ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605280003
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: LETTER
I am one of the Blacksburg Transit drivers who spoke at the May 14 Blacksburg Town Council meeting about drivers' wages and other issues and would like to respond to the May 16 article in the New River Valley Current on this issue.
First off, I'd like to state that I have no qualms with the transit supervisors or management. I have been treated very well and enjoy the job. My contention is this:
The wage scale for drivers is out of proportion to the inherent responsibility of operating umpteen tons of bus in all kinds of traffic and weather with passengers' safety at stake. Safety does not differentiate between full- and part-time drivers and neither should wages.
In the article, transit management states that drivers' wages are kept abreast of local wages. Wrong. Bus operators start out at $4.25/hour (in training) and cap out at $5.35 with no further raises.
Only the paratransit drivers cap out at $6.35/hour because their job entails working with the handicapped on pretty much a one 1-to-1 basis. Out of approximately 120 drivers, only about 20 are qualified paratransit drivers.
It was also stated that the wage scale was adjusted during the 1989-90 year and reviewed yearly. Maybe, but while drivers' wages have remained frozen, management's wages have "kept abreast."
All the drivers are asking for is a fair wage. The existing one borders on the ludicrous.
Ron Clifford
Blacksburg
Seniors need place for water activities
In Kathy Loan's May 9 Current article "Recreation Center to go out to bid," a member of Town Council is quoted as saying "New recreational facilities also are needed for the town's (Christiansburg's) very active senior population." While the new recreation center will be an asset to the town, I fail to see that four basketball courts and two racquetball courts (the main emphasis of the proposed facility) are targeted for seniors. A pool would better serve senior citizens than the facilities proposed.
Senior citizens are currently conducting activities at the senior center, at the armory, and in local churches; they are exercising at the armory and in the recreation building on College Street; they are walking at the New River Valley Mall and on outdoor tracks; etc. While activities at these assorted and sometimes inadequate locations may be less than ideal, they are, at least, happening. Water activities are nonexistent in Christiansburg except for three months of the year in private club pools.
Water activity is especially beneficial to older people many of whom are plagued with arthritis, a condition which often makes other forms of exercise impossible. Water aerobics is an activity which usually can be engaged in following hip and knee replacements, and other surgeries and illnesses, such as by-pass procedures and heart attacks.
If indeed, one purpose of the new proposed recreation center is to serve the needs of its seniors, the town of Christiansburg should recognize that water activities are more realistic, pleasurable, and healthful for seniors than basketball and racquetball.
Doris T. Abraham
Christiansburg
Staff cutbacks hurt hospital patients
I have been a patient at Radford Hospital many times over the past few years. I am concerned about Carilion's cutbacks on staffing and the effect it has had on nurses and patient care.
There are many fewer nurses staffing the hospital floors now than just a year ago. The nurses try very hard, but it takes longer for them to respond to patient needs. If Carilion continues to cut staffing, it will be impossible for nurses to provide safe, quality patient care.
Decisions made by businessmen in corporate headquarters to restructure hospitals and get rid of nurses is going too far when it jeopardizes patient care. It is not right to be making decisions on how to save money while ignoring the fact that the nurses are the backbone of patient care.
It would be interesting to see how many Carilion administrators there are making these decisions compared to the number of nurses actually working hard to provide the needed patient care in the hospitals.
Ralph Linkous
Christiansburg
'Hoax' is really an 'urban legend'
I was intrigued to read in a recent Current that the famous (or infamous) "kiddie LSD tattoos" flier has surfaced (again) in the New River Valley. What you have here isn't really a "hoax" as much as an "urban legend."
Urban legends have always fascinated me. The typical urban legend (or "modern folk tale") is a story you hear from someone who swears that it really happened to a relative or a friend of a friend. If you press for authentication you'll find none. Many popular "ghost stories" also originate from urban folklore - the story of the couple in the parked car who find the psycho killer's artificial hand hung on their door handle is an old favorite.
The "kiddie LSD tattoos" flier has been circulating worldwide almost as long as there has been a drug subculture. It shows up periodically around our area, as do "collection rumors," such as an organization puts up fliers stating that if it collects enough of a useless object, such as soda can pop-tops, they can be redeemed to pay for a child's medical procedure. Some groups have even collected the objects only to be disappointed when they find that the exchange program doesn't exist.
These and many more urban legends, folk tales and hoaxes are covered with intriguing detail in the books of Jan Harold Brunvand, a retired college professor and the country's leading authority on urban legends. His works are required reading for anyone who shares an interest in these odd and often disturbing quirks of communication in modern society. Another recent release, "The Big Book Of Urban Legends," employs some of the world's most talented graphic artists in rendering urban legends comic-book style. I'd recommend it for those seeking a less scholarly approach to the study of modern folk tales.
Watch for those fliers, folks. But go ahead and lick your tattoos, and feel free to throw your pop-tops away. You'll be fine.
Marty Cassady
Blacksburg
Thicker ground cover needed at park
I would like to thank everyone who helped when my granddaughter fell from the top of a sliding board at Nellies Cave playground April 24. I am grateful to the rescue squad and especially to the young couple who called 911 from their truck phone and for covering my granddaughter with a jacket.
I also would like to recommend that the Blacksburg Parks and Recreation Department consider spreading a thick layer of mulch or other ground cover under the slides and climbing area, and also to install a rail at the top and downward side of the sliding board. This may prevent another child from being knocked unconscious as my granddaughter was, or from a more serious injury caused by a fall onto the hard ground. I will be happy to offer my time and energy to spread the ground cover, and perhaps others also would volunteer to help if it were needed.
Nancy F. Keenan
Christiansburg
LENGTH: Long : 131 linesby CNB