Letter to the Editor

Your View: two from 11/21

Thursday, November 21, 2002

On Oct. 26, through the cooperation of the City of Sikeston, the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce, churches and many participating individuals, our community conducted the Third Annual Community-Wide Clean-up in conjunction with Make a Difference Day. Volunteers - young boys and girls, teens and adults of all ages - worked together on a chilly, drizzly day to complete clean-up requests from many parts of the city.

We thank the city's Tom Bridger and Jiggs Moore for their efforts at clean-up headquarters and for making the waste yard on Compress Road available to Sikeston's residents that week, including Sunday. Sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks were donated by Burch Food Services, Pepsi-Cola and Mike Riney of Market Place, all coordinated by Shad Old. Phil Boyer provided the headquarters' protective tent, including its set-up and take-down. Publicity for the event was provided by Tyler Morrison of KSIM and Joe Bill Davis of KBXB radio, Rodney McConnell with the Sikeston Public Schools and Jill Bock of the Standard Democrat.

Without the cooperation and effort put forth by these persons and companies, Clean-up Day would not be as successful as it was or as beneficial for the volunteers. And of course we salute and wish to especially recognize each of the following for their community spirit and efforts that day:

The Rev. Rick Anderson, Ryan Beaird, Joy Bond, Joseph Bowman, Lee Bowman Jr., Andrew Box, Randy Box, Larry Braden, Molly Brinkmeyer, Ross Bucher, Suzan Culver, the Rev. Larry Davis, Steven Fowler, Thomas Grimsley Jr., James Hatchel, Katie Hawkins, Jon Hopson, Jim Hux, Tim Jaynes, Harold Jones, Pat Jones, Whitney Jones, John Kendig, Bill Koch, Roger Krebs, Greg Krokstrom, Hallie Lambert, Cullen Looney, Megan Looney;

Aidan Marshall, Mike Marshall, Missy Marshall, Erica McMakin, Kathy Medley, Kristin Medley, Lauren Medley, Jiggs Moore, Judy Morrow, Peter Myers, Christy Neel, Meyer Neel, Shad Old, Adam Robertson, Clayton Robertson, Jan Robertson, John Robertson, Ashley Schetter, Kathy Schetter, Jim Schwaninger, Stephen M. Stellobuto, Justin Vaughters, Nick Vaughters, Stephanie Vaughters, Matt Vowels, Sean Wall, Barry Warner, Associated Electric, Burch Foods, City of Sikeston, City of Sikeston Municipal Court, Daughters of Isabella, Manpower, Market Place, Mission Missouri, Nestle Purinacare, Noranda Aluminum, OFM, Pepsi-Cola, Sikeston Factory Outlet.

All of the above can be truly proud that they indeed did "make a difference" on Oct. 26. The City of Sikeston and all of its citizens are better off today for the time and efforts put forth by everyone involved.

Missy Marshall, executive director Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce Larry Braden, chairman Community-Wide Clean-Up

Do you want to be a University curator? Then take this multiple choice quiz.

You are a member of the University of Missouri's Board of Curators. Due to declining state revenues, for the past several years you have been forced to make severe budget cuts, delay and terminate programs, cut personnel and stop many capital improvements to the University. You have voiced (screamed?) your concerns to the public about how funding shortfalls to the University will set the quality of education back for a decade and do irreparable harm to higher education in Missouri. Your excitement over these predictions of doom make Chicken Little look calm.

You are assigned the task of hiring a new president for the University. You want to impress upon the public how careful you are being with the tax revenues you are still receiving to preserve the best possible university for the state. Which of the following is the best course to follow:

(a) To reduce the costs of searching for and hiring someone outside the University system, you promote your most qualified chancellor to the position and give him or her the same salary of the outgoing president, $260,000.

(b) You seek out other qualified and interested individuals associated with the University or the state of Missouri who would have no trouble moving into the position and working in Jefferson City to help with state funding and pay him or her the same salary of the outgoing president, $260,000.

(c) You form a search committee and go to Michigan and interview someone who knows little about the University of Missouri system. You immediately agree to hire this candidate and agree to increase his salary $90,000 above the current president's salary to $350,000. In announcing this decision you tell the people of Missouri how lucky they are.

Answer: If you chose (a) or (b) you are not qualified to be a member of the University of Missouri's Board of Curators.

H. Riley Bock, New Madrid