A guide to our daily editorial pages

Editorial and news coverage

Writers in the editorial department present institutional opinion for The Roanoke Times. The editorial writers are completely separate from the news reporting side of the paper. In fact, the editorial department offices are on a different floor from the newsroom to emphasize that separation. Editorial Page Editor Christina Nuckols reports directly to President and Publisher Debbie Meade. News editors and reporters, who report to Editor Carole Tarrant, gather, write and edit the news stories. They are expected to present our readers facts without considering the editorial position of the newspaper or being influenced by their own personal opinions. At the same time, members of the editorial department do not get involved in newsroom decisions. Nor do they participate in making editorial decisions about organizations in which they are involved. No employee of The Roanoke Times should belong to a civic group if that membership would compromise the newspapers independence or create a conflict of interest.

THE ROANOKE TIMES

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

THE ROANOKE TIMES

DEBBIE MEADE
President and Publisher

CHRISTINA NUCKOLS
Editorial Page Editor

ELIZABETH STROTHER LUANNE RIFE CHRISTIAN TREJBAL

Editorial Writers

Attend to those in your presence

Fred Piercy
Piercy is a professor of marriage and family therapy within the Department of Human Development at Virginia Tech.

Problematic speech
The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, a compound of political pandering and moral exhibitionism, was whooped through the Senate, aka the worlds greatest deliberative body, by unanimous consent; the House, joining the stampede, passed it by a voice vote. So Xavier Alvarez now hopes the Supreme Court will save him from punishment for lying. His is not the only case arising from government supervising speech that is demonstrably, or arguably, inaccurate. The Stolen Valor Act allows fines and imprisonment for anyone who falsely claims to have been awarded any military decoration or medal authorized by Congress, with the severest sentences for claiming the highest honors. Alvarez, having won a seat on a California water district board of directors, introduced himself to other members by saying: Im a retired Marine of 25 George Will years. I retired in the year 2001. Back in 1987, georgewill@ washpost.com I was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I got wounded many times by the same guy. All this was rubbish. Leaving aside the question of how Alvarezs shabby behavior stole any heros valor, the constitutional question remains: Is the Stolen Valor Act compatible with the First Amendment, which the Supreme Court has held does not protect only truthful speech? The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says no. And the Supreme Court has held that constitutional protection does not turn upon the truth, popularity or social utility of the ideas and beliefs which are offered. Given that some false statements are constitutionally protected, which kinds are not? Defamatory statements are not, if they are made with a culpable state of mind and if they injure another person. When Justice Elena Kagan was a law professor, she noted the near absolute protection given to false but nondefamatory statements of fact outside the commercial realm. But Alvarez defamed no one, and it is unclear how his fabrications about himself caused Americas armed forces reputational harm. Furthermore, his lies did not fit any of the other four traditional categories of unprotected speech obscenity, fraud, incitement, and speech integral to criminal conduct. Another problematic case is percolating in Ohio, where the government can fine or imprison candidates or other participants in the political process who violate the states false statement law, which says: No person shall make a false statement concerning the voting record of a candidate or public official or disseminate a false statement concerning a candidate, either knowing the same to be false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not, if the statement is intended to influence an election. Former Rep. Steve Driehaus, a Cincinnati Democrat who considers himself pro-life, says he lost his 2010 re-election bid because the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, through its political action committee, ran ads saying falsely, Driehaus insists that when he voted for Barack Obamas health care legislation he voted for taxpayer funding of abortion. Ohios law had a chilling effect on political speech when a billboard company, aware of Driehaus complaints, refused the SBA Lists business. The SBA List did, however, run radio ads against Driehaus. A judge has ruled that his suit against the SBA List, charging substantial economic and reputational harm due to defamation, can go to trial. The SBA List is challenging the constitutionality of the false statement law. Until the eve of the House vote on the health care legislation, Driehaus and about a dozen other prolife Democrats vowed to oppose the health care bill unless abortion language was changed. It was not, so the president, trying to provide cover for those Democrats, agreed to issue an executive order purportedly limiting funding of abortions under the legislation. Now, suppose Driehaus and the right-to-life groups are equally sincere in their opposite interpretations of what the health care law permits or requires regarding public funding of abortion. Should an Ohio government panel composed of political appointees be empowered to determine that the SBA Lists contention was intentionally or recklessly false? For weeks before the election, voters heard Driehaus dispute with the SBA List, then voted against him. Isnt that how political arguments should be settled? Or did voters, to the extent that they expressed support for the SBA Lists interpretation of the facts of the health care law, somehow violate the false statement law?

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Editorials

A life forfeited, but not forgotten

Roanoke cared too late and reported; his mother told about the short, brutal life of CHIP officials not to come to 2-year-old Aveion Lewis. her home anymore; and AveiAfter his stepfather admiton became dependent entirely ted the missing toddler was on caregivers who earlier had dead and his body disposed mistreated him to the point of of he knew not where starvation. 120 people from 22 organizaThe social safety net that tions turned out over six winmight have taken over the ter days last year to search the network of friends, family, regional landfill. others in the community who There, Aveion eventunoticed something amiss ally was found, his starved, failed utterly. No one reported tortured little body wrapped signs of abuse to social in plastic packaging material services, or even suspicions bound with duct tape. about the little boy who, famAveions stepfather, Branily friends joked, had become don Lockett, and his mother, The Invisible Man. Morgan Lockett, The court order stand convicted of that restored full second-degree murcustody to his parder and child abuse ents included no and await sentencorder for social ing. The case should services to continue not be closed in the to monitor his care. public mind, though, Without it, the agenfor reasons that have cy had no authority nothing to do with to do so. Brandon Locketts Unless a new post-conviction complaint was filed, request to withdraw it would not could The Hidden Child not check on his guilty plea.

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BILL DAY | Cagle Cartoons

Mail: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010

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Everyone in the child welfare system handled the case of Aveion Lewis by the book, but the system let the 2-year-old die.

A scream against unpunished venality

The goal of Occupy Wall Street should be summarized in one word: retribution. Hundreds of Wall Street brokers, financial CEOs and bankers belong in prison, along with a few members of Congress. Take all of their money, assets, off-shore accounts, their homes, cars, boats, motorcycles and their wives jewelry. Use that money to pay down the national debt. Put their names and pictures on billboards across the country and in newspapers. But little will be done to punish these greedy, narcissistic Alpha types. Im sure they all wear American flag lapel pins, but to me they are as much traitors as any

Aveion

Publication Date: 11/13/2011

TED REAVIS
FANCY GAP

The country needs to heal divisions

Lets look around. What do we see? Our countries are divided. We are one against another: the rich against the poor, war reigns over peace. Our schools are divided; they are private against public. We have a loss of teachers and our education is limited. We are experiencing a loss of jobs with high unemployment; large and small companies are folding. Now, banks are charging fee after fee. Whats your political stand? Is it the worlds way or the way of the church? For goodness sake, it has become this religion or that. No standards anymore, anything goes. High taxes, low wages, homelessness, hunger, famine, disaster after disaster in all the land. What is it a person must do? America, we need to remember: Divided we fall, and united we stand.

