Columbia Missourian SUNDAY & MONDAY, February 7-8, 2010 — Page 5A

Write.
Reflect.
Respond.

TODAY’S QUESTION
What can higher education institutions do to make up
for budget shortfalls?

M
issouri Higher Education Commissioner Robert Stein said
in a recent letter to campus chancellors and presidents that
higher education is facing reduced funding for the future
due to the state’s fiscal situation.
Gov. Jay Nixon reached a tentative deal with the presidents of public
four-year institutions that would cut $40 million from higher education
appropriations next year while preserving 95 percent of funding. This
deal is pending approval by Missouri’s legislature.
Stein wrote, “It’s hard to imagine with shortfalls of this magnitude
that higher education funding can be protected, much less increased,
even by officials who are champions for higher education.”
Stein presented ideas from education and government leaders for
potential savings: including closing campuses, absorbing institu-
tions into university systems, cutting athletic programs and reducing
course offerings.
— Kourtney Geers
Tell us what you think
E-mail your comments to letters@ColumbiaMissourian.com
Or mail them to: Idea of the Day, P.O. Box 917, Columbia, MO 65205

DEAR READER

Meet the columnists,

write election letters I have a dream, will
Y you dream with me?
ou may have noticed a few of the Fourth Ward, sent in the first
new faces in the Missou- endorsement letter this week when
rian’s opinion section over she urged voters to support Sid Sul-
the last couple of weeks. livan for mayor (you can find it in
David Webber, an assistant pro- today’s print Missourian or online at

