Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 12, 1993 TAG: 9312140004
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It seems that several years ago when new off and on ramps were built, one of the selling points was that the truck traffic would have its own exit - 150B. There's been some concern from businesses located on U.S. 11 that their businesses might be affected if only Exit 150B were used.
Since signs clearly marking what exit to take have been ignored by truckers, it's time to make a change. Why not make all truck traffic not traveling U.S. 220 South use Exit 150B and let businesses have space for advertisement along that exit?
With a high school close to the intersection and such heavy truck traffic, what's it going to take to get someone's attention? At least let's give a few tickets for blocking three lanes of traffic.
JUDY ROBERTSON
TROUTVILLE
Give the gift of life
THE ROANOKE Times & World-News does a disservice to its readers by giving a front-page headline to the Nov. 25 story about an organ donor's mother being billed by a hospital (``Son's organs save 5 lives; hospital bills mom $41,000'' by Tao Woolfe of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel), and then, the next day, burying your follow-up story on page 4 (``Donors bill an error, hospital says'').
Ten months ago, my 22-year-old son died suddenly of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. He was an organ donor, and his donation of organs and corneas helped 11 people to live healthier lives.
His gift of life was free. His family was not billed for any of the process of removing his organs and later transplantation into patients who'd been dying from need for a transplant.
During the holiday season, a traditional time of giving, families will gather. Their most important gift can be the gift of life. More than 40,000 people are waiting for a transplant.
Families need to discuss organ donation and then sign their donor cards. Organ donation is the gift of life, and it's free.
BUNNY HANCOCK
ROANOKE
Aviation is considered safe
REGARDING the story from the Boston Globe, ``Pilot at fault in fatal crash with skydiver,'' published in the Roanoke Times & World-News on Nov. 23:
There's clear implication that the airplane pilot who crashed was somehow at fault due to the fact that he was operating without radio contact with air traffic controllers, flying in an area reserved for parachute jumping and was potentially lost.
When flying under visual flight rules, aircraft aren't required to have radio contact with air traffic control in most airspace. Such contact is required only in areas surrounding airports with active control towers (Roanoke, Lynchburg and Tri-Cities in Southwest Virginia, for example). The ultimate responsibility for collision avoidance under VFR rests with iall pilots (or parachutists) operating within a given area: ``See and be seen.'' This sytem works well. Thousands of hours of flight under VFR take place every day, both efficiently and safely, and such incidents are quite rare.
The article also stated that the plane ``mistakenly had flown into an area reserved for jumps.'' There's no airspace reserved for parachute jumping in the United States, unless this was a military operation in an officially designated and active restricted area. There's no indication this was the case.
Also indicated was that the pilot may have been lost or ``confused'' because a map was found in the cockpit afterwards. This is ridiculous! When flying, it's impractical, and in most cases considered illegal, to fly without approved and up-to-date charts covering the flight route. Reference to such charts is required on all but the shortest of flights over well-known terrain.
The event was a tragedy and a great loss for the families. But if a car had hit a pedestrian in Northhampton, Mass., and the car went out of control, killing the occupants, would we find an article in this newspaper, much less with statements like ``the driver may have been lost, as a map was found in the car''? Those who fly for business and pleasure are annoyed by such articles, which inflate the relative importance of such events and convey a perception of aviation as dangerous or underregulated.
Aviation is a safe, productive endeavor, filled with dedicated and well-trained professionals and hobbyists. Yet it seems that every aviation incident is portrayed in the press as a major calamity. In the future, please consider the true impact of these stories, as well as the sources and background, especially when assessing blame.
DAVID STOCKER
ROANOKE
Don't let apartheid begin at library
I'M WRITING in regard to the news article, ``Mom irate when bookmobile lends boy sex manual'' in the Nov. 20 Roanoke Times & World-News.
Censorship violates the Constitution and the central essence of America: freedom. A public library offers information for any citizen - without discrimination.
This being the 21st century, ideas and information must be exchanged and easily accessible to anyone. If children were prohibited from getting to resources on topics in which they are interested, the future generation of America would be locked in the Dark Ages. This would prevent our country from progressing.
Libraries do not possess the power to withhold information and to decide who can read what. If parents don't approve of material their children are reading, it's their responsibility to deal with it - not the library's. Parents do have the right to put restrictions on what their children can read, but libraries do not.
The many different groups of people that make up the United States would be severely divided if certain people were prohibited from getting certain resources. Gradually, more constitutional rights would begin to disappear. Children and certain other groups would be forbidden from reading about other religious and bleak historical events, creating empty gaps in the human race's past.
In a sense, this degree of censorship would lead to apartheid since some groups wouldn't be allowed to be educated in specific areas. As a result, certain people would unequally profit above others, which is the opposite of the American dream and the land of opportunity.
RACHEL RICHARDS
ABINGDON
Society pays cost of ignorance
I'M SURPRISED Roanoke doesn't want to talk about the teen-pregnancy problem (Nov. 18 Extra section story by Beth Macy, ``Pregnant and proud''). Its statistics are twice the national average. The problem is epidemic to educators and ``almost accepted'' by 16- and 17-year-olds.
I don't want children to be raised by children, so let's talk about solving the problem. I'd bet that some children who are sexually active at a young age have been sexually molested. What is the educator's position on educating children about sexual molestation? Or is that something else we can't talk about? Do you really think that if we don't talk about it, it doesn't exist or will go away? Are these children looking for love? Where is their family and friends? It's sad that the only way to be loved is to create a child that will love you. How convenient is contraception for these teen-agers?
Yes, it's important not to have sex at a young age. Yes, we should teach our sons and daughters to abstain. But if ``just say no'' worked, Roanoke would not have this epidemic.
All kids need love, hope, courage and education to find their way. All we offer these teens is a way to keep them where they are. Yes, there are some good programs that take care of young mothers. Education is necessary before the pregnancy. Ignorance is expensive to society.
LINNEA V. McDONALD
MONETA
Each person can practice tolerance
WE'VE SEEN the carnage reflected in television scenes from former Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, Middle East, South Africa and our own Los Angeles.
The primary cause of such bloodshed is the complete lack of capacity for or practice of allowing or respecting the nature, beliefs or behavior of others - tolerance.
We need to reject horror and replace it with hope through the teaching and practicing of tolerance in all areas of our daily living. This means in schools, churches, our work and play places, everywhere.
We must be alert, too, and reject and/or correct situations that can indirectly undermine tolerance. For example, the statement that we're a Christian nation is wrong. We're a nation of diversified religions. A prayer in school given by a Christian and ending with the statement ``In Christ's name'' is wrong for a multireligious student body.
Agents of the state must never be permitted to favor or install a specific religion. Every person in the United States has a right to the philosophy of his belief and to seek in a democratic, nonviolent way to have the nation meet his moral standards.
The need for tolerance is all around us. We don't need placard carriers, but everyone needs to start carrying out tolerance. Begin by giving a smile and a warm hello to everyone who passes your way.
FRANKLIN M. RIDENOUR
ROANOKE
by CNB