ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 20, 1997 TAG: 9701200083
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
What if Jones were your daughter?
YOUR JAN. 15 editorial (``The Paula Jones precedent'') has established your position on sexual harassment. I urge your newspaper to change its position.
This issue isn't about a sitting president's reproductive organs. Your readers do not care about that. Nobody does.
Jones is someone's daughter. What if she were yours?
If you cannot find a way to change your mind, then perhaps we should wait until President Clinton returns to private life. Perhaps we should return him to private life now. That way, we wouldn't have to ``leave aside for now the suit's merits'' or ``belittle the seriousness of Ms. Jones' charges.'' We would protect the dignity of the office. Future presidents wouldn't find themselves vulnerable or at the beck and call of federal officials who would hold them accountable.
I call for Clinton to resign at once for the benefit of the nation, for the benefit of the office of the presidency and for the benefit of all our daughters. The sooner he does this, the better it will be. The longer he puts it off, the worse it will get.
MARSHALL R. TACKETT
BUCHANAN
System is biased against black males
REGARDING your Jan. 9 news article, ``Rave drug charges stick'':
I found myself enraged when I read the article about the 21-year-old male from North Carolina who pleaded guilty on drug charges from a rave last May. Numerous amounts and types of drugs were found on him and in the automobile that he was in. He was sentenced to seven years, and all but seven months of the sentence was suspended. That's why I'm angry at the justice system.
A close friend of mine has been incarcerated for more than six months on charges of intent to distribute crack cocaine. These were the choices offered him:
* Take the plea bargain of 60 months in federal jail with a chance to be sent to boot camp after 24 months had been served.
* Take a chance and have his case tried in front of a jury, which could lock him up for up to 10 years or maybe acquit him.
I believe that if my friend were white, he would have already served his time and would be back with his family and friends. But because he's a black male in this system, he will be locked up the best part of his life - the young years.
When will there be fair and equal justice for blacks and whites? Our black men are not able to enjoy the most important time of their life - their youth!
CYNTHIA J. HOSKINS
RADFORD
School officials ignore the facts
THEY SAY that great educators never forget how to teach, and I have determined that this is true of certain county school administrators. I learned this lesson after reading your Jan. 14 news article (``Road dispute may go to court") describing how the Roanoke County School Board reacted to the city Planning Commission's proposal to barricade Mount Holland Drive.
When the same safety issues mentioned in the article were raised by county officials at the Planning Commission in December, the officials were told that the barricade was nothing more than a curb and some low-lying shrubbery, and it could be easily traversed in an emergency by virtually any vehicle, including a passenger car. Obviously, these officials chose to ignore factual information when the hearing results were discussed at the School Board meeting. They have clearly begun to grasp for straws in a last-ditch effort to preserve the exit onto Mount Holland Drive for their expanding traffic needs.
I would like to thank these officials for teaching me that it's permissible, when fighting for a cause, to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal - even if means distorting or ignoring facts. When backed into a corner, it's OK to push a social hot-button like child safety. I guess I should have learned this sooner, since we see so many cases where criminals are set free because their attorneys can cloud the evidence by demonstrating how the accused was a victim of a societal problem like racism, child abuse or molestation.
Actually, I think I'll choose to forget this particular lesson. Instead, I'll remember the misguided actions of certain county school administrators and factor that into my decision on where to educate my 15-month-old son. He is the child I'm trying to protect from through traffic on Mount Holland Drive.
TODD STAFFORD
ROANOKE
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