ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150040
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
SO, SOUTHWEST County has now become overcrowded. What a shame. And now residents there are asking all the county to help with the cost of a new high school. Southwest residents keep to themselves until they can't foot the bill for a $32-million-plus high school. The rest of the county doesn't ``equal'' the Southwest until it wants our tax money.
I lived in Southwest County for more than 20 years, and graduated from Cave Spring High School. I never realized the injustice to the rest of the county until I moved to North County, the ``poor area'' of Roanoke.
Because of my children, I see firsthand the differences among the schools and recreation clubs. The county has no money to maintain a small baseball field behind my children's school, but, gracious, look at the park behind Penn Forest. What a difference! But, wow, we got four new ball fields right behind the morgue off Peters Creek Road. My children's classrooms are overcrowded - but we live in North County, so that's OK.
Perhaps some of the older, established neighborhoods in Southwest County should have asked the supervisors and School Board where students were going to attend school before all the building occured on Bent Mountain. And, most importantly, where was the money to come from? Because of the county's lack of planning, are all residents to be penalized? Are all school projects started before this issue arose to be penalized if all county residents don't vote yes?
I know property value is higher (therefore, more tax money is collected ) in the 24018 zip code than in the rest of the county. But, hey, you Southwest County residents knew that when you bought there. Don't expect your ``poor relatives'' to be overly excited about this project, whether you get it or not.
CYNTHIA VAUGHT
ROANOKE
Keep psychiatry out of the courts
I READ the news article, ``Man arrested near Capitol says he merely took a wrong turn,'' in your Feb. 8 newspaper. Let's assume Tineen Howard really made an honest mistake. The article states that he'll be charged with reckless driving when released after a psychiatric examination and treatment.
According to the book ``The Reign of Error,'' by Dr. Lee Coleman, a practicing psychiatrist, every year more than 1 million Americans are forced to enter mental hospitals and undergo dangerous psychiatric treatments they never agreed to, and thousands accused of crimes - though not convicted - are confined in mental institutions.
Coleman claims these abuses occur because states give psychiatrists this power, even though they don't have valid scientific tools or expertise for its justification. He says psychiatrists don't have tests to determine a person's innermost thoughts, as courts assume. Certain tests are applied to diagnose and treat mental diseases, but they may be wrong.
Although some psychiatrists see mental disorder as a sign of a troubled life rather than a troubled brain, Coleman says psychiatrists are trained to prescribe medications that are only justified when behavioral or mental symptoms are the result of medical conditions.
In his practice, Coleman sees daily how the art (not science) of therapy can help people. However, he says helping people who seek it is one thing; using power to control their lives is another. He emphasizes that since psychiatry can't measure a person's mind, it has no business in courts controlling their lives. He says that when society stops relying on psychiatry to resolve problems it cannot solve, we'll begin finding and using alternative, more effective approaches.
Howard may be in a lot of unnecessary and unwarranted trouble.
CHARLES E. MARCUM
BEDFORD
Community gave from the heart
I WRITE this letter to commend the entire Roanoke Valley community for the outpouring of residents' generosity and gracious spirit toward the Leftwich and Duncan families in their tragic loss on Jan. 20. As you know, four children - Mark, Clyde, Patrick and Nancy Leftwich - and their grandmother, Christine Duncan, lost their lives in this house fire.
Only minor funeral expenses are left to be paid because of donations made by Oakey's Funeral Home (all services, caskets and embalming), Frank Roupas (cemetery plots), Evergreen Cemetery (vaults), Gerry's Florist (casket sprays) and The Roanoke Times (obituaries).
This fire destroyed all of the family's belongings, leaving the children's mother, Patricia Leftwich, with nothing. Through the Patricia Leftwich Fund, which was established through Belmont Baptist Church, she will be able to establish a home again.
These five lives will never be replaced, nor will be family pictures and relics. But because of the community's generous response, this family can begin the process of putting its lives back together.
You gave from the depths of your hearts and lives. Many of you gave when you could have used the resources yourselves. May God bless.
WAYNE CLAY HARRISON
Pastor
Belmont Baptist Church
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB