ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 TAG: 9602130047
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTER
IN RESPONSE to Christopher O. Bird's Feb. 3 letter to the editor, `` `Inclusiveness' inflation is an insult to our intelligence'':
Thank goodness for magazine pictures that represent the rich diversity present in our culture!
There's currently on a bulletin board in the science hall at my school a sign that says, ``From A Diversity of Views Comes the Fullest Vision'' (a quote from a recent journal advertisement by Pharmacia). It is surrounded by photos showing a diverse representation of people actively involved in science. My students and all children need to be able to ``see'' themselves represented in these photos to fully believe that they are welcome and needed in these science professions. Somehow, placing these same words on the bulletin board with pictures of predominately white males (which would be a more realistic picture) wouldn't give the same message.
The pictures weren't put there to ``[pretend] things are the way we wish they were,'' as Bird suggests. Rather, the bulletin board is giving the message to students that science, as a profession, is open to all of them, and would benefit from their participation - regardless of their gender, race or religion.
Children from underrepresented groups may never face the blatant discrimination that was present earlier this century, but they will experience the subtle, microinequities that are still very much prevalent in our schools and society, and are fostered by the ever-influential media. The reason many adults are inclusivists is because of the hopes and dreams we have for our children's future, for our country and our world. It's not because we, as Bird suggests, `` ... just want to be liked and accepted.'' JULIE GRADY BLACKSBURG
Please, motorists, turn on the lights
I CANNOT believe so many people were driving around recently on a foggy day without their lights on. I drove that day, and at some intersections, you couldn't see a half block up the street if a car was coming with its lights off.
Driving with lights on will not kill your battery. But with them off, it might kill something that can't be recharged. DANIEL M. WHITMORE ROANOKE
Moral concern is applied selectively
REGARDING your Jan. 25 news article, "Ad manager: Threats killed 'diversity' billboard":
I applaud Mary Arnold's comments stating that the abrupt removal of the billboard was a ``doggone crying shame.'' And as a businessman, I can understand the concern of Frank Amburn of Outdoor East (owner of the billboard) about callers' criminal threats that they would destroy the company's billboards unless the ``diversity'' message was covered up.
I was disappointed to find no law-enforcement officials quoted in the article, since I expect my tax dollars to be used to apprehend any individual who openly threatens violence against a fellow citizen or their property.
But the article's most astounding attribute was its juxtaposition on the front page of the Virginia section with another article headlined "Strip club is back," justifying the permitting of a strip club in Montgomery County. It went into detail regarding the lawfulness of the opening of a strip club so long as the female dancers' pasties were large enough to cover the end (the nipple) of their breasts.
Certain folks like to go on at length about the decline of moral values in our communities, and I would say the front page of the Virginia section about summed up our current condition. A billboard, with a simple message of inclusiveness and community spirit, is castigated and threatened with the torch. The opening of a nightclub where women dancers can be treated like objects of sexual desire instead of the sisters, daughters and mothers we all have is treated as a business matter, and it receives the green light.
Perhaps a new billboard should be put up: "Montgomery County: Open for Business but not to the Truth!" The truth is: ``Diversity Enriches.'' THOMAS P. BROBSON NEWPORT
An appreciated view on executions
YOUR JAN. 29 editorial, ``A routine week of executions,'' was a good editorial. Good subject, and it was well-written. CLYDE CARTER DALEVILLE
The innkeeper makes a difference
BECAUSE one out of five bed-and-breakfast guests leaves with the dream of opening a B&B, your articles (Jan. 13, ``B&B innkeepers will meet in Roanoke'' and Jan. 18, ``Owners learn inns, outs of B&Bs'') about the work involved and innkeeping's bottom line offered some useful information to those who envision a fantasy lifestyle. But the joy of innkeeping was missing in your coverage of the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia conference held at Hotel Roanoke recently. (For the occasion, the model association chose a grand facility with marvelous food service.)
I hear from thousands of guests every year about their B&B stays. By now, I've interviewed about 2,500 innkeepers. It's easy for me to conclude that the reason innkeeping is America's most envied profession is that most innkeepers love doing what they do, and it shows! Although the property and amenities are often the initial draw for guests, an innkeeper is the key component of a successful inn. BERNICE CHESLER Author of ``Bed & Breakfast in the Mid-Atlantic States'' NEWTON HIGHLANDS, MA
Put it in writing for children, too
IN RESPONSE to the Jan. 26 article, "Legislator wants warning label on marriage licenses'':
It absolutely blows my mind to think that legislators would consider warning labels on marriage licenses without the thought to include birth certificates.
It's true that marital ties do not yield one partner the property of the other. There's a high incidence of varied spouse abuse. But can't we also say that children are not the property of those who desire to raise them? There's a high incidence of child abuse, so our children need protection before an occurrence, as does one who plans marriage.
At birth, each child is an individual who needs protection. Why not add a warning to the birth certificate as well? ROXANNE D. SAUNDERS ROANOKE
Republicans keep digging for dirt
I SALUTE Claude Addison for his Jan. 27 letter to the editor, ``Republicans make mud of Whitewater.''
It's difficult to comprehend the expenditure of millions for digging in a dry hole, while at the same time insisting on a balanced budget.
As for Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, the paragon of virtue, I believe he would castigate Abraham Lincoln for the illegitimate birth of his mother. WOODIE SUMPTER CHRISTIANSBURG
Young GI stood up for principles
I SAY hats off to Spc. Michael New (Jan. 25 article, ``GI gets the boot over U.N.'')! How refreshing in a time of a scandal-ridden armed forces to hear of a young man being true to his principles and our Constitution to the point of losing rather than retreating.
I'm ashamed that our military leaders, led by a draft-dodging president, would court-martial and discharge him for standing against service under a foreign power, against his vows taken to the military, while an admiral involved in Tailhook gets a slap and a pension for life.
As Gen. Douglas MacArthur said, ``There can be no peace without victory,'' so this beautiful country of ours will live to rue the day that we ever ceded power or authority over our sovereignty and Constitution to some foreign body - whether it be an ecclesiastical, political or private body of men.
Could it be that private schools or home-schooling, and Christian principles and morals, are producing stalwart character and leadership capabilities that we're somehow afraid of? LOREN D. KEMPA BENT MOUNTAIN
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