Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 13, 1993 TAG: 9306150376
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACKIE B. WILKERSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Reading it, I was trying to define the feelings I was experiencing as I sensed the attack on people wanting a university here. Since he is a communication expert, I would imagine Riley may say the commentary is satire in which he employed sarcasm, irony and wit (of sorts) in exposing what he perceives as planned folly in Roanoke. I concluded that my feelings were those of being ridiculed.
I felt he was using language in a calculated, contemptuous way to deride and mock. The references to Roanoke at one time being called Big Lick, to the Hunter Viaduct being torn down, to Warner Dalhouse and to the Explore Park project not faring very well through the downturn in the economy, and to Tai Collins as representative of Roanoke were used as mocking merriment. But it's no laughing matter that Virginia now has the dubious distinction of having the second highest undergraduate cost in the nation for state-supported colleges and universities, and that tax support for higher education has fallen to 43rd in the nation.
To communicate means to cause another to partake in or to share, to become connected to or to transmit or exchange thought or knowledge. I would hope a professor of communication studies would be able to impart his knowledge in a useful way. Riley's sarcasm, scornful utterances, cutting rebukes and taunting language are rude and insensitive. If he has something to say to or about Roanoke, its people, their strengths, weaknesses, mistakes and accomplishments, let him say it directly, with support for his ideas and his vision regarding higher education in this state, which pays his salary.
The May 19 editorial entitled "Runaway tuition is starting to hurt" stated that, because of "runaway tuition," some people may have to forego college altogether and settle for much lower-paying jobs, which ultimately would mean less tax revenue to support colleges (and college professors' salaries). It is my hope that Virginia, and especially Roanoke, will allow access to a good four-year college education for all who desire it, and who are willing to commit to the hard work required. It is a right. Let it be "Virginia Tech at Roanoke," if you like. That would be wonderful.
Jackie B. Wilkerson is a marriage and family therapist in Roanoke and also serves on the Citizen's Committee for Higher Education.
by CNB