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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995                   TAG: 9502080005
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WRENCH UP VIRGINIA'S MARKETING

I'M A new Virginia resident, a transplant from New York where we probably weren't as politically sophisticated as are Virginians. Among the many differences I've noted between the two states is Virginia's difficulty in keeping the marketing for tourist dollars in line with current social and political management. Seems that a forward-reaching governor like George Allen would be careful to see that marketing has the same touch of class and appeal that such marketing has had in the past.

Let me make a few modest suggestions to help Allen's troops catch up. The famous bumper sticker needs to be changed. Possibilities: Virginia is for prisoners. Just say no to libraries. Prisons are for lovers. Virginia governors are lame ducks. 4-H doesn't count. Education starves in Virginia. Prisons yes, farmers no. Allen is a wrench. Virginia drains localities.

I haven't discovered if there are fortune-cookie factories in Virginia. Probably not because aliens are a no-no. Yet some good words could come from them. As in:

Help! I'm caught in a Virginia prison. There's a new Virginia prison in your life. Be kind to Virginia governors; they're limited.

Of course, Allen can't really be blamed. He's constitutionally limited. Apparently, he's accountable only to the Virginia legislators. I'm told they're part-time, and most of the time couldn't be expected to know what's happening part of the time.

DAVID COX

GALAX

Robbing the poor to benefit the rich

YOUR JAN. 19 editorial (``Making best use of a gift horse'') pertaining to the influx of the area's low-paying jobs and the need to attract other than low-wage jobs is contradicted by the Jan 19 commentary (``Minimum wage maximizes poverty'' by James Dorn) against improving the minimum wage as has been proposed.

Hair-brained thinking by that author, and the position being taken in Washington by the gang that's taken over and proposing to change everything in sight, along with Sir Allen and his gang of merry men in Richmond, are transposing that old story of robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Now, it's robbing the poor and giving to the rich.

If this idea about how America will work better comes to pass, the impact on this nation and localities will be great, and the well-to-do will make out like bandits. Those working, those who'd like to work for a decent wage and those on the edge of survival are in for a bleak future if all goes as planned by people saying they have a contract and mandate to change everything in sight.

BILLY T. PROFFITT

SALEM

Book inventories put in a bind

SPENCER Watts' Jan. 18 letter to the editor ("Funds for libraries aren't wasteful") was right on the money. State aid is very important to local public libraries.

State aid accounts for a very large portion of the book budget at the Roanoke City Public Library. Cuts in aid will probably not be made up by the city, due mainly to increased fiscal burdens on municipalities resulting from the governor's budget cuts. The future doesn't look bright. For example, the city library received more state aid in 1976 than it's budgeted to receive in 1996. There has been an exorbitant increase in the costs of books in recent years, and now the money isn't there to pay for these materials.

Proposed cuts will mean a drastic reduction in the number of new books purchased, which means fewer books for pleasure reading, for school projects and for parents to read to their children. It also means fewer books on such subjects as small business, computers, technology and telecommunications, all important subjects in the global economy. If Virginia is to have any hope of playing a role in the global economy, then well-funded public libraries are a necessity. Public libraries provide information and education, both essential for success in the post-industrial information age.

Public libraries are similar to private business in that one gets what one pays for. Further reductions in state aid, in addition to reductions already handed down, will result in qualitative and quantitative decreases in public-library service.

JAY STEPHENS

Librarian

Raleigh Court Library

ROANOKE

But do the dogs give a lick?

NOW THAT the U.S. Postal Service plans to honor Marilyn Monroe with a stamp, I suggest the Roanoke Times & World-News take a poll of its readers to pick people they'd like to see so honored. My list starts with:

nRoseanne - for her spectacular rendition of our national anthem.

nMadonna - it will be hard to pick from her many publicity poses.

I could go on, but since the list has gone to the dogs, how about junkyard dogs? Lassie? Oops - forgive me, Lassie. You don't belong on this list.

MARY K. BAKER

ROANOKE

by CNB