ON SISTER CITIES TRIPS, MEMBERS PAY OWN WAY

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992                   TAG: 9201280164
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
ON SISTER CITIES TRIPS, MEMBERS PAY OWN WAY
ROANOKE Sister Cities, as a member of Sister Cities International, has several major objectives: to reach out across the world; to exchange information; to establish mutual respect; to share educational, scientific, technological and cultural differences, all in the interest of world peace. Admittedly that is a mouthful, but it is something to savor.
The membership of RSC all too well recognizes that the world is beset with misinformation, misconceptions and xenophobia. A prime example is the Jan. 20 letter by Jerry D. Rice, "Sister cities provide excuse for travel."
Jerry is quite correct! To accomplish our objectives, travel is essential. How else do you meet and learn from someone thousands of miles away? We cannot yet fax our physical bodies.
Beyond that point of agreement, I must inform him that all travel expenses of our 12-person delegation, which visited our sister city of Wonju, Korea, last May, were paid by personal/private funds. Not a taxpayer dollar left the city! This included the expenses of three municipal leaders who headed our delegation and who represented Roanoke city in a manner of which Jerry could be proud had he been there.
Our city benefits when our leadership see how other people solve economic, social and educational problems. Sister-city exchanges are not meaningless junkets, but contain significant idea-sharing.
In the interest of local mutual understanding, I would like to invite Jerry to join our membership. But I want to make it clear: He must, like the rest of us, pay his own way. ROBERT F. ROTH President, Roanoke Sister Cities ROANOKE

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB