News-Record.com

Now hear this: Apparently, there are two Betty Hobbses in Greensboro, each entitled to her own opinion.

The letter published May 22 in the News & Record does not express the feelings of me or my wife, Betty.

We have a suggestion, however. The county should cut the commissioners' salary to zero and double what is currently paid to those who serve on the Board of Education. Doing so would keep all of their salaries more in line with the professional service and dignity they render to the county.

Will Hobbs
Greensboro

Please don't drop The New York Times News Service. Thomas Friedman's column alone is easily worth $34,000. Our community needs to read the truth about what's happening in the world, and nobody on the commentary page is more knowledgeable and sincerely devoted to peace, stability and our competitiveness in today's global environment than Friedman.

Jeff Perine
Jamestown

Edward Cone's entrance (column, May 22) into the evolution debate, unfortunately, offers nothing new. He accepts the oft-repeated mantra that evolution is a science while creationism is unscientific "belief."

It is interesting that the only scientific -- as opposed to theoretical -- observations Cone mentions are complexity and "specialization" of biological systems. Recognition of this complexity offers innumerable and diverse considerations in the biological sciences, not "brief and content-free," as he writes.

And it is most certainly against the theory of accidental or chance events as the origin of life.

If there is a scientific fact that supports the evolution hypothesis, would someone have the courtesy to announce it and not just say the evidence exists. "Spontaneous generation" once had scientific acceptance, but Pasteur (a creationist) put that idea in the same trash heap to which evolution is headed.

We are all free to believe God made us or not. But no one can claim scientific backing for his belief unless he can name it. The one who believes God did not create everything -- including the laws on which science rests -- is far more "religious" than those who give credit to a creator.

Marion Griffin, M.D.
Asheboro

It would be interesting, and perhaps instructive, to know how President Bush reconciles his reverence for life as exemplified by his opposition to government-funded scientific research with stem cells derived from human embryos that are slated to be discarded, with his deliberately placing members of our armed forces in a war in which so many have lost their lives.

The war on Iraq seems to most certainly have been planned without valid evidence of threats to this country, but conducted for other reasons.

J. Wilbert Edgerton
Greensboro

According to the agreement at Sharm El-Sheik a few months ago between Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon, Sharon was to abide by several provisions if Abbas were to rein in Hamas and the resistance movement.

Sharon agreed to release Palestinian prisoners, who count up to 7,000, to pull out his military from five Palestinian cities and to evacuate from settlements in Gaza.

But the facts are that Sharon did not follow through with any of the above. On the contrary, he tightened his rein even more, delaying his leave of Gaza, and building and expanding settlement activity around East Jerusalem despite President Bush's order not to do so.

One has to remember that Sharon is not one who can reason and help an occupied people. Sharon is an extremist who engineered the buildup of settlements on Palestinian land.

His militaristic background molded his nature to be violent against his enemies. He has blood on his hands by killing innocent Palestinian and Lebanese civilians over the years.

There are 92 military checkpoints within the occupied West Bank, and only 12 between the Israeli and Palestinian borders. This is proof of how the Israeli occupation is choking Palestinian life, especially with the buildup of the fascist wall that creates havoc in Palestinian economic and social life.

Victor Ganim
Greensboro

It is inspiring to have the Senior Resources of Guilford in the county as the staff there are incredibly dedicated and responsive and work diligently on behalf of our county's senior population.

On May 19, our home-care company participated in an event at Center City Park that celebrated Older Americans Month. This gala event, sponsored by Senior Resources, and others, was attended by 300-plus seniors who benefited from the gathering of numerous groups and organizations that provide varied and vital services for seniors. Attendees enjoyed musical entertainment and a beautiful day and learned about the launch of a new Web-based Guide to Aging Services in Guilford County. Additionally, this celebration of seniors created an awareness of Older Americans Month and the significance of Guilford County's senior population. What a wonderful, happy, successful day for the area's older Americans.

With Mobile Meals, Senior Wheels, Santa for Seniors, the Community Nutrition Program, the Senior AIDES Employment program, educational programs, etc., it is appropriate to recognize the contributions of Senior Resources of Guilford to our senior population and to be grateful for its presence in our community.

Dick and Susan Gray
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Michael Best

On May 23, 3330 W. Friendly Ave. died in Greensboro. Surviving are more than a million unemployed American textile workers. The cause of death was unbridled greed.

The deceased was a marvel of 20th century architecture. It had an external frame, with the building supported within. It won worldwide architectural awards. It was the world headquarters of the largest public textile company that ever existed in the history of civilization.

At 10:01 a.m. May 23, 3330 lay in ruins.

This was a fitting, poetic end to the great American textile industry. It was the exclamation point to close this great chapter of American industrial history, as we pass the baton to the communist Chinese, all for the enhanced profits of greedy retailers.

The building at 3330 died in explosive glory, not with a cowardly whimper. If 3330 had to fall, then it is fitting that this great American icon died from the mushroom cloud, not the bulldozer. Magnificent in life, 3330 deserved a magnificent death.

At least the displaced Burlington Industries employees live on, to work part time for Wal-Mart, without benefits and for substandard wages.

A parking lot and strip shopping center are to be erected in the place of the deceased.

The deceased, a six-story marvel of architecture and testament to American industrial excellence, soon will be replaced with a flat temple of greedy profiteering, selling the very Asian-made goods, among others, that caused the destruction of this great American icon.

Memorial donations may be made at any retail store. Look for the label "Made in the USA." But look hard, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I just heard the verdict in the McFayden case and could not believe it. With time served, he will probably be out before July 4.

When are we going to hold these drunks responsible for their actions?

This man made a conscious decision to get drunk (again). This man made a conscious decision to drive that vehicle when drunk. This man made a conscious decision to speed through a construction zone. Now why do the conscious decisions not add up to second-degree murder? If he had jumped out of his truck and shot the sisters, he would been found guilty of second-degree murder and not involuntary manslaughter. He would have been heading to prison for a long time.

I think I know the reasoning behind our ridiculous drunken-driving laws -- our legislators in Raleigh think, "There but for the grace of God go I." Enough said.

J.A. Williamson
Randleman

It's time to do away with the U.S. Senate. Just one good Senate "hearing" with D.H. Griffin, and we would never have to close another military base.

Closing the Senate is easily justified. "Guilt by ego-association" would work. The ego-survival game between Kerry, Kennedy, Clinton, Byrd, Warner, McCain and Graham must stop.

The people have perfect grounds to plead self-defense.

Senatorial incompetence, erroneously referred to as "decorum," is ample evidence for a nuclear implosion. They have a sterling record of incompetence. The non-impeachment of President Clinton comes to mind.

Their value system, which honors and treasures filibustering above all else, garners top marks in malfeasance.

If "dereliction of duty" were announced in the Senate, 100 senators and all their staffers would run for cover.

Case in point: Voters empowered conservative legislative and executive branches of our government for the purpose of selecting conservative judges.

Obstructionists from the Senate left derelicted first, only to be out-derelicted by 14 turncoats, seven each stabbing their respective parties in the back.

Now, "bait and switch" can be tacked on. Instead of living up to campaign promises, they've delivered treason, cowardice and malice.

And we didn't get around to the scandalous Senate pensions.

H.T. Thetford
Greensboro

Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr would be smart to take the advice of the News & Record? Anytime this newspaper is "disappointed" in the performance of our two senators, you can bet they are doing the job they were elected to do.

Sen. Graham of South Carolina did not do that and is no doubt feeling a little bit of job insecurity. May it only increase.

Curtiss L. Crotts
Greensboro

Your editorial (May 22) regarding global warming is another example of the media getting its facts wrong. I would strongly suggest that your editorial staff do some research regarding global warming.

For every report that shows the atmosphere to be warming, there is at least one report that shows it to be cooling; for every glacier melting in retreat, there are glaciers that are growing; for every report that shows oceans are rising, there is another report that shows them either stable or having risen since prehistoric times at an infinitesimally small rate. For the 1,500 scientists who urged our country to sign the Kyoto agreement, there were 15,000 scientists who stated that there either was no global warming and/or that much more data was needed to see if there truly has been a shift.

Before our government spends one more tax dollar on this bogus fear mongering, I would suggest strongly (particularly Pricey Harrison) that they investigate the research that has already been done, so as to not waste any more of our tax dollars.

Dan Holsenbeck
Greensboro

John Robinson's column, "It's the end of the Times..." (May 22, News & Record) is certainly a sad sign of the times. The dumbing down of the populace, so prevalent on TV, now has reached the News & Record.

For some time, we have had to go to pages 2, 3, 4 or more to even tell that we are at war. We really have to search to find out if a day has passed without casualties in Iraq or Afghanistan. Very little news of other parts of the world, or the United States for that matter, is revealed. The absence of syndicated columnists Thomas Friedman, Bob Herbert and Maureen Dowd leaves a void of expert commentary on national and world events.

Thanks to the Internet, we can still learn what goes on outside Guilford County.

Ed Travis
Greensboro

Recently I had emergency surgery that required four pints of blood. How grateful I am that it was available, and it reminded me of the importance of giving blood at every opportunity. Sometimes it requires time and effort in our busy world, but please donate so others may live.

Charlotte Parker
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Ernie Sawyer

The writers on evolution in the Ideas section (May 15) do not expound on a modern interpretation of creation in Genesis. The biblical version is much more in tune with evolutionary evidence than creationists admit.

Today, we know that all life is made from "dust" -- that is, the natural elements, according to its kind (determined by DNA). One senses a plan, a determinate link to the past.

In Genesis, we learn that a plant had seed "within itself," the earth "brought forth" grass, and plants and animals were made after "his kind" or "their kind." Man was made from "dust," in God's "image" (a homologue for mankind). Listen carefully. The first note of evolution is soft but clear.

And then comes an inspired chord. In the Garden of Eden, God planted several trees. Some were unlike ordinary trees from which one might pluck a pear, peach or plum to please one's palate. One tree in particular bore a "forbidden fruit." Adam was instructed by God that he must not eat the fruit thereof lest he "die." By eating, he would also become "like a god" with "the knowledge of good and evil." Obviously, we must ponder the meanings in the symbolism.

So a "serpent" tempted Adam's wife, Eve, to eat the forbidden fruit. Reading the verses carefully, it's clear, before eating, she did not know right from wrong, was not wise, and was not present when God forbade Adam to eat the fruit. Neither did she, nor Adam, feel shame for their nakedness.

Then she ate, gave to Adam, and he ate.

This tree symbolizes man's transition. An evolutionist might offer this interpretation: Before eating the fruit, man lacked moral sensitivity and felt no embarrassment for his nakedness. He was like animals or the early hominids. After eating the fruit, man, the innocent, "died." He evolved to a higher state, with wisdom, responsibility for his moral behavior, and a desire to clothe his body (initially with "fig leaves"). These were uniquely human attributes.

And finally the crescendo. To destroy the evil among men, God caused a Great Flood, which ended most life on earth. It was a mass extinction of life except for the pairs of species Noah boarded on the ark. After the flood, both man and animals began to multiply once more on earth.

Genesis is not the song of Darwin, but it does have several notes that resonate with today's fossil record.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Over the last 25 days in Iraq, the lives of at least 615 people, including 49 U.S. troops, have, to borrow your large front-page headline from the Burlington Industries headquarters implosion, "gone in a flash." While the demolition of a local landmark is indeed front-page worthy, why does the tragic, and unfortunately continuing, loss of life in Iraq merit a less prominent space in your paper?

On a related note, the News & Record has had no news coverage of the Downing Street memo. A recent search of your archives turned up two unrelated stories about road improvements. This memo documents minutes from a July 23, 2002, meeting between British and American officials. It details how the decision to launch the Iraq war had essentially been made (two-and-a-half months before Congress voted to authorize it) and how intelligence was being fixed around this decision. The Times of London printed the full text on May 1, but American papers, including Greensboro's, have been largely silent. Why?

Kim Madden
Greensboro

Editor's note: The News & Record published Second Opinion page columns about the Downing Street memo on May 14 and May 26.

I have been thinking about the recent decision to cancel the columns from The New York Times. I know I can go online and get them that way, as I do occasionally for some in the Washington Post, but it won't be the same as folding the paper for a good read at breakfast. If I could vote on what you publish, I would not miss Charles Davenport and Cal Thomas and about half of your comics section, but that probably wouldn't save enough money, since I am sure that what I don't like personally is cheap second-rate stuff anyway.

I am also sure there are just as many readers who think it's a good thing to do without Thomas Friedman, David Brooks and the others, and remain ignorant, but that's life, I suppose.

I hope that the "enhanced local coverage" we're theoretically trading off for is worth it; any writer who could make the often juvenile and self-serving actions of our elected city and county officials interesting is bound to cost more, but can we hold on to them for any length of time considering the wealth of material in our nation's capital?

Ken Sisk
Greensboro

Editor's note: The News & Record is not trading The New York Times News Service for local coverage. It will continue to feature national and international news from other sources.

At the last second in the budgeting process, we watched as the mayor of Pleasant Garden pulled out of the thin air recommendations for excess tax revenue "to give the citizens the sense of being a town." Since none of the mayor's ideas are line-item entries in the budget, we taxpayers are at the mercy of elected officials who gaze into crystal balls.

Pleasant Garden remains a town on paper with a bloated budget, but now it has a five-cent tax, its own "pork barrel" and a motto "To Seem Rather Than To Be."

Help. Help. Help.

Nancy Jo Smith
Anne Kearns Hice
Pleasant Garden

Since Newsweek felt obligated to apologize for printing an unsubstantiated report on the abuse of the Quran that caused protests and hundreds of deaths, will it now, in light of the Downing Street memo (www.downingstreetmemo.com), apologize for printing the lies the Bush administration told to justify launching a pre-emptive war against Iraq? This ongoing war has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and worldwide protests.

The News & Record may feel a need to also apologize.

Charles Lownes
Greensboro

Oh, no, say it isn't so. I am always pressing transplanted Yankee colleagues to "subscribe to the News & Record; you live and work here. You should get the local paper; and besides, you'll be able to read Tom Friedman and the other New York Times columnists in our hometown paper."

I am deeply disappointed. I'm sure the diminishing readership is part of the reason, but this decision certainly isn't going to help my case to add readers from my circle.

Judith R. Hyman
Greensboro

I, too, want to protest your decision to cancel The New York Times News Service. International news coverage and thoughtful analysis are needed more than ever in today's often-bewildering world. The columns by Thomas Friedman and David Brooks alone are worth $34,000. I cannot imagine how this money could be better spent.

Please rethink your decision.

Robert Galbreath
Greensboro

I have been reading David McCullough's biography of John Adams and was much struck by the quotation from our second president that serves as an epigraph to Chapter Ten: "Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war."

Tom Kirby-Smith
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Mark Jewell

On behalf of all schoolchildren in Guilford County, the Guilford County Council of PTAs Executive Board and the Guilford County Association of Educators (GCAE) ask the Guilford County commissioners and state legislators to properly fund Guilford County Schools. We must go beyond the "bare bones" approach to financing schools. We must fund a budget that provides for smaller class size, competitive wages, adequate planning time and a safe environment conducive to high academic achievement.

As the third-largest school district in North Carolina, Guilford County Schools has experienced tremendous changes. Since 1997, we have enrolled more than 8,000 additional students -- an 11 percent increase in student population. In addition, the needs of our students are increasing. Forty-six percent of our students now receive free or reduced-price lunch, and a sobering 25,000 students live in poverty. Eighty-two different languages are spoken; 4,635, or approximately 7 percent, of our students receive English Speakers of Other Languages services.

Further, over the past 30 years, our state's contribution to public school funding has declined from 52 percent to a dismal 38 percent. In addition, Guilford County Schools must bear the cost of unfunded mandates at both the state and federal levels, such as No Child Left Behind and state funding caps for students with disabilities. As our county grows and state funding declines, our schools will face further staff cuts and larger numbers of students in each class unless we have additional local funding. Currently, we rank only 10th in North Carolina in the amount of local funding per pupil.

Our schools must have the resources to provide Guilford County students with the education and tools necessary to compete in today's rapidly changing job market. If we want Guilford County to grow and continue to be an economically viable area for companies to locate, we must be able to offer those companies a highly educated work force. Let us do what is right for our children and our community. We urge you to contact county commissioners and state legislators and encourage them to properly fund our schools. It is in everyone's best interest to invest in our schools and in our future by making education a top priority in Guilford County.

The writer is GCAE president.

The News & Record is in business to make money. That's understood. Your editor also claims to accept the role of serving the community and has reminded us it is his community as well. Too many media companies are "dumbing down" content because it sells, and/or they can produce it cheaply.

I'm here to ask our local newspaper to keep the bar raised, invest a few extra dollars to inform and educate readers as best as possible. There is no issue more important on our nation's horizon than the war on terrorism and the consequences of this war for our future. The most informed and insightful journalist on the subject of the Middle East and Arab-Israeli-U.S. relations is Thomas Friedman of The New York Times. I applaud your paper for running this column. Don't stop it.

Which school textbooks do you select for your kids -- good, better or best? Well, how are you going to best serve your friends and neighbors in our community? Good, better or best?

Funnel cake is great, but a healthy diet requires the addition of healthy foods. It is said that you are what you eat. Well, you own the restaurant. What are you going to serve us?

Steve Patton
Greensboro

Public school financing faces a crisis each year as regional budgets are diminished and state and federal funding becomes more and more elusive. Teaching positions are cut, and the funds for basic supplies needed for the education process are eliminated from the budget spreadsheets perused by boards and politicians. Fortunately, some community-conscious corporations have chosen to make public schools and teachers the focus of grants for education.

In our region, Kay Chemical Co., an ECOLAB company, provides funds to educators through the Kay Community Relations Council and the endowments provided through the ECOLAB Visions for Learning Program for School Educators. In 2004, this corporation gave $45,000 to area teachers and schools for the benefit of our students. As one of the many teachers in the region who has received a grant this year to provide supplementary novels for my English classes, I want to thank Kay Chemical Co., its Community Relations Council and the ECOLAB foundation for demonstrating such corporate responsibility and generous support for our students. Such support does make a difference for those who teach and for those who learn.

Arch Aitcheson
Greensboro

The writer is a Grimsley High School teacher.

President Bush called the recent report from Amnesty International "absurd." Apparently, the documented incidences of human rights violations in American detention centers, as reported by this group, are only sacred when it is not the United States being accused.

The constant drone from the Bush administration of negating anything that doesn't agree with them and their policies is getting old. This spin on news is insulting to the intelligence of the American people and, more importantly, damaging to what shred of dignity we hold in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Bush and Cheney can go on any TV show, talk to any right-leaning media outlet and be as outraged and as damning as they wish of Amnesty International.

But they need to know this: Their insistence of always being right, never apologizing and never promising to look into such serious allegations doesn't mean people haven't been hurt at the hands of Americans. We should be ashamed of our president's sophomoric stunts. It is time for us to demand that he show some true grit and character. Bush's denials, bravado and lack of maturity do nothing to further his fellow Americans' reputation as compassionate, caring people of whom the world can be proud.

Mary Coyne Wessling
Greensboro

I appreciate the irony of your May 31 opinion pages, with Kenneth L. Caneva and Jane E. Sugarman's letter dissenting from your decision to terminate The New York Times News Service (echoing several previous letters) on the Opinion page, and opposite, on the Second Opinion page, columns by Times writers Tom Friedman, David Brooks and Nicholas Kristof -- all of them worthy of your pages.

I will miss these and others from The New York Times, and I may look for an alternate source -- perhaps the Raleigh News and Observer?

I appreciate your paper, and I hope you will reconsider your decision. It would be unfortunate to see our major area newspaper shrinking toward local coverage at the expense of wider news.

Ralph E. Macy
Burlington

Regarding the editorial, "Don't mix stem cells with religion, politics" (May 31):

I cannot begin to comprehend the logic applied to conclude that people of faith have no right to apply their core beliefs in the political arena. If one's faith, regardless of denomination/tradition, has no bearing on the moral issues that face us as a society, it has no meaning whatsoever.

The left-leaning News & Record should do some soul-searching of its own. The notion that the need for "tolerance" applies only to those you choose to label as "right-wingers, conservatives, traditionalists," etc., in itself lacks the tolerance of which you speak. If folks don't agree with the left, they need to be tolerant.

If we disagree with you, we need to keep our faith under a bushel basket. Your position lacks logic.

Stephen Cush
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Turner C. Church

I was mildly amused by Lorraine Ahearn's whimsical column (May 27) exploring ways to save the Greensboro City Club. While Alexander Bleu Cheese has never been associated with the club in any fashion, Roger Soles, our founding member and great benefactor, in whose name one of our premier menu items, Roger's Fresh Fish, does appear, is fondly remembered from the ground floor to the clock tower atop the 20th.

Although the reasons for the untimely demise of Greensboro's most prestigious fine dining address are far more complicated than could be addressed by a loose confederation of random fund raisers and donations, I commend the effort to keep our club in the community's consciousness. The hand-wringing and lamentation engendered by the announcement of the club's closing are but one in a number of compelling reasons why I'm convinced that a Greensboro City Club can and should be an ongoing and profitable facility available to those individuals and corporations whose best interests are served by such a uniquely well-appointed and well-run upscale food and beverage operation.

A profitable food and beverage operation cannot be run from the board room. As with anything, one can always be a "Monday morning quarterback" of anyone in any situation. Although the membership roles have declined appreciably since a shade before Sept. 11, our year-over-year revenue and volume have steadily increased, serving as testimony to the excellent job that all of the management and staff have continued to do.

Everyone has heard the old adage that there are three determining factors regarding a food and beverage operation's success: location, location, location. Need I be more specific on this issue? There are certainly ways of addressing all of the issues that confront a club such as ours which, if fully tenable, would result in the continued prosperous and successful operation of a club occupying the 19th and 20th floors at 100 N. Greene St. You know where to find me. I'll be here today.

Thank you to all of our loyal members and their guests from all of the staff at The Greensboro City Club.

The writer is banquet manager, Greensboro City Club.

In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the governor of Virginia, Edmund Randolph, spoke these prophetic words about the need for a firm Senate:

"The object of the second branch is to control the democratic branch of the national legislature. If it be not a firm body, the other branch being more numerous and coming immediately from the people, will overwhelm it. ... A firmness and independence may be more necessary also in this branch, as it ought to guard the Constitution against encroachments of the executive, who will be apt to form combinations with the demagogues of the popular branch."

Today, the danger lies in a Senate that has forgotten its responsibility to guard the nation against the executive's partnership with the popular passions of the House. The Senate's role is to be a keel in the boat of state.

Svea Sauer
Greensboro

What a pleasure it was to read "Americans: new and old" (News & Record, May 21). My congratulations to these new citizens of our country. I hope that all of their dreams will be realized in this, the very best country on earth.

The article was all the more uplifting as it shows that people from other lands may still come to the United States via the proper and legal pathways followed by so many of our ancestors. Indeed, they are most welcome.

All 69 of those taking an oath of citizenship represent a glaring and sharp contrast to the thousands of criminal infiltrators roaming our cities and towns, each a potential terrorist, each a potential disease carrier and all breaking the laws of our country. The warm fuzzy leftists call them undocumented immigrants. Undocumented, yes; immigrants, no. They are common criminals, of which we already have more than enough.

Ian A. Millar
Kernersville

I was truly disappointed to read that you will be dropping The New York Times columnists from your paper.

Prize-winners such as Thomas Friedman, David Brooks and others bring a professional and international view that is unmatched and provide a major element of value to the publication. These views also are much more balanced in the heated environment of today's right versus left and polarized political environment.

I shall wait to see what is to replace these thoughtful voices and determine if a subscription remains of value.

James L. Sheldon
Greensboro

I am writing regarding B.D. Smith's letter (May 23). I did not attend the game at First Horizon Park that celebrated Cinco de Mayo. If I had, I would have left.

I can't imagine what idiot allowed the Mexican national anthem to take precedence over "The Star-Spangled Banner" or had the game announced in Spanish. Mexico does not celebrate the Fourth of July.

As far as learning to adapt, newcomers need to learn English and use it. That is what other nationalities have been doing for several hundred years.

Mary S. Ward
Madison

I am only a recent subscriber to your newspaper, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the columnists from The New York Times, especially Thomas Friedman. I subscribed to the News & Record because the local paper, The Burlington Times-News is sorely lacking in substance when it comes to national and world affairs coverage and opinion. If you wonder why many people will go to the Internet for coverage of such topics, here is a good reason.

My guess is that the right-wing conservative majority has won again. I doubt that I will renew my current subscription when it comes due.

William A. Vollmer
Mebane

I am 12 years old. During the evening I flip through the TV channels and I stop on Channel 13 just to see what the county commissioners are talking about.

From a 12-year-old point of view, I think some of the things they talk about to people or about people are evil and mean. Some people they talk about shouldn't be exposed like that because it might hurt them.

What I'm saying doesn't go for all the commissioners. I like two of the commissioners a lot. Trudy Wade and Linda Shaw are good commissioners. They don't back-stab people. They say what's on their minds, but in doing that, they do it the right way.

But for Bruce Davis and Melvin "Skip" Alston, I think they represent the African American culture terribly. I think both of them act way younger than they are. Why have a meeting to get the commissioners back together? That shouldn't be. They should be close like friends anyway. Remember there is no "I" in team.

For the rest of the commissioners, I don't know how they are, but I hope they are good commissioners like Trudy Wade and Linda Shaw.

Sharon Mebane
Greensboro

I read Anthony Morton's letter (May 28) about the loss of the historic McMillan family house on the site of the imploded Burlington Industries headquarters building. I had lived in Greensboro only a couple of years when the BI building was built. It held little interest to me as an uninformed young woman. I loved the water fountain, and as the trees grew I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful trees in the landscape.

What I want to say here is that several weeks before the demise of that building, I was traveling down Northline Street behind that property. A large bulldozer was pushing over one of the mammoth trees. My stomach lurched, tears actually came trickling down my face. I was physically sick.

Time and again, I have watched the demolition of the large oak trees in Greensboro. Am I just an old, hysterical female who doesn't understand progress, or are there others who feel the "powers that be" don't know wealth when they have it right before their eyes?

We don't need another hot, congested nightmare like Wendover at I-40.

Donna Combs
Gibsonville

The letter (May 28) about the "True gem on Friendly" stirs me to add to the content. I also lived in the house, probably longer than anyone else.

The history of it could fill a book: from relocating a doctor to Greensboro from New Orleans to live in it, to a murder years later, prior to its destruction for Burlington Industries' office building construction.

My family loved living there during spring, summer and early fall, but cold weather was unpleasant. I've seen snow blow through the walls. Cold, brrr. The oil furnace was installed in a downstairs closet. When it was called upon to start, it would shake the house, and the windows, which were floor to ceiling, would rattle. Sort of unnerving.

Many things occurred, such as lightning strikes that split the chimney, fires, etc., but the little house remained until it fell to construction crews.

Ed McMillan and his family moved into the home they built on Kemp Road East before I went to work with Starmount Co.

Anthony Morton's letter reminded me of a beautiful phase of my life.

Elvin R. Parks
Greensboro

I wonder if Donald Rumsfeld, when he declared of the Newsweek story, "People lost their lives. People are dead. People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what the do," was thinking about George W. Bush's inviting of hostilities against his own troops or misstating -- thereby, potentially dragging the United States unwillingly and unwittingly into war -- on national television the long-standing U.S. policy regarding the defense of Taiwan.

I wonder how many of your letter writers -- there seem to be many -- who approve of political powers resting in the hands of the religious, really despise, rather than adore, the New Testament Jesus, who is reported to have declined absolute political power and who, rather conspicuously, in view of modern "Christian" patriots, is not reported to have joined the Zealots in their quest to free Israel from the Romans.

I wonder how the New Testament Jesus' so-called "Golden Rule" came to mean, for America's "Christian" war president and many of his adherents, evidently the very opposite of what, on the surface, it seems to mean.

David W. Hardin
Greensboro

Next time someone tells you that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are worth it, ask them this: Have we found Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan?

In Iraq, we removed a two-bit dictator at the cost of more than 1,600 deaths of military personnel, not to mention thousands of Iraqi civilians, also the billions of dollars of taxpayers' money spent there.

These two wars are George Bush's wars. He wanted these wars and deceived the American people on why we went to war, according to a British intelligence memo. Now both countries are on the verge of civil war.

Next time someone tells you that these two wars are worth it, ask them this: What have we won?

Frederick Nimer
Greensboro

I propose that we pass a law limiting all senators and representatives to two four-year terms as we do the president. In this way, they would have one term to get established and only one more term to get rich at the expense of us taxpayers.

I would also like to exclude all lawyers, but this would be unconstitutional.

Have you noticed that if you ask a politician the time of day, they talk for 30 minutes and you still do not know the time? No need to go on and on -- enough said.

George Stanley
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Gerald Goulder

Is discrimination based on immigration status equivalent to discrimination based on race? Is immigration status a civil right in itself? The burgeoning public policy debate over illegal immigration includes crucial underpinnings the public has yet to appreciate -- issues of civil rights for undocumented aliens.

Current estimates are that at least one-half of undocumented aliens in the United States are from Mexico. Most consider themselves "people of color" who share civil rights concerns similar those of black citizens in the 1950s and 1960s. Undocumented Latinos see a similarity in circumstances. Other unlawful immigrants raise the issue that "color" is not the issue, but that immigration status alone is an improper restriction on their civil rights.

Should we consider civil rights impact when we debate immigration laws, or is it better when jumping off a cliff not to even look where we might end up?

The argument is that issues such as immigration, language regulation, bilingual education, public benefits, paying resident fees to attend public universities, loss of jobs due to heightened immigration enforcement and driver's license issues affect undocumented Latinos on a racial basis.

Although our courts presently do not equate discrimination based on immigration status with discrimination based on race, the "civil rights" issues will soon become very real.

Those arguing for expanded civil rights for undocumented aliens have framed the driver's license debate in the context of the status and security of undocumented Latinos.

Consider, from their perspective, if any laws relating to unlawful immigration status subject undocumented Latinos to discrimination based on race. Do, or will, they result in any racial profiling? Will policies encourage undocumented Latinos to avoid police interaction? Will laws increase undocumented Latinos' worries about deportation for traffic offenses? Will unlicensed driving result in impoundment of vehicles that are necessary to keep a job? Will policies increase undocumented Latinos' fears of deportation? Do any of these issues have "context" relating to one's civil rights?

Are there civil rights for undocumented aliens? Do civil rights have any context within the "illegal immigration" debate? Should we even consider if laws fairly or unfairly affect or exclude undocumented Latinos from many amenities available to U.S. citizens?

Driver's licenses are the tip of the iceberg. The real issue will be discrimination based on race or discrimination based on immigration status.

We should look at the map as we start choosing which roads we will take.

The writer is an immigration lawyer in Greensboro.

Last week's Deep Throat revelation has put the whistle-blower back in the news. The daring insider, secretly passing on evidence to bring down a corrupt authority, is the champion of the moment.

So where are the Deep Throats of today? Who's the next sleuth with a bombshell to drop that will keep us all talking for the next 30 years?

Look no further than the Downing Street minutes. A modern-day Deep Throat recently leaked this official transcript of a top secret pre-war intelligence briefing. Right there in black and white it reveals that the Bush and Blair administrations wanted to go to war in Iraq as early as July 2002. That "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around that policy." And they deliberately misled the American people the entire time.

The fickle eyes of the public are, for the moment, enthralled by the Deep Throat story. Seize the moment, editors and reporters. Now is the time. Cover the Downing Street bombshell.

Readers are thirsty for it.

The minutes are online at the Sunday London Times:
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html

For more information, see:
www.downingstreetmemo.com

Kim Winz
Durham

According to CNN and the Faux News Network (my primary source of comedy), the Army is offering 15-month active duty enlistments and up to $20,000 in signing bonuses. Why are the ground combat services in trouble?

Nearly 60 million people said in November that they enthusiastically supported the Iraq war. So, why aren't they all in uniform? Why aren't they pushing their sons and daughters on planes to Parris Island? Why isn't every Bush voter, 18 to 30, in uniform? Are they following Bush's and Cheney's Vietnam examples? Or is serving your country in time of war one of those jobs Bush says Americans won't do?

Maybe we can outsource Iraq to Italy, whose Army had a fearsome reputation in World War II until they lost their bullet. Or maybe we liberals will bring back a no-deferral draft. Who could be against that?

Bush-heads who aren't in the military or don't have immediate family in uniform are hypocrites, cowards or both. They're not "red" voters; they're "yellow" voters, yellow like the color of their spines and the ribbons on their cars.

Sorry, America, but decals and bumper stickers just ain't enough anymore. Time to put your life where your mouth is.

Chuck Davis
High Point

Several months have passed since the election, and it is time to start looking toward the future. It is now time to have your voice heard and set this country back on the right track. The Constitution Party (www.ConstitutionParty.com) is ready to better represent this nation.

Two years ago House Bill 867 was introduced, which would have lowered the petition requirements for ballot access from 2 percent of voters in the last gubernatorial election to .05 percent, and would have lowered the threshold for maintaining ballot access from 10 percent to 2 percent.

Though it passed committee, the co-speakers in the legislature denied it a vote. The bill has been reintroduced as House Bill 88. The state representative who introduced the bill says if we want this bill heard this year, we need to pressure the Finance Committee to move on it. Paul Luebke is the sponsor and one of the finance chairs. He suggests writing the other co-chairs of the Finance Committee and asking that they hear House Bill 88:

Martha Alexander, Marthaa@ncleg.net, (919) 733-5807
Pryor Gibson, Pryorg@ncleg.net, (919) 715-3007
Julia Howard, Juliah@ncleg.net, (919) 733-5904
Paul Luebke, Paull@ncleg.net, (919) 733-7663
Danny McComas, Dannym@ncleg.net, (919) 733-5786
William Wainwright, Williamw@ncleg.net, (919) 733-5995

Michael Frisbee
Thomasville

We read your article, "1 day left" (May 22), about the construction and impending demolition of Burlington Industries' headquarters with a mixture of interest and sadness.

Unfortunately, no mention was made of those within the company who played a major role in its construction.

Our father, Ike English, was chief engineer from 1949-1977, which was the period of BI's most dynamic growth. He and his department of 35 highly skilled engineers and draftsmen were involved every step of the way from conception to finish. Dad was understandably and justifiably proud of the result.

Sadly, this demolition could serve as a metaphor for the near- demise of the textile industry in the United States, which had brought a measure of prosperity to the South after being devastated in the Civil War.

Roger English
Charlotte

Bret English
Camdenton, Mo.

Sally English Lutman
Virginia Beach, Va.

Perhaps this will get the News & Record to reconsider its unwise and short-sighted decision: An organized group of 100 or 200 subscribers who vow to cancel their subscriptions to the News & Record if the News & Record cancels its subscription to The New York Times News Service.

We want Thomas Friedman. We can do without Charles Davenport Jr. Please.

H. Rod Rodman
Greensboro

I am dismayed at the decision to drop The New York Times News Service that will result in losing several columns that add perspective to our understanding of national and international affairs and balance in editorial positions. Greensboro is a community of many interests and parts.

Our history as a manufacturing center as well as our concentration in higher education give us a diversity perhaps not found elsewhere. Columnists such as Thomas Friedman, Maureen Dowd and others provide opinions that, while focused most often on national and international issues, reflect and stimulate local conversation and thought.

Dropping these opinions to concentrate more on "local issues" sells our community short. National and international matters today are local issues and confronting them from various points of view feeds the intellect and thoughtfulness of our citizens.

These columns, as well as more conservative writers, stretch us as we read them. They enrich the discourse. Providing this kind of stimulus is part of the News & Record's responsibility.

I hope you will reverse your decision.

Richard "Skip" Moore
Greensboro

I am distressed and disappointed at your decision to drop The NewYork Times op-ed writers. I think we especially need to hear the voice of Thomas Friedman. He has the rare combination of knowledge, reason, compassion and bipartisanship that cannot be replaced. Please reconsider.

Nancy May
Greensboro

Opponents of the death penalty moratorium bill -- some of them our elected representatives -- are all over the news claiming that it costs North Carolina taxpayers more to carry out a sentence of life without parole than to impose the death penalty. This is a bogus argument.

Dr. Philip Cook and Donna Swenson of Duke University released a report in 1993 called "The Costs of Processing Murder Cases in North Carolina." Our state spends approximately $2.16 million per actual execution. The overall costs to the state for enacting the death penalty are $4 million a year higher than if we only sought life sentences in capital cases.

According to the study, the cost to taxpayers for first-degree murder prosecution and execution is $165,000 higher per defendant than if the same person were sentenced to life in prison. With more than 170 people on North Carolina's death row, this is quite an inordinate additional expense for a penalty that has not been shown to be a deterrent.

Beyond the financial inaccuracies cited by the moratorium opponents, do you really want to be represented by someone who can say, publicly, "These people are costing us too much money, so let's kill 'em"? I don't.

Tom Edgerton
Greensboro

For this week's meeting of the G8 nations, the host, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has placed on the agenda a discussion on increasing aid to Africa's poorest nations. According to The New York Times, President Bush is resisting the idea of this move. The proposed increase would be $25 billion from the entire group, but according to the Leader of the Free World, that sort of thing "doesn't fit our budgetary process."

So let's be clear on this. Our budgetary process is OK with spending well over $400 billion a year to keep up America's ability to engage in gunboat diplomacy for the next century, not to mention a special allocation of $80 billion to keep up the effort in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the idea of spending even a relatively tiny bit of that in an effort to keep millions of Africans from starving to death "doesn't fit our budgetary process"?

If this is a "culture of life," I'd purely hate to see a "culture of death."

Eric Harrington
Greensboro

Having just attended our grandson's graduation from Page High School, I would like to congratulate the graduates on their achievements and decorum. Not so for the audience.

The names of those who received diplomas were lost among the shouts and shrill screams of many attendees. Graduation is a joyous occasion and should not be ruined by those who left their manners and consideration of others at home.

Sally Brannon
Greensboro

Governments at all levels struggle with decisions about sources and uses of funds.

As cost-push inflation and additional uses for funds are found, many cities and counties, for example, turn to tax increases as a funding source. But first, alternatives should be explored. Among these are 1) reducing currently unnecessary costs and 2) outsourcing services not needed on a regular basis.

Greensboro appears to do much premature repaving of key streets. Lawndale Drive south of Pisgah Church Road is an example. I travel Lawndale Drive regularly, and I never encountered a pothole that required patching, much less a street in need of total repaving. Just because the asphalt has turned a lighter charcoal color does not mean a multimillion-dollar restoration is urgently needed.

And did the Parks and Recreation Department really need to replace its pickup truck-towed "trolley" with a new fiberglass version and dedicated tow vehicle that cannot be used for other purposes? Could tree-trimming trucks be rented or subcontracted at lower cost than ownership?

The small taxpayer is a nameless, faceless entity. It may be more rewarding to raise taxes than to disrupt mutually beneficial alliances with service providers.

Alan J. Greco
Greensboro

Your article about ticket brokers ("Brokers hijack the ticket-buying process," Go Triad, May 26) was very one-sided. All you did was fan a fire of misconception because you were upset at not scoring tickets for U2.

There are many legitimate brokers, and you did not interview or learn about any of them. You simply whined about eBay and your inability to score.

Our company, Encore Tickets, is a proud ticket broker that specializes in getting people "up close." Take a peek at our testimonials section on our home page at http://www.encoretickets.com and you'll see we make dreams come true.

We put kids on the floor for their favorite basketball teams. We put music fans stage front for their favorite artists.

Most brokers don't want junk seats. The upper levels, corners and behind the stage are plentiful, so assuming brokers "snatched all those" is incorrect.

Furthermore, brokers don't buy tickets from retailers and venues. Brokers buy tickets from individual sellers who have learned the value of various tickets.

I'm sorry you didn't get tickets for U2. Blame your Internet service provider. Blame Ticketmaster. Blame whomever makes you feel better. But don't blame an entire industry of which you obviously know little.

Christian Griffith
Atlanta

The writer is chief technology officer, http://www.EncoreTickets.com

Your article regarding state Sen. Kay Hagan (May 29) was excellent and told the story of the work she does on behalf of all of us in Guilford County. She sets a standard every elected official would do well to achieve.

Kay's dedication to accepting any challenge before her is proven by the enthusiasm, honesty, hard work and pure enjoyment she exhibits as she works her way through whatever is before her.

Plain and simple, she enjoys her job and proves that by the manner in which she conducts herself, whether she is dealing with those in agreement with her or those who may oppose the position she has taken.

She listens to all sides of issues and gives equal consideration and appreciation to those supporting her position as well as to those who may oppose where she stands. Her time and effort to gather all of the facts before making a decision are great.

We all would be very fortunate to have Kay Hagan continue to serve us as our current North Carolina senator or any other level she may seek in the future.

Art Winstead Jr.
Greensboro

Nicholas D. Kristof of The New York Times once wrote an article, "Why should we care about Darfur? Ask Magboula."

Magboula is a woman from Darfur. The writer met her at the Kalma Camp. Her story begins when the Janjaweed militia began to slaughter black tribes like her own. She fled with her family to a large town.

In December, the Sudanese army attacked that town. She hid behind a bush. The Janjaweed caught up with them and shot her husband. They whipped her, then eight of them gang-raped her.

Magboula later fled with her children to Kalma Camp. Her son soon died. This is the story of Magboula.

You will probably ask after reading this, what can I do now? All of us felt shame about what happened in Rwanda. Yes, you can help Magboula.

You can contact your local representative to stop the genocide still going on in Sudan.

Mohamed Osman
Greensboro

A June 2 Counterpoint by Mark Jewell, president of the Guilford County Association of Educators, omitted the names of the column's other two authors. They were Uma Avva, Guilford County PTAs president for 2004-2005, and Marsha Elam, Guilford PTAs president for 2005-2006.

How disappointing to learn that we have lost easy access to the commentary of Thomas Friedman and David Brooks. How can this community, with a readership that includes two state universities, several private colleges, and one community college, pretend to aspire to more than a provincial profile with a newspaper that excludes Friedman and Brooks -- as well as other Times offerings?

How will potential international businesses view locating here with such a diminished newspaper? As our city leaders attempt to revitalize downtown Greensboro and attract a stronger, more diversified commercial base, our own newspaper intentionally wavers in its commitment to cosmopolitan content.

I would gladly pay more money per issue to support access to Friedman, Brooks and other Times offerings. No doubt many others in this community agree. Please reconsider your decision.

Deborah Bell
Greensboro

I must weigh in on your decision to drop The New York Times columnists in favor of more local coverage. As I see it, the News & Record already has more local than national or international coverage. Local headlines often replace more important news elsewhere.

With the state of our country and our world today, we need columnists like Friedman and Brooks to keep us both challenged and informed. I would rather see my subscription rate raised a dollar than lose the opportunity to read good editorials -- the part of the paper I most enjoy with my morning coffee.

Please reconsider this decision.

Nancy Probst
Greensboro

We strongly recommend that you reconsider canceling the New York Times News Service and particularly their columnists. They add immensely to the quality of the News & Record.

If you must save money, discontinue the following comic strips, in order: Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!, Get Fuzzy, Foxtrot, Cathy and Over the Hedge, which add little, if anything, to the standing of the newspaper.

Suggestion: Ask your readers to vote on which they'd rather have.

John P. and Dorothy H. Seabrooke
Colfax

Well, we can put aside our worries. Our children will be safer. They will not have unlimited snacks in school vending machines but can still have unlimited time on cell phones while driving.

We are so fortunate to have legislators who do what's right to keep our kids safe.

Sleep well at night; Raleigh will be our watchdog.

Deane S. Taylor
Summerfield

When is too much for the public enough for you?

Dr. Johnnetta Cole has had more than her 15 minutes of fame in your publication. Your persistent and prolonged coverage far exceeds any further interest in her. It is past time for you to cease and desist.

Joseph Hudgins
Greensboro

City Councilman Robbie Perkins says he has heard no protests from citizens to the proposed property tax increase. Either his constituents own no property or are among the gullible voters who approved the monstrous school bond.

Well, ladies and gentlemen of the City Council and Board of Commissioners, here is one taxpayer who is outraged that any of you could even consider a tax increase in a year following an automatic, huge tax increase by virtue of the 25 to 50 percent property tax revaluation process.

It is too late now, but we need political candidates who will promise to end wasteful government spending at all levels.

Wake up, taxpayers.

W.K. Oden Jr.
Greensboro

I was interested to read a letter by Anthony Morton (May 28) that rather than bemoaning the loss of the Burlington Industries building, stated that the small historic house and beautiful fields on that property were truly the loss. This letter interested me because the original log house was built by my mother's parents, Nereus and Dora Taylor Ballinger, in the late 1800s. Several tall cedar trees that remained until recently were planted by my grandmother.

As their family grew, they built a separate addition to the original log cabin. The cabin became the kitchen, and later it was destroyed by fire and not rebuilt. Nereus and Dora had seven children, one of whom was Julia Adelyn Ballinger, later Greensboro's first city councilwoman, Juliette Dwiggins. A point of interest is that in 1753, the original property consisted of 640 acres granted to Henry Ballinger by the King of England. This included the land of New Garden Friends Meeting and the New Garden Cemetery (in Guilford College).

What became the Burlington Industries property was actually my grandparents' farm, which I believe included what is now Friendly Shopping Center and part of the Starmount property.

The passing of important places is always a difficult adjustment, but when you become aware of the full historical background, it might just become interesting.

Jacquelyne Dwiggins Behrends
Greensboro

I attended a graduation June 4. It was not your usual high school graduation. These graduates, men and women of all ages, who stood proudly in their green caps and gowns, were graduating from the adult high school program at GTCC.

This program gives students who have dropped out of high school, for whatever reason, a chance to take classes and earn a high school diploma. Everyone deserves a second chance, and these graduates have taken full advantage of this second chance. They are motivated, focused and determined to succeed. There was an energy in the room as they graduated, a feeling of accomplishment as they cheered for each other.

As the parent of one of these graduates, I want to thank GTCC and the Guilford County school system for making this excellent program available. I hear a lot of complaints about the Guilford County school system, but this is something they are doing right.

Congratulations to all the graduates, especially my daughter. We love you, Sarah.

Christine McCarthy
Greensboro

Why are you in favor of embryonic stem-cell research ("Don't mix stem cells with religion, politics," May 31)? It has never benefited anyone but the scientists who are getting paid for it. No medical benefit to anyone has ever been documented.

You said, "The stumbling block ... is Bush."

No, the stumbling block is that there are no advantages to it.

You said, "Presumably, the president's opposition ... is based on religious grounds ..." Maybe, but since you're "presuming," why not presume that his opposition is based on the fact that there are no advantages to it, but that there are many advantages to adult stem-cell research, and that time, energy and money would be better spent there?

My mother had Lou Gehrig's disease for more than 11 years before dying of a heart attack. She would not have favored embryonic stem-cell research.

I have diabetes, as do many of my friends and acquaintances. Neither I nor they favor embryonic stem-cell research. So what if Nancy Reagan does? You thought she was wrong when she was supposedly seeking presidential advice from astrologers. Why invoke her name now as someone who is right? President Reagan would not have supported it.

Tommy Guyer
Thomasville

How ironic that on May 22, when John Robinson announced that the News & Record would be dropping The New York Times News Service, the financial page had a profile of the Times. Among other facts, it noted that the Times has won 111 Pulitzer prizes in its history. We will be losing the insights of David Brooks, Maureen Dowd, Bob Herbert and Thomas Friedman. I doubt that their replacements will equal their prestige and achievements. Could this move be connected to the contentions by some that the editorial pages contain too much liberal bias?

The only newspaper in town shouldn't contribute to the insularity already present in our community. In fact, the new "improved" front-page format does just that. It ignores the outside world and consigns national and international news to the inside pages. We need the newspaper to give us the details omitted in the 30-second sound bites on TV news. A picture of a man and his dog in matching raincoats is not front-page news.

Marlene Nielsen
Greensboro

Editor's note: The discontinuation of The New York Times News Service was not motivated by complaints of liberal bias.

Kim Madden's letter (June 3) noted that the News & Record has had no news coverage of the Downing Street memo, yet in response, you wrote that your paper has published Second Opinion page columns about that memo on May 14 and May 26.

The editors should be ashamed. Even nonjournalists understand the difference between news and editorial content, so I'm sure that you recognize your dissembling for exactly what it is. Hiding your lack of news coverage about this critically important topic behind protestations of "it was covered on the opinion page," bears the appearance of misdirection, if not outright cowardice, and you should know that your readers recognize that.

By any measure, the Downing Street memo is news, and you have the duty to publish that news for your readers. Whatever your reasons for avoiding that obligation, you should have the forthrightness to simply state them, straight out, without making unethical excuses. I urge all News & Record readers to write to the editors immediately and demand that they publish the news in the news section, where it belongs, and stop relying on editorialists to do their jobs for them.

A. Russell Jones
High Point

I am writing regarding Matt Williams' article (June 4) regarding airline travel for pets. The alarmist nature of the article was a little misleading. We are a pet relocation company based in Atlanta. We move more than 1,000 pets per year and have never had an incident. Airline travel is quite safe as long as common sense is used.

The main error in the article was the implication that the cargo holds of the airplanes where animals travel are not temperature-controlled. They indeed are. It is the same air that we breathe in the cabin. This information is available on many of the airlines' Web sites as well as many pet travel sites, including our own.

The legislation referred to would have required the airlines to install separate and distinct temperature controls for the baggage compartment. Sarah Stano's unfortunate event was most likely caused by human error. They simply placed her cat in the wrong compartment.

I look forward to the new rules as, hopefully, they will put to rest misconceptions like the ones regarding temperatures in the cargo holds. I obviously urge each person to do their homework when transporting loved ones. However, the fact is that airline travel for pets is exceedingly safe.

Marc Morrison
Atlanta, Ga.

The writer is owner of Animal Land Inc.

Recently, Bob Hinson spoke to a group of citizens about his candidacy for sheriff in 2006. I was impressed with a lot of the things he had to say about his plans for the sheriff's office, such as his plans to regain the accreditation for the sheriff's department and his idea to equip the county with a helicopter without using taxpayers' money.

After his presentation, he opened the floor for questions. He was asked where he was from and that's when I found out he grew up in Mayberry (Mount Airy). His knowledge of the criminal-justice system is surrounded by a diversified background in criminal law, which tells me he is certainly qualified to be our next sheriff, but it was his personality and professional demeanor that impressed me the most.

We could use a sheriff more like Andy Taylor after our experience with BJ Barnes, the self-proclaimed "big and bad Boss Hogg."

Eric Madden
Greensboro

I recently learned why the New & Record will no longer carry The New York Times columnists: It wants to be a "local" newspaper first and foremost. Those who want to read someone like Thomas Friedman, their argument goes, can buy The New York Times; they don't need the News & Record for that. This line of thinking, in my opinion, betrays an elitist bias.

Knowing that some will find a way to continue getting Friedman, it does not feel obligated to serve the majority of folks who can spare neither time nor money for anything but their "local" newspaper as a source of written information. For them, the newspaper seems to imply, the likes of Cal Thomas and Charles Davenport are good enough. Not so, I argue.

Everybody, rich or poor, deserves the quality of journalism found in Friedman's columns. His expertise on the Middle East and the impact of globalization on the future of this country interest all of us in this shrinking world, not just those who can afford The New York Times. I expected my "local" newspaper to understand this. Clearly, I was wrong.

Nicole Mazgaj
Greensboro

Thanks for alerting travelers to the risks of flying with their animal companions ("Airlines must report number of pet deaths, injuries," June 4). Even with laws forcing airlines to keep track of animal deaths, a plane's cargo hold is no place for an animal -- it's terrifyingly stressful and often deadly. An airline's record of animal deaths will be little consolation to anyone who disembarks to find that their pet has been killed.

Take Fluffy into the cabin with you. If she fits under the seat (check for size limits), make sure the carrier is sturdy, securely locked and large enough to allow her to stand, stretch and turn around.

If Fluffy is too large, the kindest option is leaving her at home where she's comfortable instead of taking her to a kennel. Find a trustworthy animal-sitter and don't feel strange about checking up or even leaving extra bowls of water in case the sitter gets struck by lightning or loses your key. Fluffy will thank you.

Ingrid E. Newkirk
Norfolk, Va.

The writer is president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Newspaper articles that proclaim, "Paycheck buys less, no relief in sight," do not help our young people understand they need to focus on the opportunity available to all who prepare by getting a good, solid education.

Students must be taught at home and at school that you cannot depend on minimum-wage jobs that pay by the hour because the "company" (any company), that is going to be successful has a responsibility to keep their cost of doing business as competitive as possible.

This is the "free enterprise system" at work, and it should be taught and honored because it has made this United States the envy of the world. People from all over the world want to come here to realize their dreams.

Liberal elites will tell you that "opportunity is beyond the reach" of ordinary citizens.

I say to all young graduates from high school and college that your future is in your hands. With a good education and a good, strong work ethic, you can be successful no matter where you hang your hat.

Billy F. Hammack
Greensboro

Does North Carolina's record on capital punishment reveal socio-economic, racial and geographic inequities? Yes.

Has our process assured that accused persons of limited resources have the same quality legal representation as persons with greater financial means? No.

More than 90 percent of persons who have faced capital charges could not afford their own attorney (Center for Death Penalty Litigation, Durham). Many cases of incompetent defense have been proven (Columbia University, June 2000). Well-to-do persons on trial for murder rarely receive the death penalty.

Has the death penalty been applied without racial bias? No.

Seventy-six percent of people executed have been African Americans, and 62 percent of death row inmates are racial minorities (N.C. Department of Correction). Persons charged with killing a white person are 3.5 times more likely to receive the death penalty (UNC-CH).

Is the likelihood of a death sentence the same across the state? No. In some jurisdictions, capital punishment is more often sought and sentenced than in others.

Is it time for North Carolina to suspend executions while these questions are studied and solutions are sought? Yes. It is time for our legislature to pass H529 -- Suspend Executions for Two Years.

Dorothy Stafford Mason
Greensboro

I lived in Starmount from 1961 to 1981 and observed with interest the construction of the Burlington Industries headquarters building. I just learned from a friend in Greensboro that you have demolished it. Hard to believe. What a mistake.

How many exoskeletal buildings do yo see? You are going to replace it with another shopping center. That's just what we need. Sorry your developers couldn't see the beauty and importance of keeping this structure and coming up with a more creative idea than to tear it down.

In addition to its unusual design, I remember a rare sight in winter's sunset while playing tennis at Hamilton Lakes Pool & Tennis Club. Looking to the east, you could see the reflection of the setting sun on all the glass at BI. Thought that image should have been captured on film because it was truly an unusual sight.

Sure hope you folks in Greensboro made the right decision.

John E. Trexler
Greenville, S.C.

Maybe Rep. Alma Adams and Rep. Earl Jones should review an elementary school math textbook. While increasing the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour philosophically sounds good, it is not practical in the real world.

For example, a small business owner, with three employees earning $5.15, $6.15 and $7.15 an hour, respectively, could not simply increase the $5.15 worker by one dollar. To keep all three workers happy, the owner would need to raise each salary by $1. Assuming a 40-hour work week, that would mean an increase for three of $120 a week or $6,240 a year.

A small business owner earning $3,000 monthly for a family of four would need to reduce his or her income by $6,000 or 17 to 18 percent a year, which would also include the increase in payroll taxes.

If I were the businessman, I would increase my work hours and lay off the lowest-paid worker. Is that what Rep. Adams wanted?

I hope our representatives would clearly think of the consequences of any proposed bill. The N.C. House voted for common sense. I send a thank you to the 66 representatives who voted against this proposal.

Richard O'Neal
Greensboro

I was pleased to read articles about Hoggfest, the community effort that raised $9,200 to help David and Jinni Hoggard pay the medical bills resulting from Jinni's cancer treatments. According to Edward Cone (column, June 5), almost a thousand people showed up for the event. This benefit's success almost renews my faith in humanity.

Equally inspirational is that the Hoggards agreed to Hoggfest only on condition that other such events be held in the future to help other families in crisis.

Aye, and there's the rub: That here in the U.S.A., the richest country in the world, the Hoggards are far from unique. Countless other families find themselves in crisis for no reason other than that someone was unlucky enough to get cancer, be in an accident, or require surgery. Like the Hoggards, these people work, pay their bills and have health insurance. But their lives suddenly fall apart, not only because of the health issues themselves, but because of the medical bills the insurance doesn't cover.

We are a generous and innovative country. We need a national health care plan. If Canada and most European countries can do it, so can we.

Maureen Parker
Greensboro

George Gilbert, the head of the Guilford County Board of Elections, does not want to get new voting machines because, he claims, the cost is prohibitive. But the State Board of Elections does not certify the voting machines used in Guilford County. This means Guilford County will have to buy new machines. The machines in use are more expensive than the optical scan machines that would provide a voter-verified paper ballot.

Both Burke and Carteret counties lost votes in the last election. And Guilford almost lost several thousand votes, too.

Any computer expert will tell you that, from time to time, machines fail. The only way to ensure our votes are recorded correctly is with paper records that voters check for accuracy and leave at the polling place to be used in case of a manual recount.

Let our lawmakers know we want our votes counted accurately, and we want it now. Senate Bill 223 and House Bill 238 provide these safeguards. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake. This is a nonpartisan issue both liberals and conservatives should be able to get behind.

Lee Baker
Greensboro

I'm surprised Charles Davenport didn't type his June 5 column with capital R's whenever he wrote "religion." So many editorials lately confuse "religion" with "faith." Religion is a man-made institution. Faith is a personal relationship we each choose to have (or not have) with God.

The claim Davenport makes that "every piece of legislation" we have is an imposition of someone's morality on others does not support religion as the guiding principle for our Constitution as much as common decency and human rights -- tenets that are crucial to every faith I'm aware of. I find it ironic with the current national fervor to bring freedom to the world, we are becoming less tolerant of spiritual freedom on Main Street U.S.A.

In reading Davenport's columns over the years, I've often wished he had been born poor, black, gay, female or the child of an illegal immigrant. His myopic view of the world, and the way in which he decides what is right for everyone, does not seem exemplary at all of how I would interpret Christ would have him live his life. But then again, Davenport clearly isn't interested in my interpretation of Christianity, only his.

Mary Fabrizio
Colfax

Two bills in the General Assembly, Senate Bill 223 and House Bill 238, would require that electronic voting machines used in North Carolina provide a voter-verified paper ballot and other important reforms. A voter-verified paper ballot would provide a backup that would allow recount in the case of mistakes or malfunctions. It would make fraud more difficult and help to ensure that our votes are counted as cast.

The two bills are currently in the committee process. They need to come before the full House and Senate and be passed as written. I urge everyone to support the Confidence in Elections bills.

Barbara Council
Greensboro

How long has it been since you read about the "good" of Guilford County's elected school board members? I have had the privilege of spending some time with Alan Duncan over the past soccer season and take great comfort in knowing that he is involved in making decisions that will affect so many children and families.

I have watched him dash in and out of his own child's soccer games because he had school board meetings, high school graduations and countless other demands that come with his elected position. I have had conversations with him in which he expressed his convictions of doing what was in the best interest of the children, and I have watched him do it. A lot of dads didn't even show up for the games, and they didn't have the excuse of working for the good of Guilford County Schools.

I know this isn't election season, but I want to encourage the citizens of Guilford County take comfort in electing leaders who live with character, integrity and commitment. Resist the temptation to make a sport out of our public officials, and be thankful for men like Duncan.

Cindy Jolly Bishop
Oak Ridge

How many noticed the irony of two choices that the N.C. House made? Smoking in state prisons was banned. Smoking in restaurants was not.

Does the House find the health of prisoners to be more important than the health of people with respiratory problems, children and adults who do not wish to breathe others' smoke?

Possibly the House did not see it this way. Innovative and forward-thinking communities have made the choice to eliminate known health risks such as smoking. Should we not be afforded the same privilege that our own prisoners are going to enjoy?

Gary Rhymer
Greensboro

On June 1, the N.C. House voted 66-52 not to raise the minimum wage to $6.15 per hour. In spite of the hard work of our own Rep. Alma Adams, who sponsored the bill, a majority of our state representatives rejected the opportunity to help the lowest paid of their constituents. They chose to follow the business lobbyists who warned of total economic destruction if they were required to pay $1 per hour more to 139,000 of North Carolina's 4 million workers.

In my opinion, this failure is morally reprehensible. Every person who works full time deserves to be paid enough to support themselves. Wages are the answer, not welfare.

This fight is not over. Justice requires a fair wage for honest hard work. My thanks to Rep. Adams for leading this fight.

James G. Boyett
Whitsett

Is there a higher law than man-made law? If there is, when should it be evoked? Is Deep Throat (Mark Felt) a hero or a goat? Did the fourth branch of government (the free press) do a service to our country?

When I was a Boy Scout, I earned the Pro Deo et Patria Award that said God's law, truth and honor, were above all man-made laws. If you profess to be a Christian, you know what the answers are.

Gaylord Hageseth
Greensboro

I found the reasoning of our politicians in the article, "Latinos 'fight for what is right' " (May 23), laughable in some ways, criminal in others.

It seems our elected officials care more about the rights, or should I say potential votes, of people who are here illegally than they do about the rights of legal residents. Instead of our politicians taking steps to solve the problem of illegal immigration, they are actively working at ways to make it more attractive. One such example is the push to give illegals in-state tuition rates. Hundreds of people are dying in the deserts crossing the border illegally. Do the politicians care about that? What they seem to care about is making a political voter base of those who make it across.

Politicians need to focus on stopping illegal immigration. Giving cheap tuition to taxpayer-supported schools is a slap in the face to anyone who has immigrated to this country legally. Politically motivated actions like this are also fostering a growing feeling of resentment toward illegals.

Reps. Larry Bell and Pricey Harrison feel the term "illegal" is just that, a term. Maybe they should look to courting more criminal elements in our society to obtain future votes.

Jay Waller
High Point

Many letters have been written in Davidson County concerning the attendance of our commissioners at the national county commissioners conference in Hawaii. Each of these people is entitled to an opinion, just as I am entitled to mine, and I respect their opinion.

However, the citizens of Davidson County should be aware that our commissioners serve us with a salary that is next to nothing. They spend hours serving us. And, in my opinion, anyone who criticizes them for spending their time to attend the national conference is wrong in doing so. I support their attendance 100 percent and appreciate their efforts in finding new ways to operate county government.

We all must realize we live in a changing world, and we must keep up with changing trends that are available to us. And, only by attending the conferences that are available to us would we be able to find out what is going on in other places in order for us to improve county government.

The spending of county money for our commissioners to attend these conferences, in my opinion, is money well spent, and I think most people in Davidson County understand this. Thanks again, county commissioners, for doing a great job.

George F. Sowers
Arcadia

I received a letter from Melissa Begley, urban forester, and endorsed by the city of Greensboro. In her letter, she asked for contributions to help replenish the trees in the city lost by ice, wind and development.

Ice and wind are acts of God and are natural to prune our forest so that natural growth can occur. It seems that the only other cause mentioned was development.

I remember when developers worked around trees and didn't clear-cut acres of land prior to construction. Maybe someone else should be responsible for the replacement of trees sacrificed for that purpose.

Ed Alexander
Greensboro

About a month ago, I read a Counterpoint from the TIMCO president. I don't know what he thought he said but here is my take: "We adhere to the highest hiring practices..."; "we believe our practices are the best in the industry..."; "our safety standards surpass those required by...." This makes no sense. They hired noncertified, unqualified people. The standards don't say try to hire certified people.

"Supervised by appropriately certified, trained and qualified TIMCO personnel." You really don't require certified workers, only supervisors.

"We hope the News & Record's sensationalized coverage of our company..."; "charges by critics of TIMCO who, for the most part, are union employees..." Everyone is just out to get us. We all know the media and unions can't be trusted.

"The immigration issue exists on a national level and not solely within TIMCO." Everyone does it. If you don't believe you have done anything wrong, there is nothing to fix. Oh, by the way, I read where some of the immigrants needed interpreters in court. Wasn't there a clue here? If you don't have a command of English, how will you read the maintenance manuals?

What he should have said was: "I apologize. It happened on my watch. It won't happen again."

David Colin
Greensboro

Once again, Charles Davenport (column, June 5) confuses the role of government with the role of religion. It is the role of government to protect, but not promote, your individual religious beliefs. But Davenport would like the government to endorse and legislate his particular religious views.

If someone has a religious belief that women should be completely covered when leaving the house, that is that person's right, but please don't force me to act accordingly by asking the government to promote this belief and writing it into our code of laws.

I have a friend who quotes the Bible to support her deeply held belief that God does not want Caucasians and blacks to marry. That is her right, but I really don't want her belief legislated.

Why is it so easy to see how dangerous it was in history or in countries today when religion is in charge but so hard to see this danger at home? Let's stop debating the question of separation of church and state and see the wisdom of keeping government out of religion and religion out of government.

Gloria McClanahan
Asheboro

While U.S. corporations can reduce costs by offshoring manufacturing jobs to lower-wage countries, they still must contend back home with medical benefit costs rising at double-digit rates. These costs are also problematic for foreign-based corporations in the United States that are accustomed to having these burdens shifted to individual taxpayers under various socialized medicine schemes in their home countries. CAFTA is written to address this problem.

Under Chapter 11, "Cross Border Trade in Services," a congressional approval of CAFTA will obligate (unconstitutionally) states and private professional associations to develop procedures for mutual recognition in "the authorization, licensing, or certification of services suppliers."

Professional licenses have been identified as barriers to free trade. And so they are. Take dentistry. In an event where "ahhh" is often the major part of the dialogue, language is clearly not the barrier to competition.

Start recognizing professional licenses from outside the United States and "fair" trade takes the next logical step. You can't offshore a dentist, but you can onshore one. Ditto for doctors, pharmacists, electricians and plumbers. Talk to a software engineer if you think this can't happen to your profession. And you thought CAFTA was about textiles?

Jim Capo
Greensboro

I just read an Associated Press article in the News & Record (June 9) that began, "A man who had an affair with an 11-year-old..." and I am outraged by the author's choice of words. How on earth can the rape of a child be classified as an affair?

There was an article in the June 5 edition of Parade magazine that addressed the fact that we should watch our language when describing crimes against children, and this is a perfect example. Journalists, especially, should remember that an adult having sex with an 11-year-old is always rape, no matter what the circumstances, and should refer to it as such.

Carolyn Schmid
Jamestown

If you would collect the money that Skip Alston, Earl Jones and others owe this city, then the taxes would not have to be raised for the citizens.

W. T. Willard
Greensboro

In a very few days our state representatives will again turn their attention to a matter of life and death, the two-year moratorium on executions in North Carolina. The state Senate passed a moratorium bill in 2003, but it failed to pass in the House. The upcoming vote in the House is the crucial one.

The moratorium will allow a review of court cases that resulted in the decision to kill a man. I have served on juries and I know there are so many ways for there to be a miscarriage of justice. When the final verdict is for execution, that case needs to be flawless. The court cases for the prisoners on death row are not uniformly flawless.

North Carolinians have recently seen innocent men released after years of incarceration. The imprisonment and execution of innocent men happens more often than we know. A two-year moratorium would potentially allow time to save an innocent man's life. This man has a mother, a daughter, a son. Surely it's worth a brief e-mail today to your state representatives (nchousemembers@ms.ncga.state.nc.us)?

Patricia Black
Greensboro

The June 3 letter by Nancy Jo Smith and Anne Kearns Hice suggests their impending candidacy for the Pleasant Garden Town Council. They have initiated their campaigns by ridiculing our mayor's support of a 5-cent property tax.

The facts are that county commissioners changed sales tax distribution, robbing our town of $600,000 annually. The 5-cent tax rate would generate $160,000 annually. Using savings, until depleted as some suggest, to balance the budget is shortsighted and poor business.

Smith and Hice played a pivotal role in Councilman Ron Surgeon's election as mayor in 2003. Surgeon's embarrassing actions led council members to replace him less than halfway through his term. Electing Smith and Hice would be the majority council vote necessary to re-elect Surgeon as mayor.

According to Smith and Hice, Pleasant Garden remains a paper town. I can think of no two more opposed to Pleasant Garden being a vibrant and opportunity-filled town. I would also suggest the motto they stated represents their own vision for Pleasant Garden: "To Seem Rather Than To Be."

I trust voters will not be deceived by a vocal minority who continue to trash our town in the name of "open government."

Bill Wright
Pleasant Garden

Two recent letters, by H. Rod Rodman and Richard "Skip" Moore (June 7), were examples of why editorial pages exist. They make the same request (of an editor) in two different ways.

Rodman's letter was a bitter attempt to blackmail the News & Record to reverse its decision with respect to The New York Times News Service by organizing 100 or 200 subscribers to cancel their subscriptions. "Their" only reason given was they want Thomas Freidman and do not want Charles Davenport Jr.

On the other hand, Moore's letter used common sense to explain the differences between columnists who provide opinions on national and international news, such as Friedman, and columns on local issues. His request for a reversal by the News & Record is best stated in his letter, which I quote: "These columns, as well as more conservative writers (such as Davenport -- my words), stretch us as we read them. They enrich the discourse. Providing this kind of stimulus is part of the News & Record's responsibility."

We need to read and think more on diverse subjects, both local and national/international issues, whether or not they originate in The New York Times or the News & Record.

H.P. Anderson
Greensboro

When I moved into the Burling­ton Industries building on Friendly Avenue in 1971, I was confident that it would serve indefinitely as the cornerstone of a great company. On May 24, we saw the end of that fantasy.

Likewise, after observing the previous administration turn the massive deficits of 1980-1992 into surpluses by 2000, I was confident that our great nation was becoming fiscally strong again. Alas, that fantasy is also fading.

Obviously, grave consequences ensue when the national debt exceeds a reasonable amount. Interest alone is inexorable, and rates will rise. Yet, we meekly follow our leaders and continually increase the gargantuan burden our descendants must bear. We must change our course as a matter not only of mathematics, but especially of decency.

Dan W. Maddox
Greensboro

It is a rare occasion that I agree with your editorials, but this time you are right: "Workers' comp law doesn't need fixing," (June 6).

The Workers' Compensation Act was designed to protect employers from negligence lawsuits. A worker loses his ability to make a living; he gets partial pay for 10 years, what then? Maybe our legislatures want to compete with Mexico, India and China where workers have no rights at all.

Also, I would like to answer your reader's question, "Bush and followers get everything wrong," (letter, June 6). The writer asks what have we gained from the Iraq/Afghanistan wars? Answer: We have moved the fight with terrorism away from American soil, brought democracy where there was dictatorship, dismantled the Libyan nuke program and made the world a safer place.

Charles D. Toler
Reidsville

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Tom Sparks

The article on male and female pay levels in local nonprofit organizations, which nearly covered the front page (June 5), is a witch's brew of shallow reporting, lazy editing and agenda-driven headline writing. The purported purpose was to examine the role gender plays in compensation. The article fails to deliver.

Where to begin? Perhaps with the top-of-page teaser that states "although women run many area nonprofits ... they earn 40 percent less than their male counterparts." The clear implication of this, and the accompanying conclusion-already-reached headline, is that we have proof that women are not paid fairly. Based on what?

I personally am not offended that the head of Moses Cone is paid 40 percent more than the head of Randolph Medical Associates. Moses Cone is a much larger, more complex organization than its Randolph counterpart. Each of these positions' pay is derived from a knotty mix of factors other than sex. It is specious to conclude that if men are paid 40 percent more than women, it can only be gender caused.

Or perhaps we could look at the "analysis" of the pay for the heads of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The head of the Boy Scouts is paid about 16 percent more than the head of the Girl Scouts. Is this fair? I have no idea.

To reach an intelligent conclusion, I would have to ask several questions. What are their annual budgets? How many people does each supervise and what is the nature of their work? How many Scouts is each responsible for? What is their level of performance? What is their education, training and background? What is their latitude for decision-making?

Compensation is a complicated and difficult topic. It is no doubt true that women in many professions and individual instances have been unfairly treated in pay. But a facile analysis based only on sex (and assets managed) is a disservice to a legitimate question. Margaret Moffett Banks is normally a solid enterprising reporter. She is better than this "exclusive."

Combined with your recent disappointing and short-sighted decision to drop Tom Friedman, David Brooks, Maureen Dowd, and the rest of The New York Times News Service, it almost seems that someone is intentionally trying to lower the quality of the News & Record. When do the grown-ups return from vacation and resume control of the newsroom?

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Sadly, another death occurred on Horse Pen Creek Road recently. This twisted country road continues to be a hazard in northwest Greensboro, but the insatiable appetite of the city leaders seems blinded in the favor of more growth and development without regard to the improvements of the current roads and infrastructure.

The conventional wisdom of the day and the "experts" say this road is safe for travel despite the cries of the residents in this area. These same "experts" advised the city leaders that the West Wendover corridor would be safe to travel as well when it was widened several years ago. When will the city leaders put safety ahead of development?

My heart aches for the McKoy Family and those residents who live in the curve on Horse Pen Creek Road.

David Lassiter
Greensboro

Greensboro means a lot to me. If the city can come together around the miracle of a Truth and Community Reconciliation process, then Greensboro will mean a lot of good things to the entire world.

I plan to visit Greensboro in November to commemorate the tragic deaths that occurred on your streets over a quarter century ago. One of the deceased was my friend, Dr. Jim Waller. Nine years before his death, Jim and I were pediatric residents together in a New York City hospital. I know firsthand what a wonderful, talented and caring soul he was. I want to honor his memory.

I also recall the Greensboro of an earlier time when college students stood up peacefully against discrimination at lunch counters. Is Greensboro unique for the expression of discrimination and violence? Of course not. These patterns can be found throughout our country and in most of our planet. But your community could be a leader in bringing about change for the better.

Give the Truth and Reconciliation Commission your support. Welcome those of good faith who wish to open their hearts and build a future of trust, understanding and shared prosperity.

Henry S. Kahn
Atlanta

While I will not presume to judge the motives or the behavior of Greensboro Police Chief David Wray, I cannot understand his earlier decision to return to a revolving shift schedule for officers.

Already working dangerous jobs filled with stress on themselves and their families, these sworn officers are now required to change the hours they work every 16 days. Most of us have adapted to a work schedule, no matter the hours, but to ask the human mind and body to switch from going to work at 6 a.m., then 16 days later at 11 a.m., then 3 p.m., then 8 p.m. week after week seems outrageous to me. No wonder there may be a morale problem.

Most of the major police departments in North Carolina, including Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, long ago abandoned rotating shifts, citing the additional stress it put on officers and their families.

I hope Chief Wray will return to a permanent shift schedule for the safety of his officers and the citizens they protect.

Becky Smith
Greensboro

The Rockingham County Memorial Day service honored the 226 county veterans who died this past year, and by coincidence, the latest issue of Imprimis arrived a day or two before. Published by Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich., this month's issue featured an article by Michael Medved, well-known radio host, author and film critic, that lamented Hollywood's anti-American slide in recent years from films that upheld our fighting men, such as "The Longest Day"and "Sergeant York," to ones that belittle them as sadistic committers of atrocities on helpless civilians in wars that serve no purpose. We are also told repeatedly that violence accomplishes nothing.

