ANSWER: We can't assume anything based on rumor, or speculation. It proves nothing.

A very respected friend, one who has worked many years for the Veterans Administration, is duly concerned that VA Hospitals are taking a bad rap.

It is human nature to believe that if you are not paying through the nose for something you will not get the best quality of service, or treatment. Retrospection should tell us that this does not always hold true. There are times when you give a pound of flesh, only to be treated poorly. There are other times when the cost is relatively low, but the results highly satisfactory. Many people will testify that this is true with the hospital experience.

Veterans who qualify would be foolish not to take advantage of some of the many services of the Veterans Administration. Just how high VA Hospitals rank with other hospitals over the country would take a comprehensive study by people qualified to do so.

It stands to reason, however, that - like any government agency - VA Hospitals would be subject to the vacillations in funding. Funding has to depend on such vagaries as: priority, existing economic conditions, the administrations in power, and the unpredictable actions of congressional legislation.

There are VA Hospitals all over the country. So without a serious study, the only observations we can make are based on local VA facilities.

It is for certain that a veteran can go to the VA Clinic in Paragould, Arkansas, or the John J. Pershing VA Hospital in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and be treated with kindness, congeniality, and what appears to be very professional assistance. They advise, they treat, and they follow-up. Beyond that is a question that will have to be left up to people much more informed.

QUESTION: How do Southeast Missouri golf courses stack up as compared to other courses around the nation?

ANSWER: Better than most, but all golf courses share a common denominator: Golf courses are a place where people suffer, while maintaining the facade of having fun.

There is such a thing as earning your way to heaven through suffering. Golf courses are the perfect way to do it.

Here's what you find there:

"Whiffs - wild drives - duck hooks - banana balls - worm burners - shanks - 3-putts - 4-putts - water balls - sand - trees - cries of despair - curses - outright obscenities - broken clubs - thrown clubs - needling - insincere laughs - greed - bogus handicaps - men in shorts - sun burns - mosquitoes - gnats - chapped lips - chapped hands - shoulder pains - back pains - rain - wind - cold & heat."

Let's see: Tomorrow's forecast is for a temperature in the high 40's - winds light at around 5 to 10 per hour - sunny, with no rain in sight. If we can just put aside those annoying business & personal problems, we can hit the tee at just the right time, and be ready to suffer some more.