ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605150001
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
YOUR APRIL 15 news article, "Death-penalty ruling spares killer in different case," reveals how different the Clinton administration's view of the death penalty is from the view I believe to be held by the majority of Virginians.
As you reported, after a dispute over a drug debt, three men bound and blindfolded Ian Byron-Cox and his girlfriend with duct tape. They severely beat, robbed and then shot Cox three times in the back, killing him. The three accused men include one career offender and two alleged crack dealers.
Federal prosecutors wanted to seek the death penalty against these three in the upcoming trial. A committee of three deputy attorneys general in Washington, appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno, refused to let the federal prosecutors seek the death penalty for the murder of Cox. As a result, prosecutors have also given up their desire to seek the death penalty in another recent, brutal drug-related execution.
If the death penalty isn't to be applied by the Clinton administration to these execution-style murders, why is it in the law at all? I hope that Virginia's voters will remember this failing of the Clinton administration in November.
GEORGE W. LUEDKE
MONETA
Show more respect for the handicapped
SENIOR CITIZENS and the handicapped have come a long way. It's no longer necessary for us to be imprisoned at home because there's no place in society for us. There are now accommodations to make every handicapped person's life away from home more comfortable.
One accommodation is handicapped parking. I sometimes sense resentment from people who cannot see what my handicap is. Because I'm not on crutches and look healthy, people often look at me accusingly. This shouldn't bother me. I understand it's only a sign of their misunderstanding. But millions of us would appreciate others' tolerance.
I was embarrassed recently by a scene in the Grandin Road post office, which was created by a young person who was seemingly healthy. She and her friend were carrying a large box. There was a closer parking space for her, but she chose to block one of the two handicapped spaces. When I politely asked her to move so I could back out, she was rude. Another time, a pickup truck was in the space. I reported these incidents, and warnings were given by post-office staffers, who are always helpful and accommodating.
Not just for myself, but for the hundreds of elderly and handicapped in this area, please give these people the respect and the spaces the law allows them.
REVA BYRD
ROANOKE
`New' Ben Franklin is a tax scheme
HAS EVERYONE seen Big Ben - you know, the new $100 bills? Or should I say, the piece of paper with Ben Franklin's portrait on it?
Why did government officials change the structure of the bill? If you ask them, it's so it will be more difficult for counterfeit bills to be passed and produced. They don't tell you that before too long, the old bills will have to be traded in for new ones. Any trade over $2,000 will be recorded, and I'm sure Uncle Sam would want to know where it came from so he can tax you accordingly. It seems as though whatever the boys in Washington come up with, it only affects the average person, the working person, the taxpaying person - us.
I won't even begin to discuss the pay phones that don't accept incoming calls!
JEFF S. FRYDRYCH
ROANOKE
Hairdressers take pride in their work
REGARDING Billy Proffit's April 17 letter to the editor, "Jobs available are not as advertised":
He says that beauty schools have high default rates because students can't get good-paying jobs after they graduate and the cost of training is too high.
Virginia Hair Academy's default rate was 10.3 percent, lower than three of the area's public community colleges. New River Community College's rate was 16.9 percent, Virginia Western Community College, 16.8 percent, and Dabney Lancaster Community College, 14.7 percent. In other parts of the state, community colleges had default rates as high as 32 percent. These facts seemed to escape Profitt's attention.
Plus, these community colleges are being massively subsidized by taxpayers. Therefore, the true cost of getting an education at a community college is much higher than at any beauty school.
But what makes me really mad is that he implies that being a hairdresser isn't a worthy occupation, and won't pay the mortgage. I'm a hairdresser, and my husband and I together support four children. Many of my co-workers provide for their families without the help of a spouse. We all work very hard, and take our profession seriously.
Profitt needs to examine the facts before he goes spouting off and offending folks who make an honest living.
DHANA JOHNSON
ROANOKE
Changing flag won't change history
IN RESPONSE to your April 15 editorial, ``Honor is good - so is truth'':
I appreciate your acknowledgment that the Confederate flag is not a racist symbol to everyone. It's a shame that bigots like the Ku Klux Klan and skinheads use it as a racist symbol. People who display the flag get stereotyped because of them.
However, your statement that the Georgia flag is an embarrassment to America is wrong. History, whether it's right or wrong, cannot be erased. And to change Georgia's flag would be doing just that! It would embarrass Georgia, the South and America.
It's hypocritical for you to say it's OK to honor our history and heritage. Changing Georgia's state flag would be a blunt attempt to hide history and dishonor the South and its heritage. That would embarrass America.
DAVID GILL
BLUE RIDGE
It's a school, not a corrections facility
I DID not like The Roanoke Times describing my school as an institution for ``troubled youths'' (April 16 article, ``Suspended principal back on payroll'').
I go to the Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy because it's an alternative to my regular school. I would appreciate it if you would leave comments like ``troubled youths'' out of the newspaper because our society already thinks we're bad kids. You're helping to ruin our reputation as ``students'' at the learning academy.
What happens in the future when we apply for jobs? I'm sure employers will think twice before hiring us as compared with students at William Fleming or Patrick Henry high schools.
RODNEY HAIRSTON
Student, Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy
ROANOKE
Greenways aid the economy
DEVELOPING greenways isn't a quality-of-life issue (April 17 editorial, ``Don't slow down on greenways''). Greenways are more than a requirement for sustainable communities. They're an economic-development necessity.
In its March 5 issue, Money magazine asked a high-tech firm relocating to the Raleigh-Durham triangle why it decided to locate in that area. The company executive replied, ``Because of the jogging trails.''
The Roanoke Valley needs to take advantage of the natural assets that draw business, tourists and residents to this area. The valley needs a public-private nonprofit organization to promote greenways. A greenway-coordinator position should be funded in local governments' budgets for next year.
BARBARA DUERK
ROANOKE
Children's disorder is not for laughs
REGARDING the April 12 editorial cartoon, ``School lunches in the '90s'':
It's really sad and unfortunate the cartoonist would make light about a very serious matter such as attention-deficit disorder. Would he make fun of someone in a wheelchair or someone who was mentally handicapped?
Families who have children with ADD find it very difficult and stressful. People need to research the subject more before they make jokes. God forbid that the cartoonist would have a child with a disability, because the child would have a parent who lacks love and understanding, which is what children with ADD need!
ROBIN A. WILKERSON
ROANOKE
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