ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997 TAG: 9703040035
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
Child care is a luxury for some
YOUR NEWSPAPER has devoted much space lately to the child-care issue (Feb. 6 news article, ``Day care centers turn to candy sales for teacher bonuses,'' Feb. 16 editorial, ``Day-care debate isn't about candy,'' and a Feb. 26 letter to the editor by Carolyn Krisha, ``Society must recognize the value of child-care workers'').
While I agree with your position and Krisha's that child-care workers are grossly underpaid for the services they provide, another important issue has been ignored: Why are all these kids in day care in the first place?
I am aware that many parents of young children need to work full time, thus depending on paid child-care providers. I've been in that position, having had a child during a time when I was my family's sole wage earner. Though I didn't use a day-care center, I did rely on a child-care provider who came to my home. Much to my regret, I didn't pay her nearly what her service was worth to me.
As my family grew and our financial situation improved, I chose to stay home with our kids. I was fortunate to have a husband who was able and willing to take on the burdens of being our only breadwinner. I realize many people aren't so lucky.
Some programs are already in place to ease the financial burden that full-time day care places on those families. And I wouldn't oppose more programs' being created, even if it meant a greater tax burden to my family. However, the suggestion that day care for preschoolers be included in the public-school system doesn't set well with me. It would surely mean that taxes would be increased so that people who do not have to work can have affordable child care.
I'm just a mom who feels passionately that, if possible, parents should be at home taking care of their own children. I have no idea what percentage of children are in day care because their parents don't want to live on one income, but I'd say it's fairly high.
It saddens me that many families set a higher priority on buying ``stuff'' than on their children's upbringing. If parents do not place a high value on being with their own children, it isn't likely that society is going to place a high value on child-care workers to take the place of working parents.
MARY SUE LIBASSI
ROANOKE
Media's coverage is out of balance
TO BORROW a useful phrase from the women's movement, The Roanoke Times just doesn't get it.
Kathleen Neff complained in her Feb. 4 letter to the editor (``Kids who excel in arts are ignored'') about the media's ignoring students who get awards in art and writing and concentrating exclusively on athletes. You responded on Feb. 8 with an editorial (``Arts in education: a basic, not a frill'') calling on school boards to support arts education and integrate it within the curriculum. I certainly agree, and I am sure Neff also agrees.
But that wasn't the point. It wasn't Roanoke County she was complaining about. The county at least had all the student awardees at the same ceremony. Her point was the indifference of the media. Hey, Roanoke Times, that's you.
If arts in the schools are so important, why don't you give it some coverage - say, 20 percent of that you give to scholastic sports? The ridiculous disproportion between sports coverage and the coverage of actual education is certainly not limited to the arts, to Roanoke County or to kindergarten-through-12th-grade education. I know of dozens of eminently newsworthy press releases from Virginia Tech in the past few months that you have simply ignored, but you never miss a chance to write about a prospective football player. I am certain the same is true for every other college and university in the area, and probably for every high school.
How many employees are dedicated to sports coverage at all levels? What percentage of the total reporting budget goes to sports? How many employees are dedicated to education, the arts and science? What percentage of the total reporting budget?
Put your money and your column inches where your mouth is.
HARLAN B. MILLER
BLACKSBURG
Del. Cranwell told it like it is
I NOTED with interest Del. C. Richard Cranwell's Feb. 1 letter to the editor, ``The General Assembly's integrity is second to none.'' Speaking from eight years' experience in the Virginia Senate, Cranwell is right on target.
My experiences in the Senate revealed hard-working, honest men and women with a deep sense of commitment to our citizens and to integrity, along with diligent attempts to balance competing interests in a fair manner.
It's a shame your readers aren't offered journalistic balance in your news articles. Your subpar journalistic standards continue to be an embarrassment to all Roanoke Valley citizens.
J. GRANGER MacFARLANE
ROANOKE
Legal extortion at TJ's university
IN RESPONSE to your Feb. 25 Associated Press news article, ``Cost of being Cavalier rises'':
I have no personal interest in ever attending a University of Virginia athletic event for which I must pay. But I hope there are going to be many UVa football season-ticket holders who are going to be offended by the cavalier manner in which they are being asked to pony up an additional $100 or so - a ``contribution'' to the Virginia Student Aid Foundation - if they wish to retain their privileged seats between the 20-yard lines.
How does this kind of extortion differ from the extortion from which most of us are protected by the law of the land? Can UVa get away with this legally?
If it's that important to close the so-called "scholarship" gap between what the foundation can afford and what the National Collegiate Athletic Association will permit, why doesn't UVa skim that money off the top of its bowl-game receipts, the money it makes from football and basketball home games, or from contributions it gets from the really fat cats. I'm certain there must be other ways to recover from such a blow to the overall athletic budget at Thomas Jefferson's academical village.
The good news is that none of my tax dollars is involved. That is true, isn't it? It makes one wonder, this cavalier behavior pattern.
FRANK A. PARSONS
LEXINGTON
Social Security fund is long gone
REGARDING Morton Nadler's Feb. 12 letter to the editor, ``Adjustments could protect benefits'':
I was very impressed by his letter and his well-constructed suggestions for helping to save Medicare and Social Security. Unfortunately, his next to the last sentence revealed an all-too-common belief that there is a Social Security trust fund to be saved.
Lots of well-educated folks still think there is a ``fund'' into which our Social Security taxes are being paid. A little more than 10 years ago, in order to hide another badly unbalanced budget, Congress took the money. All that remains of the so-called fund is a nonredeemable, noninterest-bearing note. Now, whenever those seniors aware of what happened to the fund object, they can be accused of being a greedy drag on the nation's taxpayers.
ROBERT S. TERRY
BEDFORD
Unnamed sources lack credibility
CONCERNING comments made by unnamed sources about Judge Bounds (Feb. 15 news article, ``Some say he's crossed a line''):
I don't think such people should be quoted. If they don't have the courage when making statements about someone's character to be quoted by name, very little creditability should be given to them.
As a former Internal Revenue Service agent, I found this type of information carried very little weight and was usually false or done with malice. Many people have axes to grind. A vindictive person may state half-truths, take comments out of context and even tell lies.
I've known Bounds for many years. He has a sense of humor - although, according to these unnamed sources, it would appear that you would have to be almost a robot without feelings to sit as a judge.
I don't often write letters to the editor. But when I do, I want to be identified and not hide behind a request for anonymity. If what you have to say is true, then don't be coward. Stand up for what you stand for.
DON J. MORRIS
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Long : 150 linesby CNB