ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609160011
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I DO NOT condone or approve of the alleged recent behavior by a few Virginia Tech football players. As a fan, I am embarrassed by the incidents. Any football players convicted of beating the track runner should be dismissed.
That said, for you to assert in your Sept. 11 editorial (``Virginia Tech's embarrassment'') that members of the football squad are held to lower standards than engineering students is ridiculous. Football players are rightfully held to higher standards.
Just ask Marcus Parker. Do you think a civil-engineering student would be suspended for stealing garlic salt and condoms? Parker received several forms of punishment for his action. He was found guilty in a court of law, which would happen to all of us. However, he was then suspended from the football team, and endured several humiliating articles detailing the event. Ask Parker which punishment stung more - the articles and the suspension or the fine levied by the court. He clearly has had to pay a higher price than a civil-engineering student - as well he should.
Tech President Paul Torgersen's response to the hotel manager's statement about the exceptional conduct of the football team shows how much emphasis he puts on the behavior of student-athletes. Everyone is warmed by a compliment. To turn a genuine tribute by a hotel manager into a statement allegedly implying something bad about Tech is a reach. The testimony may imply what other universities are willing to tolerate, but it clearly is filled with praise for Tech.
ALAN SHAW
ROANOKE
School uniforms are a great idea
IF YOU have never been there, you don't have any idea how it feels not to have clothes like other kids. We've been there, and think school uniforms are a great idea.
Our youngest daughter had a scholarship to a professional dancing school where she also got all her schooling, sixth through 12th grade. The school had a uniform dress code. We were grateful for that, as there were a great number of students from very wealthy families. Our daughter was never made to feel inferior because we were less fortunate.
We are encouraged to hear that a program has been started in our schools to teach manners, etc. We each drove school buses after retirement, and we noticed the lack of manners with so many of the children. We hope this improves life for all the children during their schooling.
CECIL and DOROTHY KINCER
ROANOKE
A flood is no place for sightseers
HOW CAN I politely say what I would like to say to some of the public?
In the past. when flooding was predicted, I was too busy inside the house to go to the corner and watch the river rise. But this year, I was free to watch and to offer help to my neighbors if they needed me.
I was appalled at what I witnessed. Traffic caused by ``gawkers'' actually tied itself up and made it impossible for my neighbors to function effectively.
If you're not actually needed by relatives to help them, please stay home. Victims are stressed and tired enough without having to deal with a public that just wants to look. Don't you realize that emergency vehicles need clear streets? Don't you also realize that you could get trapped yourself? Water is as dangerous as fire.
LUCEILE STOVER
SALEM
Engineering has lost a friend
DAN PLETTA passed away on Aug. 26 at the age of 92. What a difference his life made to thousands of engineers!
For 40 years as an active member of the Virginia Tech faculty, he cajoled and inspired engineering students. For the past 24 years since his retirement, he tirelessly wrote and preached about the engineering profession, seeking its improvements. Also, a prolific writer of letters to the editor, he planted seeds of wisdom that will continue to bear fruit for generations. His love of engineering and of life was awesome to his numerous friends throughout the United States.
His funeral wasn't sad, but was a celebration of an extraordinary life. Virginia Tech President Paul Torgersen reminded us again that in two decades as engineering dean, he received "more advice from Dan Pletta than from anyone else." This time he left off the tag "some of which I actually asked for."
Returning to my office, I opened the latest issue of the Civil Engineering magazine and turned to the letters. Fittingly, there was a letter from Pletta. His final paragraph is worth repeating:
"Engineers face a challenging future. But all they have to do is to plan further into the future than they have in the past so as to avoid waste of material resources or the creation of side effects like pollution or urban sprawl. Of course, they will also have to provide the leadership to manage the inevitable governmental involvement."
I cannot imagine a more appropriate epitaph. The engineering profession and the human race have lost a major contributor. We shall not see his like again.
LOUIS L. GUY JR.
Director of utilities, City of Norfolk
NORFOLK
LENGTH: Medium: 99 linesby CNB