A conversation with a veteran after the Memorial Day service showed me how successful Hollywood is with this no-purpose idea.

No purpose? If we disbanded our military forces, foreign tyrants would soon rule us. Violence accomplishes nothing? Our nation was born in the violence of the American Revolution, and the violence at Gettysburg salvaged it. Only the violence of war has kept us free ever since.

The Rev. Warwick Aiken Jr.
Eden

I found inspiration Memorial Day weekend, reading Col. David Hackworth's "About Face," but flinched at the May 30 delayed announcement of continued Army recruitment shortages, the previously stated goal quietly reduced to make the deficit less obvious.

Sacrifices were made by America's "Greatest Generation," including the rationing of home supplies, yet today there is sadly a lack of commitment from most Americans, three of four having never even served in the military. I think of "Earn this" from "Saving Private Ryan" opposite today's oft-heard message: "Bush won, so get over it," streaming from many whose only sacrifice is -- well, I can't think of any.

Sometimes war is needed; usually it is not. If the reason for war does not motivate one to the front line, then it is not worthwhile. I would have joined Pickett's Charge to repel Hitler and Tojo, protecting my family and my America, but until the kids of our congressmen are personally carrying my resupply ammunition, count me a full supporter of the modern-day doughboy but a vigorous opponent of the self-serving whose only passion is to reap billions off the blood of fellow citizens.

Jim Wheeler
Winston-Salem

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Robin Pendergraft

The hard workers at the SBI Crime Lab appreciate the recent Associated Press story in your paper regarding our current needs. It's critical to note, however, the significant successes of the SBI Crime Lab over the past four years that have in many ways caused this increased workload.

First, before December 2003, we only took DNA samples for our database from a few violent felons. Now we take samples from every criminal who commits a felony in North Carolina.

Second, because of the expanded database and the increased number of cases we are able to test, more rapes and murders than ever are being solved.

Third, before 2003, the lab did not have the capability to test rape kits in cases where there was no suspect. Now we are testing all of these cases. In addition, just last year more than 6,000 no-suspect rape kits were waiting on local law enforcement shelves to be tested. With hard work and additional agents, we've been able to clear all viable cases from local law enforcement shelves and are now testing them using funds appropriated by the General Assembly.

Fourth, we have busted and done the lab work for a growing number of methamphetamine drug labs. SBI agents found only nine meth labs in 1999 while this year, we expect to bust and analyze between 400 and 500 meth labs.

We've been able to achieve these successes by internal reorganization and performance goals, along with help from the General Assembly and Congress. We've also worked with local prosecutors and law enforcement to speed analysis in cases where they've requested a rush on evidence needed to make an arrest or present in court.

The article correctly points out that additional resources and positions are desperately needed to keep up with this additional work caused by success. Legislators must address these critical needs now. By making high-tech crime-fighting at the SBI Crime Lab a priority among the state's other needs, we can continue to help law enforcement solve more crimes and better protect the public. It's a small price to pay for public safety.

The writer is SBI director.

I believe I saw that the early retirements being offered to local government employees would save about $1,000,000. Has anyone calculated what the long-term costs of this savings would be?

When municipalities allow employees to retire with pensions and insurance prior to age 65, the taxpayers actually end up paying for these benefits for periods that will probably exceed the number of years worked. Not to mention that these workers, while collecting government benefits, often re-enter the work force and compete for private-sector jobs.

If we continue such shortsighted practices, our government will soon face the crises that the airline and car industries are facing. These potential costs to our government dwarf the potential problems to Social Security.

Of course, government does have the ability to just raise taxes to cover the overhead.

Mark Whitehouse
Greensboro

As an experienced workers' comp claim adjuster, I disagree with your June 6 editorial, "Workers' comp law doesn't need fixing." The Industrial Commission is inclined to award benefits rather than decline or terminate them, and so the employer is left to bear the burden of rising health-care costs in the form of higher insurance premiums. These costs are ultimately passed on to the local economy in the price of goods and services and fewer new jobs.

Increasing the cost of doing business in our state will hinder the ability of local government to secure new industries like FedEx and Dell, unless we're looking for more ways to give away tax breaks and free land to opportunistic corporations.

Workers' comp is not broken, it just needs some maintenance. A time limit on wage benefits makes sense, and requiring employees to take responsibility for their return to work is both reasonable and prudent.

Wayne Moyer
Greensboro

I stopped my subscription to the News & Record in the fall of 2004, after growing weary of the constant anti-Republican, anti-conservative and anti-Bush tone of this publication. After reading the editorial of June 11 on the News & Record Web site, I was reminded why.

Your hit-piece on the career of former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms was a cheap shot, not only to Mr. Helms himself, but to the majority of North Carolinians who sent him to represent them as their senator in 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990 and 1996. Your editorial proves once again how out of touch your paper is with the mainstream of Tar Heel voters who continue to send conservative Republicans to the U.S. Senate.

One good thing did come from my canceled subscription to the News & Record. I will spend the money saved by purchasing a copy of Jesse Helms' recent book, "Here's Where I Stand." How ironic, that the money that could have been going to this liberal newspaper will end up buying the book of a conservative icon.

Christopher Noell
Mayodan

Howard Coble has been in the news. Widely reported were his lavish trips to Pakistan and Ireland, both paid for by lobbyists and in violation of House rules. What has gone unnoticed, however, is his financial reporting from the last election.

Coble still has $822,937 on hand in his campaign chest -- all of which he can claim as a personal gift, tax free, as soon as he retires from politics.

Among his campaign donors, the National Beer Wholesalers Association and Anheuser-Busch ranked No. 1 and No. 8. Youbet.com, an online pari-mutuel gambling advocate, tied for eighth place among Coble's largest contributors. (Campaign finance information posted at www.opensecrets.org.)

Yet, perhaps most interesting of all, despite Coble's well-known position favoring a low cap on personal injury awards, his second largest contributor was the Association of Trial Lawyers.

Perhaps there is daylight between Coble's public positions and his private assurances. Either that, or his seat on the Judiciary Committee allows him to exact tribute from the livelihood his committee oversees.

Whichever is true, one other thing is certain. He is positioned to receive a huge retirement award from his campaign contributors, even as he votes against jury awards for the injured and the disabled.

George Pence
Whispering Pines

The article about the increase in Hispanics this year to one out of every seven people was excellent. North Carolina is the No. 1 state in the union for the increase in Hispanic growth. Guilford, Forsyth, Wake, Durham and Mecklenburg are the top five counties in the United States for increased Hispanic growth.

In 2005, the Latino buying power (disposable money) in North Carolina is estimated to be $12 billion. In 2004, the Latino buying power in the United States was $686 billion (Selig Center, University of Georgia). It is reassuring to me that many companies are reaching out and learning Spanish through workplace Spanish classes to better communicate with our new Latino neighbors.

Pat Levitin
Greensboro
The writer is UNCG Workplace Spanish Marketing Coordinator and a professional speaker on the Latino market.

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Robert Hudson

So Eugene Robinson thinks Mark Felt is a hero and that America has now become a nation fighting a war unfairly, by "torturing" prisoners (column, June 7). [registration required]

Robinson needs to do some reading. He needs to read the Geneva Convention. These prisoners, first and foremost, are not covered by it. None of them. They don't abide by its rules, nor do they have any respect for any rules of warfare. The opposing team wants to kill us and is willing to go to any lengths to accomplish that, whether we think it's fair or not.

Next, he needs to read "Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Of particular interest is the chapter entitled "The Interrogation." This reading is not for the squeamish. But if you want to know what real torture is …. Somehow, I just can't equate a pyramid of naked men with having a heated metal rod inserted in your rectum ("secret branding"). Perhaps Robinson can. To listen to the mainstream media or Michael Moore, you'd think it was far worse.

The enemy finds it perfectly acceptable, even laudable, to behead an innocent civilian on live TV. If we don't handle the Quran with two (gloved, no less) hands, then somehow we're cheating. If we were to smear the Quran with pig's blood, urinate on it, burn it, and then flush the ashes down a toilet, we wouldn't have shown it any more disrespect than the men who use it as an excuse to wage their war on anyone who doesn't agree with them.

Our men and women in uniform have all they can handle these days. They don't need a bunch of apologists whining that they aren't fighting fairly. We have lost soldiers in attempts to minimize civilian casualties. Our troops fight more "fairly" than any combatant in history, always have.

Here are three unquestionable facts for Robinson and the other apologists:

1. This is a serious game we're playing.

2. The other team does not, by any stretch of the imagination, fight fairly.

3. We can't afford to lose or even tie. When we say "sudden death," it may well mean a car bomb. Sept. 11 was more of a "prolonged death."

I refuse to believe that we're the bad guys in this war, and I can't muster any respect for anyone who thinks we are.

The writer lives in Pelham.

Keith Debbage's article, "Emphasis on 'creative class' puts cart before work horse" (Ideas, June 12), is a far more logical approach to local economics than the work of Richard Florida, which has been embraced with some enthusiasm in recent years.

In our local economy, we do not find much evidence for Florida's conclusions. Shortly after the announcement that Dell would be moving to the Triad, local economic leaders were asked what Dell's main concerns were in choosing the Piedmont for its new plant. The response was that Dell knew a great deal about the trucking industry in this region. (I think Keith Holliday made the statements, but I could be wrong.) Local leaders had thought that Dell's primary interest was due to the FedEx expansion and the air transport industry.

Florida's emphasis on culture rather than logistics misses the pragmatic nature of business. We need solutions that fit our region, rather than trying to fit into a one-size-fits-all remedy.

Furthermore, Florida's use of the term "creativity" as a criterion of economic class is reminiscent of the way that "intelligence" was used to define economic class in the doctrine of Social Darwinism in the late 1800s. Although he speaks of tolerance, he has simply chosen to draw the divisions along different lines.

Bert Barbee
Summerfield

Once again, the new baseball stadium in downtown Greensboro proves to be a major asset in our community. Two of America's music icons brought energy into downtown Greensboro on June 11.

The Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan concert was a grand-slam home run in our First Horizon Stadium. A diverse crowd of close to 10,000, made up of young and not as young, was full of energy and excitement. This is just what the doctor ordered to put the momentum into moving Greensboro in a positive direction.

Our hats are off to Jim Melvin, the board of directors of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, and the Greensboro Grasshoppers ownership group in having the vision to bring such a great facility to our downtown.

Kudos also to Donald Moore, president of the Greensboro Grasshoppers, and the Grasshoppers staff for a flawless event. We look forward to many Grasshoppers games throughout the summer and, of course, the next exciting concert. Who said the new stadium was a bad idea?

Susan and Richard Beard
Greensboro

Two sprites sit atop my shoulders. One is sportive-looking, cradles a saxophone and affects an Elvis lip curl. The other, an impish sprite, parades a pair of snakeskin boots and a prep-school smirk. I call the first "Sax" and the second "Boots." Each torments me daily.

Boots in one ear: "He had sex with that woman and lied to America about it." Sax in the other ear: "He led this country to an unwinnable war on manufactured intelligence; tens of thousands are dead."

Boots: "He had sex with that woman and ..." Sax: "But Boots turned a $230 billion surplus into a $520 billion deficit."

Boots: "Dummy. He had S-E-X with that woman ..." Sax: "Amnesty International and the Red Cross accuse America of torture."

Boots: "Listen up. Sax had sex with that woman and then lied to us." Sax: "I had sex with that woman, OK? But in Boots' world, one out of four American children live in poverty."

Annoying sprites, indeed. Seeking relief, I did what an unrepentant Republican must do. I smacked Sax right off my shoulder. Remember, he did have sex with that woman -- and lied about it.

Steve Kroll-Smith
Greensboro

How many endless, cloying appeals do news editors and heads of community educational foundations have to make before they realize it is not the money that Guilford County citizens and commissioners can't countenance, it's the integrity and the trust of the people who are running our school system.

They've shown over and over that Guilford County Schools has become an impenetrable web of lies and deceit, a netherworld of illusion and financial hocus-pocus, accountable to no one, where the only truth is the "spin" of the moment, where up is down, and where even financial officers being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars can't even give an exact figure of how much money the superintendent makes. GCS teachers live in intimidation and terror, to the point where they fear to talk openly of any problems in fear of their jobs.

Until we, as citizens, demand of our political and community leaders to know why we have to live with this rogue, bloated educational police state, when many, many people in this country don't, it's going to be a perpetual yearly three-ring circus and a continued embarrassment past the point where all staff and teachers of integrity would have fled somewhere else along with many of the parents.

John Gehris
High Point

I recently visited the Guilford County Animal Shelter to look for my missing dog. Unfortunately, I did not see my darling dog's face, but there were many, many more pets available there for adoption.

I want to encourage all potential pet owners to get their new best friend at the shelter or at a rescue group. These groups, which I am so thankful for, do their best to find homes for the abandoned and lost pets, but there just don't seem to be enough homes for all.

Perhaps if all dog breeders, many of whom defend their "hobby" enthusiastically, would volunteer some of their time to work with pets already in need of homes, the pet overpopulation situation would be a thing of the past.

Do the right thing; until there are none, adopt one.

Sharon Sullivan
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Donald M. Wojek

The News & Record published a Second Opinion article by Rep. Pricey Harrison (June 9). Rep. Harrison is correct that MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) has entered both groundwater and surface water supplies.

However, her Second Opinion piece is not honest, nor correct. The Environmental Protection Agency mandated that MTBE be added to gasoline. Oil companies and the majority of reputable, informed scientists urged EPA not to mandate the use of MTBE because of its unknown potential problems.

California was one of the first states that was required to use MTBE added to gasoline. California was also one of the first states to demonstrate MTBE contaminates ground and surface waters. The EPA continued, and continues, to force the use of MTBE.

Harrison's article may be correct in highlighting MTBE is a problem and needs to be both stopped and cleaned up. However, MTBE is a U.S. government-caused problem.

Nongovernment individuals and companies are forced to pay for correcting problems that the government causes. How do we force our governments -- local, state and federal -- to pay for correcting problems they cause?

As an elected official, Rep. Harrison wants to force "big oil" to correct a federal government-caused MTBE problem. Elected officials do nothing to prevent government from causing problems.

North Carolina elected officials built a refinery to reprocess used motor oils. This $20 million venture was a total failure. How many North Carolina government employees received a raise and promotions for that one?

Rep. Pricey Harrison is starting to run for re-election.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Editor's note: MTBE raises the oxygen content in gasoline, helping it to burn cleaner. Use of oxygenated gas is required by the Clean Air Act, but MTBE is not specifically required, according to the EPA.

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Howard Coble

I have been in the political arena for most of my adult life -- and since I am getting long in the tooth, that means many years. During that time, I have taken my fair share of criticism, but never in all those years have I ever been accused of planning to break the law, and more importantly, I have never had a newspaper publish such an accusation against me.

I am referring to George Pence of Whispering Pines (letter, June 16), who wrote that when I retire I plan to take whatever campaign contributions I have remaining and put them in my pocket. On top of that — not unlike Al Capone -- I will get these ill-gotten gains tax-free.

To inform Mr. Pence, your readers and the editorial department at the News & Record, Public Law 96-187, passed in 1979, prohibits members of Congress from converting any campaign contributions to personal use. So, when I was elected in 1984, the law already prohibited federally elected officials from pocketing excess campaign funds when they retired.

Perhaps the News & Record published such an irresponsible letter because, under North Carolina law, state legislators can still pocket their campaign funds when they retire, but ignorance of the law is no excuse to print this letter accusing me of a criminal act when I retire.

Maybe this is so upsetting to me because many people know I refuse to participate in the lavish congressional pension program, so not only will I not convert campaign funds to my own use, I will not receive one brown penny from the congressional pension.

There are many other factual errors in the letter, from the comments about trips I took to alleged contributions, which I never received, but space does not permit great detail on these subjects.

It has been an honor for me to serve the people of the 6th District for the past 11 terms, and when I do retire, I will do so with my integrity and honor intact, despite attempts by Mr. Pence to malign me.

The writer is a member of Congress from the 6th District.

Few people in North Carolina's history had the opportunity to do so much good for us as Jesse Helms. Yet he did so much harm.

His failure to support the respect and opportunities that our Declaration of Independence promised for all of our citizens hurt not only the minority groups that he attacked but also harmed the entire state.

North Carolina during the 1950s was becoming a leader in the South so that not only white males could build a better future. The door would be open to all. Helms played a continuous role in keeping the dream for just a few, thus helping to stop North Carolina's positive leadership for all.

The whole state has had to pay for his holding down so many of our fellow citizens. We all suffer when large blocs of us are told to remain in the shadow when we all could benefit if each of us is allowed to reach our full potential.

As an old, white Republican, I say that we will become our best only if all of us are invited to partake of this finest dream.

Welcome us all to the table.

Homer L. Mason
Greensboro

In response to Steve Patton's letter (May 31), I hope his appeal is to parents. He certainly doesn't make a proposal for what to do about M-rated video games, yet his article infers that some form of drastic measures are necessary.

There are two phrases that make people fall in line like slobbering lemmings: "In the interest of our security" and "… to protect the children." Both play on people's fear. Some would say First Amendment rights be damned if those phrases apply. Bah.

As a parent, I monitor what my children watch and read. What I don't need is a law that restricts my parental control. I also don't need my freedom restricted by some pompous, holier-than-thou person telling me that I should not have the right to attend or buy an R-rated movie or M-rated video game. I don't need additional restrictions to qualify to buy a ticket, a DVD or a game.

Whether it is for our security or our children's, let's not go too far. Heed the words of Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Bob Callicutt
High Point

I am 85 years old. I gave up my driving license on Feb. 3, feeling capable of driving but incapable of quick decisions. Also, the elderly are subject to strokes or heart attacks at all times.

If teenagers have an age to start driving, then the elderly should have an age to stop. I drove too long but was very lucky. I am sure everyone would be amazed at what we meet on the highway.

Let's unite and try to treat the teens and elderly alike.

Ruby Carpenter
Greensboro

Once again, the opening of the Intergalactic Civil Rights Center and Historical Museum of Greensboro, or whatever they're calling it this week, has been delayed because of the leaky basement. Surprise; they need more money.

It took them 12 years to notice the leak, and then they hired a firm out of Charlotte to fix it. We are assuming that no local company could handle the job. We are all anxious to see the world's most expensive lunch counter stools and a letter from George Washington Carver's second cousin.

If state Sen. Kay Hagan wants to jump on the bandwagon to raise more money for this loser rip-off, the first thing she should do is demand that the attorney general find out what happened to the money already raised. I hope that everyone is as tired of hearing about this fiasco as I am.

Bob Carter
Greensboro

How ironic that the lead article in the June 12 Ideas section ("Emphasis on 'creative class' puts cart before work horse," by Keith Debbage) should appear during a firestorm of protest from News & Record readers regarding the dropping of their favorite New York Times columnists.

This "creative class" is made up of educated, thoughtful, talented and cosmopolitan citizens who expect to keep abreast of world affairs. Be it political, technological, economic, philosophical or artistic, these people want easy access to quickly changing and newly emerging events. The expectation of a first-rate local newspaper is a given. With the prospect of new industry, a highly trained work force and quality growth at our fingertips, this is no time for Greensboro's only daily newspaper to become insular and provincial.

If your publisher thinks the cost of carrying the Times columnists is too high, he should ponder the cost to our community of doing without them.

Sherry A. Kelly
Greensboro

Neither Medicaid nor Medicare should be paying for anyone's Viagra-type drugs. The use of these drugs is a lifestyle choice, not a medical need.

The thought that tax dollars are being wasted this way really makes me angry. And then to give these drugs to sex offenders.

Stop paying for these drugs with tax dollars.

Linda Hill
Trinity

Michael Jackson has been found not guilty. O.J. Simpson was found not guilty. What does this tell us about our justice system?

I love my country, but I fear my government.

Vickie Currin
High Point

Cindy Bishop's letter (June 12) about Alan Duncan and his work on the school board could not be more different than my experience with Mr. Duncan. I wish she could spend a day in my shoes.

I wonder if her opinion would change if her children were forced into a school lottery that is rigged to discriminate against her children based on income. What if her children were forcibly bused to the either the fifth- or seventh-closest school to her home? What if her kids' normal 30-minute bus ride became 60 to 90 minutes one way? What if her children were forced to go to a magnet school with no traditional option? What if her Oak Ridge community lived in constant anxiety over this horrible plan the way my Jamestown community does?

It is likely that I will have to uproot my family, leave my home and move from my neighborhood because of Duncan's work, just so my kids can have the normal high school Bishop's kids have in Oak Ridge. I wish Bishop and Duncan could spend a day in my shoes.

Scott Burnette
Jamestown

As City Manager Ed Kitchen's Aug. 1 retirement draws closer, the City Council is hard at work finding a replacement. Recently, residents from across Greensboro came together to share their thoughts and ideas on what qualities our next city manager should possess.

On behalf of the city of Greensboro, I would like to thank everyone who attended these meetings. It is crucial to the success of our local government that resident input is heard and applied to the decision-making process in Greensboro. Information gathered at these meetings will now be used to help select our next city manager.

I would also like to thank the city staff for providing Spanish and Vietnamese translators and sign language interpreters at the public forums, as well as the opportunity to give feedback online.

Everyone, regardless of their background and life experience, has a vital role to play in the success of this community.

Keith A. Holliday
Greensboro
The writer is mayor.

Your editorial June 11 about Jesse Helms shows how biased and one-sided the media really are. Helms just says what he thinks and what most people in the South think but are afraid to say.

Thanks, Mr. Helms, for standing up and defending our Southern heritage.

Richard H. Vanderford
Siler City

Debt relief for Africa, what for? We can't say we are not grateful for what the rich countries are doing for Africa, but we have the right to choose which help we want from them.

More debt relief for Africa is not going to do anything better than what we know. We don't want any debt relief anymore. Instead, we want political relief. We want you to stop supporting dictatorial regimes in Africa; we want you to stop inviting presidents who came to power through elections marred with massive fraud and violence; we want you to denounce rich countries like France that want you to ignore the plight of African populations in the name of regional stability.

Without democracy, there will never be accountability in Africa, and if there's no accountability, please make debt relief for Africa permanent, because in the present conditions, I don't see any way out for my beloved continent. We want political relief.

Moussa Issifou
Greensboro

I was astounded to read the promo "Aruba confession" on the front page of your paper June 11. Directly under "Aruba confession," a sentence stated: "Suspect tells police he killed Alabama teenager."

As I went on to read the article about the missing Alabama teen (that most of the nation is following), I found absolutely no new facts. Further, the article did not state that any of the suspects had confessed to killing her.

When did the News & Record stoop to the level of the National Enquirer? Please refrain from cluttering my yard with your paper, immediately.

Sonya Lowe
Greensboro

Memorial Day, May 30, 2005. The day and the date finally came together at the right time this year. A day to remember the brave men and women who fought and died for this country. The freedom we enjoy today is because of the sacrifices made by these great Americans.

Every Memorial Day is special, but this one was even more special because of a young man named Nicholas Ruden ("Veterans statue dedicated today," May 30, Triad section). It was so refreshing to see a teenager on TV and in the newspaper being highlighted for doing something positive.

Nicholas, you are an asset to North Carolina and a national treasure to the United States. I can't imagine the other 49 states being without this beautiful monument. You are truly an inspiration to the rest of us. Thank you for caring; thank you for sharing.

Shirley J. Wright
Greensboro

In reference to the proposed Guilford County tax increase, taxes rise because citizens are failed by leaders who view them as nothing more than an endless source of revenue. Look at Summerfield.

Last year, the council passed a 10.5 cent property tax. Mayor Dena Barnes publicly announced she had "promised the sheriff, her husband, a sub-station" and the council rushed to spend over $1.4 million. After spending over $200,000 of taxpayer money on the project, they ended up with a 1.2-acre tract that was inadequate for the building, the septic tank, well and parking.

Shamelessly, they're off on another spending spree, budgeting over $500,000 for trash collection even though citizens pay privately for that service with Waste Management. The service, if paid through taxes, will be equivalent to three times the private rate.

Further, they're discussing bringing public water to the newly designated town core, an area where some council members are buying property. If successful, the taxpayers will bear the burden of improving the council members' investments as well as build the previously promised sub-station. No wonder councilwoman Jane Doggett asked "what does ethics have to do with politics" during her adamant refusal to sign an ethics agreement.

Robert Flowers
Summerfield

Jimmy Carter, our "Elder Statesman," is consistent. Carter has never met a "Third World" Communist, dictator or thug he didn't agree with, or stand up for. However, this is not true for the American hostages he abandoned in Iran.

In the same spirit that he helped our American hostages, we should honor Jimmy Carter's wishes to close Gitmo. The terrorist prisoners would be moved into Jimmy Carter's community. "Mr. Fix-it" Carter can build them some nice new homes.

Carter's family and any "liberal" screaming about the abuses at Gitmo will be required to live in this community. If in the event the prisoners stage a "jihad" and they take some hostages, we will then see if they are as tough as Malcolm Kalp was.

My cousin was an Iranian hostage that was tortured, starved, didn't receive a Bible, and was held in solitary confinement for a year, and was abandoned by "Mr. Fix-it" Jimmy Carter.

Donald Bernstein
Kernersville

The Board of Education budget leaves out any raise for substitute teachers. This is an outrage.

Teachers, principals, blue collar workers, bus drivers and everyone else gets some raise, but not the substitute teachers.

Substitute teachers are paid in the $7 to $10 per hour range.

Being a substitute teacher is not an easy job. The phone rings early and you must cope with new challenges on a daily basis.

No one in the school system deserves a raise more.

Joe Stafford
Greensboro

A few years ago the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce created a great event called the "State of Our Community," featuring presentations by business, the school system and the city and county governments.

Building on their idea, we need a report that reflects the well-being of individuals. We need an objective, year-by-year comparison of the factors reflecting the state of people. How many people are homeless? Unemployed? Living in poverty? How many people are in each income category? Is income improving for the majority of people? How many new homes were sold and how many were re-possessed? The list goes on.

Trying to create an unbiased, objective, understandable report on the status of individuals would be difficult. But we need something that cuts through all of the spin and promotion done by politicians, political parties and lobbyists. We need to see what is improving and what is getting worse. We need an accurate mirror showing the lives of individuals.

Who would be the appropriate group to create a "State of the People Report?" I don't know. But I do believe it is important that we see our community as "individuals" as well as community averages.

Gary Palmer
Greensboro

If you have to cut costs, you might as well cut The New York Times wire. It's largely replaceable, but local news voices aren't. Only local papers can give us Greensboro.

So, with all that money you're saving by cutting the Times, give us more of Rowe, Johnson, Turner, Barron, Banks, Schlosser and the others on your staff who know this town. Encourage their style. Let them have at it.

A recent letter writer accused you of "shrinking toward local coverage," but I hope you'll bring it on. If Greensboro is a community, the News & Record must be part of that.

(That said, however, I will miss Tom Friedman, who's been a voice of reason on the Middle East.)

Kelli Rush
Greensboro

Do not allow toll roads into North Carolina. They are nothing but "roads for the wealthy" while the average person has to figure out how to get to work without getting on these roads, because they cannot afford the extra expense.

On my last visit to Connecticut, I was shocked all the toll roads were gone. My aunt said a new governor was voted in because he said he would get rid of all the tolls and he did. Once the roads were paid for, they came up with more excuses not to remove the tolls. The citizens had had enough.

It costs more to operate this system. You need a 24-hour force of state workers also entitled to all kinds of expensive state retirement benefits.

Diane Godwin
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Teresa M. Staley

Suppose you had a dream. Government officials convene and decide you no longer meet the Criteria for Humane Treatment. You are taken away from your home, family, and community and placed in an institution where your freedom is restricted and your health threatened. The powers-that-be congratulate each other. They have preserved the economic status of their more influential constituents. You are no longer a problem. You are a problem solved.

Now, imagine you awake to the reality that this scenario may soon be played out in North Carolina if the current proposed budget cuts in Medicaid home health care are adopted as law. Many individuals with disabilities and complicating medical conditions will be forced out of their current living situations and into nursing homes.

Their "crime?" Incomes slightly over the Medicaid allowable of $579 a month. These individuals would be shifted onto the already burdened Medicare roles. Medicare does not cover ongoing home health care.

On paper, nursing home care seems a more convenient solution to rising medical costs than the already established, effective network of home health for individuals such as myself who must use a ventilator for survival. In reality, adequate facilities providing this level of medical care do not exist in North Carolina for folks like me. Attempts to establish relocation into institutions would result in the loss of income from disabled persons' expenditures within the community and dismantlement of the home health industry.

I fail to see the moral and economic sense in these budget cuts. If you agree with me, please contact your representatives as soon as possible and voice your concern. Stop the nightmare.

The writer is a Greensboro resident.

I am pleased that your June 13 editorial, "Going up in smoke," recognized the accomplishments of the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund's teen tobacco use prevention initiative. Since this program's inception in 2002, HWTF has demonstrated positive outcomes and gained national recognition for its efforts.

When North Carolina established the teen tobacco use prevention initiative, we were ranked 36th in the nation for state funding on youth tobacco prevention. Last year, we moved up to 21st.

Over the last three years, HWTF has incrementally increased its funding for tobacco prevention efforts, based on comprehensive research and lessons learned. As you acknowledge, our media campaign has already proved to be effective with North Carolina's youth, and HWTF leaders are committed to significantly expanding this campaign. But the unexpected costs associated with the senior prescription drug program have compelled us to put this expansion temporarily on hold.

Preventing tobacco use among North Carolina's youth remains a top priority for the trust fund.

Jim Davis
Raleigh
The writer is executive director, N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund.

Bush: Lately, he has needed no bashing. His own actions have gotten him in deep trouble. The Downing Street memo gives proof of the outrageous lies he told about going to war with Iraq and the immorality of sending Americans to fight and die in it.

Oil: We are told there isn't enough of it, with costs rising daily for the consumer. However, an article in the News & Record (April 30) reported Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil and ChevronTexaco making a combined $97 billion profit since the end of 2003. These companies are not our friends but warmly embrace Bush.

Philip Cooney: The former lobbyist for the oil industry worked for the White House, "editing" scientific reports on global warming and the environment, changing wording from "harmful effects" to "significant uncertainties." He's now taking a job with Exxon.

We the People: How can we accept, with no penalty, the lies, deceit, financial crisis and tragic war that Bush has put upon us? It has been said that "the common good has been sacrificed to special interests" through the overwhelming influence of powerful lobbyists on our elected leaders. "Public trust has been broken." And how does the public respond to this? Close their minds and watch "virtual reality" on TV?

Gay Cheney
Browns Summit

There are currently two bills stalled in the North Carolina legislature (Bill 223 in the Senate and 238 in the House) that would require a voter-verified paper trail on all voting machines in North Carolina.

(I should mention that the machines in wide use in North Carolina, the "UniLect Patriot" machines, are paperless and were recently decertified in Pennsylvania due to voting inaccuracies.)

Please help make sure that our legislators understand that we expect them to protect rights as fundamental as the right to vote, and to have that vote counted by demanding that they take action on these bills.

Tony Ledford
Greensboro

The minimum wage should remain as is, be reduced or eliminated. It is mainly used for trainees and part-timers. It's "starter" pay. The market and employee productivity dictate actual wage rates.

Tipped employees can make more in one hour than supervisors earn in a shift.

Hotels, for example, will employ more bellmen and servers when minimum (guaranteed) income is lower. This increases employment, improves service and increases return tourism.

In a previous life, I was a hospitality employer. Many of my people drove the accountant wild by letting paychecks stack up and cashing them when "the drawer was full." They lived off of their spouses' income, their cash tips and my family medical plan.

It's best left "as is" for now.

Frank Freeman
Greensboro

The letter written by Mark Whitehouse ("Early retirement costs will outweigh savings," June 16) does a disservice to government employees. He obviously has never been one.

For years, the reason people went into the "public sector" was the excellent benefits. The salaries were and are way below salaries for similar jobs in the private sector. With today's budget woes and politicians' desires to keep taxes low, the benefit portion of government employees' pay is now worse than that of private sector employees. So why take such a job?

I can assure you, it is not so we can retire early and start another career. Most government workers give of themselves and their family lives so your world continues to flow along smoothly. The police officer or firefighter who is on watch so you can sleep peacefully at night is not doing so just to be able to start over at 51 in another job or career. After 30 years of sacrifice for the public good, retirement is a small reward.

Walk a mile in government employees' shoes before you start blaming them for the fiscal woes of the government.

James Poer
Greensboro

My grandmother sent me the article about the proposed changes to Fisher Park and I asked her to forward this letter to you.

I'm incredibly disappointed that neighborhood residents would want to do anything to that little park. That was always one of my favorite places to go on our trips to my grandparents' house when they lived on North Park Drive. But I suppose it's too late now. The late Fisher Park will be sorely missed by many children, young and old.

Colin Lambert
Cincinnati, Ohio

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Mary Kay Meier

Greensboro, as well as the state of North Carolina, can be justly proud of a group of young singers from the Greensboro Youth Chorus who will leave soon for England for an International Music Festival to be held at Canterbury.

After their participation in the music festival and singing at Canterbury Cathedral, they will then go on to France. While in France, the group has been invited to sing at an evening mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. They have also been invited to sing at Chartres Cathedral, an honor that has been awarded to few choirs. One of the greatest honors while in France will be to represent the United States by singing at a wreath-laying and flag-raising ceremony at the cemetery at Omaha Beach, Normandy.

The preparation and dedication required for these events by the participants, as well as the parents who supported them and transported them back and forth for many, many hours of rehearsal, is certainly to be commended. They have had several fund-raising events to help offset the cost of this trip, but the bulk of the cost is being borne by the individuals. As an uninvolved citizen, I can't help but be thrilled for this group, and I actually get goose pimples thinking of this opportunity that will come probably once in lifetime.

Not only has the choir been recognized at this level, but it recently completed a CD of lullabies in collaboration with Moses Cone Hospital to be presented to all new mothers upon leaving the hospital.

The news is often so tragic and bad. I wanted to share these exciting happenings with my fellow citizens. Greensboro can be proud.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

As a lifelong citizen and taxpayer in Greensboro, I have found the recent articles regarding our Greensboro police chief, David Wray, to be very disappointing and disturbing. Maybe Chief Wray needs to call former Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege and ask him what happens when people start believing that they are above the laws they are responsible to protect and uphold.

Moreover, maybe our City Council and concerned citizens (who, by the way, the chief doesn't think he needs to discuss things with) should reel the chief in and remind him who pays the bills. Let's hope this letter doesn't get my spouse or me a tracking device.

J.B. Fletcher
Greensboro

The Downing Street memo is a smoking gun. The memo contained the minutes of a meeting with the Bush administration, recorded by Richard Dearlove, head of England's MI-16, the equivalent to the CIA.

On July 23, 2002, Dearlove briefed Tony Blair about his meeting with the Bush administration.

The five things you need to know about the memo are as follows:

1. By mid-July 2002, eight months before the war began, President Bush had decided to invade and occupy Iraq.

2. Bush had decided to justify the war by conjuncture of terrorism and WMD.

3. Already intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.

4. Many at the top level of the administration did not want to seek approval from the U.N.

5. Few in Washington seemed much interested in the aftermath of the war.

Invading a sovereign country for regime change is illegal.

Bush "fixed" the intelligence to make it legal.

Lying to the American people concerning the need for war and sending our military into harm's way is the most heinous crime a president can commit. These acts are considered war crimes, thus making Bush and his administration war criminals. There is no higher ground concerning impeachment. It's that simple.

Jo Boykin
Greensboro

I canceled my subscription to the News & Record today.

For 11 years, I enjoyed having access to news (local, national, international), sports and entertainment articles. Upon reading of the decision to become a local newspaper, I gave you a week to show me what you meant. Apparently, Bruce Springsteen's visit to the area is more important news than the latest security, economic and political developments in our country and the world.

I have the opportunity to interact with people in other countries on a daily basis and was already aware of the lack of information available to the average U.S. citizen compared to what our European and Asian counterparts have access to.

On June 18, the immensely important story of "Operation Spear," an attack launched by U.S. and Iraqi forces in the Al Anbar province, and news of al-Qaida changing its tactics to Iraqi insurgent-style attacks in Afghanistan, appeared on the back page of section A, and local and human interest stories filled Page 1.

Your decision will significantly contribute to the ignorance of Triad citizens on important events that will, indeed, have an impact on their lives -- certainly much more so than when the Boss comes to town.

Jennifer Martineau
Greensboro

The Democrats have stressed that Gitmo, along with the war in Iraq, has become a "national embarrassment" as well as a "terrorist recruitment tool."

The unpatriotic rants of Patrick Leahy are the "national embarrassment."

The war in Iraq has indeed become a "terrorist recruitment tool," and the new recruits are from the "American Taliban," which is composed of Ted Kennedy, Dick Durbin, Howard Dean, Joseph Biden, Charlie Rangel and Hillary Clinton.

The unpatriotic rhetoric of the "liberal" left and their willing cohorts, the mainstream media, while our servicemen and women are in harm's way, is giving aid and comfort to our enemies, and is an act of treason.

Thomas Moore
Greensboro

In my opinion, it should be against the law to drive and talk on a phone at the same time. Many of us are so caught up in what we are talking about that we forget about driving, and that leads to accidents as well. We all need to have a phone, but use it at the proper time.

This is just my opinion, but I see it often on the roads -- people holding up the line because they are on the phone. No way. We need to do something. Anyone agree?

Natasha Jones
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Melissa Begley

The recent NeighborWoods Tree Fund campaign undertaken by the city of Greensboro and Greensboro Beautiful Inc., along with the removal of mature trees from various locations around Greensboro, have prompted questions about the city's Tree Preservation Ordinance and how it works.

The Tree Preservation Ordinance, adopted in 2001, requires developers of commercial, retail and multifamily developments to save a portion of trees on their property. This ordinance applies only to city properties. It was designed to allow developers to remove trees in order to develop sites, while ensuring that some existing trees remain on the properties. Many times trees are saved around the edges or rear of a property, and a casual observer may not realize the developer is required to save those trees. Tree preservation areas must be protected with orange tree protection fencing or black silt fencing.

The Tree Preservation Ordinance does not apply to new single-family subdivisions or existing residences. Additionally, the ordinance does not apply to N.C. DOT roadway projects or Duke Power line clearance, since the city does not have jurisdiction over state road projects or Duke Power.

Occasionally, citizens will express concerns that the city is not doing enough to preserve our trees. However, it is important to note that city staff is responsible for enforcing the Tree Preservation Ordinance. Other organizations, such as Greensboro Beautiful, can work as advocates to help educate residents but do not create or enforce ordinances.

There are several ways Greensboro residents can make a difference. One of the most important ways is to share your thoughts and opinions with us as we review and rewrite development regulations, including tree preservation standards. Submit your comments and suggestions to: Greensboro Planning Department; Attn: Melissa Begley; P.O. Box 3136, Greensboro, NC 27407 or by e-mail to melissa.begley@greensboro-nc.gov.

In addition, you can speak at City Council meetings during the public comment period and the new business section. Visit the city of Greensboro Web site at www.greensboro-nc.gov or call 373-2065 for information on meetings and your City Council representative.

Another option is to make a tax-deductible donation to the NeighborWoods Tree Fund. The fund is a proactive approach to get more trees planted in Greensboro neighborhoods. The NeighborWoods program and the Tree Preservation Ordinance are designed to work hand in hand to help keep Greensboro great, green and growing. For information on these programs and other useful information, visit www.greensboro-nc.gov/forestry/.

The writer is an urban forester with the city of Greensboro.

Regarding the story, "FBI short on skills for terror war," (News & Record, A1, June 20):

When did "leadership" become a substitute for competence?

This is management thinking, and I do not pretend to understand it. At both the national and local levels, "leaders" are appointed who know absolutely nothing about the enterprise they are supposed to "lead." I was at IBM when they appointed a cookie company executive as CEO. I was at Oakwood Homes in its dying days when they hired a CEO who had no background whatever in the design and manufacture of housing. Now, we learn that you needn't know anything about the language or culture that spawns terrorism to fight it. By this logic, I should apply for a job as chief of surgery at Moses Cone.

Apparently, in today's "Alice in Wonderland" world, the ideal career, in government or the private sector, is one in which you rise higher and higher by knowing less and less about more and more, until you reach the White House and know absolutely nothing about everything.

Boris A. Chernick
Greensboro

A clerical error that has resulted in some North Carolina Army National Guardsmen receiving late payment on travel expenses is not newsworthy, let alone a front-page headline. Easy investigative reporting would reveal that private companies in the Triad with payroll departments sometimes make similar errors, yet this is not a news item.

To cast the National Guard in a negative light does a disservice to the many citizen-soldiers in this area and throughout the state. Soldiers of the North Carolina Army National Guard have willingly put their families and livelihoods aside for extended periods to fight the war on terror, while many in the rest of the community do little more than put American flag and yellow ribbon magnets on the backs of their cars. These soldiers, including the payroll clerks, deserve our support, not disapproving sensationalism.

Lt. Col. Matt Russo
Oak Ridge

In talking with a good friend, I learned that another house -- this time on St. Andrews Road -- had been torn down. Has Irving Park lost its class? Old Irving Park is, by name, old.

There is a certain respect for these houses, not just by their own neighborhood, but by all of Greensboro. The parceling off of beautiful land and the knocking down of beautiful homes is a tragedy. Are Aycock, Fisher Park, College Hill and Southside the only neighborhoods with grace and brains enough to maintain the beauty and the grandeur that is not possible to build now? Why don't we lobby to have the Biltmore House sold so it can be torn down and become a hotel?

Grab on to your history and your beautiful land, Old Irving Park. Once it's gone, it's forgotten.

Tracy Furman Lamothe
Greensboro

Charles Davenport Jr.'s column on June 19 misinterpreted completely the need for the moratorium on the death penalty. While I would not quarrel with the concern for the feelings for those loved ones of the murder victims, and support them in their grief, the moratorium issue is whether the guilty person ultimately pays the penalty for such vicious crimes.

There have been cases in the past couple of years, Alan Gell and Darryl Hunt, who both were wrongly accused and convicted of murder. Gell spent six years on death row and Hunt spent 18 years in prison. They have had a tragic experience and we, as citizens of North Carolina, need to take time (a two-year moratorium) to study and review our laws and reconsider such legislation as is necessary to do everything possible to be sure our citizens receive a fair trial. Davenport's statement, "A moratorium on executions is a misguided idea that would deny justice to families wrecked by homicide, etc.," is itself misguided.

Would he deny justice to those innocently accused? A two-year study to give us the best laws possible does no harm and, who knows, maybe would do a lot of good.

James M. Culberson Jr.
Asheboro

A letter (June 18) suggested that if teenagers have an age to start driving, the elderly should have an age to stop.

This 85-year-old lady drove too long, she says. She feels capable of driving but incapable of making quick decisions; also, the elderly are subject to strokes or heart attacks, she says.

That's true, but you can't sit around waiting to have a stroke, heart attack, snake bite or whatever. I enjoy driving at 90 and need to drive to Carolina Beach to see relatives. When asked, "Was there a lot of traffic?" I explain, "You don't need all of the highway, just a place to put your car."

Helen B. Walker
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Tim Allen

Charles Davenport Jr. has offered us a dangerous proposal ("Be thankful that religion still guides the affairs of government," June 5). He asserts that politicians who do not vote their personal religious beliefs are "hollow men, timid souls bereft of conviction."

Then he cites James Madison as an example of a man of religious conviction who stood against the secularism that, Davenport believes, infects our culture today.

When Madison wrote, "The transcendent law of nature and of nature's God," he was not standing tall for the medieval Christian ideals that Davenport applauds in the likes of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

Indeed, the word "nature" is a dead giveaway of European secularism. Even evangelical scholars such as George Marsden admit this much. Therefore, Davenport's citation of Madison unwittingly supports the very ideals that he is against.

Davenport is oblivious to this, however, when he employs Madison as an example of real legislators who vote their religious convictions. Citing Gallup polls that reveal the majority of Americans are against abortion, homosexuality and other sins, he argues that our (Christian) legislators should vote their personal beliefs against these issues. If this indeed happens, then we risk the very conditions that led to the Civil War. While many in the North and quite a few in the South were against slavery, most Americans at this time were still anti-black and believed that African Americans were bestial, stupid and therefore in need of the paternal care of the white establishment. As author Fergus Bordewich has shown, legislators and presidents, rather than voting for the freedom of slaves, instead compromised so that slavery remained intact. While they represented the majority, they were wrong.

What is dangerous is that they used Christian theology to justify their position. Such a government may represent the majority of the people based on Christian ideals, but that does not make it right.

To thwart such potential religious injustices (as manifest in medieval times), James Madison wisely and vehemently argued against this type of state church government. Other Founding Fathers were convinced by his argument and adopted his concepts as stated in the Constitution and the First Amendment.

Scholars have long noted that these two writings were the most secularist and nonreligious of all national constitutions of that day.

If Davenport's dream comes true, our legislators will vote only for conservative, Christian values that are often (though not always) misguided (recall the Terry Schiavo fiasco). The history of Christianity, as well as histories of other religions, proves that this exclusive approach leads only to nightmares.

The writer is an instructor of history and religion at Randolph Community College.

Congressman Walter Jones last week authored legislation requiring a timeline for pulling out of Iraq, and Howard Coble was considering supporting it.

Here are three reasons why the congressmen are wrong:

1) Sept. 11: Congress has a way of leaking reports, and if the president released a timeline -- even a classified timeline -- the American people would soon know about it, and so would the Iraqi insurgents. We all know now the Sept. 11 hijackers waited for more than two years to do what they did. Where is the proof that they won't wait this time? Of course, they will.

2) The 1991 Gulf War: It was obvious at the beginning of this Iraq campaign that the Shiites in southern Iraq did not trust America. Why? Because we abandoned them in 1991. If we left again, how would they react now that they have been placed in charge?

3) Japan after World War II: We occupied and supported Japan for more than seven years. We didn't want to leave Japan ruined and bankrupt. Nor did we want to leave her to be overthrown by the Soviet Union -- not unlike the terrorists in Iraq would like to do.

A timeline for withdrawal is neither safe nor advantageous.

Jon Williford
Greensboro

I can understand your decision to discontinue The New York Times News Service. I think you have erred, but only time will tell.

Greensboro is a city, not a small town. Let's not keep that small-town mentality. For small-town news, I will read the Alleghany News.

In the meantime, I have been disappointed by your coverage of the Grasshoppers and sports in general. The reports of games are only minimal. There are only rare pictures and very little to excite the citizens of Greensboro about their professional baseball team.

I hope you periodically will scan other newspapers to appreciate the way they present the news. I think you will find a lot of room for improvement.

Donald B. Conrad
Greensboro

Regarding the story, "Judge's statements spark controversy" (News & Record, June 22) concerning whether the use of the Quran for swearing in was lawful: I think the judge is missing the point. The end result is to make sure that people are telling the truth.

Personally, I wouldn't care if they made their oath on a comic book if it ultimately brought truthful testimony from the witness. If the witness doesn't believe in the Bible, then he or she may not feel bound by an oath taken on it.

Daniel Johnson
Greensboro

I disagree with Wayne Moyer's June 16 letter, "Limiting worker's comp makes sense."

He stated that "the Industrial Commission is inclined to award benefits rather than decline or terminate them." Let's hope that this is true for the workers in our state so that they receive compensation while in recovery for injuries suffered while on the job.

Further, a time limit on comp benefits as suggested by Mr. Moyer and the proposed workers' comp bill is ridiculous. Losing benefits after 10-plus years will only shift the burden from the employer's insurance carrier to the taxpayers.

Although there are always a few trying to beat the system, most employees who are injured on the job are honest, hard-working, responsible adults who take pride in their work and return to work as soon as they are physically able.

You can't get rich off workers' comp benefits.

If companies want to reduce workers' comp costs, they need to spend more money on safety improvements in the workplace and provide employees with additional safety training.

I urge legislators to reject the weak arguments put forth by the business and insurance communities and vote for the workers of our great state.

Steve Sumner
Summerfield

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., made statements comparing treatment of 550 Guantanamo prisoners to Hitler's concentration camps, Stalin's gulags and Pol Pot's killing fields where millions were tortured and murdered. I can expect such rhetoric from left-wing groups like Amnesty International, but it is different when spoken by a U.S. senator.

Imagine our troops overseas and their families back home, who sacrifice everything for our freedoms and safety, hearing such statements. This has certainly been broadcast throughout the Middle East, and terrorists can use a U.S. senator's statements as proof that the United States truly is the great Satan. This is nothing short of giving comfort to the enemy in a time of war.

I am disappointed that Republicans and even moderate Democrats didn't speak out against such outlandish behavior. Even if you disagree with the war, Durbin crossed the line in endangering our military men and women. I ask you to contact Sens. Burr and Dole and voice your opinion.

Tom Imbus
Browns Summit

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Ruth Mary Weston

Robert Hudson's defense (June 16, Counterpoint) of U.S. policy actions in the war on terrorism is clearly sincere, but our nation's values cannot be sustained if citizens won't examine opposing viewpoints thoughtfully and respect each other based simply on the worth "endowed by their Creator." Intense passion, however, is no disqualifier in debate, and Hudson's is recognizable and acknowledged.

I saw Eugene Robinson's June 7 column [registration required] not as a "we're the bad guys" allegation but as a call to examine whether we are upholding our national honor and values through these policy actions. I think we are not.

For instance, our First Amendment enshrines the concept of respecting each individual's personal religion. Intelligence-gathering guidelines now endorse using defilement of the Quran as a coercive psychological strategy against Muslim detainees. This dissonance is jarring. Even if information is obtained that prevents my death in a car-bombing, it is not worth unraveling the fabric of religious tolerance for future generations of Americans.

My first sight of the infamous photographs from Abu Ghraib brought to mind the word "torture" -- not "abuse," "interrogation techniques" or "prank." I know obscenity when I see it, and the fact that history is full of more lurid examples is totally irrelevant to me in judging whether our soldiers, intelligence operatives and/or private contractors should be directed to perpetrate depravity. Decades of a similar strategy against terrorists by Israel never stopped suicide bombers, but recent easing of repression, combined with negotiations and mutual concessions, has reduced the numbers considerably.

Degenerate behavior does little beyond indulging our understandable impulse for revenge, and it does that ineffectively by targeting, not those directly responsible for the 9/11 crimes against humanity, but those convenient to arrest.

It is the spirit, not merely the technicality, of the Geneva Conventions that inspires human decency amid the immediate horrors of war. Focusing on wording that might legally allow us to mistreat prisoners requires the mind-set evident in parsing what the meaning of "is" is. Our government has immense power arising "from the consent of the governed," and it is a citizen's moral obligation to object when the greater good of the nation is endangered by government actions.

Perhaps Mr. Hudson and I can respectfully agree that the greater good is measured not only by whether Americans die in terrorist attacks, but by whether Americans a century from now can still shed tears of pride while singing "America, the Beautiful."

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Regarding Natasha Jones' letter about improper cell phone use (June 22):

Last week, I decided to check out the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library. I had a wonderful experience until I decided to use one of the computers. A lady sitting three spaces down got on her cell phone and started yakking away even though there are signs posted as to no cell phone use. I could tell it was annoying others besides myself. If I had confronted her I would have just lost it, so I just got up and took my books to the checkout counter and complained and left.

I agree with Natasha that people are really getting careless on the roads with cell phones, as I also have had some close calls with people not paying attention to their driving, but the library incident just took the cake!

Also, I notice besides the customers in stores using the cell phones, the workers carry their own and yak away, and sometimes you even have to wait for service. This is just ridiculous!

I have a cell phone, but I do know when and where to use it.

Virginia L. Williams
Greensboro

I can think of a variety of reasons why the Holy Quran should not be used for oaths in our courts. They range from my own personal beliefs to historical and religious ones.

I believe most Americans are open-minded enough to read and study the Quran; however, it is important that we ask ourselves what is the true motivation behind this request. Is it a simple matter of tolerance and acceptance?

An article on Al-Quraan.org (The Institute For Islamic Knowledge) may help sort out this puzzle. Here I will paraphrase. The article speaks of the need for American Muslims to make out a properly drawn will (no problem here), but then its tone changes, explaining that, if you Muslims don't have a will, "a Christian or a Jew may be assigned as a guardian for your children; therefore, the future of your children is also in danger."

As the article says, I am a Kaffir (an unbeliever who does not follow Islamic law), but I do believe in one thing. Religious tolerance is a wide avenue of possibilities and not a thinly veiled attempt at religious superiority, as Al-Quraan appears to be.

Obbe Haverkamp
Greensboro

While I consider myself quite patriotic and think flag-burning is distasteful and disrespectful, I'm disappointed over a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent flag desecration.

The Constitution should not provide fabric the same rights and privileges as citizens. "The Flag" is not one universal object. My flag (made in Mexico, by the way) was bought and paid for with my hard-earned money and flies from my front porch on national holidays. If the federal government wishes to issue me a flag, then it may instruct me in its usage.

This proposed amendment conflicts with freedom of expression and elevates an object to national religious veneration. Both are addressed in the First Amendment.

Constitutional amendments should provide additional rights for citizens, not for mass-produced, shrink-wrapped polyester.

Don't get me wrong. My heart flutters when I see Old Glory flapping in the breeze, and I would never deliberately harm the symbol of a country that my forbears fought so hard to protect. But that is because my parents instilled within me a respect of this country.

That's a respect that cannot be legislated.

Julian Cheek
Greensboro

We hear so much negative feedback about our youth today. Have we adults taken a look at the example we have set?

One criticism I hear frequently is that our young folks cannot follow instructions. If you attended a graduation in the Greensboro area lately, you were made grossly aware that it is the parents who cannot follow instructions.

I was appalled at the adult behavior of screaming, hooting, hollering and even blowing horns at a graduation I attended. I was there to honor my granddaughter. She had asked all of our family to respect the school's request not to clap or show any special acknowledgment when her name was called. She said she had waited too many years for this graduation, so she wanted to hear her name when it was called. I thought it was very mature of her to have this respect for the ceremony.

I am sure all the graduates felt the same way. Certainly, most of the families, friends and loved ones did. Did it occur to those in the audience who were being so loud and disruptive that they might be embarrassing the graduate they thought they were cheering?

Shirley Shaw
Greensboro

In the June 23 News & Record, I see that our esteemed General Assembly is considering a bill to allow the local schools to teach girls in the eighth through 12th grades how not to abandon their babies that are born while they are still enrolled in school.

I would go further and teach them how to make the babies in the first place. That way we can have more babies turned over to responsible personnel so that all the people who are looking for babies to adopt would have better odds.

In all seriousness, what kind of nuts have we voted for who are making such ridiculous suggestions? What they should be considering is how to minimize the pregnancies among these youngsters. The bill that they are suggesting, in my opinion, would seem to encourage more pregnancies because now they wouldn't be facing any criminal charges.

Bernard L. Zales
Greensboro

We should not regard modern-day Wachovia negatively for the sins of its ancestral banks.

Doing so would be like passing unfavorable judgment against a person because her grandfather was a drug dealer.

Even before discovering that some of its banks used to own slaves, Wachovia already understood the value of providing significant financial sponsorship for Greensboro's International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

Wachovia now has indicated it wants to do even more to support black history education, a clear sign of how far removed today's Wachovia is from its less-proud past.

In light of the discovery that the museum will cost more to renovate before it can open, Wachovia has the perfect opportunity to enhance its museum support.

As a respected institution, Wachovia also could become involved in publicizing the museum's need for increased financial backing and encouraging other businesses and individuals to become sponsors.

As one of many anxious for the museum to open and become a major part of all the positive things our community has to offer, I am excited about the possibility of Wachovia becoming an even stronger museum backer, as well as an even greater corporate role model.

Seymour Hardy Floyd
Greensboro

In her brief letter published June 18, Vickie Currin of High Point makes reference to the acquittals of O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson while lamenting the current state of our justice system. She concludes, "I love my country, but I fear my government."

Your fear is misplaced, Vickie. Separate 12-member juries thwarted the efforts of government officials in California to convict and incarcerate Simpson and Jackson. Your governments (High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina and federal) didn't have a dog in the fight. Your fear should not be that the American justice system could allow for the acquittal of Jackson, but rather that American society could produce the fruit loop seen on CNN sobbing and releasing white doves as the verdict was being read.

