News-Record.com

County commissioners will soon decide the 2006-07 school budget allocation. These are the same people who've repeatedly said "yes" to developers, adding about 1,500 students each year for a decade. That's enough to fill several new schools, yet Northern will be the first high school built in Guilford since Southwest was built in the '70s.

Our schools are overcrowded and underfunded (North Carolina ranks 43rd on educational expenditure per student). Commissioners remain "hands off" with regards to our schools until budget time, when these same "yes men" to developers become "yes men" to whiners who don't want their taxes raised or people who want to "punish" Terry Grier for policies they don't like. Ultimately, it's our children and teachers who suffer.

Commissioners, you need to assess your personal efforts to improve our schools this year. Have you reached out to state legislators to increase state funding? Have you worked with the school board to improve policies? Have you done anything to address low teacher morale due to the lack of adequate resources (especially teacher assistants)? Until you can answer these questions affirmatively, don't hold back the money our school system desperately needs to keep pace with the growth you've let happen.

Mary Fabrizio
Colfax

When I received a campaign mailer from Vernon Robinson recently, I knew what to expect. You see, I had been an interested observer of his runoff campaign against Virginia Foxx in the 5th District Republican primary two years ago. One of his ads had Virginia Foxx "morphing" into Hillary Clinton and stating that they were just the same.

To make such a claim, a person would have to be either hopelessly ignorant or totally dishonest. I think that dishonesty is the more likely explanation; therefore, I had no interest in what he might have to say about his current opponent ... it was sure to be more of his lies.

But, if we want to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he really believed that 2004 ad, do we want a congressman who is so stupid (or so far to the right) that he can't see the difference between Virginia Foxx and Hillary Clinton?

Bert Smith
Greensboro

George W. Bush wants to sell land in the North Carolina mountains close to Ridgecrest Camps where I spend my summers. The land that is possibly going to be sold is near where campers at Camp Ridgecrest have had campouts for 77 years.

I go to this camp and if anything changes, it just won't be the same. I write to tell others what could happen if we aren't careful.

Many of the things the trees give us — like oxygen — help us through life, and the more trees that we have, the longer the life span of humans will be. The only thing that we are going to get out of cutting these trees is money for rural schools.

If President Bush had given all the money he had promised in "No Child Left Behind," he wouldn't have to make money by giving away land and logging trees.

Raleigh Guy Cothran
Greensboro
The writer is a student at Kernodle Middle School.

I am concerned for all citizens if funding is cut for public broadcasting, but most of all for parents of children who depend upon public broadcasting for their impartial news information and for creative and appropriate entertainment and education for their children from PBS.

Over the next few months, Congress, and particularly the House Appropriations Committee and its subcommittees, will approve actual spending amounts for programs like public broadcasting.

If they agree to President Bush's proposed 38 percent funding cuts, our local stations could be shut down and people could lose their jobs.

It's critical that supporters of public broadcasting actively communicate with Congress before the appropriations subcommittees finalize their funding recommendations. This is made easy at a Web site dedicated to supporting public broadcasting, www.TellThemPublicMatters.org. You can also find out more about the issue and keep up to date by visiting this site.

Linda L. Alton
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Howard McBride

I read Michael Brown's article, "A voice for the homeless" (May 21), then I skipped up to the March 3 excerpt from his blog and read to the conclusion.

I was thinking to myself about how well he was handling his circumstances, and his thanks to the churches and people who were helping him was to be admired. Then, I went back and started reading his blog for Feb. 13. There starts the blame game.

George Bush stole the White House. His subsequent tinkering with the economy sent industries that typically use graphic designers into a tailspin. Brown blew all his credibility. Blame somebody else.

George Bush did not steal the White House, according to the Supreme Court. He did not cause Brown to lose his job any more than did Bill Clinton or Al Gore.

Most likely technology had a lot to do with the company laying off a lot of people, or it lost some clients. This is a changing world. Businesses were laying off people during Bill Clinton's term in office because of advanced technology, businesses moving to Mexico, etc. It serves no purpose for Brown to blame someone else.

If he is genuinely interested in working, Brown could find a job in the construction trades, manufacturing, warehousing, customer service, and lots of other areas. But he must convince the potential employer that he will work hard, be dependable and on time, be productive, and not be the whiner he showed himself to be on Feb. 13. Employers everywhere are looking for good people with good work habits. I hope Brown will learn them.

The writer lives in Morehead City.

I have a modest proposal to better address the immigration issue. It's based on the millennia-old proven policy of supply and demand. We all agree that, as defect-laden as it is, citizenship in the United States is as good as it gets for people. So why not offer it for what it's worth?

Let prospective citizens come in merely by registering at the border, have their photos and fingerprints taken, and let them enter the country freely. (For the NPR-ista, please note every U.S. citizen who has his photo in a high school annual, or was born in a U.S. hospital, has that same "privilege.")

Now the fun part: All noncitizens have an extra 1 percent in tax collected on their withholding taxes and other tax rates. It's an incentive to become citizens and a way to pay for the costs they impose on the country. Any employer who employs a nonregistered worker pays a $10,000 per-occurrence fine.

No goofy, wildly expensive and useless fences, no dying border-crossers in the desert, and no unpaid expenses for residents.
Cheers.

Warren Pegram
Snow Camp

We were dismayed with the editorial column (May 23) by Nicholas D. Kristof of The New York Times in which he compares the selling of Girl Scout cookies to deaths at the hands of al-Qaida.

Clearly, Kristof knows better; he contacted our national office, who told him we are very concerned about trans fats and are working diligently with our bakers to eliminate them. Also, his numbers were wrong. In the Triad, five of eight cookie types have zero trans fats.
By 2007, all Girl Scout cookies will have zero trans fat. (To clarify the labeling, FDA regulations stipulate that a serving with less than 0.5 grams be declared as zero.)

As we eliminate trans fats, we ask for continued support of the Girl Scout cookie program, which not only funds essential services for 16,000 Triad Girl Scouts but also provides girls with hands-on experience in skills they will use throughout their lives. These include teamwork, goal-setting, money management, oral presentation skills and customer service.

Tarheel Triad Council, a 13-county area, sells cookies each winter. For more information, go to our Web site at www.tarheeltriad.org, call us at (336) 274-8491, or send an e-mail to misc@tarheeltriad.org.

Lynn Burnette
Colfax

The writer is public relations director, Girl Scouts, Tarheel Triad Council Inc.

I applaud the Moses Cone Health System's plan to become 100 percent smoke-free. Secondhand smoke is a dangerous pollutant, responsible for as many as 62,000 heart disease deaths and 3,000 lung cancer deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year. Secondhand smoke is harmful to young children and causes lower respiratory tract infections, asthma episodes, ear infections, and even sudden infant death syndrome.

As the major organization responsible for taking care of our community’s health, it makes perfect sense for Moses Cone to ban tobacco use on its property. In addition, Moses Cone has a responsibility to protect the health of its employees. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals and is a known carcinogen.

A recent study found that people exposed to smoke in the workplace were 17 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than those who were not exposed. Involuntary smoking makes the eyes and nose burn and can cause headaches and nausea in nonsmokers. It is unfair to nonsmoking employees to force them to breathe tobacco toxins.
Congratulations, Moses Cone. I appreciate your leadership and I hope other employers will follow your path to making Greensboro a healthier place to live.

Jennifer Kimbrough
Greensboro

I'm confused about the Senate's version of the (illegal) immigration bill, also known as the "let's reward the 12 million illegals who have violated our laws by illegally entering our country" bill. Democrats, real and closeted, tell us of the great benefits of having these folks here to do jobs "that Americans won't do."

I understand that to mean mostly low-paying jobs with no benefits. These people pay little or no income taxes and end up using more tax dollars in food stamps, Medicaid and other social programs. Most send their earnings back to their native countries. How does this help our country?

It helps the dishonest, corrupt politicians who see these people as future constituents. Since the Democrats can't get legislation passed to let felons vote, these mostly uneducated laborers who speak little or no English are the next best thing. These will be the next mindless lemmings voting for the Dems. This is another transparent ploy to further increase the size of government. We'll have millions of uneducated, low-paid workers straining our welfare system.

Who do you think will be paying the bills?

Tony Moschetti
High Point

I found David P. Haxton's letter (May 24) lacking the most important element. After cataloging a list of societies' failures at protecting their posterity with security walls, he concluded that a wall between the U.S. and Mexico is futile because the Sept. 11 terrorists came through customs.

He then proposes that there is surely a more intelligent way to secure our borders than what is being proposed by the "trite-phrase talking heads" who are "playing politics with national security" by proposing a wall to help control illegals. His letter left out the most important ingredient in this dialogue, and I quote him: "a more intelligent way to secure our borders." The problem developed from doing nothing. How can more of the same solve the problem?

Allen Bullard
Randleman

Thanks to the total corruption of our politicians the term "illegal" no longer has meaning. Because it is more important to pander to big business and its desire for cheap labor, our crooked representatives are concocting schemes to grant legal status to untold millions of illegal aliens.

Because it is more important to increase the voter base than obey existing laws, power-hungry Washington elites ignore the citizens' pleas and attempt to placate the invaders. Meanwhile, our taxes increase, our tax-supported social programs are drained, and our school systems are overrun.

Our inept leadership doesn't even have the good sense to rescind Section 1 of the 14th Amendment. Illegal aliens impudently give birth to automatic citizens while we watch in stunned disbelief.

When a government becomes so corrupt that it ignores the meaning of "illegal" for political expediency, then, we, the citizens, must intervene before it's too late.

John Pelliccione
Greensboro

I am indignant about the state of affairs in the United States. We send many of our citizens overseas to fight in foreign wars that cost us money and put us in debt.

Meanwhile, our legislators ignore the real problem. We have a large illegal immigrant population that refuses to learn our language or meet citizenship requirements.

Because illegal immigrants work for lower wages, fewer jobs are available for U.S. citizens. When will legislators wake up and do something about our problems?

Juanita Spalding
Greensboro

One of the nicer pieces I have read in the News & Record lately was reader tributes to their mothers on Mother's Day. I wonder, then, how anyone at your paper could have thought it was a good idea to ask readers to tell how their fathers embarrassed them for Father's Day.

I'm sorry, but I just don't get it: Celebrate mothers on Mother's Day, but put down fathers on Father's Day.

The kindest such letters would be of the form, "My father was a graceless oaf on some trivial occasion but I love him anyway." Hardly a fit companion for the Mother's Day pieces.

It may be news to you that there are lots of men in our community who are good, faithful husbands; supporting, nurturing fathers; leaders in our churches and community organizations; and heroes who defend our lives and freedom. If they seem to be rare, all the more reason to clearly and forthrightly celebrate the ones we have.

My father is such a man. I have embarrassed him many times, though he never showed it; he has never embarrassed me.

You should be embarrassed for even considering such a condescending feature.

John Guthrie
Browns Summit

As chairman of the Community Impact Committee for the United Way of Greater High Point, I would like to say a special thank-you to more than 100 volunteers who participated in our fund distribution.

They visited the partner agencies, studied budgets and program information and analyzed the results of work in the community. They also heard funding requests and allocated dollars entrusted to the United Way.

We appreciate their time and efforts. Their hard work and commitment demonstrated the sense of community investment that is the hallmark of our United Way, and those who support it.

We'd also like to thank our 30 partner agencies and volunteers. We are grateful for their partnership and support, and for their wonderful work to benefit others.

Molly Dickinson
High Point
The writer is vice president, marketing and communications, United Way of Greater High Point.

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By MARHTA JENKINS

Last year, Jessica Lunsford, a young Florida girl, was abducted from home and raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender just released from prison. Her death reveals that sexual predators, even when caught and convicted, are looking for their next victim. Not all are murdered, but psychological damage inflicted on defenseless children lasts a lifetime.

States including Florida have passed Jessica's Law, requiring mandatory prison sentences for violent sexual offenders. North Carolina has not.

The N.C. Federation of Republican Women is conducting a petition drive to let our legislature know that is critical for our children's safety. We have contacted legislators, but it's uncertain if this legislation will pass this year. I've contacted my Democratic counterpart and asked her for help. Children are children, not Republicans or Democrats.

In Fayetteville, a recently arrested sexual offender admitted assaulting more than a hundred children before being caught. In Florida, the rate at which sexual offenders repeat their crimes has dropped since the passage of Jessica's Law, so mandatory sentencing is a deterrent. A recent voter poll showed 74 percent favoring passage of Jessica's Law.

If government cannot protect children, then it is failing. I would urge you to contact your legislators in the N.C. House and Senate (919-733-4111) and ask them to pass a strong Jessica's Law. There are several versions being considered, but the strongest bill requiring mandatory sentencing, increased registration requirements and GPS monitoring of sexual offenders is Rep. Julia Howard's bill.

Stress that mandatory sentencing is critical. Sexual predators do not change; if they can get away with it, they commit their crimes again and again. Keeping them in prison is the best way to prevent harm to children.

In addition to contacting your legislators, you may sign the petition for Jessica's Law at www.ncfrw.com/programs/legislation/child_protection_amendment.htm

The writer lives in Chapel Hill and is president, N.C. Federation of Republican Women.

I want to respond to the article (May 22) regarding Moses Cone Health System enacting a strict smoke-free policy. I can't help but wonder whether the adverse effects of decades of tobacco use at least contributed to the illnesses of some of the most vocal complainers.

Many people, myself included, have lost someone dear to them due to the effects of tobacco. Each of these deaths could possibly have been prevented. As a nurse, I frequently care for patients who endure agonizing respiratory problems directly linked to a lifetime of tobacco use.

We need to give folks who wish to quit, or have already quit, every incentive to live a tobacco-free lifestyle. We need to ensure that all nonsmokers are able to avoid secondhand smoke.

Moses Cones is not alone in its efforts to improve the overall health of our community by banning smoking. Hospitals, restaurants, businesses and even entire countries have joined in. University of Missouri Health Care will ban employees from even smelling like smoke at work.

We should continue to support the efforts of agencies working to help smokers quit. Keeping Moses Cone smoke-free will be beneficial to smokers and nonsmokers alike.

Jill Ballance
Greensboro

Your recent letter from a fan of the Dixie Chicks (May 27) caught my attention and deserves a contrasting opinion.

America is a great country, and our citizens are at liberty to express their opinion on any subject, including political comments. That includes celebrities such as the Dixie Chicks.

Because they expressed their opinion regarding their dislike for President Bush in a foreign city (London), and not Dallas or Waco or Houston, I lost all respect for them. They did it primarily to sell records "over there," and not because they have bright political minds. Their comments, during a time of war, cost them dearly, primarily with the country-and-western fans who used to buy their records. They deserved the repercussions they received for their comments.

As a U.S. citizen, I have the right not to spend my money on any of their records, not to listen to them on the radio or TV, and to boycott any radio station that plays their music. Isn't America a great place to live?

Bob Goodman
High Point

The May 27 Counterpoint column by Viola Monroe is unfortunately typical of the misinformation being spread by opponents of S. 1955, the Small Business Health Plan (SBHP) federal legislation.

More than 43 million Americans have no health insurance. One reason is that many of these people lack access to more affordable group health plans. The SBHP concept simply allows non-profit trade associations to offer the same type of group health coverage enjoyed by persons who work for large corporations or government.

Critics claim that SBHPs will offer scaled-down benefit packages. In fact, SBHPs will be subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which makes it illegal to deny coverage to any eligible participant based on his health status. SBHPs will not be allowed to "cherry-pick," because sick or high-risk individuals could not be denied coverage. In addition, SBHPs will not be permitted to charge higher rates for individuals with pre-existing conditions, except to the extent already allowed under state law.

S. 1955 already has the support of 55 U.S. senators, including Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole. Opponents have so far used election-year partisan politics, scare tactics and Senate filibuster rules to block a final vote.

Tim Kent
Greensboro

I don't understand why it is so hard for many of our city's leaders to accept the results of the report made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. When facts that have been carefully researched and studied are denied by them, surely they are not setting a good example for this city.

Don't they realize that others in our state, and even abroad, are watching the results of this two-year study in resolving differences? Would they rather continue to be infamous in connection with Nov. 3, 1979, than to be famous in 2006 for taking steps to resolve a difficult and complicated conflict? Thank goodness the Rev. Nelson Johnson has the grace to apologize and admit mistakes. Is it all up to him to do it?

I was here in 1979 and was quite ignorant of the wrongdoing. I would like to apologize to Johnson, Jackie Clapp, Signe Waller and so many others who suffered. I hope others will join me in this.

Julie Shelburne
Greensboro

Recently, my wife and I were honored to view the graduation of the Greensboro College Middle College class. Several of these kids actually gave the commencement address. It was a real eye-opener.

They were a collection of 44 kids who, for various reasons, may have previously fallen by the wayside. Instead, the Guilford County schools have risen to their needs, and at least they now have a chance to succeed. They are a talented group and have tasted success in that atmosphere.

Terry Grier was there and should have been given more credit for fostering such a great program. He clearly has vision, and it showed that day. To those of you who sport those obnoxious bumper stickers and yard signs wanting Grier to leave, be careful, you just may get your wish. Guilford County would certainly be the loser.

Peter Peiffer
Greensboro

American drivers are the ultimate cause for the price of oil since we consume more per capita than any other country in the world. The average miles per gallon for all U.S. automobiles has gone down since the oil shortage of the 1980s. We should be ashamed.

As I am passed by a string of four or five SUVs (with one occupant) averaging in the low- to mid-teens in city mpg, I am disgusted with the American oil gluttony. We are all acting like the supply of cheap oil is unlimited by buying behemoths that consume a lot more gasoline than the average person needs to get around on their daily trips. The birth of the SUV and the gas-guzzler is the reason gasoline is $3 per gallon, not the sheiks in the Middle East.

America, stop wasting oil like it is your birthright. To continue wasting oil will ensure that the Middle East controls the world by controlling the oil. And the war on terror will continue to be funded by the SUV drivers in the United States.

Randy Scott
Greensboro

In the editorial, "The SCAT dilemma" (May 19), the writer claims that Greensboro is the only city in the nation that offers unlimited monthly passes to its riders. This is not the case.

Portland, Ore., as part of the TriMet lift program, offers unlimited monthly passes for $44 a month. Instead of threatening to delete the pass altogether, the price has gone up $10 over the last three years. While you have some riders who ride a lot, not everyone using a pass will ride 105 times.

There are more ways to solve these budget shortcomings without the scare tactics used every time GTA has an expected annual dilemma.

Ryan Perdue
Greensboro

The aquatic center proposed for inclusion on this fall's bond referendum would provide Greensboro citizens with:

I would like to make a suggestion. I think we should consider voting to make all elected officials — city, county, state and federal — work on a fixed salary. This should include the annual budgets they have with which to work.

Then at the end of each year, if there is any money still in the budget, 75 percent of that excess should be invested in ongoing projects — roads, schools, health care, child care, etc. The other 25 percent should be divided among the appropriate officials as their bonus. This gives them incentive to be more cautious with how the money affecting us is spent. It also gives them the opportunity to see how tax hikes, gas hikes and other increases faced by each of us affect a very large majority of their constituents.

Kathryn Sherrill
Greensboro

The air is not "stupid" ("Stupid air, it'll make us all itchy," May 30). People are, for allowing our environment to deteriorate like it is. That you would approve such a "stupid" headline shows bad judgment on your part, in my opinion.

Please don't be so "stupidly" common on such a serious issue.

But, if you think that is the way to get through to President Bush, you might be right. Problem is, he probably won't read it.

Arden N. Kirkman
Greensboro

Citizens should have easy access to reports for which tax money is paid. The League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad suggests that all contracts for studies or major proposals made by local governments require that the authors provide an electronically formatted version of the study or proposal. Then citizens can gain access to this information either on the Internet or by CD or DVD in PDF or another widely used file- sharing format.

We note that the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission produced its final report on the Internet at the same time that it gave its oral report to the community. The Guilford County Criminal Justice Master Plan (Kimme report), which was prepared at taxpayers' expense, merited similar treatment by the Guilford County government.

All citizens should have easily available information to help in making intelligent decisions when casting ballots.

Marlene Pratto
Rebecca Klase
Greensboro

The writers are both members of the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad.

A statement that City Council member Florence Gatten recently made, "Greensboro is the only transit system in the country offering the unlimited-ride pass" (for paratransit), is false. In just a few hours, I found 15 systems offering an unlimited ride pass for paratransit and four systems offering free paratransit.

The GTA task force is proposing that the unlimited monthly pass for SCAT riders be eliminated. They are asking these folks to absorb an immediate increase of $1.62 per ride. (The monthly pass costs $35. Based on 60 rides per month, the price per ride is 58 cents. The full fare for SCAT would be $2.20, an increase of $1.62.)

The task force wants regular bus riders to absorb a 10-cent increase per ride and SCAT riders to absorb $1.62 per ride? This is a rate-hike tsunami. The monthly cost of someone riding 60 times per month would increase from $35 to $132.

Please contact the City Council and urge them to increase the cost of unlimited ride passes for SCAT riders in reasonable increments.

Please attend the City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. today.

SCAT riders are not asking for a free ride, just a fair one.

Claire Holmes
Greensboro

I have some sincere advice for local residents. First, especially at 85, do not break your hip. Second, if you do, break the left one: You drive with your right leg. Lastly, be sure to employ the Greensboro medical establishment. My family physician of 25 years, whom I revere, told me many years ago that, barring a very unusual situation, you need not go elsewhere for medical treatment. In that time, I have given his dictum many tests and have found it to be true.

I am now very pleased to be a patient, as needed, of local outstanding physicians and surgeons of many specialities.

And there are two outstanding general hospitals. With 7,400 employees, not all will be A+, but in my experience, they strike a remarkably high average.

Of course, you, the patient, must do a lot of the work. Learn all you can about ailments, treatment and medications so you can better understand the doctor, ask relevant questions, and do what the doctor advises. And take care of yourself to begin with.

As my old dad used to say, "In the final analysis, everyone must kill his own snakes." (Apologies to herpetologists.)

Dan W. Maddox
Greensboro

Hank Powell's letter (May 30) explaining how the rules have changed for being a good Democrat since he "left the party more than 40 years ago" made me realize how sensible it is to be a Republican in the 21st century. Thinking back on how the Democrats were running this country in the 1960s, I can certainly see why Powell would choose to become a member of the GOP.

For example, back in the 1960s, the nation was being led by a cowboy president from Texas who continually sent thousands of young Americans to their deaths in a senseless war against a nation that had never attacked us. Thank goodness this will never happen as long as we have God-fearing Republicans in charge of our nation's welfare.

And, of course, there was all that crazy civil rights legislation that the Democrats were always getting passed into law back in the 1960s. Again, all I can say is thank the Lord that we have sensible Republican justices like Clarence Thomas to repeal all those so-called "reforms."

This is truly a great time to be a Republican. Thank you, Mr. Powell, for setting me straight.

Dana Hatcher
High Point

Truth? Yours, mine, theirs? Trying to "reconcile" is a tough undertaking. Most likely it has occurred all by itself — time heals as we move through the inevitable highs and lows of being here.

Doug Clark's column (May 31, "Commission proposes political agenda") was pretty much on the mark. And Mayor Holliday on your June 1 front page ("No apology necessary") said what I believe most of us feel. Regrets? Of course. Apologize? For the nut-case actions of loose-cannon activists on both sides?

Enough already. I feel reconciled and ready to move ahead through the tangled web of Dixie Chicks, "American Idol," gas-guzzling SUVs with cell phones but no turn signals, and all the other threats to a useful life.

Bill Beerman
Greensboro

I was suitably moved by Gary Parker's account (May 28) of his illegal immigrant grandfather's life and of his family's subsequent achievements.

As for my people, I don't know exactly when my ancestors came to this country, although I am given to understand it was well before the Civil War. I have no idea if they were legal or illegal immigrants. I do know that when they came there were vast areas of land as yet unconquered and prime for seizure and development. For this reason, waves of immigrants were both allowed and encouraged.

It's now 2006, and things have changed. The limits of our continental geography have long been reached. Our population continues to swell, especially with the influx of illegals pouring across our southern border.

I am reminded of the classic psychological experiment in which a colony of rats was confined in a closed environment. As they bred and bred, the psychological and physical stresses of overpopulation drove them finally into madness and terminal savagery.

It's something to think about. Our immigrant past need not commit us to a suicidal future.

Paul Miles
Greensboro

Amazing what titles our official national bureaucracy comes up with — FEMA "debris specialists." The devastated Katrina victims of Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss., are being denied $17 million after the FEMA debris specialists notified the county three times that contractors were "not performing their jobs properly" (May 29, A8, National Briefs.)

John Kincaid Sr.
Reidsville

In the May 28 edition of the News & Record, Dr. Paul Nagy, director of the Duke Addictions Program, Duke University Medical Center, is quoted: "Ultimately, what I know as a practitioner is that it takes a village to help people get through this, and a faith community is a substantial part of people's lives."

With all due respect to Dr. Nagy, I converted to agnosticism from Christianity before I determined that I wanted to give up the addiction of cigarettes. If a village can be defined as a prescription from my doctor on how to use the "patch" and lots of hugs from my husband alone, then Dr. Nagy's statement is partly true. However, this was not a "faith community." My husband does not believe in "God." It was simply my decision alone to give up the disgusting habit that ultimately helped me to change my life for a life of more productivity and less thought of when my next cancer stick would be.

I am ever grateful, though, for every person who tries to help the mentally ill. If only our government would help with "total employment" or social services for everyone, we might all be cured.

Judy Stierand
Whitsett

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Bruce McCreedy

More than 50 percent of the fuel used in the world is fuel oil. Aircraft, ships, locomotives, construction equipment, farm machinery, trucks and, in many modern industrialized economies, automobiles are powered by fuel oils that are formulated for specific tasks. Diesel engines are 40 percent more fuel efficient than comparable gas engines and 65 percent more efficient than ethanol-fueled engines.

Since diesel engines are the most efficient use of crude oil for powering most of the machines listed above, industrialized economies that import energy have spent billions of dollars in R&D to clean up diesel fuels and improve the efficiency of Rudolph Diesel's 120- year-old invention.

Today, ultra-low sulfur B20 biodiesel fuel (20 percent bio oil) is available in most modern industrialized economies. The new technology diesel engines include injection systems, catalytic converters, turbo chargers and particulate filters, which make them more efficient and as environmentally clean as our standard gas engines. Unfortunately, B20 biodiesel fuel is not available in most of the United States.

We are spending billions of dollars to build new ethanol refineries. Environmentally, ethanol is very clean; unfortunately, it is not a very efficient fuel when used in a modern engine.

Unless your cash crop is sugar (Brazil), ethanol made from corn takes much more energy to produce than bio oil made from rape seed or soybeans. Presently, cultivating and harvesting one acre of corn costs the farmer $11 in fuel while harvesting an acre of soybeans costs $7.

Ethanol is cultivated and harvested by diesel-powered farm machinery and transported by diesel-powered trucks and trains, since it cannot be shipped through conventional fuel pipelines.

Most experts on the subject agree that it takes two-thirds of a gallon of oil to product one gallon of corn-based ethanol. Biomass ethanol can be produced more efficiently, but it still must be transported by truck and train for distribution.

Naturally, the petroleum industry is not too anxious to have its No. 1 customer include B20 biodiesel as an "alternative fuel." Light-duty diesel (automobile) engines powered by B20 biodiesel fuels require about 50 percent less crude oil than our present gas engines. That would definitely put a knot in "big oil's" knickers.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I was one of 12 members of a mission work team in Gulfport, Miss., from Guilford Park Presbyterian Church, April 26-30, under the direction of the Presbytery of Mississippi's Disaster Assistance Organization.

Collectively, we were impressed and deeply moved by the love, appreciation and kindnesses shown to us by area residents. Their faces are etched in our minds, and they will forever be in our hearts and thoughts.

The Gulfport residents are a wonderfully proud people who have been struck a fierce punch that dropped them to their knees, but they have not stayed down. Their resilience and courage have been and will continue to be an inspiration for all of us who have come to know them.

We assured them that they are not alone in their struggle and never will be. Volunteers will continue in a steady stream for years to come. That's what Americans do for one another in times of crisis.

May God continue to walk with the Gulf-area residents and give them strength to face the daily frustrations and pain of loss and provide them with a vision and hope for the future.

Bob Kollar
Greensboro

The mudslinging has already started for the 2006 midterms. Vernon Robinson is attacking Congressman Brad Miller's sexuality even though Miller has been married to the same woman for 25 years.

Politicians who have nothing to offer and nothing solid to run on resort to mudslinging, nasty attacks and outright slander to get attention. Remember in 2004 how the Swift Boat Veterans maliciously attacked John Kerry, a man who volunteered for service in Vietnam and won two Purple Hearts, while George W. Bush's service record is still in question.

In 2000, Bush called John McCain unpatriotic, and literature distributed in his name suggested that McCain has an illegitimate African American daughter. McCain spent five years as a prisoner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. His daughter was adopted from Bangladesh.

Bush also helped unseat Max Cleland, another Vietnam vet who left both legs and an arm in the jungle, calling him unpatriotic. One may have problems with McCain or Cleland on various issues, but their patriotism is beyond question.

The Bush campaign ran on mud and is now drowning in it.

Let's hope the Robinson campaign does not succeed in rousing the darkest in American hearts and chokes on its own dirt.

Jo Boykin
Greensboro

So, here I am watching local news, and I hear a story about High Point. My ears perk up. High Point? I used to live there. Then I see what the story is about, and I get sick.

Wal-Mart is planning on building a superstore ... in High Point ... on Fairfield Road. I scream out loud and jump up. "Honey," I yell, "do you know where that is? That's right next to Kmart."

Loyal News & Record readers might remember me from a few years back; I'm the girl who used to work at that Kmart. Obviously, I don't anymore, but though I've moved on, I have to admit that store has a place in my heart. And as annoyed as I got at Kmart's policies, I will never hate them the way I hate Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is not the answer to better service or better treatment for staffers. And if you think Main Street is a pain to drive down now, just you wait.

So join me, please, in telling Wal-Mart no thanks. Archdale is full of good businesses that have become fixtures (including Kmart on Fairfield) and they need to be supported.

Candance Moore-Renigar
Winston-Salem

I was not surprised when I read about the students at Greensboro Middle College and their teacher cleaning the alley not one wanted to claim. Bob Owens was a teacher of mine at Northeast High School for two years. I know he was the only teacher to ever put his home phone number on the board and tell us if we ever needed him to call anytime.

Mr. Owens or "Big O," as we called him, thank you for being such a great teacher and making such a difference in my life. You touched many of us with your war stories and we will never forget the lessons we learned from you. It is nice to know you are still working with kids.

Lesa Holt
Brown Summit

The News & Record often brags about its focus on "local" news, but often editors don't practice what they preach.

I am writing to express my disappointment the newspaper chose not to publish a story about the arrest of a local man for a disturbing crime. That happened even though editors were advised of the arrest.
The story involved an arrest for two felonies: breaking and entering and larceny. This was no routine break-in. In a quiet neighborhood just north of upscale Lake Jeanette, a man was caught inside a home by the homeowner. In his possession were articles of underwear of the homeowner's teenage daughter. According to the investigating detective, the man had in his car a large quantity of young women's underwear.

It seems obvious that this was not a first-time act of this disturbed person. Would this crime have become worse? Would it have resulted in injury?

I don't know. But, residents of Greensboro ought to be informed of acts like these for their own safety.

The act of the man was criminal. The action of the editors are disheartening if they really mean what they say about the news of local interest.

John E. Moll
Greensboro

We are now within five months of the November elections and guess what? The Republicans worked up gay-marriage and flag-burning amendments for debate. That's right. While avian flu threatens our shores, while aliens enter illegally, while millions go without health insurance, while school budgets are slashed, these folks gin up worthless and divisive issues to draw attention away from the real problems we face.

Gay people and flag-burners do not threaten out country, but an incompetent president and his Republican lackeys do.

John W. Graham
Greensboro

A month ago Supt. Terry Grier invited me to learn about his budget. I asked for a copy before the meeting and received a couple of spreadsheets showing how much GCS hoped to get. Missing was how they would spend it (minor detail?).

Having blown millions of the $500 million in bond money we voted for new schools on frills, they now want more highly compensated administrators and need to pay for Grier's raise and incentives package.

Last year's budget included almost a half-million for "outside contractors" associated with a local church to teach racial sensitivity. Now they want to do it again.

Just these items alone would pay for 50 to 100 badly needed teacher's aides, or 25 full-time teachers. Now they are surprised there is no interest in the budget. There is interest (hundreds of millions over the bonds' lives), but who has the budget to discuss? Not us, the taxpayers.

Still waiting for my copy, Mr. Grier. Instead of new administrators to spend more money, how about supplies for our schools? County commissioners, no more taxes. Trim the fat. It should be easy. Taxpayers deserve real, managed budgets that get results.

Garth Hebert
High Point

President Bush preaches "freedom, freedom, freedom" to all the world. Bush is promoting a constitutional amendment limiting our freedom regarding whom we might choose to marry. Do we really want the government dictating whom we should or should not marry, whether based on gender, or as in the past, skin color or religion?

People are always extolling the virtues of freedom, but it always seems to be followed by "except." Although one man's freedom ends when it impinges on another's, how on earth does your freedom to choose whom to marry, even if I don't approve, impinge on my freedom to choose? Or does freedom mean freedom for you as long as you believe as I do? Or freedom for me, to heck with you?

Gloria McClanahan
Asheboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By David Hodges

High Point is having to drop its red-light camera program because of an archaic constitutional rule that says 90 percent of all traffic fines must go to the local school system. Peek Traffic, the contractor used by the city to run the program, says the cost is about 70 percent of revenue. The Guilford County school system has applauded the Superior and Appeals courts' rulings that schools are entitled to 90 percent of that money from High Point — about $1.5 million.

Someone ought to explain to the schools that the red-light camera program just can't pull money out of the air. They've killed the program entirely. So while they may have a legal right to $1.5 million, the future revenue they can expect will be zero dollars.

Congratulations, you've just decreased your future income!

But the real losers? Motorists. Accidents at intersections in North Carolina cities where the red-light cameras were installed dropped, according to studies conducted by the Institute for Transportation Research and Education.

Other studies show that in High Point alone, total crashes decreased 15 percent, and right-angle crashes dropped 23 percent in the first year of the program. Total crashes decreased 9 percent and right-angle crashes 29 percent in the second year.

So thank you, Guilford County Schools. I feel so much better about my safety and well-being with your leadership in place.

The case may go to the N.C. Supreme Court on appeal. The court probably will uphold the decision. The law says what it says, and the court's job is to uphold the law.

I'd like to see the law changed (ahem, legislators). That way, companies like Peek Traffic can lock themselves in at a 10 percent profit (or some equally agreeable figure), with the rest going to local schools.

The bottom line is, everyone should want this program, and we ought to take steps toward getting it in place rather than pointing fingers and holding out our hands like the Guilford County school system.

The writer lives in High Point.

