DATE: Thursday, November 13, 1997           TAG: 9711130003

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:  117 lines

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

HEARTFELT

Thanks for walk . . .

As volunteer chairman for the 1997 American Heart Walk, I would like to thank all of those who attended the rainy event at Mount Trashmore on Oct. 26. Despite the weather, approximately 800 people came to show their support for the American Heart Association.

To date we have raised $125,000, which will help fight cardiovascular disease and stroke in our community through medical research and public education.

Jeremy R. Starkey

Norfolk, Oct. 28, 1997

. . . and new heart, lungs

Two years ago I had a heart and double lung transplant at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Thanks to my donor family and all the wonderful doctors and staff at Norfolk General, it has been a marvelous experience for me.

I want people to know that these procedures and the technology are available right here at home. I would also like people to think about organ donation now, because they certainly will think of it if the need ever comes to their family.

Thanks again to everyone involved for contributing to my miracle.

Sylvia Evans

Portsmouth, Oct. 28, 1997

INSURANCE RATES

Big cars add up

to bigger damage

Regarding Patricia Ellis' Nov. 5 letter about higher insurance rates for sports utility vehicles (``Don't pick on good SUV drivers''):

Ms. Ellis missed the point: Insurance companies will charge more because her ``safer'' Expedition, at 4,900-plus pounds, will do much more damage if it hits a 3,000-pound Prelude. No matter how careful the driver is, the increased mass lengthens the stopping distance. The higher driving position also makes the car more prone to rolling over in avoidance manuevers and blocks the view of other cars.

Chalk up the increased cost of insurance along with higher vehicle ($27,000-plus), gas (14 mpg in the city) and environmental costs. Sports cars are penalized for capacity and speed; SUVs should be penalized for their capacity for damage.

Anthony Mowery

Norfolk, Nov. 5, 1997

SUVs only safer

for their occupants

Sports utility vehicles (SUVs) are not safer than standard autos. True, they may be safer for their occupants, but this safety comes at the expense of the other people on the road.

Being heavier, they do more damage to whatever they hit. People in a car hit by an SUV are more likely to be hurt or killed than they would be if hit by a lighter-weight vehicle. It is appropriate for insurance companies to charge more for SUV liability insurance - because SUVs do more damage.

Ms. Ellis' statement that an SUV's ``weight increases the overall handling and stability of the vehicle'' is also incorrect. Being higher, and thus having a higher center of gravity, SUVs are more likely to roll over in an emergency situation. Their higher center of gravity also leads to greater weight transfer between wheels in turns, making skids more likely. This is why race cars are built low and light, not high and heavy like SUVs.

SUVs give tanklike protection to their occupants, but they make our roads more dangerous for others.

William R. Martin

Virginia Beach, Nov. 5, 1997

RX FOR TROUBLE

Wanted: pharmacists

who OD on OT, low pay

If honest want ads were run by discount-store chains and chain drugstores, here is how they would read:

Our pharmacist must be able to:

1. Work 12 hours a day without a break.

2. Answer the phone in three rings while ringing up sales, helping customers and filling prescriptions.

3. Fill 150 to 200 prescriptions daily, one every three minutes.

4. Limit bathroom breaks to one or two a day.

5. Take constant abuse from customers, store managers and associates with a smile.

6. Manage a multimillion-dollar operation for less than $1 an hour extra pay.

7. Work overtime without extra compensation.

8. Do paperwork at night after an exhausting 12-hour day.

9. Work for management that has little interest in patient care.

This mess has come about only in the past 10 years. Bottom lines and store traffic should not obliterate patient care. It's time to speak up for the profession. Everyone must protest these conditions. The companies need to be more accommodating.

Gino Bortoluzzi, RPh

Virginia Beach, Oct. 29, 1997

TAXING TIMES

Trick or treat,

election haunts us

As my neighbors will testify, I kept my extensive, scary Halloween decorations up through Nov. 4.

I did it partly because I saw a frightening event about to happen: the election of a conservative Republican governor promising to eliminate personal-property taxes. Talk about trick or treat. Who wouldn't want that candy?

I did, however, have one smiling pumpkin . . . for Norfolk's new commissioner of the revenue, Sharon McDonald. In a campaign year characterized by negative advertising and mudslinging, she took the high road and talked about ideas and her vision for the city I love.

Mr. Gilmore, if you do succeed with your promise, then, like other states without personal-property taxes, you'll have to find new sources of revenue to hire all those new teachers and accomplish your other goals.

At least you weren't silly enough to say, ``No more personal-property taxes to haunt a member of your party.

Jeff Armstrong

Norfolk, Nov. 6, 1997

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