Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 18, 1994 TAG: 9404190003
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Corbitt asks why the president and his administration ``can't cope with something as simple as a spotted owl'' in regards to increased lumber prices.
Ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest, home of the Northern spotted owl, have been reduced to only 10 percent of their former size. Destruction of these forests hasn't only brought species like the spotted owl to the brink of extinction, but populations of Pacific salmon and steelhead and cutthroat trout have also been devastated by logging and road-building. While Clinton's to be commended for attempting to resolve the spotted-owl controversy, the current plan would leave one-third of this area accessible to logging and the rest without permanent protection. With our unsustainable timber-harvesting practices, we may have guaranteed another species ultimate extinction.
Minimal growth in new-home construction may be due to the Roanoke Valley's mere 1.9 percent increase in population since the '80s, not increased lumber costs or a ``simple spotted owl,'' as Corbitt would have us believe.
People and jobs are important, but our unsustainable timber-harvesting practices and heavy consumption need changing. With sustainable harvesting practices and better use of natural resources, the owl and man can coexist. Extinction is forever. We could be next if we keep up the gluttony.
MIKE ROEBUCK\ Chair, Roanoke River Group of the Sierra Club\ ROANOKE
Waiting to see Allen's final ratings
REGARDING staff writer Greg Schneider's March 25 news article, ``Allen gets good rating in Va. poll'':
No doubt Allen received a 57 percent good rating in the poll conducted. However, Schneider indicated that this was after nine weeks in office. He then compared this rating to a 37 percent good rating Doug Wilder received last fall. To me, this is like comparing apples to horse feathers.
During the last administration, the tax-and-spend Democrats didn't do a great deal of taxing and did a good bit of cutting of spending. When plums and sacred cows get reduced funding, woe be unto the ratings of he who brought forth the cuts. I hope Schneider will do another analysis when Allen is in the last months of his administration.
Also, what does Wilder's ``once (didn't say when) receiving a 50 percent poor rating'' have to do with the subject of his news article? Will he let us know when Allen's rating drops below 50 percent? It smacks of bashing to me, and I think readers know what kind and why.
CURTIS STEPHENS
BEDFORD
All the GOP wants is a puppet show
THE MARCH 28 commentary by Richard Alvarez (``Miller is savaging the Republican Party'') states that Jim Miller ``has shot himself and the Republican Party in the foot.'' Alvarez goes on to say that with ``no regard for the reputation and future welfare of the Republican Party, Miller disgracefully released Reagan's response of March 16 [against Oliver North].'' He then proceeds to castigate respected figures such as John Warner, David Gergen, Jim Brady and Barry Goldwater for their failure to adhere to the agenda of far-right Republicans. The only prominent Republican figure he doesn't dare criticize is Ronald Reagan, even though Reagan declared openly that he's ``pretty steamed'' about North's lies. Alvarez also suggests that Miller would make ``a great puppet.''
It's the right-wing Republican politicians controlling the party in Virginia who've shot themselves in the foot by trying to promote a convicted felon. It is they who have no regard for their party's reputation and welfare, and who evidently expect all Republicans to be their puppets. I'm an independent voter and didn't vote for John Warner in the past. But it's becoming so rare to find a man who'll stand up for principle against party bosses that he'll have my vote in '96, regardless of how his name appears on the ballot.
MARCIA WEIS
ROANOKE
Yards are for kids, not highways
I'M WRITING to you about the new highway that people are thinking about building. I don't think this is a good idea because these highways will take up space and they'll pass through peoples' yards. The yards that the highway will pass through will decrease in value, and the people who own the yards might have kids. The kids might get seriously hurt or killed if they played around the highway. Then you'd be killing our future. I just hope it doesn't go through.
JODI BRADFORD
LAFAYETTE
A helping hand for frazzled parents
REGARDING Tereasa Carlesco's March 13 letter to the editor, ``Child abuse seen every day'':
Through my work in child-abuse prevention, I frequently hear people express concerns similar to Ms. Carlesco's. In fact, several years ago we distributed a flier entitled, ``What to Say (or do) When Parents Abuse Their Children In Public.'' We accompanied this with another flier, ``Tips for Shopping With Children,'' for parents.
Shopping with children can be a frustrating experience, compounded by embarrassment on the part of the parent if the situation involves a child in the throes of a tantrum. This is certainly no excuse for abusive behavior. I mention it because it's important to remember that you aren't necessarily witnessing a bad parent, but one reacting badly to a particular situation. As an uninvolved party, there are things you can do to relieve the parent's frustration and ensure the child's safety.
It's important to remain nonjudgemental. Don't accuse the parent of being abusive; you'll only make him or her angry. You might try to distract the parent and/or the child. Striking up a conversation or praising the child will accomplish this nicely. You might also offer to help the parent, such as by keeping an eye on the child while the parent puts groceries into the car. Many parents would be greatly appreciative of assistance.
Ms. Carlesco's concern is understandable. It's only through increased awareness of the problem and a willingness to get involved that we'll see an end to the problem.
SHANNON M. BRABHAM
Executive Director Child Abuse Prevention Council of Roanoke Valley, Inc.
ROANOKE
Not all jobs require college degrees
SOME COMPANIES in the community have an unfair hiring practice of discriminating against young people without degrees or experience.
A college degree is of little or no benefit for some of these unskilled jobs. Those with degrees who accept these jobs are using them as stepping stones to greater things, and will leave when something better becomes available. It seems it would be of more benefit to the company and community to hire those people who can't afford college, but who are very capable of becoming productive workers.
Using college degrees as criteria for these jobs is very unfair.
FRANCES HALE
SALEM
Thomas Jefferson was not a deist
IN HIS March 28 commentary, ``The faith of our founders,'' Kingsley Guy of the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale admonishes the Florida legislature for ``pushing a bill encouraging school teachers to make specific references to the religious beliefs of the founders of the United States.'' His statements include the following:
``The religious concepts of many of the Founding Fathers, including the first three presidents, came straight out of the philosophical era known as the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason.''
``The religious philosophy was known as deism. Certainly there was a supreme being, but he was not the personal God of the Old and New Testaments.''
Many students are taught that Thomas Jefferson was a deist. Did he ever describe himself as a deist?
In his second Inaugural Address of March 4, 1805, President Jefferson made the following statement: ``I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow citizens have again called me ... I shall need the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessities and comforts of life ... ''
Guy concludes his commentary by writing: ``The greatest moral principle given to us by America's founders was tolerance.'' Thankfully they sought tolerance, but deism wasn't the motivation!
JOHN H. WOOLWINE
ROANOKE
by CNB