News-Record.com

Harry Reid's statement that they were finally able to "kill" the Patriot Act, while misstated, reveals a mentality that is destroying our standing in the war on terror.

This destructive mentality is partisanship. Reid is thinking of the war on terror as a war between Democrats and Republicans, and as long as our politicians are thinking in those terms, the enemy is gaining ground by the second.

Our enemy is united by a single religious cause, and his infrastructure is absent partisan politics, the web of bureaucracy and legal acrobatics. We, however, are divided by petty party partisanship and a bureaucratic financial black hole. Lately, we seem more concerned about the rights of the guilty than the innocent.

This is exactly what the enemy wants: that we should internalize this war, fighting one another until we implode. Hey, Washington, the war is over there!

Michael Kilgore
High Point

Thank you for the recent article designed to aid those who will be giving a toast this season. You offer much-needed support.

Readers seeking further public speaking support can obtain it free via The University Speaking Center at UNCG's Web page. Of particular interest will be the "tip sheets" located under resources.

Kim Cuny
Greensboro
The writer is director of the UNCG University Speaking Center.

In April 2004, George Bush made two speeches to promote renewing the Patriot Act. He stated, "Any time you hear the U.S. government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed." Two years prior, he instructed the National Security Agency to secretly wiretap American citizens without a warrant and to evade the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act courts. Therefore, he knew there were wiretapping exceptions that were certainly a "change" to our civil liberties. By extension, he lied to the American people.

The reason he didn't pursue changing the law to give him such powers is that Congress would laugh him out of Washington and the public wouldn't stand for it. Bush also claims there wasn't enough time to seek any of the warrants. However, the law allows them to be retroactively provided, thus there is no excuse for not seeking them after the fact. The FISA court is specifically designed to quickly and confidentially expedite warrants 24/7, without compromising national security.

One can only conclude from his overt arrogance that Bush believes he's above the law. Perhaps a congressional investigation can determine if these are impeachable offenses.

Chris Malcolm
High Point

Statements by U.S. District Judge John Jones in defending his decision against the teaching of intelligent design in the Dover, Pa., school district elicit conflicting attitudes of acceptance and rejection for me. On the one hand, one should be grateful for a judge who is willing to hand down rulings that conflict with his own personal beliefs when he feels necessary. I would expect no less from a Bush appointee. However, comments made by Jones in regard to his decision, specifically, "It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose," demonstrate the arrogance and elitism so very prevalent in the judicial branch of government.

Bush did well to appoint him. Not only did he appoint a judge who makes decisions based on his interpretation of the law, personal feelings aside, but he found someone who can read minds as well. The willingness to rule counter to personal feelings is atypical of today's judges, but if those rulings are based on flawed logic or the pseudo-science of mind-reading, the result is the same.

R.A. Jessup
Greensboro

I am sickened and angry each time I read about someone's vicious "pets" attacking a human being. So I say "bravo" to the Virginia jury that recommended sending Deanna Large to jail after her pit bulls killed an elderly woman.

Were I king, here would be the rules. You want to own pit bulls? Fine. A mountain lion? Great. A boa constrictor? All yours. But for legal purposes, we will make no distinction between your owning those animals and you holding a loaded gun. If it goes off, you're going down.

Don Freedman
Greensboro

What is a compassionate conservative? Is it some neocon who robs from the poor to give to the rich, someone who cuts Medicare, Medicaid and student loans to reduce the bureaucracy in Washington and votes for a tax cut for the rich?

Gaylord Hageseth
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Kenneth Caneva

Stephen Wessells' Counterpoint essay (Dec. 16) argued that opponents of intelligent design have distorted a viewpoint about which they are ignorant. On the contrary, it's intelligent design's proponents who are guiltiest of obfuscation by obscuring the difference between evolution — the idea that species are related via a process of descent with modification — and natural selection — the principal Darwinian mechanisms of change via the differential survival of individuals possessing small random differences.

Advocates of intelligent design typically fudge the question of whether they accept evolution, their chief target being the adequacy of natural selection to explain organic structures.

Michael Denton identifies deficiencies in the evidence for species' interrelatedness, but while he attacks the very idea of such continuity he leaves unaddressed the superabundant evidence for it — that is, for evolution.

Michael Behe only questions the adequacy of natural selection to explain "irreducibly complex structures," yet by incessantly criticizing "Darwinism" he obscures the fact that he hasn't explicitly questioned the overall evolutionary interconnectedness of species.

By defining "creationist" as "any person who believes that God creates," Phillip Johnson implicitly allows a creationist to accept evolution as the way God created. But he doesn't explicitly acknowledge this, thus allowing readers to understand creationism as a denial of evolution. Such scholarly critics are careful not to deny that which only a seriously uninformed person could deny: that there is superabundant evidence that all species are related via a process of descent with modification.

Wessells' claim that the works of intelligent design proponents contain abundant support for it is another rhetorical distortion. Although they identify what they take to be deficiencies in the explanatory power of evolution by natural selection, they don't offer any alternative scenario that might explain the same range of evidence.

Arguing for design in nature is like explaining the existence of a watch by saying it must have been designed. Sure, but a design doesn't create anything. If a cosmic Designer did in fact design "irreducibly complex structures," one wonders how the Designer turned the design into reality. Did God create each species separately out of nothing, or did He work with existing species and somehow direct the evolutionary process toward His ends?

The intelligent design folks don't tell us, because they have no theory of species creation, let alone one that does justice to the many facts of their interconnectedness. They only have criticisms of one of the best-supported theories in science.

The writer teaches the history of science at UNCG.

It seems necessary to respond to Amy Clear's Dec. 27 letter denouncing the school board's inclement weather plan.

The board members did plan and communicate potential make-up days. The make-up days are noted on the school calendar as S1, S2, etc., on specific teacher workdays. Wording on the calendar explains that those workdays could become student days. The days are used sequentially to ensure 180 days of instruction.

Hard copies of the school calendar are distributed to students and employees when adopted. The calendar is also available for reference on the Guilford County Schools Web site. Additional copies are sent home with students at the beginning of each school year and may often be printed in each school's student handbook.

I understand winter break plans, but I also know that making up those two instructional days this semester is more valuable. Ms. Clear should take the time to read and understand the district's calendar before making accusations of incompetence.

Carolyn Gilbert
Greensboro
The writer is a Title I specialist with Guilford County Schools.

I get a chuckle from the critics of the U.S. military who say that we do not have an exit strategy and timetable in Iraq.

I was in the Navy as a midshipman and left as a full lieutenant. During those years, I observed excellent discipline, extensive planning and execution on a scheduled basis.

You can bet that there is an exit strategy and a timetable! My guess is that adjustments were made as necessary, perhaps due to outsiders.

These time frames will not and cannot be made known to Congress and the media. Poker players don't flash their cards.

Elected leaders provide the onus of leadership. Citizens and patriots provide the onus of following and adherence resulting in the strength of our unity.

Frank Freeman
Greensboro

As most everyone who is a sports fan is aware, Appalachian State University won the Division I-AA Football Championship on Dec. 16. Being an Appalachian graduate, I was very excited to watch my team fight for a victory. I was, however, hosting a Christmas party that evening, so I was not able to watch the entire game. I was anticipating reading all about the sweet victory the following morning in the News & Record. Much to my disappointment, I got the paper first thing, only to find a small write-up on the front page of the sports section, followed by a huge article on girl's high school basketball. What?

There are hundreds of Appalachian graduates in this area. I feel that the local newspaper owes our school a bit more coverage, especially since Appalachian is the first North Carolina school to ever win a national football championship in any division!

Appalachian deserves huge congratulations for its record-setting year, not a half-page story.

Cameron Clark
Greensboro

Celiac disease is a medical condition in which the absorptive surface of the small intestine is damaged by a substance called gluten (a substance found in wheat, oats, barley, rye, etc). This causes the body to be unable to absorb nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for good health.

Symptoms may appear together or singularly in children or adults. Common symptoms are anemia, chronic diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, cramps and bloating, irritability and depression. Osteoporosis is a frequent complication. Sufferers may develop an intense burning and itching rash called dermatitis herpetiformis.

Patients are often misdiagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. Positive diagnosis can be attained from a colon biopsy or a blood test. However, CD is most often and easily self-diagnosed. After only a week of a gluten-free diet, people with CD see remarkable results.

There is no cure for CD, and it requires a lifetime gluten-free diet. While this is a challenge since gluten is found in many processed foods, the results are worth the effort.

There are many Web sites with information about CD. CD is not uncommon, yet it is often undiagnosed.

Carol Dunn
Greensboro

Michael Northuis' Counterpoint, "Facts show the folly of war in Iraq" (Dec. 15), was offensive and grossly inaccurate.

Northuis says Bush "cherry picked" intelligence given to the Senate, which authorized war. The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, along with the Robb-Silverman report, disagreed. Northuis says Bush stated Saddam could send a nuke here in 45 minutes. Bush never said any such thing. Northuis quotes Joe Wilson's findings on his trip to Niger, which the Senate Intelligence Committee found to be distorted and untrue, inaccurate and unsubstantiated. Northuis says Bush has silenced the press here in the United States. What a statement! Northuis must never read newspapers, magazines or watch television news.

While 70 percent of Iraqis went to the polls to vote for their democratic leaders, Northuis says 80 percent of them want us out and 45 percent want us dead. The truth is that 75 percent of Iraqis express confidence in the elections, 71 percent say their lives are going well, and 69 percent expect things for the country overall to improve in the next year.

Bush-haters need to stop visiting those left-wing Web sites.

Bob Goodman
High Point

The Sunday column by Julie Peeples, United Church of Christ minister, was abysmal. Her thought process was vacuous. In criticizing the supporters of Christmas, she attacked the faith itself.

I was told in seminary that preachers are spokespersons for the Lord. What Lord was Ms. Peeples praying to before she wrote her column?

A good friend recently left the UCC because of its headlong plunge into liberalism. He said, and I believe him, that the UCC is losing membership.

If Ms. Peeples is an example of those who fill UCC pulpits on Sundays, I can believe it.

Every chink in the armor of Christianity aids the world.

Taking Christ out of Christmas is yet another chink.

Jack Stratas
Denton

I've noticed a lot of one-sided letters and opinions against the Bush policy on domestic spying and hardly any in support. Are you letting your prejudice show? If you are the great protector of citizens' rights from government spying, why weren't you blasting Clinton for the 750 FBI files he had on U.S. citizens? Could it be the only time it concerns you is when it's a Republican president?

Every president has spied domestically. Bush isn't doing anything that Carter and Clinton didn't. Where was your concern? At least Bush is trying to protect us. That's what makes you so scary.

Is your hatred for Bush so strong and blind that hate is all you live for? There hasn't been an attack on this country since 9/11. Bush is doing everything to protect us, and you still won't support him because he's a conservative. God help you. You are this country's enemies' best allies. I hope you sleep good.

Bobby Cole
Randleman

Where's the outrage?

An alleged criminal violates our border at least three times.

Where's the outrage from the U.S. taxpayers whose money was wasted on ineffective border security? Where's the outrage from the immigrants who followed the rules and entered legally?

The alleged criminal gets a good-paying job that could have gone to a citizen or to a legal immigrant. Where's the outrage from the unions? This person allegedly rapes numerous women. Where's the outrage from various women's organizations?

He allegedly lies about his assets and income in order to get free defense. The public defenders rush to handle this case that has the potential for being high profile. Where's the outrage from taxpayers?

He speaks English well enough for a good-paying job but now wants an expensive translator to be provided at no cost to him. Once again, where's the outrage from local taxpayers?

The silence is deafening.

George Hopkins
Greensboro

Home Instead Senior Care wishes to thank the staff at Piedmont Christian Home, Response-Link of the Triad, Well Spring Retirement Community, FlexxSpace Management, real-estate brokers Tom Arevian and Dowell Markham, Design to Move, Sigma Phi Epsilon (UNCG), the Walgreens drugstores in Guilford County plus the volunteers and generous Walgreens shoppers who helped make our holiday community service project, "Be a Santa to a Senior," a wonderful success.

We never cease to be staggered by the overwhelming generosity of the citizens of Guilford County when they respond to charitable projects. As they did last year, again they came through in an impressive fashion in response to the "Be a Santa to a Senior" project, which is designed to bring Christmas and companionship to area elderly orphans and needy seniors.

Our sincere thanks to the wonderful people and organizations who participated in helping us provide nearly 1,300 wrapped gifts to 317 beautiful seniors throughout the county.

Dick and Susan Gray
Greensboro
The writers are the owners of Home Instead Senior Care.

Melanie Wilcox (Counterpoint, Dec. 28) takes Charles Davenport to task on the Fourteenth Amendment, but she seems to have missed the point. Granting citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants provides yet another incentive for foreigners to enter our country illegally. If citizenship only entailed rights, this might not be such a serious problem.

However, what American liberals call "rights" usually include the socialist "right" for some individuals to seize the worldly possessions of other individuals (entitlements, welfare, etc.). So much for the right to property, I guess. Add it to the list of traditional rights — including the right to keep and bear arms — that Wilcox and other liberals aren't really concerned about protecting.

As for the insinuation that American conservatives, such as Davenport and myself, categorically oppose change and diversity, she could not be more mistaken. Progress always involves change, but change is not always progress. Increased diversity, like any change, is only progress if the benefits outweigh costs. Why do liberals refuse to acknowledge the existence, or even the possibility, of these costs?

Conservatism is apparently necessary to remind people of such inconveniences. There is still no such thing as a free lunch.

Jack Bladel
Greensboro

As we have just exited the season of "peace on earth and goodwill to men," I want to recognize the Guilford County Board of Education and Superintendent Terry Grier for extending a tremendous olive branch to all of those disgruntled parents involved in the High Point lottery school assignment plan.

I believe our school board and superintendent are doing their best to listen to our communities and make decisions that are in the best interest of our children.

So, in reference to Bill Stevens' (letter "A few choice words," Dec. 29) sentiments of "ha, ha, ha, ha, why is Grier still here?" how about a change of heart?

Take off the gloves and accept the branch. Perhaps there is hope that all of us adults can come together and cultivate the grounds of peace and goodwill in our schools.
It starts at home, you know?

Cindy Jolly
Greensboro

On Dec. 20 Judge John Jones III struck down a school board's attempt to give "intelligent design" equal footing with evolution.

Jones correctly stated that intelligent design and creationism result from religious beliefs. What he failed to acknowledge is that evolution is also religious.

It's a bold attempt to claim scientific bases for the preposterous notion that mankind and all we see arose apart from God's creative ability.

In other words, evolution arose from the religion of atheism.

The only science that has to do with either theory involves the search for interspecies links and the detailed examination of living things, especially DNA, genes and chromosomes. Both of these scientific fields overwhelmingly support the idea of creation by God, because no interspecies link has ever been found, and the immense complexity of living things could hardly be imagined to come about by chance.

Setting off an explosion in a forest has never yet resulted in the fragments forming a nice house, although evolutionists would have you believe the "Big Bang" resulted in a universe of amazing order.

Can anyone name a single bit of scientific evidence that supports evolution? No, because there is none.

Marion Griffin
Asheboro

I am answering Maxine Garner's letter that was published Dec. 28. I too live near Liberty and feed the birds. My husband and I have noticed the decline in birds and squirrels.

We used to go through 50 pounds of bird seed a month. Now we hardly use 10 pounds of bird seed. We had so many yellow finches, they were fighting over the thistle feeder. The cardinals were everywhere. The thistle seed feeder has not needed filling in more than a month. I remember going uptown and seeing squirrels all over Liberty and slamming on my brakes to keep from hitting them. Now, when I go uptown I hardly see any squirrels. Occasionally one will be sitting in a yard.

I am with Maxine: Where have all the birds and squirrels gone in Liberty?

Linda Lowrance
Liberty

I would like to thank one of Santa's best helpers. This unidentified man pushed my disabled car out of a busy intersection on Battleground Avenue on Christmas Eve. It was such an unexpected blessing. Furthermore, none of the drivers behind me honked (as they always do in Boston where I live!). It seems that everyone had the Christmas spirit, and it made driving in Greensboro a pleasure.

Phyllis Brooks
Lexington, Mass.

I keep reading about how the recent elections in Iraq justify George W. Bush's policies. Perhaps a historical perspective is needed.

In the book, "The Vietnam Experience: America Takes Over 1965-67," authors Edward Doyle and Samuel Lipsman write, "September 3, 1967, 4:00 p.m. Election day in South Vietnam. The polls in the country's forty-four provinces and municipalities were closing. It had been a busy day. In nine hours, 4,868,266 people out of 5,853,251 registered voters had visited thousands of polling stations to cast their votes for president, an 83 percent turnout."

This election took place less than five months before the surprise Tet offensive of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong began. This was followed by seven more years of war, during which time an additional million or so Vietnamese were killed, along with 25,000-30,000 Americans.

But don't worry. History never repeats itself.

Right?

Dana Hatcher
High Point

We would like to thank the people who stopped on Interstate 85 and helped our son after he was run off the road and into the concrete barrier by a tractor-trailer. One man probably saved his life by stopping and putting out emergency triangles to keep him from being hit by oncoming traffic.

While setting out the triangles, he was almost hit by a passing car, which wrecked trying to avoid hitting him. All she saw was the triangle before she wrecked. If the man had not stopped in time, the car that almost hit him would have hit my son.

Thank you for taking the time to stop and help our son.

Pamela Dawson
Whitsett

In a Dec. 30 letter, Bob Aronson mocked Rabbi Guttman (guest column, Dec. 21, not posted) and subsequently many good, honest and decent -- not necessarily Christian -- individuals. His words made no real argument but did manage to portray both himself and his church as extremely narrow-minded.

I am neither Christian nor Jewish, nor do I mock either faith; rather I prefer to be educated and accepting of other beliefs and ways of living. I'd like to know what in the world is happening here. Why are so many people so convinced that their way and their faith is the only right way to be? It's exhausting to think about, really.

I think we all just need to get over it, you see, because everyone is right, and that's always the way it will be. If your religion and your faith works for you, then congratulations, you're right. But guess what -- there are billions of others who are just as right as you are, and it's important to accept them and treat them and their beliefs with dignity and respect.

Carrie Reiser
Raleigh

Concerning the recent media flap about the president's "secret" wiretapping of citizens:

President Bush is duty-bound to defend the United States against its enemies, foreign and domestic. If this means listening in to domestic and international phone conversations, so be it. The people who are crying "foul" now will be the ones who are the most critical of the president if, heaven forbid, there is another attack on U.S. soil.

The National Security Agency is not interested in what Joe Citizen has to say to his auto mechanic or the guy who mows his lawn. They are interested in calls coming in from Syria, Iran and a host of other terrorist nations concerning huge transfers of money or discussions of "targets" in the United States.

President Bush should use any and all means to keep track of the enemies of the United States. To do anything less would be to shirk his duties as commander in chief.

John Parson
Stokesdale

In my effort to understand issues that affect all Americans equally, I am having a problem understanding the following two.

The first issue is, where is the oil in Iraq? There should be enough to finance their fight for freedom.

The second issue is spying on Americans. I read somewhere that anyone who is willing to give up their freedom for temporary security deserves neither.

As stated in the news, the Patriot Act permits spying on the American people in order for the military to move quickly. In the same respect, is it appropriate to spy on the American people in the cause of the "war on drugs" or the "war on crime" in order for our law enforcement to move quickly? This is a dangerous precedent.

Ed Stone
Greensboro

I couldn't agree more with Faye and Arthur Peele of Burlington (letter, Dec. 28).

My carrier in Burlington, Willis Toller, is another one of your fine carriers.

I live in Burlington near the City Park on Church Street, and Willis is at least 30 minutes away in Mebane. My paper is there, rain or shine, sleet or snow, every morning -- and early. I'm usually walking down the drive at 5 a.m. In the rain, he thoughtfully puts it on the grass — tossing it in the center of the driveway in the rain tears the bag, which leads to newspaper pages drying on shower rods!

Sometimes the paper is tied with yellow "ribbon" and sometimes with blue, sometimes in a sleeve or bound with a rubber band, but it is always there and welcomed warmly. He (and your staff) put the world at my feet every morning.

It would be great to see a carrier profile to know more about these exceptional people, but then there may be privacy laws. Willis is wonderful.

Katie Latta
Burlington

My husband and I own the Wild Birds Unlimited store on Pisgah Church Road, and I would like to respond to the letter writer who wondered where all of the birds are. In the fall, there is always a natural decrease in seed-eating birds in our back yards because there is abundant natural seed as flowers turn to seed.

For the past three years, we have had very little natural food due to the droughts. The natural food source generally lasts until we have a few heavy frosts, which cause the seed heads to drop their seed. Because it was still so warm in November and most of December, the natural food sources lasted longer this year than normal. As colder weather comes, so will the birds.

You can tell how cold it is going to be any given night by how feverishly the birds eat. Birds are also the best indicator of snow, as they gorge on food, which they later digest through the night in order to stay warm. Give them time and cold weather, and they will be back.

Barbara Haralson
Greensboro

What a great tribute to Stanley Frank by Jim Melvin (letter, Dec. 27). I heartily agree. And there is more.

Enter the Guilford College campus off New Garden Road and see the impressive Frank Family Science Center, which includes the Joe Bryan Jr. Auditorium. Continue and view the Bauman Telecommunications Center provided by Ed and Vivian Bauman, who have also furthered the renovation of Founders Hall as a student life center.

Joe Bryan Jr., an alumnus of the college, is chairman of the Board of Trustees. Stanley Frank was and Ed Bauman is a long-time trustee, though neither was an alumnus. Frank was chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, and Bauman is treasurer and vice chairman of the Trusteeship and Governance Committee. All three worked closely with President Kent Chabotar.

These leaders have done so much to make our community a better place to live and raise a family. This kind of leadership is especially important now that Jefferson Pilot Financial is merging with Lincoln National, headquartered in Philadelphia, so soon after the loss of Burlington Industries, Cone and Guilford Mills.
Seth Macon
Greensboro

Collisions with deer result in many fatalities each year. Hints to avoid collisions include driving slowly especially during dusk, dawn and in fog when deer are active. Watch for eyes that reflect in headlights and anticipate that the deer might run into you. Where there is one deer, there will usually be others. Using your horn can be effective in scaring deer off.

A deer whistle is a device you can place on the front of your vehicle, which has been shown in some research to prevent collisions with deer.
The device is activated by wind rushing through it as you drive. The whistling it produces is virtually undetectable to humans. I purchased a simple, inexpensive ($6) plastic whistle that has helped me avoid hitting deer on at least a dozen occasions.

While some research disputes the effectiveness of deer whistles, it seems logical that such a small investment is worth any potential protection for me and my family. I have given the device to friends who agree that it works. Patrol cars used by deputies in the county are equipped with them, as well. For information on deer whistles, visit www.deerwhistle.com or e-mail: info@deerwhistle.com
Joanne Gray
Oak Ridge

From the article by Thomas Sowell (Nov. 29), I could understand why he wants the United States to keep torture as an option. I disagree with that, and I would like to say the torture system has to be banned.

After the Convention Against Torture, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone has a right to be treated personally and humanely. However, abominable cruelty is still performed. Racial discrimination, domestic abuse or any other acts that cause someone severe pain are disobedience against the principle of the Convention Against Torture.

Torture is a blasphemy by disrespecting one's life and dignity. It destroys the humanity of both the victim and the assailant. The pain and fear from torture will remain as an endless memory to the human who suffered. Even if a person committed a crime, he or she should be treated humanely. Torture debilitates everyone by not only disrespecting man's life, but also by weakening the solidarity of society.
Park Katy
Greensboro

Dana Hatcher (letter, Jan. 4) is correct: History can and does repeat itself.

The quote used from "The Vietnam Experience" is there. However, Hatcher stopped short. We deserted the Vietnamese on April 30, 1975. The "Asian Nation" estimates we left behind 200,000 "at-risk" Vietnamese and approximately 100,000 died in "reeducation" camps. There were the exoduses of boat people in 1975 and again in 1978, 1982 and 1992.

Why? Because they wanted and deserved to be free.

I sincerely hope we do not desert the Iraqi people as we did the people in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia. Those nations still feel the results of our derelictions of duty while we still enjoy freedom of the press. Thank goodness our president has a backbone.
Michael Callahan
High Point

Americans will rise to any occasion and win, if there is a level playing field. I would like to ask the members of our Congress whether they believe that "All men are created equal." If they have any sense of fairness, they will pass into law for all Americans the very same health insurance plan they have.

I believe in fairness. I will pay the same for that insurance as they do.

I am thankful that the members of our Congress and their families are not lying sleepless in bed night after night worrying that, if they or their family members were to get sick or hurt, they would lose everything they had worked hard for all their lives.

They are the few, the proud and the privileged.
Alan Brock
Julian

The gas tax, like the food tax, is highly regressive, hitting low-income people who are trying to pay their own way especially hard. So,as a matter of public policy, the former should be minimized and the latter repealed, particularly if your political party postures as the one that cares about the ordinary working guy.

And yet, we're still being taxed on our groceries, even though it was imposed only as a temporary tax by Gov. "Food Tax Terry" Sanford (D) in 1961. And half a lifetime later, we have Gov. "Tax-Hike Mike" Easley (D) who patronizingly explains that government deserves the gas tax money more than you and I.

I guess the (D) stands for duplicity and demagoguery.
Christopher Rees
Greensboro

In the Jan. 3 "Mixing it up," Sandy Carmany discusses the North Carolina highway system's 78,000-plus miles of roads, leading us to believe that the road tax money is used to maintain our highways and rural roads.

She failed to mention that $252 million was transferred from the state's Highway Trust Fund to the operating fund. Sandy probably was not aware of this. Read the Jan. 3 article, "Outcry over fuel cost stirs Democrats to act."

Fred Mabe
Colfax

I was a member of the Guilford County Schools redistricting steering committee that was formed during October 1996. I served on the subcommittee for Map "C," led admirably by Kris Cooke and Gladys Robinson. We delivered a completed report to the Board of Education in February 1997.

We divided the county into larger districts and kept changes in one school's attendance lines within the district in which the school was located.

We based our districts on "economic diversity." Diversity either causes or reflects differences in economics.

We believed that elementary-age students should attend the schools nearest to their homes; that partial diversity would be introduced in the middle schools; and that full diversity would be introduced in the high schools.

We recommended a "Northern Guilford" cluster of schools in the report we submitted during February 1997.

I would not recommend public meetings. The committee held 20 to 25 public meetings. But many were so poorly attended, with so few constructive suggestions presented, that we could not tell what the public wanted.

Harry N. Young
Greensboro

In answer to Linda Lowrance of Liberty (letter, Jan. 4), who asked where have all the birds and squirrels gone. Linda, not to worry, they are all right here in my yard.

Bruce Haldeman
Greensboro

On the new year: History tells us that it is inevitable that men will hurt and kill each other, earlier spurred on by churches in the name of God, now motivated by something called "patriotism" and politics. We haven't progressed, really progressed, in humanity and compassion, in love and justice, since the beginning of time.

Meanwhile, we stand, quiet, contained, praying for peace, candles held high. Looking up at the sky, we are aware that there is order: stars and constellations are still in place, quiet and sure; the moon still goes through her phases, unaware of our struggles; the sun still rises on time, and sets when it should, despite us. We are comforted; the sky is calm, confident. Above us all there is such deep peace. And we hear once again, "Fear not. All is well."

May 2006 bring us the realization of that promise. May we stand strong, with our feet on the ground and our heads in the heavens, as beings who believe peace is possible.

Gay Cheney
Browns Summit

Regarding the Jan. 2 editorial: I, too, feel the dispute between Trudy Wade and John Parks needs to end. It should have ended already. The Supreme Court previously ruled that out-of-precinct votes are illegal and must not be counted. The Board of Elections did not comply with this ruling. John Parks "won" by votes that are in violation of state law.

As yet another court date is set, maybe the instructions will be heard this time. Throw out all out-of-precinct votes.

Fran Lankford
High Point

As the newly appointed district attorney for Guilford County, Doug Henderson fired Julia Hejazi Tuesday. As a prosecutor, Henderson is bound to seek justice as a representative of the state of North Carolina and its citizens.

Firing a veteran prosecutor solely for running against him is unjust and self-serving. I guess he has not left all the defense attorney thinking behind him yet.

A disservice has been done to the people of Guilford County and the victims with whom Hejazi has so diligently worked. I implore all citizens of Guilford County to vote for Julia Hejazi in the May Democratic primary for District Attorney and in the November election.

Jamie Coll
Greensboro

If you thought the Microelectronics Center, the Oil Recycling Plant and the Global Transpark were great ideas, you'll love the latest economic proposal form the North Carolina Ports Authority making an international seaport out of Southport.

Promising the creation of "thousands of jobs" to economically depressed eastern North Carolinians, the N.C. Ports Authority has spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 30 years trying to make seaports out of shallow-water inlets.

Each proposal is costlier than the last and the results are always the same: environmental and economic debacles requiring perennial subsidies from North Carolina taxpayers.

Only the Ports Authority would propose converting 600 acres of pristine waterfront property with all the potential economic benefits from tourism into cement cargo containers. If the Ports Authority were accountable to stockholders, they would be prosecuted for misappropriation of funds.

When will the state realize for every job created by burdensome taxation, we lose two that would have been created in the private sector? If approved by the Council of State, the General Assembly will need more than the lottery and increased gas taxes to subsidize this venture. Land acquisition: $30 million. Cargo construction: $200 million. Political payoff: endless.

Joe Exum
Snow Hill

The following is a Counterpoint:

By David E. Parsons

Anyone buying gasoline in North Carolina after Jan. 1 will pay the nation's sixth-highest gasoline tax when they fuel their vehicle.

With a 2.8-cents-a-gallon increase, motorists will pay 29.9 cents in state gasoline taxes and 18.4 cents in federal taxes. At today's prices, that means about one out of every five cents paid for gasoline is for taxes.

In a state where one of every five miles of paved road is rated substandard by federal quality measurements, motorists have a right to wonder, where does their money go?

Higher gasoline taxes should mean well-paved highways, less traffic congestion and new roads in areas of explosive growth.

But North Carolina, once known as the "Good Roads State," has used the gasoline tax as partial funding for the general fund, instead of just for highways. For at least the past five years, a portion of gasoline tax receipts has gone for non-highway purposes.

Repeated requests to the legislature for proper maintenance funding have had limited success. However, the state is still more than $1 billion behind in maintenance and repairs. That shortfall grows by $300 million a year.

And the legislature has compounded highway deterioration by giving special-interest exemptions to heavy trucks that damage roads unable to handle the excessive weight. Companies hauling logs, wood chips and construction aggregate love it. They reap greater profits while taxpayers foot higher repair bills.

What's the solution?

First, there needs to be integrity to the system. Money collected from highway users through the gasoline tax, registration fees, vehicle licensing should be used only on highway needs. No exceptions.

Second, all special-interest exemptions for heavy trucks accelerating deterioration of our roads should be repealed. Immediately.

Third, the Department of Transportation, the legislature and the governor need to develop an aggressive plan addressing highway woes based on where the greatest need, not where it is politically popular. A formula modeled on other states can be developed and implemented before the public outcry becomes louder.

Gas taxes are unpleasant, but if we must endure them, make sure they're used for the right purposes and that those paying the taxes will be the exclusive beneficiaries.

The writer is president and CEO, AAA Carolinas.

Happy New Year, citizens of North Carolina. The state is siphoning off another 2.8 cents on every gallon of gas you buy -- supposedly to build and maintain your highways. You're so lucky. Is this true, or are gas taxes being diverted to other purposes?

A quick look at the N.C. Department of Transportation budget shows that $222 million is ripped right off the top of the Highway Fund and transferred to the General Fund as required by General Statute 105-187.9. This is almost 15 percent of the $1.5 billion raised by the state's 2005 gas tax. Rest assured that any money that goes into the General Fund will not be spent on highways. And now they have an additional 2.8 cents per gallon to "build and maintain" our highways. Right.

I challenge all Triad legislators to initiate action to repeal the 2.8-cent increase. You are shamefully sticking it to the most vulnerable among us -- the working poor who have to drive to work every day. Even worse, this higher tax makes North Carolina less competitive in the contest for businesses to locate here, and that means fewer jobs for North Carolinians. How myopic. Limit gas-tax spending to highways and get taxes down.

Walter J. Sperko
Greensboro

I'd like to respond to Bob Aronson's letter (Dec. 30). Aronson agrees with Rabbi Fred Guttman that the distribution of the DVD of the Jesus film in Guilford County is a "colossal waste of money." I just have one thing for Aronson to ponder for a while: When Jesus was invited to eat dinner at a Pharisee's home, a "sinful" woman came in and broke an alabaster jar of perfume to wipe Jesus' feet. Jesus didn't stop her from doing this act of love while the others in attendance thought it was a waste of money. They didn't get it, nor does Aronson.

Vicki Nichelson
Brown Summit

In reference to Maxine Garner's letter (Dec. 28) concerning lack of birds visiting her bird feeders:

First, clean your feeders with a solution of mild, warm, soapy water and rinse and dry thoroughly. Check your seeds for mold. Try buying your feed from a reliable bird food supplier. I prefer feeding goldfinches and other small birds from thistle knit socks. When it's empty, I wash it out, dry and refill it. Try black oil sunflower seed as well as stripped. Don't forget suet.

Also, concerning the lack of finches: Since 1994, there have been reports from Washington and other eastern areas of "house finch disease" or mycoplasmal conjunctivitis. It spreads throughout the Eastern United States. For more information, contact Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Wood Road, Ithaca, NY 14815.

Von Neal
Reidsville

Historically, when our great nation has been at war, we, its citizens, have been asked to make sacrifices to help support the effort. Currently, as we are at war in Iraq as well as Afghanistan, the only orders from the White House concerning common citizens are to stay vigilant and keep shopping.

But another course of action seems more fitting. I call on all patriotic SUV-driving Americans to participate in a "Hummer Draft." Since many of the transport vehicles used by our armed forces are ill-equipped and sparsely armored, civilians owning Hummers should be entered into a lottery in which one such vehicle is chosen at intervals to be melted down and reformed, thus aiding in the protective accouterments of our soldiers. I don't think this is too much to ask to help secure our nation and win the War on Terror. Besides, anyone who can afford a Hummer can afford to donate the metal necessary to armor actual U.S. military vehicles in a war zone.

Unless you participate in a Rocky Mountain carpool or Baja racing, there is no need for gas-guzzling military vehicles on American roads. The war in Iraq is over oil anyway, so Hummer drivers deserve this sacrifice the most.

Nathan Julian
Greensboro

It is my considered opinion that the president is taking the law into his own hands and doing as he pleases with our constitutional freedoms. No one, especially the president, has the right to usurp the law. He has the obligation to follow the law, not to use it for his own pleasure.

Protection is one thing, but invasion of privacy of the citizenry is quite another. Government has a way of going far beyond what is intended, and this will be a classic case if allowed to continue.

Kenneth Bravehawk
Browns Summit

Our family recently moved from California, where property values are nearly three times the values in North Carolina. However, property taxes are essentially the same.

California counties, along with the state, are responsible for highway maintenance. So, Sandy Carmany, please justify North Carolina's gasoline tax again. We are at a loss.

People of North Carolina, please make tax comparisons with other states. You're living in one of the most tax-happy states in the union.

J.K. and D.D. Scott
Elon

I am amazed at the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party. Just a couple of examples:

• Increased state tax on gasoline (to sixth-highest in the nation), saying we need much road construction and repair. Of course, if Joe Blow who drives 50 miles a day to work is against it, he is against good roads. Nobody dwells on the fact that Gov. Easley and his Democratic cronies "robbed" the highway fund of hundreds of millions of dollars.

• Then the lottery, which will "pour millions into education," but this same bunch of Democrats who robbed our highway fund refuses to pass legislation that ensures this money will go to education. If you believe they will leave this money alone and put it all into education, I can show you a nice bridge for sale in Brooklyn.

The Democratic Party claims to be for the little guy, but the above two taxes are the most regressive of any taxes.

Poor people spend a much higher percentage of their income on the lottery and gas than do the more well-to-do.

Here is a novel idea for North Carolina: In 2006, let's throw these Democratic bums out of office.

Sid Barnett
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Bill Goldston

I read with interest the front-page article (News & Record, Dec. 25) on the concerns about the lottery proceeds. While I am for the lottery and supported it while I was in the Senate, a lesson should be learned about protecting the revenue.

As one of the authors of the highway trust bill, I can only warn that protecting trust funds and dedicated funds is not a foregone conclusion. The Attorney General's office helped me write the protection for the highway trust money. They told me the constitution was very precise and clear on dedicated funds.

Article V, Section 5, "Acts levying taxes to state objects," says: "Every act of the General Assembly levying a tax shall state the special object to which it is to be applied, and it shall be applied to no other purpose."

Money has been taken out of the Highway Trust Fund by executive order and by the General Assembly. We entered a lawsuit to try to prevent this and three judges have ruled against us, but none has mentioned the constitution in their rulings.

It must be concluded, then, that we have become a society of men, and not a society protected by laws. He who controls the gold makes his own version of the laws.

May I say good luck on protecting the lottery proceeds, but I must warn that it is only good until it is needed for another project or "shortfall."

The writer lives in Eden.

The elite media lied to us last week. Blatant, outright lie — News & Record included. You told us that 12 of the 13 miners survived the explosion in the coal mine. Well, they did not.

That means you lied, right? Time for congressional investigations, right, just to be consistent.

Media types have said for several years now that President Bush lied to me about Iraq and that now I should not trust him. Turns out he may have been given exaggerated intelligence and went with the information at hand to do what he thought was right. Now, you want him impeached for it.

The News & Record, along with the rest of the media, went with the intelligence at hand and made a mistake that caused great pain for some. So as not to be hypocritical, I suggest you show President Bush the honorable thing to do. Submit your resignation, effective immediately, recall all reporters from the field and send them home to their families. Now we see what you are made of.

Craig Knight
Archdale

I just wanted to comment on the letter (Jan. 5) written by Carrie Reiser. She states, "I am neither Christian nor Jewish, nor do I mock either faith. I prefer to be accepting of others' beliefs and ways of living." Well, I am a Christian and I say to her, thank you.

Being a Christian, I am taught not to judge others. I am to live my life as Jesus Christ lived his — not judging, not blaming, and being tolerant and accepting of others. Jesus did not "hang out" with people who had money, fine homes and spotless reputations. He walked with and lived among the lowest members of society.

Christians and non-Christians need to remember that our great nation was founded on religious freedom and freedom from persecution. For our society to survive, we all need to learn tolerance and acceptance. If we don't start to learn these lessons now, we will become what we fear and what we are fighting against on foreign soil.

Alexandra Covington
Whitsett

A music man entices a young music lover into loving a five-minute piece of music. The music lover goes into the store to buy the piece and learns he must buy a CD containing nine other pieces, all of the latter being worth perhaps two cents. The cost of the CD will be $10, more or less.

The young music lover senses that he's been had.
The music man is protected as he does this because he holds a copyright. That is pretty heavy armor. Has he played a game of "gotcha" with the kid?

The music lover has no armor and certainly doesn't have the time or money to go to court over the matter. Instead, he goes home and downloads the piece of music into his computer.

The last sentence of your editorial, "Ending music file sharing requires attitude adjustment" (Jan. 2), takes on a heavy tone and implies the kid is a criminal. Could it be that he simply beat the music man at his own game?

Could it be that the copyright laws are the culprit? The copyright holder is given a monopoly. I can't see that there is any protection at all for the music lover. Count me as being in the kid's corner until someone shows me the light.

Kemp Foster
Asheboro

With an enticing promise of no mandatory hookups, some of the past and present members of the Summerfield Town Council are vigorously promoting public water and are investigating a franchise agreement with Aqua NC. Although the town and Aqua publicly promised "no mandatory hookups," what wasn't said is very important.

For instance, according to one of Wachovia's approved appraisers, if you have a well and wish to sell your home that's located near public water, your mortgage holder decides whether you will have to place funds into an escrow account to hook up. However, FHA loan holders will be required, and VA as well, unless you're a veteran; then you might be able to obtain a waiver. Aqua NC is a business and wouldn't go to the expense of placing water lines if no new customers would be forthcoming. This endeavor deserves serious consideration, and the citizens need to be fully informed. Remember, Summerfield's leadership also enticingly promised us "no services, no taxes" if we would only vote to incorporate.

Robert Flowers
Summerfield

Glenwood is under siege from developers who want to ram an inappropriate development into our neighborhood and amend the comprehensive plan to permit rezoning from low-density single-family to high-density multifamily (at 2212 Freeman Mill Road). This would invite a cascade of rezoning requests and destroy the character of our neighborhood.

We also are concerned that Michael Fox, the attorney for both the property's seller and for the developer, is also a member of the Planning Board. Although the board does not make zoning decisions, it does influence land-use policy more generally. For example, on Oct. 19, the board discussed the Land Development Ordinance Rewrite, whose purpose is to implement the Comprehensive Plan. Since Fox represents clients who wish to modify the plan, it appears inappropriate to many citizens for him to be a part of a body that makes policy concerning the plan. Moreover, it appears that his role on that board allows him access to or knowledge of staff who make recommendations about projects, including those Fox represents.

While this may not constitute a direct conflict of interest, it is a situation I believe gives Fox and others an appearance of having an unfair advantage over average citizens.

Elizabeth Keathley
Greensboro

A few brave members of Congress are now making a call that should have been made at least two-and-a-half years ago. Resolutions have been introduced in the U.S. House that would create a committee to investigate the criminal activities of the Bush administration and recommend grounds for impeachment of top officials, as well as censure George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

The Downing Street memo and other revelations point to the manipulation of intelligence and skewing of information in order to generate support for the war in Iraq, whose tremendous toll we see every day. Secret spying on U.S. citizens and other violations of the Bill of Rights are also cause for alarm.

It is time for a full public inquiry into the events that led up to the Iraq war, as well as the erosion of civil liberties spearheaded by this administration. Please call your federal representatives at their district offices and urge them to support H.R. 635 (to create an investigation committee), H.R. 636 (to censure Bush) and H.R. 637 (to censure Cheney). The facts must be known in order to hold our leaders accountable to American values.

Malcolm M. Kenton
Greensboro

With the New Year comes all our good resolutions to make positive changes in our lives. Some of these are easier to keep than others.

The average tobacco user makes five or more attempts to quit before he is finally smoke-free or chew-free for life. The most important message he needs to hear is "don't quit quitting!" If you keep on trying, you will get better and better at quitting.

While it is never easy, the statistics are on your side -- your chances of quitting permanently get better each time you try. While quitting tobacco use might be one of the most difficult resolutions to keep, finding the resources to help is easier than ever.

Visit North Carolina's new free quit line and Web site at 1-800-QUIT NOW (800-784-8669) and www.quitlinenc.com.

Quitting smoking or chewing may be the most difficult thing you do this year, but there is no other single health change that will make such a huge difference in reducing your risk of disease and increasing your quality of life. Your friends, your family and the new quit line are here to help.

Mary Gillett
Greensboro
The writer is director, Guilford County Tobacco Prevention Coalition, Guilford County Department of Public Health.

With the passing of Stanley Frank, we have heard deserved praise of his leadership accomplishments, philanthropy and love of Greensboro. He possessed another quality that was especially endearing and less obvious: unusual character and integrity.

Some time ago, I listened while Stanley offered the following advice to a colleague who was assuming a new leadership role: "Effective leaders must always be positive, and your most important asset is your integrity; once the public trust is compromised, it is lost forever."

Stanley lived by these beliefs, and for these reasons, many sought his council. Whether you agreed with him was unimportant. He would offer you his best advice, always direct, honest, thoughtful and encouraging.

He lived his life understanding that, while difficult at times, leadership brings with it a special responsibility to behave in an exemplary manner. Given the many public scandals that have eroded trust in our leaders and institutions, he was a remarkable example of optimism and integrity.

Robert Frost could have been thinking of Stanley in his poem, "The Road Not Taken": "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled, And that has made all the difference."

Neil M. Belenky
Greensboro
The writer is president, United Way of Greater Greensboro.

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Charles A. Jones

I challenge the "analysis" of the 14th Amendment in "Amendment guarantees basic rights" in Melanie Wilcox's Dec. 28 Counterpoint column.

She wrote that the amendment "incorporates from other amendments the protection of free speech and freedom of religion" and "Loss of this amendment would legitimize many intrusions into our personal lives. Our homes would be subject to arbitrary invasion without warrants. Our freedom to worship or speak out against tyranny without fear of reprisals would be jeopardized."

Her comments sound noble, but they do not appear in the 14th Amendment's text. Like much of the media, public, and government, she overlooks plain meaning, context and history to reach the result she wants.

The original constitutional scheme was this: the first eight amendments to the Constitution protected certain individual freedoms from federal encroachment, as proved by the First Amendment beginning "Congress shall make no law ...." The states retained "police power," i.e., the power to govern individual conduct via criminal law and procedure. State constitutions and laws protected state citizens from state actions. Thus, a state arrest for a state crime should never reach a federal court unless another part of the Constitution gives the court jurisdiction. Congress could always make acts federal crimes if it had the constitutional authority to do so.

While the drafters of the Bill of Rights did not clarify that amendments one through eight applied only to federal encroachment, the Supreme Court held in 1833 in Barron v. Baltimore that the first eight amendments limited only federal power.

After the 14th Amendment was enacted, however, activist Supreme Courts used its "due process" clause to "selectively incorporate" various parts of the first eight amendments as limitations on state government, causing an illogical hodgepodge of limitations on the states.

The court, for example, holds the First Amendment as "incorporated," rewriting it as "Congress and the States shall make no law ..." yet it has not "incorporated" the Second Amendment.

Another example is the unconstitutional imposition of policy on the states in the Miranda decision (the Bill of Rights contains none of Miranda's warnings).

A policy may be laudable, but no level or branch of government can or should impose it absent federal or state constitutional authority to do so.

So, those wondering why a federal court is examining a state search should look to activist judges, not to the 14th Amendment.

The author, a Greensboro native, is a lawyer, writer and colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve living in Norfolk, Va.

The article about Alcohol and Drug Services in the News & Record (Jan. 6) exposed what many of us have known for some time. In my opinion, it is a gigantic waste of money to continue to fund them. I have been involved with recovering alcoholics and drug addicts for almost 30 years. I know many crack addicts and alcoholics, including myself, who have been clean and sober for many years. I am very familiar with ADS, and I would rate them practically useless.
I hope the county commissioners take a good look at where they are spending money and will allow those of us who are recovering some input in future treatment plans. Crack addiction is at epidemic levels and is costing untold millions of dollars. Many of those in our jails and prisons are addicts.

I absolutely know that proper treatment does work. The main problem is we have several so-called treatment centers around like ADS that don't have a clue how to treat these people.

Wayne Stutts
Greensboro

Your editorial (Dec. 22) on a local anti-nuclear group's allegations about security at our Harris Nuclear Plant urges swift, fair and honest answers to these charges. We agree completely.

Security at the Harris Nuclear Plant and all our nuclear facilities is a top priority for Progress Energy. When these allegations were brought forth, we launched an immediate internal investigation and confirmed that the plant is secure and protected. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has notified us that it plans to send three representatives to the site to look into the allegations as well. We are confident that the Harris plant and all of our nuclear plants are well-protected. We take extensive measures to ensure our plants are secure by employing a dedicated security force of highly trained and heavily armed guards to protect the Harris plant 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have significantly increased the number of guards at our plants and doubled our annual security operating budget.

We welcome the NRC's inspection and look forward to its results. Our responsibility is to protect the plant, its personnel and the public, and it's a responsibility we take seriously.

C.S. "Scotty" Hinnant
Raleigh

The writer is senior vice president, Progress Energy.

I'm angry. The news that former Greensboro police Chief David Wray was first stripped of his authority to make decisions and then locked out of his own office (before resigning under pressure) is so unfair. I have known Chief Wray for many years and find him to be capable and honest.

The men and women of the police department should have been allowed to get on with their assignments and to go about protecting the citizens of this city.

Rose Scruggs
Greensboro

I find it interesting that there are concerns about the lack of funding in the mental health system, yet the top three administrative staff at Guilford Center Mental Health make a combined total of more than $325,000 each year. Billie Martin Pierce, the director, makes $143,000 per year. I think it is obscene that people are in desperate need of mental health services and this dollar amount is being paid for three salaries. If this kind of money is being paid across the state, it is no wonder mental health is in such disarray.

Steve Johnson
Greensboro

During all of the 1970s through the mid-1980s, I had the privilege of working with Stanley Frank. He was truly an icon and was very instrumental in helping to move Greensboro forward. I was deeply saddened to learn of his passing. I extend my warmest heartfelt sympathy to his family. He will be greatly missed.

Shirley J. McFarland
Greensboro

The writer is former executive secretary, Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce.

Words cannot express my appreciation to the News & Record and other Triad media for your warm and personal coverage of the life of Stanley Frank. The press was so gracious in describing my father's love not only for his family, but for this wonderful community he was honored to serve. The outpouring of support from so many outstanding people from all walks of life truly validated my father's belief that Greensboro and the greater Triad are the greatest places anyone could call home.

My family extends our sincere thanks for the time and attention that you gave to sharing his story.

Barry Frank
Greensboro

It seems incredible that at one of the most popular crossroads in Greensboro, a safe crossing on foot is virtually impossible. Just one inadequate "Walk" sign protects Friendly Avenue and College Road. Hundreds of Guilford College students and scores of Friends Homes residents could be encouraged to walk to any of the three banks, the major grocery store and the scores of retail outlets nearby. Does it take any special political pull to have the city do this necessary installation?

Alex Karter
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Chuck Fortune

Recent news reports that note criticism of the inpatient facility of Alcohol and Drug Services as having too many vacant beds and too much short-term treatment ("Officials call for change in rehab," Jan. 7) highlight the problems created by mental health reform, managed care, scarce resources and best-practice treatment.

Alcohol and Drug Services (ADS) is licensed to provide non-hospital detoxification, residential treatment, partial hospitalization and halfway house services at the facility.

Clients who come to ADS meet with our trained therapists who interview each individual. Then, based on the American Society of Addiction Medicine criteria, or ASAM, the client's level of treatment is determined, as required by the state.

If the client is unable to pay for treatment or has no insurance, ADS must call the Guilford Center for authorization for treatment. If the client is found to need inpatient medical detoxification services, the authorizations are usually for three days. More time may be allowed if medical risks continue. Only certain "target population" clients are eligible for detoxification covered services.

Following medical detoxification, a client may be upgraded to residential treatment if his particular needs match ASAM criteria and the Guilford Center authorizes treatment.

Most clients leave detoxification and transfer directly to one of our outpatient sites in either High Point or Greensboro for more therapy, but again only if and when the Guilford Center authorizes those services.

This is the reality of behavioral health care provided through state funds. Most clients receive their services on an outpatient basis.

Many people remember the days when addicts could enter facilities for 28 days of treatment often accompanied by participation in 12-step programs. Now we must use best-practice treatment guidelines.

ADS is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. We do encourage clients to learn about and, if they choose, participate in 12-step programs.

Hopefully, as people come to understand how the funds from the state must be used, their concerns will be directed at the source.

The writer is executive director, Alcohol and Drug Services.

We would have hoped that staff writer Nancy McLaughlin, who is always careful to note the broader perspectives on contentious issues, would have focused on Ariel Sharon’s historic transformation from a hardened military leader to a man who had a vision. This was a vision of a realistic peace despite the challenges from both Israelis and the surrounding population who did not always have the vision themselves.

Despite what many both in and beyond the Jewish community perceive to be objectionable crimes of Sharon, the comparison to Hitler lacks sensitivity toward Jews, for whom Hitler is obviously beyond comparison.

Given the lack of civility and unwillingness to recognize the reality of managing the conflict in Israel among many politicians in the Middle East (note President Ahmedinejab of Iran, President Assad of Syria and many others), as well as some of the local leaders quoted in the Jan. 7 article, it begs the question of what can be expected in a climate of constant fear and loathing?

An observation — Does Sharon deserve more vitriol spewed forth from Muslim, fundamentalist Christian and Arab leaders than was given when Yasser Arafat died? Only history will tell.

Amanda Stang
Chapel Hill
Judith Hyman
Greensboro

Editor’s note: The reference to Hitler was quoted from one of the people interviewed for the story; the reporter did not make the comparison.

The News & Record printed a front-page article written by Nancy McLaughlin (Jan. 7) which stated that Israel’s ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "used his power just as Hitler had — slaughtering innocent people." Although these words show a misunderstanding of the singularity of Hitler’s ideological campaign to exterminate the Jews in 20th-century Europe as well as Ariel Sharon’s political agenda as Israeli prime minister, they also strike a deep chord of sensitivity among Greensboro’s Jewish community.

The association of Ariel Sharon with Adolf Hitler is an obvious affront to the contemporary Jewish identity in the South. The author tries to make clear that Jews base their judgments of Middle East affairs on a hypocritical value system; we mourn our recent genocide while we inflict it on Palestinians today. That assertion cannot be substantiated beyond opinion and instead merely reflects Anti-Semitic undertones born from ignorance.

Zachary A. Kaplan
Greensboro

Catch the culprits in the act of throwing trash out of their car windows and give ’em a ticket. In addition to court costs, charge ’em $250. It works in Georgia. See for yourself. Visit the Helen, Ga., area. (Our state highway patrolmen may have to drive unmarked patrol cars, though.)

Joyce Ward
Asheboro

A recent letter to the editor suggested that the paper "lied" to us in reporting that the miners in West Virginia had been found alive. The letter suggested that reporting based on news from the scene is akin to President Bush having lied to the nation about Iraq. The letter writer said that it "turns out [Bush] may have been given exaggerated intelligence." The two situations are anything but comparable.

It’s clear that in a rapidly updating news story, newspapers and television news passed along the latest information they had, and immediately apologized and corrected when given more up-to-date information. The Bush administration, however, has been making preparations to attack Iraq since spring 2001. Any prompting to exaggerate the intelligence were top-down. If the letter writer has heard murmurs of impeachment, moreover, it is not because Bush "may have been given exaggerated intelligence" on Iraq but because his statements on the record clearly show that he has in fact lied to the nation for several years about widespread and unconstitutional wiretapping.

Beth Woodard
Jamestown

The birthday of the man upon whose teachings St. Paul formed the rudimentary beginnings of the Christian religion has recently been celebrated. We know so little of this man Jesus and yet He is quoted often when we have nothing else with which to support an opinion. Almost everyone seems to know what He would have thought on subjects from sexual orientation to the type of SUV He would drive.

However, often these are the same thoughts or opinions we ourselves have on the subject. The four Gospels, which are the main sources of our knowledge of this man’s thoughts, have approximately 82,500 words (King James Version), and of these some 36,600 are words quoted from Jesus. The duplication in the four Gospels is perhaps as much as 50 percent. This would reduce the recorded words of Jesus to about 18,000.

In just the three years of His ministry, He had thousands of hours to talk, answer questions and discuss things with His disciples and other people they met in their travels.

Yet, we have only a few ideas about what was discussed or what His opinions were, and those were recorded many years after He spoke them.

John W. Taylor
Greensboro

I am a public defender and former assistant district attorney. I have worked with and consider myself a friend of Julia Hejazi. I am amazed at the comments of so-called supporters of Hejazi regarding her dismissal. They cannot have spoken with her because I know that she would be the first to espouse the importance of loyalty and unity in the work of prosecutors.

I’m sure she would say that there are 28 prosecutors in Guilford County, many, if not most, of whom are as, if not more, experienced, talented and dedicated as Julia. Julia was given the choice to forgo politics and remain an ADA. She chose to seek higher office. The others chose to remain.

This race should not be about one prosecutor but about the direction the office will take. I know Julia would also say that whatever differences she may have with Doug Henderson politically, he is anything but selfish or political. He was faced with an employee who was going to work to put him out of his position. Most district attorneys would not have offered her a choice.

John Nieman
Julian

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Mark Gottsegen

The AP story about Calvin Woodward’s bicycle trip across the U.S. ("Roads less traveled: Biking across U.S.," News & Record, Dec. 30) prompts me to remind you that your archives probably contain a better story about Weston Hatfield’s clockwise circumnavigation of the United States, by bicycle, in 1988-89. I’m sure he had dozens of better stories of that trip, too.

I know about Weston’s trip because I was on my own counterclockwise circumnavigation of the country then, albeit in my 1957 IH Metro van with my dog and a bunch of paints. You published a story on my trip in 1990, when I had an exhibit of paintings from the trip at the Weatherspoon Art Museum.

In fact, Weston and I were then friends, and I surprised him by finding out where he was going to be in the summer of 1988 (Cleveland, of all places) and showing up on the doorstep of his lodgings. He had just come from visiting with my future wife and her family in Michigan, and, as I recall, we went out to dinner in some cool neighborhood.

With three kids and a big-time job, Weston’s doing a different kind of traveling these days. But I still have my Metro and go various places in it, to paint and to collect more stories about people and places.

Thanks for the memories.

The writer lives in Climax.

The following is a Counterpoint.

By STEVE CRIHFIELD

I continue to be bemused at the ruminations of the school board. We are constantly being told by the educationists that, by mixing students socioeconomically, racially, by fields of interests, etc., students will learn more and better. This is not a problem unique to Guilford County. It permeates education in the United States today.

Even though the law says all people are equal before it, clearly all people are not intellectually equal. Therefore, educational efforts cannot be the same and will never educate everyone equally. Over the last 40 or so years, we have seen a decline in the quality of public education and the results that flow from it. This is true even though we have been asked as taxpayers to pour more and more money into a system that continues to fail at an ever-increasing rate. There is something wrong here.

The fundamental problem is structural. Public education is controlled by, and dominated by, the provider of the service. The consumer of the service has little or no voice in the process. Thus, there is no way to repudiate poor performance provided to the consumer. If you run a restaurant and serve lousy food, no one will come and you will be out of business; likewise, if you run a store and offer goods that no one wishes to buy, you will go out of business. However, in public education, no matter how poorly the system works, the public has no alternative.

True, some parents are able to opt out of the public school system with the penalty of continuing to pay taxes for a school system they do not use while paying for private school. These are the fortunate few. The rest of the public has no choice but to put up with the results described above.

The public education system is a form of communism, providing control of the system from the top down. The teacher's union, i.e., the NEA, has a vested interest in seeing that the system stays as it is. Under these circumstances, it, too, comes to the public year after year asking for more money to provide an ever-poorer-performing program. Sooner or later, the American public ought to get fed up with this and do something about it.

Some have advocated school vouchers where every student is given the opportunity to go to the school of their own choice. If this were to occur, we would immediately find out which schools perform well and which do not.

Unless and until students are expected to achieve academically, teachers teach academic subjects in a rigorous manner, and students who do not behave are asked to leave, the educational system in this county and elsewhere will continue to decline.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I am amazed at the out-of-touch mentality of our Guilford County commissioners who seem always ready to talk but rarely to listen and get facts before opening their mouths. I am referring to the most recent outbursts about Alcohol & Drug Services and its treatment philosophy.

By now, the whole state of North Carolina, excepting our commissioners, knows the problems of North Carolina mental health reform. The legislature has mandated a two-tier system, with Guilford County Mental Health operating as the LME (Line Management Entity), which in turn contracts for clinical services to our public. One of these clinical service providers is ADS. The state then reimburses the LME with state funds, augmented by Medicaid, insurance and local funds, to pay for those clinical services. These clinical services are pre-authorized.

If our commissioners would put bipartisan pressure on the state legislature to eliminate this two-headed monster, with separate management and administrative structures (25 percent of the total dollars spent are for administrative functions), they might be accused of being good managers of our tax dollars.

I expect this non-informed knee-jerk reaction from big-mouth Skip Alston, but I am very disappointed in the rest of them.

Hugh G. Mann
Greensboro

I couldn't believe the article in the children's section (Jan. 3). From the Washington Post, it was about homeless children living in the gutters in Sudan.

The article certainly contained important world news, but the material was for mature readers. My third-grader usually reads that section, but I'm glad I put the paper in the recycling bin before she saw it. She has a deep sense of social responsibility, and it would have bothered her soul to read about abused homeless children and five minutes later head to the bus stop.

My sixth-grader is better able to handle the content, but not without parental conversation to discuss the issues mentioned in the column, like AIDS, homelessness, war, substance abuse and sexual assault.

Because my older child, an avid reader, has been reading the paper since she was in second grade, I learned early on to take precautions about what was accessible to her eyes.

Until now, I thought that the kid news section was "safe." I would like to think there are people at the News & Record who see to it that age-appropriate material is included on a "kid-friendly" page, but this is a data point to the contrary.

Gail Webster
Jamestown

It is not given to us to know the future, and extrapolating from the present in these turbulent times is a chancy proposition. Consulting the past for guidance is usually more reliable. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

The obvious precedent for Iraq is Vietnam. Our first "advisers" arrived in January 1955, and the war lasted for 20 years. No successful conclusion was reached, and 55,000 brave Americans essentially died for nothing.

Some say we will show weakness if we withdraw from Iraq without "victory," whatever that may be. But we have exhibited all too often our willingness to fight in foreign lands. We have lost more than 2,000 troops there -- again essentially for nothing. Should we stay indefinitely and lose some part of 53,000 more?

Some say better to fight in Iraq than here. That premise is fallacious -- terrorists are everywhere. Many factors make us highly vulnerable at home. Our homeland security, such as it is, could only be improved if our Iraq troops were available domestically.

The consequences of admitting our mistake and coming home would manifestly be less adverse than continuing this war in a country that historically fights incessantly and barbarously.

Dan Maddox
Greensboro

Teachers might prefer perks over more pay
Normally, I avoid commenting on our education system, but your Sunday Ideas section (Jan. 8) begged for contributions, so here are three bites from food for thought.

• In this year of school board elections, I ask each hopeful to discover the answer (there's only one) to the question: What can we taxpayers demand from public education? (Hint: It's short — three words, two adjectives and a noun.)

• Teachers are responsible for exploiting the natural curiosity of young people by guiding it to areas of knowledge outside their youthful ken. They do this because of a calling, a calling requiring respect. More money, while assuaging our guilt, reduces their calling to an underpaid job. What if we stopped competing on a salary basis and offer teachers real "citizen" perks, like exemption from state, county and city taxes?

• The law requires that young people must attend school to the age of 16, yet our education system says they're finished at 18. Let's bring the two divergent requirements together at the 16th year, the year we give them the privilege of driving an automobile. Why not focus our education system toward productive employment and connect the driving privilege to "employed" status?

Ben Andrews
Greensboro

I was glad to see your editorial, "Wade-Parks contest needs final decision," (Jan. 2). I congratulate you on your honest and unbiased reporting concerning the contest between Wade and Parks.

It is easy to understand why Wade refuses to concede her position to Parks when the Supreme Court supports her claim, that you must vote in the precinct where you reside. After all, she was ahead when the polls closed. It was only after the out-of-precinct votes were counted that she fell behind.

My hope is the Supreme Court will uphold its original ruling, and require registration and voting in assigned precincts.

In your editorial, you refer to Wade's tireless drive. That is certainly a quality I consider desirable, especially when it is used to try and right a wrong. She does a lot of research and studying so she can make informed decisions that will work for the good of this county. Let's hope she stays in her commissioner's seat and continues to work tirelessly for all of us.

Betty Aker
Randleman

In a recent opinion article, the freedom of the National Security Agency to "eavesdrop" on domestic and foreign calls and e-mails is said to be a mistake. I want to stress that while this may seem like a breach of our Fourth Amendment, it is really quite necessary.

The people that the NSA are tapping are thought to be terrorists who may or may not have the power to destroy America. While some argue tapping phone calls is an intrusion, keep in mind this intrusion is saving countless lives. If we don't use this power of technology, we will regret it.

Christopher Ball
Greensboro

I read with alarm that the new school buses did not have adequate heating systems and that Thomas Built has offered to repair them for $1,000 each by installing "fuel-fired heaters."

First, I rode a school bus in the mountains. It was not heated and I did not suffer. It was no big deal then in California and I don't think it is now in North Carolina.

More importantly, the county and state should have the heater systems checked for safety under all conditions and certified by an impartial and qualified third party. Gasoline-fired space heaters are accidents waiting to happen. We wouldn't allow them in a house trailer. Making one mobile and in the same steel box as our kids (OK, grandchildren), may be very unsafe.

My fix is to make sure children wear gloves, coats and earmuffs. We close schools during really cold days. Kids need these items while waiting for the bus anyway.

We will spend almost $1.5 million on a non-problem and make bus riding less safe. If transferring the marginally heated buses south of I-40 where it is warmer as suggested is the problem, the author of that solution deserves a prize.

Jon Stouky
Jamestown

This is a letter that I sent to President Bush:

Dear President Bush: I have heard from one of my friends who previously wrote to you that you are glad to hear the voices of the young citizens who live in this country. I am writing to you to express my feelings about your decisions for the past five years concerning the war in Iraq.

You are not necessarily a bad person -- as I have respect for anyone who can run a country as large as this -- but a good person who makes bad decisions.

The choice of inflicting war on Iraq was one of those bad decisions. Yesterday, Jan. 5, the news said that more people had died in Iraq than ever in the past four years on a single day. These deaths have resulted from one of your bad decisions. I hope that you will consider my point on this subject. War is not the answer.

Also, on the news, I heard someone asked you about how many Iraqis had died in the war and you responded, "30,000, more or less," as if it didn't matter. All lives matter, Iraqi ones too.

I hope you have received my points and will take them seriously.

Katie Rowlett
Greensboro
The writer is 12 years old.

I am writing about the article on today's front page concerning the large number of cats taken from the High Point apartment. With its focus on the unpleasant stench and filth, the article may well perpetuate the faulty notion that cats are nasty or dirty by nature. The truth is cats are among the most fastidious, clean animals. They hate being in a dirty, crowded environment.

In nature or in proper housing, much of a cat's day is spent grooming and cleaning itself. While this situation was unpleasant and unlivable for surrounding tenants, it was no picnic for the cats, either. They lived in misery and now must endure a trip through the shelter, through no fault of their own.

Another point is if there were a city ordinance limiting the number of animals a person may have, Animal Control could have stepped in long ago. This situation happens all too often.

Linda East
Greensboro
The writer is a veterinarian.

It's interesting to read how a writer takes one fact and blows it up to be a work of questionable fact. So it is with Ellen Goodman's column ("Update from the mommy wars," Jan. 10). She takes one situation and explodes it as a national crime.

Goodman reveals a total lack of understanding of what a mother is. Instead, she attempts to tear down motherhood to her level. Certainly, a woman has the right to enter or return to the work force as she chooses, but Goodman skewers those mothers who believe and practice the role of mother to the fullest. This is opposite of the feminists who want to destroy marriage and create some unknown lifestyle to the detriment of society.

Goodman's column comes to us because the News & Record can't afford better writers, so it must pay lesser talent.

Don Mulligan
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Pam Tomlin

I have been a regular reader of your paper for about three years. I did not know any of the miners trapped in the Sago Coal Mines in West Virginia ("Miscommunication stuns miners' families," Jan. 5), nor did I know any of their families.

Yet, I was jubilant when I heard on the radio that 12 miners were found alive, and I was saddened and shocked when I heard that this was, in fact, a mistake, and that 12 miners had, in fact, been confirmed dead.

No doubt there will be many debates on talk radio and TV in the coming months about how the news media need to be more responsible for themselves and their sources. I think this is an example of how media as a whole have gotten so big they are now out of control.

I think it's strange that the entertainment media can keep people up-to-date on the divorce proceedings of movie stars like Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston, yet the news media can't keep the facts straight on major news stories like the life or deaths of 12 coal miners.

Has our culture finally become so saturated with celebrity worship that the news media will not bother to get their facts straight the first time unless the story is about a celebrity?

Do people not have the right to believe the news that they hear on the radio or see on the TV, or read in the papers?

Maybe the answer is people taking more responsibility for what they allow themselves to believe from the news media.

I've heard that journalism professors at certain universities in the United States ask their students the question, "What do you do when major newspapers start quoting the tabloids?"

The answer? Don't believe anyone's information but your own.

The writer is Greensboro resident.

I just read with delight that Moses Cone hospitals are proposing to ban all smoking on their properties. What an innovative move to protect their employees who smoke, which I hope will help break them of their nasty habit, and visitors who come to see loved ones dying of lung cancer or other smoking-related diseases.

It's disgusting that, when you come into the hospital, you have to walk through a cloud of smoke and see the grounds covered with cigarette butts. Visitors take the stench with them to visit whomever.

I know what I'm talking about. I've been there and done that, and I thank God every day that I was able to give up that nasty, vicious habit. I'm paying the penalty for it now and will the rest of my life.

I hope many restaurant owners will see this and become smoke-free also. You will regain your old customers who left you because of smoking, and they will outnumber those who leave because they can't smoke. You could very well be a turning point in their lives, so give it some serious thought.

L.G. Rumley
Greensboro

Most of us don't understand the district attorney situation. Why, when we need a new district attorney, does the governor choose a "veteran defense attorney" when there is a very competent staff within the District Attorney's Office?

Then, the first thing this defense attorney does is fire a long-term, dedicated and competent assistant -- Julia Hejazi. Why? Nothing to do with her job performance, which is excellent, but because she will be running against him. Is this really in the best interest of the District Attorney's Office and the victims whom Julia Hejazi was serving?

I'm still wondering why a defense attorney. After all, "he is a lawyer." This is political nonsense. As a retired pathologist, I hope my pals will appoint me chief brain surgeon. After all, "I am a doctor."

This year's election can, hopefully, at least partially cure this mess.

Don Leonard
Greensboro

I was so glad to see the article on Coal Glen Mine (Jan. 6) by Donald Patterson. As a student nurse at St. Leo's Hospital in the late 1940s, I was told a most interesting story by Sister Regis regarding this tragedy. She knew I was from Chatham County.

Sister Regis told me that when the disaster happened, she and another sister were sent to the scene to help. She stated that injured men were placed on flatbed trains and taken to St. Leo's for treatment.

I can't imagine what this train ride would have been like. Makes us ever thankful for today's EMS and Air Care Transports.

Kathleen Williams
Siler City

Though I have served on many civic boards, I count as my most rewarding experience the 10 years I served on the PTI Airport Authority during and just after the construction of the present terminal.

The late Stanley Frank expected the best from authority members, but he was always willing to go beyond what he required of the rest of us. It is doubtful his like will be seen again.

Clarence Keever
High Point

Sorry, I have to disagree with Leonard Pitts (Jan. 9). The idea of watching two men have homosexual relations on the big screen turns my stomach. I have heard that people got up and left screenings of "Brokeback Mountain" because they were disgusted, too.

Pitts' lame attempt at explaining why it shouldn't be so disgusting (because men fantasize about two women together) is pathetic. I don't think he's sophisticated or broad-minded. I think he's desensitized himself to offensive material so he can be politically correct.

Susie Barnes
Greensboro

Regarding your article, "The vanishing male graduate" (Jan. 8, not posted): Upon looking at colleges for my son, I was struck by the number where males are a minority. I also noticed many had women's resource centers yet had no corresponding male resource programs. They support "diversity" but seem to discriminate against an obvious minority: males.

Males are not encouraged or supported. In some instances, they are barred from certain campus activities. What kind of message, whether overt or subtle, does this send to potential male students?

Joe Wade
Oak Ridge

I would like your newspaper to give a fair accounting of just who has received money from Jack Abramoff, his associates and Indian tribe clients. The fact that 40 of the 45 members of the Senate Democrat Caucus have taken money is buried by your eagerness to smear Tom DeLay and the Republicans by the use of misleading headlines, polls and just plain left-wing biased reporting. I'm just waiting for this whole issue to be blamed on President Bush as is typical of your usual frenzied Bush-bashing.

Martha McKee-Koletar
Bolivia

In 1986, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday became a holiday. In those 20 years, "I have a dream" has become part of every schoolchild's education. Institutions from the White House to McDonald's claim the right to honor Dr. King's memory.

In those same 20 years, the U.S. government has dismantled social programs and civil liberties, sent our sons and daughters abroad to war, and consistently favored the interests of the wealthy over the rights of the poor. Thirty-eight years after his death, Dr. King's work remains as urgent as ever.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a visionary, not a dreamer. A year before he died he spoke out against the war in Vietnam, describing the U.S. government as "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

His call was for action. "For the sake of this government," he said, "for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent." We can't honor Dr. King and remain silent.

On March 18, the third anniversary of the war in Iraq, North Carolinians will again gather to honor the fallen by ending that war. Details are at www.NCpeacejustice.org.

Liz Seymour
Greensboro

In response to Nathan Julian's letter about Hummer drivers (Jan. 8), some brief fact-finding should have been conducted.

First, don't confuse a Hummer with a Humvee (HMMWV); they may look the same, but they are not.

Second, according to Lt. Gen. R. Steven Whitcomb, as of Dec. 5, of the 30,000 wheeled vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, only about one-fourth are unarmored. Uncle Sam is producing more than 400 up-armored Humvees a month. These vehicles are large, complicated and expensive. We cannot crank them out like Honda Accords, so don't expect it. Again, check your facts.

Third, who is paying the larger chunk of taxes that help pay for these Humvees? The top 20 percent of income earners pay about 70 percent of the total federal tax burden. SUV price tags come with hefty tax bills: sales taxes, property taxes, and the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax.

Driving a nice automobile is a reward of being successful, for working hard and earning money. Without such rewards, there would be no motivation to succeed. We could then accept the philosophy of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs," proposed by Karl Marx in 1875.

John Dixon
Kernersville

I found the actions of City Manager Mitchell Johnson and his advisers in locking Chief David Wray out of his office to be childlike and distasteful. What ever happened to professionalism in city government? It is certainly not evident here.

Manager Johnson and his staff would have better served the citizens of Greensboro had they busied themselves getting the leaves off the streets of this city.

Bill Mauldin
Greensboro

The Jan. 10 News & Record headline said, "Chief quits with great regret."

I, too, felt great regret as I read the article. Police Chief David Wray was reared in southeastern Guilford County, as was I. I have known him and his family, a law-enforcement family, for many years.

Regarding Chief Wray's resignation, I coin oft-uttered words: "I don't have a dog in that fight," and, therefore, know nothing about the facts and circumstances surrounding said resignation.

So, as I write in support of Chief Wray, I enter unknown waters that may be infested with reefs, rocks, shoals, even sharks. Some observers claim that Chief Wray is unfit to serve as our chief of police, but I am not ready to embrace that conclusion.

Meanwhile, I remain convinced that Chief Wray is indeed fit to serve as our chief of police.

Howard Coble
Greensboro

Congressman Coble represents North Carolina's 6th District.

What is next from the new city manager, City Council and county commissioners for the residents of Greensboro to endure due to their ineptness?

City Manager Mitchell Johnson apparently is trying to make a big splash with the City Council, while destroying our city. He doesn't hold a candle to Chief Wray.

The last time I looked at an organizational chart, the chief of police was being paid to manage his department with the support of the city manager, not the disgruntled employees.

Who is running our city government: the city manager, the mayor or the City Council?

Jean Smith
Greensboro

This is in response to Amy Dominello's article, "Guilford's slow to take out trash," Jan. 9.

The citizens of Guilford County can be active participants in ensuring that the roadways of our county and the rest of our state are kept clean, beautiful and safe by contacting the Swat-A-Litterbug program when they see a motorist or passenger littering.

Note the vehicle's license number (it must be a North Carolina tag), and the time, date, street, city and county in North Carolina.

Call 1-877-DOT-4YOU (1-877-368-4968) or log on to www.ncdot.org/doh/operations/dp_chief_eng/roadside/Beautification/Litterbug and enter the information. You may remain anonymous.

Vehicle owners will receive a letter notifying them of the littering offense, informing them of the penalties for littering and urging them to stop.

That may be just enough to help them remember that littering is a crime.

Donna Ehinger
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint coulmn:

By Albert K. Som-Pimpong

I heard with utter dismay and sadness about the sudden resignation of our esteemed police chief, David Wray.

In September of last year, I had the high honor of traveling with Chief Wray to Israel on the Interfaith Mission Tour and was blessed to have him as my roommate for the entire duration of our tour, which lasted 11 days. We spent time praying together each night before retiring to bed and in the morning before we left for our schedule.

Chief Wray exhibited a high caliber of humility and selflessness throughout our entire stay together. He treated me, along with the other blacks on the team, with great respect and a high sense of dignity. In fact, he was more apt to ensure our safety and comfort. His quiet and thoughtful demeanor was a great virtue worthy of anyone's emulation.

It is, therefore, very unfortunate that such a man of high repute would be treated with such contempt and gross disregard, to the extent of stripping him of the power he needed to do his work effectively, in order to facilitate his resignation. I believe our august body, the City Council, could have worked harder to ensure peace and harmony in the Police Department between the rank and file and the chief, as well as between the city manger and the chief, if the City Council really wanted him around.

Who wants to be a figurehead? That is what the city manager turned Chief Wray into when he stripped him of his power. Now that he is gone, will the city manager still retain that power? If so, there is no need to hire another chief. The city manager should add that position to his portfolio.

The city of Greensboro has really lost a great servant leader.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

As a classmate of David Wray from Southeast Guilford Senior High School, I was surprised and shocked of the news of the ex-chief and a "black book" which, I understand, was kept in the trunk of Deputy Chief Randall Brady's patrol car.

I have known Wray for a number of years and never saw this side of him as a student during our days at Southeast or the present. He has spoken at the church where I serve as pastor, New Goshen United Methodist Church in Greensboro.

I feel that the community needs to know the purpose of the "black book" and who and why 114 pictures of only African Americans, including 19 police officers, are in such a book. I have enough faith to believe that through prayer and faith the truth to this issue and other issues is going to come to light soon.

Meanwhile, the community is blessed to have Tim Bellamy, my friend, as interim chief. I serve with Bellamy on the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council of Greensboro and Guilford County. Bellamy is a Christian, a role model and a mentor for our community.

Carl L. Manuel Jr.
Greensboro

One of a handful of people your reporters sought out for comments on the resignation of police Chief David Wray for a Jan. 10 article was Willena Cannon, who was prominently featured and identified as a "housing advocate" and "community activist."

Shouldn't you also have noted that Willena Cannon was a member of the Communist Workers Party that sought to start a revolution in Greensboro to overthrow the U.S. government and install a "dictatorship of the proletariat," in part by destroying public confidence in the police?

Shouldn't you have reported that she accused the Greensboro Police Department of planning and carrying out the murders of her comrades on Nov. 3, 1979? Shouldn't you have mentioned that she was charged with inciting riot and interfering with arrest after attacking police officers that day? Shouldn't you have pointed out that her son's lengthy prison sentences were the object of demonstrations by her former comrades and others? Wouldn't this tend to shade her opinions? And don't your readers deserve to know that?

The bigger question is why would Willena Cannon be asked to comment about police matters not involving her in the first place?

Jerry Bledsoe
Asheboro

How is that Greensboro is no longer green and clean? I have been coming to Greensboro since 1975, and I have always been amazed at how beautiful our city and state are. This is no longer true about our city.

Every day as I drive to and from work, I am amazed at the amount of trash that is now on our streets and highways. What has happened to us? Is it that we no longer care?

Jo-Ann Fredricksen
Greensboro

Stanley Frank was a great citizen and mentor. We feel compelled to write another letter about Mr. Frank's impact on Greensboro. There's no better time to recognize the example set by this fine, humble man. He has been an entrepreneurial example for this fine community. As has been said by many people, Stanley loved this community and its residents dearly.

Stanley was the kind of man who never said no, and as one person said, "If he found out about a meeting to make this city better and wasn't invited, he would let them know about it."

He was never late for a meeting during the 45 years we knew him, and he always came in with a positive attitude and "what can I do to help?" mind-set.

We'd like to challenge our bright, young entrepreneurial people in Greensboro to read Ned Cline's book, "Stanley Frank: Greensboro's Quiet Benefactor," and internalize what he did. Hopefully, some will develop his kind of passion for this great community and create many more Stanleys.

God bless Stanley and the wonderful lady, Dorothy, who helped make all of this possible through her love, support and willingness to share her beautiful man.

Donald and Mary Gay Brady
Greensboro

Thank you, Joyce Ward, for suggesting that litterbugs be fined (letter, Jan. 12). While we wait for that to go into effect, I have a suggestion for all of us who are disturbed when we see a bag of fast-food remnants hurled out a car window.

If the opportunity is there, pull up beside them at the light, smile real big and motion for them to roll down the window. Kindly tell them you couldn't help but notice that they lost something a ways back. When they appear confused, remind them it was a lovely bag of trash.

Barbara Currie
Summerfield

Samuel Alito avoided answering too many important questions and was evasive about his past. His wife's theatrical outburst in the hearing was ridiculous, too.

Lee Wallace
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Vernon Powell

Once again our civic leaders have tripped over their own feet. The elected officials and appointed managers of Greensboro have run off unquestionably the most qualified individual serving Greensboro as chief of police.

David Wray began his law-enforcement career as a security officer at UNCG and, upon graduation, gained employment as an officer with the Greensboro Police Department in 1981. He rose through the ranks as sergeant, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief, and was appointed chief in 2003. His father retired from the Guilford County Sheriff's Department. There was not an individual on this earth any more qualified for or dedicated to the job of chief of police in Greensboro than David Wray. It's much better to judge a picture in its entirety and not from one subject.

What began as an internal investigation (a police matter) has now become a racial issue, a scheduling issue and a witch hunt. An officer and his attorney have manipulated this entire situation. It is a racial issue, and the individual discriminated against is former Chief Wray.

I once worked at the Dupont Polyester Plant in Leland during the heydays of double knit. The manufacturers couldn't make enough, and Dupont ran its machines 24/7/365. I worked shift work. Nobody likes shift work, but Dupont, being a successful and profitable company, required it. Management and rank-and-file police officers do not like rotating shift work just as I didn't, but for our citizens to be protected and our communities made safe, police and city management elected to put in a rotating shift. It was initiated in the best interest of our community and with the full knowledge of the city manager at that time.

Everyone acknowledges the hiring of consultants is weak. A consultant can find something wrong with anything, even the city manager's office. That's what they're hired to do.

This money would have been better spent by shoring up the police officers' payroll budget, something that Chief Wray has been advocating since his appointment. When will we learn?

Mitch Johnson has been on the payroll as city manager since Aug. 1, 2005. David Wray was on the Greensboro police force since 1981. Who do you want making decisions about police department personnel and other police matters? Mayor Holliday, City Council members and newly appointed City Manager Johnson have messed up our city's bed, and now we citizens have to sleep in it. Thanks a lot.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I watched some of the first three days of the hearings about whether Judge Samuel Alito shall be confirmed for appointment to the Supreme Court. He will be.

While he's a Bush appointee, the fact is that he's excellently qualified. There's no denying that, unless something unexpectedly surfaces, and after three days that isn't likely.

Bush, while he enjoys a minimum of my own high regard, was duly elected over my party's rather inadequate nominee and he is entitled to appoint a "conservative" (whatever that is) if he wants to.

The hearings themselves have been illuminating only insofar as a number of senators have exposed their own inadequacies to public view. I would think most watchers will carry away the impression that Judge Alito, in an environment about law, is far above most of both his supporters and his adversaries.

Dick Wharton
Greensboro

Thomas Sowell's column (Jan. 10) is egregiously misleading as is the inflammatory headline you chose for it — "Green liars drive up the cost of housing."

To address one of many unsubstantiated assertions, it isn't likely that high urban housing prices are driven by land-use restrictions that create open space or protect farmland. Sowell might consider cities in his native state of North Carolina such as Charlotte or Greensboro. Only those most fearful of open space and farmland could possibly believe housing prices in those cities only exceed those in rural areas because of land-use restrictions.

The law of supply and demand still works. Governments and landowners choose to protect land for many and varied reasons. As citizens, our input shapes land-use plans that result in parks and open space. Landowners, farmers or not, make their own choices to protect land, some for family heritage or financial reasons.

The unsubstantiated assertions and name-calling of Sowell's column and your headline respect neither landowner motivations nor citizen desires expressed through our government.

Charles S. Brummitt
Greensboro

Thomas Sowell touched a delicate balance regarding the agenda of "Green Liars" in keeping out other people. He denigrated "open space" and farmland preservation, by focusing on the high "housing prices in Manhattan, coastal California and posh suburbs." I wonder what he thinks about Central Park?

John R. Dykers Jr.
Siler City

As I read the news of the mine explosion in West Virginia, there was a flashback to mid-1938 in Bartley, W.Va. A dreadful mine explosion at the Island Creek Coal Co. took the lives of 90 miners.

My husband, a shipping clerk, and all employees remained in the office night and day, answering questions for the distraught family members of loved ones known to be trapped. Grieving people walked the narrow streets, weeping, some praying. Our next-door neighbor's handsome son, married a year, was among the fatalities. No one escaped the suffocating black damp that filled the mine.

There were funerals every day after the men were brought up. As I sang in the choir, I wondered why anyone would choose such a career, and most of all, how little appreciation we have even now for people who risk their lives every day that ours may be comfortable — especially our military.

Nell B. Lewis
Greensboro

Your article on litter ("Guilford's slow to take out trash," Jan. 9) reported the problem but offered few solutions. The cost of effective enforcement of the anti-littering law seems to be more than hiring the clean-up. Except for litter that accidentally flies off of trucks, all the other littering is done by people who roll down their windows and throw it out, a conscious act on their part.

This idea may help. Before granting an operator's license, require every person to sign an affidavit that he will neither litter nor permit any passenger to do so, the penalty being loss of license. Also place trash containers at frequent, convenient stops along the highway to receive the trash.

Gerald C. Parker
Greensboro

I intend to respond to the survey you published last week, but because this is fresh on my mind, I would like to send along this little addendum:

The News & Record publishes the rants of Molly Ivins, who has been stuck on "Hate Bush" for so long she can hardly think of anything else to write. As a counterpoint to Ms. Ivins, why don't you run Ann Coulter?

I know you have Thomas Sowell and Cal Thomas (please find some heavier weight than Cal to represent the right) and Giles Lambertson.

Also George Will and Kathleen Parker, both of whom lean right but are willing to take the right to task when deserved. But you offset those with Eugene Robinson, Ellen Goodman, Trudy Rubin and Leonard Pitts, all of whom are totally left-leaning.

How about some balance, especially to counteract the vile ranting of Ivins?

Mike Crouch
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Bill Wise

Regarding the Jan. 2 column, "States should test older drivers," by Richard Harsham of the Washington Post:

The author posits that old drivers should be tested often (so we can get them off the road).

Under the guise of calling for good government, he draws a picture of older drivers bumping, banging, weaving down the highway through stop signs and wishes to take the burden off of family and friends and pass it to the state to remove them from our roads.

Then the teenagers, the drunken drivers, the speeders and those with one hand on the steering wheel and the other frozen to the cell phone will have free rein.

Where has this man been?

Of course, as we grow older, our reflexes and physical capacities diminish. So what else is new?

Most older drivers recognize this and react accordingly. They may stop driving during inclement weather or after dark. Their daylight driving may occur after the 7 to 9 morning rush and before the 5 to 7 p.m. one. Some also become more cautious and in time may hang it up. Others do this; admittedly, not all. This is not a perfect world.

Those older drivers who are cautious and competent do not want incompetent old drivers on the road. But older drivers who are realistic, cautious and competent don't deserve to be singled out to lose their independence for others' convenience.

I wonder if Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno drove themselves to the Orange Bowl or did they have drivers because it was after dark and they might not see the curb reflectors.

The author states that he is the author of "Rude Awakenings." Well, I have one for him. This gentleman is way off base. His suggestion is specious.

If we must respond, then I suggest the following program: Test annually all drivers who are older than 80. Test those who have been convicted of speeding, DWI or other driving violations every six months.

Also, test every six months those who are addicted to their cell phones while driving, including a test of reflexes. If individuals have two or more DWI convictions, they should report for tests before every weekend to assure us they are off the sauce.

And, oh, yes, test all citizens named Richard Harsham (and those who think like him) every 30 days. All in the interest of the common good. Of course.

The writer is a Greensboro senior citizen with a clean driving record.

Guilford Education Alliance urges all citizens to attend tonight's High Point public forum, hosted by the Board of Education, in order for their voices to be heard regarding the issues of attendance zones and student assignment that now face our community. The meeting will be held at Providence Place, 1701 Westchester Drive, High Point, at 7 p.m.

Decisions around this issue are the responsibility of the Board of Education, but the input and involvement of parents, business leaders, students and community residents can enhance the decision-making process. Quality education for all of our children is our goal and must be the commitment of our entire community. We urge that a well-managed and reasonable process proceed so that our goal can be achieved.

Margaret Arbuckle
Jamestown
The writer is executive director, Guilford Education Alliance.

Regarding Nathan Julian's "Hummer Draft" letter (Jan. 8), suggesting that wealthy Humvee owners enter a lottery in which their vehicle, if chosen, should be melted down to armor existing Humvees in the Middle East:

First, coming up with an ostensibly patriotic notion to convey obvious disdain towards Humvees, and their owners, is decidedly unpatriotic. The fact is a fully armored Humvee is barely adequate in East L.A., much less Iraq.

General Motors, which purchased AM General's Humvee name, is now fully aware that the 25-year-old technology is not a viable platform for troop transport in today's warfare. Even M1-A1 Abrahm tanks have succumbed to IEDs. Semi-secret concept prototype vehicles have been conceived, built, and are undergoing tests at assorted proving grounds.

Secondly, you don't have to be wealthy to own a Humvee; two of my friends own new Humvees, neither of whom earns more than $30,000. Both are small-business owners who used that status to take advantage of a loophole in the tax law that allows you to purchase a $50,000, three-ton vehicle for small-business purposes, using it as a tax write-off at the end of the year. Each paid less than $4,000 for their Humvee -- at least they bought American.

Parris L. Patton
High Point

If you're incarcerated in one of North Carolina's 76 prisons, you're still free to go outside and smoke a cigarette. Not so if you're a patient, visitor or an employee at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro.

Let's see if I've got this right. A convicted lawbreaker in North Carolina can smoke 'em if he's got 'em. But if a law-abiding citizen smokes at Moses Cone Hospital, he becomes, well, a lawbreaker.

I think the hospital's stance regarding smoking on its grounds is judgmental, insensitive, pious and arrogant. No one is being potentially harmed but the smoker himself. Smokers stuck at the hospital while a loved one is in the ICU or an operating room should be able to step outside and smoke a cigarette. Designating an outside smoking area in no way means that the hospital condones smoking. It does mean, however, that it is sensitive to the needs of stressed-out human beings.

Raymond Reid
Kernersville

As stated in the News & Record (Jan. 2), the North Carolina Supreme Court, in its original ruling, left no doubt that the law "clearly and unambiguously" requires registration and voting in assigned precincts (precincts where voters reside).

There is no question that the N.C. Supreme Court's order was circumvented when the Democratic legislature met and passed a new law retroactively. How crooked can the Democrats be?

It is time for the N.C. Supreme Court to uphold its first ruling and demand that Trudy Wade keep her seat on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, which she won fair and square without any doubt whatsoever.

Mary Elizabeth Irvin
Greensboro

Regarding the editorial, "Mental health reform off to troubled start" (Dec. 19): It is important that your readers do not generalize all of your comments to apply to our own county's publicly funded mental health program.

When it initiated mental health reform, the state required formation of local Consumer and Family Advisory Committees (CFACs). CFAC members are consumers and family members, representing mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services. We have worked side-by-side with the Guilford Center to make sure that services meet the needs of consumers. When the Guilford Center looks for outside providers of services, we help develop the requirements and the standards.

CFAC has the utmost regard for the Guilford Center's administrative and clinical staff. Among its many strengths, the center has been quite innovative in developing outstanding community outreach programs that go beyond usual channels to provide care and support to individuals who might otherwise be hospitalized or isolated from society.

Mental health reform is not a bad thing. The concept behind it is cost-efficient care that delivers more choice and the best results to consumers. Just as there have been failures, there are successes that should be reported and supported.

Rick Hylton
Eden
Ann-Marie Dooley
Greensboro
The writers are chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively, of the local Consumer and Family Advisory Committee.

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Lonnie D. Groendes

Regarding the Jan. 2 editorial about the struggle for voting integrity in Guilford County: There have been more than a few letters to the editor requesting that Dr. Trudy Wade resign her office on the Board of Commissioners, based on the provisional votes that reversed her election night victory of registered voters.

To enlighten those whose partisanship runs higher than their political integrity, there is a tremendous difference between legal votes and provisional votes. The state Supreme Court ruled last year that out-of-precinct provisional votes are illegal and should not be counted. That ruling wasn't in effect during the 2004 election.

On election night, with all the legal ballots counted, Wade retained her seat. Then, they started counting the illegal provisional votes. That's what the fight is about -- a technicality that would not even be an issue had the election happened after the court ruling, instead of before. Wade legally won the election. It is only through the "illegal" recognition of several thousand provisional votes that it has been drawn out for so long.

The court outlawed provisional voting to eliminate the potential for fraud that provisional voting not only allows, but encourages. A recent case in Guilford County underscores how critical the issue is. Ophelia Jones, a candidate for Sedalia Town Council, apparently attempted to vote for herself twice. She voted during the early-voting period the first time, then went to the polls on Election Day and signed a form stating that she hadn't already voted before a poll worker stopped her.

An official vote is one from a citizen voting in the precinct in which she is registered to vote. Provisional voting happens when a decision is made by the precinct voting official to allow somebody who cannot be found on that precinct's voting polls to vote, without proof that she even lives in or is registered to vote in the county.

That is what the fight is all about. Wade won the legal vote of registered voters on election night. Her struggle to maintain the integrity of that victory is for the integrity of your vote and mine.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Regarding your editorial, “Immigration’s impact” (Jan. 11), surely to get a real comparison of the costs involved in our state you have to consider that houses were being built before the immigrants arrived in today’s numbers, and that the labor was supplied by Americans. Have all those workers gone to bigger jobs in technology, or maybe the aerospace industry? I don’t think so.

How many of them are drawing unemployment, welfare and have Medicaid because they no longer have work? Is this not a very real part of the cost of uncontrolled immigration? It is easy to ignore if you don’t see it or don’t happen to know someone who used to be able to count on a good-paying job in the construction field and now has to depend on Urban Ministry for food. Be fair, and be accurate.

Jane A. Boyer
Climax

Once again the Glenwood neighborhood is under siege. A developer is pursuing a change in zoning from residential to multifamily of an open space with trees and a stream running through it. This change will destroy the southern end of Glenwood where Willomore and Glenwood avenues run into Freeman Mill Road. Single-family dwellings are on these roads.

The developer wants to push apartments or condos between these roads. The property does not have a through street, so these buildings would be on what could be called a driveway with no exit. I am very disturbed by developers who care not for the people living in the area and try to push their plans for development regardless of whether it will be good for the neighborhood.

At the beginning of last year, zoning from residential to multifamily was approved on South Aycock Street. At that time, the neighbors were told that multifamily rezoning in Glenwood would not be permitted from the east side of South Aycock Street into Glenwood. I would like to see this rezoning request turned down as was promised by the city less than a year ago.

Alice Ashman
Greensboro

I’m sickened by the reports and accusations about David Wray running amok. I have known Wray for 20 years, since I was a young boy. Through all of the conversations we had as I worked with him on his farm growing up, I have never heard him speak one racist or unjust word.

Wray is one of the most intelligent and hardworking people I’ve known. I have no doubt that all of his actions as a chief have been on a foundation of doing the right thing and standing up for justice.
Any sizable police organization has a special department to keep their own in check. I’m sure the root of these rumors and accusations was an unfortunate backlash against Wray’s attempts to do what’s right for the Police Department and our city, even when his policies were not the most popular.

To draw racist parallels to Wray is not only an insult to him and those who really know him, it is completely inaccurate.

Ian Greene
Pleasant Garden

I purchased tickets in November for “Chicago” on Jan. 14 at Greensboro’s War Memorial Auditorium. I made sure to arrive at the coliseum early. I expected traffic to be heavy. I didn’t expect to be turned away at the gates and told that the parking lot was full because of the truck show held on the same evening.

The one parking attendant I found told me there was additional parking “somewhere on Lee Street.” By this time, it was after 8 and the show had started. After driving to every lot I could find for 40 minutes, still no parking anywhere. By then I had missed half the show. Disgusted, I had no choice but to go home.

The following Monday, I called every phone number I could find and left several voice mail messages, since apparently no live person works at the complex. I haven’t heard from anyone. I spent $105 on tickets and did not see a show. I did everything on my part and it was ruined because the coliseum did not do its part. I’ll never go to any event at the Greensboro Coliseum again.

Janya Stevens
Thomasville

For decades, I have dealt with our health care system, receiving a confusing barrage of mail and phone calls from providers, insurance companies and probably collection agencies.

This week, I received an unexpected telephone call from the business office at Moses Cone Health System. The woman who called explained that my account was paid in full and thanked me. That was it. That was the whole call. Wow. I was blown away. A thank-you call from a health care provider. What an experience.

Thank you, Moses Cone. Made my day.

Roger Herman
Greensboro

Life in America, as published in the Jan. 13 edition of this paper, becomes increasingly more bizarre each day.

On page A2 of that issue is the story of Pamela Anderson and her fight to remove the statue of Col. Harland Sanders from the state capitol in Frankfurt, Ky. Apparently, she has a problem with fried chicken. Maybe she should have read page A3 of the same issue to find the story of pigs that glow green in the dark.

I’m not sure of Anderson’s home, but where I come from on the farm, fried chicken is much more acceptable than green glowing pigs.
Maybe I need to send her page A3.

Vickie Currin
High Point

While I was in the military, the new captain rescheduled the troops to begin a physical training program each morning at 6:30. No one liked it.

One seasoned transfer from another unit told us we could go to the adjutant general and make the captain stop punishing us. Many of us did and were ridiculed because the vast majority of the troops supported the captain. I learned a life-changing lesson then to not go along with the crowd.

Later, as a manager with a large computer firm, I was the victim of an opinion survey where I would have been fired, had the majority of employees not supported me. It takes a hero to stand up against wrong decisions; it takes a "wimp" to let it happen and do nothing.

Where is Greensboro's finest in supporting Chief Wray who was doing an outstanding job until the small group decided they would run the department?

Chief Wray's biggest mistake was that he didn't hire attorney Joe Williams first and that he had City Manager Mitch Johnson as his boss.

Gerald A. Smith
Greensboro

Those who are satisfied with President Bush's authorization of wiretaps, consolidation of power and erosion of the system of checks and balances might want to consider one possibility. How satisfied would they be if a President Hillary Clinton had the same amount of power?

Mark Woodard
Jamestown

I've enjoyed reading the letters of support for Chief David Wray in the Jan. 26 News & Record. It's nice to know other citizens feel as I do about his forced resignation and the loss of a good man.

I also appreciate your investigative reporting in revealing some details of the two investigations of the Greensboro Police Department. Some details to me seem in direct conflict to what City Manager Mitchell Johnson had cited Chief Wray in "wrongdoing" and "inappropriate procedure."

Maybe it's time to lock City Manager Johnson out of his office and ask the mayor and City Council to investigate his actions and procedures.

E. F. Andrew
Greensboro

This year I resolve to have a kinder, gentler view when assessing the News & Record. It may be difficult at times, but I know you seek fairness, objectivity, balance and common sense.

Ed Cone's Jan. 15 column on the decline of manners and morals is on the mark. Much of our culture has gone south but we can all afford to be nicer.

In that spirit, I want to clear my feeble brain of negative thoughts like these:

1) Those who dislike George W. Bush can't help it. Most likely had an unhappy childhood and became angry letter-to-the editor writers — or even editors or journalists.

2) If the price is $59.99 make it $60. Don't sell one for $60 and "get one free." Sell one for $30.

3) Sell the new car at cost plus an honest profit. No special deals, discounts, rebates. Don't show it in TV ads on top of the North Pole or in the middle of a river. Just make the turn signals automatic.

4) Outlaw junk mail, simplify the tax code and Plan B, have real people answer telephones, and get Truth Reconciled.

Bless us all.

Bill Beerman
Greensboro

Your publication of "Certified wildlife habitats," by Joel M. Lerner (Jan. 14) was most welcome. If people, including developers in Greensboro and surrounding area, would take Arlington, Va., as an example of exemplary preservation of our native fauna and natural habitat, our area could have a better way of life.

Our family had our property certified by National Wildlife Federation as a "Backyard Wildlife Habitat" last year. The lily pond we put in about nine years ago now delights us with dragonflies flitting about on helicopter wings, fish swimming, frogs croaking and good snakes slithering to get rid of rodents.

Flowers, shrubs, vines and trees that attract butterflies and bees are an added enjoyment to our busy, yet simple lives. However, the roaming cats are still a problem, which should be addressed by people in authority. We find dead fauna, obviously caused by cats.

The present Guilford County law Sec. 5-7, "Animals running at large prohibited," may be adequate. But it needs to be broadcast and enforced.

Judy Stierand
Whitsett

We have a brand new walkway in our neighborhood along Starmount Forest Drive and everybody I talked to enjoys this. Unfortunately, one morning near the soccer field, I encountered a pile of dog poop right in the middle of the walkway. I can't understand how dog owners can be so thoughtless, especially when families with children are walking there.

Also, don't let dogs use areas next to the walkway as a bathroom. On this same walk, I had to step over another mound of dog poop on Madison Avenue, between West Avondale and Forestdale - disgusting.

On a different subject, I have to compliment Greensboro Beautiful and Dr. Christian for the beautiful waterfall in the Bog Garden. We are fortunate to live in a neighborhood with so many great parks and walkways. Please take care of these assets.

Erica Rutishauser
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Janis Pace

A few weeks ago, in the News & Record, and in the Sunday Parade, I read scores of paragraphs about what's become of my generation ("Aging Boomers"), commonly known as the baby boomers. Well, I figured I needed to write my own thoughts about all this and share my views on what I think of being a boomer.

I never did like labels in high school. We were freaks, hippies, flower children, radicals, anti-establishment. As we got a little older and financially secure, the new name was "yuppies."

Well, if I had to classify myself as something or someone, I'd go for aging flower child/hippie. The "yuppie" thing never hit me. I've never been one to be very materialistic. I drive a 12-year-old Toyota Corolla and live in a house that actually cost under $200,000, which is pretty good, considering that you can't seem to buy a house in Summerfield now for under $600,000. I'm not too concerned about living to be 100. Yes, I'd like to, but it's not my to priority.

Instead of concentrating on the future of the aging boomers, I still hold dear to my past, and the past of my generation. It was not only what we contributed as a whole, but if there was to be a patent on feelings, then we bottled it.

I grew up in a very diverse area of Maryland in the late 1960s. Everyone was kindhearted and open-minded. I never met anyone who uttered a mean word or was intentionally cruel. We all really felt like "brothers" and "sisters."

It was such a lovely bonding time. Smiles were everywhere. The clothes were so creative and flowery, at a fraction of what they cost today. The movies, music and books were not an insult to our intelligence, as many are today. We teens were not demanding like the generations that followed ours.

All in all, what I'm trying to say is please don't look at us boomers as a generation that loves making mega bucks and that wants the fountain of youth. Do remember the main thing we brought to the world, or tried to: We wanted peace, diversity, love for our fellow man, great music to feel good by, and an understanding of how we should be taking care of our great planet Earth. Our great minds would have been a terrible thing to waste.

The writer lives in Summerfield.

I would like to join the chorus of voices protesting the actions against police Chief David Wray.

I remember Chief Wray as a student at UNCG, paying his way for undergraduate and graduate degrees by working for Campus Security. My next encounter, many years later, was at a reception during Greensboro Poetry Month when he was selected to read a favorite poem. Then I saw him at the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress Summit at the Greensboro Coliseum where he mixed and mingled, offering a nonthreatening accessibility that I thought was unusual in someone in his position. My final encounter was at West Market Street United Methodist Church where he delivered the message on Lay Sunday, revealing spiritual depth as well as a sense of humor.

I felt he humanized the Police Department in a new way, and I find it hard to believe the charges against him, borne out of the complaints by a group of disgruntled officers who do not desire change.

Trudy Atkins
Greensboro

Never have I been so embarrassed by the actions of our city government as I was by the circumstances that surrounded and led to the resignation of our police chief, David Wray. The way the situation was handled is a complete disgrace to the city of Greensboro.

If there were a question about Wray's leadership decisions, this should have been addressed in a professional, confidential manner between the city manager and David Wray. Any investigation should have remained confidential until complete. There was no need for the disclosure and drama that unfolded in the media. The real story still may not have been presented.

I feel that the city and the city manager owe David Wray an apology for the public massacre of his character and career.

Joe Kent
Greensboro

You've heard much lately and will continue to hear the phrase, "eavesdropping on American citizens," as it pertains to the current administration. This tends to conjure up images of an Orwellian nightmare and instill anger.

But don't be alarmed. Simply substitute "American citizen" in these cases with, "Islamic radical with loyalties to a Middle Eastern nation and/or terrorist network who seeks the death and destruction of the U.S.A. and its citizens but whose cover was blown when his al-Qaida buddy got shot in Iraq and whose cell phone reveals 20 conversations in the last week between the two but who has, nonetheless, filled out the necessary paperwork to call himself an American citizen -- but is first and foremost an enemy combatant."

Michael C. Hallisey
Browns Summit

They say that rats desert a sinking ship. Well, a few Washington rats scurried away leaving behind some too-little, too-late charitable contributions.

It's funny, even laughable, how overnight they discovered their latent, high-minded, generous selves. However, we still have His Majesty King George I at the prow. Will he, with his inflated ego, inflexibility and incompetence, be able to keep our ship of state afloat? Cross your fingers and toes. Hope and pray for a miracle.

Dorothy Meehan
Graham

Last December, a Greensboro area restaurant served an 18-year-old boy alcohol without carding him. It was $1 margarita night so he had five of those, split two pitchers of beer and had two shots of tequila.

Even if he had been of age, the management should have taken his keys, but they didn't and he drove away. He was in a single-car wreck that totaled his car. By the grace of God, he walked away with bruises.

I can't name the restaurant here, but the ALE was notified and is investigating. This should never happen in any establishment that serves alcohol, and I hope it will lose its liquor license and that the servers will face criminal charges.

Please, whenever you hear of establishments breaking the law, report them so, hopefully, there won't be another incident like this one.

This restaurant did face the wrath of the boy's parents. I hope it never makes this mistake again.

Beverly Monical
Greensboro

The recent scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the hundreds of our congressmen who accepted money from him is indicative of exactly how corrupt are many of the people we send to Washington.

Another sad fact is that the pharmaceutical industry actually has more lobbyists than there are members of Congress. Think about that for a moment. Small wonder that the convoluted Bush drug plan will mostly benefit the drug companies and the groups operating the plans rather than needy seniors.

Naturally, there is a local connection. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., received more than $31,000 from interests related to the GlaxoSmithKline drug company last year, according to a USA Today article. We can only guess what the Honorable Sen. Burr will have to do to give GlaxoSmithKline its money's worth.

Ed Creamean
Danville, Va.

I saw an example of good planning not carried far enough the other day. On a busy road where drivers typically go 45 mph, a jogger wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit (good planning) with a blaze orange cap (good planning) jogging in broad daylight on a clear sunny day (good planning) chose to run with the traffic, thus virtually abandoning his good plan for a large dose of foolhardiness.

Walkers, joggers and runners on public streets and roads, you are only as "fit" as that last fateful step you take in front of a moving vehicle, be it a car, truck or tractor trailer. Ruminate on this as you proceed on a public roadway: How fit does a foolish person truly need to be? Exercising your brain should not be abandoned when you exercise your body. And, please, do not wear headphones. They greatly impede your sense of hearing -- a sense invaluable in warning you of approaching vehicles, especially if you walk, run or jog with your head pointing down toward your feet.

Joan Lux
Greensboro

Faith Matters is a recent recipient of a generous donation from the Greensboro Jaycees. The funds were made possible from the proceeds earned by the 2005 Greensboro Chrysler Classic.

I know I speak for many of the nonprofits here in our community who are the beneficiaries of the financial support that the Greensboro Jaycees provide to our projects. It is with much joy and jubilation that we congratulate the tournament’s organizers and board of directors for saving a premier community gem and retaining the prominence of having a PGA presence that has been in Greensboro since 1938.

Ruth P. Rideout
Greensboro
The writer is CEO/founder, Faith Matters.

I'm bemused by Susie Barnes' (letter, Jan. 15) hysteria over Leonard Pitts' defense (Jan. 9) of "Brokeback Mountain." Not only does Barnes claim psychic powers when she declares that Pitts only likes the film because he's "desensitized himself" (beware those who say they know the "true" motives of their opponents), but she has a very selective moral stomach.

Barnes is not decrying the top-grossing "Hostel." Is man-sex on the open range really more "disgusting" than torture-as-entertainment? What about cannibalism? I don't recall America's ayatollahs making a big to-do about the award-winning "Silence of the Lambs" (hey, I liked it, too, but I’m not a chest-thumping moralist).

One is hard-pressed to find biblical support for the claim that homosexuality is worse than heterosexual adultery (let's not get into more obscure sins like worshipping graven images or eating shellfish), yet the latter is integral to the romance novels and soaps that conservative Middle America adores while the former produces cries of "unclean, unclean."

The moral watchdogs seem more willing to wax wroth about the offenses they can't imagine themselves committing than those their communities and congregations engage in every day. How safe and easy for them that must be.

Ian McDowell
Greensboro

I'm thoroughly disgusted with former police Chief David Wray. If this type of racial profiling is going on within the Police Department, then it's obvious that minority citizens are subjected to this as well. As a minority, this is frightening.

People can try to distract and shift the blame onto the media, Skip Alston, City Manager Mitchell Johnson or whomever, but the fact remains that David Wray made some choices and took some actions that at the very least were suspicious and at most downright racist.

I have one question for the people who have written in because they feel Wray was wronged by being locked out of his office. Are you concerned that your picture may be in that book because of the color of your skin? Probably not. My question to Wray is: Is there a "white book" in the trunk of your car?

Pam Shealy
Greensboro

I sent a letter to Sen. Phil Berger about being against the lottery. He sent back a very nice letter agreeing with me.

Gambling, according to my Webster's Dictionary, is to play for money; to risk, especially by financial speculation; to lose or squander in speculative ventures; a risky undertaking; a reckless speculation. In my own words, gambling is addictive.

I think we will see more people at Social Services, on Medicaid and going for free meals because someone in the family spent the money on lottery tickets, looking for the big jackpot.

First Thessalonians 5:22 says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

Carolyn Corbett
Climax

As a resident of the Glenwood community, I am troubled by the onslaught of developers moving into our neighborhood and attempting to override the Greensboro Comprehensive Plan. With each success the developers have in changing the zonings, it continues to eat away at the very heart and character of our historical neighborhood. They have no regard for density or incompatibility to communities such as ours.

The Comprehensive Plan was developed to protect neighborhoods from unfavorable long-term consequences such as those being proposed in Glenwood. Drugs, crime and high amounts of rental property are all taking a toll on the community. Changing the Comprehensive Plan won't help.

Some members of the City Council have expressed concern with the problems in Glenwood and are on record stating they want to keep the area zoned as it is now. Some question the worth of the Comprehensive Plan and seem to side with the developers who only seek financial gain and could not care less what it does to neighborhoods such as ours.

We only ask that the City Council representatives support the Comprehensive Plan.

Norris Thompson
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Shirley J. Wright

Several months ago, there was an article in the News & Record about a new program called "School Watch." The concept involved parents, teachers, students and resource officers all working together to help save our young people, schools and communities from drugs and gang activities. Students were asked to identify students who they thought to be at risk. What a wonderful idea. No one knows more about their peers than young people.

Then I read that two school board members were against this program. The two said the program would make snitches of these students. The word "snitch" prompted me to write a letter to the News & Record, and, thankfully, they printed it. I was so outraged by opposition to a plan I felt would help our young people.

I had not heard any more about this plan until I read Allen Johnson's column (Jan. 8). Nothing had changed. I think the two school board members mean well, but they are out of touch with reality.

My grandson was chased from the neighborhood on Willow Road because he happened to have on the color red. Amos Quick, at that time, lived in the same neighborhood, on the same street that we live on. Officer Cuthbertson, Amos and my son, David, attended Dudley High School together. All three men, in my opinion, are fine, outstanding citizens. Let's give Officer Cuthbertson the opportunity to work with our young people. I don't think he will be disappointed if he is proven wrong. As the young people would say, "Keep it real."

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the front page Jan. 17: "City celebrates King by living his dream."

What?

Let's be clear: King never dreamed of a "secret police" that targets black officers and citizens — except perhaps in his nightmares.

He never dreamed of a Greensboro so caught up in denial that it hasn't yet faced past racist police conduct when this newest scandal gets exposed.

Sure, there are lots of good folks in Greensboro working to end racism and injustice. But to characterize this city in the year 2006 as "living King's dream" is nothing but arrogant, oblivious or both. This kind of posturing only gets in the way of grappling with the hard truth: long-standing, hard-to-see institutional racism continues to have Greensboro in its grip.

Until we face this truth and consciously work to undo it, we'll see more racial polarization, more distrust, more scandals.

The purpose of Martin Luther King Day is not to reassure us that all is well, which seems to be the tack taken by the News & Record. Rather it is to call our attention to the work still to do: pursuing authentic racial healing by ending racism in all its forms.

Marnie Thompson
Greensboro

The column by Edward Cone on Jan. 15 was offensive to us and a lot of other "Yankees." His article was rude, and he is a Southerner.

To categorize all Yankees as rude is the same as saying all Southerners are polite. I have met some rude Southerners and some polite Yankees.

His comment about his golf game on New Year's Day, saying that the rude people were "most likely Yankees," is also offensive. Maybe he should have asked them where they were from before assuming that they were from New England. They could have come from Canada or Montana, South Carolina, Georgia or any other state in the union.

Yes, the woman who spoke to his father was rude, but his father's reply to her was also rude.

Next time, Mr. Cone, do some research before writing a column. He doesn't have to thank us for reading his column; we won't be reading it any more. An apology to all former "Yankees" would be in order.

