? Just like the state to the south of us is pronounced Ar-kansas because that's the way it's spelled. And the state to the east of us is pronounced Illi-noise because the way it's spelled. Right?

Please correct the record. Sikeston did have a win over Bernie in volleyball. In 1992 the 1993 season, 10 years ago, Bernie went on to win the state championship in their division.

Another view

In the Sept. 5 SpeakOut, someone called in about wanting to know about Jean Carnahan being our senator. He called Carnahan a fraud. Allow me to explain it to the caller. Sen. Carnahan was appointed to fill the vacancy after the death of her husband by Gov. Wilson, who was the lieutenant governor who took over after the death of Gov. Carnahan. These are the rules provided by the Constitution of Missouri. In fact, he could have appointed anyone he wanted to but felt Mrs. Carnahan would be the best choice. Those are rules we all live by in the state of Missouri. Sorry it doesn't fit the caller, but Sen. Carnahan is no fraud.