ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602120008
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: & Now This
There may be debate in the General Assembly about the Pledge of Allegiance, but patriotism is in style in Roanoke County schools.
For years, students in county schools have started their day by reciting the pledge. No one has objected or protested the long-standing policy, Superintendent Deanna Gordon said.
Now the county School Board has joined in the show of patriotism.
The board usually begins its meeting with a prayer. But the opening ceremonies last week featured a tape of Lee Greenwood singing "God Bless the USA" and a color video featuring patriotic scenes with many American flags waving in the background.
The lights in the board room were cut off and the video scenes were flashed on the walls as Greenwood sang.
When the song was over, a spotlight was focused on the American flag in the darkened room and the audience recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Then, Bud McWhorter, an instructor at the Arnold Burton Technology Center, sang the National Anthem.
When McWhorter finished and the lights were turned on, board members said they had been moved by the ceremonies, which were arranged by the schools' Adult and Continuing Education Department.
"Very inspiring," said Chairman Jerry Canada.
Meanwhile, a bill that would require students to show respect while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance has won preliminary approval from the House of Delegates. Supporters said there have been complaints that some students are unruly and disrespectful while the pledge is recited.
But the American Civil Liberties Union says the bill is unnecessary and could infringe on constitutional free-speech rights of students.
Crime Web
Want to find out how many prowlers have been sighted in your area? Or what exactly the vice unit does? Do you know what your police chief looks like?
Those answers are a cyber-touch away on the Internet for Roanoke County residents. The Police Department's home page on the World Wide Web has been up and running since August, but in the past two months it has added colorful graphics and maps with statistical crime information.
The computer is just one more way to interact with the public, say creators Dolores Farmer and Sgt. David Wells. The idea was the brainchild of Farmer, who participated in the county's citizen police academy, which gives a few residents a glimpse into the department each year.
Farmer decided to create a home page for the department after she met Chief John Cease's wife at an Internet Society meeting.
"I've always had the philosophy that it's nice to give back to the community for free," Farmer said.
Farmer, the vice president of Owens & Co. Realtors, teamed up with Wells, an aficionado of the Internet. They created a page complete with a topographical, click-on map of the county that offers criminal statistics by district.
"I try to change the page," Wells said. "If it stays the same, people get tired of it and won't look at it."
There's e-mail for interested parties to ask questions or provide crime tips, a link to a list of the most wanted criminals by state and by country, and a guest book for Internet surfers who feel a need to leave their mark. So far, people from Germany, France and Alaska have signed their names, Wells said.
"It's just one more form of communication," he added. "It's one more give and take, back and forth. I'm only as good as the information I can develop."
The Roanoke County Police Department's home page can be reached at:
http://www.infi.net/~dolores/rcpd.html
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