News-Record.com

I have been reading all the complaints about hotel room charges for the High Point furniture market versus the Las Vegas market. Beware! Las Vegas will get you.

I attend three shows a year there, and the room rates are very inflated. In checking my expense accounts for 2005, I spent 16 nights in Las Vegas. The average nightly charge was $180.05. Last March, we were charged $240 for the Marriott Suites.

I am going again the week of Jan. 16, and the following rates are shown on the Internet: Mirage, $217; Harrah's, $248; Bellagio, $273; Treasure Island, $173; New York/New York, $184; MGM, $202.

People need to understand that the good rates given now in Las Vegas will not remain.

Mike Cantwell
Whitsett

My friend and I were eating at the cafeteria at Carolina Circle Mall about 12 years ago. I had read in the paper that Rosa Parks was to be at A&T for a visit. Close to us, they had set four or five tables together.

Before long, some very distinguished black men came in and sat down on both sides of the tables. A sweet-looking lady came in and sat at the table with them. After they ate and talked, this sweet lady got up and stood away from the tables with a young man. That is when I realized this was Rosa Parks.

I told my friend I was going over to hug her. When I reached her, I realized this might be a bodyguard with her. I told him I just wanted to hug Mrs. Parks, and he said not to hug her too tight. I hugged her and told her I loved her and walked back to my table.

I call this my claim to fame. I'm sure Mrs. Parks is in heaven today.

Carolyn Corbett
Climax

The loss of a bright young man. The grief of his family and friends. The multiplied grief of Iraqi families, caused by his actions and those of his surviving companions.

What will it take to end the sadness? Until parents stop thinking it's "cute" for their boys to "love their war toys," until churches stop condoning -- even blessing -- the killing of humans, until those who say they follow the Prince of Peace take Him seriously and dedicate themselves to alleviating, not causing, suffering, the sadness will not end.

God speed the day when our "best and brightest" are taught to heal rather than to harm; to rescue rather than to attack; to build rather than to destroy. Only then will the sadness be banished.

Please, God, let it be soon.

Ruth Martin
Browns Summit

There was a time when the only thing lying in the road no one would try to miss was a class-action lawsuit lawyer. They have been displaced by liberal journalists.

It must be a relief to you and your paper that the death count in Iraq has reached 2,000. I have heard this number for almost two years as a goal you were shooting for. Why not print the number of deaths in the first World War, the second World War, Korea, Vietnam? This was a costly price to pay for peace also. Guess which party was in power when World War II was fought.

Why do you not print the figures of the dead and run pictures of them? I wonder if you think the American people are dumb enough to listen to you.

Ken Sawyer
High Point

Regarding the article, "Gang activity evident in local schools" (Oct. 26):

As a teacher at Aycock Middle School, I was baffled to see our name mentioned in the article. Though I am certainly aware that gangs do exist, in my three years at Aycock I have seen no evidence of them in our school. What I have seen is a school honored as one of the 15 most-improved schools in Guilford County, classrooms with students and teachers using our many new computers, a premier drum line, a principal nominated for Principal of the Year, and, most of all, a caring faculty and staff that is second to none. The only "13" I'm aware of is the age of many of our students.

Helen Goley
Greensboro

You know, when I wrote this "good news is no news" letter, I had a hunch that it would not be printed, because it is true. I, and the majority of your readers, would prefer hearing good news. So put the bad news, if you must, in fine print in the middle of the paper, where you are now hiding the good news.

If you were known as a paper that printed the good stuff, I firmly believe that your circulation would increase, rather than decrease, as I suspect is happening now.

Tommy Cox
Greensboro

In the 1960s, I was able to count on the GI Bill to provide the difference in finding some of the financial means to make it through law school. The GI Bill today is long gone, but now Congress is attempting to drastically cut the federal Student Loan program, as well as food stamp subsidies, and Medicaid.

Today, as a lawyer practicing primarily in the area of bankruptcy, I see many Guilford, Forsyth and surrounding county residents who are not making it financially and who drastically need the relief once partially provided by bankruptcy. Under the new Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, providing relief to either the small minority of abusers or to the vast majority who are truly needy will be a more burdensome and costly proposition but still will be possible. With or without bankruptcy, if these programs are axed, as Mr. Bush and his supporters seek, I fear to think what will happen to these less-fortunate neighbors. Most are in their situations through no fault of their own.

They must be able to rely on a compassionate government to carry on. This message must not die on deaf ears in Washington.

A. Carl Penney
Winston-Salem

Regarding your editorial on the N.C. Department of Correction (Oct. 26, not posted): Maybe for the prisons the accusations are true, but there are many different groups in DOC.

Probation/parole officers are in a group associated with DOC, but I can assure you they are not overpaid; they are grossly ignored when it comes to money and equipment. They are in contact with criminals every day, yet most are not given weapons to defend themselves, and for some reason this state seems to think that is sufficient. But when this sector of DOC asked for a yearly raise, they got no more than $850, and everyone knew if they asked for more it would be vetoed.

Yet here, a couple of months later, money magically appears to give teachers more but no one else. So maybe you can investigate why every state employee isn't as taken care of financially as teachers are. I know teaching is hard, but so is keeping track of North Carolina's drug dealers, sex offenders and other criminals.

Amanda Purgason
Reidsville

Editor's note: The writer is married to a parole officer.

There are far too many good deeds that never get written about or make the headlines. "Jungle Jack" Hanna's recent visit to Greensboro for the Natural Science Center certainly made the news. What you did not hear about are the 35 amazing women, and a few guys, too, who selflessly dedicated weeks and even months of their lives to ensure that Jack's visit would be an overwhelming success and a symbol of the unprecedented transformation being launched at the Natural Science Center.

Led by event co-chairwomen Bethany Duggins and Karen Kelly, this passionate and tenacious group of community-minded citizens deserves our highest recognition.

In just my second year as the museum's executive director, I stand grateful and humbled by such a wonderful, committed and fun group of people. It is a privilege to be surrounded by citizens so dedicated to the kids, creatures and communities of this great city. With Animal Discovery finally breaking ground and the Science City, USA master plan just leaving the gate, there are going to be a whole lot of things for the great citizens of Greensboro to get excited about.

Glenn D. Dobrogosz
Greensboro

The writer is executive director, Natural Science Center.

On Oct. 20, an amendment to a spending bill was voted on in the U.S. Senate. This amendment would have increased the amount of home-heating financial assistance to the poor by roughly $3.1 billion.

Sixty votes would have passed this amendment. However, only 53 senators (Democrat and Republican) voted for it. Both of our senators (Dole and Burr) voted against this increase in funding for the poor. I am so ashamed of them.

We all know that home-heating costs are projected to soar this winter. Obviously, our senators don't care about those less fortunate than themselves. Otherwise, they would have voted in the affirmative.

Joel Ritter
McLeansville

I agree with Earl N. "Phil" Phillips (former owner of Showplace) that we need to do everything possible to keep the furniture market in High Point. That's why we should all encourage him to invest a few of the tens of millions he's made off of the furniture market into new and larger hotels.

How about it, Earl? Put your "$" where your mouth is.

Rick Williams
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Hank McGovern

Of course, Leonard Pitts' question (Oct. 22) as to whether we love the death penalty "too much" is rhetorical. The more important question is what values do we want to embrace as a society? While we ostensibly tout peace, if we truly value it, we need to abolish the death penalty. We cannot create peace through violence. We are what we practice.

The notion of exercising a moratorium until we can demonstrate fairness is a red herring. It is so because we can never have fairness with the death penalty. The system will always be fallible and, consequently, there will always be a chance of executing an innocent person. Our judicial system has done it many times and will never be exempt from this egregious mistake. It is immoral to advocate a process that executes innocent human beings.

In the same way we view slavery as an anachronism, I predict our national consciousness will evolve so that one day the death penalty will be viewed by our country as barbaric. This optimism is fueled by the following analysis.

The economic dimension shows capital punishment is more expensive than life imprisonment. A Duke University study found that, on average, it cost $805,000 to keep a 25 year-old in jail until he is 75. That is more than 2 million less than the cost to prosecute a capital case with its appeal process.

The moral dimension is frequently addressed by capital punishment advocates with the biblical enjoinder: "Thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth…" However, Jesus did not agree with that principle from Exodus. During the Sermon on the Mount, he called for his followers to "turn the other cheek" instead.

For the Christian moral perspective, Christ's calling is affirmed by the Fifth Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." I wonder how many favoring posting the Ten Commandments in public also favor the death penalty.

The psychological dimension involves fallacious reasoning. The common-sense notion that it will deter violence is unfounded. It is based on the assumption that the fear of being put to death will discourage potential murderers. The problem with this assumption is that most murderers do not value life, neither other peoples' nor their own, particularly during the period they commit murder.

The fact that the death penalty does not work is further supported by studies such as that from Canada where the homicide rate dropped significantly after the death penalty was abolished.

A compassionate, wise society will mandate life sentences instead of committing violence to stop violence.

The writer is a licensed psychological associate living in Asheboro.

Nearly all of the patients visiting my family medicine clinic on a recent morning had medical problems making them priority candidates for the flu shot. We had none to give them. All we could do was ask them to call back next week in the hope that some had come in. For several of them, the opportunity will be lost because getting out of the house to come to our office is challenging due to wheelchair use, etc.

Meanwhile, the vaccine is available at pharmacies and Wal-Marts. Increasingly, our governments are practicing social Darwinism where those deemed fit to survive must be able to make it to the marketplace. Public health priorities are being determined by people's status as consumers. Is this how we want America to be?

Wayne Hale
Greensboro

The writer is a family practicing physician, teaching residency, Moses Cone Hospital.

I do not often agree with Leonard Pitts, but I cheer and salute him wholeheartedly for his Oct. 24 column in which he chastises the NBA "superstars" (read: churlish, infantile, gangsta rapper wannabes) who are upset with the new NBA policy regarding off-court dress. I say it is about time.

What I particularly appreciate is that Pitts, as a black man, has taken a stand on this issue, publicly spoken up and correctly labeled the claim that the dress code is racist as so much c--p and labeled it as what it is: "a total tempest in a teapot" precipitated by pampered, coddled athletes who have lost touch with reality.

Mike Crouch
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Kris Patel

The News & Record's report ("Dollars and Sense," Oct. 9) on the link between poverty, wealth and education was disappointing and feeds into the stereotype that if you are poor, you cannot succeed. My husband's experience demonstrates that this simply is not true.

His father came to this country with literally a few dollars. His family moved into the basement of an apartment building where his mother slept against the door to keep homeless people from coming inside. Eventually, they moved into a better home but never became economically stable.

Here are the jobs of some of my husband's family members: two uncles are cooks at Denny's, one aunt works at McDonald's, another is a manager of Taco Bell (after working for years as an employee), and another uncle worked for years as a cook at Red Lobster.

Now, let me tell you about their kids. My husband, after financing his own college and medical school education, is now a very well liked and respected physician in High Point. Two of his cousins are in medical school while another is applying. One is in high school making straight A's. Another came to this country three years ago not speaking any English and is now in the fifth grade making straight A's.

Why have my husband and his cousins succeeded? Like my parents (who were not wealthy, either), their parents have had clear expectations of their children: try your best in school, do your homework, respect your teachers, follow the rules, go to college, have goals, don't pity yourself, etc. Unfortunately, not every child has such parents.

I don't know how to change the attitudes of irresponsible parents; however, I do know that monetary wealth alone would not make them value education.

Articles like the one written are counterproductive and demeaning to the parents who are economically disadvantaged but are trying to instill the values of hard work and discipline in their children, and they are also insulting to the people who have achieved educational and/or financial success through hard work.

The newspaper ought to promote the idea that the value parents put on education and the work ethic of the student are more strongly related to success than is money.

I hope that economically disadvantaged families will read about my husband and his family and see that high expectations are the key to later success.

The writer lives in High Point.

On Saturday, Oct. 29, above the fold, the headline reads: "Real sticking point. Score so far this year, Davie Street Bridge 6, Big Trucks 0." Well, duh. Is that a big surprise?

There have only been seven trucks stuck (another was trapped this week) under that bridge this year, not to mention the ones that came before.

Now our city leaders are going to spend our hard-earned money to put up a light-detection system and flashing sign that says "Over Height." You have to know that is going to fix things really well. This is yet again an example of the public paying for the ignorance and plain stupidity of a few.

I say, enact a local ordinance that says, if you stick your truck under any of our bridges, you will be charged with the cost of removal, and fined for being to darned dumb to even be driving a big rig. After all, do you really not know how high the trailer is that you are pulling?

The fine for doing this bone-headed stunt should be $1,000 to the driver, $5,000 to the company or owner of the rig. Why should the public pay?

Kenneth Ludington
Greensboro

The November Vanity Fair calls Bush on another lie: this time his identity, his "cowboy" act, noting he didn't even buy his ranch until 1999. So his cowboy and boot strut isn't real either, but women love him because he reminds them of their fathers. What better recommendation is there for a president?

The Wall Street Journal worries over our $5 trillion debt, and a professor on NPR talked of Bush promising to everyone in the country and world even more money while giving millionaires tax breaks, leaving the problem for the next president.

Recently, the U.S. troops killed in Iraq passed 2,000. Bush's late response to Katrina caused many deaths. So, while our young are sent to die in an endless war on terror, while we are up to our eyebrows in debt, looking like fools in the eyes of the world, all sources wonder how long the American people will take it. But then, the man who swaggers up to the mike is only human. Too bad he's also our president.

Gay Cheney
Browns Summit

Why does Guilford County continue blinking at the true need of a one-center facility location for all county government operations? Should we endure further expensive separation or should we pause to initiate a historic and overdue change?

Have we not heard, "Divide and conquer," or will we continue embracing shameful, individualized egos while blindly ignoring truth?

Al Campbell
High Point

World War II accomplished two regime changes: Germany's Hitler committed suicide and Japan's emperor became a figurehead subject to Gen. MacArthur's orders.

U.S. involvement in that war lasted 46 months and cost 292,000 killed in action. The war in Iraq, now in its 31st month, has cost 2,000. If my averaging is correct, we lost 6,347 troops per month in World War II, versus 65 per month in Iraq. Cold military comparison shows that for each soldier killed in Iraq there were roughly 100 in World War II -- about a 100-to-1 ratio thus far.

This letter does not defend mistakes in either war. Winston Churchill wrote that there would have been no war in Europe had there been a mere show of force against Hitler's first aggression (his unopposed Rhineland grab).

War casualties are heart-rending. But remember that our freedom was were bought with casualties. Remember, too, that 13 years elapsed after the Revolutionary War before our constitution, with its 10 "Bill of Rights" amendments, was ratified. With 27 amendments to date, the constitution in 1920 granted women the right to vote.

Francis L. Perkins
Greensboro

The most recent quarterly profits for oil companies were as follows: Exxon Mobil, $9.9 billion; Royal Dutch Shell, $7.369 billion; BP $5.33 billion; ConocoPhillips $3.8 billion; Amerada Hess $272 million.

Meanwhile, our representatives Howard Coble, Virginia Foxx, Robin Hayes, Patrick McHenry, Sue Myrick, and Charles Taylor, all Republicans, voted for H.R. 3893, the Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005. This bill weakens the Clean Air Act while purporting to address issues of refinery capacity. It also weakens requirements for more than 17,000 industrial facilities. And by limiting use of cleaner fuels, it will hamper the introduction of low-sulfur diesel fuel, which is estimated to save 20,000 lives per year.

The bill unnecessarily extends Clean Air Act deadlines for ozone cleanup, putting millions of Americans at risk of adverse health such as asthma and other respiratory ailments.

The legislation further assures industry lengthy government reviews and new environmental hurdles do not block refinery expansion.

American taxpayers will foot the bill for over $4 billion in industry giveaways. I will remember how generous our Republican representatives have been to oil companies come election time.

James Biaso
Winston-Salem

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Kathy Young

It's all about money? It's never all about money.

It's about lifestyle choices that result in less money. Your article of Oct. 9 implies that a family's income is directly responsible for a student's performance in school. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As a retired teacher who began in 1966, I've had ample opportunity to study student performance. True, most students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds don't do as well in school as their more affluent classmates, but there are many, many exceptions in both groups and reasons for it.

I am one of them. Reared in a slum by a divorced mom who worked two jobs, I graduated high school with highest honors and got a master's degree. That's because my mom had only one child, spent her spare time with me, took me to church every Sunday, made sure I did my homework, encouraged me in school, went to every school function, had conferences with my teachers, took me to the library and museums, and taught me to read early. She taught me that school was important.

My students who did poorly almost always had parents who fit one or more (or even all) of these categories: took drugs; drank heavily; dropped out themselves and didn't value school; began having children at age 16 or younger; had four or more children (which they couldn't support); had a criminal record; never came to any school functions; refused parent conferences; abused their children; taught them that teachers and police and other authority figures were the enemy. I have taught seven children in a single family without ever meeting the parents, who responded to all conference requests with hostility. It was no wonder that all the children did poorly in school and the second-oldest went to prison soon after high school. These are parental lifestyle choices. They usually do result in less income and cheaper housing, but lack of money is not the issue. The lifestyle choices result in less income.

Handing more money to an alcoholic dropout who isn't teaching her seven children to do their homework wouldn't result in a change of behavior. It also won't change her children's performance in the classroom.

Without a doubt, most children from more affluent homes do better in school than most children from less-affluent homes. The parents made good choices along the way to become more affluent, and they teach their children to make those same choices, one of which is to value education.

It isn't all about money.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I read with dismay in our paper that more people in Greensboro watched reruns of "The Jeffersons" on primary election day for the City Council than voted.

We are asking our young men and women in uniform to die for the cause of democracy, and too many are paying that ultimate sacrifice. When we don't bother to vote, a right they are dying for, we disgrace ourselves and dishonor their service.

If you don't vote on Tuesday, you should feel shame every time you see a man or woman in uniform. Please honor our servicemen and women by voting.

Bill Craft
Greensboro

With all the accolades being tossed to Judge W. Douglas Albright, his parents also deserve much praise, and he would be the first to agree. Many years ago, Greensboro honored the "Workers of the City" at First Baptist Church. Doug Albright (not yet the judge) was an outstanding citizen and speaker for the occasion. Though his parents, Dorothy and Purvis Albright, were not the ones being honored, their son gave them much credit for his upbringing.

What more could parents ask than to know they had influenced a child to be a good citizen? Someone said, "What the soul is to the body, so the Christian is to the world."

Helen B. Walker
Greensboro

Regarding Allen Johnson's column, "New mantra for local education: 'I've got mine, good luck in getting yours' " (Oct. 30), it is sad to learn of the dismissive tone of some of the responses to "Dollars and Sense," the report on the connection between wealth and SAT scores, but such a tone is not surprising, and the mantra is not new.

Just look for the best school facilities in Guilford County; you won't find a really good auditorium at a public school. Yes, let's hear it for school reform. Let's try these ideas: raising the minimum wage so poor parents don't have to work two or three jobs; providing good health care for everybody; providing the best preschool experiences for the poorest children.

We are all in the same boat, folks, this big USS America. Just remember what Poor Richard said: "It takes just a small leak to sink a great ship." If the folks in steerage drown, so will the rest of us.

John York
Greensboro

A recent statement by the No. 2 leader of al-Qaida deserved more attention than the News & Record provided. This chilling document shows how Islamist leaders think.

The leaders of al-Qaida and its allies may be twisted, but they are not insane. Islamist leaders are realistic about their successes and failures. Al-Zawahiri acknowledged that the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan is likely to succeed.

The article illuminates al-Qaida's goals for Iraq. The U.S. invasion created a convenient opening. For now, outside Islamists are working with native Iraqis to expel the United States. If they succeed, the Islamists plan to betray their allies and take control.

The Islamists plan to use Iraq as a base to spread revolution. While the current insurgency is bad, an Islamist Iraq would be worse. The Islamists are already exploiting Iraq. Islamist Jihadis use Iraq as a finishing school for terrorism. Surviving terrorists move on to other battlegrounds or agitate in their homelands.

Joel Goldstein
Greensboro

In response to Allen Johnson's column about Carolina Circle Mall (Oct. 23), I, too, have special memories of the mall when it opened. I was lucky enough for my parents to buy my first and only pair of ice skates (I still have them). They were ordered from the Sears Roebuck catalog, and we picked them up on Lawndale Drive.

When I turned 18 in 1983, we were able to order alcoholic beverages, and I remember sitting at Annabelle's drinking Sangria and watching people skate. (That was a short-lived treat, as the state raised the drinking age to 21.) I spent many weekends as a teenager walking and cruising around the mall and McDonald's, which has managed to survive all these years. I remember East West Gifts, Camelot Music, Electronic America and riding in the glass elevator at Ivey's, which later became Dillard's.

Yes, the mall will always hold special memories for me as well.

Susan Steed
Reidsville

It is an absolute shame that people who depend on safe, comfortable and functional housing have to deal with our city's slumlords, Skip Alston and Bill Agapion. I would address then as mister, but that title has some respect. I know there is a market for this type of housing and these men fill that need, but when a person's safety is an issue, it's time for action by authorities.

Please keep the pressure on these guys, who do not take responsibility and always have an excuse to prolong the situation, if they do anything at all. If they say there are no problems, I challenge them to live in their questionable properties for a week. I can't wait to hear the excuse for sidestepping that one.

Michael B. Zales
Greensboro

There is a huge problem looming in America: the single-issue voter. I know several people who vote for candidates based exclusively on what they say about abortion or gay rights. Hardly any of these well-intentioned folks seem to realize that using that attitude, they could have voted for Hitler or Saddam Hussein.

This is not a statement equating morality-based politicians with the current bywords for human evil. It is a caution. By voting for a politician based exclusively on one issue, you are giving unquestioned support for all other policies she or he will inevitably deal with while in office.

What about trade issues? War? Social Security? The relationship between church and state? There are thousands of other issues, many relating to life and death for millions of people, and they are ignored by voters, all in the name of keeping women from having abortions or keeping homosexual people from getting married to each other.

When the voters develop such tunnel vision, it is almost inevitable that harmful leaders will show up to lead a country to ruin. Voters need to be more vigilant in their civic duties.

Eric Harrington
Greensboro

In 1787, Edward Gibbon completed his book, "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." He listed the causes as follows:

1. The rapid increase of divorce. The family is the basis of human society.

2. Higher taxes for spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the people.

3. The mad craze for pleasure, with sports becoming more exciting and brutal.

4. The building of gigantic armaments, when the real enemy is within.

5. The decay of religion -- faith fading into formalism.

The world today is on an immoral binge such as has not been known since the days of Rome. We are living in a society that seeks pleasure above anything else, and we are seeing human nature expressing itself without God. Many have fallen into an antinominalism in which they believe intellectually but go out and live like the devil, imagining that God will forgive them and take them to heaven.

I believe you have to be obedient to the Bible, and there is a self-denial and a bearing of the cross if you are to be a follower of Christ.

Nick Nicholson
McLeansville

I feel that on the issue of gasoline and the government trying to push hybrid vehicles on the public, why doesn't the government mandate that all state, local and national agencies use hybrid vehicles? This includes all gas-driven vehicles used for mass transportation, company use and law enforcement.

Also, the government could give tax advantages to taxi companies and businesses that switch their vehicles to hybrids. Since these vehicles are on the road more hours per day than the average citizen's vehicle, this would save billions of gallons of gas and lower gas prices for the consumers, which would then in turn help strengthen the economy.

For law enforcement, this would also open up thought processes about how to prevent high-speed pursuits since hybrid vehicles are not performance-oriented, also saving innocent lives taken in out-of-control highway pursuits.

Franklin Nix
Asheboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Martha S. Ward

Like Lonnie Groendes (Counterpoint, Oct. 25), I was disappointed by the Oct. 9 article on economics and education. The association between socioeconomics and school success is documented and well-researched. I agree that poverty is not in and of itself a cause of academic failure and that students from poverty backgrounds can learn.

However, the underlying issue that our country fails to address is poverty and the impact that it has on every aspect of life. Groendes' response revealed an appalling lack of knowledge, empathy and insight into the harsh realities that families living in poverty face each day.

Of course, family and home are central to education, another fact that is well established. But we as a society must own up to the part we play to ensure success for all of our children.

Stories abound about the courage and sacrifice of poor parents who instill the importance of education in their children. These heroic, everyday people work against all odds. How dare Groendes assert that most poor parents do not "care enough" to carefully track school progress, to "have the courage" to discipline, and are "overly indulgent and irresponsible" in supervision? This is the classic blame-the-victim mentality that stifles progress toward solving our national shame of failing to care for all of our citizens.

Have you ever considered, Mr. Groendes, that it might be difficult to carefully track and monitor the daily progress of your children if you are working one or two low-paying jobs and still do not have enough money to feed and clothe your children? Or that perhaps the parents themselves were not successful in school and don't know how to advocate for their children, or are intimidated by the well-educated teachers and administrators? How exhausting it must be to live surrounded by evidence that our society cares so little that we leave so many behind.

Groendes can redeem his holier-than-thou attitude by volunteering to be one of the special individuals who reach out to touch the life of a child not their own.

The community can focus on supporting the educators in the most challenging schools who make a difference in the lives of many children.

We can demand that government acknowledge and act against our shame of being the Western nation with the highest poverty rate among children.

The writer is program evaluation manger, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. She lives in Greensboro.

It has been my great privilege to know and count as a friend The Honorable W. Douglas Albright since his days at Greensboro Senior High School and later at Duke University. Humbly, I submit that the friendship has stood the test of time.

I write after learning of Judge Albright's plans to retire as resident Superior Court judge next year. Even as the judge himself has said, according to Eric Collins' excellent piece on the front page of the Oct. 18 paper, this is "an emotional thing" with me.

As many of your readers will remember, Albright was an outstanding basketball player in his youth. At WBIG I had a cherished opportunity to broadcast many of the games in which he participated, both under Bob Jamieson at Senior High and Vic Bubas at Duke. And I have had occasion to meet with the judge several times in recent years when he held Superior Court in Asheboro.

I could go on to praise Judge Albright's wisdom and character. This is a prince of a man who certainly can claim a monumental place in the history of North Carolina jurisprudence.

I wish him the best as he contemplates retirement.

Add Penfield
Asheboro

In New Orleans a while back, police were given the go-ahead to shoot looters who demonstrated no respect for property in the aftermath of one of the largest natural disasters faced by this country.

During that same period of time, while folks were stunned and trying to get on their feet, oil companies jacked up the price of gas, citing supply and demand, disrupted supply lines, etc., and then went on to have their best quarterly earnings in history. Am I missing something here?

How come the oil folks get to make extra billions of dollars, whack nearly every American consumer and damage a national economy that is, unfortunately, based on oil to transport nearly all of our goods -- especially when we are facing a huge natural disaster? Our answer: Uh, they should use some of the profits to build more refineries. Is that really the best the American system can do?

Sidney Kitchens
Greensboro

When Lewis Libby resigned from the White House (Oct. 28), both President Bush and Vice President Cheney mentioned the many sacrifices he has made on behalf of his country.

Indeed, Libby has been willing to sacrifice much. He was willing to sacrifice the career of a covert CIA operative, as well as potentially expose other covert agents who could be traced back to her. He was willing to sacrifice the reputation of Joseph Wilson by discrediting the messenger and not the message. He was willing to sacrifice our trust in a free press and the principles of integrity, honesty, and respect for others that govern a free society. He was even willing to sacrifice the reputation of the administration he worked for. I find it disturbing that his bosses accepted his resignation with regret and not outrage.

Bush and Cheney must have other sacrifices in mind, but many Americans are left to wonder if there is another sacrifice that Libby has been asked to make. No charges have as yet been made alleging conspiracy. These kinds of charges usually require the cooperation of a conspirator -- a conspirator, for instance, facing 30 years in prison.

Tim Parrish
Greensboro

In his Oct. 16 column [not posted], Giles Lambertson calls upon us ordinary citizens to make sacrifices. My generation, during World War II, endured rationing of sugar, meat, shoes, fuel, etc., willingly. We had ceiling prices in effect, and there wasn't the obscene profiteering among government officials then.

Lambertson should be calling upon those who are benefiting from no-bid contracts, overcharging government with impunity and exacting tax breaks at the same time, to make "sacrifices." Fat chance their sons and daughters will be risking life and limb in disastrous adventures.

At the same time, isn't it strange that so little mention has been made of the sacrifices exacted from the Iraqi people. They have suffered the loss of many lives; many have been maimed and much of their country destroyed through our invasion.

I sincerely hope their sacrifices will not be outweighed by promises for a better life under rule of law. If Lambertson could convince us that this was a necessary war and that the instigators in our midst were not directly benefiting from it, we could and would make sacrifices above and beyond what he is calling for.

Lillian H. Rauch
Greensboro

Look at the face of the young Marine (front page, Oct. 26). There are so many emotions on his face. I see bewilderment, fear, sadness, astonishment, loss and loneliness. Why? A roadside bomb killed 14 Marines, many from his platoon. The number of reported U.S. fatalities in the Iraq war reached 2,000 on Oct. 25.

I would like to ask this Marine, after he's had to watch his comrades fall by the wayside, to express his thoughts on the way the Iraqi “detainees” were treated -- actions that resulted in the most ridiculous miscarriage of military justice of late. While 2,000 of our brave soldiers have been slain, these "detainees" are still alive and would kill again if they had the opportunity. Pardon me if I feel nauseous.

As a veteran of the Vietnam conflict and one who has befriended numerous survivors of WWII, I know the United States of America is in a war. A deadly war where the enemy will do unto you before you do unto them. They should be treated as the deadly enemy they are and not mollycoddled, don't you think?

Just remember the look on that young Marine's face.

C.K. Caldwell
Reidsville

Jacob Silberberg / The Associated Press
Marine Sgt. Dennis Osborne of Cincinnati pauses during operations in Iraq. A roadside bomb killed several soldiers from his platoon.

Recently, I put gas in my car. Recognizing that the unconscionable price of gas now being paid clearly reflects the unchecked greed of corporate management as sanctioned by its board of directors, I muttered as I hung up the pump nozzle and tore off my receipt.

Attached thereto was the printed credit card receipt of the previous customer bearing the name of the buyer for .742 of a gallon, costing $2. I thought, why would anyone buy so little? Seven-tenths of a gallon would hardly fuel my car from the service station to home.

Then it dawned on me. I was given a recordable example of the suffering inflicted upon the financially impacted members of our society by the powers that be.

Why can't the oil companies just reduce their prices instead of reporting record profits?

Exxon/Mobil just reported the highest quarterly earnings in the history of American business.

I have long advocated that all publicly owned companies should have an ombudsman as a member of the board of directors. After all, even labor is represented on the board of directors of General Motors. An ombudsman could advocate the interests of the consumer, the community, and the nation and the small stockholders.

W.F. Rucker
Greensboro

Your Oct. 20 editorial [not posted] regarding the court system deserves a response.

You are correct that the state constitution does not say that criminal cases are more important than civil cases. You fail to note that the judicial system is an equal partner with the executive and legislative branches of government. Notwithstanding this, the North Carolina General Assembly has consistently underfunded the court system and has micromanaged it through a line-item budget that prevents the taking advantage of savings.

Your statement that the system's allocation rose this year is sophistry. The increase was the 2 percent state employee raise for everyone. The judicial system was funded at 2.1 percent of state revenues, a reduction from 2.7 percent. The Wake County School System has a larger budget than the state judicial system. The director of the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Department makes more than the Chief Justice.

Lastly, you hold up Marc Basnight as an example of efficiency based on his leadership of the Senate.

Your staff writers should do an expose of the funding of the judicial branch and win a Pulitzer Prize. There is a lot of meat there.

G.S. Crihfield
Greensboro

When Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., proposed that the Senate go into closed session in hopes of getting a long-promised investigation into the question of prewar intelligence information, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Democrats "have no convictions, no principles and no ideas."

That surely comes as news to my Democratic friends who hold firm convictions and take stands on principles motivated by deeply and sincerely held religious beliefs. The principles for which Democrats have fought over the years include equal treatment for minorities, worker safety, fair wages and decent housing. The common denominator in all these convictions is that all people deserve to be treated as valued human beings.

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said that Sen. Reid was making "some sort of stink about Scooter Libby and the CIA leak." Heaven forbid anyone make any kind of a stink about blowing a deep-cover CIA agent's identity, an action that is so dangerous that it is against the law. Much better to make a stink instead about sexual infidelity because, after all, the war has only cost 2,000 American military service members' lives -- and countless thousands of civilians' lives too.

Beth Woodard
Jamestown

In Trish Bogue's letter (Oct. 28), she says her opposition to the Iraq war is an act of conscience and that we are in this war because -- you guessed it -- "Bush lied." She says those like her are accused of being unpatriotic and unsupportive of our troops.

Actually, we know you guys love our troops, and you love America, it's just that we don't trust you to defend our citizens or our country. Why, because you have shown repeatedly you don't have that internal courage required for the job. Consider John Kerry (review his anti-war testimony regarding our troops in Vietnam), or Howard Dean, your Democratic leader (How would you like him defending our country?).

Or how about anyone else in the Democratic Party. Think any would aggressively protect our country?

I am tired of the statement that "Bush lied." Every investigation regarding this accusation proves that President Bush did not lie, and neither did British or Russian intelligence; all believed the same as our president.

Would the United States be safer, or less safe, with Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people and its resources? How does your conscience answer this?

Bob Goodman
High Point

I was watching CNN on Oct. 31 about the president's choice for the Supreme Court and could not believe what I heard Ted Kennedy saying about honesty and truth.

Here's a coward who used his family's wealth and name to cover up a female friend's death a long time ago. It's amazing this coward has the nerve to continue to deceive everyone around him and speak about truth and honesty.

I pray he repents before the day he meets his Maker for on that day, honesty and truth will prevail.

Jeff Marshall
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Elizabeth Edmonds

In her article, "In Summerfield, old, new sit at crossroads" (Oct. 30), Terrina Picarello refers to the newcomers in our community as "young whippersnappers." Well, I'd like to ask the young whippersnappers, including Picarello, this question: Why do you young whippersnappers move into "charming" communities like Summerfield to get away from hectic city life and then proceed to drag business and development into the charming community until it looks just like the place you left?

Summerfield was progressing just fine, and if folks needed to grab a sandwich or a cup of coffee, there were a couple of local places that more than met that need. The feed mill had everything you needed for your garden, lawn and pets, and if not, they could order it. It was, and probably still is, the best place to hang out with friends and discuss everything from the weather to local politics to world events.

The nine new subdivisions you have brought, in addition to the ones on the drawing board, have given us big government on a local scale. Your need, not ours, for the amenities you left behind has compelled our town council to approve every development that comes before them and invite businesses in to increase the tax base to provide these amenities. Now the taxes we incorporated to avoid have gone up, our scenic vistas are disappearing as we come under siege by developers, our wildlife is forced out and Summerfield no longer remotely resembles the charming community we all remember.

Water was never a problem before you came, but now you've made it a problem by pushing for more services and amenities. If a good cup of coffee is what you want, then go to your tap and draw a little pure well water while you still can and brew a pot the way all these "core" citizens have done for many years.

And finally, there was no conflict between charm and progress before you arrived. We were a quiet, little rural community progressing at a reasonable pace. So, to paraphrase an old bumper sticker, "Keep Summerfield rural. Buy a young whippersnapper a cup of coffee and a tank of gas back to Greensboro."

The writer lives in Summerfield.

I read with interest the story about all the charities going broke.

My 49-year old son-in-law had open heart surgery. Social Security hasn't come across with a penny. It has been six months. They have two sick children and don't know month to month if they will make the rent.

They were receiving $250 a month from Social Services until this month -- by the way, you try living on that. My daughter was told they couldn't give her any more money. She asked them what was she going to do? They told her to go beg at some of the area churches. Good answer.

It's nice to help other countries that say send only cash, but what about our poor, our hungry and the elderly?

I know for over 30 years I have given generously to charities, but now those agencies can stop sending me envelopes. I retired this year, but I will go back to work to help my daughter and her family.

I bet there are a lot of people that feel like I do. Disgusted.

Louise Schultz
Franklinville

It wasn't that long ago when America was a beacon of light to the rest of the world, and people knew that this country stood for decency and honesty. This administration has changed all that with the help of good Christians who were willing to give up the main tenets of their faith to get Bush elected. Thou shalt not lie; thou shalt not kill, and thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor were less important than voting for people who knew what words to say to get the sheep to follow.

As Americans, we all are suffering from the lies, the killing, and the false witness that this administration has done. But to me, the bigger shame is on those who knew what these people were all about but still voted them in, and set aside the teachings of their religion and their God. To their credit, some have regretted their folly; but others still believe our president to be a good Christian man. Good Christian men do not lie, they do not kill, and they do not bear false witness.

Fred Riek
Jamestown

For 10 years, the Community Theatre of Greensboro has thrilled Triad audiences with its live stage production of "The Wizard of Oz." Nov. 11 through 20 promises more of the same.

This truly exceptional arts event holds such a special place in our community. Year after year, I am always blown away by the dedication of the cast and crew as well as the excitement and loyalty of our audiences.

CTG and the production of "Wizard" create so many unique and special opportunities -- families working together, young people sharing their talents, students exposed to their first theatre experience. To see the beautiful Carolina Theatre filled to capacity with an emotionally charged audience is the best gift a community can give a local arts organization.

"Wizard" stands as the perfect example of how the arts can strengthen a community. I sincerely thank all of those who have contributed to and supported this production over the years, and I offer a heartfelt invitation to everyone in our community to share the joy and join us for this classic piece of Americana and Triad history.

Robert Ankrom
Greensboro

The writer is director of marketing, Community Theatre of Greensboro.

How did this happen? Why a monopoly that excludes doctors? Who benefits from this procedure? How is it possible that doctors are not provided their orders for the flu vaccine?

Everyone is urged to get a flu shot, especially those in the "at risk" group, but that is the group least able to go from one pharmacy or grocery to another to get a shot. And those fortunate to arrive at or before the announced time are told that numbers have been given out and there is no vaccine left.

Why do people have to hunt for vaccine when the logical providers, their doctors, are kept out of the loop? Where is the local health department? Where is the local medical association? Where are our elected officials?

And, where is the media? Surely this a problem that they should be investigating. This whole thing just doesn't smell right.

Betty W. Mooney
Greensboro

One of my memories of growing up in Greensboro takes place at the Jefferson Roof Restaurant in 1944. I was 17, waiting to go into the Navy and a stock boy at Meyer's Department Store.

A co-worker gave me a going-away dinner complete with the classic "Dopp kit" (a shaving kit). You could see the entire city and at that time in my life, it was a great sight. We were greeted by a smiling gentleman with white gloves, guiding us to the next available elevator.

I was able to dine there again quite some time later. There will always be a "Jefferson Building" in our city.

Bernard Shepherd
Graham

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Terry Westry

I am writing in response to recent media coverage regarding Gov. Mike Easley's decision to give North Carolina teachers an additional $75 a month pay increase with the hopes to increase teacher pay to the national average by 2008-2009. What about the remaining 90,000 state employees?

I understand the criticality of hiring and retaining teachers, but as an 11-year state employee who has received little or no pay raise for the past five years, I feel the governor is playing political favorites.

During the last legislative session, the governor threatened to not sign the budget because it contained a $150 (a year) bonus for state employees. The money was there, but he chose to sign a budget that appropriated money for a teacup museum and other legislative projects instead of taking care of the employees that keep North Carolina clean, safe and running every day.

As a computing consultant, I am responsible for capital projects and the day-to-day voice operations at a local university. Without this valuable service, my agency could not effectively operate in today's business environment. Economically, this would diminish the number of qualified individuals to fill critical jobs in industries throughout the state.

Has Gov. Easley forgotten his state employee roots? The important question is, will Gov. Easley do the right thing and raise state employee salaries to the national average (or at least market rate) before he leaves office?

State employees play a vital role in maintaining the welfare of all North Carolinians.

The writer is the Bylaws Chair of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, District 17, which represents Guilford County.

Regarding the article, "Kiser suspension rate rises": I am a teacher of 29 years, and, yes, I fully understand the need for discipline in the classroom. This wonderful idea of Adequate Yearly Progress certainly sounds like the answer to all of education's problems. One must realize, however, that someone has to pick up the pieces. In this case Kiser Middle became the "lucky" one.

With the good so comes the not-so-good. We all have a common goal, to do our best to educate our future generation. With this in mind, we need classroom control and parental support to achieve success. I fully believe Principal Dot Harper has the ship headed in the right direction.

As an educator, I applaud her efforts to hold students accountable for the choices they make and to create an environment that allows teachers and students to focus on education.

Harvey W. Barbee
High Point

The rules of the Geneva Convention are as close as our very diverse world community has ever come to agreeing on a standard of decency. These rules may be as close as we'll ever come. Think about it: wildly differing religions, systems of government, social structures, yet we were all so horrified at the way people were treated during World War II that we managed to agree on these basic rules.

Recently, to try and reassure the world that we have not abandoned the principles of the Geneva Convention, a distinguished Republican, Sen. John McCain, proposed a bill banning the use of torture on prisoners in wartime. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill. President Bush was reportedly furious, and has now threatened to veto the bill. The Bush administration is demanding exemption from the world's system of rules -- demanding the right to torture people as they see fit.

Apart from how morally shocked Americans should be, can you imagine what will happen to our servicemen and women abroad who are taken prisoner if the United States has openly championed the use of torture?

Wake up, America, before the damage to our country is too great.

Jeff McEntire
Kernersville

I'd like to thank N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and the General Assembly for creating the global warming study commission. Now that we've taken the first major step, we need to keep trudging forward and get this commission to start working against global warming and people who don't see it as a credible issue.

Global warming is an increasingly popular cause these days, and we need a board that will carry out the people's concern. It would be great for the commission to set a goal, such as cutting global warming by 10 percent by the year 2020. Other things the commission could work on: a renewable energy standard, requiring a certain percentage of the state's energy come from sources such as wind, solar and clean, farm-based biomass, and that a certain percentage of energy be reduced through conservation; clean cars standards, requiring that cars produce less carbon dioxide emissions; and better public transportation in our cities.

Please help to ease our minds. If these things aren't addressed soon, it may be too late.

Katherine Pollok
Greensboro

Notwithstanding the whining and crying from the weak, timid and pessimistic side of the aisle, the words of President Kennedy in his Jan. 20, 1961, Inaugural Address are as relevant today as when they were first spoken. Let them be a Veterans' Day message in memory of those to whom we are so greatly indebted. President Kennedy said:

"Let the word go forth ... that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, ... at home and around the world.

"Let every nation know ... that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

"This much we pledge and more. ... Each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call toservice surround the globe. Now the trumpet summons us again."

Stephen P. Millikin
Greensboro

The horrific events that left five people dead on Nov. 3, 1979, will always leave a scar on Greensboro's reputation. All individuals that committed a crime on that terrible day deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

With that said, I resent members of the panel insinuating that the Ku Klux Klan represents a right-wing (read conservative) shift in the American population's psyche. Equating the Ku Klux Klan with conservative ideas is the equivalent of labeling liberal Democratic ideology communist. The Ku Klux Klan and Communists are completely outside of the mainstream of American life.

Further, suggesting that these events are somehow related to the loss of American hegemony in the world reeks of economic determinism.

Let us allow the events of Nov. 3, 1979, represent what they are were -- a sad event in the history of Greensboro. A communist spin on these events must be challenged in the agora -- even if they are accepted as gospel on the university campus.

James B. LaMuraglia
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Robert Hudson

Eugene Robinson, in a recent column (Oct. 26, registration required), assails the politics of Condoleeza Rice. He can't understand why she doesn't carry the same bitterness which he so obviously carries. He didn't say it that way, but the message comes through loud and clear. Why is Rice so loyal to George Bush? he wonders. In other words, why is she a conservative? After all, 98 percent of blacks disagree with Bush.

Nearly 70 percent of black babies are illegitimate; does that compel Rice to have her own illegitimate child? Robinson's logic doesn't seem logical to me at all. Just because the majority is doing something doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do.

Rice, whom I admire greatly, lives her life as she sees fit, not as others do. Just looking around, I'd say that she is the one who got it right.
Just look where it got her.

How things have changed since the days of Bull Connor. Black children today do not need shelter from the Klan, but they do need to be sheltered from some other blacks. I'm referring to those blacks who have traded the slavery of the plantation for the slavery of the welfare state. Just how free are you if you depend on the government for all of your needs? I'm referring to those whose idea of a family is a single mother with three children by three different fathers, who disdain education and achievement while glorifying drugs, violence and easy money. Fortunately, that group is a minority within a minority, but they are too often the most visible, and their numbers grow greater by the day.

Rice was raised in a loving, two-parent family, and both of her parents demanded her best from the beginning. She got an education, got a job, avoided drugs and trouble with the law . It is, by and large, conservatives who preach this lifestyle as the most likely road to success. If one follows her example, success is the most likely outcome, regardless of skin color. Hence, color is nothing.

Those who sit back and blame other people or circumstances for their failure will probably never accomplish anything worthwhile, regardless of their skin color.

The writer lives in Pelham.

Your article Oct. 26 on gang activity in Guilford County Schools stated that the school board last year rejected a proposal to start a crime prevention program in five middle schools. That's due to school board member Deena Hayes playing the race card like she is now. It shouldn't matter which race or school is involved; get a handle now or the problem will be a lot worse in the future.

It's an embarrassment that the school board can't or won't foresee the severity of what is coming if nothing is done.

Superintendent Terry Grier stated that some of your biggest drug use is at our most affluent schools. If he's taking that route, which schools have the most violence, teacher abuse, and out-of-control parents who come to the front office screaming and cussing?

The point is, all schools need a plan.

Parents, the school system is not responsible for raising your children. Bring back discipline at school and home. These kids have no fear of consequences because there are none. In-school suspension is nothing to them.

Oh, and Deena, get over yourself and actually do something for the good of all schools.

Tammie Reynolds
Greensboro

As Americans, we sometimes act as if worst-case scenarios don't apply to us. Witness our unpreparedness in New Orleans. This denial explains the current mania to revive nuclear power. The recent Energy Bill gives up to $2 billion to the first new nuclear plants. Progress Energy and Duke Power are going after it.

Nuclear plant construction halted in 1974 for good reasons: cancer-causing radiation releases, threats of meltdowns, costs and nowhere to store the radioactive waste for 250 million years.

Why are we now ignoring nuclear power's risks and costs when energy efficiency is a much better deal and solution to global warming? Rocky Mountain Institute research shows that energy efficiency -- insulation and efficient appliances -- is seven times more cost-effective than building nuclear plants.

Minor changes in the average home could save $200 a year and cut 3,600 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Solar power is a huge energy source, but with nuclear plants getting 30 times the subsidies, it, too, is ignored.

We have a choice: Apply technology that reduces energy demands, costs and emissions or watch the federal government, lobbied into denial, give billions to the inefficiencies and risks of nuclear.

Anne Cassebaum
Elon

I do a fair amount of driving and so keep up with gas prices to find good deals. How can Reidsville have regular gas priced at $2.10 while the same gas is priced between $2.40-2.45 in eastern Greensboro (take a drive down Wendover/Burlington Road)? Is this price gouging or is it due to competitive factors?

W.B. Wickliffe
Greensboro

I'm angry. I'm looking through my husband's copy of the Marine Corps Times thinking, why must I pick up a publication most Americans don't know about, much less ever read, to get positive, uplifting information about how our troops are helping people and their countries all over the world.

Articles like these authenticate the intelligence, strength, heart, loyalty and success of our military. Yet it's the criticism that's heard most often. And they hear it too. Talk about job stress.

So is this the media's fault or our own? Both. We're all too quick to criticize and judge, especially when we aren't privy to all the facts. And good or bad, pleasant or not, no soul has ever come and gone in vain. No one.

So when we visited the family of young Marine Andrew Russoli, killed in Iraq recently, my husband and I, who have heard many positive stories first-hand, offered the comfort that Andrew, with his gallant efforts and dedication to his job, his country and his Iraqi comrades, was and is part of God's master plan. And no matter the context, his was a life lived, a "part" played to perfection.

Paige Woodward
Greensboro

As a lifelong Republican, entrepreneur and risk-taker, I've always realized that life is just a gamble in which some days we're the pigeon and some days we're the statue.

Well, watch out Republican politicians, because you have achieved what the Democrats couldn't do themselves. I predict the next election will make the Republican party the statue. You have done it to yourselves, starting at the top (i.e., George W. Bush) on down.

The list of miscalculations, self-indulgent political ideology and failure to grasp the real important issues of the common American is too long to include in this short letter.

It's not needed anyway, because most of us already know. It's just a pity you don't. You've already lost.

Now may be your golden opportunity, Hillary. Good-bye, Republicans, and good night.

Neal E. Hall
Reidsville

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Tim Goetz

"If you're a single mom working two jobs with two kids, picking up and going to the children's museum could be a big hit on your budget," says Gillespie Park Principal Darcy Kemp in the article, "Dollars and Sense," (News & Record, Oct. 9).

There are many opportunities for families at all economic levels to enjoy the Greensboro Children's Museum. The following are some examples where the museum strives to be an integral part of every child's life, regardless of economic status.

On Friday nights the museum offers "Family Fun Friday," from 5 to 8 p.m., discount admission is $2 for everyone. Each Sunday, admission is also only $2 from 1 to 5 p.m.

On Sept. 11, the museum hosted its first Grandparents Day. Free admission included prizes, souvenirs, games and activities for everyone.

On Aug. 13, the museum held its first Kindergarten Countdown Celebration, a free event for rising kindergarten students in Guilford County. The museum and generous sponsors provided dinner, school supplies and activities. More than 15 exhibitors such as Safe Guilford, kindergarten teachers and more, all helped prepare parents and students for the first day of kindergarten.

In the summer of 2004, the museum hosted neighborhood nights every Thursday evening and, again, admission was free. The museum has a solid track record of helping people in the Triad through monetary or in-kind donations.

In the fall of 2004, our Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive netted more than 3,000 pounds of peanut butter and jelly for donation to Urban Ministry Food Bank.

Monthly, the museum receives requests for free passes to be given to schools, church groups and service organizations. Passes are always willingly given. Scholarship funds are available for family memberships, programs, camps and field trips. Opportunities to volunteer also are available.

The museum is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation. Assistance from our donors, event sponsors, guild members, volunteer board of trustees, and the museum members allow us to maintain excellent interactive exhibits, superior programming, camps and activities that continually offer enrichment to the community and frequent visitors.

Your support of the museum with time and financial gifts also sustain outreach endeavors and scholarship opportunities. You make this possible.

The Greensboro Children's Museum is one place families can come and get maximum bang for their buck. Visit the museum, "where play is a smart adventure" and you'll be convinced the Greensboro Children's Museum is far from price-prohibitive.

The writer is executive director, Greensboro Children's Museum.

I heartily agree with Franklin Nix (letter, Nov. 7), who feels billions of dollars could be saved if state and federal vehicles were hybrids. Gas consumption by these vehicles is amazingly low. I know; I own a Prius and I fill my gas tank just once a month.

When I purchased my Prius, I paid no excise tax (in Massachusetts) and I will get a deduction on my income tax for this year when I file. They are not only economical to run but they are easier on the environment.

However, Nix's statement that "hybrid vehicles are not performance-oriented" is totally wrong. Perhaps he doesn't own a hybrid or he's heard they don't have good pickup. My Prius moves out after a light turns green way ahead of the pack and I don't gun it. I even have trouble keeping it under the speed limit because of its power.

Those of you looking to purchase a hybrid, be informed: They are wonderfully comfortable and excellent-performing vehicles. Go for it.

Diane Brownlie
Greensboro

Some people are now more equal before the law then other people. The Department of Labor was strongly criticized Nov. 1 by its own internal inspector general for granting Wal-Mart special privilege in future investigations of child labor violations.

In January, Wal-Mart entered into an agreement with the Department of Labor to settle 85 complaints of child labor law violations. These violations were pending in Wal-Mart stores located in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Arkansas.

It was alleged that Wal-Mart was allowing underage children to operate dangerous machinery. Wal-Mart denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay a fine of $135,540 to the government.

Now comes the outrageous part. The Labor Department, as part of this settlement, has agreed to give Wal-Mart 10 days advance notice before it investigates any future allegations of labor law violations against Wal-Mart.

I find this frightening because the present Department of Labor doesn't see anything wrong with this policy.

James G. Boyett
Whitsett

Get off Wal-Mart's case. Its pricing is legitimate; the constant pricing of merchandise by most others at a "percentage off" is a boldfaced lie in almost every case, inasmuch as the "price it is off of" is a fictitious "manufacturer's suggested retail price" -- if indeed this exists in many stores.

In 1978, the company I was with printed 52 different "manufacturer's suggested retail price" lists for retailers around the country. It's amazing what consumers believe even after being conned for all these years.

Wal-Mart may be tight-fisted with its employees, but that's done to keep prices down.

Gail Chambliss Hersh
Greensboro

What a sad state of affairs we have in Greensboro. Supposed Christian leaders are joining with Muslims for prayer and fasting during Islam's holy month of Ramadan.

In other parts of the world, Christians are being persecuted and killed by followers of the Quran (Islam's holy book).

Please, someone inform the Christians that the Quran emphatically states that Allah (their god) "does not have a son." Thus, we do not have the same God. For Christians know God's son is Jesus Christ and, as He said, because of His death and resurrection He is the only way to God and heaven.

Both religions cannot be right. Would not it be more loving and kind to point them clearly and directly to Jesus rather than watering down Christianity and with it their testimony? To do otherwise is indeed "to check my Christianity at the door."

As has been said before, "Christian, change your ways or change your name."

Gary Marschall
Greensboro

In 1971, I was teaching at a local school. Another teacher and I shared the planning room. One day I noticed that the teacher had feathers in her hair, and hair on her clothes. She admitted that she had a parrot and a monkey. She talked about them with much affection. In fact, it was the parrot by which she seemed most taken.

The next day, I became feverish, dizzy and weak. With much effort, I went to Dr. George Evans, then my family physician. He examined me and gave me his diagnosis: parrot fever or psittacosis (a rare, but not uncommon, dangerous virus). He gave me a prescription, told me to go home and quarantine myself (no children, no husband), drink orange juice for seven days, take the medication, and stay in bed.

Bird virus? Bird flu? Parrot fever? Are they the same, or not?

If Dr. Evans knew what to do in the 1970s, why then can't those responsible today secure us from a pandemic? Thank you, Dr. Evans, for saving my life.

Davetta Florance-Bristow
Greensboro

Editor's note: Psittacosis, or parrot disease, causes mild, flu-like symptoms and is transmitted from infected birds to humans. The new strain of bird flu, called H5N1, has killed at least 60 people in Asia.

I'd like to give a citizen's perspective about the article, "Local blogger likes to stir up trouble" (Nov. 7). The article cited Ben Holder as someone who wants credit for the work he has put into making Greensboro a safer and better place to live.

The questions that kept plaguing me while reading this article were: What's so bad about wanting praise for closing the massage parlors, banning the sale of crack pipes and keeping on the heels of inspectors for St. James Homes, as Holder is getting no money for his efforts; and, why do the people who get paid to do these things seem to criticize him the most?

I applaud Holder for his efforts. I think the people of the community should donate money to keep him working on our behalf.

Andrea Langley
Greensboro

Your article, "A dizzying decision" (Nov. 4), on the rising cost of health care insurance failed to mention another key factor in rising costs: insurance profiteering. The purpose of an insurance company is to make money for its shareholders, and these companies will push the market for all it is worth.

As fewer and fewer health care insurers remain large enough to compete in the market, premiums will continue to increase to maintain the double-digit annual earnings growth that the shareholders have come to expect. Medical costs are certainly a factor, but they are not the only cause of the rising price of health coverage.

John Wrenn
Greensboro

Why would Ken Sawyer (letter, Nov. 1) believe that the "liberal" media find the high death count in Iraq something to rejoice about? Who, pray tell, rejoices over the number of our military deaths anywhere, Iraq or Afghanistan or any other place? Who indeed was "shooting for" a total of 2,000 killed, as he claims?

Each death in Iraq brings us all great grief. We must mourn not only the more than 2,000 U.S. military deaths, but also the civilian deaths of those working for our government, and the possibly 35,000 Iraqi deaths that have occurred since the military intervention began. Adding to this the number of wounded on both sides reveals the overwhelming pain of the human costs of this war.

These are all unnecessary deaths and injuries. They must be laid at the doorstep of this administration, which by counterfeit claims convinced the American public of the need to go to war.

The hopeful news is that the Truth Camel now has its investigative nose in the tent of the Bush administration, and the American public will know the painful story of how we got into a costly and unnecessary conflict. What immeasurable grief.

Jean Rodenbough
Greensboro

I'd like to say some words in praise of the Choral Society of Greensboro, whose members were privileged to sing Mozart's beautiful "Mass in C Minor" Nov. 5. As much as I enjoy the splendid concerts of the various professional groups in our town, there is yet something very special about the Choral Society. We are a volunteer choir of about 130 members with no auditions required. We come from all parts of the city, and we are of different ages and experiences, and we probably cover the spectrum in our political beliefs.

To perform a work as profound and complex as the Mozart challenged everyone involved. Our gifted director, Bill Young, was untiring in his efforts, and we followed him with the confidence he inspired. Diverse as we may be as individuals, we joined together in a spirit of unity, cohesiveness and great joy to learn and perform the mass. At a time when people seem to seek out conflict and highlight differences, it is indeed gratifying to belong to this community-sponsored organization that succeeds, through music, in bringing us together.

Marnie Ross
Greensboro

The solution for the "School bus tire repairs questioned" (Nov. 6) is actually very simple. Hire a state inspector to be placed at the facility performing the work. Just based on what Guilford and Forsyth schools feel they are overpaying for the "spot" charge, I feel that the state could afford to hire someone with the right credentials, with a starting annual salary of $50,000, and the state would save money and still provide the safety for our schoolchildren. Isn't this the best of both worlds?

Thomas Zales
Greensboro

I see my favorite paper is regurgitating that "pap" offered by the Jefferson-Pilot (mis)management. Perhaps that is the only way they are willing to talk to you.

I am surprised you published the true fate that will befall our community and JP as cited by Edward De Launey of Roanoke, Va. (letter, Oct. 19). Herewith is his synopsis of our predicted fate:

"Over time, jobs not only disappear but they are consolidated in other regions. The purpose of any merger is to cut costs (jobs) and improve the stock of the new company. In the meantime, the CEOs of the new company receive the dividends. It is called 21st century greed. The downside is Greensboro loses the most. The private sector must now make up contributions for charity and arts organizations. There is no positive news in this merger for the Triad."

Are there any other founder shareholders opposed to JP's execution? If so, let us hear from you.

Charles W. Harden
Greensboro

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a unique national treasure that should be preserved for future generations.

Brian Boyer
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Mary H. Griffin

America, I love you. I love you for all that you do to bring your people together. As I stood in front of the nation's Capitol Oct. 29, seeing the long winding lines of citizens of all ages waiting anxiously for a glance at our beloved Rosa Parks' casket, I was on an emotional high like none I have ever experienced.

I salute the political system of this country. Working together, the nation's politicians made it possible for citizens to have an opportunity to physically witness a legendary woman of the 21st century. Every state in the union should join me in giving gratitude to our politicians for reaffirming the integrity of the political system in America.

I also salute Congressman John Conyers from Detroit, who took the initiative in spearheading such an awesome move. This action showed the world that respect, honor and appreciation transcend race and gender.

The turmoil and strife this nation experiences and which have held this country captive were put on hold to honor this icon, Rosa Parks. A concluding chapter will need to be added to all history books on her life and times. History will reflect that our beloved Rosa will again take first place as the first female citizen to rest in the rotunda of our Capitol. Her body, viewed by the world, was a testament to this country. She received an honor only afforded to high-ranking officials of this nation. God has blessed America again.

In less than 24 hours, the government in Washington, working with the nation's political leaders, was able to extend the hours of operation for public transportation, which allowed more people to pay their respects to Rosa Parks.

God bless all for showing the world that we can work together. America is organized, and America recognizes her duty to give honor to whom honor is deserved.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I am a student at Greensboro College. I like to go out to eat with my friends on the weekends. Unfortunately, most of the places we love going are very smoky. We tough it out sometimes so we can be where the action is, but most of the time I just can't take the smoke.

But there is good news. I found a place that is smoke free, has great food and is a great place to hang out with my friends. Elizabeth's Pizza is one of many smoke-free restaurants in Greensboro. I don't want to sound like a commercial, but you can't imagine how great it was eating good food without someone's lung exhaust looming around me. I just wish more places would start going smoke free, especially places college students like to hang out. Most "college" bars, or even bars that target a younger crowd, are so smoky that I can only spend about 30 minutes in them.

I am not begging, I am not pleading. But I am asking the restaurant owners of Greensboro to at least give it a try. I bet the owners would even like the smoke-free atmosphere.

Vicky Schrock
Jamestown

In recent years, it has been easy to become confused with American policies. Our leader and chief representative has often been accurately quoted in the press, which is never a good idea. After all, he's just trying "to put food on our families."

Therefore, we should be greatly reassured that our White House CEO pronounced last week that "we do not torture." (Abu Ghraib, Bagram and Guantanamo Bay notwithstanding). This is reminiscent of other Oval Office encyclicals:

Your Nov. 3 article about the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew David Russoli and two other Marines is indeed a fitting tribute to their devotion but raises questions about their training. Lance Cpl. Russoli was a "regular" on his second tour of duty in Iraq; were not such attacks fairly common?

The three Marines were investigating the report of a bomb in an open field. As their vehicle approached, the bomb was detonated by insurgents, killing all three. If the item were a suspected bomb, why not shoot at it from a safe distance with high explosive or white phosphorous rifle grenades, or even a 20 mm cannon?

These deaths in a necessary assault on a fortified objective might have been "justifiable." I see no good reason for sending people to die as these men did.

Martin P. Cornelius Jr.
Greensboro

An article in the Nov. 5 edition of the News & Record mentioned a dinner hosted by Martha Stewart while she was at the High Point furniture market in October. For the record, those Opaltinis and the Homemade Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding that were served, along with other mouth-watering delicacies, were all prepared and served by Catering by Ellyn, a local catering firm.

Each exquisite detail required by Martha Stewart was flawlessly executed by Ellyn's staff, led by Jessica Wallace, the firm's star event planner. Weeks of intense planning and preparation culminated in an affair that equaled anything that could have been produced in any big city.

When we think of what makes the furniture market a success, we tend to forget the people behind the scenes who make everything look good for the stars and dignitaries who attend. We just think a little salute should be given to Catering by Ellyn for its part in a news-making event. That would be a good thing.

Jeri Campbell
High Point

Regarding the letter, "Liberal media gleeful about 2,000th death" (Nov. 1):

I don't think anyone would be gleeful over any American being killed in war. As I recall in World War II, deaths were always in the newspapers. I had a brother who fought for our freedom in that war. I also remember that a young man who lived close to us was killed in Germany.

World War II started after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and killed hundreds of Americans. Some are still entombed in the sunken ships.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt had no choice but to defend the United States. I don't recall Iraq attacking us. I think most American people now know who the "dumb" are.

John C. Doss
Madison

Well, well. By 2011, I guess we won't be having elections in Greensboro anymore if current trends continue. In 2003, 17 percent of registered voters turned out for the "nonpartisan" election; this year 12 percent. By 2011, no one will vote. Nonpartisan elections do not serve the public interest.

Just a question to the News & Record: What party do the winners in this nonpartisan election belong to? The answer may be revealing.

Marcus Kindley
Gibsonville

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Steve Joyner

As a citizen of North Carolina and mayor of Roxboro, I am concerned about the methods used to improve our transportation infrastructure.

As expressed by county and municipal officials year after year, the results of the Transportation Improvement Program fail to adequately meet the needs of our citizens. We must change the process in order to meet the needs of our urban areas and to help spur economic development in our rural communities.

While the underlying problem is a failure to allocate enough money to meet our transportation infrastructure needs, we can and should make improvements to the process. To wit, I offer the following suggestions:

1. We need to rethink the geography of our DOT divisions, taking into account the nature of the areas included in each division and their membership in the various Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Rural Planning Organizations. Here in rural Person County we are grouped with the very urban counties of Wake and Durham. As a result, we fail to receive funds for our road projects because of the obvious needs of our larger partners.

2. We need to rethink the so-called equity formula used to determine transportation funding. In addition to need, the formula should also take into account gas tax contributions from each county, population and economic development priorities.

3. Urban counties like Meck­lenburg, Wake, Durham, Guilford and Forsyth should be allowed to impose local option gas taxes to fund new road construction, thus giving local officials the ability to respond to their constituents and meet their own transportation needs.

I call on the governor and the General Assembly to work with the state's counties and municipalities to change the way our state's transportation infrastructure is funded, and to ensure we develop methods for allocating resources that are fair to urban and rural citizens alike.

Greensboro is a big city with a not-so-big jail. Whatever your views on crime and punishment are, there is no getting around the inevitable: We have to build a bigger jail.

Let's face it, the crime rate is not getting any better, criminals are getting meaner, and our watered-down criminal-justice system is no real deterrent to crime. It just doesn't make any sense to keep trying to find more creative ways of releasing criminals back into our communities.

Due to prolonged overcrowding in our jails, judges are already pressured to release more prisoners than normal. I'm sure the prisoners just love all this talk about releasing nonviolent criminals to free up more space in our jails. As long as they don't shoot anybody, car thieves, drug dealers and every other two-bit criminal won't have to worry about spending any real time behind bars.

They get to stay in our communities and prey on us longer.

Jack Johnson
Gibsonville

With the situation in France as plain evidence, if there is still anyone out there who does not understand that massive immigration without assimilation has a serious downside, they need to press 1 for English. After that, they should thoughtfully consider whether they are for or against the Bush administration's new initiative to further merge our country (a la the European Union) with Canada and Mexico.

This new initiative, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) was launched on March 23. It already has a Web site to tell us what our money is being spent on: www.spp.gov.

Jim Capo
Greensboro

In his nightly poll on Nov. 8, CNN commentator Lou Dobbs asked his viewers whether they would support a third party. An astounding 87 percent answered yes.

The last serious third-party presidential candidate, Alabama Gov. George Wallace, aptly stated nearly 40 years ago that there was not a dime's worth of difference between the two major parties. That's still true today. Both parties embrace a socialistic, cradle-to-grave federal system, controlling every aspect of society, with unlimited spending and ever-increasing, astronomical national debt. Both parties supported the unjustified, imperialist war in Iraq, and neither will lift a finger to protect our own borders against illegal immigration and drug traffic.

It is very difficult for a third or fourth party to compete, since the major parties are funded and controlled by corporate and special-interest money. It would be interesting if all campaign contributions went into a common fund to be allocated equally to all qualifying parties. Then perhaps North Carolina's Libertarians and South Carolina's Constitution parties, and others, might be able to compete and change this nation's dismal future.

We certainly need more options than we now have.

William K. Oden Jr.
Greensboro

Last month, I was loading groceries into my van when a man reached in beside me and grabbed my pocketbook. As I ran after him and he hopped into a waiting car, I grabbed hold of the door frame and held on. After being dragged along for several feet, I realized that they weren't going to stop so, reluctantly, I let go.

So there I was, bruised and bumped, scraped and sprained, angry, frustrated and overwhelmed. But the real reason I am writing is to praise the Greensboro Police Department. Everyone who worked with me -- from the first officer on the scene, J.E. Morris, to Sgt. Gerald Stephens to Detective V.A. Whitley -- was absolutely wonderful. Kind, compassionate, comforting, empathetic and professional, they showed that they cared abut me and kept me informed of all developments. Best of all, the couple was caught a few days later and confessed.

I just cannot say enough good things about how my situation was handled, and, though I have always had the utmost respect for police officers, now my personal opinion of them could not be higher.

Caren H. McPherson
Greensboro

On Nov. 8, Greensboro voters had the opportunity to elect leaders who would put the public interest in enhanced quality of life and a livable community ahead of private profits. Instead we chose to keep City Hall largely in the hands of the developer and real estate lobbies, ensuring the continuance of unhealthy and unsustainable urban sprawl.

We could have chosen leaders who would focus on enhancing the qualities of our city that lead to the retention of entrepreneurs and healthy local businesses, but we chose to continue to rely on the Wal-Marts and FedExes of the world to provide us with low-wage jobs and take the profits out of our community.

This is not a personal attack on current council members, who are honorable people with good intentions. But we should remember where the road paved with good intentions leads when not backed by good actions. It's now up to all of us to stay in touch with those we elected on Tuesday and make sure that they help create the kind of city we want to live and work in. Urban sprawl makes us all worse off.

Keep telling the council: We want a healthy, livable city for all.

Malcolm Kenton
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Mary C. Cridlebaugh

Your editorial on the successful candidacy of High Point's Michael Pugh (Nov. 9, not posted) was welcome. However, while noting his concern about the public expenses caused by the city's annexing in Davidson County to allow more housing developments there, you say that it is a key issue because High Point must grow into surrounding counties.

I beg to differ. High Point already has sprawled from Greensboro to Colfax, Horneytown, Jamestown, Archdale and Thomasville.

It is time for High Point and the News & Record to ponder the merits of quality over quantity.

Let's consider the quality of public schools in High Point. Much flight from High Point into Davidson County has been fueled by the perception that many of the schools in the city are not desirable or safe. Davidson County Schools are providing a quality education for many children who actually live within High Point's city limits. With each annexation into Davidson County, the number of these sudden arrivals increases. Homeowners are paying Davidson County property taxes, but because of the low valuation of the new homes, the tax revenue received often is less than the educational costs per child per year. Thus, residents of Lexington, Thomasville, Denton and other parts of the county are subsidizing the education of these High Point students. Just last week, Davidson County citizens passed a bond referendum for additional classrooms. Fair is fair, and this isn't it.

It's past time that the city took some responsibility for the education of children, whether they reside in Guilford or Davidson. It is a cop-out to claim that nothing can be done because High Point no longer has its own school system.

High Point should levy a unique educational tax to improve public schools that serve High Point residents. This would mean figuring out the percentage of High Point residents attending Davidson County schools and forking over that percentage to the Davidson County Board of Education. If special legislation is needed to implement such a program, then hurry to Raleigh.

By making internal improvements, High Point can become a world-class city without sprawling into neighboring counties. Size does not equal quality.

The writer lives in High Point.

As Kris Patel wrote, "Attitudes, not wealth, yield success" (Counterpoint, Nov. 4). A positive attitude will not help us do everything; it will help us do everything better. I also grew up in an economically disadvantaged family. However, we were rich in love, fun, honesty and hard work (which builds character).

Research indicates that people with a positive attitude have a greater chance of a longer life and, I believe, also a more fulfilling life. "Our attitude determines our altitude" (unknown).

Patel's statement, "… high expectations are the key to later success," is valid. Research supports the fact that expectations can be a self-fulling prophecy. It tells about a group of people who met one New Year's Eve, wrote their expectations for that year and brought them back the next year. One who had written about dying had died. Also, the research includes the story of an educator who gave an I.Q. test to a group of students, randomly selected some of their names, told the teacher they would be expected to excel, and they did.

In my role as a counselor, I realize if we expect the worst, our behavior will invite the worst.

Nadine Kernodle
Greensboro

The Republicans in the House of Representatives are at it again: playing reverse Robin Hoods by stealing from the poor to give to the rich. Under the guise of deficit reduction and hurricane relief, the House is scheduled to pass cuts in programs for children, college students, the working poor, the elderly and the disabled.

The people hurt by these cuts will be your neighbors in Guilford County who have lost their jobs and now must use food stamps to feed their families. Or the elderly who have exhausted their savings and are now on Medicaid to pay for nursing-home care. Even funds to enforce child support payments to single parents would be reduced. The money saved by shredding the safety net for our most vulnerable citizens will be used to continue tax cuts on dividends and capital gains.

The Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center reports 97 percent of these tax cuts will go to the 4 percent of households with incomes above $200,000. No Democrat is expected to vote for this House reconciliation bill, so if it passes, the Republicans deserve all the "credit." I hope they get their just desserts at the ballot box next November.

Denise Baker
Greensboro

Quick question for all smokers who enjoy lighting up while driving: What do you do with your cigarette when you're finished? Based on what I see during my daily travels, many people just thoughtlessly flick it out the window. To those who do, would you please use your vehicle's ashtray?

As I'm sure you realize, exercising your right to indulge in your habit does not also give you the right to pollute our world one butt at a time.

Brian Cook
Greensboro

As stated in a News & Record article (Oct. 26), Dan Lynch, interim president of the Greensboro Economic Development Partnership, told council members that the year was not going as well as last year and that Greensboro had been passed over in favor of other cities after months of courting.

Lynch added, "So many more things that are not in our control influence economic development than are in our control."

Proponents claim that FedEx would be a boon for creating jobs in Greensboro. Speaking of FedEx, the FAA mandated day-night commercial flights to be monitored at all airports. This does not bode well with PTIA, which will harbor the mid-Atlantic hub. The misleading 24-hour survey does not fly with FedEx opponents.

To be fair, the FAA should have monitored five fully loaded 727 aircraft from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. flying in and out of PTIA for five days. This six-hour period should be closely explored to reveal severe and disturbed areas.

Henry Young, an aviation noise consultant with a computerized simulator, explained that within a mile of the runway outgoing planes would be subject to 95 decibels and 75 decibels as far as Lake Jeannette. The courts are now studying whether water pollution and runoff would present a problem. The study is due in January.

Joseph Gelo
Greensboro

When is the News & Record going to really explain why the flu shot is not available to local physicians for their patients?

Recently, you gave front-page coverage to a struggle for deer life; tomorrow you will cover PETA complaints about thin cows. Where is the support for the local doctors who can't get medicine for patients and have to advise of its availability at "big box" stores? How demeaning is this for both the physician and the patient?

Help me understand. Give us answers.

Glenda Evans
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Richard C. Lewis

Here is some "good news" about the reconstruction in Iraq. We don't see much good news these days or read about "good news" in our newspapers. Instead, there is too much "Bush bashing" and negative press from the war on terrorism.

Did you know that:

Some students of Southwest Middle School are attacking the controversial lottery/choice plan with spunk and creativity by building an unusual yard display. It is located just where the front of Southwest Middle School driveway merges into Southwest Street. The scarecrows are pointing down the road in the direction of Southwest High School.

Take note, Guilford County school board and Superintendent Terry Grier: There are some rather clever young people at work to derail your plan to shuffle students among different schools instead of actually helping students in schools that need help and fighting to obtain the finances.

We need to build sorely needed additional schools in this ever-growing and developing region of our state.

Ellen Wolf
Jamestown

This is in response to the News & Record article, "TV shows are sexier than ever for teens" (Nov. 10). TV executives say they're not pushing sex on children and that if parents don't want their kids to see certain shows, then they have all the tools they need, including the "off" button.

I wonder how the advertisers feel about this suggestion from the TV executives. I know in our household we have already used this technique. Our TV stays in the "off" mode most of the time, with the exception of sports programs, The Weather Channel and an occasional children's program.

The businesses that use TV as a medium for advertising are missing out on a big market. This market could easily be recaptured with the reinvention of TV shows that do not contain disrespectful children, bad language, sexual and violent content. Until such time, the public will continue to use the "tool" the TV executives have so aptly suggested -- the "off" button.

Kathy Bauchle
Summerfield

First of all, thank you, Rep. Brad Miller, for working so hard for your constituents. It means a lot. Please reject the draconian budget cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. As it stands now, when the new Medicare cuts take effect in January, I will have to take the new difference for both my partner and my mother, who live on fixed incomes and cannot afford the new Part D. Obviously, this will be financially disastrous for all three of us.

I implore your help to stop further cuts and more families winding up the way we will.

James Farrell
Greensboro

I can't understand how most gas stations are hovering around $2.35 a gallon in Reidsville and you can drive a few miles down the road to the Super Wal-Mart and get it for $2.09 a gallon. It keeps coming down each week there, and not many other stations are following suit.

Why aren't all stations the same? Exxon did have record profits. I call it greed, too. The price of crude oil has come down. When will the gas stations follow? We are getting gouged every time we put gas in.

Michelle Bowers
Reidsville

Just hours before the 2,000th American soldier died in Iraq, George W. Bush said for the umpteenth time that the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops requires more sacrifice. Sacrifice is his sanitary word to mean "died," so he is saying more soldiers must die to honor those who've already died. So, when those die, even more must die to honor them. Hmmm. There's no country to take, no government to topple, and no trophy to display to show we won. When we get tired of it, we can always just say we won.

If we were really that good at this "war against dangerous individuals" business, violent domestic crime should be practically zero and drug-dealing in Greensboro and Washington, D.C., would be an oddity. It'd be interesting to see what the death count was each time he's uttered those words.

But then, maybe he hopes he can click his ruby slippers together like Dorothy and give the fairy tale a happy ending if he says it enough times.

Loie Priddy
High Point

During the Higher Ground Relief Fund concert, Bill Cosby emphasized, "There's no reason not to vote," as if every vote counts. I wonder what he thinks about the 2000 Florida and 2004 Ohio elections.

I can recall standing in an extremely long line at Windsor Center on a presidential Election Day and once receiving an intimidating mailing at voting time. I felt my rights had been encroached upon in both instances.

When it comes to our collective voting impact, my race needs to be vigilant. We need to be concerned about what happens with the 500,000 households displaced by Katrina, about picture IDs in Georgia, about old and soon-to-be-bought voting machines, about paper receipts for verification and about the adequate placement of machines in precincts.

In addition, of utmost importance will be the views of members of Congress and the Supreme Court when the Voting Rights Act expires in 2007 and whether the Justice Department will have a majority of lawyers with a political agenda.

Alice G. Brown
Mocksville

Health insurance provider United Health Care's profits doubled to $2.59 billion between 2002 and 2004. Where is the health care profit crisis? I believe we need to ask our national leaders where is the health care profit crisis.

United Health Care's stock price is up 60 percent for the year. Their profits have increased every year for the last five years. The real crisis is that increased health care costs are putting a tremendous burden on the working American.

Today only 66 percent of private full-time workers have employer-sponsored health care. The cost of insuring a family with health insurance is now around $10,000 a year. Five million people have lost their health insurance since Bush took office. How much profit do these corporations have to make? Is it good for America that millions of Americans can't afford health insurance?

Bob Davidson Jr.
Greensboro

I want to thank Kris Patel for her Counterpoint (Nov. 4). Our country was built by millions of hard-working people who came here seeking new and better lives. Fortunately, millions of such citizens continue to make our system go.

Unfortunately, we have far too many who are on-the-take and want something for nothing. As this percentage grows, our system is at greater risk for survival.

Leonard Butler
Burlington

One of my life's most satisfying experiences was listening to Desmond Tutu (along with 2,400 other people) the evening of Nov. 3 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

I knew of Archbishop Tutu's many honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution in ending apartheid in South Africa, his success as head of the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, and his deep conviction of nonviolent resolution of conflicts. It is not that I learned so much more about this great man, except he has a delightful way of telling a humorous story, and I was glad to hear once again of his deeply held beliefs: "Real peace never comes from the barrel of a gun"; "I am human because you are human"; "When you are de-humanized, I am de-humanized."

There were times in the Archbishop's delivery that his accent or dropping his voice at the end of his sentences made it difficult to hear. But that didn't matter. The important fact was that I was present in the same space with this amazing man of God.

Mary Louise Allen
Martinsville, Va.

As goals are established for Dr. Grier's bonus, I agree that one should be linked to the achievement gap. However, instead of just looking at how many percentage points exist between the ethnic groups, let's also analyze whether white students are improving. Furthermore, why is our county population almost 70 percent white, yet our student population only 43 percent white?

With many white students leaving, we are obviously not meeting their needs. I know bright students who left because they were bored and tired of the overcrowded conditions. As these students leave, the achievement gap closes even if students are not improving because their high scores are no longer included in the statistics. We all understand the need to devote resources to students who are in greatest need but it cannot be done at the expense of all other students.

It's wrong to have some classrooms in the county with 15 students when others exceed 30. Lowering all class sizes and fully funding advanced learner programs must be a priority.

Will our percentage of white students need to drop to zero before a red flag is raised? Or will GCS celebrate because the achievement gap has finally closed?

Julie Ann Jones
Summerfield

As a future educator, I agree with Jane Eisner's plea that "Schools need economic integration" (Oct. 6). Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, all children are entitled to a free and appropriate education. What about children from low-economic backgrounds? These children are assigned to poorer schools because of race and where they live. These children don't have a fighting chance for an appropriate education.

The economic integration of the Wake County school district has already helped improved the academic performance of students from low-income homes. The advantages of economic integration in schools are not exclusively for low-income students and their families, but are advantageous for the community and country as a whole. For example, the student integrated into public school is more likely to examine the possibility and resources needed to obtain a college degree.

An educated citizen is more likely to be a democratic citizen who thinks critically and feels responsible for the well-being of his community.

Allison Ring Barker
Greensboro

Dick Cheney shames all Americans as he fights against the effort to pass a law against the use of torture by America against people in our control. The fact that lawmakers feel the need to pass such a law is a shame in itself. The excuse that Cheney gives is that there are people in the world who wish to do us harm and the government shouldn't limit its options against such people. Could Saddam not have used the same argument?

It is getting increasingly difficult to preach American ideals in the world when it is apparent that our leaders don't believe in them. We are seeing a generation of young Muslims radicalized, in part, by U.S. mistreatment of Muslim prisoners.

In the last century, America faced down the Nazis and the threat of nuclear annihilation and we never sanctioned torture. We need to elect moral leaders in this country who believe in American ideals. America is the pre-eminent nation in the world. Our example has huge ramifications to less-grounded nations. The world needs our ethical leadership. Bush once promised to "restore honor and dignity to the White House." He's running out of time.

Marshall White
Archdale

Thursday's Counterpoint ("Good news from Iraq") was not the work of the writer who submitted it. It was adapted from a widely circulated e-mail whose original author is unknown.

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Mary Sue M. Cheek

A few weeks ago, the preacher in my mainline Protestant church referred to the "sleazy" way our state Legislature passed the lottery bill into law. At that time, there was a flurry of protests in the media. In an editorial, the News & Record said it best: that our state Legislature had lost its "integrity."

Gov. Easley waited several weeks (to let the furor die down?) before naming the lottery commission which is charged with setting up and running the lottery.

Charles Sanders, who had opposed the lottery, was named by Easley as lottery commission chairman. Sanders, retired chairman of Glaxo Inc., has an excellent reputation and appears above reproach. Sanders is quoted as saying he and the commission will make the contracting, hiring and other processes involved in setting up the lottery as transparent as possible. The commission, led by Sanders, has already developed an ethics policy, published within the past week, something done by few other boards.

Now it appears there were more sneaky (my own term) activities going on in the Legislature before the lottery bill became law. According to the media, a vice president of Scientific Games, the leading contender for our lottery business, helped write our lottery bill and wrote it in such a way as to favor Scientific Games and to eliminate competition. However, Sanders has been quoted as saying that he and the commission do not feel pushed toward any one choice; he also pointed out that they have been given "free rein."

And now, let all of us lottery opposers become lottery watchers. Let's see if our lottery really does become an educational lottery. Will our Legislature really continue to fund public school education at its current level, continuing to raise teacher salaries and per-pupil expenditures at the same rate as before as well as support lottery-funded college scholarships as promised by lottery supporters before the bill was passed?

Remember the pro-education group pointed out that in some states funding for public education went down after their lotteries became law and that public education that depended on lottery funds turned out to be an inefficient way to fund public education. We will wait and watch and see.

The writer is a retired public school elementary teacher, an advocate for children and lives in Burlington.

I have just visited the city of Greensboro home page on the Internet. My reason for doing this is to try to locate a tax refund form in order to apply for a tax refund on water runoff from my property. We have had virtually no rain in the last few months, and, if it did rain, none would run off because it has been so dry.

Can someone please tell me why I am being taxed by the city of Greensboro for water that runs off my roof and driveway when in fact there has been none? Oh, I forgot. The city doesn't like to call it a tax. Looking up the definition of tax, I find the dictionary states as follows: "A tax is an involuntary fee paid by individuals or businesses to a government."

Call it what you like, it is still a tax, and I want a refund.

Buddy Cato
Greensboro

Anne Cassebaum's letter, "Nuclear power plants pose safety problems" (Nov. 12), is largely rubbish. There have been no cancer-causing radiation releases, at least not at power plants in this country. Fear-mongering like this is a major factor in the nuclear industry's problems. However, civilian management deserves its share of the blame.

Management is to blame for the failure to standardize reactor design, a step that would have reduced cost and increased safety. As for waste storage, you expect businessmen to think in terms of even a thousand years? I question whether civilians have the discipline needed to run a successful nuclear program.

In the Navy, the entire chain of command is made up of hands-on engineers and training is merciless. Adm. Hyman Rickover realized that for the program to be successful, technologically illiterate personnel, no matter how good their management skills were, had to be excluded. In contrast, how many utility company executives have any hands-on experience, other than with golf clubs?

Conservation notwithstanding, we still need more energy, and we have a third choice. Kick the managers and tree-huggers aside and let engineers do their job.

Boris Chernick
Greensboro

Whether one is for or against the war in Iraq, the "2,000 Stars Project" by GTCC's Political Science Club provides a clear visual awareness of the numerical reality of our recently fallen military members. Carrying the thought a bit further, we know that each star also reflects a cluster of family and friends bearing the sorrow of each loss.

With the utmost respect and appreciation for the men and women represented by the stars, I encourage us all to use GTCC's visual to increase our awareness of another numerical reality. Double the number of yellow stars and picture them in your mind. This time the stars, 4,000 in number, represent the daily loss of babies' lives (in the United States) through legalized abortion. These deaths, too, are worthy of consideration.

Susan Baron
Greensboro

Instead of going to Hawaii, the county commissioners should have visited Maracopia County, Ariz., and talked to Sheriff Joe Arpaio about his tent city jail. This would be a method of expanding the county jail facilities without spending the millions they are planning on a new jail downtown. They could also take the sheriff with them as the meals and amenities are very Spartan there and he might be able to reduce his inmate costs.

Jack Parsons
High Point

With a few noteworthy exceptions, people in Guilford County seem to have resigned themselves to a future of sprawl, polluted air and water, and increasing noise.

It appears that we remain stuck in a mentality that accepts all of the above in the name of jobs and economic development. Haven't we learned anything since the days of the Industrial Revolution? Why doesn't anybody raise hell in the name of their own and their children's health when the construction of the FedEx site and its network of roads continues into the wee hours, robbing people of their much-needed sleep? Why don't more people call the FedEx noise study a sham? Pleas for noise levels of 55, instead of the averaged 65 that don't sufficiently protect people, are ignored. Calls for the use of quieter planes when FedEx starts its night-time hub are scuttled from the outset.

It appears that neither FedEx nor most officials of Guilford County are serious about protecting the citizens of the county from pending physical, psychological and financial harm. Will anybody please stop this madness and hold corporate America and local and state government officials accountable for the harm they inflict on the people of this county?

Michael H. Hoppe
Greensboro

If a family finds its budget unable to support a lavish lifestyle, does it decide to modify that lifestyle or sell family heirlooms in order to support it? Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is akin to selling the house to pay for a vacation.

Barry Richard Barber
Liberty

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Stewart Rogers

Short of hollering "Fire!" in a dark, crowded theater, are there limits to free speech in a public space? And, does our newspaper recognize those limits?

Cal Thomas' column (Nov. 11), citing the current riots in largely immigrant communities of France, suggests that Muslim immigration into the United States, together with "a concerted effort to convert more of us to Islam," is a demographic threat to our population mix and thus a security risk to our civil peace.

He moves on to endorse a counter-conversion program to "lovingly share our far better religious and cultural message with them."

I sincerely hope the following points are patently obvious:

1. Violence in the name of religion holds a tragic prominence in the remote and recent histories of all major faiths, not sparing Thomas' presumed co-religionists in Ireland and Serbia.

2. Most "native" citizens are only a few generations from immigrants who were often feared and vilified as they struggled to become Americans.

3. The vast majority of Muslim immigrants are peaceful and hard-working.

4. It is hardly an American value to condemn an entire ethnic or faith community for the crimes of a few individual members.

Would this column have been printed had it cited the Irish Republican Army and advocated that we "lovingly share our far better religious ... message" with Roman Catholics?

Freedom of speech should not open our community newspaper to gratuitous trashing of the sincere beliefs of our neighbors.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Terry Grier keeps pointing fingers at all save himself for his failures. The individual schools are not responsible for the achievement decline. That they were given more autonomy over how to teach was because Grier knew when he played where's-the-nut-under-the shell with violent, low-performing students that the sudden, unfunded influx of trouble would have enormous consequences for the schools impacted by them when they were quietly "redistricted" into their ranks.

We all know about Kiser, the poster child for this educational technique, designed by Grier and the school board. I have seen the teachers and principals struggle with these problems. Grier really needs to go, as does everyone on the board who continually makes bad choices.

Think of the people of Dover, Pa. They nixed an out-of-touch school board for less than we face, a slow and steady decline of our schools, kept in flux with a diet of unsustainable, unattainable goals, when sense and sensibility will do.

Elizabeth English
Greensboro

I sure would like to open some eyes and ears. It's a miserable feeling to have a toothache and not be able to get some help in an emergency. Our hospitals have such help for medical problems. We have many urgent care stations for medical problems. Most have a 24-hour service, but you can't have help for dental pain. If you don't have a family dentist, you can't be seen for weeks. You're on the outside looking in.

It certainly would be nice to know what to do when such occasions occur. Maybe it could be possible, if a few dentists could rotate turns to help, to form a dental urgent care hospital. What's your opinion?

Nancy Lake
Greensboro

I was very upset to hear the vote of the Baptist State Convention. It's so unfortunate that people use God's name to teach and preach hate. I know it is done all over the world today, but one would hope people here in the United States would know the pain and suffering that this has caused in the past and is still causing around the world today.

Look out, drinkers, people who live together out of wedlock, single moms, and all the other groups they say are going to hell; you may be the next ones they go after.

For years, people said that African Americans should be kept out of certain places because of the color of their skin. That was very wrong, and so is this.

This is just another device to divide us, not bring us together. I am just grateful that the God I know is a loving and caring God, who tells me to love my brother and treat him as I would have him treat me.

George Johnson
McLeansville

In response to the letter ("Christians should have higher standards," Nov. 10) written by Fred Riek of Jamestown regarding the Bush administration: Amen, brother, you told it like it is.

Ray Miller
Greensboro

Staff writer Allison Perkins is to be commended for the excellent writing in her tribute to Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew David Russoli, "Burying a comrade" (Nov. 2).

This letter is not intended to lessen the tribute to one of our fallen but to correct an error. She writes: "The Marines, the smallest and arguably the most tight knit of the four military services ..." That is incorrect. There are five, including the U.S. Coast Guard, a member since 1915. Its present-day complement: some 40,000, including active, reserve and civilian personnel.

Coast Guard Quartermaster Robert L. Resnick provided Marines Renee Gagnon and Ira Hayes the Stars and Stripes with the pole that was raised on Mount Surabachi on Iwo Jima. A Coast Guard fallen hero, SM1 Douglas A. Munro, led the rescue of 500 Marines from a beachhead at Guadalcanal in September 1942 and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
We're small in numbers, but large in service.

Darrell Lee Hayden
Greensboro

The writer is a commander, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, retired.

Editor's note: While the U.S. Coast Guard has served, often overseas, in every war the United States has fought, it is a member of the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of Defense.

In Charles Davenport's column on Condoleezza Rice (Nov. 6), she states the GOP sees her as an individual rather than part of a group.

Individualism is conservative code for only looking out for No. 1. Republicans equate conservatism with Christianity. Condoleezza Rice worships the "power of the individual." However, Christ did not operate as a lone ranger; he ministered with a group of 12 disciples. "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 12:26-27).

Why is it acceptable for Dr. Rice to be 100 percent career and ambition, obsessed with proving that she can achieve everything alone? If she were a liberal, she would be maligned as a feminist.

What will conservatives do with Rice's statement on the Larry King show, "I am personally pro-choice"? Will she change her abortion stand to get the "Christian Right" group's endorsement?

It was amusing to see Rice attend the recent Birmingham civil rights commemoration since she opposed the civil rights movement. Could she be campaigning to get the black vote as a group for the presidency she claims she's not running for?

Carol Simpson
Greensboro

So Sen. Ted Kennedy has recently been credited by Big Media with saving a couple of fishermen from drowning. Was I the only one to guffaw when I heard that?

Ben Miles Jr.
McLeansville

Perhaps at their next convention the Baptists will vote overwhelmingly to exclude any church that offers membership to wealthy people. I have it on good authority that it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.

The following year, I assume we will see a resolution condemning greed and acquisitiveness. After that, in 2008, perhaps the Baptists will condemn dishonesty and assert that Christians should not vote for any candidate who misrepresents the truth. Then, maybe churches can get around to spreading the gospel (which literally means "good news.") The good news is that God loves each of his children, be they thief, liar, killer ... or even gay. God loves his Christian children, Muslim children, and atheist children.

God is not pleased with all we do, but God will never abandon us ... despite what Pat Robertson says.

David Whitehead
Greensboro

John A. Bone / The Associated Press
John Wagner, 6, of Oakland, Md., talks about his experience shooting a deer last year as he prepares for this year's deer season.

I was saddened by the article "Healthy hunting or deadly game?" (Nov. 13) with its color photo of a 6-year-old child wielding a .223-caliber rifle in his own parents' living room. He killed his first deer at the tender age of 5.

Guns are dangerous weapons designed by adults to cause death. I think it's terrible that a young, innocent child should be corrupted in this way. I found the child's own words chilling: "I like it," he said. "Shooting a gun and shooting at the animals and killing them." Talk about desensitization. We need less violence in our society, not more.

This story related to Maryland, which has no minimum age limit for hunting. This is ridiculous. I hope North Carolina legislators will support a bill to establish a minimum hunting-age law here, if one doesn't exist already. As the Humane Society points out, a deer rifle is a long-range weapon that can kill up to a mile away. Should young, immature children be trusted to wield such deadly firepower? I think not. Children's innocence and natural empathy for animals also shouldn't be polluted by encouraging them to kill.

Kristin von Karowsky-Nelson
Greensboro

I am surprised that Diebold is in the running at all as a vendor for new voting machines in North Carolina, much less that their requested concessions are being seriously considered by election officials.

Diebold is known for questionable performance by its machines; practices documented in virtually every state in the country include tampering with records, tally errors, installing uncertified software, vote switching, inaccurate vote counting, lost votes, obstructionism in regard to access by election officials and computer scientists to the machines, and equipment failures with little or no follow-up by the company.

In addition, the CEO of Diebold announced in public before the 2004 election that "we will do everything in our power to get Bush elected." With such a history, this company should not even be considered as a vendor, much less be given unprecedented concessions.

I suggest that the News & Record and other news organizations would be performing a service to their customers if they did some investigative journalism into Diebold and other voting machine companies and published a series of articles on this important issue.

Lyn McCoy
Greensboro

Regarding "Good news from Iraq goes untold," (letter, Nov. 17): Since the so-called unreported news has been so good, let's bring the troops home by the holidays. I can barely watch or listen to the not-so-good news anymore. Almost every day there are reports about our brave young men and women dying or maimed. We are not one bit safer as a result of this war, and it's time to end our involvement.

Harvey B. Herman
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Nancy Ann Brady Dunton

I enjoyed Jim Schlosser's column, "Former Glenwood dwellers..." (Nov. 14). I grew up on Willomore Street. This year I have been writing somewhat of a biography of those halcyon days for my grandchildren. Ahh, the memories.

My grandparents lived in Glenwood, first on Gregory Street, then on Willomore. I lived with my parents across the street from them. I remember when my mother got her first electric stove. The neighbors all came to see it. They weren't too sure all that electrical stuff was safe.

The houses we lived in had bathrooms on the back porches, which consisted of a toilet and a sink (no hot water) and spiders. We literally took baths in a No. 10 wash tub in the kitchen on Saturday nights. Somewhere around 1946 or '47, my grandmother's brother, who owned a plumbing company, installed a sure-enough bathroom in my grandparents' house. There was a sink, a toilet and a wonderful shower. I got to take a bath every day. My mother said I was the cleanest kid in the neighborhood.

And always being generous of heart, my grandmother let all the neighbors use the shower also.

Back in the 1940s, most neighborhoods had a "store." Someone in the neighborhood would build a store for selling canned goods, bread, etc. These were the precursors to the larger grocery stores we now enjoy. Just such a building was beside my grandparents' house, before Bob Butler opened his "big" store on Glenwood Avenue. By the way, Bob would let folks charge their groceries until they got their paychecks. My daddy delivered groceries for Bob. I have a picture of him and the truck. My, such a handsome man.

My parents and I lived in the "storehouse" when we moved back to Greensboro after living in Carolina Beach area. Daddy had been a plumber for ships being built for the war effort. We didn't have a place to move to, so my father and grandfather fixed up the storehouse for us. We had a living room, one bedroom and a kitchen. However, the kitchen didn't have running water. For water we used a faucet that was outside next to the back door. We used my grandparents' back-porch bathroom. We lived there about a year, then moved across the street.

I remember when the news of the end of the war in Germany was announced. Everyone poured into the street. I was only 5 so I don't remember all the details, just that everyone was very happy.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I applaud the editorial about the UNC system's finances regarding student instruction ("A mission at risk," Nov. 16).

There is another aspect to this problem: the push for enrollment growth, which affects not only student instruction but the instructors, too. In UNCG's art department, for example, there simply is not enough room in studio classes for all the students to work.

But aren't the art department and the Department of Interior Architecture getting a magnificent new building paid for with state bond money?

Yes, but the new building has almost exactly the same square footage as the old spaces. So, the day we move in, we will be overcrowded.

There's a further twist: We may be retaining both instructional and office space in the old McIver Building. There's not enough room in the new building for all the classes we have to schedule to accommodate our enrollment, and there's not enough room to provide office space for adjunct faculty.

And, to twist the knot a bit more, we have been asked to project an enrollment increase of about 25 percent over the next five years. What then?

Mark D. Gottsegen
Greensboro

The writer is director of graduate studies, Department of Art, UNCG.

For some time now, I have looked for a job description from the school system that describes the chief of staff position. None exists; they simply tell me it's "being revised." He has been hired for months now.

Now from their Web site, I quote his predecessor:

"As chief of staff, I serve as principal aide to the superintendent. That means I oversee the day-to-day operations of the school district, and interact with senior university, business, government and community officials, as well as stakeholders in the representation and development of strategic program initiatives. I also coordinate communications between and among other senior officers within the organization; provide policy analysis and consultation to the superintendent and senior administration on major issues affecting the school district."

I still have no idea what he does, other than to interact with other important people. What constitutes day-to-day operations? He has never served as a public school teacher. How will he have a frame of reference for educational programs and policy? You could hire three to four teachers, maybe five to six teachers' assistants, for his salary.

Can anyone clarify what this position entails?

David Colin
Greensboro

As a music education major at a university in this town, I have become increasingly aware of the emphasis the local school system has placed on the students of Guilford County. I have seen the recently developed reading and test preparation classes that are required of all students of various grade levels.

My problem is not exactly with the classes themselves; I truly hope that they result in shining scores and motivated children, just as the programs promise.

My problem is the scheduling nightmare that has enveloped the teachers of the arts, and ultimately the demise of music programs of Guilford County. Any band, orchestra or choral director will agree that his or her enrollment has significantly decreased this year as a result of students being forced to take another required class that will prepare them for a standardized test in place of the music class.

It has been proved time and again that involvement in the arts provides mental and social stimulation that positively affects reading, writing and mathematical skills far more than any textbook. Perhaps instead of experimenting with these new, silly test preparation programs, our administrators should just encourage students to participate in the arts.

Laura Pritchett
Greensboro

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)? The Unpopulated Barren Arctic Tundra (UBAT) holds an ocean of oil that should not be wasted.

Christopher Rees
Greensboro

I am writing about the Department of Defense purchasing agency buying ice trays for $20 apiece and a 34-inch refrigerator that sells for $99.99 at Lowes for $22,797. I think they should be made to pay the difference out of their own pockets and then maybe they will not be so careless with our tax money.

We elect people who we thought we could trust and this is the way they -- some of them -- pay us back. Too many bridges, studies and just plain pork being wasted.

Maybe if enough people complained, some of it would stop. Let them spend money on finding a solution for peace and to feed the hungry.

Iris Newby
Eden

A Monday letter referred to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's opposition to the civil rights movement. Although she has been criticized for not embracing it strongly enough, Rice has never said she opposed the civil rights movement.

Regarding the N.C. State Baptist Convention's recent resolution involving homosexuality:

It never ceases to amaze me how so-called Christians are so exclusive in their policies.

The Baptists who decided homosexuals are not worthy to worship in their shrines are indefensible. I wonder how many of these church leaders have homosexuals in their own families. I thought we were all God's children. I'm not defending or condoning any lifestyle, but don't you people in the Baptist religion have more serious things to worry about?

In this country (last I read in the Constitution) everyone had the right to worship, or not. It does you no favor in God's eyes to assign hell and damnation to homosexuals when you yourselves are not without sin.

So I guess the Baptist Convention gets to have its own inquisition. God help us.

Sue Watterson
Greensboro

In response to the Counterpoint, "Good news from Iraq goes untold" (Nov. 17), I send a rebuttal as follows:

The "good news" about Iraq sounds terrific. However, it would have been a grand gesture -- and would have helped address some vital needs -- if some of these things (and all of the funds involved) remained in America and would have been used to help our own citizens.

Judith C. Abraham
Greensboro

Whether you support gaming in North Carolina or not, political money in the lottery and video poker scandals demonstrates the need for reform.

The current campaign finance system burdens candidates. Small donors are trumped by wealthy special interests.

Public financing of elections is working well in Maine and Arizona to get big money out of politics. North Carolina's own public financing for state level judicial races was successful and should be expanded to other state offices.

North Carolina, like other states and national government, will not begin to belong to the people and not the corporations until we do have compulsory financing and free media access. Deprive the ruling oligarchy of the advantage it uses against us.

I urge the legislature to adopt public financing programs for state campaigns.

William A. Franklin
Burlington

Recent media reports on the University of North Carolina system's 2005-06 Budget Reductions Report gave the erroneous impression that budget cuts imposed by the 2005 General Assembly had dropped UNC's current operating budgets some $31 million below 2004 levels. That simply isn't true.

Even accounting for the mandated reductions, UNC's overall operating budget grew by $213 million, or more than 10 percent. We are most grateful for that demonstration of legislative support.

As reported, the university was assigned a 1.72-percent ($31 million) permanent reduction in its operating budget. As detailed in the reductions report, repeated cuts of this nature have had very real and serious impacts on instructional programs, student services and campus operations.

Still, far more damaging cuts were avoided, and all UNC chancellors were provided flexibility in determining how best to carry out required reductions. At the same time, the 2005 legislature provided significant new funding for the university's highest priorities, including enrollment growth, need-based financial aid for in-state students and employee salary increases.

Jeff Davies
Raleigh

The writer is vice president for finance for the UNC system.

Regarding the News & Record article, "Kiser suspension rates rise" (Nov. 3):

What grabbed my attention was the number of suspensions that occurred at Kiser Middle School from the start of this school year.

In this day and age, it is a sad state of affairs when children cannot conduct themselves in an orderly manner. Whether they are rich or poor, black or white, manners are manners.

I believe it's time for parents to start taking responsibility not only for their children's actions at Kiser, but also for raising them in a respectful manner.

We need to stop putting the responsibility for our children's behavior on teachers, principals and society and stop looking for excuses to blame someone else for our own problems.

I commend Principal Dot Harper and the teachers and Kiser for hanging in there and addressing the problems of unruly children, even though the responsibility for teaching manners and respect should lie on the shoulders of the parents.

Ashley Downes
Oak Ridge

Schools are becoming increasingly more focused on testing and testing alone. What happened to children having fun and learning at the same time?

According to the Legislated Excellence Agenda, more core subjects should be added to the curriculum because state legislators believe students should spend more time in classrooms taking more tests, as opposed to engaging in activities such as field trips and class projects. The higher test scores are, the better the appearance for the school itself and its administration. This leads toward a more narrow-minded view of curriculum, only assessing students on their ability to memorize and repeat information for the purpose of testing.

Yes, we must assess students' knowledge, but should there be such a heavy emphasis on testing and the results of that testing? Are the majority of students capable of learning for fun, or are they only memorizing and regurgitating for testing?

Ashley Lovelace
Greensboro

It should be evident now to Bush worshippers that Bush is not a god but a miserable failure. Polls for Bush and his administration have a downward slope that should only be traversed by expert skiers.

Bush's choice to go to war in Iraq has created turmoil with no end in sight, our allies have lost faith in us, administration officials have compromised our national security, Social Security reform has failed, our national budget is out of control, our national debt is unfathomable, the new Medicare plan is perplexing to seniors, FEMA's response to national disasters is disastrous, illegal immigrants are invading our borders, worker incomes are decreasing, citizens are lacking basic health care, and corruption is rampant. There are other problems too numerous to mention here.

The bottom line is Bush is not a god. It's time for Americans to reject the Bush worshippers and to look elsewhere for relief. Let's take our country back.

Anna Harris
Greensboro

Today's neighborhoods face many problems. From vandalism to speeding, our neighborhoods are getting out of control. First is the speeding -- 25 mph signs were planted all over the neighborhood and still cars are racing down the street at 60 mph, like a bat out of hades. There are even cars running off the driveway at speeds of 40 mph.

The other problem is vandalism. Last year, my house fell victim to vandalism. However, not one person did anything about it. More recently, a rifle was fired in my neighborhood. Because of this, I'm beginning to think differently of my once-safe neighborhood.

In order to solve these problems, Greensboro needs more law-enforcement officers. That eventually will result in safer neighborhoods. Until then, stay safe.

Jonathan Atkinson
Greensboro

Vicky Schrock wrote in her letter (Nov. 15) that more smoke-free restaurants are needed. I second that. There are restaurants going smoke-free. Recently, Mrs. Winners' Chicken and Biscuits on Battleground did. McDonald's and Biscuitville are smoke-free, too.

Now if I could just get the venues where my favorite blues musicians (Bump and Logie, Matt Hill, Cyril Lance and Allison King) play to go smoke-free, I could have my cake and breathe, without choking or getting sick, while I ate it, too.

Rod Trail
Greensboro

In response to the letter by Brian Cook (Nov. 17) regarding motorists throwing cigarette butts from car windows, I would like to take the subject one step further. Not only does this create unsightly litter as Cook indicated, but it creates a hazard. There are many vehicles on the road that are carrying gas cans, gas-powered landscaping equipment and other chemicals. When a lighted cigarette butt is thrown from a vehicle, it can potentially land on the back of a pickup truck or on a trailer being pulled behind a work truck, causing gas to ignite.

Driving a vehicle on a public road is a privilege that comes with the responsibility of protecting public safety. If you choose to smoke in your own vehicle, please use your ashtray to safely discard your cigarette butt, and do not endanger the lives of others on the road.

Kathy Fay
Greensboro

I was confronted by a friend regarding illegal immigration. He argued that illegal immigrants were doing jobs U.S. citizens were unwilling to do. I disagree. To an ever-increasing degree, illegal immigrants are taking high-paying, skilled jobs in construction and manufacturing.

One need look no further than the recently publicized mass arrest. We need to employ and train our young men and women in these skilled positions and punish employers who steal their future to save a few illegally gained dollars.

Aldine Hege
Greensboro

Regarding your headline, "Bush says critics of Iraq war policy are irresponsible" (Nov. 12), you quote President Bush's speech.

What he really said was: "While it is perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is irresponsible to rewrite the history of how the war began."

He did not say "... critics of Iraq war policy are irresponsible" as your headline claims. I wonder if you are rewriting history.

Robert Burns
Greensboro

My family resides in southeast Guilford County, a few miles outside the city limits. Some people in our neighborhood choose to burn their yard debris. These fires often produce smoke similar to a thick fog throughout the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, my family suffers from asthma and allergies related to these fires. The smoke can cause headaches, shortness of breath, watery and itchy eyes, and coughing. Expensive air cleaners and replacement windows have not corrected the problem. Taking allergy medication helps, but only temporarily. Leaving home for a few hours isn't the answer either, since sometimes when we return, the smoke is even worse.

I understand why some of our neighbors choose to burn; there is no leaf pickup in the county and they need a way to get rid of their yard waste. But why not compost leaves or try mulching them with a mower? But if you must burn, please try to reduce the number of fires you have so others can breathe a little easier. I think all your neighbors would appreciate that.

Jim Flippin
Greensboro

This letter is a waste of time, based on the article "Support remains strong for state lottery," (News & Record, Nov. 19).

Hunter Bacot, director of Elon's Center for Public Opinion Polling, thought the support numbers that the poll showed for the lottery would be a lot less than 70 percent.

He said he thinks the war, gas prices and the scandal in Washington overshadowed coverage of the "lottery missteps" and that the people are not concerned. Missteps? That is an understatement.

He rightly points out that three of the nine lottery commissioners have resigned and the first ticket has not even been sold. Wow. What a beginning.

Here is the real "poll" question that should have been asked. "Why didn't all the voters get polled at the voting booth? Answer: The lottery would not have passed. The state government found a way to by-pass the voters. What difference does our concern make now? I believe that if all of the voters were polled, you would not get a 70 percent approval.

I know, this letter is a waste of time.

Glenn Andrews
Greensboro

Editor's note: Polls of N.C. voters consistently have found that most support a state lottery.

Permit me to insert my oars into the armed services discussion. Darrell Lee Hayden (letter, Nov. 21) recently responded to Allison Perkins article (Nov. 2) regarding the number of armed services in the United States. The Perkins article listed four, while Hayden reminded your readers there are, in fact, five armed services.

While your editor correctly noted that the U.S. Coast Guard is not a member of the Department of Defense, but rather the Department of Homeland Security, Hayden was accurate in his assertion that there are five armed services.

The Coast Guard is our only armed service that does not operate under the auspices of the DOD but is nonetheless officially recognized as one of our five armed services.

Howard Coble
Greensboro

The writer is N.C. congressman for the Sixth District.

If the nation is really off the tracks, as Peggy Noonan suggests (Nov. 20), don't blame it on the "elite" acting or failing to act. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us." Yes, the culture is off course. We have drifted away from the ideals of stable families, good schools, cohesive neighborhoods, inclusive religion, government in the best interests of the people -- on and on -- you fill in the blanks.

Our mass-media-driven society contributes to bad behavior and the breakdown of common courtesy and the acceptance of personal responsibility. "It's the government's fault."

Well, maybe. We elect these people (some of us did) and wait for signs of sanity. We wait and wait while partisan politicians destroy hope for unity and common sense.

Yet the good outweighs the bad. Most of us know right from wrong. We can fill leadership vacuums and quiet the angry voices with more reasonable dialogue. It starts with us -- each of us.

And the "elite" can help lead the way.

Bill Beerman
Greensboro

Long after "W" and the current crop of leaders are gone, we will be forced to deal with the mess left behind. By foolishly wasting tax dollars and squandering our military's human resources, the current administration will force the next president to raise taxes and face the possibility of instituting a military draft.

But it's the chasm created between rich and poor that ultimately could be the unraveling of our social fabric. Why? Because good men and women have stood silent while right-wing ideologues rushed to war, pushing tax breaks for the wealthiest, while the most vulnerable had a benefits cut.

Why doesn't Howard Coble stand up and renounce the leadership of Tom DeLay with the same fervor he denounced President Clinton's marital infidelity?

Why doesn't Coble renounce the outing of a CIA operative by the vice president's office with the same enthusiasm with which he attacked Clinton's personal life?

He should reject rigid partisanship, embraced by GOP leaders, and become the "John McCain of the House." Would he be willing to stand up to his right-wing brethren?

If history is an indicator, he will continue to be the Bush-Cheney-DeLay "waterboy." We deserve better.

John W. Graham
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Cindy Dorman

Regarding the editorial, "Tackling teen pregnancy," (Nov. 14):

The Family Life Council offers our thanks for focusing much-needed attention on the issue of teen pregnancy.

Any pregnant, unmarried teen faces challenges that are difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. Teen parents too often lack the parenting skills, education and support necessary to effectively raise children. Poor education, poor health and poor income are too often the impact of teen pregnancy and childbirth. In fact, three-quarters of welfare aid goes to single-parent families, the vast majority of whom began as teen parents.

Since 1968, FLC has offered programs focusing on family life and parent education. In 1989, when FLC first developed the Wise Guys program, teen pregnancies in Guilford County were at an all-time high.

In fact, Guilford had the highest rate of teen pregnancies, abortions and fetal deaths in any of the state's major counties. Our teen pregnancy rate rivaled that of many Third World countries.

Research indicated that parents have more difficulty talking with their sons about sex values, responsibility and contraception than their daughters. The Family Life Council's goal was to develop a male sexual-responsibility program, Wise Guys, to address males as part of the solution to teen pregnancy and to work with parents to help them communicate their values to their sons, as well as their daughters. Since Guilford's teen pregnancy rate has steadily declined, this county is to be commended for its efforts.

The county health department, the YWCA, the schools, churches, foundations, United Way and other community groups have partnered to develop programs that recognize that teen pregnancy is everyone's problem -- not just folks on the other side of town.

