ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 16, 1996 TAG: 9611180012
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
IN RESPONSE to Lila B. Nester's Nov. 3 letter to the editor, ``Minimum wage is still too low'':
She said that employers, not taxpayers, would be paying to support their employees. In my opinion, Nester didn't finish her story.
An employer faced with an increase as she described of $7 per hour could pay almost 80 percent more in wages. What does the employer do? Either go out of business or raise prices if the business can stand it. That leaves the public (taxpayers) paying for this.
Also, people who earn, say, $10 per hour would want their pay to go up to about $18 per hour. The $20-per-hour people would want $36 per hour, etc. All prices would be raised to the point that many people couldn't make it even on higher salaries.
Back to where you started. No one has ever been able to live off the minimum wage.
BEV R. ROBERTS
SALEM
Still on the plantation
IN RESPONSE to George F. Will's Oct. 28 column, ``Getting off the plantation'':
If Clarence Thomas and Eloise Anderson think they're off the plantation, let them go out on the street in Washington and try to catch a taxi. Or let them go in a restaurant in Virginia - or anywhere in the United States - and see what table they get and how long it takes them to get served. Then they'll know they're still black.
Why did Will not include J.C. Watts, the congressman from Oklahoma, or Ken Hamblin, the "black avenger" radio host? They're race traitors, too. They make Benedict Arnold look like a choir boy.
When the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson or Sen. Jesse Helms handpicks these people to showcase them, it's disgusting beyond words. Gov. George Allen had Kay Cole James doing his baiting in Virginia. It was so revolting that she quit. Thank God!
The media push this freedom-of-speech thing to the limit. As long as you have Will, William Safire, Gordon Liddy, Oliver North, William F. Buckley, Pat Buchanan and Cal Thomas writing this divisive race-tainted stuff, this nation's wounds will never heal.
LANVAN N. REID
ROANOKE
Football team heaps disgrace on Tech
IN YOUR Nov. 8 editorial (``Does Tech need big-time football?''), you say the situation at Virginia Tech ``has descended into - the ridiculous.'' I would say more accurate is shame and embarrassment, if not disgrace.
The large percentage of players on this year's defending Sugar Bowl champion team with criminal charges and convictions is appalling. As a lifelong resident of Virginia, I loathe the fact that the word Virginia precedes Tech Hokies.
However, your newspaper misses the point. Big-time football isn't the cause of Tech's problems. Look at Notre Dame, Penn State and the University of Virginia to see that a powerhouse program can be achieved while also bringing class and dignity to the school.
UVa's Tiki Barber and Hokie Cornell Brown are both All-Americans. But while Barber is the quintessential example of the finest student athlete, Brown's image is now that of a semi-pro football player whose anti-social behavior is tolerated and excused for the sake of ``the program.''
The problems all start at the top, and the philosophy of David Braine and Frank Beamer has put Tech in the woeful company of other football factories such as Miami and Nebraska.
I feel sorry for the majority of good kids at Tech who have given their all for the team, only to see the university not keep up its end of the deal. Regardless of what this squad of Hokies achieves on the field, the players' historical place in infamy and dishonor has been permanently reserved.
DALE BIVENS
ROANOKE
Station's critics are in the minority
IN SPITE of the criticism by Demetri Telionis (Nov. 1 commentary, ``Please, let's have less talk and more good music'') and Agnes Heller (Nov. 12 letter to the editor, ``Less Click, Clack; more good music'') regarding programming at WVTF Public Radio, I think the station's listeners must feel well-served.
If one uses the twice-yearly fund-raising campaigns as a guide, the ambitious goals are always met, the tally of new listeners/contributors continues to climb, and the endowment fund increases also. Perhaps not all listeners enjoy all aspects of the programming, but it would appear that many are pleased enough with the station's overall efforts to put their gratitude in monetary form.
JAN DOWLING
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB