News-Record.com

I want to thank the staff and maintenance crew of Gibson Park for their hard work and dedication to area residents, which they have clearly demonstrated in recent weeks.

Recent storms resulted in many fallen trees in the park, including along the Bicentennial Greenway, severely prohibiting the use of the trail. Since I actually use the Bicentennial Greenway to get to work with my bike, I was especially affected by this circumstance.

The park's crew got to work right away on the immense task of clearing dozens of trees from the greenway trail, and it was not long before the trail was reopened.

On behalf of everyone who employs the trail for recreation and even as a way for getting to work, thanks to the crew at Gibson Park for a job well done.

You are greatly appreciated.

Joe Eckstein
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint
By Colleen Pinyan

My family has had quite a different experience than Marie Beers (Letter, Aug. 28) with the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Library. No, this branch is not a traditional library with hushed voices and quiet rooms. However, that is not its function. The city built this branch as a family library, and when you consider its atmosphere in that context, the library and its staff are a success.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, the library is bustling with preschoolers and their families. Moving a large number of preschoolers and their families in and out of the story time room is not always a quiet endeavor; however, the situation is not ''out of control.'' Once story time begins, the children pay close attention to the children's librarian, the wonderful Tammy Miller. She mesmerizes them with books, finger plays and stories on her story board.

Ms. Beers suggests limiting the story time to 20 children. That would exclude too many children. When I lived in Arlington, Va., the library limited the number of children and required preregistration months in advance. If a parent was not there when the registration opened, their child did not have a chance to participate in the story times. Often, those who needed the story time the most were left out. This library, however, goes to great lengths to include as many children as possible. The staff has scheduled additional times to accommodate as many children as want to come.

This branch also has programs for elementary students. Weekly, students come to hear stories, make crafts and have a snack. Most importantly, they are learning. Last week, for example, the library brought in an expert all the way from the Pine Knolls Aquarium for a sea turtle talk. Sometimes, the entire staff gets involved with these activities. For example, at the kick-off for the summer reading program, one librarian played island music. Other librarians served snacks, and still more assisted the kids with crafts.

People coming here expecting a traditional library model probably are disappointed. However, they should consider the benefits to the many kids who come. From the toddlers to the elementary students, the children at this library are taught to respect books and love reading. They come together to learn that reading can open doors in ways that no other media can do.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Guilford County students should not be subjected to the Taser method of inhumane treatment and discipline. If it takes this amount of force, then we have truly lost control of students in our schools. Shame on us.

Use of Tasers teaches handling problems with violence, not with natural and logical consequences. Time and money are better spent teaching the students nonviolence.

School is a microcosm of today's society. Here's a chance to teach earlier more appropriate ways to deal with decision-making. Hopefully, the school board will vote the officers out of middle schools at least.

As to the reports of firearms or weapons at schools, how do the students get them past the metal detectors? Then there's Anthony Scales, school safety coordinator, who says serious violence in schools is uncommon.

Finally, how do the resource officers from the High Point and Greensboro police departments work without Tasers?

Some students with ADHD or bi-polar disorder may be targets, not because of weapons, but because of impulsive behavior. They should not be subjected to inhuman Taser treatment.

Parents have been promised a list of guidelines. Let's see what Sheriff BJ Barnes considers OK. Feel strongly? Take advantage of Nov. 7 to vote.

Annie Oakley
Greensboro

My son Darrick will be 46 years old in October. I bring up this fact because when he was 5 years old, he was not allowed to attend school that year because he would not turn 6 by Oct. 16. Even though his sixth birthday was only nine days after that cutoff, on Oct. 25, he had to wait an entire year to enter first grade because of this ridiculous, antiquated law.

The opportunity to abolish this law and implement a new and more sensible date was shot down recently. Will somebody please tell me why North Carolina can't adopt a simpler and more reasonable policy that says students must be 5 years old by the end of the calendar year to enroll?

Another matter that bothers me is that the first day of school this year was Friday, Aug. 25. Why? Solve the problem and start school the first Tuesday after Labor Day. That's reality.

Shirley J. Wright
Greensboro

Every year near the start of school, we hear the same things: The school system is not ready; students will be crowded in classrooms, buses, cafeterias, fill in the blank.

As a parent and teacher, I am outraged that our students are expected to cope with these situations. No one would tolerate this in their workplace. A manager would not hire more people than he or she has desks or work stations to accommodate, so why should students be forced to attend classes in an auditorium, hallway or cafeteria?

System administrators complain that there is no money for supplies, then in the next TV news piece you hear of teachers buying materials for the instruction of their students. In what other profession is one expected to do so? How can we continue to let this go on?

