Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407210081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
K.I., Roanoke
A: It's not quirky at all. That hyphen was a marketing tool, and it was perfectly logical-when it was conceived.
Survival of the hyphen is owed to an inclination to leave things alone unless they absolutely needed change, meaning it didn't cost anything to keep it there.
Back in the days when Gutenberg's invention was still first-generation technology (before sound bites and digital bytes), competition was tough among newspapers and their various owners.
The Roanoke Daily Times was the Magic City's first newspaper, started in 1886. In the next 15 years, three more newspapers entered the Roanoke market and survived.
By 1909, there were the Roanoke Times, the Evening News and the Evening World-a morning paper and two afternoon ones. Four years later, the obvious merger occurred when the afternoon papers became one.
The first edition of the World-News appeared April 21, 1913. The hyphen linked the new product to the readers of both old newspapers.
The same marketing genius added an oversized ampersand when the Times and World-News became a single, all-day newspaper in 1977.
Hairy situations
Q: When I was younger and worked in an ice cream parlor, I was required to wear a hair net. Now in the fast-food places I see long, swinging hair, and the girls and boys flip the hair out of their faces with the same hands they use to prepare our food. It is disgusting. Has the Health Department given up on this rule, or is it just not being enforced?
J.K.S.
A: Hair restraints are required by the restaurant code. That doesn't mean everybody wears a net, though. Caps and barrettes may be acceptable, too.
A key factor is whether the hair swings in front of the shoulder.
Restaurant workers I talked to said the health departments still deduct a point on an inspection if someone's hair isn't held down, or back.
A one-point deduction won't shut a restaurant down, though its rating may be affected.
For a customer, finding a strand of hair in the food can kill the appetite.
To the health inspector, though, hair is less important than how long the food sits around, its temperature, and employees' hand-washing. Those three pose the greatest health risks.
One more point: Health departments were enforcers years ago; now they're more like teachers.
People used to eat at home more often, and there were fewer restaurants. The number of health inspectors remains the same today as 30 years ago, and they cope with the increased workload by teaching restaurant managers to meet the code requirements because it's in their best interest.
Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB