THUMB AWARD Why Say No To “Valerie”?

Thumbs down to KXAS TV, Channel 5. for refusing to air an episode of “Valerie” at its scheduled time because the sitcom dealt with birth control and the use of condoms. The only big-city NBC affiliate in the country to balk at running ’”Valerie;” KXAS later relented and scheduled the show at 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday night, following it with a panel discussion about birth control, when surely only a handful of teenagers saw it. With Dallas’s teenage pregnancy rate among the highest in the nation, we should use all available means to get information about sexuality and responsibility to those who need it most.