Publication Date: 11/13/2011

People in the Aveion again. Tomorrow community who The state needs wring their hands to look again at child Children need over Aveions fate protection laws and many people should not accept it tighten them, where beyond the as if there is nothneed be, to ensure social services ing more that might it is the vulnerable and legal have been done child they protect systems to look that might be done when the rights of out for them. to save the next parents and child helpless child vicconflict. timized by the adults In cases such as meant to care for him. Aveions, where neglect was so Lets keep Aveions forfeitwanton it constituted cruelty ed life fresh in our minds. and the child so helpless that Because this child did not he was unable to protect himhave to die. self or seek the protection of He died because the sysothers, lawmakers might contem in place to safeguard the sider whether parents should helpless is loose enough to have another chance at all to let one as vulnerable as he have complete control over fall through, and because the the childs life. people outside the system How precisely the law others in the community who should change is beyond our touched Aveions life worexpertise, but lawmakers need ried too little and cared too to give it serious study. late about his fate. Robin Haldiman, chief All that is publicly known executive officer of the Child of his case indicates the sysHealth Investment Partnertem worked as designed, to a ship of Roanoke Valley, has horrific, unintended end. had cause to give a lot of A case manager for CHIP, thought to what steps should an early-childhood home be taken by judges before visiting program, reported deciding custody after a concerns about Aveions founded case of child abuse. care to Roanokes Social She would require: n All adults in the houseServices Department. The hold to have state and federal agency investigated, removed background checks before a the child who was so malchild is returned to the home. nourished the case worker n Parents to undergo took him to a hospital and parental capacity evaluations put him in foster care, where that measure empathy and he stayed for 11 months and their caring capacity. thrived. n A guardian ad litem or a The social services agency court appointed special advoworked with the parents, cate to be assigned as soon as meanwhile, and monitored a child is removed to assess the family once Aveion was the level of parents attention returned to them before recand interest in mandated parommending to a judge that enting classes, for one thing they regain full custody. His and be required to report to case was closed. the court before a permanent Thats when Aveion placement is ordered. became a hidden child, There needs to be a cadre beyond view of the legal sysof folks who report to the tem set up to protect him. judge, she asserted in an At age 2, he was too young interview. He needs many to go to school, where severe people to paint the picture. neglect would be noticed

DAVID GOODE

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BEDFORD

Create laws on energy efficiency

All the politicians are campaigning on repealing environmental laws to create jobs and reduce energy costs. So if we repeal all environmental laws, we could have free electricity and free gasoline? The number of jobs in coal in West Virginia in 1950 was 150,000. There are now fewer than 12,000. Coal, oil and natural gas will all run out sometime, and will get more and more expensive over time. We need laws now mandating energy-efficient homes and factories, geothermal heating/cooling on all new buildings, rooftop water heating and solar cells, rooftop wind generators and wind farms everywhere the wind blows regularly, with solar cells over all desert areas and a smart grid with 765-kilovolt transmission lines to tie it all together. The auto companies have promised to double average gas mileage in 12 years. If they tripled current gas mileage, we would need no imported oil. Its a good start.

FRED WYNE
ROANOKE

R.L. WHITE

CHRISTIANSBURG

The degree of disparity stresses society

Wayne G. Reilly
Reilly, of Roanoke, is a professor emeritus of political science at Hollins University.

Griffiths working in his district

Re: Deborah Goads letter (Griffiths privileged state of homelessness, Oct. 27) criticizing Rep. Morgan Griffith for sleeping in his D.C. office an average of 10 nights per month: I read your Oct. 16 article (Camping at the Capitol) about Griffith with a sense of pride. In his first 270 days in office, he established offices in Abingdon and Christiansburg, set up traveling offices that enhance constituency services, served on the Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the EPA Regulatory Relief Act (passed by a bipartisan vote), which will save thousands of jobs in our district, served on the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation trying to recover $535 million of subordinated taxpayer dollars lost in the Solyndra scandal, worked with local economic

Thomas clothes attack in piety

Re: The media are out to get Herman Cain, Nov. 9 column: Cal Thomas is the worst type of hypocrite. The supposedly committed Christian columnist chastises the news media for reporting not rendering a decision on the sexual harassment charges against Herman Cain, characterizing it as character assassination coordinated by the Democratic Party. Then good Christian Thomas turns right around and makes allegations about President Obama not releasing his college and law school transcripts. Of course, he does not come out and make an outright allegation against Obama; just insinuates the president is hiding something that somehow miraculously remained a secret these last four years. And thats not character assassination?

Briefly put
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling has few duties other than overseeing parliamentary gobbledygook in the state Senate. The Republican persuaded Gov. Bob McDonnell to give him the title job czar, but even Bolling admitted that government doesnt create jobs. If last weeks election results hold, though, Bolling will have a role that anyone who can count to 21 can understand. With the apparent defeat of two Democratic incumbents, one subject to a possible recount, Bolling can look forward to casting tiebreaking votes in an evenly divided Senate. Perhaps his newly elevated post will be exciting enough to persuade Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to run for LG so Bolling can finally get his shot at the governors mansion.

FRANCES ANDREA SAUNDERS

ROANOKE

Why bother voting for anyone in 12?

As we approach the 2012 general election, our nation is in rapid decline, and it seems none of our career politicians in Washington are doing anything about it. The president enforces laws that support his agenda and ignores those that dont. He accelerated

CHRIS CRISCIONE
ROANOKE

For several years, economists and politicians have argued over the importance of the growing disparity in income distribution in our country. Is the difference normal in a capitalist economy or too great? The answer is a matter of opinion, but we do have some new information that allows us to think more clearly about the distribution of incomes. On Oct. 25, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report titled: Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007. Among its findings are: n From 1979 to 2007, average inflation-adjusted, after-tax household income of the top 1 percent of earners grew by 275 percent or, on average, 9.8 percent per year. n For the same period, the remainder of the top 20 percent of earners

saw their adjusted after-tax income rise 65 percent or, on average, 2.3 percent per year. n The household income of the middle 60 percent of our population grew slightly less than 40 percent or, on average, 1.4 percent per year. n The income of the bottom 20 percent of our population grew 18 percent or, on average, 0.6 percent per year n Between 2005 and 2007 aftertax income of the top 20 percent of our population exceeded that of the remaining 80 percent. I expect that reasonable people can differ about the best interpretation of these findings, but it is inarguable that income disparity among Americans is growing very rapidly. I believe most Americans are not opposed to income disparity. We are willing to accept that if someone works harder, plans better or is just luckier than the rest of us, he or she is entitled to more income. Similarly, most would agree that there

are many good people among the top income earners who make significant charitable contributions. Is there, then, a problem with rapidly growing inequality? There is no definitive answer to this question. It would be nice if there were a red line, such as we have in our cars that tells us when we are stressing the engine. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent indicator for social stress. We do know, however, that there is often a correlation between a populations perception of systemic unfairness and social unrest. That being the case, it might seem prudent to be concerned about income disparity. Income inequality is fine and often useful, but the basis of that inequality must be seen as fair and the inequality not too great. The condition of the tax codes and the rapidly increasing income disparity severely threaten those assumptions. Recently, such different people as

Warren Buffet and President Obama have noted that the current tax rates favor the rich at the expense of those less well off. The CBO report supports their views. Sadly, those who suggest the seriousness of these findings are promptly accused of encouraging class warfare. On the contrary, ignoring the reality of our rapidly growing economic divisions is foolish and dangerous. To note these issues is not to participate in class warfare, but to be concerned about the welfare of our country. What is needed is not partisan demagoguery, but clear-eyed analysis of what should be done and a willingness to act in the best interest of our nation. The CBO report may be the closest thing we will get to a red line concerning social stress. Surely if we take seriously the phrase on the Great Seal of the United States E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) it is wise to have a care for the fairness of our growing economic disunity.

1. Editorials
Unsigned essays under the headline Editorials on the left side of the Opinion page (and at the top of the Forum page in Sundays The Burgs) express the opinions of the editorial board, that is, the institutional viewpoint of the newspaper. These essays are the only ones in the paper that are properly referred to as editorials. These essays take sides, a journalistic tradition older than the republic itself. We do not expect all our readers to agree with the editorials, but we do hope our writing stimulates people to think about issues for themselves and to discuss and debate them with others. The newspapers goal is to publish at least one editorial each day regarding a local, regional or state issue. Editorial board members are President and Publisher Debbie Meade, Editorial Page Editor Christina Nuckols, and editorial writers Elizabeth Strother, Luanne Rife and Christian Trejbal. All but the publisher are responsible for daily writing duties and page production. Each day, the board convenes in a conference to discuss, and at times heatedly argue, the issues of the day and to consider the newspapers position. Board members also conduct interviews and perform independent research in preparing the editorials. The editorial writing staff composes the editorials based on the collegial discussion of the topics. The editorial page editor assigns and has primary editing responsibility for the editorials. Publisher Meade, however, assumes responsibility for all that appears in the newspaper, including the Opinion and Commentary pages, although she does not write the editorials.

No news editors or reporters for The Roanoke Times are involved in developing editorial board positions, nor do they write any editorials. During general elections, we recommend candidates. The recommendations are based on a study of the candidates records, discussions with those who know the candidates and, in most races, personal interviews with the candidates before members of the editorial board. News reporters and editors do not participate in that process and are not informed in advance of the positions the editorial page will take. The editorial department also includes librarian Belinda Harris, who has primary responsibility for receiving, processing and filing letters to the editor. Any questions, criticisms or suggestions about The Roanoke Times editorials should be directed to Christina Nuckols, (540) 981-3377, fax (540) 981-3458, or e-mail: christina. nuckols@roanoke.com.

3. Letters to the editor

The Roanoke Times receives about 350 letters each month, or about 4,200 a year. Of that number, we publish about 2,200, giving preference to those that challenge or disagree with editorials or other aspects of the newspaper, or that present a current event in an interesting light. Each day, one letter is selected to be featured as the Pick of the day. Letters should not exceed 200 words, and writers are restricted to one published letter per month. We try to edit letters as little as possible, but each is edited for spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity and accuracy. We welcome letters by postal mail, fax and e-mail. Each letter should be signed and include a name, address and daytime phone number so that we may verify the letter. We do not knowingly publish letters previously published elsewhere. Contact: Letters to the Editor, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010. Fax (540) 981-3458. Email: letters@roanoke.com. Phone: (540) 981-3257. For letters about New River Valley issues, contact: Letters to the Editor, The Roanoke Times, 110 Peppers Ferry Road, Christiansburg, VA 24068. Email: news@theburgs.com. Phone: (540) 381-1645.

2. Editorial cartoons
The Roanoke Times does not employ a staff editorial cartoonist, though former Roanoke Times staffer Chris OBrion provides a weekly cartoon on a freelance basis (www. roanoke.com/editorials/wb/152397). The other cartoons, selected by the editorial page editor each day and appearing above letters to the editor, are the work of several award-winning artists from a number of syndicates purchased by the newspaper. The cartoonists represent a variety of philosophical and political viewpoints, but they are by tradition and their very nature provocative. The opinions expressed are the cartoonists and not necessarily those of the editorial board.

4. Commentary
Also known as the op-ed page (for opposite the editorial page), the Commentary page, whose production is shared by members of the editorial page staff, offers a compendium of syndicated columns and other opinion essays that are available from a variety of wire services as well as local submissions. The page appears every Sunday,

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. It is our policy to publish at least one locally written piece each edition, preferably on a topic of local or state interest and importance. In addition, we publish one local commentary on our Tuesday, Friday and Saturday Opinion pages. We also publish commentaries in The Burgs on Sundays. The objective of the Commentary page is to present a variety of viewpoints. Those opinions are each writers and do not reflect the viewpoint of the editorial board. In fact, all other things being equal, extra emphasis is placed on publishing viewpoints that differ with established editorial board positions. The objective is to present a provocative, lively assortment of ideas that inspire readers to form their own opinions. Editorial writers and the editorial page editor periodically publish signed columns. Those columns represent their personal views and may even diverge from the newspapers editorial position. For a Commentary submission (please limit to 750 words), contact: Commentary Page, Editorial Department, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010. Email: opeds@roanoke.com. Phone: (540) 981-3209. Fax (540) 981-3458. For commentary submissions about New River Valley issues, contact: Letters to the Editor, The Roanoke Times, 110 Peppers Ferry Road, Christiansburg, VA 24068. Email: news@ theburgs.com. Phone: (540) 381-1645.

munity. We encourage this to be a lively, cordial place for people of contrary points of view to come explore their differences, educate themselves and others, and enjoy stimulating conversation. We also use The RT to share more of our sources with you, including links to the full studies, reports, legislation and articles that inform our editorials. We hope the discussion stimulates minds open to considering the honestly held opinions of others. Pull up your seat at the RoundTable: blogs.roanoke.com/roundtable/.

Point/Counterpoint
In December, we launched Point/ Counterpoint, in which we invite two knowledgeable people to express their views on a current topic. These are published on Page 5 of our Sunday Horizon section. The guests also write rebuttals that are posted along with their essays on the RoundTable. Periodically, the guests agree to participate in a live debate with our readers on the RoundTable. Readers are welcome to suggest topics for debate. Email: luanne.rife@ roanoke.com.

Whom to call:
For questions about editorials, call Christina Nuckols at 981-3377. For questions about letters, call Belinda Harris at 981-3257. For questions about commentary, Horizon or Point/Counterpoint, call Luanne Rife at 981-3209. For questions about The Burgs Forum, call Christian Trejbal at 381-1645.

The RT
The RT, The Roanoke Times RoundTable, is our editorial page blog. The RT is a place for a healthy and civil dialogue among The Roanoke Times editorial page staff and the com-

McClatchy-Tribune

development groups to keep more businesses open and bring more jobs to the 9th District . . . the list goes on. When not in Washington, Griffith has traveled to every corner of our district talking and listening to folks. He is also dealing with our nations staggering debt, a budget shortfall of $1.4 trillion and stubbornly high unemployment. Meanwhile, Goads primary concern is where the congressman sleeps. As Charlie Brown might say while waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Good grief!

deficit spending to a point nearing U.S. bankruptcy, resulting in the downgrade of our credit rating. Members of Congress manage their political careers to ensure re-election, but they dont perform the constitutionally mandated duties they were elected to do. Our immigration system is out of control, the southern border is nearly nonexistent, and the Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers operate almost unimpeded in the border region of southern Arizona and Texas. Meanwhile, the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, tells us the border has never been more secure. What will she say if we lose a city to a suitcase nuke? The U.S. Supreme Court essentially said its OK for corporations to exercise their right to free speech and buy the outcome of our elections. Accordingly, we have the best government money can buy. Frankly, I see no reason to re-elect anyone. I hope my fellow Americans will agree in 2012.

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home-grown al-Qaida wanna-be. Yet, it will happen again, as history proves. Why? Because Americans have been anesthetized by materialism. We have been mesmerized by our big-screen TVs, propagandized by mindless programs like American Idol and been obesified by fast food. We live in la-la land, unaware of whats really happening. But I must hit the send button so I can go out and start my Xmas shopping, with a stop at McDonalds, and be home in time for American Idol.

I want to be just like you, Dad declared the first page of my Fathers Day card. On the inside, it continued, . . . but with computer skills and a better cell phone. Both my sons have me beat there. They can also multi-task rings around me. But Im not so sure thats a good thing. In the middle of a recent workshop I attended, I realized that, even though the room was full, the speaker was looking at and speaking only to me. It was because I was the only person looking back at her. Most of the other participants were looking at their personal computers. Some were checking email, Facebook or furtively texting on their iPhones. Jimmy Carter once said that you should give your full attention to those you love, your God and to whomever is in front of you at any given moment. Those multi-tasking people in the workshop were saying through their actions, You dont deserve my full attention. That workshop reminds me of my first meeting, many years ago, with my academic adviser. During our meeting, he answered seven phone calls. Just a minute, he would say to me. I remember thinking, He certainly is important, and Im not. A recent study reported in Time magazine maintains that one in eight teens texts to avoid interacting with real-life people. Technology is a fine thing, but not when it gets in the way of relating with the person in front of you. According to a Pew poll, while 79 percent of Americans use the Internet and 48 percent send text