Robert and Sophie Connolley
Greensboro

Regarding the Counterpoint, "Use gas tax revenue for road needs" (Jan. 7):

I agreed with the gas tax increase because if you raise the tax on gasoline, then more people would buy smaller cars.

This will not only help the gas consumption, but it will also help environmentally. It would help the environment because people will buy smaller cars, start taking the bus, carpool and walk or ride their bikes more. This will help environmentally because it will cut down on carbon monoxide and other air pollutants.

By people taking these measures, it will not only help cut down on air pollution, but it will also have an effect on the roads.

It will affect the roads because the smaller cars will not wear the roads down as much heavy cars. And by people taking buses, walking, and riding bikes, this will reduce the use of the roads.

Samuel Kusnitz
Greensboro

The writer is 11 years old.

Reading about the situation concerning former police Chief David Wray, I've come to wonder if there might be a different explanation for what was going on than has appeared so far. Given the racial climate in Greensboro, is it possible that what really happened is that some black policemen were doing things they should not have been doing and Chief Wray had the temerity to undertake putting a stop to it?

I have no knowledge of such a thing, but I remember during my 25 years as a Naval officer, I was accused of racism because I dared to hold black sailors to the same standards of performance as whites. I was cleared of any wrongdoing, but I've seen similar instances in the past.

Everything I've read about the kind of person Chief Wray was, especially the Counterpoint by Albert K. Som-Pimpong, leads me to believe there is a lot more to this situation than meets the eye. I also noted that the photo (Jan. 12) of Lt. James Hinson being congratulated by his peers contained only black officers. Why was that? This isn't meant to disparage or accuse anyone of anything, just to raise a different possibility.

Steele Smith
Jamestown

Greensboro has lost a city leader who has always been a man of integrity and has cared for all of its citizens.

I first met David Wray in the third grade at Alamance Elementary where I was the first female and one of three African American youths to integrate the school. At that time, David was one of the few students who showed any kindness and encouragement.

Throughout our matriculation at Southeast Guilford High School, David demonstrated he had a God-given talent to help others. We knew he was destined for greatness because he was a visionary with outstanding leadership skills and a genuine concern for his fellow man.

Perhaps a part of his downfall as police chief was he focused more on helping the disadvantaged, regardless of race, instead of the usual politicking for support.

I hope the media continues its tenacious efforts throughout the weeks and months in reporting the facts and providing answers. I also pray we will find that David Wray was still doing what some have lacked the courage to do … what he believed was right. His leadership will be missed.

Nagatha Tonkins
Greensboro

Class of 1974, Southeast Guilford High School.

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Larry Morse, Barton Parks
and Nancy Harmon

Racism, from a white perspective, is subtle and we white people learn not to notice it. Institutional racism is just "the way things are." If it doesn't hurt me, or I don't notice it, it must not be real or "important." Institutional racism is manifest in all kinds of ways: fewer people of color in positions of power; more people of color facing the death penalty; the black unemployment rate being more than twice the white rate; racial profiling, and so forth.

Racial profiling brings us to the crisis in the police department. The real issue is not what former Chief Wray did or did not do. The larger picture involves institutional racism. Our institutions, especially tightly insular ones like police departments, cut themselves off from all communities and most completely from low-income communities of color. Without effective influence from these communities, departments are subject to the manipulations of power cliques of racist white officers, who in this case appeared to be working to keep officers of color down or out. This example of the regrettable "police culture" should not be surprising in our Southern community.

Institutions' power and their ability to behave in racist ways can be kept in check when they are held accountable to the community, in particular those sectors of the community that are oppressed by those very institutions. Polite silence on the part of us white people leaves white privilege and institutional racism unchallenged. As members of the White Caucus of the Undoing Racism Group, we are speaking out against white privilege and institutional racism.

Larry Morse and Barton Parks live in Greensboro; Nancy Harmon in Bear Creek. This letter was signed by more than a dozen other members of the White Caucus of the Undoing Racism Group.

The article that stated "three Greensboro men had been charged in connection with what had been Guilford County's only unsolved homicide from 2005" (Jan. 14) was not true. My son, Trey Michaud, was shot and killed on the morning of Dec. 3, 2005. There have been no arrests and the investigation is moving very slowly due to the backlog at the state crime lab. Real life is definitely not like the TV shows such as "CSI."

Our society needs to know that our police and local government have roadblocks put in their path that are out of their control. We are supposed to control these governing units with our votes and tax dollars. My son's murder is still open and, as hard as every day is to deal with, it would still be helpful to have some closure on his death.

So, when I read in our local paper that "the last of Guilford County's murders for 2005 have been solved," it hit a nerve. I'm still waiting.

Terry Jones
Greensboro

Editor's note: Ms. Jones is correct. Our Jan. 14 story was incorrect. The correction ran Jan. 19.

Jerry Bledsoe's mean-spirited rant in the News & Record (Jan. 17) seriously impacted my respect for him as a writer. Just as he accuses the newspaper of doing, he also leaves out important facts.

For example, he mention's Willena Cannon's "son's lengthy prison sentences" without mentioning what a miscarriage of justice they were -- two life sentences for six counts of unarmed burglary as a teenager. Many people saw this as political retribution for his mother's successful lawsuit against the city of Greensboro.

What exactly is Bledsoe's point? Is it his opinion that certain people should be judged only by their actions of 25 years ago? Is it his opinion that no one ever changes or learns anything new? Is it his opinion that people who have ever been controversial should not take part in public discourse? Or is this just another attempt to demonize and silence folks who have sacrificed greatly to call attention to injustice?

C'mon, Jerry, those of us who care about policy and politics and try to participate have more in common with each other than those who have become discouraged.

And haven't you heard? Reconciliation is big in Greensboro these days.

Terry Austin
Jamestown

What a shame that the dictum "innocent until proven guilty" is valid only in a court of law since it appears that many, perhaps even the News & Record, have already tried and convicted former Police Chief David Wray. Anyone who knows David and his exceptional record of service in law enforcement in this community is shocked to read of the sequence of events that have snowballed out of control in the past few months.

I suspect Chief Wray's lengthy record of integrity, and his exceptional character in building bridges between people of all races, are more than adequate to stand the test of the circumstantial evidence that has led to his present troubles. What looks like a smoking gun may turn out to be nothing more than blowing smoke.

I advise all concerned to look at Chief Wray's record of service and then perhaps you may decide you have jumped to the wrong conclusions. Notice that even under fire, he has acted with extreme courtesy and professionalism. May God shed light in this present darkness so that truth will be revealed for the good of all.

Mark Andrews
Belmont

Upon reading of Police Chief David Wray's resignation, I felt a deep sense of remorse. I grew up with David Wray and can tell you that his entire life has been dedicated to selflessly helping others and upholding the law. It was no surprise to me when he was selected as chief, because he had diligently worked toward that goal for many years. It is unfortunate that we live in a society where someone who has given his life to the community can be treated with total and complete disregard. What happened to being innocent until proved guilty?

For those of us who know David personally, the words character, integrity, humility, honesty and dedication all come to mind. I have known him over 40 years and have never observed any racial or unfair treatment. In fact, quite the opposite. He has a very thoughtful, caring demeanor and a personal obligation to always do what is right. It is a shame, a disgrace, that we have lost such a fine leader and servant to Greensboro.

You can replace the position, but you will not replace the person.

Angela Whitesell Key
Charlotte

When the Bush administration implements its war on terror internationally (through the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq), it argues that democratic ideals outweigh the importance of the prior regimes' safety and stability. When the Bush administration implements its war on terror domestically (through the Patriot Act and illegal wiretapping), it argues the opposite -- that safety and stability outweigh the importance of the prior administration's democratic ideals.

That contradiction would be funny if its consequences weren't so devastating. The consistency in all this inconsistency seems to be the Bush administration's desire for unfettered and unquestioned power. That bodes ill for Afghans, Iraqis and Americans alike.

Mark Jost
Greensboro

I'm pleased that my father is retiring after a noble career of service to Guilford County and the state of North Carolina. In his time as legal counsel to sometimes-vitriolic county commissioners, he has managed to maintain a posture that consistently served the word of law and greater good of the county above the interest of partisan politics. His ability to meet controversial issues objectively and to fulfill the often-unpopular role of arbiter in hotly debated matters is something from which many others would have shied.

In his career, he selflessly dedicated himself to his work, always putting the matters of the community before himself. Regardless of whether the commissioners always agreed with him, his ethics, character and integrity have earned him the respect due a true statesman.

I am incredibly proud of Jonathan Maxwell, not only as a father, but as a faithful servant to Guilford County.

Gavin Montgomery Maxwell
New York

If Rosemary Roberts must be kept on staff, can her columns be limited to subjects more familiar to her, such as drippy tales of her college days? She knows nothing of what most Americans believe.

Whenever she delves into the political arena, she consistently berates the Bush administration. By now we have come to know Roberts as a left-wing liberal elitist. Judging from her piece on Jan. 13, it is obvious that she does not get any news from the Fox News Channel. Fox gives plenty of coverage on what is happening in Iraq daily. I had to laugh when she questioned why no one is being asked to make more "sacrifices" for the war effort. I can just imagine her outrage if she really did have to make some type of sacrifice.

Under the direction of President Bush, who finally brought dignity and integrity back to the office, the war in Iraq is being won and millions of people are free for the first time in years. And, yes, things are quiet on the home front.

Debbie Hill
Greensboro

On Jan. 2, William "Bill" Saunders, a member of the Greatest Generation, died unexpectedly in Sparta.

I worked with Bill, who was vice president and advertising director for the News & Record at the time of his retirement in 1979. He was a friend and colleague who helped make the News & Record a successful business enterprise.

Bill loved his family, community, friends, God and his country. He was a true patriot who served during World War II in Europe and was held for a time by the Germans as a prisoner of war. He served his country again in Korea, where he was severely wounded.

I, and his many friends, will miss him and pray God will comfort his family and those who loved him.

Richard L. Hendricks
Greensboro

Raymond Reid objects to the change in the tobacco policy for Moses Cone Health System prohibiting tobacco use on all its sites starting July 1 (letter, Jan. 19).

In the 1960s, I kept an ashtray in my desk for use by patients and relatives to smoke after hearing reports that revealed bad news. I was sensitive to the emotions and the nicotine addiction of my patients, which still is important to Reid. But in 2006, Moses Cone administrators feel tobacco is such a health hazard, it should not be used on its property. Thirty other hospitals in North Carolina have identical policies, and I applaud this powerful statement.

As to the restrictions on prisoners smoking, Reid is correct that inmates may smoke in outside areas within most jails in North Carolina. However, in three "model" prisons, all tobacco use, both inside buildings and in yards, is prohibited.

It is anticipated this policy will be expanded to the rest of the prison system next year. While lawmakers had reducing health care costs as their primary goal, inmates throughout North Carolina may find incarceration so inhospitable to their nicotine addiction that recidivism rates will fall.

Richard J. Rosen, M.D.
Greensboro

Molly Ivins stated that she will never support Hillary Clinton and neither will I, although I am a Democrat.

Ivins is correct on about everything she says about this president and his cohorts. However, sadly, the lemmings that follow Bush's every word will never see any wrong in him or the Republican Party.

I personally wish the Democrats would show a little fortitude and nominate Al Gore. He is the only one with a chance to win (he won last time he ran) and I think he would win, but the nutcakes that think Bush is the second coming of our Lord will never change their minds.

Come on, Democrats and independents, we can win next time if you will only go out and vote.

Don Edwards
Greensboro

January is an appropriate month in which to honor the memory of two legendary Southern military and spiritual leaders, Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson.

Lee, born Jan. 19, 1807, in Virginia, became a career Army officer. In 1861, when Lincoln ordered an invasion of the Southern states, Lee was offered command of all Union forces. He declined, refusing to draw his sword against his native state. He led his legendary Confederate Army of Northern Virginia through four bloody years of war, finally being forced to surrender by overwhelming numbers and resources on April 9, 1865. After the war, he served as president of Washington College in Lexington, Va.

Jackson was born in the western mountains of Virginia on Jan. 21, 1824. Also a West Point graduate, he too had a distinguished career in the Army, resigning in 1851 to serve as a professor at Virginia Military Institute. When war came to Virginia, he soon became Lee's most trusted commander. He was mortally wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. His leadership and bold tactics would be sorely missed in the desperate battles that lay ahead.

William Oden
Greensboro

I would appreciate it if someone would explain to us regular people the benefit of redistricting the schools. It seems the school board is forever doing this to "fix" poorly performing schools, yet by the fact that they continually do this, does it not dawn on anyone that redistricting is not educating anyone?

Also, it seems that in the meantime, the main message that they are sending is these kids are the ones at fault for not doing well in school. After all, the only changes are the kids.

Yet, all they need is a better education. Rather than busing them around, why not give them that better education? Give them an equal distribution if not more (temporarily) of the county's best teachers, learning aids, leaders and parental volunteers?

Please, stop quick-fixing and experimenting. Allow people to attend chosen neighborhood schools confidently. Allow people to become attached to neighborhood schools and find pride in them again. (The way we were before merging with Guilford County Schools?)

In other words, how about giving High Point all those things the school board so lovingly bestows upon Greensboro, while it leaves High Point with afterthoughts, lotteries and redistricting.

Karly Morris
Jamestown

Susie Barnes' letter (Jan. 15) indicates she has not seen "Brokeback Mountain." It is unfortunate that she allows other people to form her impression of the movie.

Both Leonard Pitts and I have a gay family member and share a different perspective about being gay. Consider the following facts:

The Supreme Court has upheld the ruling that Oregon's "Death With Dignity" law is proper. Many will applaud this ruling, but apparently many are already lining up against it. The main point of disagreement appears to be the definition of the term "valid medical purpose."

The Hippocratic Oath for doctors states that physicians are "...to help, or at least to do no harm." With modern medical technology, we are increasingly faced with the very real possibility that keeping some patients alive, regardless of the costs, is doing more harm than good.

Certainly, the Oregon law has made a good first step toward addressing this problem. It will only grow in severity as technology advances and the general population gets older.

But what do the opponents of this law say about it? It "violates the sanctity of life." How sacred can life be if a person dying of cancer is forced to live every possible excruciating moment before his body completely shuts down?

That sort of end only inflicts needless suffering on the patient and all the surrounding family. Surely, there is a more humane solution. Hopefully, we'll also find it here in North Carolina some day soon.

Eric Harrington
Greensboro

On Jan. 12, a man on CNN's "Situation Room" program complained self-righteously while flashing an envelope resealed with a green tape; he was offended that a security agency dared to look. He felt he must chime-in on the current lament about domestic spying.

I have received and sent mail to and from overseas for more than 50 years and had it occasionally opened under Democratic and Republican administrations. Recently, returning from a trip abroad, my luggage had in it a card from a U.S. security agency acknowledging it was opened and inspected after it was checked-in. I was neither offended in the past, nor am I now -- I was grateful for their diligence and care for our nation and for me as an individual.

Such grandstanding is naïve and is an example how things are taken to extremes and often out of context. All countries have a duty to protect their citizens, and most of them do.

Maybe people like him would want us to give up credit cards, refuse to have pictures taken for our drivers' licenses, pay everything by cash rather than by check, and reject withholding into the Social Security system to protect privacy?

Richard O. Rafanovic
High Point

Greensboro has had several "crown jewels." Some we have lost, some new ones we have gained, and some we have purchased at an astonishing price.

We have just had one of our best saved and even had a new glowing shine added to it: The Greater Greensboro Open. We have enjoyed more publicity from the GGO than any of our jewels. It has been an envy of many even larger cities.

Thank you, Jaycees, Mark Brazil, Dennis Glass, Gerald Joyce, Justin Conrad, Mackey McDonald, Mike Bumpass, Bobby Long, David Noble, Libby Hill, VF Corp. and all others involved in this incredible accomplishment, for a job well done.

Now, let's start to work on another of our very cherished crown jewels, Jefferson-Pilot. Go get 'em, team. We're behind you.

Charles G. Sims
Browns Summit

Schools are now responsible for teaching positive character traits to students. I cannot think of a better example of someone who demonstrates integrity and ethical conduct than David Wray. I have known him for more than 20 years, and the character traits he exhibits are ones that could not easily change.

As a marketing teacher, I am also responsible for teaching management skills to my students. Managers don't always do what is popular with employees; they are expected to know and do what is best for their employer. Slowly stripping him of his position was underhanded and most unprofessional. Public confidence needs to be restored in the city administration, not the former chief of police.

Greensboro has lost a home-grown, dedicated public servant. David could have left Greensboro many times for opportunities in other communities, but he chose to remain and progress through the ranks in his hometown. No doubt, another community will anxiously grab David, and Greensboro's loss will be their gain.

Terri Edwards
Eden

Through my dealings with Police Chief David Wray, I found that he was an honest man building bridges throughout our community. I believe that we should not pass judgment of the former chief of police until all the facts are disclosed.

I trust that the chief's actions will reveal that he was building an effective police force to protect and serve our community without bias or prejudice. Meanwhile, I hope that our community can become a leader in tolerance and patience.

Issa Abu-Zuiter
Greensboro

The writer is a representative of the Palestinian community in Greensboro.

Thomas Sowell's column, "Green liars drive up cost of housing" (Jan. 10), was not "misleading" as Charles Brummitt declared (letter, Jan. 18). If Brummitt were to read the article again, he would find that Sowell's column is not based on "unsubstantiated assertions."

Sowell's assertions were substantiated by the article he cited as the basis for his column. This scholarly article is authored by three exceptional economists (Edward Glaeser, Joseph Gyourko and Raven Saks).

It appears that Brummitt failed to read the paragraph citing this article. Glaeser and Gyourko have outstanding academic careers devoted to understanding new urban forms and housing market dynamics. These two received their doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago, where Sowell also attended, along with 10 Nobel Prize-winning economists. I have provided the citation below.

Without making any subjective interpretation, we should acknowledge the evidence that many land-use restrictions (along with impact fees) raise housing prices. Perhaps after reading this article, Brummitt will understand that he should not be comparing apples to oranges, but rather, compare the same apple before and after the summer rain.
(Glaeser et al., "Why Is Manhattan So Expensive? Regulation and the Rise in Housing Prices," Journal of Law and Economics, v48 n2.)

Matthew Tarleton
Greensboro

In reading about High Point ABC officials, several questions come to mind:

Why does our state maintain a bureaucracy that results from the repeal of Prohibition in 1933? Why is it in the business of distributing and selling hard liquor? If it is to prevent sales to underage drinkers, why is it that North Carolina's rate of underage deaths attributed to alcohol is 19 percent higher than the nation's?

If it is to reduce alcoholism, why is the overall death rate in North Carolina attributed to alcohol 11 percent higher than the nation's? If it is to raise revenues, isn't taxation simpler?

Alcohol can be abused in all its forms, including wine and beer, and its sale needs controls; however, total state control of a segment of the problem is ineffective. State involvement in a business that belongs in the private sector only leads to periodic corruption and inefficiencies.

As a tongue-in-cheek recommendation, I would suggest we keep the ABC infrastructure and change it to the TPCC (Tobacco Products Control Commission) and allow the sale of tobacco products only in the state-managed TPCC stores.