We wonder why our schools are failing, why the test scores are not being met. Students cannot learn in crowded classrooms, without instructional materials, or with stressed-out teachers. Our county officials need to spend a day or week or month in our shoes, in the place of a professional educator. Deal with these issues head-on day to day and then tell me there is no money.

Michelle Davis
Greensboro

OK, let me get this straight. The taxpaying citizens are supposed to be happy and relieved that the Greensboro Coliseum lost a mere $1.3 million this past fiscal year ("Coliseum deficit less than expected," Aug. 30). And that's because it lost $500,000 less than 2005.

Director Matt Brown is quoted as saying, "We're pretty thrilled."
Folks, losses are losses. If this were a private company, it would likely have filed for bankruptcy. And now we are talking about a bond referendum (aka tax increase) to fund renovations to War Memorial Auditorium.

When will the City Council wake up and figure out a way either to make the coliseum a break-even venture or shut it down?
Oops. Then we wouldn't have a place to host the ACC Tournament.
Let's keep it open after all and wait for the tax increases to fund the annual losses. I bet Mr. Brown gets a hefty bonus this year for his ability to lose less money than last.

Donald Shaw
High Point

We all have been touched and felt the pain of so many people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

It has produced one of the greatest outpourings of help and prayers ever experienced in this country. So many people have given time, money and even their homes to help the many survivors of this major catastrophe.

But this hurricane, one of the greatest disasters this country has ever seen, has brought to light a very distressing situation that always has been present.

This catastrophe has made the underbelly come to the surface — an underbelly that has been known to the government but hidden for many years. This atrocity is what we call poverty.

This president (Bush) has been a cancerous tumor to the plight of the poor and underprivileged. A major example of this is the government's slow response time and its ignoring of warning signs about Katrina.
Another example is his tax cuts for the greedy and for big businesses.

Gregory Bryant
Greensboro

Once again I read that a death has been caused by speeding teenage drivers.

I used to drive a school bus in South Carolina when all bus drivers were selected from high schools. The answer then for keeping drivers at legal speeds was that each bus had a governor installed on it that did not allow the driver to exceed a certain speed.

Why can't North Carolina require that all cars driven by teens have governors on them that are set at 55 or 60 mph? If the car the teen drives is shared by the family it would still need a governor.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. If parents are inconvenienced, then that's the price and responsibility we pay as parents.

Better to save a life than worry about whether teens are unhappy.
Many people would try to circumvent this law or in some way disable the governor. That is why fines should be very steep and drivers' licenses should be revoked for any teen who is found without the governor or who is found to have altered it.

Phyllis Lambeth
Greensboro

Regarding the College Hill Neighborhood Association wanting to ban HEAT buses for commuting college students from their neighborhoods:

Ban the buses because the streets are too narrow? Better ban those big ol' garbage trucks, too.

Betty Hobbs
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column.

By Jack Glenn

Your Aug. 27 editorial on local dental programs reports "an estimated 66,000 Guilford County residents have no dental insurance."
You imply that it is a given that everyone should have it.

Insurance should protect us from ruinous, unusual expenses. Purchase dental insurance to insure against huge dental catastrophes, not to prepay dental visits. Pay market rates for the occasional dental office checkup because it is ordinary and noncalamitous.

True dental insurance should protect from outsized bills and should be inexpensive because dentists rarely inflict huge surgery bills on patients.

Should a $1,500 dental bill be insurable? Only as much as there should be insurance against $1,500 auto repair bills, but let us not give anyone ideas.

On the other hand I personally seek health insurance to cover staggering medical bills. I prefer to pay $100 or so for important visits to a doctor, equating that expense with a nice dinner. A doctor visit is more important than a fine meal. A $15 co-pay prices its importance the same as two tickets to a bad movie. My health is worth more than that.

We should be sympathetic to the plight of the poor. Evidently something has been done to aid poorer county residents, but, surprise, money is running out. Money runs out when you give it away. Free dental work is a good deal for the patient and an open-ended disaster for the taxpayer.

In the short run perhaps charities may step in to plug gaps. In the long run we need to return dental and more importantly, medical expenses, to the laps of those who need the services — individuals.
We had a market-based system at one time and it worked with fewer complaints and worry and less paperwork than now. The more we institutionalize health care and look for someone else to solve its cost overruns the worse it gets.

Years ago people feared rescinding fixed energy prices, but price controls died, and market forces stabilized prices. Even today with terror-based premiums in its pricing, energy remains a pretty good deal — and if not cheap, it still is plentiful.

I see why the county commissioners cut the funds flow. Perhaps other organizations can take up the slack. In the long run we citizens should tackle our own costs of dental care and contribute to charities that look after those who may need help.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Congratulations are in order for Superintendent Terry Grier and the Guilford County Board of Education for looking at small-school options as a way of improving retention and test scores.

There is a considerable amount of research and anecdotal evidence to suggest this approach will yield substantial benefits.

At the same time, I call into question the theatrical and incendiary rhetoric of Judge Howard Manning Jr., who accuses schools of committing "academic genocide." Does the judge really think schools are in the business of killing their students? If he were to slip out of his ceremonial robes, doff his powdered wig and venture into schools to see the business they're really about, he would discover that not only are students being educated, they are being fed and made to feel safe and secure.

Until well-intentioned, influential people like Judge Manning come to grips with the underlying systemic poverty and racism that are so counterproductive to learning, the education of a great many of our students is going to be profoundly difficult.

Michael Roskelly
Greensboro

Recently we held our 40th Grimsley High School class reunion at the Kress Terrace downtown.

We could not have been more pleased with this decision. Many of my classmates had not been back to town since graduation and this was a good spot to show off the growth of downtown Greensboro and the overall change of mood of the city.

We had people in from California, New York, Miami and other spots throughout the United States. The reunion was held on a Saturday night, which, as we all know, is a busy time downtown.

Yet I was shocked and disappointed in what I saw when I left the Kress Terrace and by the reports that I got from classmates with regard to their experiences on the streets of downtown. It is clear from the conduct of many of the people on the street that the animals have taken over the zoo. If Greensboro doesn't get control of this, it won't be long before the zoo will have to close and there will be nothing left but the trash the animals have left behind.

Marty Friedman
Greensboro

I have a concern for the citizens who need to use the SCAT service. This is a very good resource for people who have no other means of travel to necessary appointments. I'm sure the city has done a thorough analysis of the cost and has data to back up its reasoning.

But I think we should also put the cost to the citizens into the equation. I realize cost has risen due to gasoline, etc., but shame on you for recouping losses from the less fortunate.

Betty Trogdon
Greensboro

Racism is a danger that has plagued America throughout its existence. And now CBS is promoting "War of the Races" on "Survivor"! This has to be the most hateful and evil act by a television network. This is not acceptable in our society today.

Racism is defined as the act of separating groups according to racial categories, which is exactly what CBS is promoting. How dare they?
What were the producers thinking? What if there are serious consequences? It would give me nothing but pleasure if their sponsors backed out. I certainly will not be patronizing CBS and its sponsors.

Nothing is more dangerous than a big idea in a small mind.

Lynne Parr
Greensboro

With school having recently started back, I just wanted to remind all students, staff, parents and visitors that all Guilford County Schools are 100 percent tobacco-free.

The policy says that no tobacco products are allowed on school grounds or at any school-sponsored events at any time. This policy covers all sporting events, including football, and affects parents when they are picking up their children. This policy helps protect us from exposure to secondhand smoke and keeps the school grounds clean.

If you are a smoker and would like help quitting, please call North Carolina's free smoking-cessation "Quit Line" at 1-800-QUITNOW.
Thank you for supporting and following the policy.

Megan Spofford
Greensboro

The writer is a junior at Southeast Guilford High School.

I am honored to represent the 12th Congressional District as an American Cancer Society Celebration ambassador at the Celebration on the Hill, Sept. 19 and 20 in Washington.

Imagine a relay consisting of 10,000 ambassadors from all over the country, including survivors, caregivers and volunteers; 4,500 HOPE banners and thousands of luminaria bags surrounding the reflecting pool at the steps of the Capitol — all this to make Congress aware that America is serious about eliminating cancer.

Our goal will be to meet with Congressman Watt and Sens. Burr and Dole, to ask for their support of legislative efforts to put the fight against cancer back on track. Referred to as the 2015 Congressional Cancer Promise, we are asking for their long-term commitment in the fight against cancer. Specifically, we will be asking Congress to fully fund the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program and to increase funding for the National Cancer Institute.

I am a cancer survivor, and my father is battling this horrible disease as well. He inspires me to increase my efforts in the fight against cancer so my children and grandchildren will not have to be concerned with this deadly disease.

Holly M. Haynes
Winston-Salem

Christopher Tew's Aug. 25 Counterpoint requires immediate comment. I take personal offense at his assertion that Holocaust deniers are like believers in creation. A large number of my father's family died in the prison camps, and I am a creationist.

Tew's attempt to show that creation is based on bad science but evolution is based on good science is absurd. The history of "proving" evolution is fraught with lies, fraud, charlatans and bad science. Here are several of the hundreds of examples:

The peppered moth as an example of evolution is completely fraudulent, and the pictures of the moths in the texts are dead moths glued on the trees.

The pictures of embryonic recapitulation (evolution rehearsed in the development of the fetus) that still appear in textbooks have been known to be false for more than 100 years.

In the history of the ape-man connection, we have: Nebraska Man (a pig's tooth), Piltdown Man (an intentional fraud), Java Man (conveniently lost fossils).

Finally, National Geographic published a fake fossil to show the dinosaur-bird connection.

Evolution is based on greater and more lies than creation. Make sure your own house is clean before you attack someone else because theirs is dirty.

Charlie Liebert
Greensboro

I had the privilege and pleasure of working with Superior Court Judge Stuart Albright during his six-month assignment in Randolph County from January until June. I would have to say he is one of the best Superior Court judges I have ever had the pleasure of working with during my 26 years in law enforcement. He is always at work early, ready to start on time, and willing to work all day, every day.

Judge Albright was district attorney for Guilford County for about five years before becoming a Superior Court judge. He has prosecuted thousands of cases and believes in justice for the citizens, as well as law enforcement. I had the opportunity to observe several cases in which defendants violated their probation, and Judge Albright activated their sentences immediately. I really did appreciate that. The community correction officers also were appreciative.

I'm respectfully asking all the citizens of Guilford County to support Judge Stuart Albright by voting for him this November. He will work to dispense justice fairly for the citizens of our state.

Tim Hussey
Asheboro

The writer is head of security, Randolph County Sheriff's Office,
Courthouse Division

I am the mother of a young adult who was murdered in Greensboro in 2001 on her baby son's birthday. Her name was April Jones.

Although she lived on the streets in your fair city, she was on her way back home to her family when she was so brutally murdered. It is still quite hard for us to deal with, since her son's birthday is a constant reminder of when and how she died.

I would hope she has not been forgotten by your city. She hasn't been forgotten by her family. Her oldest son still is having a very hard time dealing with this.

Is there any way that I could contact someone to find out what is going on with this case, or has it been dropped and forgotten because she was not one of your more prominent citizens?

She did have a family and children who loved her very much.

Floria Clark
Asheville

The writer is the mother of April Jones, who was murdered on Nov. 29, 2001, and whose body was found in a Dumpster. Staff writer Nancy McLaughlin chronicled Jones's life and death in a News & Record story.

In arguing that "Israel has the right to defend itself," Rabbi Fred Guttman (Aug. 17 Second Opinion column, not posted) managed to duck the really troubling issue around Israel's recent attacks on Lebanon, which killed hundreds of innocent people and destroyed a significant fraction of the country's infrastructure.

Was that action appropriate?

In framing the issue in terms of a country's "right" to self defense, Guttman is assured of occupying the argumentative high ground. To be sure, he appropriately criticizes Israel's implacable enemies.

Noteworthy, however, is the fact that nowhere in his article did he attempt to defend the specific actions that Israel took against the Lebanese. Does he really believe that those acts were defensible?

We urge Rabbi Guttman to ponder an important moral precept: It isn't always right to do what you think you have a right to do.

Kenneth L. Caneva
Jane E. Sugarman
Greensboro

It used to be that all you worried about as a parent when you sent your child to school was a fire. Nowadays, our children practice fire drills regularly and we haven't heard of a fire in a school in a long time.

Unfortunately, we have heard a great deal more about violence in the schools. The Columbine incident brought concerns about school violence to a new level.

School resource officers must face unique issues on a daily basis. Since when is it OK for us as citizens to tell police officers what is appropriate gear for them to carry? (Do we tell our dentists what equipment they need or how to do their job?)

Tasers provide officers with yet another force option when faced with an unruly student or, worse, an armed student. First and foremost, all officers try to defuse situations verbally.

When that doesn't work, Tasers give them another option before they must resort to deadly force. Tasers cause momentary discomfort; bullets cause death.

SROs and all police officers need to carry Tasers as they attempt to do the tasks set before them each day. They need our support, not our criticism!

B. L. Woltz
Greensboro

To mark the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush headed south to put on a show and convince people that New Orleans is on its way back.

In reality, New Orleans is being left to rot. By not rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward or Saint Bernard Parish, by not providing electricity (only 60 percent have power) and by making it difficult for black homeowners to reclaim their land, President Bush is making Louisiana a whiter, richer Republican state.

The fifth anniversary of 9/11 is also approaching.

Recently, President Bush was asked what 9/11 has to do with Iraq. "Nothing!" he shot back.

In other words, soldiers who went to Iraq believing they were defending America against the perpetrators of 9/11 have died in vain. And will continue to.

The involuntary call-up of reservists sounds suspiciously like a draft, and there is no plan to redeploy troops out of Iraq.

President Bush has lost the World Trade Center and the people who died on 9/11, allowed the perpetrators of that attack to go free, started a war based on lies, allowed more than 2,500 Americans to die for those lies, and lost an American city. What's next?

Jo Boykin
Greensboro

As a mother of three school-age daughters, the recent start of school has me thinking of the educational opportunities available to children in other parts of the world and, in particular, to the girls of Afghanistan.

Fewer than half of Afghanistan's girls attend school. Those who are able to attend are threatened by the Taliban's efforts to prevent the education of girls.

Human Rights Watch has reported the murders of teachers and attacks on students. The Taliban has burned schools and threatened others with letters delivered in the night.

If girls cannot go to school in some parts of the world, we have a very long way to go to achieve equality for women. We are so lucky in this country to have a public education system that includes all children.

We should not take it for granted.

Margaret Rowlett
Greensboro

Special to the News & Record

Anna Gilbert, the daughter of letter writer Margaret Rowlett, heads to school on her first day of third grade recently. In some parts of the world, girls cannot go to school.

Because they were routed to the wrong cue, the Satuday, Sept. 2, letters were not posted on this blog for comment. They are available now.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Regarding the story, "City leaves officer with bill for sick dog" (Aug. 31):

I think the chain of events in this case tells you a lot about the mentality of the current Greensboro police chief.

Since Interim Chief Tim Bellamy seems so focused on saving money, maybe the police department could save further money by firing senior officers and replacing them with younger ones who will work for lower pay.

After all, the senior ones are getting near the end of their usefulness, correct?

I think someone should look into whether or not the Greensboro Police Department should even have canines if this is the way they treat the dogs and the dogs' handlers. If the dog gets a serious illness, too bad, they're on their own.

Do they make officers pay for patrol car repairs?

Shame on you, Chief Bellamy, and shame on Greensboro.

Thanks to the News & Record for bringing this issue to the public's attention.

Jay Waller
High Point

After reading the article, "City leaves officer with bill for sick dog," I am outraged at the Greensboro Police Department's refusal to pay the vet bill for Zeus.

The dog's record is outstanding and speaks for itself. He recovered $1.3 million in cash seizures from illegal drug activity, but the department cannot pay a $1,100 vet bill. There is something wrong with this picture.

Interim Chief Tim Bellamy states it was a matter of economics. I am not sure which school of economics he attended.

I would like to point out every K-9 dog wears a badge as every officer does and both of their lives are on the line every day.
Let's hope future police dogs get more respect than Zeus did.

Richard Peeples
McLeansville

With regard to the story about Zeus, the drug-sniffing K-9 whose diagnostic testing for cancer was not covered by the city and had to be covered by his handler:

Some inconsistencies need to be explained. If the city and Chief Tim Bellamy's decision not to cover this cost was simply a matter of economics, why are so many Greensboro police officers riding around in large SUVs, which have higher fuel costs and are more prone to rolling over during pursuits?

This implies that the city uses more factors than monetary ones when making decisions, which should be applied not only to vehicle type but also to their K-9s.

Phil Valla
Greensboro

Twenty years ago, one rarely saw anyone jogging or biking in Greensboro. That lack of activity has contributed to today's health crisis ("Coalition pushes state to slim down," Aug. 30).

Our area's current statistics for fat adults would have applied to many of my fellow employees, all highly educated, back in the 1990s. To top that, the state's health plan -- like most plans -- offered no incentives for individuals to shape up.

By contrast, it was possible (and still is today) to get big rewards (through low-interest loans, price reductions and tax breaks) to buy monster trucks and SUVs, possibly the only vehicles capable of hauling excess American blubber.

"Sin" taxes on yachts, booze and tobacco exist because we draw a line on voluntary behavior.

Maybe fast-food prices should be calculated based on their measurable effects on community health. Maybe parking space charges should be calculated by square footage.

Whatever one says about an individual's rights in America to choose an unhealthy (or stupid) lifestyle, the consequences are not covered by the individual but by the community. In the case of health care, the consequences have been devastating to everyone, especially those with genuine needs.

Andrew Young
Greensboro

My late wife and I enjoyed many trips to Las Vegas. Those glitzy pleasure palaces did not rise from the desert by losing money, but they provided her many happy hours coaxing coins into slot machine trays, and thrilled her when she won numerous amounts up to $1,600 (I played blackjack).

So I am not opposed to gambling. However, the lottery does not fit my definition of gambling: a game of chance with reasonable odds.

The odds of winning the big one in the lottery are about the same as a piece of an airplane falling off and hitting you on the head. And what would one person do with all that money, except pay taxes and fend off suppliants? Those millions could better be split among many people.

Our lottery was established to provide funds for education, a noble cause. Less noble is seducing people to risk for a daydream (they are not thinking education), money that many can ill afford. There are better ways to gamble.

Provide funds for education by increasing taxes on gasoline or tobacco or whatever? Horrors!

Promoting a voluntary tax on irrational optimism? Just the ticket!

Dan W. Maddox
Greensboro

I believe Mr. Moschetti (letter, "Democrats too soft on worldwide terrorism," Aug. 26) could use a refresher course in the way our founding fathers intended for the U.S. government to work.

We have three branches of government: the legislative, judicial and executive. The legislative branch makes the laws, the judicial branch interprets them, and the executive branch enforces them.

Warrantless searches bypass two of those three branches. I cannot speak for all Democrats, but I am happy and grateful to have terrorist activity monitored and prevented. However, the law is clear about the necessity to procure a warrant and have a judge deem the warrant should be issued.

Is the Bush administration saying it knows what is better for the United States than the other two branches of the government?

I also take umbrage at Mr. Moschetti's statement that Democrats believe "that Bush, not the terrorists, is responsible for terrorism." As a third-generation Democrat, I have not heard a single person express such lunacy -- only Mr. Moschetti.

Terrorists are responsible for terrorism. The current administration is exacerbating this problem by cutting the rest of our government out of the solution and using the term "national security" to cover up mistakes and protect opportunists.

Elaine Simmons
Greensboro

A teacher at Hairston Middle School said in a News & Record story she had rather teach her kids about nonviolence. That’s good.

But how about the kid with the gun?

Evidently he hasn’t learned how to settle his differences nonviolently. How are you going to protect all the other children?
While you are teaching them about nonviolence, also teach them respect -- respect for their peers, their teachers and all who are in authority over them. Then you won’t have to worry about them being Tasered.

If parents and members of the school board would spend a little time in the classroom, they would see why stun guns are recommended. It is better to be shot with a stun gun than by a gun with real bullets.

R.P. Jessup
Greensboro

Writer Melissa Reed, director of NARAL, an abortion organization (letter, "Focus state efforts on pregnancy prevention," Aug. 29), counsels us from Raleigh not to listen to medical and moral opinions expressed in the News & Record on the subject of abortion.

Interesting that this abortion group could not find someone local to respond to columnist Joe Guarino’s opinion. What does it tell us?

Reed quotes from her group’s bible that abortion needs to be available at any time, anywhere, under any condition. She attempts to mislead those way out in the rural areas of North Carolina (her words, not mine) that abortion is the answer to all the world’s problems. This would be laughable except for the seriousness of the matter.

Promoting abortion through dishonest means is typical of the abortion movement, but the people of the country have seen through that dishonesty and are reacting against it. Reed and her group need to refocus their efforts to educate and assist our young people on the facts of life, not NARAL’s propaganda.

Don Mulligan
High Point

According to Carl Sandburg’s "History of the Civil War," when that war broke out, President Lincoln took on the powers of a dictator.

He organized a raid by the U.S. marshals on telegraph offices and had copies made of all messages from the last 12 months.

He took millions of dollars out of the Treasury Department without the required authority from Congress.

Lincoln had the flour mill in Georgetown seized and confiscated the flour supply for use by the troops.

Lincoln had to move fast. Washington was surrounded by slave states.

Today, the civil liberties advocates and others against President Bush feel that wiretapping is illegal.

Luckily, the British don’t feel that way. They were able to intercept messages from their own Muslim citizens and foiled a plot to blow up airplanes over the Atlantic.

Because the British intelligence can work without the restrictions we have, many lives were saved.

Middy Anderson
Greensboro

Charles Davenport's recent column on the death penalty, along with rebuttal letters, miss a major point: the cost of incarceration.
As of Dec. 31, 2004, there were 3,282 prisoners on death rows in state prisons.

The state of Florida Web site reveals the cost to keep one death row inmate to be approximately $80 per day (our daughter's murderer resides on death row in Starke, Fla.). If you multiply the daily cost by 365 days, it becomes more than $30,000 per year. If you multiply that by the 3,282 prisoners sentenced to die nationwide, the expense to U.S. taxpayers becomes nearly $100 million per year.

How long can we afford this nonessential expense? Keep in mind that this amount will grow if the death penalty is outlawed.
At some point, rational thinking must prevail.

Thomas Morris
Whitsett

Regarding the recent announcement that the Marine Corps will begin calling up troops from its Individual Ready Reserve to fill a manpower need:

This appears to be yet another underhanded trick on our volunteers who bravely go to protect our country.

This administration first lied us into the war in Iraq.

Now it dishonors these troops through this back-door draft.

Robert Peer Jr.
Greensboro

It's time for a change of leadership in Guilford County politics.
Current leaders lack vision for all residents. Their special-interest needs are all they seem to care about, forgetting the majority of voters who are affected by their pet projects that raise our taxes.
The solution is to elect someone who will truly represent citizens without prejudice.

Vernon Ward is the person we need and want to represent us.

I have known Vernon for more than 35 years. He is a proven leader respected by all. Having graduated from high school with Vernon and having been a volunteer at one time in the Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department, I can tell you firsthand that Vernon Ward is dedicated to the task at hand. His leadership is unquestionable.

Having been a teammate of Vernon's on our high school football team, I witnessed his dedication and leadership ability.

I can honestly say I have never heard anyone say an ill word against Vernon. If you want someone with integrity, leadership skills and proven financial responsibility, you can trust Vernon Ward not to waste your tax dollars on pet projects and special-interest needs, as is happening with the current leadership.

Larry McCuiston
High Point

It appears to me that if anything does not go the way County Commissioner Skip Alston wants it, he'll bring up race, race, race, race.

The biggest problem with race is Alston and his cohorts on the Board of Commissioners, Bruce Davis and Carolyn Coleman.

Alston should look at the problem with an open mind. He should do what is best for Guilford County and forget he was ousted from the state NAACP presidency.

Alston should look at former County Manager Willie Best's record, not his color.

Ron Reed
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint

By Victor Ganim

Some statements made by Lillian Rauch (Counterpoint, Aug. 28) were untrue.

When Jews arrived in Palestine, the land was not arid, like she mentioned, but fertile with green pastures and beautiful orchards. Palestine had a thriving economy with a busy harbor.

Rauch failed to mention that Jewish terror groups such as the Irgun and Stern gangs, headed by Menachem Begin, had killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. Deir Yassin Massacre was one example.

She stated that suicide bombers have killed hundreds of Jewish civilians but failed to mention the state terrorism that Israel has inflicted upon Palestinian and Lebanese civilians over the years by killing thousands, such as the last bombardment of Beirut. Let me add that I am against any killing of civilians.

And now for a bit of history:

For 100 years, Zionist Jews have been planning to occupy all of Palestine and in the process, to expel its inhabitants, who have been living there for thousands of years. They fabricated false slogans such as, ''A land without people for a people without land.''

They knew all along, as Theodor Herzl, the architect of Zionism, wrote, that the land of Palestine could be acquired only by armed conquest.

After the Palestinians were terrorized and forced to leave their homes, David Ben Gurion warned, ''We must do everything to insure they never do return.'' Ben Gurion predicted: ''The old will die and the young will forget.''

By May 14, 1948, Zionists had successfully expelled 800,000 Palestinians with their ruthless tactics. The results were best summed up by Moshe Dayan, a former Israeli defense minister, in a 1967 address to students at Technion, Haifa: ''There is not one single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.''

It is refreshing to see more Americans speaking out against Israeli actions that are always blessed by the U.S. government, right or wrong.

The only solution to the problem is for Israel to dismantle hundreds of settlements built on stolen Palestinian land, lift the fascist occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, and let the two states live side by side with East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

When prison inmate William Morva allegedly overpowered a sheriff's deputy and fatally shot a hospital security guard and another officer, the incident sent a wave of concern through Blacksburg, Va.
How can we help but be impressed with everybody's sympathy and the efforts to remedy this tragic event?

Why, then, doesn't somebody wake up and prevent juvenile prisons from being established in the bedroom community of Sandy Ridge to avoid a repeat of this tragedy right here in our county?

With River Landing retirement community (the jewel of Guilford County) within less than a mile of the proposed prison's front gate, it would seem that we, like Blacksburg, are setting ourselves up for a repeat performance of such an escape.

The prison project at Sandy Ridge is a prime example of the poor judgment of government as shown by the handling of dangerous criminals in dense population zones.

Please, won't someone with the right connections step forward to send the correction department back to areas where they already have land and where fewer people are affected? Help!

Larry E. Rayle Sr.
Greensboro

At the start of the war in Iraq, Gen. Tommy Franks responded to a query regarding civilian casualties with this troubling quote: "We don't do body counts."

Well, apparently he misspoke. The Pentagon is keeping track, issuing a report on Aug. 29 that Iraqi civilian casualties rose 51 percent in the past couple of months. The Iraq Body Count Project reports a minimum of 41,000 noncombatant casualties in Iraq since the onset of "Operation Enduring Freedom." A minimum of 41,000? (Remember, we lost approximately 58,000 Americans in Vietnam.)

