The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Dear Editor,
Just recently I read a letter to the editor about how West Central's new name/mascot "Heat" is going to be a complete disgrace to the community.
Before I read this, I had heard about a petition at Union against "heat" as the new mascot/name. Even before that, I had heard talk about how "Heat" was a bad name.
As an eighth grade student, I was selected by my class to be on a committee to select at least ten names, colors, and mascots for all students to vote on.
Teens from grades eight through eleven were there; most of them A students.
We took our job very seriously and narrowed the list down to six with "Heat" being one of the mascots.
Did anyone on the committee make the reference to dogs in heat? Absolutely NOT!
Next, the names went on a ballot to be voted on at each school; not just Southern, but Union as well.
I never once heard a reference at Southern to dogs in heat, and I'm not a wallflower. The votes were counted and West Central Heat came out on top. Remember, BOTH schools voted on it.
Then, out of the blue, I hear someone started a petition against "Heat" because they didn't want the connection to dogs in heat. Dogs in heat? Who would think that up when we were talking about a school?
When I heard that, I was embarrassed. I thought of the mascot "Heat" as a way of saying we were going to play hard and pressure the opposing team.
You can take anything and make it bad, but does that mean you should? I highly doubt any other school would call us dogs in heat unless they heard it from someone else first.
Thanks to all the talk about it, I guarantee people will now say that just to see what we will do.
If we don't react like dogs in heat, people won't be able to say we are. If we are academically and athletically sound, most people will say good things about us.
I would appreciate it if people would stop making this issue such a big deal. Maybe we should try to look at everything in a positive light rather than show the next generation that you should put everything in a negative sense.
Miriam Rutzen
Southern 8th grade student
Dear Editor:
Investing For the Future
Many people today seem to spend beyond their means as evidenced by the average family having approximately twelve thousand in credit card debt. The idea many have is spend today and worry about tomorrow another day. People who live beyond their means, buy everything on time payments, with exorbitant interest, will likely not have an enjoyable retirement.
A lot of people do little planning for their retirement and expect Social Security to provide all they need. Some play the lottery for their retirement plan. It is hard to believe that so many will take 100 million to 1 odds in hopes of winning the lottery. If they invested the same money in the stock market, their odds would be greatly improved!
Thankfully, we have a president who does plan ahead. Just as he wanted to tackle terrorism before it got the upper hand, he wants to also tackle domestic issues such as MEDICARE and Social Security. He realizes these things will not win him a popularity contest because there is a lot of dissension for these issues. However, he wants to do what is right for the American people.
As many have discovered, investing in our country is a sound investment. Of course there have been some down years in the stock market. However, going all the way back to the great depression to today, there have been considerable more up years than down years. That is why being invested for the long term is important.
In so far as investing some of the Social Security money in the stock market, some people who have had only short term or no investments think the markets are too risky. If that is your feeling, no one would fore you to invest any of your Social Security money.
It would probably be preferable to have more of the stock market investments in index funds such as the S & P 500, rather than all in technology etc. These are generally the ones with the least risk and cost, plus the most diversification.
To give you an example, we owned small dabs of 8 mutual funds in 2004, ranging from diversified international, REITS, utilities, junk bonds, and large and small stock funds. Their returns ranged from 7 to 34 percent, whereas CD's, money market funds and Social Security returns were lucky to return two percent.
Although we have lost some companies overseas, and many countries are getting stronger economically, the United States remains the best investment in the world.
Weyman George
Macomb, IL
Dear Editor:
A Valentine Story
My husband died after nearly 45 years of marriage. A widow one and a half years, I kept busy in Nebraska with family, friends, and church activities.
Then one morning, the Lord impressed me that I would meet someone by Spring, to remarry
In May, I attended my 50th high school reunion and saw Weyman George (Macomb).
We'd graduated from high school and college, in a small town of Tarkio, Missouri.
His father's college psychology classes were stimulating. Weyman and I, however, weren't in any classes together.
Also, sports were his interest and music was mine. We never dated.
After 40 years of marriage, his wife died. Now, we carried on an animated conversation, after he told me I'd aged well!
We communicated over the summer months sharing our similar values. We found much to laugh about and I enjoyed his good sense of humor.
On September 14, he called and asked if I liked endearing names such as honey, sweetheart, and darling.
To each, I happily answered "yes". Weyman paused and said, "What I'd really like to call you is my wife".
Although I sensed he'd propose soon (and I said yes), it took my breath away when he did!
To make it "official", the next time I saw him, and while taking a walk, he stopped and on bended knee, proposed.
When I told my daughter, Michelle, she asked why we were rushing. My youngest, Beverly said, "At your age, why wait?"
Six weeks later, on November 8, 2003, Weyman and I had a lovely church wedding, that was attended by friends and family (including all of my nephews and nieces) from across the U.S.
It was also a joyous reunion for some of them who hadn't seen others in 30 years.
Weyman and I believe it was God's great gift of love that brought our hearts together.
Shirley George
Macomb