Cagle Cartoons

messages, the number of people without close conf idants has increased steadily over the last 20 years. In fact, most Americans do not have a non-kin person with whom to discuss important personal issues. Maybe this has something

to do with being pulled in so many directions at once. One of my friends, a family therapist, worked with a couple in which the husband was having an affair. With his Blackberry, that is. The husband, a busy executive, was show-

ing more attention to his Blackberry than to his wife. He even brought it to bed with them so he wouldnt miss any important calls. His wife said, You love that thing more than me. Therapy involved putting her first again and getting the Blackberry out of their bed. There is a universal lesson here. If you want respect, you need to give it, and one of the best ways to show deep respect is to focus solely on the person you are with. A fellow professor at Virginia Tech tells of the time he asked students to close their computers to give their full attention to a guest speaker. One of the students slammed her computer closed and huffed out of the classroom. She later explained, Its not fair. I have a lot to do and can multi-task just fine in this class. Maybe so, but efficiency shouldnt trump civility. I acknowledge the strong case for computers in the classroom. When used well, they add a dimension to learning that an instructor alone cannot. The primary issue for me is the etiquette of technology use, not technology itself. Still, I have a no-technology policy in the human development classes I teach. Since I teach future human service workers, I want them to be good at fixing their attention on the person in front of them. They seem to appreciate it, too. One said, I like not having computers in class. If I had my computer out, I would be more distracted and not pay attention as much. Another admitted, Classes I use a computer in are always spent on Facebook. In this tech-savvy world, multitasking is no substitute for the human connection that develops with real, live, undistracted, personto-person contact.

Ounce of preschool or pound of remediation

Sharon K. Sheppard
Sheppard is Roanoke County Public Schools preschool program coordinator and a board member of Smart Beginnings Greater Roanoke

The more we hear about low test scores, low graduation rates and American students lagging behind foreign students, the more we need to recognize that the earlier our students start the learning process, the better. The best opportunity for our children to jump-start their learning is in a high-quality preschool program. Think back to your preschool or kindergarten days. What did you learn? Number and letter recognition and perhaps some basic counting and short words. Now think back to your elementary school days. How much did you use those skills you learned in preschool or kindergarten? A lot. Now lets compare two new kindergarten students, Michael and Mary. Michael did not attend a quality preschool program while Mary did. When Michael begins kindergarten, he likely will not have the same literacy and numeracy skills as Mary, which means Michael will likely struggle in reading and math, and by third grade, he probably will be reading below grade level when assessment tests begin. Michaels downward spiral will likely continue through elementary and middle school. All this time, his school system uses valuable (and increasingly limited) resources to remediate Michael and help him get back on grade level. If remediation is unsuccessful, Michael may become so disenfranchised by the time he enters high school that he simply drops out. Its no secret that the chances of a high school dropout becoming successful are slim at best.

Why did Michael not attend a quality preschool? His parent(s) couldnt afford it. The young children of today are Roanokes workforce of the future. More than 85 percent of a childs brain develops before the age of 5, and children with access to high-quality early learning experiences are more likely to acquire the skills they need to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Early childhood education represents a once-in-alifetime opportunity to impact our children, our community and our future workforce. Investing in quality early care and education programs yields tremendous economic and social benefits. Consider how much school systems spend every year working to remediate students to help struggling students get back on track. Now consider that a fraction of that same investment could help more children attend a quality preschool to get an early start on their education an early start that could make all the difference. Reading is fundamental to school success programs like the Virginia Preschool Initiative and Smart Beginnings promote and support quality early literacy programs that help children start kindergarten ready to read, so they are more likely to be at grade level by third grade. If they dont achieve this benchmark, it is likely most will never catch up, and children who start out behind tend to stay behind. We dont want kids to turn out like Michael. Our country needs more students like Mary. An ounce of early childhood education is worth a pound of remediation. To find out how Smart Beginnings Greater Roanoke is working to ensure children are ready for school and ready for life, visit www.smartbeginningsroanoke.org or call 540-777-4211.