ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 5, 1996 TAG: 9601050013
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
LET'S SEE if we have this right. Keith Austin of Lamar Advertising refused to run a gay-positive billboard. He alleged that a great deal of negative public sentiment had resulted from a previous billboard campaign. He concluded from these responses that gays were not an ``acceptable'' (whatever that may mean) part of the community.
Next, WVTF General Manager Steve Mills is quoted in The Roanoke Times as dropping the program ``Fresh Air'' in part because of its ``hidden agenda to promote homosexuality.'' He, too, cites numerous complaints from the community as having motivated his actions.
So, Roanoke is a ``conservative'' (intolerant?) place where self-appointed censors must be careful to screen out gay-positive material, right?
Yet Valley Metro runs ``Diversity Enriches'' ads and receives only a ``smattering of negative comments.'' Furthermore, a Christiansburg billboard company agrees to run a similar ad there without a moment's hesitation, and a Charleston, W.Va., company did the same this past fall.
What gives? Are Christiansburg and Charleston more civil than Roanoke? Is the Roanoke Valley a place of exceptionable prejudice? Or is the problem not in our community but in our ``censors''?
If it's the former, concerned citizens and public officials had best get to work. If it's the latter, the Roanoke Valley is due a public apology from Lamar and WVTF.
MYER S. REED
ROANOKE
Show respect for U.S. traditions
THE JAN. 1 letter to the editor by Amina Al-Hindi (``Christmas was on display in public schools'') just blew my mind. If people don't like the display of Christmas or our celebration of holidays, they can go back to where they came from. We didn't ask or beg them to come here. They probably came here for a better life or maybe for welfare. The saying goes, ``When in Rome, you do as the Romans do.''
If they're unhappy with what we do here, pack up and get out of Dodge. We don't need people like them to tell us how to celebrate or what we're to do at Christmas or any other time of the year. As far as that goes, we don't need them period!
CATHY BURDETTE
ROANOKE
A bad s cene at the Sugar Bowl
I WAS glad to see Virginia Tech win the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve. It was a great game until the fourth quarter when one of the Tech players did his rude and vulgar act in the end zone when another Tech player scored a touchdown. That ruined the whole game for me.
I hope he sees the replay of the game and sees how uncalled for it was. I think Coach Frank Beamer should see that those acts are stopped.
NORMAN E. CALDWELL
ROANOKE
President Clinton's `kingly oppressions'
IN 1837, Abraham Lincoln wrote to a law partner and explained the main reason for the constitutional limitations on the president's use of our nation's military forces:
"Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our 1787 Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all kingly oppressions; and they resolved so to frame the Constitution that no man should have the power of bringing that oppression upon us."
Where Mr. Lincoln speaks of "war," President Clinton speaks of "peacekeeping." Where Mr. Lincoln noted that a king's deeds were supposedly "for the good of the people," Mr. Clinton's claim is that his are vital to "our national interests," an undefined phrase.
In either case, it is the people who suffer as a result of oppressive actions of their leaders.
DAVID J. LYTLE
LYNCHBURG
Fly-ash problem was preventable
I AM afraid this story (Dec. 24, ``Chief's past returns to haunt DEQ'') is just the tip of the iceberg concerning environmental issues that face the citizens of Virginia as a result of the appointment of Peter Schmidt to head the Department of Environmental Quality.
The unstabilized fly-ash deposited in the Campostella landfill is a crime against the citizens of Virginia, and could have been easily prevented. It is sad, because I believe Mr. Schmidt, Virginia Power and others involved, including the state's DEQ, were aware of the proper procedures for stabilizing fly-ash for use as a fill material.
The story states that Mr. Schmidt's company has a patented formula for stabilizing fly-ash and making it into blocks. This tells me that he was well aware of the proper mixtures needed to stabilize fly-ash residues. Virginia Power is well aware of the need to stabilize fly-ash before disposal, but also is aware that fly-ash can be used as a component of portland cement.
I hope Mr. Schmidt will fully enforce proper procedures and regulations on those in industry who try to take short cuts that result in situations like that at the Campostella landfill. I encourage Gov. Allen to review his own decisions on the protection of the environment in Virginia.
HARRY L. FRANCIS
Technical Manager
National Lime Association
ARLINGTON
LENGTH: Long : 102 linesby CNB