THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996                TAG: 9608090021
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A16  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   30 lines

VMI ISSUE IS FAIRNESS

As an Equal Opportunity Assistant and instructor in the Navy, I am very sensitive to issues such as sexual harassment and discrimination. With respect to Frank Kirby's ``Not VMI'' and Carol Simpson's ``A black day for VMI and America'' (letters, July 17), I do not feel that one has to be overly ``sensitive'' to see that people like Mr. Kirby and Ms. Simpson are the ones that ``don't get it.''

Ms. Simpson apparently feels that it is ``right, good and positive'' that Virginia citizens are forced to support a state-funded school that blatantly discriminates against people based on gender. Mr. Kirby seems to agree.

The issue is not militant feminists, the U.S. Supreme Court or other schools. It's what is right and what is wrong. It is wrong to discriminate based on sex; it is wrong to tax citizens for something they are ``not allowed'' to utilize; and it is wrong for a state-funded school to support such policies. That is what the Supreme Court said in its decision.

Among other things, I thought VMI stood for fairness and respect. Women are not second-class citizens whose ``mere presence will be the school's destruction.'' If the fabric that is VMI is indeed destroyed, it will be at its own hand due to its inability to adapt to a more-comprehensive and -equitable philosophy.

TIMOTHY J. DISHAW

Virginia Beach, July 21, 1996 by CNB