DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250005

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:  142 lines

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR -THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

CIVIL WAR

History lives at

Antietam site

It would be well if all history students would cut out and keep the Sept. 14 Daily Break article ``America's Bloodiest Day.'' Staff writer Steve Harriman has brought newspaper journalism to a new height of excellence.

Last summer, I too stood in that cornfield of Antietam, sat on the shallow crest of the Sunken Road and leaned against that old wooden rail fence facing the Dunker Church. There I was, gazing over a landscape where a battle took place more than 130 years ago. My God, how could this have happened - 26,000 young men slaughtered in a single day? Two-thirds of American cities don't even have a population of 26,000.

The Civil War was us, all of us. North or South, it represented our hopes, fears, our beliefs and our courage, and our willingness to die for those beliefs.

My issue here is not to debate good or bad, right or wrong. It is simply to pay homage to those 26,000 young Americans who put it all on the line one warm day in September 1862.

Bill Sexton

Virginia Beach, Sept. 18, 1997

EDUCATION

Is sex ed cutting

one of the 3 R's?

When we add sex education and computer instruction to the elementary school curriculum, I wonder which basic subjects will be eliminated or have their instruction time reduced?

Or will the school day be lengthened to accommodate the additional subjects?

J. R. Merritt

Norfolk, Sept. 8, 1997

OUTREACH

Christmas in April

a welcome program

Glenn Allen Scott's Sept. 17 column on community programs aiding low-income homeowners highlights two wonderful projects. Habitat and Paint Your Heart Out Hampton Roads complement each other perfectly since one deals with existing homes and the other with new-construction homes.

With a little luck and good planning, Christmas in April will compliment these community efforts even more. It would be a shame if the projects competed instead of coordinated with each other.

These programs succeed because of two important ingredients: first, the leadership of many service organizations, churches, government organizations and corporations; and, second, the thousands of individual volunteers from a cross-section of the community.

Three years of involvement with Paint Your Heart Out Norfolk tells me that while the volunteers are there, financial support is another issue. The limiting factor is corporate involvement. While many businesses do support these programs, only a fraction participate. More need to get involved.

Christmas in April, welcome to Hampton Roads! May your April magic add to other miracles across Hampton Roads.

Jim O'Brien

Norfolk, Sept. 18, 1997

ANIMAL RIGHTS

Fake-fur wearers

don't deserve hassle

I think it ``fur-shameful'' (letter, Sept. 18) that someone could warn off ``any fur-wearers under 70 years of age who cross my path.'' What do I need to be prepared for - rock pelting, obscenities, hair pulling, knife wounds, requests for proof of age?

In fact, I do not wear fur but do have a fake fur, and who is to say from a certain distance whether or not it is real? Also, I do not wish to be accosted in the streets to be asked whether or not it is real, or the year of my birth.

I do not approve of cruelty to animals. Neither do I approve of the abuse of human beings.

Fay Palmer

Virginia Beach, Sept. 18, 1997

ENTERTAINMENT

Two ways to help

stop ticket scalping

I have a two-part suggestion that may help to curb the scalping of tickets. First, limit people to buying two or four tickets (eight is quite a lot). Second, have the buyer's name printed on the tickets so it can be compared with an ID when arriving at the gate.

This should not be an imposition, as someone buying tickets should be buying for those who want to attend the concert together anyway.

Susan Browning

Chesapeake, Sept. 18, 1997

PRINCESS DIANA

After the media frenzy,

a look at our lives

As we slowly wind down from our media-driven hysteria about Diana, it is time to reflect on the reality of the situation. Who would have cared about Diana if she hadn't been beautiful, famous and wealthy? Why do people feel such compassion for someone jumping from a private jet to dinner at the Ritz on her way to a yacht? How can one justify spending more money on clothes in one year than most people make in a lifetime?

What does it say about culture that worships at the altar of superficiality and regal pathos? If people's lives are so empty and banal, they should chart a different course - a journey toward a more meaningful existence. Rather than live vicariously, get your own life.

Allan Stiner

Norfolk, Sept. 19, 1997

HEALTH

Cancer screening

is part of program

Pat Dooley wrote an excellent article about in-depth screening at the Executive Evaluation Center (Daily Break, Sept. 15), but I was concerned by what might have been interpreted as the absence of cancer screening in our program.

We feel that radiograpic study of the breasts (mammography) for women and flexible sigmoidoscopy with occult blood testing of the stool for women and men are an important part of the screening procedure. These studies are included as a part of our overall program.

Edward L. Lilly, M.D.

Director of gastroenterology Screening

Executive Evaluation Center

Norfolk, Sept. 16, 1997

HIGHWAY SAFETY

Fight road rage

with TV campaign

In response to your Sept. 20 article, ``Road rage runs rampant'':

Road rage could be a product of ignorance. We teach people to drive at 15 years of age and give them a license that they renew until they die, with little or no reinforcement training. How about some public service announcements that teach driving skills?

For example, some people drive in the left-hand lane and don't realize that it is illegal. It is also illegal for others to pass them on the right. Therefore, when someone runs up on you and blinks their lights, they are just reminding you to move over, yet you become offended and set up house in the lane and instigate road rage unknowingly.

Simple films can teach people the rules of the road that would be pertinent to reducing road rage.

Jeff Suber

Virginia Beach, Sept. 20, 1997

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