Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504050050
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I was teaching in a Roanoke city school in the mid-'70s when another 5-year-old was killed, as I remember it, returning to the front of the bus to pick up a dropped lunch box. I remember saying to my principal at that time: ``Why don't we have older students (upper elementary) as patrols like we used to, standing out in front of the bus on the highway line with their belts and ``Bus Stop'' flags?''
I still think we're overlooking a good character-developing opportunity by not making use of programs such as safety patrols where students are given responsible duties. Such responsibility would encourage good citizenship while the patrols would serve their school community in a vital role as ``helpers.''
School-bus drivers, a brave group of adults, can use all the help they can get. Two more eyes at the front of a bus attuned to safety conditions couldn't hurt, and might have made all the difference in the world.
JAN SCOTT
BLAND
Newcomers need to see the light
I MOVED to the Roanoke Valley area within the past year, and am having difficulty finding some streets, routes and interstates, especially when driving after dark.
Your city map is a great help during daylight hours, but it would help if the intersections connecting interstates with other streets (or roads) were well-lighted, and also if the cross streets on roads had a lighted sign up high so it could be seen easily at night.
Example: Virginia 419, exit 141 to Interstate 81. This intersection also needs turning lanes. When you're driving on Virginia 419 and all of a sudden come upon an 18-wheeler standing still in the middle of the road, it makes for the possibility of some terrible accident (especially at nighttime, with oncoming lights making seeing more difficult). Otherwise, this is a lovely area in which to live.
GLORIA F. LEWIS
SALEM
North Carolinians have problems, too
PLEASE spare us your continued attempts to make us feel envious of North Carolina. The latest example is Margie Fisher's March 19 column, ``Will North Carolina, again, leave Virginia trailing?'' The last sentence said, ``Could it be that we in Roanoke, Richmond, Norfolk, etc., will soon have another reason to look with envy upon Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, etc.?'' Fisher's approach seems calculated to make us feel bad about ourselves.
The subject of food taxes was a good one, but what North Carolina does and who does it first is beside the point. I was left feeling like she didn't give a hoot about food taxes, but just used it as another way to needle us about North Carolina.
She implies that North Carolina is a panacea, and if we could only be like North Carolina, we'd ``have it all.'' I get my best television reception from North Carolina, and it may come as a big surprise but residents of that state seem to have as many problems as do those in Virginia, and probably more than those in the Roanoke-New River area. You don't have to travel the Charlotte-to-Raleigh corridor very long to realize rapid growth isn't all fun and games, and you're ready to head back north.
JAMES B. BUSH JR.
WILLIS
Family has been a valued resource
ROSALIE Krisch Shaftman's March 28 letter to the editor (``Family is proud of contributions'') shouldn't be the only one you receive decrying the headline used on the March 19 article (``The fall of the Krisches'') about changes in the Krisch family's business.
The Krisch family closed up a business that, for many natural causes, was no longer viable. It didn't ``fall'' anywhere. And family members closed the business in an orderly and controlled environment to minimize the impact on their employees, creditors and the community. I can tell you from my long experience in the banking business that isn't always the case.
Rosalie and Syd Shaftman and Joel and Adolph Krisch have been more than model citizens; they have been community resources. Their generosity, not only with their money but with their energy, time, ideas and resourcefulness, is well known and widely acknowledged.
The family's history in Roanoke and in this country is the epitome of the American dream. They did it the old-fashioned way - they earned it. And then they shared it with the community in quite extraordinary measure.
Even with that demoralizing headline, they will continue to be important, valuable and generous citizens because they're philosophical and mature about such things.
But it bothered them, as it does me, that the inaccurate headline was followed by an article that made no mention of their long history of positive contributions to our community.
WARNER N. DALHOUSE
ROANOKE
Help reaches those beyond childhood
THANK you for your March 23 article "Foundation focuses on children.'' We appreciate the coverage provided by your newspaper.
The Foundation for Roanoke Valley decided in 1991 to focus the initial grants from our unrestricted funds on meeting the needs of the valley's young children. However, as the foundation has grown - we now administer 19 endowed funds - so has the scope of our grant-making efforts.
Our funds also help the elderly afford life-saving prescription medications, address challenges of substance abuse, provide home health-care services to those at risk of institutionalization, support research on spinal-cord injuries, provide college scholarships for high-school seniors, enable clients of a residential-treatment facility to pursue educational opportunities, support arts and music programs, etc. Our grants go to colleges, museums, social service and health agencies, environmental programs and others. To date, we have awarded grants to more than 80 different community organizations. This year we'll make more than $100,000 in grants.
The beauty of the community-foundation concept is our ability to work with local donors to establish permanent endowment funds, which address present and future needs and opportunities across the entire spectrum of community issues. Building a better future for our young children is a vital and extremely important part of our work. We'll do even more in this area as we soon begin making grants from our Roanoke Valley Children's Fund. However, The Foundation for Roanoke Valley is a philanthropic vehicle that reflects the broad and diverse interests of our endowment donors. We're working hard to enhance the quality of life for all individuals and families in the valley - from newborn children to our eldest citizens.
ALAN RONK
Executive Director
The Foundation for Roanoke Valley
ROANOKE
An insensitive history rewriting
I'D LIKE to express my great displeasure with the Clinton administration's redubbing of ``V-J Day'' to the ``End of the Pacific War.'' This apparent effort at rewriting history, coming on the heels of his announced plans to spend V-E Day in Moscow, is just too much to let pass without comment.
The United States lost more than 405,000 dead in World War II. Think about lives that were shattered here at home when the dreaded telegram arrived, announcing the death of a husband, father, brother or uncle. Think about the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who watched as their friends were killed or wounded.
The Japanese started that part of the war, not us. They killed and wounded more than 3,700 Americans in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Frankly, I'm not too concerned with ``sensitivity issues'' being experienced by the Japanese. What concerns me more is Clinton's apparent lack of empathy for the Americans involved in that era.
JOHN L. EBY JR.
ROANOKE
Public television's a good alternative
I'M WRITING this in support of public television. Where else are you able to find such a wide variety of quality programming commercial-free? Public television presents programs that are educational and entertaining, and offer balanced viewpoints on today's important issues for all age groups.
Besides top-notch programming, another important point is the number of families who cannot afford or simply don't want cable channels. Public television gives people an alternative to the major commercial networks.
CRAIG J. BRADLEY
SALEM
by CNB