Guest Commentaries

Many American students find themselves stuck between the dream of earning a college degree and the reality of paying for that education. Rising tuition costs and reduced government support of higher education have forced many students to turn to student loans. The biggest problem is paying for those loans. 

College graduates are ready to work, but they are consistently stymied by the significant loan debt they have accumulated. Congress is ignoring the issue, while President Obama is looking for solutions.

In the Share the Harvest program, hunters and meat processors donate venison to food banks to be distributed to needy Missouri families. About 6,100 deer were processed through the program during the 2010 hunting season, adding up to more than 350,000 pounds of meat.

The United States has the world's largest incarceration rate for many reasons. We should take a second look at some of them.

A judge will have to decide how to interpret the placement of a comma to determine whether or not Gov. Jay Nixon overstepped his constitutional boundaries.

The Cardinals made an improbable run to the playoffs, the World Series and a MLB championship in 2011.

Even though public pressure made the way for Joplin tornado hero, Mark Lindquist, to receive workers' compensation for his injuries, the insurance company could have denied his claim under Missouri law.

There is still talk between Iraqis and Americans about an ongoing military relationship and continued Iraqi training under U.S. or NATO auspices.

Despite popular belief, the farm sector isn't on the edge of catastrophe. Farm income is expected to reach $115 billion this year, a record for the industry.

Only a handful of Columbia voters will have the opportunity to vote on a sales tax that will affect anyone that shops or dines downtown. 

Mark Lindquist put his life at risk to protect three residents at the group home he worked at the night of the Joplin tornado, May 22. The residents died and Lindquist was in a coma for seven weeks. His employer's insurance denied him workers' compensation at first, but now his medical expenses will be paid in full.

Jesus healed completely. He did not pay lip service with a tidbit here and a tidbit there. The homeless were not to be coddled all their lives. Christians in Columbia should share their time with others who are less fortunate.

The attempt to contain the Missouri River is a factor in the 2011 floods in the Midwest. Now, the only solution is to stop trying to control the river and give it space to flow.

Missouri's 2011 legislative special session ended up being a bust because of disagreements within the House and Senate. Now, the legislatures must repair the damages they made.

The demonstrators who are occupying Wall Street and protesting on many main streets across the United States are crying out about America's unjust economy.

Columbia has all the demographics for food trending, but experimental food places are few and far between.

Fears that hiking minimum wage will decrease job creation and hiring is unfounded. The 343 percent gap between CEO and their workers' pay in the U.S. is the largest in the world.

Wild animals, regardless of where they are, require special handling.

Even though people are skeptical about America's intervention in Libya, as long as we are not putting our troops at risk, the ending will justify the president's decision.

Major League Baseball wants to ban smokeless tobacco, which used to be available free in big-league clubhouses. But the players union thinks it is a matter of individual choice.