Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 24, 1993 TAG: 9310280346
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Not every teacher can be successful at an inner-city school. The position requires an individual who teac hes because he or she not only loves learning, but loves children and realizes the only solution to our national problem of poverty is to educate future generations of taxpayers.
Many of our students come from poverty. According to national statistics, one child in four is at risk because of his or her economic condition. Hurt Park's teachers and staff strive to meet all students' emotional, physical and educational needs.
One major difference between Hurt Park and Lincoln Terrace is a strong Parent-Teacher Association. After five years, Principal Shepherd and his staff, with the Roanoke Central Council of PTAs' help, have succeeded in establishing a PTA at Hurt Park.
Let's look to the future for success, instead of capitalizing on past failures.
SHARON L. CAPPS
ROANOKE
Others can fight their own battles
HAS BILL Clinton gone off his rocker by sending more of our young men to Somalia to die? They were sent to see that the starving got relief supplies and then were to get out. Now the Somalis have turned on us.
Pictures on television of a young terrified American soldier being held hostage and a young soldier's body being dragged through the streets are pictures in my mind that will never go away. Let them keep having babies and starving, as far as I'm concerned. It's no longer a concern of ours.
Now Clinton is sending our men to Haiti. Why? Haiti has done nothing to us. Leave other countries alone and let them fight their own battles. Has everyone forgotten when Reagan sent our young men to Lebanon as peacekeepers with unloaded guns, and how many died?
If Clinton wants to feed the hungry, homeless, jobless, etc., let him start at home by putting soldiers on the streets to protect our own people.
Stop trying to police the world when our very own are being slaughtered. Punish severely the Al Capones, John Dillingers, the Barkers, etc., and never turn them loose on society again, regardless of age.
I thought we finally had a president who would put his own people and country first, but so far he has done nothing but travel. To put it bluntly and frankly, I'm mad as hell.
IRENE GROVES
ROANOKE
Brumitt too busy to vote in Pa.
BUD Brumitt - that name has a ring for the politically inclined people who enjoy the dirty side of politics. It's very interesting that a man who has only lived in this district for 19 months enjoys getting so dirty in the arena of politics, which leaves one to believe that the Republican family from Vinton has a hand in this matter. It shows us the tactics people revert to when they have no issues to discuss.
If the Roanoke Times & World-News profiles Brumitt like they did Dick Cranwell, I hope they do not fail to mention that Brumitt, being the Republican wizard that he is, was not a registered voter while living in Pennsylvania. He was busy bagging up his waste products to bring here to throw on Cranwell.
MICHAEL W. STOVALL
VINTON
Don't set up a quota system
THE ASSOCIATED Press story on the Oct. 8 business page in the Roanoke Times & World-News (```White male' Fed attacked at hearing'') concerned congressional critics depicting the Federal Reserve as being ``white male.'' I gather House Banking Committee Chairman Henry Gonzalez has a personal vendetta to satisfy.
He would like to see the president or his wife appoint all Federal Reserve board members, with Congress confirming each appointment. He would like to see regional boards including more women, minorities and non-bankers. I have no problem with this, except it w ould open the door to a quota system and God knows Congress operates on politics first and the country second. Look at some of the confirmation hearings within the past few years. It's an old saw but ``pro'' is for and ``con'' is against. That's why it's called Congress.
I attended the University of Virginia Bank Management School in '69, '70, etc. Our class assignment was to list all board members and officers in our bank. There were some 120 class members, but my chart attracted the professor's attention. He announced to the class that there was one banker there who admitted to having a woman on his board. That was me, so I stated, ``Yes, by God. And if I can find another woman as well-qualified, I would try to have two women on our board.'' Needless to say, that stopped the class for a few minutes.
If Gonzalez had his way, he would dictate and the country would obey.
JIM J. TODD
INDEPENDENCE
North deceived the system
WHEN CONGRESSIONAL investigations and court proceedings concluded, I had hoped that Oliver North and his questionable past would be put behind us.
If not for the thoughtful framing of the Constitution and our strong government structure, the acts of operating an illegal government from the White House's basement could have brought our entire government down. If it wasn't for the seriousness of the matter, I'd laugh at his declaration to run for the U.S. Senate. This is the man who admittedly deceived (lied to) the Senate investigative committee, sneered at honorably elected men and made a mockery of the system, which he now wants to be a part of. I remind voters that North was found guilty of most of the charges and was let off the hook because of technicalities. This is a bit different from being found innocent!
There were thousands of officers in the armed forces who were senior to Lt. Col. North. As a retired member of the armed forces, I'm glad all of them didn't feel at liberty to deal with the enemy and in unauthorized arms sales. I don't accept his claim that he was only doing what his superiors wanted him to do.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice doesn't require one to carry out an unlawful order. Second, North has shown not one ounce of remorse for his wrongful acts. And third, he's accumulated a mass of wealth from his questionable past. I do not believe the U.S. Naval Academy from which he graduated wants notoriety for such behavior. I also do not believe that what he did brought honor to the Naval Academy, the Marine Corps or the United States.
The Senate does not need the likes of North!
CHUCK MATTOX
VINTON
A wait to put mouths in motion
IN THE SPIRIT of the recent beer commercial that asserts ``if you can combine great taste and less filling, you can combine anything'': You proposed a novel idea on the front page of the Roanoke Times & World-News' Oct. 8 issue (``First TV debate follows par''). Did it come from Mary Sue Terry or from your typesetter? Either way it offers real common sense: ``a five-day waiting period for televised debates.''
Think about it. This would help curb much of the shooting from the hip that characterizes these media circuses. The candidates might even have time to think through their own positions so that they could actually answer questions posed to them. It's a radical notion, but it might just work. Something has to.
ROGER CROCKETT
LEXINGTON
Speed up process for new landfill
BEDFORD County's landfill has become much more than an eyesore. With the old landfill closing and the new one not having the permits to open, the citizens have nowhere to dump their trash. The road to the landfill is already lined with trash, and we do not need to have roads become depositories for our trash.
True, there are small dumpsters strategically placed around the county. They get full quickly and have so many restrictions that the landfill is a much easier alternative.
Something needs to be done to speed the permit process for the new landfill. Paperwork or not, we need to have a place to dump our trash.
JEREMY CARTER
VINTON
Webb article should be required reading
CONGRATULATIONS for carrying the article ``At the heart of the matter'' by Charles H. Webb in the Oct. 10 Horizon section. It should be declared mandatory reading in social-studies classes in every school in this nation.
Many of today's students could learn what their parents cannot or do not teach. Moral values and ethics are being ignored by a large segment of our country, and we're all suffering the consequences. Yes, there are consequences for the wrong kind of behavior. Remember: He who stands for nothing will fall for anything. Our Creator gave us a brain and the ability to think and reason. Let's use them for what was intended - good, not evil.
DENNIS E. CLARK
ROANOKE
by CNB