ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 15, 1996 TAG: 9604150004
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
IN RESPONSE to your April 4 editorial, ``What now for county schools?'':
I would respond by saying yes, it's on to plan B. The majority of voters didn't vote against the school-bond issue because of its cost. They voted against it because it was a half-baked idea. Consider the following issues that could have been responsible for its defeat:
* Cave Spring Junior High School was to be closed. The Roanoke County School Board was going to close a school that they now say can be renovated for a few million dollars.
* A site plan for the new school was never prepared.
* An architectural drawing of the new school wasn't presented.
* A detailed cost plan for the new school wasn't presented. The $30 million price tag was an estimate. Voters in Salem know how this worked with their ball park.
* The School Board never presented a proposal for a 1,000-student school that would have left Cave Spring High School and Cave Spring Junior High School open. Could a 1,000-student school have been built for, say, $20 million?
* The land is in a flood plain. The county doesn't know if it could even legally build in the proposed site.
* A proposal to enlarge Cave Spring High School wasn't presented. All we ever heard was, due to surrounding neighborhoods, it couldn't be done. But what study was ever done?
We all know that educational needs must be met. But the School Board and the Board of Supervisors must do a better job of presenting alternatives. Why can't we vote on multiple alternatives? Bring to a vote a reasonable alternative and the bond issue will pass.
TOM MAHONEY
BOONES MILL
Give all the facts about Ferrum
I AM concerned about the impression your March 23 and 24 articles, ``Ferrum's president under fire'' and ``President of Ferrum renewed,'' have left on readers.
Ferrum is by no means in any kind of financial crisis. You quoted from a memo President Boone had written saying that Ferrum has cut operational budgets ``to the bare bones and cannot afford to cut them further." You failed to mention that the memo also stated that the college is in the best financial shape it has ever been in. President Boone has mentioned this several times.
Ferrum has several programs like environmental science, business and history that continue to grow every year. In addition, a $700,000 addition was just approved for its science building.
Your article reported the facts, but not all of them. Ferrum is a prospering college that is nowhere near financial instability. If anything will affect Ferrum's enrollment and status as a competitive institution, it will be misleading and inconclusive information like what you printed.
ALLISON J. McWHORTER
Ferrum College student
ROANOKE
Nation's founding is shown disrespect
IN RESPONSE to your March 14 editorial, ``Teach kids real science'':
The editorial states: ``At a time when science literacy is essential for America's schoolchildren to acquire, the political promotion of `scientific' creationism encourages disrespect for scientific reasoning.''
To this I say: At a time when love and peace are essential for America's well-being, the promotion of evolution encourages disrespect for what our nation was built on. ``In God We Trust'' is only one of the things that come to mind.
PAMELA RAYE MITCHELL
ROANOKE
Honor the flag's positive symbolism
REGARDING your March 21 editorial, "Rebel flag without a cause," I've never fully understood why the Confederate flag is considered racist. Personally, I don't care that much about history, but I think those who hold a strong reverence for history should be allowed to celebrate it without being called racists.
The editorial admits that there was more than one "cause" to the Civil War. Granted, slavery was a major factor. But in reality, the vast majority of Northerners didn't care what happened to black people, and the same was true of Southerners. This can clearly be seen in how black Americans were treated before, during and after the war by both sides. In fact, black Americans weren't considered equals or full-fledged citizens until the '60s, and many will tell you they still aren't considered equals in our society today.
We must remember that the victor gets to write the history; therefore, history is filled with one-sided half-truths. Fortunately, the North did win.
Also, under the U.S. flag that I, as a soldier, hold so dear, there has been not only slavery but genocide. Yes, the United States practiced genocide against the Native Americans. We stole their land; murdered their men, women and children; and destroyed their food supply so they would starve. And look at what we did to Asian-Americans. We built a great railway over their dead and broken bodies. We put them in concentration camps during World War II. The list of atrocities goes on, but should we ban the American flag?
No. I'm willing to fight and die for that flag and the positive things it represents. I say no to banning the Confederate flag as well. To many Americans, it stands for many positive things, such as freedom and the American will - not racism and slavery as an ignorant, liberal media would have you believe.
RON FERGUSON
BLACKSBURGER
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