ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603040072
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I READ with some interest your Feb. 23 editorial (``Will Virginia go soft on crime?'') extolling the virtues of the Virginia CARES program, operated by Lynn Edlich in Roanoke.
Virginia CARES is one of the truly successful public-private partnerships in the state wherein private enterprise has been assisted in working with ex-convicts to keep them from being repeat offenders. In fact, some 75 percent of its clients wind up with successful lives. The state has no such program. The State Department of Corrections has seen no such success with its programs.
I've also been rather dismayed by some of the vicious attacks your newspaper and writers of letters to the editor have made recently on Del. Richard Cranwell. In spite of the fact that Gov. George Allen's budget eliminated funding for Virginia CARES, Cranwell fought the fight. Not only was the funding reinstated, but the program also got a $1 million increase over the next two years so it can deal with even more individuals released from our correctional facilities.
I wonder why people are so quick to criticize Cranwell, yet very few are willing to acknowledge begrudgingly his worth to our area and to the commonwealth. We have Virginia CARES because he cares, and this is why the people of Vinton and the counties of Roanoke, Bedford, Botetourt and Craig have repeatedly sent him to the General Assembly to represent our area over the past 24 years.
ETHEL JOHNSON
VINTON
Small tax increase is no big deal
ADULTS HAVE always stressed the importance of a strong education. If this is so, is a 2-cent increase in the county's $1.13 real-estate tax a major obstacle in providing top-quality school facilities?
Ninth-grade students at Cave Spring Junior High School who take classes at Cave Spring High must provide their own transportation to the high school. Classes have to be scheduled so that time is allowed for transportation. This cuts into learning time. More generally, ninth-graders feel as if they are in limbo and not actually a part of either school.
If a new high school is built, it may not be completed until I'm in college. Nevertheless, I'm concerned for my younger brother and neighbors. If I decide to locate in Southwest County as an adult, I would like to think there will be school facilities here of which my children can be proud.
CAMI CHAPIN
ROANOKE
Diet drugs are not for everyone
SANDRA KELLY'S article (Feb. 6, ``Nurses hope Southwestern Va. has big appetite for bariatrics'') on the use of appetite-suppressant drugs by weight-loss clinics concerned me because of the incompleteness of the information provided. The article suggested that the mainstay of the office's treatment was the use of the drugs Pondimin and Ionamin.
Contrary to Kelly's comments, these are the same anorectic drugs that have been available for the past 30 years, and they were and are abused as "uppers." Lonamin, in particular, is similar to amphetamine. These are Schedule IV controlled drugs for just that reason and, according to the literature available from the producers (contained in the Physicians Desk Reference and pharmacology textbooks), they have a long list of side effects, contraindications (specific circumstances where the medications shouldn't be used), and potential for addiction and abuse. They are indicated only for short-term treatment in selected individuals, and do not replace the common-sense treatments of diet and exercise.
Of course, most individuals regain their lost weight after drug treatment if their diet and exercise habits haven't changed.
HENRY R. IVEY
Family Practice physician at Parkway Physicians
VINTON
Keep children from harm's way
WHILE observing a school bus picking up children recently, I saw what could have been a terrible tragedy.
A child, running late to catch the bus, ran in front of the bus. Fortunately, the bus driver was alert and didn't move the bus forward.
The fault in this situation lies not with the child - after all, children are children - nor with the bus driver, but squarely with the parent who didn't go with the child to the bus to alert the driver by hand signal that the child was coming. Simply opening the door of the home and letting the child go wasn't a good idea, and it could have led to terrible results.
I hope, by writing this letter to the editor, that my words might cause all of us to think about a situation such as I've described, and do all that we can to protect the children we love dearly.
JOHN V. BRUST
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB