May 31, 2007
Coming Sunday: Any individual who engages in and profits from the practice of invading and clogging computers with junk e-mail ought to be prosecuted as severely as the concocter of any criminal conspiracy.
The arrest this week of “Spam King” Robert Alan Soloway for allegedly using “botnets,” networks of computers, to send out millions of spam e-mails, is a welcome sign in the fight against computer crime. But some other nefarious n'er do well is likely lurking, ready to take his place.
The university researchers who want to scrap the Internet and start over clearly are onto something.
For Friday: Downtown merchants think that the city will cut into their business by doing away with free parking in the garages at nights and on Saturdays. Businesses need to do more than complain and help come up with a solution.
For our Sunday NRV Current editorial, we're writing about Christiansburg Sunset Cemetery. The town should take over management of the facility lest it become a blight on the community.
Buying swampland
Behind all the eye-rolling in Botetourt County, residents who need a wider highway might give some thought to the need for wetlands, too.
Drivers who regularly negotiate the two, twisting lanes of pavement that are U.S. 220 north of Eagle Rock in Botetourt County must be sorely tempted to deride Virginia's transportation department. At least a few are in full cry: Instead of widening their road, the geniuses at the Virginia Department of Transportation are building a swamp alongside.
Read more.
A ruling for employers, not employees
Limiting workers' ability to sue for pay bias limits protection against all types of discrimination.
We cannot resist the temptation to quote chapter and verse from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's stinging dissent in a ruling Tuesday that workers cannot sue their employers for pay discrimination if allegations are based on years-old events.
Read more.
A few ideas to defenestrate
John Long
Long, director of the Salem Museum and a history teacher at Roanoke College, is a Roanoke Times columnist.
Let's call this feature "My Meandering Mind" -- some short observations and questions that aren't enough to fill a normal column, but are worth some consideration.
Read more.
Global trade and global competition
Brian J. Moran
Moran is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and previous recipient of the Tech-10 award from the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
In 1957, the Soviet Union sent a satellite into space and claimed the lead over the United States in the space race, but America and the American people rose to the challenge and won the race to the moon. During my visit to India last month on the governor's trade mission, I saw firsthand that this different kind of race in today's global economy provides a challenge that is no less daunting.
Read more.
Thursday's letters can be read here.
May 30, 2007
On Thursday, we'll be writing about VDOT's "swamp" off of U.S. 220 in north Botetourt County. Virginia's transportation department is building wetlands next to the two-lane highway, long scheduled for widening and long delayed. To some county residents, VDOT's latest project seems stupid. But it's not.
For Thursday: We are tempted to quote chapter and verse from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s stinging dissent in a court ruling Tuesday that workers cannot sue their employers for pay discrimination if allegations are based on years-old events.
Because she is so very right.
The 5-4 decision underscoring the limit on pay discrimination claim filings to within 180 days of the alleged unlawful employment practice, Ginsburg said, ignores the real-world employment practices that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was meant to govern.
An upcoming editorial will laud Salem schools for requiring high school students to understand basic finance before graduation. Would that all teens -- and adults -- understand debt, credit and financial statements.
For my Sunday column, I'm writing about the Blacksburg Citizen's Institute. For the last two months I've had the pleasure of joining Blacksburg residents learning about their local government. It was a great program others should try.
More twists on Mill Mountain
Development atop Mill Mountain is still possible. Despite objections from key players, Roanoke City Council will still accept proposals for an inn.
The Fishburn family already told Roanoke City Council that it opposes developing Mill Mountain Park. Their objections haven't stopped council from seeking proposals from developers to place an inn atop the city's prominent landmark.
Read more.
Homosexuals' blood could save lives
The FDA should lift its ban on gay blood donors.
Every summer, the Red Cross announces critical blood shortages as road trips and lawn mowers send Americans to hospitals in need of transfusions. Yet the federal government needlessly excludes some potential donors from helping fill the gap. Gay and bisexual men may not roll up their sleeves.
Read more.
Missions' clinics provide needed care
Mary Bishop
Bishop lives in Roanoke and is a retired newspaper reporter.
If you wondered what's happening to poor and working-class people in Southwest Virginia, the scene at the Roanoke Civic Center in early May spoke volumes. People waited outside all night for a precious place in line at the Missions of Mercy free dental clinic. In two days, more than 1,100 people received care. At least 400 were turned away. By 6 a.m. each day, the marquee read "Clinic full."
Read more.
Wednesday's letters can be read here.
May 29, 2007
It arrived on my desk in a small stack of mail, with a May 9, Jacksonville, Fla., postmark and no return address.
A standard, business-size envelope, full of hate. Sent anonymously, with an intended dose of creepiness.
Sent, I guess, by someone surfing the Net for journalists, someone with an agenda to advance and enough time and spare postage to educate people about "the truth."
For Wednesday: Those who thought the Fishburn heirs opposition to developing Mill Mountain killed the idea are mistaken. The city is still seeking proposals.
For Wednesday, we're writing about blood donors. Despite requests from the nation's blood donation organizations that gay men be allowed to donate blood, the Food and Drug Administration last week rejected the idea. Blood is in short supply, and expanding the donor base by allowing gay men can be done safely.
Restore the Earth; turn green
An industrialist -- a carpetmaker, no less -- is on a crusade for sustainability. If business is to drive this revolution, consumers can help.
Roanokers should be familiar with the idea of sustainable building. The 2004 C2C -- "cradle to cradle" -- home design competition in the city drew 625 entries from architects around the world. Each attempted to envision an eco-friendly, affordable home that could be a model for the future.
Read more.
Continuing the journey to build I-73
The time to weigh in on I-73's preferred route has passed. Concentrate now on winning funding.
Good news for proponents of Interstate 73: State officials have included funds in a draft transportation budget to continue making the plans become reality. The draft contains line items of $9.5 million for Martinsville and $2.8 million for Roanoke. True, it does, as Henry County Administrator Benny Summerlin said, "seem like an awful small amount of money" when stacked up against the estimated $4.3 billion needed to build the new interstate.
Read more.
Improve educational opportunities for Hispanic children
Sharon Saldarriaga
Saldarriaga is the state director for Telamon Corp. and also serves on the board of the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations in Richmond. The Virginia Forum
Virginia's Hispanic population is steadily growing. In fact, from 1990 to 2004 the share of babies born in the commonwealth to Hispanic mothers grew from 3 percent to 11 percent. But are we doing enough to ensure that these children start their educational path off right?
Read more.
What if we had reached out to Cho?
William L. Ayres
Ayres lives in Christiansburg.
Much has been written since the mass murder of 32 innocent victims on the Virginia Tech campus. Many ideas have been suggested as to how best to ensure a safe learning environment for the students on our college campuses. Some have already been or are in the process of being implemented.
Read more.
Tuesday's letters can be read here.
May 28, 2007
You can quote me on that
By Ray Stubblefield
have two home pages, one with Yahoo and the other with Google. You can personalize these pages to the nth degree. The number of options is incredible. I use Yahoo mainly for news, weather and e-mail, and Google for searches and my work. But a lot of my Google page has just fun, neat stuff, especially with the graphics interface.
Read more.
Excellence will continue to define nursing program
Robert Sandel
Sandel is president of Virginia Western Community College.
For nearly 35 years, the nursing program at Virginia Western Community College has played a vital role in the region's health care network, producing nurses that we all depend on to keep our children, our parents and ourselves healthy. As president of the college, I write to clarify the issues raised in your May 15 editorial about the nursing program's accreditation ("Nursing students kept in the dark").
Read more.
Monday's letters can be found here.
Remembering those who sacrificed
This Memorial Day, we honor the Americans who died in service.
Memorial Day originated after the Civil War. An organization of Union veterans established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to adorn the graves of the war's dead. Many Southern states refused to participate for decades. They preferred their own Confederate observances, many of which are still marked today.
Read more.
May 27, 2007
Remember the fallen and why they fell
By Tommy Denton
Equally important this Memorial Day weekend in honoring those who perished in the nation's military services is remembering the ultimate purpose for which they put on the uniform.
Read more
Bound in friendship by tragedy
Jim Carney
Carney, of Sterling, is the parent of Katelyn Carney, one of the survivors of the German class held in Norris Hall.
The horrific events at Virginia Tech on April 16 have scarred the campus, nearby community and the consciousness of unsuspecting thousands everywhere. The response of the people and communities of Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Christiansburg and surrounding areas has been overwhelming in compassion and support.
Read more
Center loves the market, too
Jim C. Sears
Sears is president and general manager of Center in the Square.
It seems everybody is talking about the Roanoke City Market. Even though some of the conversations contain criticism leveled at us here at Center in the Square, it is gratifying to hear so much concern, passion and energy in a discussion about our neighborhood. Roanokers clearly treasure their unique, historic downtown.
Read more
Sunday's letters can be found here.
How do you spell relief?
Certainly not S-H-E-L-L, or E-X-X-O-N - M-O-B-I-L. In Congress, proposed relief has been rebuffed.
Just as surely as American flags are brought out to mark Memorial Day, prices at the gas pump rise and give members of Congress their annual bout of indigestion.
Congress has proposed some gas relief to quiet Americans pain at the pumps.
Read more
Let the bands, and the people, play
Franklin County's noise ordinance needs limits that are reasonable for both residents and bands.
Somewhere between the decibel levels of a whisper and a jackhammer is a level that a rock band and Smith Mountain Lake residents can live with, peaceably.
Read more
Learning a tough lesson the hard way
Christiansburg finds that growth doesn't pay for itself.
Christiansburg is learning a tough lesson other cities and towns around the nation have already discovered: Growth rarely pays for itself. Read more
Talking point
"The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics -- it is not a strategy to make America safe. It is a bumper sticker, not a plan. It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world."
-- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards in a foreign policy speech at the Council on Foreign Relations last week.
May 26, 2007
A work of art will hold Roanoke's collection
Ann Masters
Masters, of Roanoke County, is a conservationist and director of the Clean Valley Council.
I read Kaitlin Grove's letter to the editor about the new art museum's construction, her critical view of the design and her desire for it to be like the surrounding buildings (May 22, "New museum is shaping up oddly").
Now don't get me wrong, but a lot of Roanoke's buildings are just not that old or elegant.
Read more
Saturday's letters can be found here.
A little less muck in the swamp
Bundling disclosure requirement is a decent start toward lobbying reform. But Democrats still have a long way to go to clean things up.
Democrats retook control of Congress promising to "drain the swamp." But it was starting to look like there was another, deeper swamp underneath the old one.
Read more.
Park the trolley
Add another voice to the chorus of opinion on the future of downtown Roanoke -- that of a Brookings Institution fellow who sees the clang-clanging of trolleys as a great boon to urban development in the city.
Read more
May 25, 2007
For Tuesday we will comment on the state's draft transportation budget that includes $9.3 million for contruction of a few miles of Interstate 73 near Martinsville and $2.8 million for work in Roanoke.
Add another voice to the chorus of opinion on the future of downtown Roanoke - that of a Brookings Institution fellow who sees the clang-clanging of trolleys as a great boon to urban development in the city.
But bringing trolleys back to the streets of Roanoke is estimated to cost the city $8 million - $10 million from the federal government. If the aim is to improve the city's public transporation system - a valid need - then surely that money could be better spent.
Time to raise the gas tax
State and federal coffers are falling short. To avoid certain shortfalls in transportation funding, the gas tax must be increased.
No lawmaker will win any popularity contests by proposing a gas tax increase at a time when a gallon of regular is averaging $3.22. But an gas-tax hike at both the state and federal levels, however unpopular, needs to be seriously considered. Both are weak funding streams destined to become even less reliable if lawmakers don't muscle up the guts to raise them.
Read more.
Fix the fractured mental health system
Virginia mental health officials and the ill need unified standard procedures
A tremendous breach in Virginia's mental health system came to light in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, and state leaders immediately must do all within their power to correct the deficiency.
Read more.
With silence, schools fail the community
Ishwar K. Puri
Puri is professor and department head of engineering science and mechanics at Virginia Tech.
If there is something that I have learned over the past month, it is the value of candor. I was on the second floor of Norris Hall on April 16, heard the tragedy unfold, lived through its aftermath, grieved, provided both counsel and counseling, and am still helping find solutions to the critical predicaments that it has posed.
Read more.
SCC ruling unfair to company and customers
Dana Waldo
Waldo is president and chief operating officer of Appalachian Power Company.
During nearly 30 years in the electric utility business, I have never felt compelled to publicly respond to an action by a regulatory body. Today, I do. And, I do so respectfully on behalf of every Appalachian Power employee and its shareholders.
Read more.
Friday's letters can be read here.
May 24, 2007
The outcome of a case against the co-owner of a Smith Mountain Lake nightspot proves that Franklin County's year-old noise ordinance falls short of its broad intent to police amplified noise.
Christiansburg is learning a tough lesson: Growth doesn't pay for itself. Despite an expanding tax base, taxes are probably going to have to increase to keep up with the demand for services.
For Friday: In the wake of the Tech shootings, it was discovered that no one from New River Valley Community Services knew the Seung-Hui Cho was ordered to undergo mental health treatment. The local community service board is reviewing its procedures. So, too must the state to ensure a uniform approach throughout Virginia.
Breach of privacy
The AMA sells data that allows drug companies to know what your doctor prescribes for you. The practice should stop.
What medicine your doctor prescribes for you is between you and your doctor -- and the pharmaceutical company that makes a competing drug, of course.
Read more.
A library lives in Craig County
But its survival depends upon continued support from the community and from local government.
Until recently, Craig County residents were deprived of having a library. Thanks to the county board of supervisors, they may not have to go without again.
Read more.
Give kids the gift of reading
Linda Whitlock
Whitlock, a Roanoke Times columnist, is an adjunct English professor who lives in Salem.
I am Hank the Cowdog. Really! I'm also Pete, the Barncat; Wallace, the buzzard; Rip and Snort, the coyote brothers; Beulah, the lovely collie and a host of other characters who populate John Erickson's "Hank the Cowdog" series of children's books.
Read more.
Falwell was a great man with vision
Mark DeMoss
DeMoss worked for the Rev. Jerry Falwell from 1984 to 1991. He is chairman of the executive committee of the board of trustees at Liberty University and the author of "The Little Red Book of Wisdom."
Tuesday in Lynchburg, I said goodbye to a man nearly everyone had an opinion about, so I'll give you mine. Jerry Falwell was one of the greatest men I've ever known, and I knew him for 30 years. After my father died in 1979 at the age of 53 (I was just 17), Jerry became like another father to me and treated me like one of his sons.
Read more.
Little comfort in mining company's intentions
Wayne Pickens
Pickens works as an engineer at a semi-conductor company and lives in north Botetourt County.
With respect to the potential shale mining operation in north Botetourt County, I and my fellow county residents may all now rest in the comfort of knowing that General Shale has spoken through The Roanoke Times ("Miners consider county for shale," May 7 news story) and intends "to mine in such a way that would not have any negative impact on any neighbors."
Read more.
Roanoke's school problems start at the top
Bertrand Mullen
Mullen lives in Roanoke and has been a Class A general contractor for more than 40 years.
The Roanoke city schools superintendent fiasco is really a result of a string of poor city council decisions. What can you expect from someone who stands up and crows, "They wanted a referendum and they got one"? Actually, more citizens voted to keep Victory Stadium, but the pro-stadium vote was split between two pro-stadium electorates.
Read more.
Thursday's letters can be read here.
May 23, 2007
We're changing things up a bit from the plan. Instead of the FDA edit, we're running one about a program by the American Medical Association to sell access to its database of 800,000 doctors, which allows data mining companies to figure out what medicines individual doctors are prescribing - all the better to target them with individualized marketing efforts to convince them to prescribe more expensive medication.
A gas tax increase at a time when a gallon of regular is averaging $3.22 certainly wouldn’t win lawmakers any popularity points.
But an increase, however unpopular, ought to be seriously examined if the nation’s transportation infrastructure is to continue meeting the demands of interstate commerce and the commuting public.
The Craig County Board of Supervisors should be applauded for appropriating $16,000 to keep the county's fledgling library open for at least a year.
The appropriation doesn’t quite qualify as a budget line item, but this step could lead to the library as a permanent function of the county government.
As it should be.
For Thursday: The FDA is supposed to ensure Americans that the drugs they are taking are safe as prescribed. Just this week, diabetics learned that a commonly prescribed medication to lower blood sugar dramatically increases their risk for heart attacks. The monitoring of drugs post approval hasn't panned out.
Decidedly un-Christian
...All my life I have thought of myself as Christian. But I have been mistaken. I am not "Christian" enough.
I experienced an epiphany of sorts, and I have Jerry Falwell to thank.
Read the column.
Fewer, perhaps, but better schools
People's attachments to their neighborhood schools aside, Roanoke needs to look at how best to educate children.
Roanoke city school officials have been pleading for more local money to improve instruction. Yet they're about as eager to talk about cutting costs by closing underused schools as to grab a scared skunk by the tail. They're afraid such talk would raise a giant stink -- as it surely would. Board members need to discuss the idea seriously and openly anyway.
Read more.
Global warming poses security challenges
Sen. John Warner recognizes that climate change is about more than just the weather.
Pretend for a moment that the overwhelming scientific consensus does not say global warming is a very real threat. Pretend there are serious challenges, and climate change is an open question. Even in such a state of doubt, prudence still would dictate the United States at least plan for the worst.
Read more.
Protect what's left of the forests
Tammy Belinsky
Belinsky is senior staff attorney of WildLaw's Virginia Office in Copper Hill.
In Dennis LaBare's March 28 criticism ("People who love old growth forests too much") of Sherman Bamford's call to action in the planning process for the George Washington National Forest, LaBare revealed he knows nothing of the ecological, administrative and judicial landscapes of national forest management in Virginia.
Read more.
Wednesday's letters can be read here.
May 22, 2007
On Wednesday, we'll tell the Roanoke School Board it needs to take a hard look at a state study's recommendation to close some of the city's schools to avoid costly upgrades for buildings that house few students.
Virginia's Sen. John Warner is pushing for intelligence agencies to study what global warming could do to the nation's future security demands. Even if one rejects the overwhelming scientific evidence for global warming, taking this precautionary step still deserves praise.
Payday loans: The trap escalates
The good news is fewer Virginians borrowed from payday lenders in 2006. The bad news is they ran into even more trouble with more loans.
Payday loans work just as state lawmakers claim -- for about 10 percent of the borrowers. For the other 90 percent -- some 386,598 Virginians in 2006 -- the system sucks them in the same way neighborhood loan sharks did back in the day. Today's borrowers may not get their legs broken, but they sure endure the pain and agony of rapidly escalating debt.
Read more.
For Congress' eyes only
The Congressional Research Service needlessly keeps its reports secret.
One of the most secretive federal organizations has little to do with spying, homeland security or fighting terrorism. It produces reams of data that shape national policy, but unless someone leaks a report, the public never knows about it.
Read more.
Think globally, act regionally
Beverly T. Fitzpatrick Jr.
Fitzpatrick is co-chairman of Virginians for Better Transportation, chairman of the Virginia Municipal League Transportation Policy Committee and a member of Roanoke City Council.
Much press and media attention has been given recently to Norfolk Southern's intermodal facility planned for this region. It would help us all make a better judgment about such an investment in the region if we better grasped the purpose of this facility and what it is likely to do for citizens and business in Western Virginia.
Read more.
So do away with the First Amendment, too
Lyle Miller
Miller, of Roanoke, is a former martial arts instructor.
I've always known The Roanoke Times was a liberal paper, and though I disagree with its agenda I would defend its right under the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights to go to press and have the right of freedom of speech. Yet I see that Tommy Denton believes that the Bill of Rights is outdated and no longer appropriate, since he disagrees with the Second Amendment ("The Second Amendment is what it is, alas," April 15 column).
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