Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 31, 1994                   TAG: 9408240002
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

WHAT'S WRONG WITH CORPORAL PUNISHMENT?

I submit that the absence of responsible parents with a firm hand in the home - parents whose duty it is to instill a system of morals, values and respect for other people and their property, among other things - is one of the major reasons we have so much teen delinquency and so many criminals in our society today. I deplore child abuse in any form. But if achieving those goals requires some form of appropriate corporal punishment, so be it.

Irrespective of Walker's and Brabham's rationalizations of the biblical reference, the ``spare the rod and spoil the child'' philosophy needs reviving in our society today. If all else fails, maybe there is a place for caning in the United States. Something must be done. It's obvious that the Dr. Spock and bleeding-heart liberalized philosophy doesn't work.

JAMES V. HYLER HARDY

Puzzling questions about Oliver North

MANY OF us have been shocked by pictures and stories of the slaughter of innocent civilians in places like Bosnia and Rwanda. We need to remember that the United States has consistently supported regimes in Central America that have engaged in the same kind of violence. In Guatemala in the early '80s, its own army destroyed more than 400 villages, many of which belonged to the indigenous Mayan peasants. In El Salvador, priests and nuns were killed by their own government forces, even though U.S. officials denied it at the time. In Nicaragua, Contra forces - supported by illegal funds raised by Oliver North - killed religious leaders and destroyed hospitals and schools.

I believe in Christian values, honesty and truth-telling. I believe in justice for all people - the poor, the rich and the powerful. I believe in family values, including equality of women. I haven't heard much about these values in North's campaign for the Senate.

It puzzles me why a person who has such contempt for Congress would want to serve in it. It puzzles me even more why people would want him to shape laws when he's shown so little respect for them.

C. FREEMAN SLEEPER ROANOKE

A comedy show that causes tears

I WAS watching Channel 13 recently when a commercial came on about the ``Roseanne'' show. I saw Roseanne kiss another woman. I got so upset that I cried really hard on my mom's lap.

Channel 13 should be ashamed. I've never watched the show and never will. But, I don't care how late it comes on, kids and adults are going to watch it, and think it's right.

I wrote Channel 13. I hope I changed some minds about ever putting such a thing on a comedy show again. I know there are gays in this world, and that's their life. But putting it on a comedy show is sick. I don't watch television that much, but when I do, is this what I have to watch? If television is this bad now, I can't imagine how it's going to be when I get older.

This stuff needs to be stopped before it gets any worse. I hope this changes some minds, and it won't be on television again.

MINDI HUDSON ROANOKE

Forgotten victory against communism

IN SUPPORT of Korean War veterans, John Warner has introduced legislation to designate July 27 of each year as ``National War Veterans Armistice Day.'' Sen. Warner, who served in the Korean War, has also been active in the planning and construction of the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

Ground was broken for the memorial on April 28, 1993; dedication is planned for July 27, 1995. It's taken our country 40 years to appreciate the significance of the armistice signed in 1953, which stopped the spread of communist aggression to the Pacific Rim countries then and led to the end of communism today throughout Europe.

To many, the Korean War was ``just a police action.'' Even worse, it's been the forgotten war. The memorial will bring recognition to the war and its veterans and will document this forgotten war as a forgotten victory, finally, for the first time.

K. LOUISE PADGETT SALEM

Need health care as good as Congress'

EVERY AMERICAN must have adequate health insurance. The only fair and practical way for those of us who work is through our employers.

Most of the 37 million who don't have insurance get some health care, especially emergency care, major operations or treatments. They don't get much preventive care, and they wait until they're really sick before getting help. They often go to expensive hospital emergency rooms for routine care, and this adds to the cost. Taxpayers, and those who have insurance or who pay cash, pay these costs because providers must add the nonpaying patient's bill to the paying or insured patient's bill.

Ninety percent of the insured get their insurance through their employers. Employers who don't provide insurance are getting a free ride, and are unfairly competing with those who do. Almost half the doctors in private practice provide no insurance for their office employees.

Congressional committees have reported out schemes for covering the unemployed, and for protecting small businesses against unbearable costs.

All Congress members, and almost all federal employees and retirees, are covered by a federal health-insurance plan. (That's about 9 million people). It's administered by a bureaucracy of about 160 people. The employer pays 75 percent of the premiums while the employee pays about $100 a month for family coverage. Many options are available, including doctors chosen freely by the employee. Taxpayers should demand a plan at least as good as the one Congress members have, for which our taxes are paying.

AUGUSTUS C. JOHNSON SYRIA

Peacekeeping isn't intervention

REGARDING your July 13 editorial, ``Wanted: a U.N. fire brigade'':

Your comments regarding a standing U.N. quick-reaction ``intervention'' force are notable for what they didn't say - ``peacekeeping.''

While your proposal has been around for a long time, most journalists (and politicians) have consistently failed to distinguish between intervention and peacekeeping when addressing U.N. military operations.

Intervention is the uninvited use of force to impose desired objectives on specific groups. While peacekeeping operations are actually quite varied, basic principles call for them to be nonviolent and conducted at the invitation of former or potential billigerents who consent to third-party involvement.

There is a place for U.N. intervention forces in world affairs, but it's not peacekeeping. Thanks for getting it right!

DAVID J. LOFGREN SALEM

Roadblocks are justified

TIM Poland, in his diatribe in this newspaper (July 21 commentary, ``Less cheer, more fear''), described a police roadblock as a ``state of terror,'' ``debased,'' ``unwarranted intrusion,'' etc. The verb ``to haul'' means ``to pull with force.'' Did the police ``haul'' Ms. Poland out of the car, or was she simply and courteously asked to step out of the car?

I wasn't there to see what happened, but I submit that the writer is unduly enraged. He says the police were ``without the justification of probable cause, engaged in a large-scale act of intimidation.'' Not true!

If the police pulled over even one drunken driver that night, then I say the roadblock and questioning were justified. They were protecting someone - you, me, our families, and even Poland and his family. If the police had not pulled over that one drunken driver, who is to say whether Poland and his wife would have arrived home safely that night?

LOUISE BLOSS BLACKSBURG