Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030020
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Our president is right. Unfortunately, violence is so imbedded in our society that, yes, ``violence is acceptable,'' and the line between outrage and consent has become hopelessly blurred.
Our country was born of violence. Our Constitution reserves the right to violently overthrow our government. Our foreign policy legitimizes the use of violence across the globe in order to preserve ``free'' markets and ``the American way of life.'' Our politicians deplore violence in one sentence and then espouse it in the next. Violence won't stop violence, but will only lead to a continuing cycle of revenge and retribution.
The government kills nearly 100 in Waco. Militia members kill 200 in Oklahoma City. The president calls for the death penalty.
Do the bombers deserve death? No question. Will killing them make us feel better? Probably. But killing the bombers won't bring back any of the innocent lives they took. It will continue the cycle of violence, and reinforce the notion that ``violence is acceptable.''
Until we as a society can agree that all violence is wrong, we have no hope of living in a world free of the fear that our lives will be touched by the countless acts of violence that permeate our culture.
ERIC SHEFFIELD
BUENA VISTA
Peace of mind is gone forever
THE OKLAHOMA bombing moved me to the realization that the majority doesn't rule in our society; the minority does. Less than 1 percent of our population governs our lives!
We can no longer drop the kids off at the day-care center or school and feel unconcerned afterwards. That explosion in our heartland is still emitting shock waves in our hearts. Will we be reduced to border patrols at state lines, cars searched, identification papers in order?
That dead innocent baby in the fireman's arms is about as real as it gets. We have forever lost a great part of our freedom thanks to this less than 1 percent. Gone is the freedom of peace of mind in our daily lives.
DAVID DUFF
LYNCHBURG
Bilingual programs help unify our nation
THE LANGUAGES of the world are disappearing at an alarming rate, and with each of these languages goes an entire culture. Bilingual education is a possible solution to this problem.
Almost every nation in the world promotes bilingualism by exposing students to a foreign language at a very early age. Yet the United States seems to want to destroy the few bilingual school systems in this country. Often these programs appear only in areas near our southern-most border where it's most beneficial to the people of the area, but even these are at risk. These programs not only preserve the culture of immigrants coming to this country, but also aid in the immigrants' transition into our predominantly English society.
These programs also benefit other students. Studies show that bilingual students are generally more intelligent and receive better scores on intelligence tests than monolingual students. Students who speak more than one language also tend to be more open-minded because they process a knowledge of not one culture but two.
Increasing the number of bilingual school programs will take money. But in the long run, it will unify our country. When people learn a second language, they gain a tremendous level of understanding and insight from the teacher and those who speak that language.
EMILY TRIVETTE
RINER
County's slush on water-sewer rates
THE APRIL 24 letter to the editor from the director of finance for Roanoke County, Diane D. Hyatt, typifies the reason that bureaucrats and politicians have such a low level of credibility.
The claim is made that ``many customers'' have requested the change to monthly billing. None of my neighbors made such a request. Our problem isn't frequency of billing, but rather the exorbitance of the water-sewer charges that are many times the rates charged in adjacent cities and counties. These excessive charges, the county claims, are to pay for utility improvements not yet accomplished. Meanwhile, surplus monies extracted by overcharges for water-sewer usage sit in a slush fund - interest-bearing, I suppose.
The additional cost of monthly billing is lightly dismissed as ``not coming from tax dollars'' but rather from a ``self-supporting enterprise fund.'' Translation: more taxpayer monies collected but not used.
BUD SANTORO
ROANOKE
by CNB