Letters to the editor, continued: Fire Department Policy Worries Veteran

Fire Department Policy Worries Veteran
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I recently saw a newspaper advertisement for Richmond City firefighters. I'm concerned about the changes that have been made to the automatic disqualifiers. As a 40-year veteran of the fire department, I question whether convicted felons should be hired as firefighters or police officers.

I realize that people who have served time deserve a second chance. However, I do not think the fire department or police department is the place for that. My concern is that the responsibilities of these jobs require frequent entrance in homes -- giving felons access to people's money and possessions.

If the city does hire felons, then where will the line be drawn? Will we hire arsonists, drug dealers, and sex offenders? Additionally, why would the city fire someone who commits a felony when it is not a problem to hire one in the first place?

As a citizen of Richmond, I wonder what others think about this issue.

Carroll Smith.
Powhatan.

The correct way to enroll everyone is a single-payer system -- not fining those who refuse to participate in corporate extortion.

Dennis Heidlebaugh.
Richmond.

So, I cannot express my shock and sadness at the lack of acknowledgment by the people of Richmond on the anniversary of that horrific attack. As I put an additional flag out in the front of my house that morning, I noticed that there were no other flags displayed in my neighborhood. I thought perhaps since it was still early in the day, surely there would be many others displayed as the day went on.

I was wrong! When I returned home from work I did not see one home or business displaying any type of remembrance of the events of 9/11. For almost an hour I drove around my neighborhood and surrounding areas and found only a handful of homes with flags displayed. Most of these were the homes of military veterans.

Have we already forgotten the vicious and unprovoked attack and the murder of thousands of innocent Americans? Have we forgotten the hundreds of firefighters, police, and other public servants who lost their lives that day?

For those who did remember to display the American flag in remembrance of the events of 9/11, I am sure the families of those whose lives were lost would thank you. For those who did not -- you should be ashamed. Edward "Blue" Holm. Richmond.

Reallocate College Athletic Funding
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Like all state agencies, Virginia's public colleges and universities are hurting from cuts in the state's funding.

But the universities could ease their problems -- if they wanted to. They have the money; they lack the will to allocate it to their core mission.

Look, for example, at some of the intercollegiate athletic fees charged to each student each year -- and then weigh for a moment just how important in hard times football really is to a university's academic mission. Here are some of the annual (and, often, hidden) athletic fees (courtesy of the State Council of Higher Education, which sees no evil):

• Old Dominion, $1,074;

• Radford, $1,027;

• Longwood, $2,009;

• Norfolk State, $1,372;

• VMI, $1,298;

• William and Mary, $1,324.

How about shifting some of this money to academics and asking donors to step up to the plate for athletics? Doing so would lessen the mid-year tuition increases likely to come soon. Terry L. Myers, Chancellor Professor of English, College of William and Mary.

Williamsburg.

Will Magic Wand Stop New Cold War?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Amid pessimistic views on the state of the economy, Americans can find both good news and bad news regarding notions of a new Cold War.

On the bright side is the emergence of an internationally focused Cold War Museum, headquartered in Fairfax, with an important branch in Berlin, Germany. Its honorable goal is to memorialize veterans who paid a heavy price in the protracted struggle against Soviet communism.

On the negative side, unfortunately, is the specter of a repeat performance flowing from Washington's tit-for-tat gamesmanship with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. During both the Clinton and Bush administrations, Washington had offered Boris Yeltsin and his successor a tall order: Build democracy, American-style, upon the abject carnage of seven decades of totalitarian rule.

Following a popular Russian revolution in 1991, with a flavor of pro-American sentiments from the détente era, White House policymakers apparently skipped a "Marshall Plan" formula that had richly succeeded with post-war Germany and chose instead a military option -- NATO expansion.

Perhaps the Obama administration has a magic wand that will convey to Cold War Museum planners no urgent need for doubling its floor space to accommodate a Washington-Moscow strategic sequel.

Lincoln Landis.
Locust Grove.

When students or employees feel that there will be negative consequences to missing work or school, the smart decision to protect others and themselves by staying home becomes difficult to make. If we really want to minimize the effects of a quickly spreading illness, then everyone must agree to respect and support a worker's or student's sick day, and not just assume it's a slacker's attempt at a day off.

Christy Weisiger.
Midlothian.