Sunday, July 29, 2007
Want to ride an incline? Take a trip to Pittsburgh
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From the RoundTable blog
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Want to ride an incline? Take a trip to Pittsburgh
A recent article in The New York Times featured the two remaining inclines, or funiculars, that are still operated by the city of Pittsburgh (out of at least 17 that existed at one time).
This suggests an elegant solution to the recently recycled controversy of rebuilding the old incline up Mill Mountain.
Upon request by any interested party, city council would issue a voucher good for an all-expense-paid weekend in Pittsburgh -- transportation included. Here one could ride the inclines to his or her heart's content for hours on end.
Even with a heavy demand, it is clear that this program could be financed for a fraction of the cost of actually putting a new incline on the mountain here.
And that's not all -- I can easily envision a reciprocal program in which Pittsburghers get free trips to Roanoke to see the star.
More than 1,000 words needed for this photo
Kudos to photographer Tim Gruber for the July 23 front-page photograph of 2-year-old Cole Newman. It would take half the dictionary to describe his expression. That was a "make your day" photography. Good job.
And thank you, Mill Mountain Zoo.
Here's some proof that species do evolve
In his July 19 commentary "Troglodytes, unite," Richard Carr Sr. shows his admitted scientific illiteracy first by confusing Mendel and Darwin and then by asserting that "there is no record of any species changing into another species."
To that, he adds that "scientific proof of even just one" such instance would make him a believer (in evolution).
Well, we have a nice example in our back yard: crested fern, a native species proven to have originated from hybridization and chromosomal doubling involving two other species, one apparently extinct and the other now found only in the South. Many fern species have evolved that way.
I await word of Carr's conversion.
Heavy fines encourage a lighter foot
In days gone by, and in what may seem to some to be another place, motorists could always be sure when they were crossing the border of some state or another into Connecticut. Speed limits were conspicuously displayed and just as conspicuously observed.
When stopped for speeding, you were escorted to a nearby locality where a judge separated you from your driver's license until the fine was paid. No distinctions were made as to the finer points of state of residence. You were caught, summoned, appeared before the judge and you paid.
My own experience with this method of ensuring compliance with the law had me surrendering a substantial portion of the funds I had saved for a long weekend in New York City.
Recently, I discovered that things on the highways there now are pretty much as they are in Virginia. The norm seems to be go as fast as you want, drive as carelessly and recklessly as you care to, and hope you don't get caught.
All of the above is to say that I hope the recent changes in fines, which for now are levied only on Virginia scofflaws, will eventually apply to all.
Have faith in science
I'm trying to figure out how Richard Carr Sr. (July 19 commentary, "Troglodytes, unite") could see past the beam in his eye to read David Barash's July 15 commentary "Gut instinct isn't science."
Carr says, "Show me the scientific proof [of evolution] ... and then I too will believe."
Now, he wants proof? Where was the demand for proof while becoming an ordained minister -- trained, by definition, to have faith and belief without proof.
Carr works at two colleges and is swimming in a veritable sea of knowledge. Yet, this metaphorical horse cannot be made to drink because he's got a Bible, swallowed whole, stuck in his throat.
Fortunately, there is still hope for Carr because science doesn't enter in through a closed throat; it enters through an open mind.
Good reasons to take a pass on Elmwood
Finally, someone makes some sense. Thank you, Katie Lucas, for your intelligent explanation of the pros and cons of the Elmwood Park vs. River's Edge sites for a new amphitheater (July 18 commentary, "Elmwood has too many drawbacks").
From someone who really knows what's needed in Roanoke, Lucas informed us all extremely well. Her reasons make so much sense; I just hope the powers-that-be are listening.
LAURA McFADYEN
Don't discount Valley Forward's achievements
Your July 23 news article, "Valley Forward invests energy in civic life," characteristically chose to mitigate any mention of Valley Forward's success with a pervasive and maligning attitude of condescension and distrust.
The article suggests a club of "spoiled rich kids" playing dress-up as their prominent parents.
However, you failed to mention the prodigious professional successes enjoyed by much of the membership and largely independent of familial clout or aid.
This is a group of engaged people who understand that Roanoke's anemic growth is a problem and that maintaining the status quo means accepting Roanoke's eventual declension.
Valley Forward, rather than waiting for things to be done, is trying to do them.
Your acknowledgement of opinions posted anonymously on message boards recalls the days of muckrakers conjuring up conspiracy from unknown, and thus unaccountable, sources.
Rather than write biased journalistic pulp, I ask not that you necessarily support, but merely present objectively, the efforts of a group of successful, intelligent and driven individuals trying to improve the community.
Honest, intelligent debate is welcome and necessary, but a perpetually resistant and hostile attitude toward attempts at progress may find you empty-handed, wondering where the visionaries took their ball.
Member of Valley Forward
Time to impeach the president
I think if our president is going to pardon Scooter Libby, he should keep other people from going to jail. What was he thinking?
I believe that George W. Bush, our wonderful president, should go ahead and be impeached. He has made way too many errors.
It's time for Hillary Clinton to take over.
When duty called
We have had the distinct pleasure of reading John Robert (Bob) Slaughter's recently published book "Omaha Beach and Beyond." It would be an understatement to say that we were impressed by it.
We can heartily say that this book would make a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any home anywhere, but especially in the Roanoke Valley.
Consider these features:
Sgt. Slaughter has employed necessary detail without sinking into needless detail. He has occasionally lapsed into emotion without becoming mawkishly so. He has patriotism, but never forgets that the gods and father of war spread misery about equally on both sides of the battle line on that brutal June morning so many years ago.
Our incredibly brave men are portrayed by Sgt. Bob in the way they met their awful duty, recalling Ralph Waldo Emerson's memorable verse:
So near is Heaven to our dust
So near is God to man
When duty whispers low thou must the youth replies I can.
Slaughter's book makes the response to duty realistic and vivid to an extreme degree.
