THE TRIBUNE'S VIEW
Good stuff happenin’
By HENRY J. WATERS III, Publisher, Columbia Daily Tribune
Yes, Missouri needs a law specifying how vacancies in fire district boards will be filled, and putting the old Watkins Roofing Co. building to use by local artists is a great idea.

Land sale proposal is simply stupid
By KEN MIDKIFF
The Bush administration’s proposal to sell off several hundred thousand - ranging from 150,000 to 300,000 - acres of national forest land is a difficult sell to President George W. Bush’s base. Even such stalwart Bush supporters as Sen. Kit Bond, Sen. Jim Talent and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson have expressed concerns or even outright opposition. Rep. Kenny Hulshof has been coy, but it is telling that he hasn’t taken a public position.

OPEN COLUMN
MOHELA sale would benefit Blunt, not state
Editor, the Tribune: I am very much opposed to the sale of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority to a private party.

OPEN COLUMN
Smoking decision should be made by city residents
Editor, the Tribune: Why is it that the same people who are for abortion, gay marriage and legalization of drugs and are anti-Wal-Mart and anti-development are intent on banning the use of a legal product such as tobacco from bars, restaurants and bowling alleys? 

OPEN COLUMN
Columbians would breathe easier with car, fireplace ban
Editor, the Tribune: I am a bicyclist, and I bicycle everywhere. I think Columbia should outlaw cars! Their exhaust makes me inhale what I’m sure are Class A carcinogens! It’s terrible. I can hardly ride my bike because the car exhaust makes it so difficult to breathe.

OPEN COLUMN
Schools official crosses line of church-state separation
Editor, the Tribune: On Feb. 11, The New York Times reported that a production of the musical "Grease" performed by a group of Fulton high school students resulted in three critical e-mails, all from the same conservative church, being sent to the superintendent of schools, Mark Enderle. 

War hard to win with head in the sand
By GEORGE WILL
When late in the spring of 1940 people of southeastern England flocked across the English Channel in their pleasure craft and fishing boats to evacuate soldiers trapped on Dunkirk beaches, euphoria swept Britain. So Prime Minister Winston Churchill sternly told the nation: "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations."

STAY IN TOUCH
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