Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 29, 1995 TAG: 9506020064
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The very ones who complained would have been the first to point a finger if she had not done her duty, and had there been any kind of security incident. How on Earth can security people be expected to recognize everyone who works in the Poff Building or know who has a legitimate reason for being there? Also, if some were carded and some were not, there would have been complaints of discrimination.
I realize that the Oklahoma City bomb wasn't carried into the building, and increased building security wouldn't have prevented that tragedy. But let's face reality. There are enough nuts out there with access to small guns and compact explosives to make Kiser's orders make sense. So a few people are inconvenienced - so what? Beats the heck out of being dead! I'll bet there are a lot of Oklahoma City survivors who would gladly swap places.
It seems to me that Taylor should be commended instead of reprimanded for doing her job.
DORIS W. McPEAK WYTHEVILLE
Explore Park: monument to pork
WHEN I saw your Readers Forum question on the May 5 Commentary page (``What big economic-development project should the region tackle next?'') asking for suggestions, I knew a letter to the editor from Explore Park's No. 1 cheerleader, Rupert Cutler, was forthcoming. He needs to give it a rest.
Explore Park's very existence is an insult and a slap in the face to every honest taxpayer in the state. Were it not for the sleazy political dealings of Del. Richard Cranwell (the valley's own why-we-need-term-limits poster child) and former 6th District Rep. Jim Olin (by your newspaper's own admission, one of the biggest spenders in the state during his tenure in Congress), Explore wouldn't even exist.
Funding the creation and operation of a tourist attraction without the expressed, written consent of the taxpayers (that's by referendum) is morally and ethically wrong. Don't forget, it's our money.
Explore Park will forever stand as a monument to pork-barrel spending, government waste of taxpayers' money and everything that's wrong with our political system.
BURMAN SNIDER JR. ROANOKE
Graduation is a frustration at CSHS
IF A student has stayed in school and earned enough credits to graduate, then the student should be able to celebrate this event with his or her family. Family members should not just receive a graduation announcement, but be able to watch the student receive the earned diploma.
In today's society, we tell our children how good it is to share family events. How do you choose which family members can come? How do you explain it to those who can't? By requesting extra tickets to graduation, it's not guaranteed you'll get them. So, how do you make travel arrangements for out-of-town family members?
If not having enough seats available for family members to participate in this milestone event is a problem, then why can't a facility big enough to accommodate a larger audience be secured? Graduation day is the closing of a door to one world and the opening of a door to the real world. It's a day to be remembered, so please don't rob us of this beautiful day. Let everyone come.
With 385 graduating students, assuming each student has two parents, this requires a facility that seats a minimum of 1,155, not counting faculty, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. To choose the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium that seats 2,475 is a poor decision by Cave Spring High School's administration. It should be changed to eliminate the hard decision for students of who can or can't come, and the clamor for any extra tickets.
Many parents of graduating students are equally frustrated with this situation.
CRAIG and DONNA SELLERS ROANOKE
Juxtaposition shows mad, mad world
IN YOUR May 13 newspaper, there was an article (``NS worker awarded $2.6 million'') about a jury awarding $2.6 million to a Norfolk Southern worker who was driven to the brink of insanity by excessive noise. The article continued on to another page, and directly above it was a short article, ``Bedford County boosts school budget $2.6 million.'' This is for construction of schools, pay raises for teachers and a small increase to operate the county school system.
No more said. Insanity? We have lost it.
RICHARD L. MILLER THAXTON
by CNB