THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, February 4, 1997             TAG: 9702040011
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   22 lines

CLEAN UP THE STATE'S ACT

Now that our esteemed General Assembly has discarded ``Carry Me Back to Old Virginny'' because of lyrics that are considered offensive to our African- American brethren, I would like the delegates to consider taking this politically correct action to its logical conclusion.

They should eliminate the state bird (cardinal) since its red color may insult our Native American residents; do away with the state tree/flower (dogwood) since its flowers represent Jesus' stigmata and are likely to offend the non-Christian residents of the commonwealth; and throw out the state's mottos for being sexist (``Mother of Presidents,'' ``Mother of States'') or ageist (``Old Dominion'').

While they're at it, why not just change ``Virginia'' to something less PG-17 since the name was chosen to honor Elizabeth I, the virgin queen.

STEPHEN A. SCHECHNER

Virginia Beach, Jan. 28, 1997