LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Smaller Classes Mean More Time for Learning
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
In the editorial, "The Ax Falls," you quoted statistics about the rise in education spending but failed to note that the commonwealth didn't fund the Standards of Quality in 1997 or 2007.You compared pupil-teacher ratios among various school systems to demonstrate lower ratios don't necessarily mean better achievement. A more fitting comparison would be to use two different ratios in one school system.
You stated smaller class sizes mean less work for teachers. They also mean more attention to lesson planning, creativity, student-centered activities, and other items dwarfed by inordinate amounts of time spent evaluating essays, checking math proofs, and completing other important work demanded by overcrowded classes.
Letter-writer Tim Fite, "Public Education -- A Poorly Delivered Good," suggests we open public education to competitive bidding. His suggestion could work only if we shut every public school in the country. Medicare does not cover the full cost of medical care, nor do food stamps cover the full cost of feeding one's family. But public education pays the full cost of the education provided. Under his system, many families could not afford education, as many Medicare recipients cannot afford prescription drugs. Public education would cease to be universal.
Donald Wilms. Midlothian.
NOLA Lawmen Wrongly Confiscated Firearms
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
I was in complete agreement with your editorial, "Martial Lawmen," concerning the use of military forces during extreme emergencies. Your citing of the civilian response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, however, was a bit incomplete. You mentioned how citizens took up arms to protect themselves and their neighbors in the absence of more formal law enforcement.What you missed was Mayor Ray Nagin's, and Chief of Police Eddie Compass' response to that. Those police officers who didn't desert their posts were ordered to confiscate any legally owned firearms being used to protect what the police were incapable of protecting. This wholesale disarmament of the civilian populace continued until the NRA got the courts to issue a cease and desist order. That order was made permanent in a federal court just recently, but also had to include the order to immediately return those confiscated arms to their rightful owners.
These last two facts have been curiously absent from most of the nation's news sources -- as usual. Your editorial was certainly a wake-up call for all citizens to be ever vigilant; however, you need to add that being ever vigilant may also include being so against the very authority whose duty may turn from one of protection to one of denying self-protection.
Cal Openshaw. Colonial Heights.
Not All Families Want Steger to Go
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
With all due respect to the victims and families of victims of the tragic events at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, I believe -- had all the safeguards that the families now want been in place at the time of the shootings -- the end result would have been the same with perhaps different victims.The one person responsible for the tragedy was the shooter. It would be as reasonable to blame Seung-Hui Cho's family for the shooting as to blame President Charles Steger. I think he should remain at Tech.
The front page news story, "Families: Va. Tech President Should Quit," goes on at length with the statements of Jennifer Herbstritt and Chris Hammaren. Their comments are pure supposition since there is no way they could know what would have occurred had everything been done as they think it should have been.
The headline of the story is very misleading since it indicated that all the families think Steger should quit. This is not the case. If anyone should be fired, it should be the staff of
The Times-Dispatch for the decision to continue to harass the victims and families of the tragedy for the purpose of a front page story every week or two. Give it a rest.
Sam Horne. Emporia.
Reader Reactions
In all of this, we’ve forgotten a number of other things that are interesting about what happened on 4/16/07 at VT.
1. Why did it take over 2 hours to send a earning after the dorm shootings but less than 8 minutes after Norris Hall began? There was no information there either before they issued a warning.
2. What would have motivated them from NOT wanting to send a message? Fundraising proceeds perhaps since April 28th was going to be the largest donor fundraiser in the history of Virginia Tech?
3. Why are there lies in the VT Panel report, and why were they placed there?
4. How much of this detail was actually known by the new chairman of the DNC, and what was so important that the false information contained in that panel report was never corrected, and continues to be met with feet dragging from his office when asked to research all the errors and publish a correction? Would it cause someone to potentially not get the Chairmanship following his term of office?
Well richmondad, I followed the news from New Orleans very closely after Katrina, because I have relatives in the area, but that is the first time I have heard any of that. Before I relegate it to the same insanity that suggested Bush blew up the levees, how about providing a source for the story.
Clearly Mr. Openshaw has not read the recent article in the Nation regarding the behavior of certain “vigilant” armed citizens in New Orleans after Katrina or he would not want to bring the subject to light! Quote” for some Black New Orleanians the threat of being killed by White vigilantes in Katrina’s aftermath became a bigger threat than the storm itself.
After the storm, White vigilantes roamed Algiers Point shooting and, according to their own accounts, killing Black men at will—with no threat of a police response. For the last three years, the shootings and the police force’s role in them have been an open secret to many New Orleanians. To date, no one has been charged with a crime and law enforcement officials have refused to investigate.“ Or how about this gem? “It was great!“ said one vigilante. “It was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it.“ There is a very fine distinction between vigilant and vigilante which clearly is OK with Mr. Openshaw. I agree with him that the press has not done enough to cover the events that occured after Katrina, but I would like to hear more about the plight of the “unarmed”, like the late Henry Glover who was shot for no apparent reason, other than his skin color, and left to die in a car outside a police station, a car which was later taken away and torched to hide the evidence!
Self protection in your home is fine, but explain to me how you justify murder in the street!
Mr. Horne, thanks for pointing out that all the families do not want Pres. Steger fired, a fact that the RTD noted in it’s article. Your point regarding “had all the safeguards that the families now want been inplace at the time of the shooting” is a little wide of the mark. What most disturbs the families is that safeguards that WERE in place at the time were not utilized. The greatest outrage, and the thing that the RTD is trying to get people to realize is that this incident was entirely avoidable had VT administration applied it’s existing rules and procedures to dealing with Cho years before he “snapped”. Compound this with incompetent and inadequate reaction and response after the first shooting and you get the carnage that followed. The RTD is not harassing the victims and families by reminding them of something they want to forget, rather they are championing a discovery process that can only benefit others by pointing a spotlight on the actual facts of the incident. Firing somebody may not be the answer, but covering up their poor judgement and lack of effective leadership does nothing to protect the students at VT either now or in the future. This was a terrible thing, but it won’t go away by wishing or by sweeping the facts under the mat!
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