Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994 TAG: 9403220003
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
He's supported an amendment to lift the ban on gays in the military; the $19.5 billion ``economic stimulus'' bill, which most now agree wasn't needed; the $24.1 billion five-year tax increase, the largest in history and a tax increase that polls show Virginians overwhelmingly opposed.
Robb also supported confirmation of Roberta Actenberg, who sought to de-fund Boy Scouts for failing to accept homosexuals as scoutmasters, as assistant secretary for fair housing, and confirmation of Joycelyn Elders, who advises teens to carry condoms with them when they go on dates, as surgeon general. He also supported an amendment to repeal the ``Hyde Amendment,'' which prevents taxpayers' money from being used to perform abortions.
On the other hand, Robb's opposed an amendment prohibiting immigrants infected with the HIV/AIDS virus from entering this country, an amendment to strike down tax increases on Social Security income and an amendment to require federal workers seeking abortions to pay for them themselves.
Robb also opposed an amendment expressing the sentiment of the Senate to have the Supreme Court reverse its decisions prohibiting volunteer prayer and Bible reading in public schools. He also opposed an amendment imposing a 12-year limit on terms of congressmen, which polls reveal Virginians support by a huge majority.
From the above, it would appear that Robb hasn't listened to or felt the pulse of his constituents. Perhaps someone more in touch with the commonwealth deserves the nomination.
CLAUDE E. STEWART JR.
VINTON
Wal-Mart plan in taxpayers' interest
GOV. George Allen wants to bilk money from taxpayers' pockets to build new intersections, new roads and improve on old roads for the Walt Disney theme park in Northern Virginia. If and when this theme park is finished, who'll profit by it? Not Virginia or the taxpayers. No, the Walt Disney Corp. will pocket all profits and laugh up its sleeves at the same time.
In Roanoke, Wal-Mart plans to build a new store at Valley View Mall. It even plans to foot the expenses for all new interchanges off Interstate 581 and an extension of the ring road at the mall. I also read that they plan to build a store in Franklin County and do the same there with road construction. This is great for the taxpayers and gives Wal-Mart a big plus in my book. Why can't Disney do the same?
RUSSELL W. JOHNSON
VINTON
Southern pride is still in style
I TAKE strong exception to your Feb. 13 editorial, ``Marye's song in hopper,'' in which the writer maintains that our state song, ``Carry Me Back to Old Virginia,'' although freshly sanitized, is still irredeemable.
Although the editorial mildly lampoons the notions of revisionism and political correctness, it's amusing that it carries these ideas to their most intolerant extreme. As if ``political correctness'' wasn't bad enough, it seems cleansing for content is no longer sufficient.
According to this editorial, a song (read: poem/statue/flag) is subject to inquisition simply for predating the modern era's seminal event - inauguration of L. Douglas Wilder. God forbid that anyone should find anything positive about the ``bad old days'' - Virginia's first 350 years of history.
The editorial didn't explain that, contrary to the abolitionists' promise of an easy, carefree life, many blacks emigrating North found a level of neglect and hostility for which they were quite unprepared. James Bland's work illustrates this and puts people's longing for home into words. It's a lament by a black man for his native Virginia. Nowhere do Bland's or Marye's lyrics glorify the unspeakable - slavery.
The editorial admits the problem isn't offensive lyrics, which have been cleansed. What it finds most troubling is that which is also most verboten - Southern pride, in this case a positive connotation from an innocuous and sentimental song.
Like many readers, I'm offended by this newspaper's consistent railing against Southern culture. I can't shake the lingering suspicion that your writers won't be satisfied until we're all seated on our everlasting stools of repentance, obediently singing ``we'll hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree . . . ''
JOHN T. BRISCOE
BEDFORD
Huggins gallery will be missed
I MOURN the loss of the Victor Huggins Gallery and the unique place it briefly held in the life of our art community. Its purpose was to show and sell art works - which it did, but not often enough. It offered us some of the best artists' work in a straightforward way, without glitz or hype.
The gallery was most like those I visit in other cities, such as Washington, New York, Paris and London. These all have a tone of seriousness where you can simply stand and look at the paintings. That may not sound like something very important, but if you're interested in art rather than entertainment, decoration or in buying a frame, it's the only way to confront art work.
If serious artists were surveyed in the region, you'd discover they all depend on galleries in cities other than Roanoke. It saddens me that we may not want what the Huggins Gallery offered us, especially now that it's gone.
BILL WHITE
ROANOKE
Spotted-owl fiasco hurts home buyers
SINCE the '80s, lumber prices have more than doubled from $200 to $510 per 1,000 board-feet. Since 1990, more than 13,800 mill workers have lost their jobs in the Northwest and 140 lumber mills have shut down.
The American Forest and Paper Association calculates that federal timber-harvest reduction since 1988 is equivalent to the amount of wood used to construct more than 600,000 single-family houses each year since then. The trend will continue with even higher lumber prices in 1994. Lumber-cost increases in 1993 raised the cost of a 2,000-square-foot home by $4,000. Why?
Last July, the president announced a plan to solve the Pacific Northwest spotted-owl crisis. Five components of the plan were to be in effect by now, freeing up some timber areas for harvest. It hasn't happened. The five components:
The injunction on timber management was to be lifted in July 1993.
Two billion board-feet of timber was to be sold the first year and 1.2 billion annually for the decade.
The government plan was to be in compliance with all existing environmental and other laws.
Timber sales east of the Cascade Mountains were to increase by 400 million board-feet to offset some of the above-mentioned losses. The administration decreased the east-side program by 600 million board-feet without public participation or environmental documentation.
Unemployed people in the timber region were to be put back to work. Instead, they've been laid off at an accelerated pace due to lack of timber for them to harvest and saw into lumber.
Campaign promises have been broken. Commitments haven't materialized relative to the availability of lumber for housing.
We in the Roanoke Valley continue to pay the price for the spotted-owl fiasco. Lumber-cost increases have meant fewer people are able to qualify for home loans, although interest rates have been low. As rates increase, home buyers will get hit with a double whammy.
If the president and his administration can't cope with something as simple as a spotted owl, how can they solve the so-called health-insurance crisis? I doubt they'll be able to do anything really constructive about either.
BILL CORBITT JR.
Director, Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association
ROANOKE
by CNB