ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200079
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
Show more appreciation for truckers
I REALLY take offense over Alison Mitchell's Jan. 12 letter to the editor, ``Many truckers show no consideration.''
I am the wife of a truck driver, and I get sick and tired of hearing people downing them. These men and women spend weeks at a time away from their families, trying to earn a living.
Her suggestion to take trucks off the road because there are some bad drivers and to ship everything by rail is about as ridiculous as taking cars off the road and making everyone ride a bicycle because some people continue to drink and drive.
How would she propose getting the goods from the train depot to the stores? I don't think she would find many people willing to drive to a train depot to do their grocery shopping or buy their clothes.
Contrary to Mitchell's belief that truckers have no concerns for smaller vehicles, they do. One of a trucker's biggest worries is the driver of a 3,000-pound compact car who pulls out in front of him and expects him to be able to stop a fully loaded 80,000-pound tractor-trailer on a dime!
I don't know how she makes her living, but I bet if someone suggested doing away with her job because of a few bad people in that profession, she wouldn't be too happy.
MELISSA L. BALL
PEARISBURG
Belittling teachers - and the military
HAVING READ Jeffrey Morris' Jan. 8 letter to the editor (``Be thankful for any salary raise''), I must respond.
He is evidently of the opinion that teachers, who are most responsible for preparing our children for the tasks ahead of them, are being overpaid for their ``six-hour-a-day'' jobs. As a former elementary and secondary teacher, I know that a good teacher spends many more than the actual in-school hours on the job. This includes preparing lessons, grading papers, counseling children and completing training required to maintain teaching credentials.
Even with the proposed raises, teachers still do not make as high an hourly wage as many factory workers in this area. Teachers find it hard to make ends meet, but they continue in teaching - even at a considerable financial disadvantage - because they feel it's an important, worthwhile profession.
I am also offended by Morris' suggestion that military service is a demeaning experience. One of my sons is an Army National Guard captain in Vermont and the other is a Navy petty officer serving aboard the USS Constellation in San Diego, Calif. They both joined the military, not as a last-ditch way to attend college, but as a good chance to expand their horizons and experiences for the future. Neither they nor my friends' sons feel embarrassed by their military careers.
I dare say if Morris were to suggest in any sizeable group of adults that serving your country in the military is something to be ashamed of, he would very quickly be advised of the errors in that line of thinking. Perhaps he didn't choose to perform any such service to benefit others, but he has no right to belittle those men and women who have chosen to make that sacrifice.
DEBORAH COVELL
ROANOKE
State's Democrats should take a stand
IN RESPONSE to Edward Burns' Jan. 16 letter to the editor, ``What has Goodlatte to say on Gingrich?'':
I am not speaking for Congressman Goodlatte, but I believe he voted for the re-election of Newt Gingrich as House speaker, and has stated that he supports the speaker.
I would also like to set the record straight since Burns implies that Gingrich used ``public'' funds for political gain. After more than 600 ethics charges, the Democrats finally found one that they could get the ethics committee to look at. Gingrich used funds that were sent to a legal fund by donors who knew what the fund was for. He used these funds to set up and teach a college course that students voluntarily signed up for. The ethics panel later concluded that the course was ``political'' in nature. Gingrich admitted he made errors in organizing this course, and apologized in front of his peers in Congress and on national television.
If Burns wants Goodlatte to take a stand on Gingrich and ``keep us informed,'' will he ask the same of our Democratic congressmen? Will they keep us informed about their support for President Clinton regarding questionable fund raising, illegal drug-and-weapons dealers invited to White House functions, questionable foreign political contributions, thousands of FBI files collected at the White House that the FBI says were obtained illegally, Whitewater scandals and the Paula Jones scandal?
Also, let's talk about possible felonies committed in tape recording private phone conversations, and a Democratic congressman who delivered them to newspapers that printed the content of the conversations. Have our Democratic congressmen kept us informed on these issues? Applying Burns' yardstick, does their silence mean support for these activities?
Clinton has stated publicly that he wants ``All this to stop. Let's get on with the business of Congress and stop this in-fighting.'' I suggest other Democrats do the same.
KENT CARTNER
ROANOKE
Celebrities' babies in the news
THANKS so much for your Jan. 14 ``The People Column'' regarding talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell. Reading that her infant son vomited into her mouth is exactly the sort of news I want to find in your newspaper.
Can I look forward to news regarding Madonna's baby's elimination patterns?
DICK HOWARD
SALEM
LENGTH: Long : 105 linesby CNB