ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 20, 1996 TAG: 9611200013
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
WE LIVE in the national forest. Every morning and evening we walk our dog because regular exercise is good for old dogs. During Nov. 18-30, instead of a half mile down Forest Service Road, we will take several turns around the house because of deer season. The woods belong to hunters then. Even with blaze orange, it's unsafe for others. For this brief period, we adjust willingly because we believe deer hunters should get their turn.
However, there are also two muzzleloading deer seasons, Nov. 4-16 and Dec. 16-Jan. 4, when it used to be relatively safe to walk in the woods because much smaller numbers of hunters were involved. In recent years, their numbers have increased and their guns and rifles have been armed with scopes. These are no longer primitive weapons. Their shots carry 100 yards, farther than the eye can see in medium or dense woods.
It's left to chance whether a hunter will see the flash of white or the blaze orange first. It's just as dangerous to be in the woods during muzzleloading as during regular deer season. That makes a total aproaching seven weeks when small-game hunters, campers, climbers, hikers and bikers are deterred from woodland pursuits.
Let's change the law to improve the way many groups share forest use: make muzzleloading season what it was originally meant to be, a chance for hunters to use weapons that are truly primitive, no scopes allowed.
LUCILLE and GARY GRIFFIN
NEWPORT
Don't judge all Hokies by a few
HATS OFF to all the fans who came out to show their support for Virginia Tech when it played East Carolina on Nov. 9 and to see the football team pull together to win under what had been a difficult week for the players, coaches and faculty at Tech. There are thousands of wonderful people at Tech. There couldn't have been any doubt to that when you saw the team in action, and also saw the wonderful halftime show by the Marching Virginians in ``A Salute to Veterans.''
It's sad that some judge a group by a handful of people who have done wrong. Not all young people have had the loving support of families or have been taught morals and ethics by their families. By the time young people enter college, they should have been taught right from wrong by their parents - that isn't the job of Frank Beamer, the other coaches or Tech's faculty. It's a shame that a few bring so much adverse publicity to a school.
It's interesting that people are so quick to make comments about negative stories. Yet when there is a positive news article in the newspaper, those people make no comment at all.
GERRI RORER
SALEM
WVTF's variety is welcomed by many
IN RESPONSE to Demetri Telionis' Nov. 1 letter to the editor, ``Please, let's have less talk and more good music,'' and Agnes Heller's Nov. 12 letter, ``Less Click, Clack; more good music,'' criticizing WVTF's varied format:
Variety is the spice of public radio, and the local station gives us heterogeneous stimulants - not all good, not all satisfying, but certainly pleasing enough that the station enjoys wide support in the region. I could do with much less of Garrison Keillor and classical music (we get more than seven hours of it a day), and with more programs like ``Alternative Radio,'' a show carried by a large number of public-radio stations, and the late, lamented ``Fresh Air,'' which was killed by station manager Steve Mills in a fit of homophobia.
Public radio serves a group of listeners who are tired of Top 40 (that's rock, country and even ``classical'' when the selections become too familiar), are offended by Nazi-radio (WFIR's afternoon lineup is the antithesis of civil discourse and democratic discussion), and the Christian stations that ignore Matthew 6:5: ``And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men ... When thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber
In general, WVTF is fulfilling its public responsibility to educate, entertain, enlighten and stimulate in an admirable fashion. If all you want is 24-hour classical music at the flip of a switch, Cox Cable or Muzak can accommodate for a small monthly fee.
DAN SMITH
ROANOKE
Seniors aren't tax deadbeats
I TAKE exception with Greta McCaughrin's Nov. 12 letter to the editor, ``Welfare for wealthy seniors.'' She is totally out of touch with reality and is ill-informed.
My wife and I are both retired and are paying more federal and state income taxes than ever before. Incidentally, we pay a large federal tax on Social Security.
People need to get their facts straight before writing such misleading letters. Approximately 25 percent of our income goes to federal and state taxes.
JAMES E. HODGES
VINTON
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB