DATE: Sunday, September 14, 1997            TAG: 9709130023

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letters 

                                            LENGTH:  112 lines

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

MUSIC FESTIVAL

Bad manners was reality at Beach

I would like to comment on the Aug. 31 article, ``Team tackles reality at Oceanfront.''

My family and I ventured to the beach with the hopes of enjoying the American Music Festival. We fully expected the large crowds and traffic snarls. But nothing prepared us for the blatant, in-your-face rudeness, hostility and obscene gestures we encountered - from drivers who refused to allow others to merge into traffic to groups of young people who forced my 9-year-old daughter and me to walk in the street with oncoming cars when they would not make space on the sidewalk.

We were dumbfounded by the young men and women who practically undressed on the boardwalk for the sake of someone's camera or by cars stopped in the middle of moving traffic to get a glimpse of scantily clad flesh.

Come on, Virginia Beach, is this the new and improved image you desire? You can call it ``funky-young-multi-ethnic'' fun, but it is just plain bad manners. As a Norfolk resident, I can assure you that we will not be attending your music event again.

Johna M. Stoneking

Norfolk, Sept. 3, 1997

SECURITY

Wards Corner is fighting back

Your Aug. 26 Public Safety page report has done a grave injustice to the Greater Wards Corner Business area. It blows up 1996 statistics when we are nine months into 1997 and have been doing a lot for the improvement of Norfolk's first shopping center.

Police say our area has cleaned up to the extent we no longer need a policeman walking the beat or a bicycle patrol. Working closely with them, we have reduced crime in the business area. Two of our corners have their own security patrol, and another is considering it.

Yes, there is some crime in the residential areas on both sides of Granby Street. The civic leagues are working closely with PACE officers to take back their streets.

The Greater Wards Corner Business Association has worked for over a year with the city to improve Wards Corner, and we feel we are making a difference. We have a task force that meets monthly with city officials to address problems. We formed a partnership with civic leagues, schools, churches, PACE officers and businesses so a positive image can be conveyed.

Eloise B. Myers

President

The Greater Wards Corner

Business Association

Norfolk, Aug. 26, 1997

CRIME

Good neighbor's death a loss to all

With the death of Vincent Peter Stinson, the East Ocean View neighborhood has suffered a real loss. His cruel and senseless murder (news, Aug. 24) is another example of the crime and violence that continue to drain our society and to plague those of us who try to do the right thing in our lives.

Vinnie was the kind of young man that you would be proud to have for a son or a brother. I was honored to have him for a friend. He exemplified all the qualities each of us should have - kindness, compassion and a real respect for everyone he met. He was a good neighbor and a dependable friend.

His death, a needless and pointless death, is a sad commentary on the condition of our society today.

Carol F. Gregory

Norfolk, Sept. 4, 1997

UNIONS

Why I supported the UPS strike

Molly Ivins' Aug. 29 column, ``The media are missing the mark,'' is dominated by reckless disregard for the truth, most notably, her untrue allegation that I was sent to prison for ``false credit-card billings.''

I regard the recent Teamsters strike against UPS, the erstwhile subject of her column, as an important, most-timely part of the struggle to return the United States to those principles which plainly underlie our republic's federal Constitution. During the strike, I urged every patriotic American to support it, because the practices against which the strike was directed express the evil that has taken over much of the economic practice of these United States during the course of the past quarter-century.

Cheating human beings of their right to a decent living, and the looting of our enterprises by the scavengers trick of ``just-in-time'' policies of inventory maintenance, typify these misconceptions that have ruined the living standards of our people, collapsed our government's tax-revenue base and looted our physical economy down to the bone, all for the sake of great speculative short-term paper profits on Wall Street and similar places.

I have fought against these practices for the entirety of my political career and continue to do so, despite my lying detractors, to this day.

Lyndon LaRouche

Norfolk, Sept. 5, 1997

ALMANAC

Don't forget role of the Coast Guard

Why is it that when an article is written about the military in Hampton Roads, the Coast Guard is seldom mentioned? In the Hampton Roads Almanac 1997 (Sept. 7), an entire article dealt with the Navy.

I understand that the Navy plays a major role in the local economy and community. But as a 16-year Coast Guard veteran, it irritates me to know firsthand the contributions of the Coast Guard in this area and not see any mention of this vital military service in an article about the military in this area.

What would Portsmouth do if the Coast Guard presence there was lost? Would the buildings in downtown Norfolk be full if the Coast Guard had not chosen this area to relocate its Atlantic Area and Logistics commands from New York?

True, it's a small service; those of us in the Coast Guard wouldn't have it any other way. But no other service shares its type of responsibility. The area would lose an important asset without the U.S. Coast Guard. More effort should be put forth to recognize this fact.

Michael P. Steverson

DC1, U.S. Coast Guard

Chesapeake, Sept. 8, 1997

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