
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 20, 1995                   TAG: 9506210048
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WHAT MAKES AMERICA GREAT?

THE STIRRING words in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence remind us that our country was founded by great and noble aspirations. We have our problems. Big ones. Yet America remains - certainly in most peoples' eyes - a great nation. We remain, for most of the planet, a beacon of freedom and prosperity.

For Readers Forum, a regular feature of these pages, we invite your discussion of what's so great about America. Is our greatness at risk? Do you think our children and grandchildren can look forward to living the American Dream that our forefathers pursued? Why would you choose to live in this country over any other?

In 1936, Gertrude Stein wrote: "In the United States there is more space where nobody is than where anybody is. That is what makes America what it is."

What do you think makes America what it is? What do you like about being an American?

Please make your responses as personal as possible. We'll publish a selection of letters on - when else? - the Fourth of July.

Please send them by Wdnesday, June 28, to Readers Forum, c/o Editorial Department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010. Or, you may fax them to (703) 981-3391, or e-mail them to responseinfi.net.

Include your address and, for verification purposes only, a telephone number where you can be reached during the day.

by CNB