Saturday, March 29, 2008
Schools shouldn't have allowed such a story
Letters to the Editor
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Schools shouldn't have allowed such a story
I must agree with the March 25 letter ("A depressing view of Patrick Henry") about the March 15 Extra section feature on Patrick Henry High School ("Boxed-in lunch"). I was appalled at the article and the picture of the caged students. I think the article was inappropriate and uncalled for.
Our kids learn from the adult figures around them. After reading this article, I see just the kind of people they are learning from. I cannot believe that someone from the Roanoke Public Schools System would have allowed this type of article and picture to be printed.
All schools have problems that they must deal with. Some problems may be harder to handle than others. But no good comes from a wrong, and this is certainly a wrong. When teachers and administrators are allowed to speak so openly about their students, it is no wonder we see so many changes in the attitudes and behavior of our children.
I think Roanoke City Schools needs to apologize to the students and the parents for this article and the picture. Shame on you for allowing this to happen in the first place.
Attack on McCain was pure trash
I write with anger and disappointment regarding Harry Nash's commentary ("The dangers of a McCain presidency") March 25. This piece reflects what seems to be the characteristic of this primary campaign, a mean-spirited, partisan, negative and unsupported attack.
The most objectionable of the many cheap shots and plain dirt thrown by the author is that McCain received special treatment from the North Vietnamese. In fact, McCain was offered an early return but refused it. Nash accuses McCain's father of treasonous actions and devotes half his article to McCain's father-in-law's alleged connections with bootlegging and the mob. These charges are questionable and irrelevant.
You may not vote for McCain because of his positions on issues or because you believe another candidate would make a better president. But don't be influenced by this trash. I would hope that the 2008 election campaign could be waged on a higher level, that issues that matter to people can be debated, and that voters can cast an informed ballot based on the candidates' positions and character.
Articles such as this do not help. Your newspaper should raise, not lower, the level of discussion. We expect and deserve better. Shame on you.
There's just no comparison
A recent letter to the editor ("To stay in the race, Obama should quit his church," March 20) likened Christian minister Jeremiah Wright to Nazi sympathizers of World War II who advocated the "killing of the Jews very openly in church." It then condemns Barack Obama for association with the Rev. Wright.
Wright didn't advocate killing and genocide. He railed against them. While Nazi sympathizers echoed the German government's murderous policies, Wright denounced his government's policies, which few German ministers had the courage to do during World War II.
This is not to say that the U.S. war of aggression against Iraq is in any way comparable to the World War II aggression of Nazi Germany. That would be a terrible exaggeration. But to compare a U.S. minister's over-the-top denunciation of the U.S. government to Nazi sympathizers' advocacy of genocide, and then to condemn a congregant by association, is unwarranted.
The greenway's great; keep on building
I have recently had the pleasure of walking and bicycling on the new Roanoke River Greenway. Our children and grandchildren also enjoy this wonderful addition to our city.
Thank you, greenways builders, and keep up the good work. I would love to see the trail go all the way to Salem.
