Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503210025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
As a taxpayer, I'm deeply grateful you spent our money on lawyer fees, phone calls, witness transportation and other expenses for a kangaroo court hearing. It's hard in a county our size to find places to dispose of all that excess money.
Thanks for giving us something to do for seven hours on a weeknight. It gets boring sometimes here in the sticks. The little touch of importing a couple of comical witnesses all the way from Richmond was brilliant. Without them we'd never have known teachers, parents and students in Pulaski County can't be believed when they give identical eyewitness reports. Thanks for upholding Comfort Inn's constitutional right to refuse our students a breakfast purchased at taxpayer expense. How dare a teacher take exception?
I'm especially proud of your sense of fair play and justice. We didn't have anything even close back when my dad served on the School Board. Thanks for upholding a school system where teachers fear for their jobs if they voice an opinion differing from that of their administration. What a lesson in democracy for our young people!
You wisely paved the way for our drama team to be punished for past sins by not being allowed an overnight trip to the state finals in Charlottesville. I'm sure the 17-hour day improved their performance and strengthened their characters. Did you know they'd win the state competition anyway, or did you figure we don't need drama when we have football? I hope you made sure they weren't led into any doughnut shops along the way by that wicked Rhonda Welsh.
Most of all, thank you for giving me something to look forward to in November. That trip to the polls is going to be fun this year for a change.
Gay Meredith
Snowville
Love for self, love for neighbors
The phrase, "not in my back yard" has become a rallying cry to keep out unwanted treatment facilities in our area.
The Current article (Sunday, March 5) concerning the Tekoa Residential Treatment Facility confirmed that sentiment. However, the article does not give a true reflection of the entire Pilot community. There are many that are willing to be a part of the solution to society's problems. Yet our troubled youth need the support and help of the entire community. These are our kids. These youth are our present and our future. For a community to confirm that they are not wanted only reinforces in them a fear that sent many of them to Tekoa in the first place. A building block for every great society is to "love your neighbor as you love yourself."
So the question remains for community: Does our love for self match our love for our neighbors , no matter how much trouble it may be?
Larry D. Meadors,
Pastor,
Abundant Life Fellowship
Pilot
We don't need Sharkey's, either
This letter is in response to the "5 Hurt in Bar Brawl" article (Current, March 3). I am a married 24-year-old with a full-time job. My husband, 37, also has a full-time job. (He has 18 years with Virginia Tech.) Neither my husband nor myself are currently college students. We have nothing of which to be embarrassed or ashamed - or at least we didn't until now. We are also regular patrons of Sharkey's. That will have to change due to the blatant display of discrimination shown by the owner/manager Stephanie Rogol.
The ownership of a college ID is something of which to be proud, but it does not exempt the holder of angry outbursts or disruptive behavior. Rogol is fooling herself if she thinks this kind of unnatural selection will end what is obviously a control problem within her establishment.
I wonder if Rogol knows exactly how much of her business comes from people like my husband and me? I would really hope the other downtown bars would not alienate what I perceive to be a large portion of their livelihood. We'll be happy to go where our business is appreciated.
Rogol's first round of elimination wiped us out of her elite clientele. Perhaps for her next round she might consider requiring applications for entrance and issuing personalized Sharkey's IDs to those accepted for patronage. Would she be satisfied then? She could further limit access to those students with business majors - after all, we all know about those rough and rowdy engineering students. Who are we to say how far Rogol is willing to go.
Candice and Steve Hypes
Christiansburg
It's time to try 4x4 scheduling
In the coming weeks there is going to be considerable discussion about proposed block scheduling for Christiansburg and Shawsville high schools for next year. Under the 4x4 block system, students take four classes each semester for 90 minutes.
This method has many advantages. Longer classes would allow teachers to use a variety of teaching methods during each period. It would encourage teachers and students to adopt better time management. With fewer class changes, classes can accomplish additional work.
Teachers will have approximately 50 percent fewer students per semester. This will allow them to get to know students on a more personal basis.
In addition, the 4x4 block concept improves the quality and quantity of instruction. Since more classes will be offered, students will have an opportunity to enroll in a wider variety of courses. They will only need to concentrate on four subjects each semester instead of seven. This will improve the quality of student work. The students will have two fresh starts each year. If a student does not achieve in the first semester, he will have an opportunity to correct the situation in the second semester.
This plan would also help special education and "at risk" students. Additional class time will enable these students to receive increased support in basic reading, writing and math skills.
Schools currently involved in 4x4 notice an improvement in graduation and attendance rates as well as a reduction in failures and dropouts. They also experience a reduction in administration and text book expenses. Since only half of the students will be taking a course at one time, schools can reduce the number of books they need to order.
The feeling within education today is that the teaching method we are currently using is not producing the results needed in today's society. If something is not done to correct the situation, education is going to fall behind, rather than support the needs of the students in the future. The students of Christiansburg High School deserve the opportunity to stay in the forefront of education.
Steve Hubert,
Counselor,
Christiansburg High School
Christiansburg
by CNB