Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 18, 1995 TAG: 9504180098
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The good professor fails to define ``trickle-down economics.'' Worse, he fails to provide verifiable evidence that demonstrates it was a failure, whatever he thinks it was. Your editors doubtless smiled upon Moran's less-than-scholarly theory because it reinforces their own conservative-bashing propensities.
Clearly, his counterproposal - to make the minimum-wage law the centerpiece of macro-economic policy - is at best highly dubious. Moran ignores the fact that as many as 85 percent of all workers earning the minimum wage live in households in which income is above poverty level. Nor does he mention that of all those living in the United States classified as poor, fewer than 3 percent are heads of households earning the minimum wage.
Further, he fails to deal with the sad reality that more than 75 percent of the poor won't benefit from an increase in the minimum wage since they're the children of parent(s) not working.
For your editors, it's apparently sufficient that writers repeat the Democratic Party's dogma. Addressing in a credible way a serious economic problem - the deficiency in national saving and the corresponding insufficiency of capital investment - is secondary.
GORDON E. SAUL
ROANOKE
Schools should get priorities straight
IN APRIL 2's help-wanted classifieds, there was a notice that the Roanoke city school system was seeking a chess instructor at a salary of more than $30,000. This job is being offered at the same time that Roanoke city schools are cutting two positions in the student-assistance program. The counselors in the student-assistance program are the front-line professionals in the fight against alcohol and drugs in the schools. They make less money than a chess instructor, and their positions are being eliminated while chess instructors are being added.
I have nothing against chess. It's a wonderful game, but it's only a game. Alcohol and drugs are life and death in the classroom. What does this tell us about our priorities?
MARK S. COWELL
SALEM
Don't make a show of righteousness
IT'S TOO bad that people like Milton E. Noble (March 26 commentary, ``Prayer proposal is too narrow'') are so busy arguing that mandatory prayer time in public schools is, in fact, constitutional that few ever stop to wonder if it's biblical. Jesus has some words (Matthew 6) on practicing religion in public. He says, simply and plainly, to pray and practice religion ``in secret.'' Of course, the point is to worship God, not show off one's righteousness. I can't help but wonder whether prayer at school flagpoles and county courthouses is to communicate with God or with the public. I feel those determined to require others to watch them pray have missed the point of prayer completely.
The United States and Christianity would be better off if evangelicals would quit waving their Bibles and beliefs for the public, and try reading their Bibles and taking what they read seriously. Unless they want the same sort of ``victory'' that Oliver Cromwell found, they should serve God and their neighbors instead of seeking earthly power and public notice. Only by serving will Christians have a lasting influence on society. Read Matthew 20:24-28.
CATHERINE CARTER
ROANOKE
Pay problem needs to be corrected
REGARDING the March 24 article, ``Police pay inequities challenged in Roanoke County'':
As a county resident, I think it's disgraceful that our police officers have to seek federal relief to feed their families. Roanoke County Supervisor Bob Johnson was recently quoted in your newspaper as saying that Roanoke County isn't a poor county. If this is so, how can he justify our police officers living at or below the poverty level? These are people we depend on to protect our lives and property, all too often lately at the cost of their own lives!
County Administrator Elmer Hodge says he inherited this problem a decade ago. What has he done for the past 10 years to correct it? It seems to me that a moderately competent administrator could have made great headway in 10 years toward solving the problem. It seems he has done little or nothing. Is solving problems such as this not what a county administrator is hired to do?
In the article, it said the turnover rate has resulted in a lot more inexperienced officers protecting our community. This concerns me, as it should all county residents. I've always thought that it was the goal of any successful enterprise to hire good people, train them well and keep them. How will we keep experienced officers when the heads of our own government tell them to go somewhere else if they want to be paid fairly?
I don't know how to solve this problem, but that isn't my job. If the people whose job it is are unable, or unwilling, to correct something as unfair as this, then maybe it's time to replace them.
PARRY NAGENDRAN
ROANOKE
Review shows paper's hypocrisy
YOUR March 30 review of Monika Treut's films, entitled ``Female misbehavior,'' is a blatant example of your newspaper's deplorable preference for sensationalism over moral responsibility. Adult (would-be X-rated) films reviewed on the Extra section's front page? Whom did you think this would benefit? Your newspaper? Hollins College?
Your editorials and articles speak of concern about teen pregnancy and violence. Yet you think nothing of sending our teens the message that sexual promiscuity and violence (bondage an art form?) are acceptable. Placing this article on the front page of Extra gives these films legitimacy as mainstream works. It tells our youth this behavior is acceptable, admirable, and worthy of emulation. Any teen looking over this article will note that issues of sexually transmitted diseases, birth control and abstinence are too trivial to be a part of these adults' lives.
You also feign concern about health problems that smoking creates (through editorials and Beth Macy's same-day column about teen smoking, ``If they could only see the indelible scar''). Yet you think nothing of using the front page of Extra to make smoking look cool. The picture of Treut shows her with a black denim jacket, trendy sunglasses, untucked shirt and a cigarette dangling from her fingertips. This picture speaks volumes to teens who never read your editorials. Placed next to Macy's column, it seems like a sick joke.
Our youth deserve more respect than your hypocritical newspaper gives them. They need caring adults who set a good example in their daily decisions. Reviewing porn films on the front page of the section containing the comics shows a cavernous lack of moral fortitude and personal responsibility.
AUDREY MOSLEY
ROANOKE
Condom giveaways don't condone sex
AS A high-school student in a generation plagued by AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, I must disagree with Barry Ashburn's April 7 letter to the editor (``Condoms do not prevent AIDS'').
He asked, ``What kind of message do you give students when you hand out condoms?'' The message is not that we don't need to worry about whether it's right or wrong, and the condom does not mean that everything is OK.
Although I'm opposed to premarital sex, I feel that schools should distribute condoms. If some sexually active teens don't have one readily available to them, they may not feel compelled to use one. And the results can be disastrous.
Yes, it's a shame to think that so many teens are making bad decisions when it comes to sex. But this isn't an issue adults should ignore by not distributing condoms. Schools aren't condoning sex by teaching us about it, and they wouldn't be condoning it by distributing condoms. They would be protecting us from deadly enemies, and my generation needs all the help we can get.
JENNIFER M. COOK
ROANOKE
by CNB