Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 6, 1994 TAG: 9403080007
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
While lambasting the Senate's ``Goals 2000'' education bill for its unrealistic goals, Will puts the responsibility for education on the shoulders of those least able to influence national educational policies and budgets - the poor and/or single-parent and/or ``dysfunctional'' families whose kids (according to his logic) have the most trouble in school. Quit blaming the system, in other words, blame the individual parent, the individual family. Make those parents ``active shoppers for education, using school-choice programs,'' Will tells us. (He doesn't tell us why we should assume that these ``incompetent'' parents would make competent educational shoppers.)
It's easy to see where his lance hits the ground. The family itself is a system, an institution, a historically and socially determined entity. To substantiate this claim, one need only look at evolution from agrarian extended family, to industrial-nuclear family, to post-industrial reconfiguration of family systems (includes single-parent families). Family systems are overdetermined by history. To blame them f+iiso to blame the social system. To talk, as he does, about ``the quality of the homes from which the students come to school'' is to talk about the quality of the political and economic system in which homes exist, whether his f+icommono sense allows for this or not.
For my money, the mythical dragon needing slaying is Will's own: the three-headed mythical dragon of individualism, transcendental free will and unbridled self-determination. Of course, this dragon has served the white male knight too well for us to expect him to slay it.
THOMAS C. KERR
RADFORD
Hockey fans were on the ice
THE ROANOKE Civic Center has blundered again. This time it happened before the Feb. 12 Roanoke Express hockey game, with a record attendance of 8,524.
The blunder? Those who do the planning knew it was a sellout long before game time. They knew the civic center couldn't handle parking for a crowd of that size due to piles of scraped ice resulting from the ice storm the day before. Yet the only alternate parking was at Hotel Roanoke. No shuttle bus and no scraped walkways, only slush and ice to walk through if you approached the center via Williamson Road. Others taking the back road to approach the civic center from the rear had ice puddles and unscraped steps to contend with.
The civic center charges $2 per vehicle to park. How would you feel if you were told to park at Hotel Roanoke and did as instructed, only to find that you were charged $3 and then had to walk? I'd rather not have put my family through that kind of adventure.
A few of the more fortunate parkers had to find other parking after the hotel lot filled up. Finding none, they parked at the post office on Rutherford Avenue, only to find their cars were towed away while at the game.
How does the Roanoke Civic Center justify promoting the Roanoke Express and then not having adequate parking? I'd like to hear whatever excuses they can come up with to cover their hindsightedness, if they have any.
MARY DODGE
ROANOKE
Religions also cause wars
GIVE PROFESSOR Glen T. Martin of Radford University an ``A'' for his insightful (perhaps inciteful to some) treatise about America's ruling economic elite (Feb. 14 letter to the editor, ``Economic interests promote a U.S. mind-set for war'').
He correctly and boldly nailed those with controlling interests in corporate American policy, with their selfish exploitation of the world's work force, as destructive and counterproductive. But he stopped short of painting the full picture and failed to denounce those with spiritual control over our minds. Historically, religious practices, either apart from economic pressure or in concert with them, have been another major destructive force. We must recognize and set aside our repressive religious differences to ease tension and diminish conflict.
As a religion-studies teacher, he surely knows the world's great religions have caused as many or more wars as have the political-industrial powers. Religious establishments commit many of the same sins and abuses to which he accredits the wealthy. They, too, need to cleanse their souls and live the values they espouse! They can be as manipulative and morally-spiritually bankrupt as the ruling class he so soundly chastises.
ARNOLD D. ST.CLAIR
HARDY
Dearth of facts reveals bias
THE ROANOKE Times & World-News refuses to give its readers many of the basic facts about Whitewatergate. However, it prints uncorroborated accusations that Lt. Col. Oliver North made a couple of false statements. Liberal bias strikes again!
KEN LONG
RADFORD
by CNB