
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991                   TAG: 9102110247
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BRIEFLY PUT . . ./ HOPE, CARE AND DANCING

BEING YOUNG should mean enjoying greater opportunities and potential than at any other time in life. Roanoke Councilman William White says the city has "too many young people who have a sense of hopelessness."

He's right, and his observation carries a double message: The poor may not gain without economic development, meaning jobs. But the well-off won't benefit unless the jobless also can realize gains for themselves.

Too many Roanoke residents, especially the young, feel left out now. It's not merely a perception that needs correcting.

> "HOW COULD anyone say no?" said a Fairfax nurse, responding to a survey by state health officials. They wanted to know whether Virginia medical professionals would be available if extra help is needed for treating casualties returning from the Persian Gulf war.

A few said no, but an impressive 40,000 said yes. "I am 78 and have stable angina, but I'm ready to go again," said a retired World War II flight surgeon. The response shows homefront patriotism, but also compassion, casting credit on the health profession.

THE VIRGINIA legislature is considering a bill designating the square dance as the state's official folk dance. Some say it's a thinly veiled attempt to help Norfolk attract the lucrative convention of an international square-dance group to that city in 1996. One wonders: Would so designating "Dirty Dancing" attract Patrick Swayze back to Mountain Lake?

by CNB