
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994                   TAG: 9405250009
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

A MODEL

WITHOUT STUDENT involvement there wouldn't be a Hand-in-Hand Playground, the streets of Blacksburg would be piled high with trash, many elementary and high-school students would go without tutors and the Montgomery County Red Cross probably wouldn't make it through emergencies such as this winter's ice storms caused.

More than half of the people who helped build the Hand-in-Hand Playground were Virginia Tech students. Many Blacksburg streets have been adopted by Virginia Tech student organizations to take care of, and hundreds of college students work with the community's younger students, helping to teach them what the college students have learned.

These are not people who are apathetic about public issues. They may, however, have different ideas of what the important public issues are.

When people complain that the "X generation" or the "twentysomething generation" doesn't care about the community, they are forgetting to look past the tips of their noses. At Tech, members of two organizations (not including more than 40 sororities and fraternities and some 300 other organizations) volunteer an average of 25,000 and 30,000 hours each year. That doesn't take into account the money all the organizations raise for causes such as breast-cancer research, Habitats for Humanity and organ-donation programs.

There needs to be an understanding between the twentysomething generation and the baby boomers: Today's students would rather get involved directly to make a difference. Going to meetings and complaining only goes so far. Students put their hands and hearts to work, without complaining. Blacksburg is concerned with bringing roads through the tree-covered hills, while some students are raising money for Literacy Volunteers of America and others are volunteering at the Tech Rescue Squad.

By dealing directly with the community, students are providing a greater good. Instead of complaining that students of the twentysomething generation don't attend Town Council meetings or vote, those complaining should use them as a model for involvement.

HEATHER McELRATH

SENIOR

VIRGINIA TECH

by CNB