Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 1, 1993 TAG: 9303010020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
UPS AND DOWNS AT THE HOSPITAL
Q: I've spent a lot of time on the elevators at Roanoke Memorial Hospital over the years, and it seems they stop on every floor. I wonder if it would be practical to dedicate two elevators to stop only on even-numbered floors, and to have two others stop only on odd-numbered floors. This would let an elevator go all the way up or down making only five stops. Wouldn't that speed things up and save wear-and-tear on the elevator doors? J.M., RoanokeA: Roanoke Memorial's public relations department relayed your question to the appropriate managers, who said it would actually slow the system down.
Factors in the elevator system include high- and low-use floors; impatient riders who push more than one call button and get two cars for one rider; and two elevators that are dedicated to patient transport.
Your proposal did sound clean and neat. The situation, though, sounds complicated enough to challenge a management study team.\ Clear day's not so clear
Q: The other day I noticed a lot of what looked like smog hiding the mountains around Roanoke. It reminded me of Washington, D.C. Has pollution gotten worse in Roanoke, and if so, where is it coming from? What can I do? Can we trust the state air board? J.W., Roanoke
A: You must be talking about the clear, sunny weather we had the first 11 days of February.
The air quality index those days got progressively worse, starting at about 35 after the rainy weather at the end of January and climbing to 50 on Feb. 11. That's still no comparison to Washington or other big cities.
This happens because of air inversion. Normally, cold air flows down off the mountains at night while air warmed by the sun during the day rises from our bowl-like valley, taking the day's collection of smoke and dust with it.
A high-pressure system early this month kept the region's air still and skies sunny. The air aloft was warm too. Vehicle exhaust and other kinds of smoke stayed right here.
Source of the smog: our cars and trucks, primarily. A secondary source probably is our wood stoves and fireplaces. Industrial emissions are not the same as when Roanoke's industries ran on coal, and air-quality regulations have helped clean up most factory emissions.
What can we do? Design cleaner cars, ride in car pools or take the bus. None of that's any fun, but have you seen the mushroom-shaped cloud of smog when you approach a big city from 50 miles out?
As for trusting that state agency, a lot depends on your viewpoint. If you're a business, can you trust them to work with you to get your problems cleaned up, or do you expect them to shut you down arbitrarily, putting your employees out of work?
If you live near a pollution source, can you trust them to protect you from emphysema?
Plenty of people will say the air's still dirty in their neighborhood, while at the same time industries will say they've cut back their emissions because of the agency.
a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.