DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 1997               TAG: 9703180012

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:  148 lines

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

EDUCATION

Not all students

were a no show

The education page of the new section, Hampton Roads, is a long-awaited and mostly positive component of your paper. However, the seven of us who teach business at Maury High School feel compelled to take exception to one item on the March 7 page, ``Students a no show.''

Future Business Leaders of America is a nonprofit educational association with over 250,000 members throughout the United States and overseas. The students who participate are some of the finest we see come through our halls.

We believe that evaluating 250,000 students on behavior of three students is unfair. Was the reporter, Lorraine Eaton, aware that several hundred other students attended that same event at Norfolk Technical Vocational Center, competing quite successfully?

We don't know why the three finalists she was to judge did not appear. We do know the rest of the finalists who were there to accept their awards were focused, well-mannered students.

We are truly sorry Ms. Eaton traveled to North Military Highway in vain. However, we wish she had taken the time to look around and visit with the several hundred students who did show.

Irene Bolinaga

Donna May

Roberta Rakestraw

Susan Howell

Mendee Kiser

Nicholas Platt

Judith Scharle

Maury High School

Norfolk, March 7, 1997

GOOD SPORTS

A special cheer for

the Lady Monarchs

My letter is in regard to the ODU Lady Monarchs basketball team. I've seen them play and, in my opinion, they are certainly the No. 1 team in the nation. Several times in the past month I've had the opportunity to be with Coach Larry and the team as they were involved with the local Special Olympians.

The latest event was the Del Purdin Invitational Basketball Tournament at the Little Creek Amphibious Base on Feb. 8. The Lady Monarchs arrived early, in time for the opening ceremonies, but the involvement didn't stop there. The ladies stayed to sign autographs, participate in photo opportunities, offer handshakes, do one-on-one warm-ups and participate in many other activities. They stayed from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., just prior to going to their own practice at the fieldhouse.

No matter what the outcome of the NCAA championships, these ladies and this team are already a phenomenal success. We in Special Olympics look forward to always being able to cheer for them.

Robert S. Miller III

President

Virginia Beach Special Olympics

Virginia Beach, Feb. 21, 1997

POLITICS

See you at the polls

As registered voters in Virginia, we will make no further contributions to the RNC, DNC, to any PAC or similar organization or to any political candidate at the federal, state or local level until strong, meaningful campaign-finance-reform legislation becomes the law of the land.

Our future decisions at the polls will give heavy weight to the actions taken by candidates to rectify the outrageous abuses in the present campaign-finance system.

James R. Cannon

Alice J. Cannon

Virginia Beach, March 5, 1997

CAMPAIGNS

Let's put ``truth''

in contributions

The best solution to the campaign-finance-reform mess is to pass a truth-in-contribution law similar to the truth-in-lending statutes that apply to consumer credit transactions.

Ban anonymous contributions to PACs (political action committees) and political party ``soft-money'' coffers. Allow contributions from individual U.S. citizens to individual candidates and make these contributions a matter of public record.

The Federal Election Commission could then audit candidates' financial records to ensure they didn't spend more money than contributed by individuals.

U.S. citizens have the right to their own political opinions and to put their ``money where their mouth is.'' They and the candidates they contribute to should also have the courage to have those opinions displayed for everyone to see.

D. V. McCrary

Virginia Beach, March 10, 1997

ENTITLEMENTS

Cut programs,

not annuities

Adjustments to the Consumer Price Index that slow the rate at which annuity payments to Social Security and civil service/military recipients increase is not the correct way to balance the federal budget. To do so would create undue hardships; everyone, working and retired, must deal with the realities of increasing state and local taxes, higher utilities, higher gas and oil prices.

There are other, more effective ways to reduce the federal deficit. I would suggest a close overview of how and why federal officials travel, reduce or eliminate foreign aid, review all departmental programs and subject them to strict cost-effective analysis.

Eventually, we all reach retirement age. I am sure you don't want to drift into a life ending in abject poverty.

John R. Nofplotes

Norfolk, March 7, 1997

VIRGINIA BEACH

Senior community

needs our support

I have lived in Virginia Beach and old Princess Anne County since 1942. Since Virginia Beach is my home and such a fine place to live, I prefer to stay here. The current lack of desirable areas for retired seniors to live locally has caused me to seriously consider other places that have communities designed specifically for seniors. My visits to Del Webb's Sun City in Nevada have shown me just how desirable a senior community would be.

Baymark Construction is proposing to build a complete, self-contained retirement community, Coastal Green, for seniors in Virginia Beach. This project is planned for an area south of the Green Line, which will require changes to the Virginia Beach master plan. As planned, the project would preserve the existing wetlands and add virtually no pollution to the river.

For those who may be interested in this project, a request to modify the master plan to approve Coastal Green may be presented to the Virginia Beach City Council as early as April 1997.

James B. Loftin

Virginia Beach, March 10, 1997

EDUCATION

Concentrate on

English skills

Concerning Glenn Allen Scott's March 5 column on education:

Why not eliminate the need for foreign-language credits for high school graduation and college admission? Foreign-language instruction is better left to college-level courses.

Colleges continually decry the lack of English skills in high school grads and are forced to provide remedial English classes. Elimination of high school language classes would free up time and classroom space for more intense English instruction.

Foreign-language skills learned in high school are soon forgotten. Furthermore, businesses do not require language skills for entry-level positions but, like colleges, they sure look for good English speaking and writing abilities.

Manny Rojo

Virginia Beach, March 8, 1997

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