DATE: Monday, November 3, 1997              TAG: 9711030215

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:   91 lines

LETTERS TO EDITOR -- THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

OCEANA

Jet noise a small

price for our freedom

Reading the recent comments about jet noise reminded me of an incident. I was working for a Beach savings and loan and one of my bosses was complaining to a customer about the jet noise from the night before. The customer was a Navy wife. Instead of complaining about the noise, she said, just be thankful they are ours.

So when the jets were flying during the day, I'd say: Yes, I am very thankful you are ours, but could you be just a little quieter? And when they were flying at night, I'd say: Yes, I am thankful, but isn't it time for you to go to bed?

Then one night I was awakened from a deep sleep by jets taking off from Oceana Naval Air Station, and I wondered if we were at war. It was a very frightening feeling.

So now, when I'm tired of the noise, I say: Yes, I am very thankful you are ours. That noise is such a small price to pay for our freedom.

Helen Scruggs

Virginia Beach, Oct. 16, 1997

ENVIRONMENT

Keep motors out

of Minnesota waters

I thoroughly enjoyed Joy Mossman's article chronicling her Girl Scout troop's 10-day trip in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness (``How I Spent My Summer Vacation,'' Daily Break, Sept. 26). The BWCA Wilderness is truly a place where people of all ages can explore the ``canoe country.''

For the past 70 years, the federal government has chosen to implement the strong wilderness protections in the BWCA Wilderness. Protecting this national treasure has allowed millions of people to be able to enjoy the BWCA Wilderness without the roar of motorboats or automobile traffic.

But Congress is considering a proposal, HR 1739, that seeks to increase motorized access to the BWCA Wilderness. HR 1739 would eliminate the phase-out of motorboats on most of Seagull Lake and allow trucks to haul boats on wilderness portages.

The bill will be heard before the House Resources Committee in November. Congressman Owen Pickett (D-2nd District), a member of the Resources Committee, should vote against HR 1739.

Adam M. Sokolski

Community organizer

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness

Minneapolis, Minn., Oct. 14, 1997

ON THE ROAD

Good Samaritans

save the day

Good Samaritans still exist.

Recently, my husband and I were driving home to Emporia when we had car trouble. A young couple going the opposite direction turned around and came back to assist us, and then yet another man stopped to offer assistance. The young couple really went ``the extra mile.''

While we were waiting for wrecker service, another man, W.A.L. Brown II, inspector/investigator for the Chesapeake Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Services, stopped to offer his assistance. He insisted on driving us home from Suffolk to Emporia. He even put our luggage in the car, then took it in the house for us once we arrived home.

Today, when it is so dangerous to offer help, we are grateful for the assistance of all of the above-mentioned Good Samaritans. The experience renewed our faith in humanity.

Margie and Marvin Epps

Emporia, Oct. 14, 1997

LETTERS

Too many cliches?

Touche - and get a life

Concerning the Oct. 12 Report to Readers, ``Dear letter writers: some do's and don'ts'':

Shame on you! The Virginian-Pilot owes its letter writers an apology. The different ways people write, grammatical or not, cliches included, is what makes the letters column great. (Well, maybe not great, but certainly realistic.) It never ceases to amaze me that editors seem to feel that every letter should be grammatically correct, with nary a cliche nor buzz-word. Get real, folks, that's the way people talk.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that not every letter is going to read like it was written by a college professor or a newspaper editor. Your supercilious attitude is going to alienate a lot of people. Get a life! Wake up and smell the coffee. Stop letting the colloquialisms and cliches that people use make your teeth grind.

Have a nice day! Now that one makes my teeth grind! (150 words - TA DA!)

Vel St. Onge

Virginia Beach, Oct. 13, 1997

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu