ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607290087
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
HENRY WIESEN'S July 20 letter to the editor, ``Public bus service isn't practical,'' is a perfect example of the narrow-minded nonsense that impedes the path of mass-transit systems in countless American cities.
In applying a simplistic (and factually erroneous) mathematical formula to Valley Metro's ratio of passengers to subsidies, Wiesen - and too many people like him - ignores the only two calculations that can be fairly applied to transit:
Mass transit, like police and fire protection, is an essential public service in any civilized urban area. Like all essential services, it requires public funding.
Those who use all forms of transportation - from a pedestrian on a neighborhood sidewalk to car commuters crammed on a freeway to passengers on a jumbo jet - are subsidized by various levels of government. The persistent illusion that transit is somehow unique in requiring public subsidy works to the detriment of transit systems across the nation.
Without public support for that subsidy, and legislative support for the metropolitan fuel-tax proposal, mass transit in this area will suffer - to the detriment of the Roanoke Valley and all its people.
MITCHELL L. MENDELSON
ROANOKE
Government takes aim at fathers
CONCERNING the July 20 article, ``Paternity pursuit perplexes man'':
Did you know that the people of Hitler's Germany used to think the doings of the Gestapo were a necessary evil? Much the same way you and your readers seem to view the doings of child-support enforcement. Everything is fine as long as you're not a Jew (or an unwitting father).
I can't tell you how strongly I oppose this government's use of force against peaceful people and the complacent masses who passively let it happen.
This insanity must stop! Men have no control over women. If you're going to hold a man responsible for his children, give him his children, not a debt and an ultimatum to pay it.
JOHN N. SMILEY
ROANOKE
Bowles earned an event of honor
REGARDING your July 18 article, "Should council have hot time on your dime?":
I am moved to respond with embarrassment for the great majority of Roanoke's citizens.
Could we possibly have elected Elizabeth Bowles for five terms on Roanoke City Council unless we took note of her great value and without placing our trust in her? Had she retired from a large company, would an evening of similar quality for her have received such criticism? It makes me remember that those who do not earn criticism are those who do not do anything.
Sure, we paid for it. One evening for her from us compared with 20 years for us from her - big deal!
I was there playing piano dinner music as a volunteer, and was very honored to do so. I ate at home, and was very proud to be a part of the evening.
WILLIAM W. FIELD JR.
ROANOKE
Flag's significance was missed again
REGARDING James P. Armstrong's July 16 letter to the editor, ``New South may reflect Ashe's values'':
He is still confused concerning the meaning of the Confederate flag. It isn't a conclusion one comes to because protesters carried it to the ceremony, but a meaning you carried there on your own.
The Ashe statue on Monument Avenue will forever be a reminder of a division of people, simply because of the real reasons it was placed there. Ashe's remarkable career as a tennis player will be the last thought remembered. A park dedicated to athletes is where it should have been, free of any controversy.
The Confederate flag was carried to Monument Avenue to remember the violent barbarism our nation perpetrated on thousands of white people also. The Old South doesn't recall its darkest days with nostalgia. The very examples Armstrong wishes to use against the Confederate flag were also going on under the Union flag, and many would say still are.
A Southern apologist? Not here, sir. Southern states saw brutal death and starvation, a form of ``ethnic cleansing'' on the white population. Armstrong shouldn't wait for the Confederate flag to be ``put away.'' He will never live that long.
PEGGY ALDHIZER
President, Order of Confederate Rose
Lucy Breckenridge Chapter No. 2
GOODVIEW
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB