Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503070008
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
My son and his 400 brother rats just ``broke out'' the rat line at Virginia Military Institute. I believe Bowles should spend one day at VMI before breakout occurs, before imposing her opinion.
Each morning, my son arose at dawn, ``rolled his hay,'' stacked his plywood bed-rack in the corner, dressed, and went down four floors to roll his ``dyke's'' (first classman's) hay, etc. Then off to a day of classes, military duty, marching, physical education, etc., and more military duty, until he finished his day by studying in the mechanical-engineering building until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m.
He also had his head shaved every Wednesday, ate every single meal sitting on the 2-inch edge of his chair while never looking at his plate, stood guard in the freezing cold, and did 1,400 push-ups in two days when his grade-point average went down. To make it to the top of ``break-out hill,'' he got to low-crawl, face first, through nearly foot-deep mud in 35 degree weather.
Does this sound like something your daughter would care to do? I've worked full time and paid taxes since I was 16 years old. I would imagine that I've contributed enough taxes to support my son while at VMI, and have no doubt that he's truly a VMI man.
As a parent and taxpayer, I support the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership. Why not ask the women now enrolling into this program if they'd rather be taking the same, identical road to break-out hill that the VMI Class of '98 just took.
My guess is that they'll prosper nicely at the women's institute. Or, perhaps while Bowles was blowing off her tax-dollar steam, she wasn't even aware of the VWIL.
DONNA MARIE HARRIS
ROANOKE
Gambling has long-range costs
A FEB. 1 article in your newspaper was titled ``Study: River casinos not harmful." I can't imagine the title being otherwise. The study was financed by those who want to make gambling respectable and attractive. They argue that it will provide new tax revenues and will increase jobs. Long-range costs aren't considered.
Gambling is shortsighted economics! It is scavenger economics - feeding off of what one already has without providing a useful product or service. The lure of gambling is to be a winner, but gambling produces many losers.
A recent two-year study, funded by the Ford Foundation and the Aspen Institute, concludes that the costs to business and taxpayers are ultimately more than the revenue received. The study cites the experience of Atlantic City, N.J., where casino gambling has existed about 13 years:
Gambling casinos deliberately undersell local businesses to attract customers. Retail businesses have been reduced by one-third. Restaurants declined from 243 to 146 in a decade. Atlantic City went from 50th in crime to first in the nation. Unemployment in the city rose to twice the state average. Atlantic City had the highest rate of homelessness in the country by l987, 10 years after legalizing gambling came in.
A key question raised by the study is: Do we want government to become so dependent on gambling that it is forced to promote activities that take disproportionately from those who can afford it least, do great damage to existing economies and are potentially addictive?
Up to 4 percent of those who gamble become addicted. They lose money needed for housing and food. Some previously law-abiding citizens, in desperation, steal or embezzle money. Among gambling addicts, 23 percent are charged with crime and 10 percent go to jail. Society pays these costs, which now ranges from $25,000 to $50,000 a year just for those incarcerated.
All the costs need to be counted in gambling. Virginia legislators who have the wisdom to stand against gambling need our support. The bottom line is that we cannot afford gambling's ultimate costs.
OWEN G. STULTZ
ROANOKE
Males also need how-to advice
I'M FURIOUS about the obvious sexism displayed throughout your newspaper. This sexism is most blatantly evident in the only two articles by Beth Macy that I've read. The first was more than a year ago, and was on how to get pregnant before the teen years are gone forever (```Pregnant and proud''). The other was last August, and was on why mothers shouldn't breast-feed their babies (``They told her how to be a Mom; they told her wrong'').
What are us males supposed to do? I demand equal time! You need someone to give us advice on how we can do masculine kinds of things like robbing banks and effectively assaulting others. I'd offer to write these columns, but I'm not very good at these topics, which is why I need advice.
WILLIAM J. BROGAN
BLACKSBURG
by CNB