ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090002
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
RATHER than impose a multimillion-dollar tax burden on Roanokers to pay for the proposed Henry Street renovations, I suggest that the revenue be raised through the sale of books, recordings, video-taped documentaries, T-shirts, food, mixed drinks and tickets for bus tours of the historic Gainsboro district.
If all of these sound like losing propositions to you, then you already have your answer:
Henry Street will die a second death as an entertainment center.
DAVID L. BOITNOTT
ROCKY MOUNT
Hospice is a place of the heart
IT HAS been with great interest that I've followed the articles and letters to the editor in your newspaper regarding physician-assisted suicide. I'm writing not to praise or criticize anyone's opinion on this subject, but to offer a solution so simple that I'm amazed no one has suggested it before.
The argument, as I see it, is death vs. death with suffering. Everyone will agree that we can't stop death, but we can stop the suffering.
Our country has many talented physicians whose desire is to cure our illnesses. However, we know that's not always possible. When physicians cannot give us the gift of longer life, there's still one gift that they can give us - the option to die a natural death at home with both physical and spiritual comfort. The physician can refer us to hospice care.
Hospice isn't a place. It's a place in the heart. There are thousands of dedicated medical, professional and lay persons in this country who have chosen to give of themselves to ease the ``suffering of death.'' Hospice offers the terminally ill person the chance to regain dignity lost during the diagnostic and treatment phases of illness. Hospice focuses on the patient and his or her family, not the disease.
The objective is to get the patient comfortable (symptom-free) so that he can enjoy the rest of his life. Yes, I said enjoy! The patients, once comfortable, can then focus on living. They settle their affairs, make peace with old adversaries, say good-bye to friends and loved ones and get closer to their God. In many cases, they plan their own funerals. When they die, they do so without the stigma attached to suicide.
While suicide will always be an option for terminally ill patients, I believe hospice care is a more desirable and viable option.
SHARON REYNOLDS
Registered nurse
Housecall Hospice
ROANOKE
Allen invites repeat crimes
REGARDING the April 12 news article (``Vetoes called vendetta"), and Rosalyn C. Harrell's letter to the editor (``Goals 2000 leaps toward communism'') calling Gov. George Allen "one great governor'':
Do the people who voted for Allen ever pay attention to what he's doing to Virginia? I think not. All politicians are game players, but Allen has got to be one of the worst. I've lived in Virginia for 30 years, never before witnessing such blatant partisan politics.
His veto of the funding for the Virginia CARES program is only promoting recidivism, not to mention homelessness, unemployment and welfare claims. When inmates get out of prison, many times broke and with nowhere to go, Virginia CARES can help them find jobs and homes, and provide them with counseling - making the adjustment from incarceration easier. Without this program, many former inmates may return to what put them behind bars in the first place simply to survive.
And taxpayers complain about supporting prisoners. Talk to Allen.
ROBYN S. GRIFFITH
ROANOKE
City decals are no better this year
WHATEVER happened to the good ol' days when a decal was a decal?
I heard and read many complaints about last year's Roanoke city decals. Having heard that Marsha Fielder Compton had corrected the problem, I find that very hard to believe, because the decal I received this year is going to totally disintegrate before I even need to put it on my car.
DENNA S. BAYSE
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Medium: 82 linesby CNB