Carterville cannon causes trouble for some

To the Editor:

The cannon at the Carterville Lions football field continues a tradition that promotes a sense of festivity and fun. Shot off from the visitor's sideline, it also adds an element of intimidation and gamesmanship.

For more than 16 years, I have attended most varsity football contests of the Hamilton County Foxes. However, the presence of the cannon may preclude me from returning to Carterville.

I have cerebral palsy. Symptoms of my CP include moderate to extreme jumpiness or startlement. In years past, any time the cannon would fire, I would fall to the ground, almost without exception. The sudden shock to my joints and muscles made it difficult to get up and walk without pain. Whether the cannon blasts were expected or unexpected, the results remained the same.

This year, I decided to be proactive and watched the game from a seated position with earplugs firmly in place. My joints still rattled; my muscles still ached. I would like to congratulate the Carterville Lions on their peerless new football complex and strong football program.

However, the cannon and I just don't seem to mix. In two years, I will forgo the sidelines for the signals of the radio.

Ryan P. Nelson

McLeansboro

Tears shared on Election Day

To the Editor:

In August 1967, I was discharged from the Army after serving my three-year enlistment. I mustered out in Fort Hamilton, N.Y., along with hundreds of other soldiers.

On the flight home to Minneapolis, I sat next to Robert, a young black man about my age, who had also just mustered out of the Army. I spent most of my time in Germany and he spent his in Vietnam. His home was in Detroit, which was the first stop the plane made.

As we flew into Detroit, it looked like the whole city was on fire. Everywhere we looked, flames were consuming houses, sometimes whole blocks. I saw that Robert had tears in his eyes. He told me he had talked to his mom the day before and that she had told him Detroit was under curfew. He said his mom told him they would try to find some way to get him from the airport to his home, but if they couldn't, he would have to wait until morning. After more than a year in Vietnam, he wasn't allowed to go the 25 miles to get home. When he left the plane, I shook his hand and wished him luck. I, too, had tears in my eyes as I saw him enter the terminal.

What a difference 40 years makes. On Election Day, I had tears in my eyes again, but this time, they were tears of joy. I hope Robert is still around and remembers the tears we shared. I hope he realizes that the man with whom he shared tears 40 years ago, he shared tears with again on Election Day.

Hugh Stempfley

Marion

Restoring our economy

To the Editor:

To fix the broken economic system, our new president and Congress must recognize that our basic economic premise is upside-down. The law of "supply and demand" must be amended to read the law of demand and supply to correct the distorted concept that supply creates demand.

The current economic collapse has abruptly revealed that artificial wealth created by the daily exhortation of poorly regulated advertisers to purchase with plastic money items that we cannot afford, coupled with shrinking wages and rising unemployment, has caused a total loss of confidence in government ability to guide the economic engine of the United States. Confidence in government fiscal and monetary policies has been further eroded by the promise that the lower and middle classes will achieve wealth and prosperity by the pursuit of trade and tax policies which ships jobs overseas, reduces purchasing power and has redistributed 34 percent of the wealth to the richest 1 percent of our population composed of CEOs, bankers, real estate speculators and Wall Street schemers.

It may take years to rebuild the American economy, but the one government action that could immediately enhance confidence in the government's intent to revitalize our economy in a manner providing equal access to the "American Dream" to all citizens is to require that any corporation doing business with the federal government limit annual compensation packages of CEOs and other senior managers to $2 million annually or pay federal tax amounting to 50 percent of the total compensation package.

Alvin Roberts

Carbondale

Human Relations Commission thanks mayor

To the Editor:

The Carbondale Human Relations Commission congratulates Mayor Brad Cole for making a visit to northeast Carbondale after the shootings in that quadrant of the city.

We hope the mayor will continue to attend such unfortunate incidents, and hope that he and other responsible persons in the community will find ways to prevent similar acts in the future. The members of the Human Relations Commission support the mayor's efforts to discover the reasons behind the violence, and we pledge to contribute whatever we can to see our community become a safer place for all its citizens.

John S. Holmes

Carbondale Human Relations Commission Chair