I hope the mayor and Greensboro City Council remember why we have SCAT transportation. So all our citizens have access to transportation.

You always find money to "give away" to any company that says they'll bring jobs here, but there's never money for our citizens most in need.

Councilwoman Florence Gatten says that spending $2.50 a ride won't keep people stuck in their homes. When people are on a fixed income they have to count every dollar. So, they have to make every outing count as well.

Does this mean, then, that they should only go to a doctor's appointment or social services office?

Suppose Gatten were only allowed "out" for such visits and couldn't afford to go out to eat or shop, etc. We take our good health for granted. I, personally, enjoy the fact that I am able to get in my car and drive to wherever I want, whenever I choose.

Let's remember those who aren't as fortunate. We all know there's money wasted in government.

I urge the council to look elsewhere for cuts.

Kathleen Perdue
Greensboro

I returned from vacation this week to be greeted by an unsolicited message on my answering machine from the Vernon Robinson campaign against Brad Miller for Congress. I am appalled and offended by the negativity, viciousness and inaccuracies of this message.

Among other things, it states that "these aliens" pay no income tax, when, in fact, state and federal income taxes are deducted from immigrants' paychecks. Nowhere in the message does Robinson offer any positive programs.

The entire message is filled with innuendo, fear, intolerance, inaccuracy and personal attack against Brad Miller. I consider it an invasion of my privacy to have this message left on my answering machine.

A voice claiming to be Vernon Robinson ends the message saying, "I approve this message." I don't know who Vernon Robinson is, but if the level of his message is an indication of his integrity and intelligence, I will not vote for him.

Evalyn Ryan
Greensboro

I recently noted that both the city of Greensboro and Guilford County were proposing tax increases for next year. Both requests come when the N.C. Department of Revenue is recognizing record receipts.

I recall a few years back that Gov. Easley was having a problem with his budget. I also recall that the N.C. sales tax contained 1 percent for local government.

To balance the budget, the one percent was no longer returned to counties. At that time, the consensus was that the state "stole" our money.

I think it is time for elected officials — state and local — to retrieve our money and balance our local budgets without tax increases. After all, it is the right thing to do.

Ken Conrad
Greensboro

Although our invasion of Iraq is arguably the most pointless military exercise in our history, I haven't until recently thought that we should pull out, under the theory that once that we broke Iraq that we had an obligation to fix it.

Now that our role is to babysit the growing Iraqi civil war, we have clearly reached a point of diminishing returns. We currently have enough force to keep the civil war at a low level but not nearly enough to resolve it. Our presence is more of a motivation and excuse for the rebellion than a deterrent.

The American occupation takes legitimacy from the nascent Iraqi government and acts as a crutch that keeps them from acting on their own. The Iraqi military will have little respect in their own country as long as it is seen as an adjutant to the Americans.

Our military role no longer makes sense either from an American or Iraqi perspective. It's time to start pulling our troops out and letting the Iraqis find their own way.

We may not like the results, but Iraqis will do a better job of figuring out what is best for their country than we have.

Marshall White
Archdale

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Charlie Vickers

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission met for two years to determine what went wrong at the Klan-Nazi-Communist Workers Party shootings more than 26 years ago.

After two years they chose to lay most of the blame at the feet of our police department, stating the lack of police presence was the "single most important element" that contributed to the violence. They went on to suggest that the city of Greensboro should apologize.

Why not place more blame on the individual members of these groups who chose to bring weapons to this demonstration?

Why not place more blame on the individual members’ intolerance of the ideals of the opposing group?

Why not place more blame on the families that raised the members of these groups to have such hatred toward other human beings?

Surely one of these elements would be considered by most reasonable people to be more contributory to this sad event than lack of police presence.

What a very sad commentary on this obviously biased commission. It seems to me they have wasted two years of people’s time in order to issue a report they wanted to issue from day one.

Everyone in America has the right to peacefully demonstrate, both for and against issues before them. The catch phrase there is "peacefully."

No matter how anyone wants to spin the events that took place in 1979, if the participants had come peacefully, without choosing to bring weapons, there would be no dead bodies and no Truth and Reconciliation Commission to insult the very fine city of Greensboro.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

My husband and I got on our motorcycle recently and headed across town to meet the Patriot Guard Riders. The Patriot Guard Riders were to escort a fallen hero, Lance Cpl. Kevin Adam Lucas, to Calvary Church in Greensboro. The riders adorned their bikes with American flags, some large flags and some small.

I felt the pride of being an American. I also felt the pain and the loss of an American hero. I grieved for the Lucas family.

Guilford Country sheriff's vehicles led the family car, Patriot honor guard and the hearse carrying the fallen hero. More than 60 Patriot Guard Riders followed in formation. The bikes rumbled down the road with their flags waving proudly in the wind. Cars pulled over to honor the processional. Several veterans got out of their vehicles and stood at attention, saluting the fallen hero.

We witnessed the price of freedom. It cost one family their only son. Lance Cpl. Lucas made the supreme sacrifice. They not only said goodbye to their son, they said goodbye to a hero.

The memory of Adam's final ride in Greensboro will live in my mind forever. It was an experience of a lifetime.

Deborah Harman
Greensboro