ROTC, Callous Signs, Lost Business, Hypocrisy

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ROTC program begins this fall at UVa-Wise

The University of Virginia’s College at Wise will offer an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program this fall, now that it has partnered with East Tennessee State University to provide commissioned and non-commissioned officers for the program.

UVa-Wise had been the only public college or university in Virginia without an ROTC program, according to Chancellor David J. Prior.

College Provost Gil Blackburn said there has been interest in the program for years, but the college needed a commissioned officer to serve as a professor of military science and a non-commissioned officer to work with the program. Now, with the partnership with ETSU and its ROTC program, the UVa-Wise program will move forward.

Sgt. First Class William Willis, a member of the Virginia Army National Guard, will assist the program. Willis is a native of Dryden, Va., and has served in the Army for more than 20 years, including service in Iraq.

We are pleased to see the college launch the ROTC program – it will give students important opportunities for leadership, scholarship and service to the nation.

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More offense from Hi Lo Burger Drive In sign

Last week, the owner of the Hi Lo Burger Drive In, located along Lee Highway in Abingdon, posted a message on a sign in front of the business that read “Kevins a retard.” Readers called to complain and we called for the sign to come down. In the meantime, the sign was changed to read: “Kevins ADHD.”

The sign messages were meant to be a joke between siblings, but offended passersby. We published a photo of the “Kevins a retard” sign on the opinion page last week. Rather than learning a lesson, the owner called us to say “thank you for the free publicity” and then erected a new sign: “Thanks for the free advertisement.”

This business owner is certainly allowed to express her views, but she is using a marquee to highlight callousness to the community and potential customers who drive past. It isn’t a way to win friends, influence people or grow a business.

Loss of local Dean Foods, Pet Dairy operations

A plant with more than 50 years of service to the Tri-Cities region will shut down in September, a move that will leave about 120 people out of work.

On Monday, Dean Foods announced plans to close its PET Dairy operations on Konnarock Road in Kingsport, Tenn., following a study of its operations. The company said it will be more cost-effective to shift the Kingsport operations to other facilities in the area, but did not specify which other facilities.

Production in Kingsport will be phased out over the next 90 days and will end the week of Sept. 7. PET Dairy moved its production to the Kingsport property in 1953. It became part of Dean Foods in 2001.

We are disappointed to see the loss of this longtime local employer, and the associated 120 jobs. Dean Foods is bringing in job recruiters to help employees, but hunting for work in this recession can be a dismal proposition. We wish these employees luck in their job searches and thank the Pet Dairy, now part of Dean Foods, for 50 years of service in the community.

John Ensign’s moral, hypocritical nightmare

Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a Republican leader who appeared to be emerging as a possible 2012 presidential candidate, reached a hallmark of hypocrisy and apologized Tuesday for an extramarital affair with a former staff member.

Ensign, 51, called the affair that happened from December 2007 to August 2008 “the worst thing I have ever done in my life.” He did not identify the woman, but described her and her husband as close friends who had worked for him. Various news outlets identified the couple as Cindy and Douglas Hampton of Las Vegas. Ensign said he and his wife, Darlene, have sought counseling and their marriage remains strong. The couple was reportedly separated when the affair happened and later reconciled.

Ensign has no plans to resign from the Senate, but his biggest obstacle will be overcoming hypocrisy with the public. Ensign is a member of the Promise Keepers, a Christian men’s group that pledges to keep faithful marriages. While a candidate for Senate, Ensign demanded President Bill Clinton resign after having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; Ensign later voted to impeach Clinton. And he strongly suggested Sen. Larry Craig resign after he was arrested in an airport sex sting in Minneapolis in 2007.

It’s a rotten idea to point out other people’s moral failings then engage in an affair, especially when that person, and her husband, work for you. And by Thursday afternoon, some were claiming that Ensign hastily admitted the affair because the Hamptons were pressing him for money.

Ensign, who had become a voice for fiscal restraint and a critic of President Obama’s federal stimulus package, is now swimming in a mess of his own making.