Earth Day, every day

Earth Day, every day

“Earth Day, every day” is the title of an opinion column appearing on the opposite page.

It captures perfectly the sentiments which ought to underly the plans for the observance of the 20th anniversary of Earth Day this Sunday, April 22.

We hope that this anniversary observance will serve as a springboard toward a greater awareness of our environment during the next 20 years, and not be placed back into the holiday closet, to be dusted off again in 1995 for the 25th 1 anniversary bash.

We applaud the increasing environmental awareness in our society. It is about time — and in fact, long overdue.

Some cynics say it is too late — that we have already raped and pillaged the natural resources of our planet beyond its ability to repair the damage.

We hope the cynics are wrong. But there is no time to waste. The development of technology, and the increase of population, is proceeding so rapidly that it may soon be too late to reverse dangerous trends toward overdevelopment, destruction of our forestland and other resources and pollution of our water, so vital to humanity’s survival.

The celebration Sunday is terrific, and we support it. But we hope that those participating will carry its significance with them when they leave, and make every day after Earth Day too.

The true spirit

of college athletics

Last Thursday, in a hospital room at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, we saw an example of the old-fashioned spirit of athletics which is too often missing in today’s high-priced world of sports.

A group of University of Virginia basketball players took time from their studies to visit Roy Thomas, a Sperryville resident recovering from surgery at the hospital.

The gleam in young Roy’s eyes told the whole story — what a thrill it was for him to get a visit from his favorite college team. It meant a lot to him, to his family, and to us.

At a time when the sports pages are filled with stories about illegal payments, recruiting violations and other misdeeds in big-time college sports, we’re happy to be able to report the other side of the story.

We’jRe happy to report that there are still some college supersJlrs out there who have time to bring some happiness to a young man lying in a hospital bed. Roy Thomas will never forget them.

Perhaps Roy’s father said it best. “It’s enough to make a University of Virginia fan out of anyone.”