THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512190070
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Some advice on Nauticus
On Dec. 10, I viewed Nauticus for the first time, as a guest of the city. The first exhibit, ``The Living Sea,'' I enjoyed very much. After that it was a downhill slide. Most exhibits failed to leave a lasting impression or a reason to visit again.
I called Councilman Randy Wright and told him my views of the tour and made a few suggestions that may help attendance - for example, a lower price that covers the entire tour, a water garden so the entrance is not the same as the Marine Science Museum at Virginia Beach, a slide show of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and other important Naval battles, a seafood cafe with booths, a lunch counter complete with nautical decor, tour guides to walk patrons through and explain what they are seeing, rotating exhibits and getting loaned exhibits to give people a reason to visit again.
After all, the citizens of Norfolk have to pay the bill so we might as well do what we can to improve attendance.
I also asked Councilman Wright how he planned to vote on the MacArthur mall and moving of Fire Station One. I received a reply of ``no.'' On Dec. 12 at the council public hearing on the moving of Fire Station One at a cost of $6.2 million, Councilman Wright at first said ``no'' but after a brief closed-door meeting with the other councilmen, said ``yes.''
I find it amazing how our elected ward leaders cram more and more doomed downtown spending down our throats when the Ocean View redevelopment is underfunded. Waterside, and now Nauticus, is in big trouble. Our City Council's answer to these problems is to go deeper in the red on more high-risk downtown projects.
When are these people going to listen to the public they represent? When is John Q. Taxpayer going to be invited inside the council's tightly closed door? Perhaps the council should take up residence in a dark alley to perform their brand of city government. The next election promises to be interesting.
Brian C. Lee
Wharton Avenue Athlete meat markets
It bothers me and probably others that our high schools seem to be becoming meat markets, with athletic officials the butchers.
Young teenage boys are being fed into these markets and sold to the highest bidder. Basketball and football programs are no longer for fun but a steppingstone into the multimillion dollar arena of college and professional sports, if you can still call it sports in the true sense.
The media and sportscasters are to be included in the game, since they are at fault by regarding these young men as grist for the mill. Constant reporting of the feats of these players in only the most glowing and fantastic terms inflates the ego of player and coach.
That many of them will never pass an SAT test for entry into college means very little since this is something that can be gotten around with a little help from unscrupulous coaches and college officials who must have that winning team at all costs. Recent sanctions that have been handed out show this to be true. Players who can only just read and write, and have college degrees tell us that these kids are there only for the purpose of playing a sport and enhancing the image of the school.
When will we insist that education comes first? When will we demand that our children be taught reading, writing and arithmetic and how to play sports? Sports builds character and physical fitness, but what good is it if they do not know how to communicate?
We, the public, must accept our share of the blame. We push these kids to be what we were not and I dare say think about the multimillion dollar rainbow. When we allow a convicted rapist to earn millions of dollars by attending the functions that pay them these huge sums, how can we blame our kids for wanting the same thing? It all boils down to greed, one of the deadliest of sins.
If and when we demand better, then and only then will we be able to raise a generation of educated young men and women to lead this country into the future. A generation of millionaire football, basketball and tennis players do not make good leaders if they cannot read, write and understand what life is.
Raymond L. Fields
Riverside Drive by CNB