fessor in political science at MU,
will be filing the weekly legislative
column he writes for The Missouri
Record with the Missourian as well.
Webber, who has been with the polit-
ical science department since 1986,
offers an intriguing idea to fund-
ing statewide election campaigns
in this week’s column. His idea for
voter vouchers would give citizens
more incentive and, he argues, more
power in statewide elections.
Another new face joining the
opinion ranks
is Andrew Van
Dam, a graduate
student at the
Missouri School
of Journalism
who brings a
certain geeky
perspective to
these community
Jake conversations.
His column this
Sherlock past week was
an analysis of
Jake Sherlock is
the Missourian’s the number of
opinion editor. comments left at
E-mail: sherlockj@ Columbia
missouri.edu Missourian.com
Phone: 882-9951 in 2009.
One irony you
may have noticed
in Van Dam’s column: One of the
top commenters was posting under
the pseudonym Ayn Rand, which
violates the Missourian’s policy of
posting under a real name.
I’ve swapped e-mails with a few
readers who are surprised by this
policy, especially considering that a
vast number of news Web sites tend
to offer anonymous comments. Ano-
nymity is a nice cloak for those who
fear they’ll be attacked for sharing
their views, but it’s also an all-too-
convenient screen for those who
only want to abuse and inflame.
In the end, it comes down to this:
The Missourian does not publish
anonymous letters to the editor;
reporters are allowed to use anony-
mous sources only as an absolute
last resort, and only with the
approval of one of the top two edi-
tors. That said, shouldn’t the com-
ment policy reflect the same com-
mitment to transparency?
***
We’re only about eight weeks
away from the April 6 municipal
election. Virginia Bzdek, a resident
General Manager Executive Editor
Daniel S. Potter Tom Warhover
potterds@ warhovert@
missouri.edu missouri.edu
ColumbiaMissourian.com).
Also on the ballot are seats for
presiding commissioner for county
government, City Council represen-
tatives in the Third and Fourth Ward
and three seats on the Columbia
School Board. Voters will also decide
on changes to the city charter,
whether to approve a $120 million
bond for Columbia Public Schools
and whether surveillance cameras
downtown are a good idea.
Submitting an endorsement letter
shouldn’t be a cumbersome process.
Here’s what you need to know to get
published in the Missourian:
n Please include a daytime phone
number. It won’t be published, but
it will be used to verify your letter
and give you an idea about when it
will be published.
n There is no charge.
n You can submit your letters by
e-mail to letters@Columbia
Missourian.com; by traditional
mail to Letter to Editor, P.O. Box
917, Columbia, MO 65205; by fax to
573-882-5702; or in person at 221 S.
Eighth St. in the newsroom (come to
the top floor).
n Your address won’t be published,
but a general description of where
you live will be included. This is to
lend transparency – a Third Ward
resident has every right to express
an opinion on the Fourth Ward race,
even if that resident doesn’t have
a vote, but Fourth Ward residents
should know where those endorse-
ments are coming from, too.
n Anonymous letters will not be
published.
Endorsements must be received
by April 1. The last day to publish
endorsements online is April 5, the
day before the election. The last day
to publish endorsements in print is
April 4.
***
The most important aspect of
the opinion page is your feedback,
whether it be to voice your own idea
or to offer a response to something
you’ve read. We welcome your com-
ments at ColumbiaMissourian.com,
Twitter and Facebook, or write a
letter to the editor or a guest col-
umn. We’re always in the market to
publish your thoughts.
If you’re interested in writing a
guest column or a regular column
for the Missourian, drop me an e-
mail — I’d love to speak with you.
Managing Editor Opinion Editor
Jeanne Abbott Jake Sherlock
abbottjm@ sherlockj@
missouri.edu missouri.edu
I
have always been a day-
dreamer. As a boy I
dreamed of having enor-
mous riches. I dreamed of
having rooms full of gold
to be used for any purpose.
I dreamed of supremacy, of ruling
many people and receiving the plau-
dit of the millions.
I continued to have dreams of
love, marriage and a home. Then I
dreamed of success, of being a big
executive and of wielding power in
the business world.
But one day Christ came and
called me into another life and all
my dreams were changed. Today
my dreams have come true. As I
have the high honor of being an offi-
cer in The Salvation Army, all my
dreams in the service to people and
the Army are continually coming
to pass right before my very eyes.
“Whoever wants to be great must
become a servant. Whoever wants
to be first among you must be your
slave. That is what the Son of Man
has done: He came to serve, not be
served -- and then to give away his
life in exchange for the many who
are held hostage,” Matthew 20: 24-
28 (The Message).
Our Salvation Army is not built
on dreams alone. First the dreams,
then the hard work that makes the
dream come true. We must dream
together that our army of soup, soap
and salvation indeed has the power
to transform and change lives as
dreams become reality. The Bible
says without a vision or dream the
people perish. I have a dream, and
I pray that you too will dream with
me, that our Salvation Army will
be a force of unified soldiers of ser-
vice. Here’s a prayer, “Lord, please
give me your eyes to see others as
your special creations. I desire so
much to be the kind of visionary you
want me to be. Amen.”
Recently I’ve been sitting quietly
by day or lying in bed at night and
dreaming of what The Salvation
Army could be for people in need.
But our army is not made of brick
and stone – these only make build-
ings. Our Army is made of men and
women and boys and girls. This
army is made of human personali-
ties, human brains, human hearts,
human hands and human services
to reach the lost. Jesus Christ is
our chief cornerstone. Jesus is the
foundation, and you and I are the
smaller stones that make up his
spiritual force in this community
— today and tomorrow. This type
of power is at our disposal, through
the aspirations, hopes and dreams
DOONESBURY Flashbacks by GaRry Trudeau
K. KENDALL
MATHEWS
Will you dream that love
might be our theme song,
passion unite our chorus?
our Lord wants us to have as we
serve people in need, helping them
construct their own dreams for a
brighter future. Without a clear-cut
vision for the things of God, you
may find yourself just daydreaming
your life away.
Have you ever known somebody
who daydreams? The look on his
or her face is as blank as a piece of
unmarked paper and surely lifeless.
You may see their physical body, but
their mind is in another place. This
person’s mind is far, far away in
no man’s land. I wonder sometimes
what people are meditating on when
they are in a state of daydreaming. I
mean their deep innermost thoughts
and dreams. Are they pure, holy
and focused on the right activities
or Christian living?
God wants us to be a daydreamer
for him, thinking of his blessings
and the love he has for all people,
so our minds won’t stray from his
goodness. So, dream about how
favorable God has been to you, all
the blessings he has given you and
his blessings that are waiting for
you. I am certain that your life will
be one big spiritual reality of God
taking good care of all your genu-
ine needs — not a dream that will
never come true. Let’s dream of
what we can become as a body of
Godly dream weavers. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s, “I Have A Dream”
speech has encouraged many people
to create their own dream and to
work for unity and harmony.
Here is my version of, “I Have A
Dream.”
I have a dream that one day every
unsaved person will come to know
the colorblind Christ, who has the
supernatural authority to change
every earthly tribe, from tribulation
to truthfulness, and from transgres-
sion to liberation. If we are red, yel-
low, black or white it makes no dif-
ference, because we’re all precious
in his sight.
Will you dream with me that ser-
vice and salvation might unite as
one to bring about renewed redemp-
tion to every color of God’s family
because we’re created in his like-
ness?
I have a dream that our holistic
human services will meet the total
needs of society’s downtrodden,
who suffer from homelessness, sub-
stance abuse, hunger or any other
social impediment with no regard
for cultural background. Our war-
fare is against the social workings of
the land that should not endorse a
handout, but extend a hand up that
reaches to God’s highest heavenly
height.
Will you dream with me that suf-
fering humanity might experience
the holy humility of every weary
warrior of Jesus Christ, for the bliss
of the master is our strength?
I have a dream that our soldiers
and officers will serve in unification
with no regard for rank. Our service
to the needy and the like-minded-
ness of Christ will be the spiritual
glue that holds us together. Since
we are one in the spirit and one in
the Lord, let’s pray that our unity
of Christly service may always be
restored. From Cadet to General
and every rank in between, let’s
unite as one, march into the ene-
my’s camp and take back what they
have stolen from us.
Will you dream with me that the
mind of Christ might overtake the
trials of the tainted one who works
to delay our salvation, destroy our
life and deceive our walk with God
the Father?
I have a dream that compassion
will overshadow the deep-rooted
pain of ethic misunderstandings
that has caused men, women, boys
and girls to be blinded by the world.
God’s compassion is as high as the
heaven; his compassion is as deep
as the sea; his compassion is for
all people; his endless love and his
faithful forgiveness are there for you
and for me.
Will you dream with me that love
might be our theme song, grace our
tune, and that our passion will unite
our chorus as we sing all day long to
our loving Lord?
I have a dream that this will be
the day when all God’s people from
every culture, every creed and every
color will stand as one consecrated
people, under God with spiritual
liberation and supernatural impar-
tiality for all. We then will be able to
unite and join holy hands and pro-
claim the words, “Free at last! Free
at last! Thank God Almighty, we’re
free at last!”
Do you now have a dream?
Major K. Kendall Mathews is the regional
coordinator for The Salvation Army.

“I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected
with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for
the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is
a betrayal of this trust. I believe that clear thinking and clear statement,
accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.”
Walter Williams, founding dean,
missouri school of journalism
WRITE: Letter to Editor, P.O. Box 917, Columbia, MO 65205
E-MAIL: letters@ColumbiaMissourian.com
FAX: 573-882-5702 CALL: 573-882-5744 OR CALL: 573-882-9951