Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 25, 1994 TAG: 9402250347
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Because I was 40 and had two healthy children, most agencies wouldn't even take our application. However, we wanted to adopt because we love children and parenting. Though I was very capable biologically of reproducing, the system said I was too old and that we were selfish for wanting more children when we had healthy children. We had made it clear that we were willing to adopt sibling groups or handicapped children.
Nothing worked, until we were told of a Crises Pregnancy Center in Southern California. We received our prize package a little more than a year later. Although this was one of the least expensive avenues to adoption, it was still terribly expensive - nearly $15,000. We know many couples who've gone to much greater expense to adopt foreign children due to numerous roadblocks encountered in the United States.
I was deeply troubled by the negative tone and the amazing lack of knowledge demonstrated by Gwendolyn Bangura (Feb. 19 letter to the editor, ``Adoption alternative isn't simple solution'') regarding the lack of potential adoptive parents. The numbers are overwhelming. Sadly, the majority of interested families are immediately disqualified due to age; living children; lack of affluence; an ingrown, uncaring bureaucracy; but most often by the huge front-end financial commitment.
Make adoption easier and affordable. You'll find couples coming out of the woodwork to adopt these mixed-race, handicapped and sibling groups. No unborn child need die due to a lack of adoptive parents. We'll take more now, and we know many more like us who will.
CRAIG A. JOHNSON
ROANOKE
Harris offers fresh ideas, integrity
THE UPCOMING City Council election may not be generating a lot of talk, but Roanokers must not let such an event pass apathetically. Our council will make decisions that will greatly affect the quality of lives of all Roanokers. Do we want business as usual, or is there a need for new vision and decisive action?
Candidate Nelson Harris brings fresh ideas and a steadfast reliability we need. He's a person of integrity who'll listen to our concerns. A vote for Harris will be a vote for honest and reliable local government that responds to its constituents with compassion and prudence.
M. DENNIS HERMAN
ROANOKE
Electronic village may need fireflies
CAN AN electronic village run on batteries? A recent NBC news story helped Blacksburg continue to hype its so-called electronic village. Appalachian Power Co. proved later that its antiquated power-distribution system wasn't up to providing the ``village'' power and its communications system wasn't ready to join a candle-powered back road, much less the electronic superhighway. As I write this six days after the ice storm, I still can't use my home computer.
You couldn't get through to report downed lines. A call to Apco's emergency number produced an ``all lines are busy'' message. When I did get through at 3 a.m., I was told they only had seven incoming phone lines for this area.
The village concept is about communications, but Apco isn't any better at communicating than it is at keeping lights on. Answering one 3 a.m. call, Apco said it had no idea why our power was out, but crews were working night and day. In a visit to its customer center, we were told that our problem was caused by an underground power failure in an apartment complex. An immediate drive through the apartment complex showed lights were on and no crews in sight.
At a later 2 a.m. call, a temporary worker said there was nothing wrong with our lines. Our development was all-electric and Apco didn't want to bring us on line until last, due to power requirements. That's why we hadn't seen power crews in our area or anywhere along the undamaged power line connecting us to those who had power. A final call to Apco confirmed the populous, all-electric developments weren't a first priority for power restoration and our lines hadn't really been checked.
It's now six days after the electrons quit circulating, and we're still waiting on Apco. A neighbor called a friend at the State Corporation Commission to complain about Apco's policy; another called politicians. Apco has proved, in the days of the much-touted electronic superhighway, the veracity of the University of Virginia bumper sticker that says, ``All Dirt Roads Lead To Blacksburg.''
JIM MARCHMAN
BLACKSBURG
White effectively deals with problems
OUR LOCAL newspapers remind us with each edition of the tremendous problems plaguing our city. We often console ourselves that Roanoke is not New York, Los Angeles or Atlanta, therefore the problems aren't really that bad and should be easier to solve. But reality soon dawns and too often inertia sets in.
We have on City Council a man who holds our feet, and those of his fellow council members, to the fire whenever it becomes easier to move on because solutions don't come readily. Bill White has championed fiscal accountability of city operations, equity in hiring, full inclusion of minority businesses in city procurement opportunities, support of school-system programs that advance student learning, economic growth that includes valleywide cooperation, and an examination of a wider range of solutions to crime that address its causes. He seems to understand that listening is a responsibility, and that examining closely issues and options is essential to effective problem-solving. Standing still in the face of recurring or mounting problems hasn't been White's style.
The kind of leadership that says to us that solutions reside with us and that denial is unacceptable, even when there are no easy answers, deserves our full and active support. Roanoke needs to support White's return to City Council.
HARRIET LEWIS
ROANOKE
by CNB