Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 17, 1995 TAG: 9501170108
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Our students are graduating into a very different world from the one greeting earlier generations. At Hollins, we're implementing many of the global-studies concepts: emphasis on interdisciplinary learning about global affairs, with perspectives from many fields of study; languages and cultural studies to deepen understanding; practical experiences through foreign study; and use of Internet linkages with the world.
Radford's new college could have been an important model of leadership, building from the ground up an interdisciplinary program with a highly motivated and specially trained faculty. The Radford design might have been imperfectly formed or even ``lacking in rigor,'' as charged by three Radford professors (Jan. 10 commentary, ``Global college at Radford deserved dismantling'' by Robert M. Gill, Nicholas J. Pappas and Craig Waggaman). But we in Western Virginia are a part of the international economy, and we need to move forward in meeting its challenges. Maintaining the status quo in international education will not do. In the spirit of continuous improvement, we must keep adapting to new technologies and methodologies of learning as they become available.
The New College concept held real promise as a laboratory for change. I hope a good alternative will be developed in its place.
TOM EDWARDS
Dean of Graduate Studies and International Programs
Hollins College
ROANOKE
Thanks (?) for the memories
AN ERA has ended - 40 years of the Democrats' rule of Congress. Oh, what memories!
Throughout those years, they accomplished many things. A 600 percent increase in crime; a 70 percent illegitimacy rate among black children with whites not far behind; an out-of-control deficit; schools and housing projects that resemble war zones; children and adults who have no clue as to what morals and manners are; people prone to litigiousness when they spill hot coffee on themselves. I could go on, but enough before I begin to cry.
Oh, what memories!
JOSEPH E. SCHROER
ELLISTON
Assessments match market value
EVERY JANUARY, many citizens become angry when they receive their real-estate tax-assessment notices. We in local government hear numerous complaints on this subject at this time of year.
The Jan. 8 letter to the editor by Walker Nelms (``Taxes may lead to ballot-box revolt''), commenting on high taxes and utility charges in Roanoke County, was likely prompted by receipt of a 1995 tax-assessment notice.
In Roanoke County, property tax rates haven't changed in a number of years. In fact, the last adjustment was a reduction of 2 cents on the real-estate rate several years ago. Property assessments do go up from year to year, averaging about the same as the rate of inflation. Average assessments on existing real property in the county went up 3.3 percent from 1994 to 1995. Many citizens do not realize that the cost of operating a government goes up with inflation, just like almost everything else.
State law and regulations require that localities assess real property at fair-market value and uniformly throughout the jurisdiction. This means an assessment should be very close to what the property could be sold for on the open market. If the assessment is higher than fair-market value, a homeowner should certainly go through the appeal process to the Assessors Office and/or the Board of Equalization.
LEE B. EDDY
Roanoke County Board of Supervisors member
ROANOKE
Abandoning pets to suffer or die
OBVIOUSLY, people are unaware of the terrible situations they cause when they so casually dump unwanted pets in the woods, by dumpsters or on highways, and leave them behind as they move to a new residence. They must also be unaware of the repercussions of allowing animals to reproduce indiscriminately. I cannot believe humans can be so ignorant and/or callous as to cause some of the pitiful situations I've encountered.
I get very discouraged as I clean up situations they have left behind, as do other good Samaritans in the area. Injured pets are being treated or euthanized; feral cats are being neutered or spayed, housed and fed; kittens are being rescued after being dumped in rivers or in the middle of the interstate. All this is being paid for out of our own pockets, and from sometimes very limited resources.
Two ways to control the pet population is low birth rates or high death rates. Unfortunately, people have opted for the latter. Much of the public is unaware of the magnitude of the suffering and scope of the annual pet destruction in this area and nationwide. Humane education is long overdue in schools, churches and homes.
So while there are so many who continue to shirk their basic responsibilities as pet owners and human beings, there will always be those of us who will continue to try to clean up the messes others leave behind. And we'll continue to cry when we're unable to do so.
LYNDA JOHNSON
ROANOKE
The governor's pre-emptive strike
WHAT a waste of time. Replace ``Jeopardy'' with a sneering, condescending George Allen. Virginians should demand their television stations show more class than that.
LLOYD M. HOLFIELD
ROANOKE
Pat Robertson's integrity impugned
THE JAN. 8 news article (``Pat Robertson's hideaway'') concerning Pat Robertson's mountain retreat in Bath County was unfair and unbalanced.
For the past five years, the national press has carried many stories detailing his business successes. Yet your reporter, seemingly ignorant of the fact that Robertson is chairman of the board and controlling shareholder of International Family Entertainment, Inc., a publicly traded New York Stock Exchange company with a market value in excess of $500 million, writes that ``the property also has generated some questions over how a minister could amass enough wealth to build such a lavish weekend home.''
Robertson resigned his ordination from the ministry in 1987, and is a religious broadcaster of international standing, not a ``TV evangelist.'' He does serve as chief executive of The Christian Broadcasting Network, a voluntary service for which he has received no salary for the past five years. In 1994, our records show that he donated to CBN a sum in cash and stock in excess of the amount you claim he paid for his house in Bath County.
Robertson has four children. His family includes their husbands and wives, and 10 grandchildren. If he wants to sell stock that he received in compensation for his services as chairman of a public stock company, and then reinvest the proceeds in a mountain house large enough to accommodate his family, that's his business.
That your newspaper would impugn his integrity, solicit criticism of him from Democratic political opponents, and then obtain a critical comment from some Texas ``expert'' who knows nothing of the facts, is appalling.
If your reporter had taken the time to contact me about the facts surrounding this venture, your article would have been accurate. You and your reporter owe Robertson an apology for the invasion of his privacy and the difficulty you've caused his family.
GENE KAPP
Vice President, Public Relations
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc.
VIRGINIA BEACH
by CNB