THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 31, 1996 TAG: 9605290127
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 90 lines
Mandatory pledge
After reading the comments of the Great Bridge High School students on being required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, we were dismayed.
Dismayed for the future of our country!
Dismayed for the youth of our country!
The youth of today are the patriots of tomorrow.
The following excerpts are taken from an article written by Alvin M. Owsley, past national commander of the American Legion.
``...For of all the signs and symbols since the world began, there is none other so full of meaning as the flag of this country. That piece of red, white and blue bunting means 5,000 years of struggle upward. It is the full-grown flower of ages of fighting for liberty. It is the century plant of human hope in bloom.
``Your flag stands for humanity, for an equal opportunity to all the sons of men. Of course, we haven't arrived yet at that goal; there are many injustices yet among us, many senseless and cruel customs of the past still cling to us but the only hope of righting the wrongs of men lies in the feeling produced in our bosoms by the sight of that flag.
``Other flags mean a glorious past; this flag, a glorious future. It is not so much the flag of our fathers as it is the flag of our children and of all children's children yet unborn. It is the flag of tomorrow. It is the flag of yourself and all your neighbors.
``This tribute to the flag is offered to the country in appeal to all men and women of all races creeds and tongues, that they may understand that our flag is the symbol of liberty and learn to love it.''
Yes, it should be mandatory that every morning, every student stand respectfully, hand over heart and Pledge Allegiance to the country's flag. Perhaps, then, they will comprehend the meaning.
Maryemma Brown
Americanism chairman
American Legion Auxiliary
Tidewater Unit 327
Norfolk
and 10 others
Stray dogs
Chesapeake dog owners are warned that if a dog is spotted on my street without a collar or leash, it will be picked up by the Animal Control Bureau.
My 4-year-old daughter was bitten six times by a loose dog without a collar. She is on a long course of antibiotics for the infection that has caused her arm to swell to almost twice its size. She has had to endure shots of gammaglobulin and will have a course of painful rabies injections over a 21-day period because we don't know the dog's owner and cannot locate the dog.
Maybe if you have to go to the pound to pick up your pet, you will think twice about obeying the leash law.
Debbie Davidson
Rosewell Avenue
Rethink recycling
I have followed most articles in your newspaper concerning the Southeastern Public Service Authority very closely. The article in your May 23 Metro section ``SPSA to charge 50 cents a month for curbside recycling in 7 areas'' pushed my anger button!
I give SPSA credit for making the art of recycling a regular routine in my family because of convenient curbside pickup of materials in my Chesapeake neighborhood started weekly in the beginning. I could fully understand restructuring of their pickup schedule to once every two weeks after realizing financial losses. I again could cope with having to separate the materials for the drivers in order to save SPSA time and expense. But now SPSA has gone too far!
With most businesses, start-up capital is based on a good solid business plan. Since the inception of curbside recycling pickup, SPSA has cut their expenses drastically with their every-other-week pickup and having the citizens do the initial sorting for them. Usually, such changes are hard to accept, yet most citizens did. Now, citizens are being rewarded with a surcharge of 50 cents per month for their cooperation.
SPSA, get real or get out of town! It is time you make some sacrifices and compromise some of your own issues without pleading to the cities for financial help. Think out another business plan and go back to the bank just like all other businesses do. Do you think if this new $1 increase (50 cents directly assessed from each home and 50 cents to the city) were put before the voters that it would pass? No way! Is it fair to assess the citizens who do not participate in the recycling program?
My hat is off to Acting City Manager Clarence Cuffee of Chesapeake for voting against the charge. He obviously sees that there are other alternatives such as possibly building our own program in Chesapeake. Mr. Cuffee, like most other citizens in this country, realizes the vital importance of recycling.
Please postpone this additional charge, rethink this problem, force SPSA to investigate other alternatives and make this situation a win-win one for everybody.
J.W. Collins
Spurlock Way by CNB