Editorials

Editorials

i A week to remember

Next week marks the annual observance of National ; Education Week. It’s a time for the recognition of educators | and the contribution they make to society, and its children.

It’s also a time for everyone to note the importance of ■ education to the welfare of our nation. Never in the history of : the United States has it been more important than now.

With falling productivity in America’s traditional industries, and more companies opting to relocate overseas to take advantage of lower overhead and more advanced : technology, the United States faces a dilemma: adapt or : perhaps lose our place as a world leader.

Education plays the crucial role in our ability to adapt.

Youngsters should be exposed to a wide variety of experience. They need to be aware of, and familiar with, the different cultures which exist both within and outside the United States. They need to be skilled in the technology of computers which, incomprehensible as they might be to many adults, will be essential to the success of any of today’s children.

Such experience does not come cheap. But to maintain the attitude that “What was good enough for me is good enough for today’s kids” is to cheat those children of a chance for success.

The world is rapidly changing. Not all those changes are for the better. But for today’s children to understand and master tomorrow’s world demands a greater commitment to education than ever from today’s adults.

And it’s not just monetary commitments. Potomac ' for Embarked MttiMkHvbkiouB to> I Provide computers and software to a number of public sc^pol divisions, including Rappahannock County. Such efforts should be supported, and the companies applauded. ■ Volunteers, and private fund-raising, will become even more ; important as budget belts become ever tighter. They too should be recognized and encouraged. ‘ National Education Week is a highly visible opportunity ; to renew that commitment - but it’s one which needs to be remembered every week of the year - not just saluted and • put back into the closet until November 1988.

The stick’s short end

At the Board of Supervisors’ November meeting, John . McCarthy told the board that the Virginia Department of « Transportation is considering an extension of the present ban on tractor-trailers using Rt. 17 north of Warrenton. That ban has increased the truck traffic considerably on Rt. 522 through Rappahannock County.

Enough is enough.

The reason given for extending the ban is to relieve the congestion on the Warrenton bypass. The bypass is a mess — that s a fact. But it, and Rt. 17, are better able to handle the large trucks which travel it every day than is Rt. 522, with its steep grades across Chester Gap, short sight distances and traverse through the village of Flint Hill, where the 35-mile per hour speed limit is almost universally ignored.

Already, two county residents have lost their lives in an accident involving tractor-trailers. But any county resident who has found himself mirror to mirror with a speeding, 40ton 18-wheeler will tell you that it doesn’t have to end in an accident to be a truly terrifying experience.

The residents of Rappahannock County accepted the Department of Transportation’s ban on Rt. 17. They weren’t happy about it, but they accepted it.

They also accepted the department’s assurances that the ban would be lifted when the widening of Rt. 17 north of Warrenton was completed. Highway department officials even put the project on the top of the list of priority improvements, pledging that it would be done as soon as physically possible.

That job could be completed sometime in the first half of 1988. The residents of Rappahannock County expect the highway department to honor its pledge and lift the ban on Rt. 17 at that time.