Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 4, 1993 TAG: 9311050308
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Liability is the No. 1 cause of increased health-care costs. This includes not just physician malpractice, but also product liability for such products as drugs, surgical implants and medical equipment.
What causes this fear of liability? One needs only to watch television and see advertisements by attorneys for clients who feel they have been wronged by a physician, hospital or an employer.
Of course, people should be compensated for real physician malpractice, and also if they have been harmed by defective medical equipment or been damaged by a drug that wasn't properly tested or manufactured.
But why should an attorney get one-third of the settlement? A $1 million settlement gives the attorney more than $300,000. Not bad reimbursement for one case. Sometimes the attorney receives more compensation than the victim, since it is the victims' responsibility to pay the hospital bills with their share of the settlement.
Yes, there are many things wrong with the health-care system, but to ignore tort reform would be like ignoring the fox in the henhouse.
ERNIE FENDER
CLIFTON FORGE
Don't single out one sin for taxes
WHY IS tobacco the only "sin" to be taxed for the health plan? I've never been a tobacco farmer, but why should those who grow and manufacture it be labeled any worse than those who manufacture alcohol in its different forms? Alcohol destroys the health and lives of those who use it, and kills many innocent people on the highways.
Tobacco and alcohol carry a big tax already. Tax them more if necessary for the health program, but not just tobacco alone.
If it's going to be called the ``sin tax,'' why not tax other sins, such as gambling, lottery, stealing and cheating when one is found guilty?
Our House of Representatives and Senate would never support a big tax on alcohol. I hope our lawmakers and policy-makers will be wise enough to divide up the taxes in a way that will not just bring economic disaster to one industry and one area of our nation.
SILAS C. TURMAN
MEADOWS OF DAN
Somalian policy is another fiasco
THE INEPTNESS of Clinton in providing leadership in any area other than the taxing-and-spending operation is nowhere more evident that in the Somalian fiasco. And the contempt with which liberal Democrats hold the military establishment is nowhere more evident than in the current administration. In ignoring the advice (not for the first time) of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense Aspin also shares responsibility for our recent debacle. Democrats just can't seem to get it. Harry had Korea, Jack had the Bay of Pigs, Lyndon had Vietnam, Jimmy had the Iranian fiasco. And now Willie has Somalia, and may have Bosnia and Haiti unless wiser heads prevail.
To top this one off - after a botched attack that filled too many body bags, the desecration of our dead, the humiliation of our captured pilot and his release through Red Cross efforts - Clinton crows that this shows his Somalian policy is working. That's a policy? That engenders a warm fuzzy feeling? What rot! If we can survive the next three years without becoming totally unglued, it'll be a water-walking miracle.
RICHARD K. CULBERTSON
BLACKSBURG
Does Davis need remedial training?
WE ARE SADDENED to read Paxton Davis' Oct. 22 column in which he questioned our integrity and the quality of instruction at Virginia Military Institute (``Enlisting VMI in race for state's governor'').
Last month, we wrote a letter to 250 local alumni of VMI, urging support for George Allen's candidacy in the Virginia gubernatorial race. Because he attended VMI for one year, Davis was included on our alumni mailing list, even though he graduated from a different college in another state.
In our letter, we explained that Allen consistently has supported a search for creative solutions to the enormously complex question of women at VMI, such as the proposal now under review for a women's leadership curriculum at Mary Baldwin College. Engaging in the kind of name-calling that has become standard fare in Virginia politics, Davis in effect labels us dishonest and ignorant. He also slings four specific charges against our effort to shore up support for our embattled college.
First, Davis questions whether our letter was somehow financed by public funds. No state funds were involved. We paid for all the postage, printing, paper and envelopes ourselves.
Second, he charges us with ``misrepresentation'' for telling our fellow college graduates that Allen would allow VMI's all-male character to remain intact. Davis declares that the governor of Virginia is powerless to influence the outcome of this pressing issue concerning VMI. Unlike Davis, we believe that in countless ways the occupant of the governor's mansion can shape the college's future. For starters, he appoints members of VMI's governing body, the Board of Visitors. These appointees have the authority to admit women to VMI.
Third, Davis says we mischaracterize Mary Sue Terry's position as one of support for female admission at VMI. This is hardly a controversial statement on our part. During the campaign, Ms. Terry said repeatedly that she would wield her executive powers of appointment to batter down the all-male admissions policy at VMI. The Richmond Times-Dispatch, for instance, summarized the Democratic candidate's planned approach to VMI this way: ``She would like to appoint members to the board of visitors of Virginia Military Institute who favor admitting women to the all-male institution.''
We are confident that had Davis graduated from VMI he would understand the historical importance of the chief executive in the Old Dominion's governing process.
BOB COPTY
BILL GEARHART
ROANOKE
Throwing more money to teachers
A COMMITTEE of nearly the whole county was formed to recommend to the Montgomery County School Board its direction for ``Focus 2006.'' This committee of Parent-Teacher-Student Association adherents, captive mouthpieces of the Montgomery County Education Association, and other MCEA/National Education Association sycophants, proposed spending for new programs including a pay raise for teachers. Should I say again?
Never mind any rational basis for the county-pay position, just get our county teachers, principals and assistant superintendents in the top 25 percent of the state. A twist this time: Instead of MCEA annual demands for a pay increase, the ``Focus 2006'' committee did it by proxy. Summarized, the committee's charade says we can solve the ``education'' problem with more and more money! Ignored is the fact that more than 50 percent of the education dollar is spent on other than classroom teaching.
It says keep all the current waste and bureaucracy, and add professional teachers to reduce the pupil-to-teacher ratio to 20-1, counting only the teachers in the class. The teachers' union doesn't want less-expensive classroom aids or other practical and economical solutions, if anything is, indeed, needed.
The redundant mob of coordinators, implementers, expediters, subject supervisors, assistant principals, directors of everything, assistant superintendents of everything and doers-of-nothing remains in place. These are teachers ``promoted'' to titled positions to simply raise their pay! Teachers make more reports and memos for the above doers-of-nothing so that they have a visible stack of paper to shuffle. As now, pupils are lost in the misplaced priorities of the system, and the same is true of this ``Focus 2006'' report that the board is so eager to implement.
It seems the educational community, a 19th century anachronism, is unaware of or disregards the fact that the general population isn't in a mood for more taxes.
BETTY ANDERSON
BLACKSBURG
Fond memories of a Hollywood era
NEWS on the radio recently mentioned that Vincent Price had passed away. This brought to mind the New York Broadway show ``Victoria Regina.'' Produced in the '30s, it was an outstanding show.
He was the handsome German prince, and Helen Hayes was Victoria, queen of England. Their performances were outstanding. It was acting at its best.
Later, they went to Hollywood, and Vincent Price's horror movies followed. He had a small part in the movie ``Laura,'' which starred Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney.
As an octogenarian, I have fond memories of the above and many more entertainers of that past era.
MILDRED B. TURBUSH
ROANOKE
by CNB