ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 22, 1996 TAG: 9603220015
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
REGARDING R. ``Spanky'' Macher's response (March 15 letter to the editor, ``Tenants' charges often are a ruse'') to Sandra Manetta's March 6 letter (``How can careless landlords sleep?''):
Many will read his response and think: ``Another wealthy slumlord trying to avoid responsibility.'' I agree with Macher.
I own one duplex, on which I pay a mortgage, and have repeatedly been the victim of tenants who wish to avoid paying rent. Often, tenants who can't afford or don't want to pay the rent justify this by gross neglect of the property. On threat of eviction for nonpayment of rent, they damage the property to a further extent before moving out. After making repeated repairs, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't economically feasible for me to rent.
If landlords should be investigated by authorities as to property conditions, so then should tenants be investigated by authorities as to their living habits. How can a landlord tell if a tenant is flushing diapers down the toilet, using inferior-quality extension cords, storing rags and papers or otherwise causing damage and dangerous conditions?
I suggest that tenants shouldn't move into any property they deem unfit for living. A notice should be prominently posted with the numbers of various authorities to call should a condition occur during occupancy. The complaints wouldn't be considered valid by authorities after the rent is 10 days overdue. This may not be a perfect solution, but might restore some balance between those with sincere complaints and people who use authorities as a system to avoid paying rent.
JOAN PHELPS
HOT SPRINGS
First, give kids the foundation
I WAS very interested in Joel Turner's article (Feb. 18, ``First-graders can suffer writer's block'') on first-graders who worry about writing when they cannot spell words. It's no wonder they worry. I question why they're expected to express themselves on paper when they haven't yet learned how to do it.
The emphasis in first grade should be on reading, knowing the alphabet, how letters sound, and the spelling and pronunciation of words. Writing should be based on how to form letters, copying short sentences, learning and writing what words mean. Any ideas and thoughts should be expressed orally at this stage for the whole class to participate.
I worry about children being allowed to write some form of shorthand that no one can understand. I think it's sad that our children are being denied what they need to know to make something of themselves in the future. Becoming frustrated in the first grade is a disaster that shouldn't happen.
Once the foundation of reading, spelling and words is provided, writing becomes much easier. By the second grade, children can start to write about their own ideas and thoughts. It's too much to expect a child who has had no previous experience with reading, and has little knowledge of words or how to spell them, to express himself/herself on paper.
We do our children a disservice by not teaching them the correct spelling and correct pronunciation of words and their meaning. This is the foundation they need to learn before they can be comfortable with reading, spelling and the structure of sentences. This is what they need to know to give them confidence to grow up, go out into the world and be productive citizens.
DOROTHY KENYON ELLIS
BLACKSBURG
Development too close to parkway
WHO NEEDS these beautiful mountains and natural sceneries of our valley as viewed from the parkway? We do! ``I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence commeth my help'' (Psalm 121:1).
Historically, no private business or commercial ventures have been allowed too near, in, on or under Blue Ridge Parkway property! Rightly so. It's sacred to some, and should be diligently preserved for present and future generations. The parkway is a national treasure.
What drives a determined, altered window-dressing plan for a mega-housing development near the parkway? We will have visual infringement and potential future encroachment. The developer soothes us with his 20-year plan. Neither he nor I will be around for accountability.
We don't need a power team of visionaries, consultants, ex- or present politicians, county supervisors and money-driven developers to spin what we see, know and believe. The planned site selected for a large, new Southwest County high school would serve this project. If the total development is approved (heaven forbid), the real-estate agent's spin will be heard again. Location, location, location - five years in and out, with booming sales.
J. KEITH BOHON
ROANOKE
Hate talk is hot now on WROV
RECENTLY, WROV station owners replaced their local morning-show personalities with a national radio show featuring two stupid rednecks (named John Boy and Billy) and a host of other idiots with Southern accents.
Please don't misconstrue my descriptions. I speak with a Southern accent, and am proud to have lived in Virginia most of my life. However, I'm insulted by some of the things I've heard on this show that further the concept that all Southerners are bigoted fools. In particular, I refer to a commentary aired on Feb. 23 by Robert E. Rakeford.
Rakeford was outraged that the director of the Charlotte YMCA had commissioned an artist to paint a more historically accurate picture of Jesus to hang in each of the YMCA branches. He was upset that it had commissioned a black female to depict Jesus as a black Jew. If I'm not mistaken, considering the time and place that Jesus lived, he most probably was a black Jew.
However, Rakeford evidently feels that since the majority of Southern Christians are more comfortable with the current blue-eyed blond Jesus, the YMCA was weak for caving in to minority desires. He pontificated on the absurdity of what basically turns out to be any viewpoint differing from his own small-minded, hateful ideas. Rakeford ended his speech by belittling the YMCA's attempt to celebrate and join people together in multicultural harmony. He signed off by returning us to ``the mono-cultural John Boy and Billy Big Show.''
I was offended by this on-air display of racist, anti-Semitic drivel. I'm not an African-American or Jewish, but I feel this was an overt attack on anyone who believes that all people should be treated fairly - despite their ancestry, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, color or sex. I'm ashamed this was broadcast on any radio station, much less one that I listen to.
Free speech is protected by the Constitution, but there's nothing in the Constitution that says we have to allow people to broadcast hatred.
KATHI SUSANO
CHRISTIANSBURG
Play's revision didn't improve it
REGARDING the production of ``Jesus Christ Superstar'' at the Roanoke Civic Center on March 4:
In what seemed to me to be an attempt to ``fix'' it for the '90s, they ``broke'' it.
MYRNA TRUSSLER
VINTON
Too few solutions were considered
I AM FOR education and believe it must receive a high priority for Roanoke to have a good economy, a qualified work force, and to attract high-paying and responsible businesses. But why does overcrowding have to mean building a new school? Shouldn't we at least attempt to have a '90s kind of solution for this problem?
The world is changing; it's no longer business as usual. Companies are learning how to better serve their customers with less. Being creative means taking some extra time to look at problems from a different perspective and coming up with new ideas that achieve what we want. What if we were innovative and looked at multiple alternatives to solve the overcrowding in Southwest County? Wouldn't Roanoke develop a better reputation with businesses and education if it came up with an innovative, less costly solution rather than the standard solution of ``let's build a new school''?
Have there been any community meetings on how to solve this problem (or just meetings to discuss a new school)? Possible solutions are expanding West, East and North County districts to accept additional students, and rezoning to encourage growth in areas where we have excess school facilities, such as in the Glenvar area.
DEBBIE SPENCER
ROANOKE
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