ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170050
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
FOR A moment, I thought I had picked up the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Sept. 6. I refer to your editorial, ``Teacher unions must face facts.'' Excuse me, but by any reasonable definition there is no teachers' union in Virginia.
Unions have collective-bargaining agreements and rights to negotiate on pay and to strike. Virginia teachers have never had such rights. Unions require similarly situated employees to pay dues. Membership in the National Education Association is completely voluntary. And in some Virginia counties, the NEA doesn't speak for even a simple majority of teachers.
Most of all, unions enjoy the right to arbitrate and resolve employee grievances before an impartial decision-maker. In Virginia, grievance decisions can be, and often are, arbitrarily overturned by school boards that have the final authority - which Virginia law rigorously enforces. Simply put, our teachers' association has the power only to lobby. This hardly qualifies it as a union.
I only hope your editorial was merely a misguided, very uncharacteristic nod to show balance to some of your moral, radical right-wing readers who love to coin provocative and idiotic phrases like ``teachers' union,'' ``feminazi'' and ``militant homosexuals.''
While The Roanoke Times joins in bashing the people to whom we entrust the education (and even the baby-sitting) of our children, let's not forget that the average local teacher with 20 years service and a master's degree earns less than $13 an hour.
The next time you call a plumber to fix your commode and pay him $75 an hour, just remember you have valued the proper operation of your toilet at a rate of more than five times what we seem to be willing to pay to have someone supervise, guide and educate our children.
On second thought, maybe teachers need a union.
JOSEPH J. STEFFEN JR.
BLACKSBURG
Too much damage done by power lines
REGARDING the U.S. Forest Service position on American Electric Power's proposed 765-kilovolt power line through the Jefferson National Forest:
I support the "no action" alternative recommended by the Forest Service. Forest Supervisor Bill Damon and the managers of the George Washington and Jefferson national forests deserve recognition for their courageous stand in acting as stewards of the forest to protect the beauty of the land.
As an avid hiker and outdoors person, I enjoy the beauty of nature, but am disturbed at the already existing scars on the mountains caused by existing high-voltage lines. If a new line must be built, keep it on already disturbed land. Don't add scars in the AEP preferred-route areas that have not yet been damaged. Keep the power line out of the national forest.
CLAYTON ABBOTT
CATAWBA
Winning isn't all in football
I WOULD like to stick a pin in that balloon head, Frank Beamer, head coach of the Virginia Tech football team. This would release the pressure built up by him concerning those who will play in place of injured players.
It's a shame he puts winning over everything else - such as character, morals, sportsmanship, good judgment, etc. His suspended players should remain suspended. Give the freshmen a square deal, and also those who are at Tech for a good education.
The students are our future, and the emphasis should be put on good education as well as fair play - no favoritism.
God help the ones who are carried on a false stretcher of hope!
JOE SLATTERY
BLACKSBURG
Homosexual activity must be stopped
IN JOHN Rutherford's Aug. 31 letter to the editor (``Bible doesn't instruct Christians to be cruel to gays''), he took issue with C. Glen Stinnette Jr.'s Aug. 20 letter (``Taking a stand, not God's throne'') about the Baptists' condemnation of homosexuality. Rutherford was correct in that the word "homosexual" isn't in the Bible. However, it's a word to describe a sin definied in the Bible.
In Leviticus 18:22, it's recorded that "you shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." Also, Leviticus 20:13 says that "If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them."
It's not only Christians who want to put a stop to this abomination. It has brought AIDS, not only to gays but even to little children. We support efforts to find a cure, but we ask that homosexuals stop their sinful practice. They ask for a cure, but they persist in their activity.
We also resent the media glamorizing the sin. I am one who wants to help homosexuals. I've walked many steps with two who have died. We want the sin to stop. As long as the media aid homosexuals in their efforts to recruit others, we will object. The only way homosexuality can survive is through gays' recruitment of others into the lifestyle.
Alcoholics and smokers know well that the only cure is to quit. We recognize that some homosexuals are born with genes that predispose them to homosexuality. However, it's an extremely unhealthy, sinful, destructive activity, and it must be stopped.
The history of the fall of the Roman Empire should demonstrate to all where this glamorized activity will lead.
CALVIN RAINS
COLLINSVILLE
LENGTH: Long : 101 linesby CNB