There's still much work to be done and FLC and its partners will continue to work to decrease teen pregnancy.

The writer is executive director of the Family Life Council.

"It's the teacher's fault that my kid is failing. My kid's teacher is partial to all the other kids." No matter what is going on in our schools, it seems the teachers are always to blame.

Whether students need extra help, are bored in school or have social problems, it's the teachers' fault. The truth is, teachers can only do so much, and they want nothing more than to see a child succeed. Teachers have a very strict curriculum; if they steer off of it, they see consequences. They stay after school to help children, but they can only stay so long.

As a community, we should help our teachers. Get involved by becoming a part of a tutoring program or helping your children at home. Be an active participant in your community and the future of America.

Kimberly Chapman
Greensboro

I have been watching the county commissioners on Channel 13 for some time. They act more like children and have no respect for themselves or the people of Guilford County. They give out high raises when the working classes get 2 to 5 percent a year, and when they get caught skirting the system they blame each other. If they would put race, politics and childish egos aside and work for the good of Guilford County, the people would be better served.

Robert Pinnix
Greensboro

Seniors, unite. Write your congressman. They are responsible for letting the new prescription drug bill go through. It confuses everyone, keeps the government from bargaining with drug companies and requires that private health companies get a part of the profit without offering a complete coverage of drugs. Even if they offer the drugs we need this year, how can we know what drugs we'll need before the year's over?

Our former insurance was child's play compared to this program. I haven't met a senior citizen yet who understands it. The only ones who will profit by it are the president, who can say he passed a prescription program, and the drug and insurance companies. Everyone else loses. If our representatives had to live under the same program, they would never have passed it.

Paul D. Lowder
Greensboro

I have something, besides lung cancer, I'd like to get off my chest. As a nation, we are more compassionate toward suicidal people than toward people with lung cancer. Perhaps there's a sense these people brought this disease upon themselves. Perhaps because it's not a woman thing, like breast cancer, or a man thing, like prostate cancer. It's a disease that affects men, women, heterosexuals, gays, whites, blacks and every other race.

Sixty percent of newly diagnosed cases of lung cancer are in people who never smoked or quit decades ago. The survival rate less than 15 percent, compared to 85 percent for breast cancer. Every year lung cancer takes more lives than breast, ovarian, prostate and colon cancer combined.

We need more research, public information and screening. Nobody deserves lung cancer, any more than they deserve breast cancer.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. For more info, go to: www.lungcanceralliance.org.

Dusty Donaldson
High Point

There is a subtlety in the way the news story, "Board sets goals for Grier" (Nov. 18), was written. In it, Grier is said to have cautioned that raising teacher morale may conflict with other goals, particularly improving academic performance. The problem, he asserts, is getting adults to change.

Why accept this diagnosis without challenge? The problem may well be that lower morale results when an administration that does not know what it is doing sets directives that experienced, knowledgeable and successful teachers know do not work. Why the unspoken assumption that wisdom resides at the central office and not with the professionals who actually know what it means to teach and to achieve? If the board truly wants to learn what teachers are experiencing, do not leave the task of finding out in the hands of those who may be the source of the problem.

Scott Culclasure
Greensboro

While raking leaves and having thoughts of things I am grateful for this time of year, I was reminded of how grateful I am for Greensboro's solid waste and recycling program.

I have lived in other cities where one must bag every leaf for pickup, separate glass recyclables by color and then bring them yourself to a drop-off facility, tie and bundle all paper, and carry or drag heavy garbage cans and recycling bins to the curb for pickup.

Here, we take for granted the ease with which we get rid of our waste. We are fortunate to be provided with two big, cushy waste containers with wheels, trucks armed with equipment that picks up these containers, and large vacuum vehicles that suck leaves from your curb. Folks who have lived in other communities surely know what I'm talking about.

JoAnn Strack
Greensboro

One doesn't have to conduct a thorough empirical literary research to discover that the rate of HIV/AIDS is spreading faster now than it ever has before. The Guilford County Health Department stated that the cost per HIV infection ranges between $12,000 and almost $100,000 per year; however, this estimate does not include lost wages, transportation and other indirect costs.

The need for comprehensive harm-reduction programs in North Carolina, but especially in Guilford County, is essential in preserving the health of our communities. Harm-reduction programs are strategies that encourage individuals to reduce harm done to themselves or others when engaging in activities with known health risks. These programs would save taxpayers a significant amount of money and also reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, simply because HIV education and prevention interventions will be implemented at the community level.

This letter is not meant to be persuasive. I am simply bringing to light the reality that the spread of HIV is one of the many serious issues facing Guilford County. In the future, I would encourage each of you to take the time to learn how harm-reduction programs would prove useful in ensuring the health of your community.

Doug Melton
Greensboro

In response to the article, "Gay Baptists dismayed by church stance" (Nov. 18): Mark File's main point seems to be that Jesus rejects no person who comes to him. This is certainly true, but we all come to him on his terms. To infer that he accepts our behaviors that are contrary to the teachings from the Old or New Testaments is just not correct.

Look to the incident of the prostitute who is brought to Jesus. Jesus accepts her, but his discourse with her concludes with his telling her, "go and sin no more." It is obvious that no person is rejected, but Jesus and the Bible's stance on behavior never changes (homosexuality is one of those forbidden behaviors listed repeatedly). We all sin and struggle with temptations of the flesh.

Despite our sin, every person is loved and sought by God; but we are asked to deny those desires of the flesh that are contrary to biblical teachings. This is a heavy burden for homosexuals as it requires living a life without a mate of their sexual preference.

Rick Martin
Greensboro

Welcome to the U.S.A. -- that's United States of Avarice, folks. The House just passed the "Class Warfare Act," er, I mean the "Deficit Reduction Act of 2006." We have a Congress that is practicing class warfare, giving the lion's share of tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, a Congress that believes unearned income (read: dividends and capital gains) should be worth more in tax breaks than your child's day care, health care or the ability of Social Services to go after deadbeat dads.

Hey, the rich will send their kids to college, regardless. It's your kid who won't get loans to get an education. Keep 'em poor and stupid. We're going back to the days when there were just two classes -- the very, very rich, and the rest of us who empty their slop jars and mind their children.

This year, as you're watching the Christmas showing of "It's a Wonderful Life," imagine that Jimmy Stewart jumps because his family was thrown out on the street by Mr. Potter, who buys his wife a luxury car with the extra tax cuts he just got from his bought-and-paid-for Congress. Happy Holidays.

Sandi Campbell
Siler City

Greedy, brutish little men with imperialist aspirations have wrested power and wealth from the citizens of our nation. These men have ruined Iraq, murdered thousands of human beings and have united millions against the United States and its sheepish allies.

Now the world knows that the United States illegally confines and tortures people suspected of association with terrorist groups. Our use of chemical weapons (white phosphorus), against which we have railed, has been documented.

The people of our nation learned valuable lessons in Vietnam, which apparently our country's leadership did not.

This obscene adventure in Iraq has ruined the reputation of our country. The president of the United States of America is unworthy of his office and your trust. We will watch helplessly as the civil war he has set in motion escalates.

George W. Bush should be impeached, and our troops should be withdrawn, posthaste. The president's advisers should be led away in chains for the crimes they have instigated.

James Quinn
Greensboro

In reading, "Ganging up on reality," an editorial printed on Nov. 13, I was alarmed at the way in which the problem of gangs in a local school was accepted in a school board meeting. The issue was presented with photographic evidence of graffiti on the walls of a school, and it was seen immediately as a prejudicial issue.

It seems as if when addressing any problem, the focus of the problem becomes whom the problem is focused on rather than a solution. The motives behind bringing the problem to light were questioned before the problem was even addressed.

Please, Deena Hayes, let Greensboro police Det. Ernest Cuthbertson speak. The evidence of these gangs has become a distraction to the educational process for all students. This has become a problem that we can't ignore. We can't ignore the writing on the wall.

Erin Barnhill
Graham

The Guilford County Health Department lead testing ordinance is a classic example of killing a mosquito with a cannon.

The ordinance requires all children younger than 6 to be tested for lead exposure. The News & Record article (Nov. 22) states that 84 children younger than 6 tested positive for dangerous lead exposure levels between 2001 and 2004. According to the 2000 U.S. Census http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/37/37081.html), there were more than 25,000 Guilford County children younger than 5.

Paint containing lead was banned in 1978. My house was built in 1997. My children spend two days a week at a home-based day care, in a house which is less than 10 years old.

It is regrettable that any child should have high lead levels in his body, but why require lead testing for children who have no possible lead exposure sources? A logical approach would be to educate parents in older homes about lead-based paint hazards and testing options.

Tom Imbus
Browns Summit

In the next few weeks the Board of Education will name the new middle school that will be built in the northern area of the county.

This would be a great opportunity to honor Edward R. Murrow. Murrow, a native son of Guilford County, was the greatest broadcast journalist that we have ever had. He received every award available in his field. His courage and skill have not been matched.

He lived in three states. New York has already named a magnet high school after him. The State of Washington named the School of Communications at Washington State University after him. It is now time for us to do something commensurate with his contributions to our nation.

Joe Stafford
Greensboro

Heterosexuals are sinners. Homosexuals are sinners. We are all sinners. We are human. Jesus was very outspoken, but he didn't say anything about homosexuality. He had plenty to say about lack of concern for others in Matthew, Chapter 25 and many other New Testament passages. In Matthew 25, Jesus talked about feeding and clothing the hungry and visiting the sick and those in prison. He said, "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."

When we ask "What Would Jesus Do?" we conclude that he would approve of the sign outside the church on West Cone Boulevard in Greensboro that boldly proclaims "All Are Welcome Here." We can't imagine Jesus endorsing a resolution that excludes homosexual people from a house of worship.

How sad for religious denominations to continue to foster "us versus them" outlooks. If churches are going to have rules to exclude those they perceive to be living in sin, why not exclude those who overeat, those who smoke and those who gossip? It is so easy to throw stones at others and so hard to focus on our own shortcomings.

Mac and Linda Stroupe
Greensboro

Thanks for the memory! The "50 Years Ago" article in the Nov. 20 paper really struck a nostalgic note. As a member of marching bands at Lincoln, Dudley and A&T, I marched in eight Christmas parades and attended many others. Of all those parades, the one that really sticks in my mind occurred in November 1955 with the appearance of "Hopalong Cassidy" (William Boyd) and his horse, Topper. What a thrill!

My husband and I are great fans of the Westerns Channel on Direct TV, and he didn't believe me when I told him I had seen Hopalong Cassidy in person in our Christmas parade. What a wonderful memory! Thanks!

Crystal McCombs
Greensboro

I understand the new Medicare drug bill perfectly.

As a reasonably healthy senior, it will raise my drug costs by at least $400 per year. I have done the math.

It quite possibly won't offer the drugs I now use that are totally effective for my condition.

I might have to shop several drug companies in order to find one that offers my drugs.

My doctor can't freely choose the drug he believes will be most effective. Instead, he will have to select from a list most profitable for the furnishing drug company.

It is designed so that healthy seniors foot the bill for those with greater or catastrophic illnesses.

I will be punished with a rate that grows by 1 percent for every month that I fail to comply with this government fiasco.

They know that the majority of us will never have a catastrophic illness, assuring drug companies the profits they are seeking.

Once again big business, in this case pharmaceutical companies and those companies who will no longer offer drug coverage to retirees, will rake in the profits.

Yes, indeed, I do understand this drug plan that was designed in haste for a political gain.

Fay Pegram
Greensboro

The hysterical talking heads of cable television have defiled a great American hero. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., stated four parts to his wise plan:

I live on the Outer Banks, north of Corolla, and I must take exception to this newspaper's misinformed portrayal of the proposed Currituck ferry (editorial, Nov. 18, not posted).

While it is true that the school busing issue is a part of the justification for the ferry, only one trip in the morning and one return in the afternoon would be exclusively for students. The greater utilization of the ferry would be by the general public. The severe shortage of workers able to fill service jobs on the Banks may well be relieved, to some extent, when the time and expense of an 80-mile round trip by auto can be replaced by a 10-mile round trip by ferry. The Currituck ferry is also meant to only be a stopgap measure until a decision is made on the feasibility of the proposed Mid-County Bridge linking the Currituck Banks with the mainland.

Sen. Marc Basnight understands the unique needs of a truly unique part of this state, as most "mainlanders" do not. The residents of Currituck look forward to the day when they can get from one part of their county to the other without having to traverse Dare County and spend the better part of the day doing so.

Tom McMurray
Swan Beach

I am tired of the Bush bashing, especially during war and with our troops being put in danger. Terrorism is real; don't downplay the danger. Be fair in your reporting.

Patricia Friedrich
Summerfield

Doug Clark's column about High Point's Workforce Preparedness Study (Nov. 23) opens with the statement, "Our schools aren't doing their job." He includes some excellent points; my favorite is "how graduates … can receive a diploma yet be required to take one or more developmental courses in reading, math and English."

Unfortunately, Mr. Clark blames everyone except the real culprits. In the 1970s, educators invented "social promotion" to silence the cries of people who complained that keeping a child behind in first or second grade was damaging to his or her self-esteem. The child who didn't master first-grade subjects would acquire them while learning second-grade topics. And so on.

The impact on the child's self-esteem was deemed more damaging in the K-2 grades than at the graduating senior level.

The self-esteem of the functionally illiterate graduating senior was not an issue.

Are we surprised that we fell so far behind the rest of the world? Are we surprised that fifth-graders can't do simple multiplication without using their fingers?

Graduating seniors have needed remedial courses since the 1970s. It is never too late to get back to basics.

But it is going to take educators to value student mastery of subject matter over social promotion percentages.

Len Docimo
High Point

While I generally respect the school system's effort to maintain order and some kind of discipline, I find some aspects completely ridiculous. The current tardy policy is only slightly absurd.

Students have the bell to go to class, a warning bell, and a late bell. If you aren't in class when the late bell rings, you have to go find a "Hall Sweep" room and wait while everyone fills out their respective why-tardiness-is-unacceptable letter to their parents.

Once that's done with, a teacher will chaperone each student back to class. So instead of being the five seconds late most of those students would be, they are 10 or 15 minutes late.

Lovely. I'm really only writing this because I got an entire day of in-school suspension for trying to let my drama club director know I would be late to rehearsal. I missed maybe two minutes of an elective class and for that I had to miss two Advanced Placement classes and turn in a project a day late.

Sounds a tad bit idiotic to me. Maybe someone ought to reconsider discipline measures.

Ayo Tushinde
Greensboro

Regarding the Nov. 12 article, "In remembrance: 2,000 stars, 2,000 souls":

Why must you show pictures in this article that have the words "stop war" and "why" in them? Veterans' Day is supposed to be a day of remembrance and thankfulness. Instead, these pictures project forgetfulness and hatred. Thanks for continuing the status quo of the media.

Tim Miller
Reidsville

As a parent and as a human being, I was appalled at the article (Nov. 22) about New Vision School in Rockingham County. Toilet accidents and child care go hand in hand. If these teachers -- and I use the term loosely -- could not find some compassion for this little girl in order to help her get cleaned up and back to her activities as quickly as possible, they need to find a new line of work.

The term "teacher" should be reserved for those who earn it through their respect for our children. The thought that my tax dollars are spent funding a program that would employ such workers makes me livid.

Perhaps the workers at the New Vision School should be put in the same situation they left that little girl in.

Kim Leipham Freedman
Greensboro

I am appalled at the carton on page A14 of the Thursday Nov. 24, 2005, edition. That cartoon is a disgrace for any paper to publish. It tries to give the message that Vice President Cheney agrees with torture.

Anderson Lowe
West End

Those of us who know and admire John Edwards and John Kerry as men of high principles find it regrettable that you printed the editorial titled "Edwards' mea culpa" on Nov. 18.

It was small-minded and was meant to question the statements these men have recently made concerning the war in Iraq. At least they had the courage to voice their disapproval of our involvement in this terrible war.

I am disappointed in you.

Peggy Russell
Greensboro

So the Baptist State Convention has now taken steps to exclude homosexuals from church fellowship because "homosexuality is an unrepentant sin."

Using this same logic, wouldn't you think Baptists would also exclude those who continue to practice the sin of gluttony? But no! I personally know perpetually obese Baptists who have not missed a Sunday at church in quite some time. Is this due to traditional Baptist hypocrisy or just plain old-fashioned homophobia?

Guy Sinclair
Graham