James Balma
Greensboro

In my experience, the outgoing chief of police has been a fair and unbiased man. He has shown me that he has wanted to bring the entire city together in a spirit of understanding and tolerance of social, religious and cultural minorities. I believe he has demonstrated to us that he wanted to make Greensboro a better place.

I am not knowledgeable about what transpired in the surveillance and other matters. I am completely opposed to illegal, unjustified and judicially unauthorized spying, I believe it is wrong no matter who does it. However, a warning should have been given to the chief so he could explain and justify his actions. This would give him a chance to correct them.

We regret that the chief has been made to look like a villain. We hope that Greensboro can resolve this matter with hopes of remaining a city to serve all.

Badi Ali
Greensboro

The writer is former president of the Islamic Center of the Triad.

We read Congressman Howard Coble's letter, "Despite resignation, Wray still fit to serve," (Jan. 16) with great disappointment and dismay. Even with the serious allegations of systematic and deliberate racism alleged against former Police Chief David Wray, Coble indicates that in his opinion, Wray is still fit for service.

Chief Wray not only misrepresented facts to the city manager, he also knew of, or should have known of, a "black book," which apparently had been or was being used to discredit 19 African Americans on the police force.

Coble indicates that "he has no dog in this fight." Clearly, as a representative of the Sixth Congressional District, these 19 officers are constituents and the congressman certainly should be concerned that their civil rights have not been violated.

It is ironic that Coble's letter appeared in the newspaper on the very day set aside to celebrate the most renowned African American civil rights leader in this country, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Coble's letter and the actions of former Chief Wray are clear indications that Dr. King's work is not done and that we must be very diligent in making sure that his dream of racial harmony and justice is realized.

Bruce Lee
Greensboro

The writer is president of the Greensboro Men's Club.

Finally, there is someone who is willing to speak out in support of our chief of police, David Wray. I'm referring to the letter written by Howard Coble.

Although I have never met David Wray, Lt. James Hinson, or City Manager Mitchell Johnson, I have heard nothing but words of praise for Police Chief Wray.

What I fail to understand is how some of our city leaders run when someone cries discrimination. Does that mean that one color, any color, has a license to do anything dishonest and then cry race discrimination, and everyone is to back down? Sorry, I don't buy that.

If there is an investigation going on, I believe it should be into the actions of these officers who were being investigated and also Johnson, who has behaved like a child pushing his authority around. (Forgive me, children; I don't believe you act like this, but there's no other way to explain Johnson's actions.)

And the joke of all jokes — Beverly Hinson even blaming the chief of police for her impending divorce. Puhleez, Mrs. Hinson. You're not smelling a cash settlement out of this, are you?

Jean Brown
Greensboro

There will be no peace in the Middle East until Israel returns every inch of Palestinian territories, and there will be no end to terroristic threats to our country until we (a) stop supporting Israel, including with a $4 billion annual grant, and (b) stop interfering in other countries' business like we were elected to be the world's cops.

Our past, including Sept. 11, 2001, and our potential future was and will be consequences of our aggressive foreign policies. Dictators are needed for some populations, and it's none of our business whether there is one or a dozen of them.

As for the Israel/Palestinian conflict, only an act of God transferring the Jewish state to an island in the middle of the Pacific, away from Arab populations, will solve the problem.

Another illusion of those inexperienced with the world beyond our borders is that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism ended with the fall of Nazi Germany. We lost 3,000 lives on Sept. 11, and are losing another 2,300 (and counting) in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 5,000 wasted lives.

Nothing will change until we change our foreign policies, both by Republicans and Democrats. And don't forget the cost of our foolishness: more than $200 billion (and counting). The myopia is mind-boggling.

Helio Salvador
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By T.S. Redding III, DVM

As an enthusiastic fisherman and occasional hunter, I wanted to reply to Michael Skube's column (Jan. 22) about the declining number of hunters these days.

The decline in the number of people who actively hunt in North Carolina and the United States represents a cultural change but also a threat to our efforts to preserve wildlife and wildlife habitat. While many Americans profess to support habitat conservation, sportsmen "put their money where their mouth is."

Through private organizations such as Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited and The National Wild Turkey Foundation, thousands of individuals actively support habitat preservation. Further, the vast majority of government money for wildlife and wildlife habitat (both game and non-game species) comes from license fees and taxes on ammunition that hunters themselves have voted to impose. Thus the people who use wildlife as a recreational resource clearly are committed to preserving our natural heritage in a way that Skube has failed to understand.

Being "for wildlife" and "for our guns" does not reflect a contradiction for many people. One can cherish the opportunity to interact with the natural world with either a photograph or a trophy as the memento. As Skube points out, the act of killing an individual animal, such as a sparrow, is clearly a significant moral decision. I agree, but I suspect there is little moral distinction between killing for sport or food and consuming meat or leather that someone else kills for you. I work with farmers and food-producing animals every day (I am a large-animal veterinarian) so I have long ago decided where I sit on this issue. Some of us confront our meat alive before harvest. Others employ proxies several steps removed from the table to perform the disagreeable chore of slaughter. Is one group morally superior to another?

Skube concludes his article, "What those words (spoken by novelist Richard Ford, about his fondness for hunting) obscure is the transience of life and, for more people today than yesterday, an appreciation for its brevity." He fails to understand that individuals who chose to hunt, to actively participate in the taking of an individual life, frequently feel a deep commitment to the preservation of nature's abundance. Their use of this resource, and their commitment to preserve it for future generations, offers one of our few chances to get a handle on development and suburban sprawl before our entire state is paved over.

The writer lives in Pittsboro.

City Manager Mitchell Johnson's interviews make no sense to me. He was asked why he changed the locks and locked (then-Police Chief) David Wray out of his office. He said there were eyes all over the building. He didn't want to bring Wray in because he would have to leave his badge and gun and that would make front-page news. Does he think what he did didn't make front-page news? It's so sad that the only way he can show his power and make a name for himself is to degrade and humiliate a police chief. From now on, spare us taxpayers his nonsensical interviews.

Peggy Manning
Greensboro

What has happened within the Greensboro Police Department recently is a common occurrence. This is not necessary. A popular old song says, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." All of us are God's creations. God wants us to love one another as brothers and sisters.

For those who like to quote Scripture, Jesus says that "other sheep have I than in this fold." All major religions preach love and peace. Jesus also said not to judge, lest we be judged.

Let's listen to people who may not think as we do. Let's be open and welcoming to all people. When we broaden our circle of friends to include people of all races, ethnic groups and economic status, or those who are different, we find that we are more alike than different. How much fuller life is.

Ann Clegg
Greensboro

For what seems like a lifetime, Sen. Robert Byrd has controlled Senate appropriations. He single-handedly dumped millions, perhaps billions, on a project to build a center for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in West Virginia.

Now the question is where has he been when mine safety has been ignored in his home state. How much has been contributed to his re-election campaigns by mine owners? What legislation has he introduced and has been enacted because of his powerful influence to control appropriations?

Let's hear it, Knight-Ridder.

Jack Elam
Greensboro

Charles Krauthammer ("EU nations in denial about Iran," Jan. 20) offered complaints but no solutions. He castigated Britain, France and Germany for their "negotiating exercise designed as an alternative to the U.S. approach to sanctioning Iran for violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty."

He implied sanctions were unlikely because "Russia and China will threaten to veto any serious sanctions" and "Europeans have no appetite for real sanctions."

Then he discouraged the military option, saying Iran's nuclear facilities are "spread out and hardened, making them difficult to find and damage sufficiently to seriously set back Iran's program" and that Iran might retaliate by cutting off oil exports and shutting down the Strait of Hormuz (through which nearly half of the world's export oil passes).

Tehran claims its research in uranium enrichment is for permitted peaceful purposes. Washington says Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. These protestations should be viewed with skepticism as both camps are known to play loose with the truth.

I propose that diplomatic relations should be normalized; Washington should provide security guarantees and recognize Iran's right to pursue nuclear research for peaceful uses; Iran should provide evidence it is not pursuing a nuclear weapon and allow snap inspections by the IAEA.

Bill Taylor
Whitsett

Janis Pace ("Recollections of an aging boomer," Counterpoint, Jan. 21) hit the nail on the head. This is the way I have felt for years. I just turned 54 in November. I've been wondering where did "they" all go. By that, I mean the Janises of my generation.

There are many of us from that generation who do not qualify as Yuppies (thank goodness), who still have the same ideals we had then. We continue to strive to make this a better world through our continued effort to keep the environment an issue, to keep the ideal of peace, etc.

It is sad that many have lost sight of the good that came from my generation. The drugs and sex seem to be what people tend to remember. There was much, much more than that; good things happened.

Peace to Janis. She's right on.

Ann Latham
Eden

The directors of Piedmont Interfaith Council are troubled by recent discussions that assert it is inappropriate to allow non-Christians to swear in court using their own sacred texts. We encourage a solution to this question that recognizes the rich diversity of faith traditions represented in Guilford County and that honors the deeply held beliefs of members of all these traditions.

The United States should lead by example and clearly show that we are respectful and tolerant of the diversity in religious beliefs in the world.

Mary Pendergraft
Greensboro

When Perrie Dyon Simpson was executed Jan. 20 at Central Prison in Raleigh, it was pathetic that the media would write about his last meal. What was Rev. Darter's last meal?

Rev. Darter tried to help Simpson and his girlfriend, and in return, they took his life.

Attorneys are using alcohol, drugs and abuse as excuses for violent behavior. Simpson was put in a foster home because of violence and abuse. I am sorry for that. A lot of people have been abused and are in foster homes. They grow up to be respectful citizens. They are free to choose their actions. Simpson made a bad choice and paid with his life. I haven't always been treated fairly, but I'm not a murderer.

Gov. Mike Easley did right by not granting Simpson clemency. Some people will not believe in capital punishment until their loved ones become victims. Then they will change their minds about capital punishment.

It took from 1984 to 2006 for justice to be served. It is true that a very few innocent people are put to death. Yet hundreds of innocent people are killed each day as a result of violence. Let's keep capital punishment.

Sidney A. Archer
Climax

Questions about Greensboro Police Lt. James Hinson have been put to rest: This was in the News & Record Jan. 21.

I don't believe this for one minute. Why was he being followed, and why was a tracking device put on his car? Who gave the order to do this?

These questions need to be answered. Maybe Randall Brady (now retired) has the answer. I hope someone will ask the right person.

Jack Vaughn
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Brian James

The Gate City Chapter of the North State Law Enforcement Officers Association would like to express our support of Greensboro City Manager Mitchell Johnson for his willingness to address these very real concerns that existed within the Greensboro Police Department.

We fully support the decisions that he has made and the care that was taken while investigating these allegations that involved multiple African American officers within the department.

We would also like to express our support of Interim Chief Tim Bellamy as he serves in this role. We have full confidence and faith in his ability to lead the Police Department in a positive direction. We also thank the men and women, both black and white, who exhibited the courage to convey the truth during this investigation.

The Gate City Chapter of North State is fully committed to assist in healing any divides that have been created within the Police Department by these allegations and subsequent findings. This investigation was thorough and comprehensive, and ample opportunities were given to provide explanations of certain events.

We believe that any explanations given after the fact will create further doubt and mistrust and will hamper the healing and eventual progression of the department and this community. This is an obstacle that the men and women of the Greensboro Police Department will overcome, and we solicit the community's support for those officers and civilian employees who continue to serve you day and night.

The writer is president, Gate City Chapter, North State Law Enforcement Officers' Association, and a lieutenant in the Greensboro Police Department.

The very day (Jan. 9) that Amy Dominello's article regarding the litter problem appeared in the News & Record, I had just spent hours picking up trash near my house. What timing.

While the amount of litter is disgusting, represents moronic behavior and conveys a total lack of pride by the residents of North Carolina, there is another extremely serious problem that has yet to be addressed: drinking alcoholic beverages while driving.

During the countless times I have removed litter, the empty beer and liquor bottles outnumber all other items eight to one. Consider that when you load the family into the car and drive the roads of North Carolina.

Perhaps instead of the usual monetary fines given to those who litter and those convicted of DWI, the guilty should be sentenced to hours upon hours of the back-breaking, filthy, smelly and dangerous job of picking up litter. Since they opted not to do the "ounce of prevention," they can do the "pound of cure." Food for thought for judges and lawmakers.

Gretchen Newell
Kernersville

This is to the parents who would like to join those who are suing Nickelodeon and Kellogg.

Have you tried saying no? Or better still, don't bring the junk food into your house. Your children may pout, cry, whine or even throw a temper tantrum, but don't give in. If you don't learn to say no and stick with it when they are little, you are in for a heap of trouble and distress when they are older.

It is your (not Kellogg's) responsibility to teach them how to make the right choices, not only in the food they eat, but their clothes, friends, entertainment (including music), their values and their heroes, as well as their education and in the area of their spiritual life.

Your child wants guidance from those who love him the most. He wants boundaries. Be firm and consistent, and if things don't work out exactly the way you would like, you will know that you have done your best. And when your child is grown, he will appreciate it.

Raising a child is the most difficult job you will ever have, and you have such a few short years to do it.

R.P. Jessup
Greensboro

I attended the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra concert Jan. 22 for the second time this season and was struck again by the professionalism and style of our symphony and its conductor. We are fortunate to have such a cultural asset in Greensboro.

But, unfortunately, I found the behavior of the audience inappropriate for a concert hall, which lessened my enjoyment and leaves me reluctant to return. I hope the symphony board will undertake an effort to educate audiences on proper, respectful concert behavior and to set expectations for it.

To be fair, perhaps people are just not aware of how their behavior is affecting others. Most importantly, and most disturbing to other concertgoers, one does not carry on a conversation during a concert. One does not wander in and out of the hall during the performance. One should attempt to smother wracking coughs, or leave the hall if loud coughing can't be controlled.

Compare our Greensboro hall to Carnegie Hall, where concertgoers are instructed to unwrap cough drops before the performance starts so as not to disturb others with the crinkle of wrappers. If only our local audiences had a fraction of that restraint and respect, the concert experience would be more enjoyable for all.

Karen Pirello
Greensboro

There is only one plan that will save General Motors from ceasing to exist, and even that has a very short tenure:

1. Declare bankruptcy immediately.

2. Fire all employees.

3. Cancel all union contracts.

4. Hire back only those employees who are willing to work for a wage/benefit package that will allow GM to compete in world markets.

5. Recognize and acknowledge that no other plan will work.

George W. Rash
Trinity

As a teacher and parent, I am upset by the new provision requiring all children enrolling in kindergarten to have a full eye exam. This is a waste of time and money.

All children must have a vision screening during the physical exam that is required to begin school. This screening determines eye problems as well as neurological and physical developments. Is North Carolina going to require comprehensive hearing screenings, visits to the dermatologist and cancer screenings next?

I am appalled that North Carolina would put a 5-year-old child through a medical procedure that is completely unnecessary. What is the point of putting my trust in our family doctor? Why should I have to go through the extra expense with no signs of vision problems? The requirement seems haphazardly thrown together. This leaves the parents to figure it out and foot the bill. Home schooling is looking very good.

If North Carolina wanted this to pass with our children's well-being in mind, shouldn't parents be on board? I find it convenient that this "stemmed from a request from" Gov. Easley yet was added by House Speaker Black, who is an optometrist. Sounds like it is about something other than helping our children.

Jodi Hyler
Eden

With most of the American automobile companies in financial trouble, the solution for them may be to reduce their manufacturing costs. They should make the turn signal lever part of the option package. That way, only the drivers who plan to use those things have to pay for them. That should save these companies millions.

Paul Manzi
Greensboro

With great interest, I read your paper's Jan. 23 review of the Greensboro Symphony's performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65. The reviewer rightly lays much of the success of this piece at the feet of the woodwind and brass soloists.

How disappointing, then, to read the entire review and find oneself unable to discover the names of such wonderfully talented musicians. Surely, it would have been an easy job of reporting to have found out the names of the soloists. While I suspect the Greensboro Symphony is happy for any coverage, I truly believe that these wonderfully talented artists would love to see themselves singled out by name on occasion. And this seemed like a very worthy occasion.

Michelle Shoemaker
Greensboro

Congratulations to Cone Hospital for protecting their patients from second-hand tobacco smoke. Even prisons are protecting inmates, but most retirement homes still have a smoking policy that exposes residents to noxious fumes.

Elderly people are especially susceptible to any pollution in the environment and none more so than to second-hand tobacco smoke. It is also true that the incidence of fire from smoking increases dramatically with age of smokers. It is time residents demand that their buildings be smoke free.

Unfortunately, policies are made by trustees who do not live in the homes they supervise.

Svea Sauer
Greensboro

The continuing dribbles of information being released concerning the reasons behind the resignation of Chief David Wray remind me of the uncomfortable way Jackie Dowd retired from her position as an auditor for the city after clashing with the political machine over Project Homestead. I also remember Richard Jewel and his treatment by the media following the bombings at the Atlanta Olympics.

Dan Donovan
Greensboro

The small island dividing Pisgah Church Road where it meets Battleground Avenue, across from Lowe's, was for more than two years the worst eyesore in Greensboro. It resembled a war-ravaged lot in Beirut or Baghdad. All appeals to the city for improvement were ignored.

Then, as if an answer to a prayer, Southern Lawns, a local horticultural firm, undertook this lot as a project using its own time, money and resources to transform it into a beautiful, small, green oasis of which Greensboro's citizens can indeed be proud.

Southern Lawns, you did a magnificent job. Thank you.

Al Myrick
Greensboro

I think it is a sad day when "American Idol" thinks it has to show someone like Rhonetta go on and on with mostly bleeped-out words to try to save the show. A lot of young children are watching the show, and I think the program is going down the wrong road to try to stay popular. That kind of stuff belongs on Jerry Springer. I hope people don't think that's what Greensboro really is. Will someone please stand up with me. Greensboro is not that kind of town.

Ron Smith
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Chris Downing

We are just one month into the startup of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. It is the largest change in Medicare in 40 years, and it is happening all at once with 24 million people now enrolled in all 50 states - 778,838 in North Carolina alone. For most of them, the system is working. Pharmacists across the country are filling 1 million prescriptions a day, and people who previously had no drug coverage are now saving money.

Despite careful planning, some people are experiencing problems getting their prescriptions filled, especially the first time they go to the pharmacy. We are concerned about every individual who has experienced a problem, and we are working with pharmacists, health plans and states to get their prescriptions filled as quickly as possible.

We have backup systems at the pharmacy to help, including a new computer system and a toll-free pharmacy help line. Pharmacists can also fill prescriptions for people with Medicare and Medicaid through a default plan at the pharmacy counter. Finally, if issues cannot be resolved at the counter, the pharmacists or beneficiaries can call 1-800-MEDICARE to request a caseworker to help them.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has directed health plans to cover drugs for people needing refills of their prescriptions during the transition to the new benefit. We will also help states, which become payers of last resort, get reimbursed by health plans. As we work together to solve these problems, we are seeing progress every day.

Rest assured, we are working to help every Medicare beneficiary gain access to coverage that will save them money, help them stay healthy, and give them the peace of mind that comes from knowing their savings will never be wiped out by the high cost of medicine.

The writer is Regional IV director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Ga.