ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 16, 1996 TAG: 9604160073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's on your mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: Is there verification that the New River is the second oldest river, after the Nile? I've heard this, but there is no source.
R.Y., Wytheville
A: People in the know refuse to rank the age of rivers. Geologists and geology professors from Appalachian State University, Emory & Henry and Virginia Tech concede the New River is pretty old.
But oldest in North America? Second oldest after the Nile?
Any geography professor or geologist who made that claim for the New, or any other river, would shortly be ducking a shower of ridicule from fellow academicians.
Rivers don't stay on a fixed course. Anyone who's lived near a stream for 50 years or so probably can remember some slight changes in its path.
We could try to guess the river's age, and the places it's been, by comparing those changes to the number of centuries the land has been shedding water.
It's impossible to pin down the river's birth date. The point, though, is this: Three different places along the river could give scientists three different indications of age.
Environmental activists in the early '70s floated the rumor that the New is the second-oldest river in the world. It fit nicely with their successful campaign to defeat Appalachian Power Co.'s plan to dam the river.
Politicians seeking the environmentalists' and landowners' vote echoed the populist-sounding claim.
Facts: Scientists agree the New River is old, even among its fellow rivers. Its northwesterly course, and its deep cuts through hard rock, are proof it's been here a long time.
Is it older than the Mississippi? Scientists are not sure.
Pension survives
Q: Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski of Chicago has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and been sentenced to prison. What happens to his pension?
D.H., Vinton
A: The $100,000 fine that went with Rostenkowski's 17-month sentence will consume a year's worth of his pension, calculated at $98,970 this year by the National Taxpayers Union.
Members and former members of Congress who are convicted of a felony are not automatically deprived of their federal pensions, unless the crime is treason.
Congress could vote to take away a pension, but a taxpayers union spokesman said no one can remember that happening.
No new exit
Q: I have heard that a new interchange is planned on Interstate 81 between Exit 150 and Exit 162 in Botetourt County. Has the location been selected, and if so where will it be?
V.S., Buchanan
A: "Forget that nonsense," was the response from a Virginia Department of Transportation official.
No new exit is planned, and none is being talked about at the Salem headquarters of VDOT. The subject didn't come up at the annual road hearing in April.
A consultant has been hired recently to look at widening this stretch of I-81 to six lanes. There's no proposal for a new exit, though.
Have a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118, or e-mail us at Roatimes@Infi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.
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