“Space used to be a man’s world. Then came Sally Ride, who blazed a cosmic trial into orbit for U.S. women. With a pitch-perfect name out of a pop song refrain, she joined the select club of American space heroes the public knew by heart: Shepard, Glenn, Armstrong and Aldrin.”
It was an almost poetic beginning by The Associated Press about the end of the life of Sally Ride, 61, who died Monday of pancreatic cancer.
We remember her as the first American woman in orbit, flying into space on the space shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983.
But we should also thank her for her work motivating our children to learn more about science. She wrote five science books for children, and headed her own company helping push youths toward careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Ride is often heralded as a role model for women.
We see her as a pioneer who could provide a lesson for all of us: Dare to break the barriers.
As we remember Ride today, perhaps it’s appropriate to mention the name of Amelia Earhart. Born 115 years ago Tuesday, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were lost on their July 1937 flight from New Guinea to Howland Island in the central Pacific Ocean.
Earhart was trying to become the first woman to fly around the planet.
Perhaps somewhere out there today in the galaxy, these two bright stars will find each other.
We believe their lights will continue to guide adventurers for many generations to come.
Opinion
Our View: Sally Ride an inspiration for us all
- Opinion
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Other Views: Conflicts in SEC
Money talks. In the continuing dispute over the all-too-cozy relationship between the people who create and sell financial products and the people who rate their risk, the money says: Shut up and let us do what we want.
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Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
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Our View: Fixing failure
Some 1,200 injured workers will finally get the payments they are owed. In its final week in session, Missouri’s General Assembly, through bipartisan efforts, passed a solution to address the insolvency of the state’s Second Injury Fund.
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Herb B. Kuhn, guest columnist: Delaying Medicaid reform could hurt rural Missouri
The Missouri Legislature missed a rare opportunity in the just-ended session to transform Medicaid and make a real difference in the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of our neighbors. Rural Missouri has the most to lose from the legislature’s failure to act.
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Kevin Wilson, guest columnist: When fear wins out, so do the terrorists
I’m going to make a bold statement that’s sure to draw a lot of comments, but hear me out before reaching for the keyboard to type a rebuttal.
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Sandie Morgan, guest columnist: Unions benefit workers more than they may know
In a recent guest column (Globe, May 14), Elliott Denniston made the case for Missouri not to become a right-to-work state, and he made this case very well.
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Marta Mossburg, columnist: Maybe government is tyrannical after all
Less than two weeks ago President Obama stood in front of graduates from The Ohio State University and told them to reject those who warn of government tyranny.
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Our View: Spying on us
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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Our View: Pass on the legacy
Forty hungry members of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry began gathering corn at the Rader farm near the village of Sherwood when they were ambushed by a guerrilla band of about 70 Southern sympathizers.
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Our View: Big Brother looms large
The federal government, working under the cloak of secrecy, has been having a heyday at the expense of all Americans.
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