ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 2, 1996 TAG: 9609030121
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
``WHAT IS our quota here?'' ``What quota?''``The number of people who have to be killed before we get the traffic light we need?''
This was part of the dialogue between people from the city traffic department and residents of Brandon Oaks Retirement Center. They were discussing the current and future isolation of 300 residents at Brandon Oaks and 1,000 people in an apartment complex across the street.
Brandon Avenue in Roanoke, and as it becomes Apperson Drive in Salem, will be expanded from three to four lanes with occasional access lanes. Work has begun. And without a traffic light, access to the street from either side of the road is extremely hazardous. The first fatality has resulted.
Brandon Avenue is a busy thoroughfare. An extension of Peters Creek Road, on which work has begun, will feed into an intersection with Brandon and increase heavy traffic.
Everyone in the area accepts that the year or two of construction will create great inconveniences. There are, though, aggravations being inflicted for no apparent reason. The entrance to Brandon Oaks and the Church of Latter-Day Saints is at the end of a sharp curve coming from the west, so visibility is badly hampered and high speeds give few breaks to enter the street. To attempt a left turn requires a strong death wish.
There is an east-bound exit lane for the church and the retirement complex, but it has been closed. Why? Who knows? And to complicate a bad situation, it's jam-packed with those fluorescent orange drums that effectively cut off all vision and force the exiting motorist into lethal traffic to attempt a glimpse at the situation. Fatalities are inevitable.
The city seems indifferent to the welfare of a sizable number of its citizens. The Virginia Department of Transportation, as always, is in imperial seclusion, and won't grant audience to the peasants. Both ignore the quaint concept that they are servants of the public.
EDMUND C. ARNOLD
ROANOKE
Judge perpetuated sexist attitudes
I WAS both angered and saddened to read about the ``advice'' a Cleveland judge, Shirley S. Saffold, gave to a woman who appeared in her court for misusing a credit card (Aug. 16, ``Judge gives woman free tips on men''). Some of the judge's comments were to `` show your legs put on a short skirt, cross your legs and pick up 25 [men] If you don't pick up the first 10, open your legs a little bit and then they'll stop.''
We live in an age of miscommunications, especially communications between men and women. Advertisements for short skirts scream ``sensuality'' and ``sexy'' - never mind opening your legs while wearing one!
Yet not every woman who wears a short skirt, or even opens her legs while wearing one, is trying to draw the attention of a man.
Misunderstandings abound everywhere between the sexes as to what a woman is trying to say when she wears attire that the fashion industry drenches with sexually related messages. Comments like those made by Judge Saffold only add to the confusion and perpetuate a dangerous stereotype.
PATRICIA D. DEEL
CLOVERDALE
Parental control is what's needed
FOR FOUR years now, Bill Clinton has worried so much about tobacco that he wants it called a drug along with all the really dangerous drugs and alcohol that cause crime in the United States. Take away the dangerous drugs and alcohol, and parents will be back in control of their kids and tobacco use.
Crime gets worse, but not because of tobacco - which should be controlled by teachers and parents. Clinton, along with doctors and lawyers, do not put up enough fight against this killer. But they promote it by worrying over tobacco, which is harmful to your health. That isn't new. Tobacco companies have warned us of that for 30 years now. But since it's supposed to be a free choice, no one is forced to buy it. And kids don't care about sign boards.
Tobacco alone doesn't cause lung cancer. Thousands of chemicals, along with tobacco, cause lung disease. Start with the cause of why children are out of control. Fame and money is the reason why leaders forget what is really destroying us all. We cannot respect this leader.
THOMAS E. ASH
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Medium: 80 linesby CNB