Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240055
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
People work to get what they don't have, and to keep what they already have. It's been proved that a month's rent has to be earned with a single week's pay to make ends meet and live comfortably. Where in this country is rent $160 a month? In this area, monthly rent runs from $300 to $450.
Why is some politician on Capitol Hill (making $2,000 to $3,000 a week) telling us that $160 a week is good money? I think our working class would love to see our politicians make minimum wage, and finally get a paycheck equal to what they deserve.
I'd like to say that our politicians are doing a fine job, building the backbone of our nation, but I can't. I think we need to put a real American in office and overlook the Democrats and Republicans in '96.
JOHN DAILEY ROANOKE
Parents are ignored
I WANT to add to Amber T. Sagester's Feb. 8 letter to the editor (``Short shrift given one small school'') because it wasn't strong enough in condemning the conditions at Fort Lewis Elementary School in Roanoke County.
She says that Fort Lewis doesn't have air conditioning. The majority of readers might say, ``Neither did I.'' True, but when you went to school, didn't the windows open? Those at Fort Lewis are either painted shut with 50 years of paint or the rope pulleys have rotted.
Sagester says the children must eat reheated food in the basement next to the boiler room. What if you're disabled? The only interior access to the cafeteria is a narrow, steep staircase. If you cannot negotiate the stairs, you must eat in your classroom.
She didn't mention that the 70-year-old boiler has only two settings, hot and scalding. Bare radiators in hallways are hot enough to burn. The gym is in the center of the building, surrounded by classrooms. The thundering noise of bouncing balls and children running makes classroom concentration difficult or impossible. Teachers have become adept at figuring out just how many things they can plug in without blowing the circuits. Fort Lewis is on a well and septic system. When the school was built, the surrounding area was country. Today, it's city. Parents are concerned that the runoff from U.S. 460 will contaminate the well.
For years, parents have complained to the Roanoke County School Board. Its response: no money, and not enough students to warrant renovation. The county has secured funds for the rest of its schools in a timely fashion, and the student-number issue is misleading. Within 2 1/2 blocks of my home, at least nine children's parents refuse to send them to Fort Lewis due to these conditions. They've opted for home schooling, Salem city schools, Glenvar Elementary or private schools.
Let members of the new School Board and the County Board of Supervisors get off their duffs. Either condemn and close Fort Lewis or fix it to conform to health-and-safety standards so that better education can take place. And let them do so now, not five years down the road.
BARBARA DUKORE SALEM
Ice is unsafe at any age
IN RAY Reed's Feb. 9 ``What's On Your Mind?'' column, he said that children should learn to cope with weather. I learned to cope with it 80 years ago, and ice is still dangerous. Recently, I had to walk in the street due to ice on the sidewalk. Dangerous! And I know how to cope with weather.
It was reported that the law concerning clearing the walks after snow isn't enforced. So why bother? This would appear to be the attitude of a homeowner who doesn't care about people's safety, whatever their age.
MILDRED SHICKEL ROANOKE
When intolerance is the only response
I READ with interest Chuck M. Crush's Feb. 13 letter to the editor, ``Cure the cancer of intolerance.'' He (and others) spoke well of stopping ``the malignant disease of intolerance.'' We must guard against intolerance. Indeed, I must say that tolerance is a very desirable quality.
However, tolerance loses every trace of nobility when it means tolerance of evil and wickedness. Murder, rape and child molestation (among many other evils) must never be tolerated.
Our value systems and core of beliefs help us determine what's justified intolerance. May ``family values'' continue its march toward victory.
DAVID P. SANZO ROANOKE
Some pet projects must be cut
DONALD FESSLER'S Feb. 11 letter to the editor, ``Extension Service cuts would hurt,'' is a perfect example of why America may never see a balanced budget or a tax reduction.
Everyone agrees we need to solve our deficit problem, but no one is willing to let go of his or her personal pet project.
If the Cooperative Extension Service is so valuable, it would be continued by the private sector if Gov. Allen had been able to delete its entire budget. Those using this service should pay for it.
Middle-class Americans now pay close to 50 percent of our incomes in taxes when you include state, local, gas, real-estate, personal-property taxes, etc. I supported Allen's spending cuts and tax reductions. I submit to you the majority of Virginians want to see their tax burden decreased.
As voters, it's our duty to change the majority in the General Assembly to see that those politicians addicted to spending are removed from the source of their habit. The cuts won't be painless, but neither is a 50 percent tax rate.
KATHIE TRENT KINGERY CHESTERFIELD
by CNB