Hank Greeson
High Point

Donald Bernstein's June 20 letter, which accuses Jimmy Carter of "abandoning" the U.S. hostages in Iran, is fueled by a revisionist conservative viewpoint that is both divisive and inaccurate.

Perhaps Mr. Bernstein is too young to remember that Carter inherited a military so drastically weakened by eight years of cuts instituted by presidents Nixon and Ford that it was unable to respond to the hostage situation. Carter personally participated in the planning and execution of a rescue attempt that left two Americans dead in the desert and then took full responsibility for the debacle, pledging no further rescue attempts to prevent retaliations against the hostages.

Additionally, as a liberal American, I resent Mr. Bernstein's implication that those of us on the left should be incarcerated with the terrorists at "Gitmo." Our desire to see human rights upheld does not prevent us from wishing to see terrorists punished, but we also believe that a basic level of human rights for all prisoners must be upheld.

Carter's work on behalf of homeless people here and abroad should be praised, not subjected to ridicule. And let's remember that eventually all of the American hostages made it home from Iran alive.

Charles W. Ward
Greensboro

In 1979, a tragedy happened here in Greensboro, the killing of five people. It was caught by television news cameras. This stigma has really hindered Greensboro's progress and growth, especially with race relations. There is so much mistrust among the races because of this tragedy.

If we really want things to change here, then why are we so afraid of finding out the whole truth of what happened on Nov. 3, 1979, from those who were involved, whether you were a victim, a survivor, a resident, the sitting mayor, the police, the Sheriff's Department or the FBI?

We are in the Bible belt. What does that mean? We are against abortion and same-sex marriages, against people making a living wage so they can feed their families, or we don't mind lynching and burning people at the stake while we sit back and have a picnic lunch.

There are sins in this matter that need to be confessed so those who carry the pain of Nov. 3 can be forgiven. After 25 years, it's time to let it go so this community can be healed. Come forward and tell your story and be freed.

Deborah Compton-Holt
Greensboro

Today's editorial page columns (June 21) indicate the need to reconsider your decision regarding the New York Times columnists.

Today the reader is subjected to Trudy Rubin, Ellen Goodman and Linda Campbell. All open-minded and centrist in their writings. Ha.

At least the reader did have a thoughtful column by Thomas Sowell. Thanks for that.

Don Mulligan
High Point

Thus far North Carolina has been free of toll roads.

Meanwhile, other states have worked hard to get rid of toll roads over the last 10 years, particularly in and around cities.

Toll roads are losing propositions, as the toll fees do not pay for maintenance, extra personnel to man toll booths, backed-up traffic and a host of other problems.

If North Carolina starts using toll roads, residents will find ways around them. Area governments and the Department of Transportation will counter with a series of roads to route local traffic onto the toll roads. That's more toll booths, entrance and exit ramps, more manpower and more maintenance.

It's like a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger as it goes. Then toll fees will increase to meet the expense, again.

The residents of this state should all voice their opinion to their lawmakers about their dislike of toll roads. This is a classic example of the old saying, "Once you let the camel get his nose in the tent, it ain't long till you have to put up with the whole camel."

Rusty Sherrill
Sophia

What a sad commentary on our value system when a young mother with three small children huddled around her stands in the center turn lane of Battleground Avenue trying to safely cross the street.

All she had to do was line her children up behind her, flap her arms like wings and emit goose-like sounds, and the traffic across four lanes would have come to a complete halt.

Jane Hansen
Summerfield

The recent exclusion of the northern portion of the Painter Boulevard loop is a blessing for Greensboro. People with the opportunity to visit other growing cities that have beltways quickly see how detrimental they are to the community.

I suggest that spending money to encourage development in the city center while supporting a loop around Greensboro does not make sense.

Loops encourage sprawl. These beltways generate bad development at their sides and bumper-to-bumper traffic into and out of the city center. They essentially tighten a belt around too much waist.

Try navigating Glenwood in Raleigh. Try any road cutting through the beltway in Atlanta. Beltways are a bad choice.

Better north/south corridors and an east/west bypass are the answer. The right choices will keep traffic moving, preserve Greensboro's natural assets and encourage people into our town, not into the outskirts.

David A. Worth
Greensboro

On the heels of Thursday's horrible ruling by the Supreme Court giving local governments the right to take property for "private economic development": I would love to see the News & Record poll members of local planning boards, and county commissions, on their views of eminent domain. In this election year, I do believe it would be of great benefit to voters to see where they stand.

Arnold Rogers
Greensboro

State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee vows to "keep the pressure on" regarding children's writing scores (News & Record, June 23) ... yeah, that's what we need, more pressure on teachers and students regarding subjectively scored writing tests.

We are testing our kids to death -- we are driving out every ounce of fun, excitement and creativity in our schools through our insane fixation on "standardized testing" at every conceivable opportunity.

If you want to know how well your child writes, might I suggest that you look at his or her writing or talk with his or her teacher.

Do we really need a gigantic, expensive state testing program to generate numbers that tell us virtually nothing?

I've been a seventh-grade special education teacher for six years and about 38 years ago I was a seventh-grader. Believe me, kids today write about as well (or as poorly) as kids have always written.

Our republic is not in any immediate danger because Billy and Suzie scored 5.5 percent lower on their essays about what happened when they "found a little door in the side of a huge tree" (fourth-grade writing-test prompt).

Come on, people, let's get a grip here.

Kent Boyles
Greensboro

How is it that an article about two Marines from Camp Lejeune dying in the Iraq war gets shuffled to the back page of the Greensboro section (June 14, 2005) mixed in with the weather information and advertisements?

But yet, an article stating the original Sept. 11 flag that three firefighters raised at the World Trade Center is missing (June 15, 2005) gets front-page positioning?

Did you forget that these soldiers gave their lives for what happened on Sept. 11? They deserve more than being put on the back page where you could hardly notice that there was even an article there.

It is bad enough that this administration no longer gives our more than 1,700 fallen soldiers the honor they deserve by not allowing the media to cover when their flag-draped coffins come home. But now your paper puts them on the back page of a section where articles are not usually placed.

Knowing when another soldier has given his or her life for our freedom deserves higher billing than if it will be sunny or rainy this week.

Abbie Colussi
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Steve Gorden

Ruth Mary Weston responded in the June 24 edition (Counterpoint, "Nation's principles demand respect") to opinions offered previously by Robert Hudson and Eugene Robinson. Being out of town when the Hudson and Robinson articles were published, I can only surmise, from Weston's response, that these gentlemen were addressing our nation's actions in the war on terrorism and offering their take on the alleged "torture" of terrorists held in confinement at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay facilities.

Ms. Weston responds to these two individuals ineffectively, in my opinion, with the same tired, flowery logic that has guided, or misguided, liberals for decades now. In one sentence, she somehow has the opinion that the first amendment to the Constitution "enshrines the concept of respecting each other's personal religion." Wrong. The first amendment simply prohibits the federal government from establishing a national religion. Nothing more, nothing less.

Ms. Weston also alleges she knows obscenity when she sees it, regarding the "torture" that is alleged to have occurred at the Abu Ghraib compound. I respectfully disagree. I don't think she knows any thing of the kind, nor do others holding similar beliefs. Torture, when actually applied, as it was with the Nazis, Soviets, and other diseased political disasters, is truly known by all who see it. No stretch of the imagination is required. Discomfort and personal humiliation do not constitute torture.

Finally, Ms. Weston misses the boat once again by stating that "the greater good is measured not only by whether Americans die in terrorist attacks, but by whether Americans a century from now can still shed tears of pride while singing 'America the Beautiful.' " The true question is whether we will still have an America a century from now. American soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors still give their lives so that we can be assured of that future, as they have done for the past two centuries. Given the tenets of Ms. Weston, and others who hold her beliefs, I would not be willing to place a bet on the future of this nation.

The writer lives in Kernersville.

I am shocked that the judges of Guilford County have taken it upon themselves to set religious standards for the rest of us.

The Quran is recognized as a sacred text by millions of people around the world. It is no less deserving to be used for oaths than the Christian Bible. I call on the people of this county to respect the Islamic faith, as they expect others to respect their faith.

As for other beliefs, I don't know if there are any worshippers of brick walls in this community, but if there are, I respect their wishes to swear on a brick.

Ann Dickinson
Pleasant Garden

I have just completed my Honors English class at Weaver Academy. Normally, I would be ecstatic to see the end of a course, but not this time. This was no ordinary English class -- it was taught by a truly amazing teacher who was young, energetic, enthusiastic and obviously glad to be teaching at Weaver.

We managed to accomplish a lot in the semester because this teacher found ways to keep things from getting dull.

Now, my teacher is leaving the school system to work full time at a restaurant because her paycheck will be much higher. Superintendent Terry Grier and the Guilford County Board of Education need to realize that if they insist on seriously underpaying teachers, they will lose them.

Hannah Davis
Greensboro

Sometimes you just have to wonder. ...

I read an article yesterday about how the major movie studios are completely baffled as to why box-office attendance seems to be plummeting, with no sign of improvement.

Gee, do you think if they did some basic math they might figure it out?

A guy and his wife take their two kids to a movie. Admission: $35 to $45; concessions: $35 to $45 (easily).

So for one two-hour movie, this guy and his wife are out $70 to $90. Plus, they get the long lines, annoying commercials, poor seating selection, popcorn munchers, perfume junkies, and they have to miss critical parts of the movie to go to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, for the same price, they could own three or four new-release DVD movies, to watch as often as they like -- on the big-screen home TV with pause-on-demand and bonus material.

Hmmmm. Tough decision? Apparently not.

Jeff McEntire
Kernersville

In the usual congenial spirit of conservatism, Thomas Moore (letter, "Democrats' rhetoric is an embarrassment," June 22) lists the names of seven Democrats and dubs them the "American Taliban."

The reason: They dare to criticize the war in Iraq.
This makes sense. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they encouraged criticism of the government, didn't they?

Conservative Republicans and the Taliban both oppose abortion, support capital punishment, condemn gays and believe that political leaders should pass a religious test.

And just as Muslim clerics control their followers, some Republican ministers order their parishioners not to vote Democratic on pain of expulsion. Nor are these beliefs merely peripheral; they are central tenets of each group.

So, based on doctrinal similarities, who has earned the label "the American Taliban"?

Terrance McConnell
Greensboro

I found portions of the recent News & Record editorial ("Signs of life in council race," June 24, 2005) to be somewhat amusing.

The writer asserted the following: "Ideally, people who have prepared themselves for office through their work on boards and commissions ... would consider council seats. They don't."

Apparently, it did not occur to the writer that it is because they have served on boards and commissions that some people choose not to run for office. Perhaps they have considered it.

In short, it might well be the case that a certain degree of naiveté is a requisite qualification for the novice candidate.

Peter Kauber
Greensboro

The writer is a past member of the Board of Adjustment and a current member of the Zoning Commission and the Connections 2025 Monitoring Committee.

I wonder, if Jesus were on earth today, how would He be described.

All of a sudden, the "secular" and "secular left" labels are being applied -- in your pages and in the media in general -- to people whose beliefs are not in step with some of those who are conservative and religious. I have many friends, and loved ones, who are both conservative and religious.

I also have friends who are liberal and religious. And friends who are secular by definition, some conservative and some liberal.

I am offended and concerned at the demagogic and inappropriate labels some use for people who have views different from theirs. How much progress have we made in 2,000 years?

Let us honor our differences as a gift from God, rather than an excuse to falsely label others for political gain.

G.J. " Skip" MacMillan
Greensboro

Giles Lambertson (Sunday, June 26) doesn't know quite what to make of recent polls indicating low public trust of news organizations.

Loosening of professional ethics and a disregard for truth is a trend that can and should be reversed to win back public trust.

But is the problem, in fact, something entirely different: that some of the news and poll results clash with strong, erroneous partisan presumptions? Lambertson has the temerity to say: "Gallup reports that two-thirds of the Iraqi people believe American troops treat Iraqis disrespectfully. That doesn't mean two-thirds of the people have witnessed such treatment."

Isn't it obvious that, like any population illegally bombed and occupied by a foreign aggressor, Iraqis would form their opinions from direct experience? The brutal events of the last quarter-century are what have shaped their lives and their opinions -- not news flashes that go on and off with the electrical power, the water supply, minimal medical assistance and basic infrastructure that have been pulverized by American and British bombing and further disrupted by insurgents.

It is absurd and obscene to allege that news reports and poll results are what have plunged Iraq into its present dark abyss.

Jack Stone
McLeansville

After reading Andrew Brod's June 26 column (Ideas) on the economies of legalizing marijuana, I have two reactions:

The issue of capital punishment costs, while true, is totally absurd. If convicted and sentenced to execution, there should be one appeal allowed to a person within the following 18 months. This would provide sufficient time for legal proceedings and stop the practice of spending 20-plus expensive years on death row.

Applying the term "relatively benign" to marijuana bespeaks a lack of appreciation for the mind- and personality-altering power of this drug. Failure to die from an overdose is not the medical or psychiatric definition of a "relatively benign" drug.

I would feel even less safe in a society that financially benefited from legalizing marijuana in a similar fashion as it has with alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana, termed the "gateway" drug, has powerful motivation-draining properties and can produce significant impairment of cognitive function.

If the government needs more revenues, let's enforce highway safety rules, close the giant corporate loopholes in the tax code or scale back the exorbitant congressional retirement program.

Let's make sure the pot sold in our stores is metallic and not leafy green.

Joel H. Heller, M.D.
Greensboro

Finally, after all these years, my liberal arts degree's paying off! Coming to grips with the bewildering times in which we live, I can only look back to the gilded age of satire and the writing of Alexander Pope. His was an age when the only filter left to understand the pomposity and arrogance of the ruling class was satire. And here we go again.

How else to explain the meteoric rise of John Stewart's "The Daily Show" as the sole source of news for a growing number of young Americans?

How else to understand a Congress, which, in the midst of some of the most deeply troubling crises in our history, somehow finds time to pull out, again, spirited and lofty rhetoric on ... flag burning?

How else to understand a president who, when asked which of two clearly conflicting accountings of our progress in Iraq is correct -- the Rumsfeld/Cheney version or the generals waging this war -- looks us in the eye squarely and answers, "It's hard work"?

Invitation-only "town hall meetings"? The John Bolton nomination? Gov. Jeb's new investigation of Michael Schiavo?

Alexander, my old friend, where are you now when we need you?

Bill Yaner
Jamestown

The well-written feature on pastors' wives in Sunday's paper should provide a better understanding of their changing roles in the level of involvement expected of them in the local church, and should be informative for lay members.

I hope now that you have done this fine article, you will follow up with an equally interesting article on pastors' husbands.
The Rev. Jean Rodenbough
Greensboro

Many times issues that purportedly are about constitutional rights are just fodder for political expression or games to keep lawyers remunerated and activist groups in the news. Most recently a religious document was offered as an alternative to the Bible for the purpose of swearing in those of that religion. Even though the concern may be legitimate, this would further complicate an already unwieldy court system.

There is a fair and practical solution: Conduct the swearing-in with the phrase: "I realize I must tell the complete truth or be subject to criminal penalty." A lie is a lie; those with criminal intent are not usually influenced by moral values or religious conviction.

This solution would negate religious issues, and freedom-loving citizens would be satisfied.

Andrew H. Symmes Jr.
Greensboro

To all the voters and citizens of Greensboro and Guilford County: Wake up. Demand an explanation from the Democrats who voted themselves a 41 percent pay increase and gave $250,000 to the Civil Rights Museum without public input.

I have been a registered Democrat since I was old enough to vote, and the current Democratic county commissioners are a joke. They seem only to want what is best for them and their special interests with no concern for the voters who elected them. I urge all voters, Democrat and Republican, to get together and rid the county of the current Democratic commissioners in the next election.

As for you, Mr. Paul Gibson, I voted for you in the last election, and that was my mistake. It's certain that Mr. Alston does your thinking for you.

Herman L. Browning
Greensboro

In the 20 years that I have lived in Guilford County, I have hoped that someday we would have county commissioners who would be the best in something. Somehow "best-paid" does not meet that goal.

Bill Moore
Greensboro

The most recent pay increase of $6,000, to $20,700 per year for the county commissioners, is an increase of 41 percent. I wonder how many people in Guilford County get to give themselves a 41 percent raise.

No other county commissioners in the entire state make more than the Guilford commissioners. Are we then to expect that our elected officials are better than the rest of the state's? If they are so good, why are they raising taxes?

According to Skip Alston and Carolyn Coleman, an example of their workload is the large numbers of calls from residents demanding to know why the county was giving money to the Civil Rights Museum. Coleman even noted the added "stress" of the job. Well, these people chose to run.

Relief, however, is on the way: a paid vacation in Hawaii, where some of our commissioners will learn how to be more effective and find new ways to save taxpayers money.

How successful would any of us in the private sector be if we asked for a 41 percent raise and a trip to Hawaii, where we could find new ways to save money?

Gill Feltis
Summerfield

I have just heard on the news about the new budget and also heard county commissioners' Chairman Bruce Davis stating he was happy with it.

Well, if I was getting a $500-a-month raise, I would be very happy, too. In fact, I would be thrilled.

I don't want one cent of my money to go to that Civil Rights Museum. The $250,000 approved for it could have gone toward helping our schools.

Can someone tell me when the next voting time will be for county commissioners?

Bobbie Walker
Greensboro

What a shame it is that Congressman Howard Coble has had to respond to accusations against him that are made without factual evidence (June 18 Counterpoint).

For those of us who have had the honor and privilege of working with Congressman Coble, we know that he is the most honest and honorable person who has continuously and faithfully represented the 6th District for many years. His honesty and integrity are beyond reproach.

The only good thing to come out of these malicious accusations is that we can thank God that we live in a country where even the uninformed and ignorant have the opportunity to express themselves.

Derek M. Davis
Greensboro

Memo to Karl Rove from a proud liberal:

The failure of this war is not our fault. We're not the ones who let Osama bin Laden get away, attacked the wrong country under false pretenses, under-armed our troops, and made no plan for an exit strategy.

In case you hadn't noticed, the Republicans control all three branches of government right now and have for five years. They've been wrong on everything so far, ignoring the health care crisis, giving tax cuts to millionaires in the midst of war, leaving crushing debt to our children … I could go on.

The only failure liberals should own up to is not speaking out loudly enough.

I remember joining other moms in a neighborhood park to watch our toddlers play the day the war started. I felt ashamed to be there while people were killing and dying in my name, but I said nothing.

That's the only I guilt I feel, Karl. But the war? No. This is your war. You and your pals got us into it, so don't you dare blame its failure on the patriotic Americans who tried to stop it from happening.

Angela Schroeder
High Point

I applaud Tim Allen's rebuttal (June 23) to Charles Davenport Jr.'s column, but he missed a quote from James Madison that requires no interpretation and stops Davenport's assertion about Madison in its tracks.

Madison said, "The number, the industry and the morality of the priesthood and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state."

John Worsley
Greensboro