ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130002
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
SO NOW The Roanoke Times decides to get principled in the great ``smart'' road controversy (June 7 editorial, ``Joe Stewart shouldn't vote''). Looks like a glass house to me.
How about the Montgomery County supervisors getting pressured by proponents to rescind a legal vote last fall? Or the latest travesty by Virginia Tech President Paul Torgersen, offering land on Price Mountain in exchange for ignoring the Virginia statute protecting agricultural and forestal land? A casual observer might see that as a bribe!
What's so hard to understand? It's neither the road nor the technology. It's the location.
|EDIE SCHUMACHER |BLACKSBURG
Monetary system|
is getting sicker |
MINIMUM-WAGE laws? How silly can we be?
This makes it illegal for a worker to offer his or her labor at less than the law permits. It wholly ignores the nature of ``the dollar'' - the name given to a unit of currency that has no present-day definition, no tangible or intrinsic definition, truly a unit of fictional quality.
Why don't we insist that our government pledge some kind of stated value when issuing dollar bills? As an octogenarian, I recall when, for $1, you could buy 10 gallons of tax or 10 loaves of bread; when a man's suit cost less than $25; when $100 per week was comfortable living; when a Buick Sedan was less than $2,500; and when an ounce of gold cost less than $21. Not so anymore!
At a time when we show less trust of our government's competence, why do we allow it to issue paper dollars with no pledge at all of what those dollars are supposed to be worth?
Can't we see that minimum-wage laws always lead to inflation, and isn't that why gasoline is no longer 10 cents per gallon? If a worker, by a boost in minimum-wage laws, gets a 20 percent raise, don't you think that those all the way up the wage scale won't expect a similar ``adjustment''? That's why an annual wage of $50,000 is no longer worth as much as was $5,000 a year back when I got my first job!
Why are we so gullible, allowing our government to keep printing paper money that has no backing at all?
We waste time fussing over a ``living wage'' when the real culprit is a fictional monetary system with all of us being the victims. Could it be, through the ``inching'' process, there's been a gross violation of Congress' constitutional fiduciary responsibility regarding money - to ``coin money and regulate the value thereof''?
The need to modify the ``floor'' under wages is simply a symptom of a grave illness in our monetary system.
|PAUL W. NORDT JR. |SALEM
Need for school|
wasn't the issue|
IN REFERENCE to Judy Light Ayyildiz's May 28 letter to the editor (``A junior high school's glaring needs''):
She states that her letter is for county residents who voted against the school-bond issue because they were of the mistaken opinion that Southwest County didn't need a new middle school.
This is to advise her and other whiners from the Cave Spring area who have written your newspaper since April 2 that many voters, including myself, voted against the bonds because of the ill-prepared process that was implemented.
There's no question concerning the need for a new school in that area of the county. However, something of this magnitude and expense should certainly have been planned in a more thorough manner.
In my opinion, the greatest educational problem in Roanoke County originates from the lack of managerial and administrative skills within the superintendent's office. Until we have leaders who possess the confidence and security to make difficult decisions, educational problems will continue to exist in the county.
|WILLIAM G. WATERS |ROANOKE
Both Byrd schools|
need new entrance|
I AM A student at William Byrd High School, and there's an issue I'm concerned about.
Cave Spring isn't the only school that needs money. William Byrd needs money to build a new entrance to the high school and middle school. Both sides of the intersection are backed up for at least three-fourths of a mile. A crossing guard is there every morning and evening, and she does it exquisitely, but it's a dangerous situation. Someone could wreck easily.
I have nothing against Cave Spring, but it's not the only school in Roanoke County.
|CRYSTAL CRUFF |VINTON
An object lesson in|
government abuse|
FESTIVAL in the Park said in court that Elmwood Park is private property during the festival (June 2 article, `` Judge says no festival fliers''). If so, then the park - paid for and maintained by the public - is now only 96 percent public. Moreover, for the ``private'' festival, the public library is closed on days when it would normally be open. If a new, private, nonprofit corporation named the ``Children's Book Festival'' is granted a permit by the city for the exclusive use of the library, will its private rules on books control what can be read there? If a succession of ``festivals'' are issued permits by the city, cannot everything public be made private?
When the government's interest is upheld over individual rights and liberties, freedom is eroded. This whole incident has turned out to be an impromptu object lesson in the reasons the Libertarian Party was founded 25 years ago. Your reporters could have done a better job of making this clear in the coverage.
|JAY RUTLEDGE |Libertarian congressional candidate |ROANOKE
Leary's was not|
a hero's passing|
WHATEVER in this world inspired your fine newspaper to grant front-page coverage to the passing of Timothy Leary (June 1 article, ``Leary takes his final trip'')?
I trust our masters in the great heaven will judge him and his example of life here correctly, and assign him an uncomfortable cell in hell.
|CARTER L. BURGESS |ROANOKE
Healthy principles,|
defective politics|
I HAVE lived through, and been a witness to, William Ashley "Billy" Sunday's and William Franklin "Billy" Graham's urging people to accept and comply with religious and moral principles. Certainly a worthy journey.
However, I rebut Graham's contention that we have wandered too far away from religious principles. More people are active today in beating spears into plowshares than in the period 1920 through 1940. They seek peaceful resolutions to worldwide problems. They're vocal, but not nationalistic.
We have more people today who have a reverence for the earth and seek to use its resources in the service of others - notwithstanding some current negative political actions.
We have a continuous growth and understanding of the need to comfort and heal the young, the old and all who suffer in body, mind and spirit. The downside is that we're overly blessed with kibitzers who stand on the bank and bray rather than jump in and help their neighbor get out of the ditch.
This is evident in current political debate. We have those who moan that Social Security is going broke. Has anyone ever considered how much more revenue would be going into Social Security funds if we raised the minimum wage?
Same is true for Medicare. Hospitals are required to treat all emergencies - those who can pay, as well as those who can't. This means those who do pay, pay more than they should, or the hospitals would have to close their doors. Medicare is the cash cow that pays more. The answer is simple: Make it mandatory that all wage remuneration include hospitalization coverage. This could result in an overall reduction in government's health-care costs.
Our moral fiber is still fairly strong, but it has been abused and is slowly being smothered in political demagoguery.
|FRANKLIN M. RIDENOUR |ROANOKE
LENGTH: Long : 158 linesby CNB