ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 7, 1996 TAG: 9605070075
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
AFTER READING about the tragic death of a 14-year-old boy at Lord Botetourt High School (March 29 article, ``Boy, 14, dies in school''), and knowing of other rescue calls with a delayed response of more than 30 minutes, I feel it's time for Botetourt County's administration to do something about it. I don't blame the volunteer organization; volunteers do the best they can with what they have.
As a Roanoke city firefighter and paramedic, and a member of the Troutville Rescue Squad, I'm not able to run as many rescue calls as I'd like. The volunteers do a good job, but the county is rapidly growing and volunteers are unable to handle the increasing need for more efficient emergency services.
Where are the taxes that Botetourt County citizens pay each year? How many tragic deaths must there be - or should I say, who has to die - before the county does something about this preventable situation?
I challenge Botetourt County citizens to put pressure on the county administration to provide adequate emergency services so desperately needed.
DAVID A. BOCOCK II
CLOVERDALE
Generation Xers, stop whining
TIME AFTER time, I hear stories about "Generation X" - their whining, grungy look, and inability to attain and keep a job that doesn't involve fast food. I hear people my age - mid-20s - proclaim themselves members of Generation X, and complain how their chances for success have been taken away and how they're looked down upon. Meanwhile, they take only the barest of jobs, and continue to complain when fortune doesn't shine on them.
I'm formally declaring my independence from Generation X. I want nothing to do with this collection of self-victimized youths. Unlike them, I refuse to place the blame for shortcomings on other generations, and instead I will work to find my own niche and to improve my talents.
I have no time to mope about the misfortunes of my generation - my full-time job and the second one I'm adding take all my time. And writing - a true pleasure - is the focus of my free energy. Monetarily, what I make now may not be much compared with the heavy tuition my family sunk into my four years at Hollins College. But I'm happy, productive, professional - and I'm going to go places.
Yes, life today is tough, and finding a job when you're in this age bracket is tough. But success is 10 percent luck and 90 percent preparation, with a healthy helping of initiative. And it doesn't happen overnight.
Those in the Generation X group need to either lead, follow or get out of the way.
BC BRANDT
BLACKSBURG
School is no place to teach creationism
IN RESPONSE to Inez Cybry's April 13 letter to the editor, "Children need to hear both sides":
The lack of insight of some people into the topic of teaching creationism in the schools is disturbing. If school is to be a place where parents will send their child to learn efficiently, then there cannot be such a dividing issue as teaching creationism. Besides being a violation of the Constitution, teaching the Bible in school would alienate many people. Everybody knows, or their parents should teach them, that others' faith in creationism comes from their religion, and there should be no need to inform students of this.
Even offering an optional creationism class would cause a disruption. It's possible that other religions would demand a class for their faiths.
If a parent wants his or her child to learn more about the Bible, then send the child to church or Sunday school, but don't try to infringe on others' rights or feelings.
The founding fathers were absolutely correct in separating church and state. They were trying to avoid the problems and hardships that would result from teaching creationism in the schools.
JOHN BODNAR
BLACKSBURG
The decision to flee was Allman's alone
I DROVE by the intersection of Williamson and Plantation roads about an hour after the recent deadly accident. I saw the Faucher-Mason vehicle and knew no one had survived, even before hearing confirming reports in the news. Perhaps that's why the image has haunted me, and why I'm enraged at the recriminations directed at the police officers involved and at the excuses made for the petty criminal who killed three innocent victims.
Our society's current trend is to place blame everywhere but squarely on the individual making choices about his or her own behavior. Make no mistake, those police officers didn't force Scott Allman to run. They didn't shove him through crowded city streets at insane speeds, nor did they hurl him through that intersection with deadly abandon. He alone made his decision to press his foot on that accelerator, based on his own wants. It's as if he said that he didn't want to live by the rules that the rest of us follow, and that he didn't want to be responsible for his actions.
A quote in your April 23 news article ("Police defend fatal chase") was: "He is a boy that just don't [sic] like to be locked up." Well, then, don't do things that will get you locked up.
It appears that Allman has a long history of refusing to accept responsibility for his actions. It also appears that people have excused and therefore promoted that selfish recklessness by saying, "He's just a boy who doesn't know what he wants."
On April 21, he knew very well what he wanted. He wanted to play his own game, and write his own rules. In the process, he killed three people. It's that simple.
BRENDA RATCLIFF BAIRD
SALEM
Justice system is in trouble
THE RECENT $43 million ruling (April 24 article, ``Jury awards $43 million for shot'') against New York gunman Bernhard Goetz is further evidence that the roles of courtroom lawyers and subway thugs have blurred. Our nation's house of justice has become a den of robbers.
JOHN T. JORDAN
BLACKSBURG
Vacation packages can be good deals
YOUR MAY 1 news article (``Vacation deal sound too good to be true? It may be'') calls for corrective comment.
Buying clubs, such as Consumer Choice Inc. (one of more than 100 such clubs nationwide), do offer legitimate and substantial savings to their members on a great variety of brand-name merchandise. Your reporter evidently made no effort to contact any of our thousands of satisfied local members.
As to the Better Business Bureau, we've made every effort to address all queries it has sent us promptly and fully. It's a matter of record that our first priority is to deliver both quality and service to our membership.
DARRELL MORGAN
President, Consumer Choice Inc.
ROANOKE
Perot can't fool the voters again
THERE'S a saying: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Ross Perot supporters should remember that when they vote in November.
Sure, I still have my ``no pork'' button I bought when he came to town. I still agree with his platform of balancing the budget, reforming welfare, saving Medicare, and cutting spending and taxes. I no longer agree with him when he says there's no difference between Republicans and Democrats.
When the new Republicans in Congress were trying valiantly to accomplish Perot's supposed goals, where was he? Conspicuously quiet and hoping they'd fail so he could say, "See, only I can change Washington."
A lot of people voted for him because they believed it didn't matter if a Republican or a Democrat was president. Well, the past four years proves it does matter. Bill Clinton ran on a policy of change, but the only changes I saw were higher taxes and his name on the White House stationery.
A vote for any third-party candidate is a vote for Clinton.
MARY BURTON
SALEM
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