ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512070093
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
THE PRESIDENT should be applauded for his recent decision to send troops to Bosnia, although that decision should have been made long ago. It seems every time the issue of giving military aid to a country comes up, the question is always asked: ``Why do we have to be the policemen of the world?''
The answer is simple: Upholding human rights is something that must be done, and our country has the greatest ability to accomplish it. This isn't to say that military action is easy for us, but taking care of our fellow man is something that must be done no matter how great the cost.
Yes, we're asking young men to risk their lives for a worthy cause. But if we don't send troops to Bosnia, we're telling innocent people to bear atrocities that no one should have to endure.
Whenever we watch a movie such as ``Schindler's List'' or footage of what's going on in Bosnia, we want to shut our eyes or turn our heads. We always want to run away from the sight of suffering. We must realize these people cannot run away. They must endure what we cannot even bear to watch.
If the basic rights of Americans were being violated in the same way, our government would be obligated to stop it by whatever means necessary. What is it then that makes foreigners so inferior to Americans that we feel we don't have the responsibility to help them? They have the same capacity for pain and sorrow that we do. Even though we're not legally bound to send troops, we're morally obligated to help them because they're innocent and are suffering. What other reason is needed?
CHRISTOPHER MOORE
ROANOKE
Greed motivates many relic hunters
AS A PROFESSIONAL archaeologist, I feel compelled to respond to Bob Baird's Nov. 19 commentary (``Why we can't wait for the archaeologists"). There are several errors in his representation of federal laws protecting archaeological sites on public lands.
Federally owned lands, including national parks and national forests, are indeed public lands paid for and maintained by taxpayers. It's everyone's right to be able to enjoy the natural beauty and historic sites on these lands. When a few individuals of Baird's ilk, with metal detectors and shovels as tools and greed as a motive, collect artifacts from a Native American grave, Civil War site or early settler's cabin on federal land, they're stealing from other taxpayers. Their "right" to enjoy these cultural sites doesn't include despoiling them of artifacts that make them historically significant.
Baird is incorrect in his assertion that relic hunting has been made a "new crime" by the federal government. The first major federal law designed to protect archaeological sites on public lands from looting was the Antiquities Act of 1906. A number of other federal laws, enacted primarily in the '60s and '70s, strengthen penalties against illegal digging on public land, and provide the means to record and protect these sites. Thus, the federal government has long had an interest in preserving the cultural and natural resources of public lands.
He misleads in implying that relic hunters are "preserving history" by collecting metal artifacts that will soon rust. Most relic hunters I've dealt with don't have rusty nails in their collections. Instead, they dig up engraved shell artifacts and human skulls from sacred Indian sites or they mine Civil War battlefields for armaments, belt buckles and buttons. Many are in the business of collecting for profit. The only way to preserve an archaeological site is to leave it alone.
I object to Baird's comparing the federal regulations protecting archaeological sites to purported federal law-enforcement excesses at Waco and Ruby Ridge. Such an analogy is inane and reprehensible.
CLIFF BOYD
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Radford University
RINER
Mozart was no money machine
IN TYLER Cowen's Nov. 19 commentary, ``Without government, the arts flourish,'' he gives a cogent presentation of his case and raises issues that merit careful consideration. These are doubtless covered more thoroughly in his complete article in The Freeman magazine.
However, he's dead wrong in asserting that Mozart ``succeeded in the marketplace'' and that he was ``a keen bargainer who reaped the maximum profit from each concert or composition.'' Surely, all of Mozart's many biographers can't have been wrong in portraying the pittances he so often received. Was Cowen perhaps thinking of some other composer, such as Salieri?
JOHN HITCHINGS
RADFORD
Learn about Wicca before judging it
REGARDING Michelle R. Carpenter's Nov. 17 letter to the editor, ``Witches do not worship the devil'':
Wicca (or witchcraft as it is better known) originated before Christianity. It's a natural religion - that is, it's based on nature. Nature is the basis for all life. Without it, we cannot survive.
We don't worship Satan, as many believe. Satanists are not of the Wiccan religion, and shouldn't be grouped with true witches. We're doctors, nurses, teachers, your friends, neighbors and co-workers. We're not murderers, and we don't partake in orgies or hold sacrificial rituals of any kind. These false notions come from people's fear of the unknown and/or the different.
There are many factual books about Wicca at bookstores in the New Age section, and I implore those people who speak ill of witches to read a few of them and gain some real understanding of Wicca vs. Satanism before they speak of something they know nothing about.
We don't make ourselves widely known for fear of history repeating itself. We don't wish to be (or deserve to be) persecuted as people were during the Salem witch trials. We just want to be understood.
DANIELLE McALLISTER
VINTON
Take a shortcut under the mountain
TELL THAT committee (I guess the one in the Virginia Department of Transportation) that it should dig a hole under Catawba Mountain, put toll booths at each side, and save all the work and money fixing those turns over the mountain for us. Surely it would be economical for the state and for the folks of New Castle, Craig County and those who use U.S. 311. We could breeze through! Who knows - it could be done someday.
JANE BARNES
NEW CASTLE
Virginia gentleman pays his debt
THE NOV. 26 article (``Paying off bet puts UVa man in the soup'') on Bob Bersch paying off his bet on the Virginia Tech-University of Virginia football game by working at the Texas Tavern was delightful. Often this great rivalry is taken far too seriously by fans of both schools.
Lighten up, you all. Wahoo Bersch exemplifies the spirit that should prevail to make the game a fun time for all.
Congratulations, Bersch. You're truly a Virginia gentleman!
SAM LIONBERGER JR.
ROANOKE
Parades have lost the excitement
MY FAMILY and I attended one of the area Christmas parades recently, and I was very disappointed that these parades aren't like those of yesteryear. What happened to high-school bands playing Christmas songs, and floats commemorating the season?
These days it seems as though you have a token band or two and a float here and there thrown in among a procession of cars, trucks, motorcycles, with vendors hawking their wares up and down the sidelines. The sad thing is that our children will not have memories of the spine-tingling excitement of marching bands and the wonderment of beautiful floats. Instead, they will look back on the blaring of horns, exhaust fumes and screeching tires. Just another sign of the times.
JUDY S. PRETTYMAN
ROANOKE
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