ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512080024
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A20 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I am an eighth-grade student at E.B. Stanley Middle School in Abingdon. In your Nov. 25 issue, there was an article (``Arts school growing by leaps") concerning the Fleming-Ruffner Magnet Center for middle- and high-school students in Roanoke.
This school provides pre-professional training for those who demonstrate commitment and talent in the arts - namely the visual arts, performing arts, literary arts and art technology, which includes digital imaging, photography, graphic design, electronic music, and television and video production.
Schools in my county provide the mandated basics of a few of the classes mentioned above, but we don't have elaborate facilities or course offerings found in other parts of Virginia.
I'm concerned about the educational disparity in the arts. Students who live in far Southwest Virginia are denied the opportunity to attend a magnet or a year-round residential governor's school simply because of where they live. There's a Governor's School in Pulaski, but none farther west for the remaining 12 counties.
One could argue that most of these classes could be taught through fiber-optic networks (which very few of our schools are equipped with), yet it's impossible to receive the same quality training and instruction in the arts through these channels.
I realize a magnet school is federally funded. However, Virginia is nonetheless responsible to see that all students have an equal opportunity to learn. HANNAH HAVILAND ABINGDON
Boob tube is a health hazard, too?
IN YOUR Nov. 22 edition, I was dismayed to find a major piece of public-health news hidden on your Opinion page. (Letter to the editor by John L. Eby Jr., ``Tune out, turn off TV pornography.'') I must chide you for not covering this important news on your front page.
Until I read this, I had no idea that network television put one at risk for HIV infection. I, for one, am taking no chances. I have disconnected my rooftop antenna and carefully wrapped all my television sets in latex.
In the future, I hope this newspaper will be more responsible in reporting such vital information. KENDALL WANAGER-BIRD BLACKSBURG
Science gets closer to Genesis
YOUR NOV. 23 newspaper had an interesting article (``Granddaddy of all Y chromosomes'') about a scientific study. It stated:
"Every man on Earth today can trace his Y chromosome to one male who lived about 190,000 years ago, before anatomically modern humans had evolved, a study suggests."
"He [Michael Hammer] compared the detailed makeup of a tiny piece of the Y chromosome as sampled from eight Africans of various backgrounds, two Australians, three Japanese and two Europeans."
"Last May, other scientists published a study saying the Y chromosome in modern-day men can be traced back 270,000 years. But a reanalysis of that data shrank that estimate to 160,000 to 180,000 years."
I believe this study may have merit. It should be pursued with great vigor. Further analysis of the data may shrink the time to 10,000 years. An appropriate name for that first male might be Adam. EARL ABBOTT ROANOKE
The forever young Old Dominion
AH, VIRGINIA! How blessed we are to have Marshall Fishwick who can address you properly (Nov. 21 commentary, ``In love with Virginia ways'') and proceed to clothe you with descriptive beauty as befits a ``grand Old Lady.''
Yes, Virginia, we have it all - from the mountains to the seashores. And who would exchange our four seasons for the world elsewhere, or our many villages that we call ``our roots''? Indeed, it's here the birds do ``warble sweet in the springtime'' as the frogs do croak in our many ponds.
At this season, we can say with Fishwick, ``Glory be to God for dappled things.'' MARGARET L. RAMSEY RICHMOND
Cruelty deserves more punishment
JUDY Woody, ``the wren killer,'' got out of the debacle easy (Nov. 30 article, ``City jury finds for the birds''). She should spend at least one year in jail for cruelty to animals, and then have a ``horse whipping'' for good measure.
Stomping defenseless newborn birds to death is one of the most despicable acts one can imagine. Shame! ELDON C. GROVER BLUE RIDGE
Don't let greed pollute the lake
BEAUTIFUL Smith Mountain Lake? Not for long if Jeanine Michealsen has her way, according to your Now. 27 article (``Lake's new leader likes challenges'').
We voted against the merger and saved Bedford County from a disaster, and now we have another headache in the making.
We had a home on leased land in Franklin County and couldn't have been happier. Suddenly, greed set in and real-estate agents moved in, subdivided and sold lots. And we were given a moving notice with no forewarning. Never wanting to go through that again, we moved to the Bedford County side of the lake, bought property, and settled in for a nice quiet retirement.
As for short-term renters, they owe nothing to the lake or the full-time residents, and most of them show just that.
Why do people move to the lake in the first place? Certainly not to copy New York City. Being a native of Long Island, Michealsen knows what I mean.
We had relatives in New York, and enjoyed many trips through the Poconos in the early '70s. We always enjoyed the beauty of the area until commercialization took over and ruined it. I defy anyone to take a trip to the Poconos (or the Smokies) and see what greed can accomplish, then return to accept Michealsen's pie-in-the-sky ideas. EARL A. PONTING GOODVIEW
Democrats use lies and fear tactics
MUCH HAS been said about negative campaigning in the state and local elections, suggesting that was the reason why Republicans lost all four of the local contests. I suppose the hatchet job Don Beyer did on Mike Farris with the "Wizard of Oz" commercial and John Edwards' lobbyist radio ad on Brandon Bell were models for positive campaigning? And what about mailings done by the state Democratic Party, with pictures of a home with "foreclosure" stamped across the front, saying that this would be the result of George Allen's and the GOP's policies?
There was also a recent mailing from the Democratic National Committee to nursing-home residents asking them to support the president's position on balancing the budget. (The question should be: Which position? Candidate Clinton's promise to balance the budget in five years, or President Clinton's, who now says seven years? Or was it eight years? Ten years? No, I believe he said somewhere between seven and nine years. The answer is all of the above.)
These tactics, along with a willingly ignorant media, are succeeding in hoodwinking senior citizens and others into thinking their only hope for survival lies with President Clinton and the Democrats.
How? By carefully orchestrated words, blatant lies and deliberate distortions of facts. By calling a decrease in the rate of growth of Medicare spending (from 10.5 percent per year to 7 percent per year - double the rate of inflation) a cut in spending. By frightening senior citizens into thinking that Republicans are out to impoverish them and take their homes. By preying on fears of the disadvantaged and poor, and painting Republicans as mean-spirited Scrooges, and Democrats as the saviors. All lies.
The truth is that Medicare will be bankrupt in seven years if nothing is done, and a child born today will pay more than $187,000 in his or her lifetime just in interest on the national debt. Our children, our senior citizens and our nation deserve better. DON ASSAID ROANOKE
LENGTH: Long : 140 linesby CNB