Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 2, 1993 TAG: 9308020117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke Stamp and Seal Co. sent shock waves through the rubber stamp industry Thursday, finishing 85,000 stamps for the U.S. Postal Service a full 24 hours before the deadline.
The order - which others in the industry had turned down, saying it couldn't be done in a mere two weeks - was shipped out to Washington, D.C., by Friday, company Business Manager Pam Ulrich said.
Company President Greg Freeman said he has been amazed by the publicity surrounding his attempts to do something "unheard of in the rubber stamp business."
"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback from it," Freeman said. "I hope it makes people feel proud to be from Roanoke."
The contract to make the stamps was worth $59,000.
Women, no; cars, yes
The class rings at Virginia Military Institute have all of the school's traditional symbols, and then some.
The class of '93's rings include the international sign for women with a slash through it, right next to the imprint of Stonewall Jackson.
The symbol shows the cadets' support of VMI's all-male admissions policy. The three-year court fight over the policy took place during the cadets' years at VMI. A Mercedes Benz symbol on a rifle butt requires the most explanation, according to VMI's Institute Report.
The symbol recalls a freak accident during the class's rat year when a rifle-bearing cadet, who was too close to the parked cars, smashed the rear window of a Mercedes with his rifle butt.
The car belonged to Lt. Gen. Henry J. Hatch, commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers, the report says.
The guilty cadet apologized before Hatch even knew what had happened, and a brother rat offered the general $200 in cash; the class had chipped in to pay for the window.
Hatch, impressed by their honesty, gave back the money and told them to use it for their ring fund.
Cheaper than most
The median price of a home in the Roanoke Valley during the first three months of this year was $80,000, ranking the metropolitan area the 65th-most affordable of 202 areas in the nation, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The association uses a formula that compares median home price to median income to rank cities by their affordability.
Other regional cities, and their median home prices in parentheses:
Norfolk ($89,000);
Richmond ($97,000);
Raleigh-Durham, N.C. ($112,000);
Charlotte, N.C. ($100,000);
Greensboro, N.C. ($90,000);
And Asheville, N.C. ($84,000).
by CNB