Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 21, 1994 TAG: 9403220005
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
By the end of the decade, a 20 percent increase in enrollment is expected at Virginia's public institutions of higher education. Thus, we must use the educational facilities we have, both public and private, in the most cost-effective way possible if the commonwealth is to adequately respond to such an increase in demand. The proposed partnership is a ground-breaking way to serve higher education's needs in Virginia at less cost and with a greater expectation of success than traditional approaches to the problem.
The cost of this program to the commonwealth is no greater than that involved in supporting students at public institutions, and has the added virtue of making use of an existing facility. Thus we provide citizens with educational opportunities without increasing the pressure for additional capital outlay to accommodate them. Rarely does such a bargain present itself to our taxpaying citizens.
Southern Virginia's completion rate is higher than that of any community college in Virginia and more than nine times greater than the average for such institutions. Additionally, upon completion of their degree programs, 70 percent of our graduates continue their studies at four-year institutions. Hence, the education of state-supported students at Southern Virginia for two years will provide JMU with a low-cost, predictable source of well-qualified students to replace those lost through attrition.
The proposed partnership does represent ``a legitimate part of Virginia's search for cost-effective ways to meet the higher education demands of the latter half of the '90s.'' As the new administration has specified, and taxpayers demand, we must find new ways to provide for our students' higher education. Business as usual is not just a stagnant policy; it's costly, regressive and lacks foresight.
Therefore, as you indicated in your editorial, we ought to ``go for it!''
JOHN W. RIPLEY\ President Southern Virginia College for Women\ BUENA VISTA
Post-Labor Day law has several benefits
I'VE SEEN articles in this newspaper complaining about the fact that schools must wait until after Labor Day to open. Maybe I'm missing something. I agree with the law as it is now. It doesn't in any way keep a child from learning. It's far better, from a safety standpoint, that all schools start at the same time each year. That way, the public can adjust its schedule and driving accordingly.
Some ask: Who better than the locals know the weather and geography? I've lived in this area for more than 30 years and have yet to hear a professional meteorologist give an accurate forecast a week in advance, let alone three months.
It's also argued that if a lot of days are missed due to bad weather, it will delay schools' closing until late June and run into the summer vacation. As if August isn't part of summer vacation. Where I live, it's also as hot, if not hotter, in August than in June on average, so children in school in June wouldn't suffer more from the heat.
It wouldn't hurt a child to get a job at a theme park or anywhere else during Labor Day, if he or she wishes. It teaches them a lot they need to know, along with letting them earn money. Could it be that since Western Virginia doesn't have a theme park that we're jealous of the areas that do? We'd do a lot better to get prayer back in schools and stress family values than to put so much effort on trivial matters.
JAMES T. PECK\ VINTON
Will Apco buy a re-volting idea?
IF THE ELECTRIC chair is cruel and unusual punishment, as many say, the state should think of moving it to one of the out-lying areas of the Roanoke Valley where Appalachian Power Co. provides service.
DAVID VEST\ VINTON
\ Smokers also have right to complain
REGARDING Jack Spraker's Feb. 21 letter to the editor, ``Nicotine addicts are crybabies'':
Get a life! Why can't we complain? Seems others are doing the same. Smokers have rights, too.
Yes, nicotine is a drug, but who isn't on one? Medication is a drug. You have to have it, right?
Those complaining about our smoking don't hear us complaining about their beer or wine, so leave us alone. It's a free world. If we decide to quit, it'll be our choice, not the choice of others.
Everyone has something to complain about. But as the old saying goes, ``life goes on.'' Someone out there always will be addicted to something.
GLORIA J. MOWBRAY\ ROANOKE
\ The company Virginians keep
A MARCH 2 letter to the editor from John Slayton (``Are these leaders our just desserts?'') mentioned eight Virginians, four who are living and four who have passed away. He wondered what the deceased ones would think about the other four on his list.
I believe the deceased ones would welcome three from his list, but would decide that one didn't fit. Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe would welcome George Allen, Pat Robertson and Oliver North. They are patriots who believe in God. A few might even be considered law-breakers by British courts. They place principle above the wishes of politically correct Tories and liberals. These seven names form a perfect number and a perfect fit.
The eighth name on Slayton's list was Lyndon LaRouche, who's run for office as a Democrat. Slayton has favored the Democratic agenda in previous letters to the editor. If Slayton and LaRouche were placed on the same list, a lot of living and dead Virginians would be pleased.
EARL ABBOTT\ ROANOKE
\ Headlights on when the wipers go on
IT'S POURING rain, and I can barely see a foot in front of my face as I drive on the Roy L. Webber Expressway. Ahead of me appears something; I'm not really sure what. A car? A truck? A bus? I ease up on the gas and strain forward to see. A black truck tools along, throwing up a spray of water.
Now's the time to make it a state law that when you run your windshield wipers, you also turn on the lights - not the parking lights but headlights! Do those who drive without lights have any idea how hard it is for others to see them in rainy, foggy conditions? Guess they don't care. Well, I do. I don't intend to lose my life due to someone else's carelessness. If drivers won't use their headlights on their own initiative, let's legislate it into law. West Virginia and North Carolina, as well as other states, have done it.
It only takes the flip of a little switch or a little twist of the knob to turn the lights on. Maybe if we all start having some consideration for others, we won't need to legislate such things.
I hope that the next time I'm driving down the highway in the pouring rain and smoky fog, I'll be able to tell not only what's in front of me but what's approaching me as well.
SANDRA TUCKER-MAXWELL\ ROANOKE
\ For the record, what's the writers'?
I'D LIKE to see those writing letters to the editor to bash and complain about Oliver North preface their letters with what they've done in the service of their country. That way, I could compare it with North's service record.
ANDY PETERSON\ ROANOKE
\ Spring will come even to VMI
AFTER reading the March 4 edition of the Roanoke Times & World-News regarding Virginia Military Institute's situation and the kind of weather we've been experiencing, I was left with two very definite thoughts.
First, VMI: No young woman will ever have the true ``VMI experience'' until she's willing, on her first day, to have her head shaved.
Second, the weather: The glorious truth is that there's no earthly power that can stop spring from coming!
FRANCILE B. WRIGHT\ LEXINGTON
by CNB