Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120020
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-20 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The citizens of Buchanan have my admiration for standing up to Tour DuPont. They should have shut down the entire main street instead of one side. Peace and quiet should prevail everywhere on Sunday.
In our society, any and all types of sporting events take priority over just about everything. On May 1, the live coverage of the time trials in Roanoke pre-empted the noon news broadcast at WSLS-TV. Who cares about the Oklahoma City explosion victims, the national economy, the weather, etc.? We had Tour DuPont. Wrong!
Our nation evolves around sports and sports figures. When Michael Jordan returned to the National Basketball Association, you would have thought from the nonstop coverage that Christ had returned. Then we have O.J. Simpson's trial. If he were not a former football player, would we have had to put up with all the coverage of his trial?
Our children either participate in sports, mainly to make dad proud, or they watch sports on television because it is available 24 hours a day. Our high schools and colleges emphasize sports so heavily that they end up entertaining and not educating our youth. When you get an opportunity, ask a graduating high-school senior how many inches are in a foot or how many feet there are in a yard, and then ask him what NBA or NFL team won the championship. You may be shocked at the answers.
Do something about it: Demand education over entertainment. You can start by teaching your children work ethics instead of how to slam dunk a basketball. Perhaps some should get up off the couch and be a parent to their children instead of watching the 64 playoff games of the NBA.
DILLARD W. AKER
CHRISTIANSBURG
Goodlatte defends the Constitution
CONGRESSMAN Robert Goodlatte does not assault the truth about guns, as alleged by Bo Chagnon's April 29 letter to the editor (``Goodlatte assaults truth about guns'').
Goodlatte knows very well that our government will soon wish to outlaw gravel-shooters. In most all cases, the government quickly becomes pleased with its actions, and wishes to destroy the entire Constitution of our country. Perhaps Chagnon would be interested in reading the United States Constitution.
WILLIAM. S. BOYD
ROANOKE
Talk about pork in government
IN THE May 4 edition, we discover that one of Gov. George Allen's appointees, H. Kirby Burch, director of conservation and recreation, is shooting pigs in a state park (news story, ``Conservation chief kills pigs in park'').
Are we surprised? No, considering the decor of the governor's office: wild beasts' heads mounted on the wall; animal skins tossed over chairs. The decor sounds like Buffalo Bill-envy to me.
Hey, H. Kirby! It's illegal to hunt in any state park. So what's this story about pigs for a barbecue? If it's for real, I personally would be concerned about the parasites - nice present to members of the Virginia National Guard!
Speaking of parasites, H. Kirby, please resign your job before PigGate becomes front-page news. Also, take a reading course, since you didn't read the fine print in your appointed job contract. You don't seem to be aware that state employees cannot carry firearms on state time.
Kirby's spokesman stated that he was headed to a meeting at False Cape State Park with state park managers and others. Silly taxpayer that I am, I had assumed he had somehow overlooked rules, regulations, and where he was headed when he left his office for the park.
LINDA VANLUIK
ROANOKE
Cranwell comments pale in comparison
I TAKE issue with your examples of hate speech (April 28, ``Loud and Angry Voices?''). You quote Del. Dick Cranwell of Vinton as saying: ``Do they practice choice? No. They are the same people that would stand in front of a health-care facility and deny a young woman her choice in her life, and they would even resort to violence to deny that choice.'' This is hate speech? Are there no better examples?
How about a quote published after the murder of an abortion provider in Florida? The head of Operation Rescue of Virginia said: ``In a just society, this abortionist and hundreds of others like him would have been executed already.'' What about numerous letters to the editor you have published that label doctors who provide abortion as ``baby killers'' or ``mass murderers''?
Dick Cranwell's comments do nothing to incite violence. Can the same be said of Operation Rescue of Virginia?
KARA MATNEY
ROANOKE
by CNB