THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608130134
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 226 lines
My husband has recently spent a lengthy time at DePaul Medical Center due to illness. I feel that one should speak kindly about services beyond the call of duty by the nurses at DePaul, specificially the nurses on the second floor west. The new method of ``tender loving care'' in the field of medicine definitely works. We are grateful for their concerned attention.
Mary Hoffman Vellines
E. 41st Street Granby's gymnasium needs renovation, too
Renovating Granby High School with the latest technology without replacing the gymnasium makes as much sense as a homeowner renovating their bathroom with the finest materials and leaving the old toilet. Six City Council members said that I was comparing apples and oranges, comparing the gym with the mall. Council members say they do not dictate how the School Board spends their money. The School Board says Granby is the most expensive project the school system has undertaken. Dr. Nichols said he had to decide, with the available money for Granby, not to renovate the gym.
Every parent of a Norfolk student must support the full renovation of Granby for their school could be the next casualty. The taxpayers of Norfolk must support the full renovation of Granby because school systems strongly measure their cities.
Norfolk's schools are in need of repair, as are too many in Virginia. Common sense predicts that the next school renovation will be more expensive and the cuts more destructive than the school before.
Comparing these apples and oranges is easy (i.e. the city vs. the School Board; the mall vs. the gym; technology vs. physical education and athletic competition; the taxpayers vs. the city's vision of gold; parents vs. everyone). If the City Council supports the full funding of Granby High School with the cooperation of the School Board, I will begin my shopping trips at The Mall.
Barbara L. Webb
Delano Street Downtown's history could repeat itself
The old cliche says, ``If you don't know history, you are bound to repeat it.'' I do not know how many of our present Hampton Roads adults were here when our leaders of Norfolk decided to ``clean up'' Main Street. Well, what does that mean? It meant that a few of the go-go bars, and many places that were simply locker rooms where sailors could change into civvies safely and lock up their uniforms, were to be closed up, and relocated. About the only other place on Main Street considered morally questionable was the Gaiety Theater. This was very famous, well known and patronized by major entertainers of the U.S.A. Probably because an occasional ``stripper'' performed on stage to the delight not only of sailors but to the gentry of all North Carolina and Virginia. It was considered ``evil'' by those who never attended its regular programming. Of course, the presence of one of our finest department stores (W.G. Swartz) made little difference.
At that time, Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing was very busy. It was busy cleaning out the single-family housing of Atlantic City and had completed the housing apartment complex at Monticello and Brambleton avenues for poor and displaced citizens. Well, what was wrong with all the cleaning up? Nothing was wrong for the time being. The employees of Smith & Welton, Ames & Brownley, Naivete, Shulmans, The Hub, Rices and Claytons continued to get off work at their regular hours and take the buses and walk to their parking garages and down to the ferries for Portsmouth and Newport News.
For some reason, the ladies were becoming scared. When the sun went down the customers were fewer, people were not attending the restaurants and theaters as they had been. Of course there had always been a few crimes but they were now more frequent and personal. What was missing? Did the city fathers forget something? The sailors were not downtown anymore. They were now all over town where their go-go places had spread. What difference did this make as it was according to plan? It is all very simple. The Navy's Shore Patrol was no longer downtown and on the buses and every block maintaining order. The entire downtown had forgotten that they had depended upon the Navy for many decades and that an adequate city police had never been necessary and certainly not for the new conditions. Downtown became a dump and still is. Very few, especially ladies, will walk about downtown after dark shopping. Did I say shopping? What's to shop? Now I don't know how much Nordstrom and the planners of the MacArthur Center know about how we got our downtown ``inner city'' but they better take a good look at it and if they don't provide the equivalent of the Navy's Shore Patrol it will be about five years before history repeats itself. This is especially true if a recommended mono-rail (I hope not another light-rail streetcar) system is put in place into the downtown area.
William F. Blair
Norfolk Character lessons important for children
On July 26 our local newspaper informed us that the Norfolk public schools will be offering, initially to the elementary grades, character lessons. This is so important - an approach in the right direction.
Reviewing some of our public school history: Many years ago our government eliminated God and Christian values, which were very much in the schools when I was a student in a Pennsylvania public high school in the 1930s. In those school years my principal read from the Bible to the entire student body at the start of each day. Then, the education approach was designed to look at the whole person - character wise and career wise. Value wise and crime wise, we've experienced so much downward change in the morals of our country between the 1930s and now.
I taught college for 25 years, now long retired. Recently, I wrote a little book directed toward helping teenagers toward a meaningful, purposeful, value wise life. I give this book away to anyone who would like it.
Recently I visited a local high school, and in talking with the principal I offered to tutor students and gave him this book, which I stated focuses on Christian values and career planning. His immediate response - can't use the book because of separation of church and state.
Our country's positive future depends on the character, the value preparedness and career preparedness of our young people.
Let us pray for God's guidance to those in Norfolk who will, mentioned above, teach character lessons to the students, and pray also for school leaders in other cities to present the same for their students.
James M. Lego
Avondale Court 'Government first' is a threat to freedom
Your July 26 front-page story, ``Norfolk OKs character lessons,'' appears to be good news, but your readers should be wary. Our democracy's founders carefully established a government that reflects the morals and character of the people, described by Daniel Webster on Jan. 26, 1830, as: ``The people's government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people.'' Norfolk School Board's ``character education'' will reverse that relationship and put government first, people last; it is a threat to freedom.
