Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 14, 1995 TAG: 9502140088
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
This nation was founded on the principle of liberal democracy, which is a combination of two theories: liberalism (individual rights) and democracy (popular sovereignty). But today, liberal democracy is under assault by ``cultural democracy,'' which sails under the various flags of multiculturalism, diversity, political correctness, feminism, racism, globalism, etc.
Cultural democrats believe ``disadvantaged'' groups have more rights than individuals, and majority rule often needs to be circumvented because the majority of people do not favor ideas of cultural democrats (for example, hiring quotas). Thus, public-school bureaucrats are trying to defeat charter schools. These cultural democrats want to ensure that only their revisionist view of the world is taught in public schools.
As scholar John Fonte has stated, ``We are in the midst of a great ideological conflict between two incompatible world views ... [T]he internal challenge from cultural democracy may prove to be liberal democracy's greatest test.''
KATHY WILLIAMS
ROANOKE
Greed is killing the sport of hunting
WHEN I was a boy, my father taught me the art of hunting, rules of conservation, and to have respect for the game that I was pursuing and for the outdoors. I've never forgotten those lessons of hunter ethics.
To take more than you need is wrong; to kill for the sake of killing is unforgivable. The sportsman's dollar is responsible for conservation programs, which have increased deer herds across the state. The limits reflect this increase.
When I was in my teens, Giles County's limit was one deer per year. This year, if you were lucky and willing to buy extra tags, you could have taken 170 deer. Even if no one ever tries to do this, it's wrong for the state to make it possible. This type of limit falsely represents the overall status of the state's deer population. It also fosters some very poor hunter practices, and a loss of respect for the game animal. This yields many lost animals, which fuels the fire for anti-hunters.
I'm afraid the state has forgotten its purpose and is possessed with the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Now, we buy a license to hunt, a special archery tag, a muzzleloading tag and bonus tags. It's $12 a pop for the resident hunter. What season will be next? I'm convinced that if the state can get an extra $12 from the sportsman/woman, it will devise a new one.
I've seen deer herds diminish in areas where I hunt. I'm convinced that only true sportsmen/women can curb this killing craze. The state no longer cares what you take as long as you buy a tag. Does it make you a better hunter to kill 10 deer per year as opposed to two? No. The only reason to take more is that you actually need the meat. Most of us aren't that bad off yet.
I love to hunt and now realize that if I don't protect my sport, no one else will. At one time, very few deer were here. The trend is returning to those numbers. We cannot continue to harvest game at this rate and expect the sport to survive.
MIKE HARRELL\ PEARISBURG
More prisons are not necessary
THIS NEWSPAPER published my letter entitled "Three in a cell no great hardship" on Oct. 6.
I received more telephone calls endorsing this letter than any I've ever written. Yet our representatives are at a deadlock, arguing that to abolish parole for hardened criminals, we'd have to build more prisons.
My letter reminded us that in World War II, three Navy men shared one cell and the same bed by eight-hour shifts - one for sleeping, one for hard work, and one for organized recreation, study and appropriate training.
A veteran friend of mine reminded me that it wasn't just Navy men nor in World War II that our soldiers ``did not have Holiday Inn accommodations,'' but four-tier bunk beds that were shared with your nose against the one above, and no shifts!
All responses to the letter were enthusiastically pro, yet our representatives and governor's office haven't heard us. More tax money for building more prisons isn't needed, and parole for hard criminals should be abolished, thereby containing repeat crimes.
GERTRUDE H. SIGMON
FERRUM
Disabled also need quality education
REGARDING Patricia P. Hammond's Jan. 17 Readers Forum letter to the editor, ``Allen's proposals are on target'':
I was appalled to read how little regard she has for ``special-needs people.'' She stated, ``We're so overloaded with special programs for the special-needs people that we do very little to help the average and above-average people, who will do more for our country than the others.''
Obviously, she didn't put much thought into her statement. Albert Einstein had dyslexia, Mark Twain had a learning disability, Samuel Johnson had Tourette's syndrome, Helen Keller was blind and deaf, and Franklin Roosevelt was president of the United States in spite of his physical disabilities. Are we to believe these people and many others like them contributed nothing to our country?
Two misconceptions are that we're ``overloaded'' with special programs and that it costs more to educate a special-needs child. Some programs are regional. For instance, Roanoke receives funds from other localities for their students to attend our programs. Local schools receive state funding for special-education students based on numbers. If a child exits special education, the funding is reduced. On the other side, how many Governor Schools and programs for the gifted are there? Some students are learning to fly. The city is considering $10,000 for a chess club this year, and another $10,000 for next year.
I have a disabled daughter and three above-average children. As a parent and taxpayer, I expect the same quality education for all my children. All children set goals for themselves. For the disabled, the goals may be to achieve things in their daily lives that non-disabled children take for granted. However, they're just as important for a rich, full life that we want for our children, disabled and non-disabled alike.
I struggle with problems involved in educating my daughter in the regular classroom. However, it's very important that disabled children be educated alongside their non-disabled peers. One reason is so that in the future there may be fewer people as narrow-minded as Hammond.
LINDA LANG
ROANOKE
Market value, but is it fair?
I TAKE issue with Lee B. Eddy's Jan. 17 letter to the editor (``Assessments match market value'').
He said the average assessment increase was 3.3 percent, and that assessments are supposed to match market value. Do they match fair market value?
He stated also that the property-tax rate hasn't changed recently. Man, that's far out of sight. For me, the increase was huge for a one-year period, and it hurts even more since I'm retired. If the rate didn't change, then who was that dirty, rotten coward who raised it on me? I bet it was the computer.
WAYNE E. GIBSON
ROANOKE
Giving family values a '90s spin
``FAMILY values'' of the '90s:
A father's love is measured by the amount of money he gives his children.
Poverty is illegal. (Our ``war'' on poverty has changed nothing but the laws, making some feel guilty and others superior.)
The shotgun wedding is now called child-support enforcement.
Women can't be trusted with a choice, but we trust them with the child.
A man can have all the children he wants as long as they're not his own.
Families are dependent victims, and government is their savior.
For every single parent, there's a displaced parent. One good guy, one bad guy; case closed.
Kind of scary, isn't it?
JOHN N. SMILEY
ROANOKE
by CNB