Today, behavior is so constrained by government that we are truly free only to have thoughts, moral beliefs and individual character; and to pass our thoughts, beliefs and character to our children. Government has never infringed our inalienable rights to think and raise children; otherwise, we would be the government's people, made for the government, made by the government and answerable to the government. Freedom would be lost. Happily, government has allowed character development to remain in the domain of families, churches and private organizations. Happily, government understands its role in character development is to teach, in public schools, reading, writing, arithmetic, history and other fundamentals. Sadly, Norfolk public schools fail to teach such fundamentals.
As reported by the July 18 Norfolk Compass story, ``Middle schools raise test scores,'' 47 percent of sixth-graders failed the 1996 Literacy Passport Test - that is not success. Such dismal news shouldn't be lauded by the Norfolk School Board, rather, Norfolk public education should dedicate itself to fundamentals. To waste time, money and effort teaching anything else is arrogant.
The result of squandering precious resources on ``character education'' will be tragic: students who don't learn will be illiterate but free, and students who do learn will be literate, but with morals and character oppressed by an obtrusive government. And the dead of Gettysburg, honored by Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 19, 1863, will have died in vain after all: it seems that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall perish from the earth.
David Bose
Bedford Avenue Legislative privilege and its effect on court
I read with interest an article that appeared in your paper sometime back about the legislative privilege afforded to and abused by some members of our General Assembly.
On July 31, I had occasion to be in Norfolk's General District Court, Traffic Division, Court (NU)2, presided over by Judge Cloud. A member of the Commonwealth's Attorney's office was there to handle a felony case against a defendant who was being held in the custody of the Sheriff's Department. There were two Norfolk police officers also present as witnesses. The only problem was the lack of the defense attorney, William P. Robinson.
The prosecutor diligently called Mr. Robinson's office in an attempt to locate the absent attorney only to be told that Robinson was attending some ``conference'' and was unavailable. The prosecutor advised Judge Cloud of his discovery and further told the court that neither his file nor Mr. Robinson's office file contained a letter required by state law in order for this legislator to invoke his much abused privilege.
A check by the court clerk revealed that the court file did not contain this letter either. The young prosecutor also told the judge that Mr. Robinson's office advised him that the defense attorney did not have any available court dates in the month of August, so the Commonwealth would seek a date in September. Judge Cloud commented that he was confident that Mr. Robinson was truly involved in some state business. The Commonwealth's Attorney, however, pointed out to the court that even if that were the case, the law requires that proper written notification be given both to the court and the prosecution. As this was not done, Robinson was not entitled to the privilege.
Then a remarkable thing occurred. This prosecutor asked the court to issue a rule or show cause against the infamous Mr. Robinson for his failure to appear before the court on the pending case in which he is the attorney of record. Judge Cloud's response was for the Commonwealth's Attorney's office to prepare the proper motion in writing and the court would consider it. Consider it? Why does this defense attorney get away with his outrageous conduct? Is it part of the ``good old boy'' system that allows attorneys to close doors to the public when they get complained on? Or perhaps judges are fearful of legislators who must reappoint them to their courts periodically.
Whatever the case, Judge Cloud appeared either unable or more noticeably unwilling to hold Mr. Robinson to the same standards as other people who come before his bench. As for the poor defendant in this case, he was led back to jail in handcuffs to wonder where his attorney was and when his case will be heard.
By the way, even though the court knows Mr. Robinson would be unavailable in August, Judge Cloud continued this case until Aug. 12, 1996. I wonder if Mr. Robinson graced the court with his presence on that date?
Scott Wilson
Faulk Road Strangers' kindness to motorist appreciated
The worst nightmare of a woman driving alone, in a neighborhood unfamiliar (actually I was lost), happened to me a short time ago. But so many strangers stopped to help me that it really calmed me down.
I was looking for the home of a child to be interviewed for her wish from Make-A-Wish Foundation. The directions I was given and my map did not exactly mesh and I was trying to find it. The address was in Chesapeake and I had inadvertently driven into the Berkley area. I had rolled over a railroad spike that flattened my tire with a loud noise.
I stopped to see what my problem was and very soon a young woman stopped to offer help. I have a CB but was shaking so hard I couldn't activate it. She took me to her baby sitter's house where I called the family I was to interview and AAA for road service. This lady took me back to my car.
We saw a Virginia state trooper and frantically waved him down. He was Trooper E.R. Eversole. When I related the steps I had taken he said he could do no more but advised me to stay inside the car as the area was not safe.
The trooper and the lady left and soon after a man from Ford Motor Co. stopped to see if he could help. When I told him, he added that if someone came who looked suspicious to start driving as I could not do more damage to the tire. Shortly after, a trucker stopped to help. He too advised me to stay in the car. Then the volunteer who was to meet me at the child's home came to pick up the information I had with me.
A Norfolk police car was coming toward me. I put my blinker on and she stopped. She offered to radio AAA to see how much longer when the tow truck arrived. The Norfolk police woman, Officer Cando, offered to stay with me to be sure I was able to get on the highway to the bridge and back to my home in Norfolk.
I'm still a bit shaky but am so very grateful for the kindness of so many strangers.
Jane H. Frieden
Oxford Street by CNB