Iraqis are dying primarily because we are in Iraq. But we won't leave Iraq until people stop dying. Oh, those annoying bodies. Remember "Catch-22"? In his remarkable book, Joe Heller reminds us that it is no trick at all to turn "brutality into patriotism and sadism into justice," or we might add, dead bodies into collateral damage. No trick at all.

Steve Kroll-Smith
Greensboro

I recently read about the Guilford County Animal Shelter and it is unbelievable. Rescue groups and I work with 75 percent of them, ease shelter costs and burdens. We offer a sick animal, that otherwise would be put to sleep, a chance to make it and find a family of its own.

I once had someone contact me from Boone to meet me in Winston-Salem to pick up a dog to foster. I had that dog for two weeks. It was evaluated, brought up to weight and adopted. Can the shelter do this? Yes, with the cute puppies and the small dogs, while others are passed by then forgotten. That is where rescues could help.
One solution for an animal found roaming at will is to place an ID chip in it, then sterilize it before returning it to the owner. No adopted animal can leave the shelter without being altered, so why allow stray pets to be returned unaltered? This is an area where the shelter could recoup monies lost when offering rescue organizations to take the animals easing their burden.

Fran McAllister
High Point

As a citizen of what used to be a democratic society in America, I demand that action be taken to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney without delay.

Neither of these men deserves the trust or respect of the American people. They have undermined America and lied and deceived the country to a point of complete ruin. I am fed up with the political agenda of the Bush administration and its total abuse of power entrusted by the people of America.

I urge Congress to act while there is still an America to save.

Kenneth Bravehawk
Browns Summit

With the mass media and the Bush administration now framing all those people in opposition to their policies as fascists or fascist-sympathizers, I thought it might be appropriate to present the public with a definition of the word from my 1969 American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

The first definition listed for fascism: "a philosophy or system of government that advocates or exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business interests, together with an ideology of belligerent nationalism." Does this sound familiar?

If it does not sound familiar, consider the possibility that you are confused.

Jim Roeder
Kernersville

The following is a Counterpoint column.

By Addison Ore

Jack Glenn's Counterpoint, "Dental clinic a toothache for taxpayers," (Sept. 2) sheds light on the disturbing ideology that charities should pick up the slack when it comes to helping citizens in need.
While stating, "We should be sympathetic to the plight of the poor," Glenn also believes that we need to "return dental and more importantly, medical expenses, to the laps of those who need the services — individuals."

Dumping dental and medical expenses into laps of the poor is neither a practical nor moral solution.

As the executive director of Triad Health Project (THP), Guilford County's largest provider of HIV/AIDS services, I see people every day who rely on my agency for the support services that they need to survive in their fight against HIV/AIDS.

THP currently serves about 600 clients in Guilford County. More than 90 percent of the people that come through our doors are poor, living below the federal poverty level.

Most don't have private insurance and only about 30 percent qualify for Medicaid.

To most of our clients, dental care is simply not an option. They don't have the means to set aside $100 or so for visits to a doctor, an expense Glenn equates with a "nice dinner." In fact, for some THP clients, $100 is their food budget for an entire month.
THP receives about 10 percent of our current operating budget each year from Guilford County to provide direct client services to our citizens living with HIV/AIDS. While we are profoundly grateful for this support, this figure doesn't come remotely close to covering the range of services we are contracted to provide, including assisting clients with access to medical care, housing opportunities, and linkage to other community resources.

As local, state and federal funding for many essential social services remains flat at best, nonprofits are stretched to the brink to raise more funds internally just to make ends meet. Nonprofits can't realistically be called upon to plug "gaps" such as providing dental care for uninsured residents.

We are blessed to live in a very generous and caring community but private dollars can't keep pace with the needs of the poor.

The debate of private initiative versus public responsibility may never be resolved but let's do a quick reality check and agree that helping the poor takes a lot more than charity.

The writer is executive director, Triad Health Project.

I just read the article by Jack Glenn ("Dental clinic a toothache for taxpayers," Counterpoint, Sept. 2).

Glenn is right up to a point that everyone should be responsible for their health coverage, but has he had to pay out of pocket to have a root canal done?

Since I am retired, I pay for my own health insurance via United Healthcare, which does not cover dental in the state of North Carolina. I then applied to AARP, which has dental insurance, and guess what? They do not cover dental in North Carolina.
When you live on Social Security and have to still pay North Carolina and government taxes, plus your own medical insurance, it gets a little tight.

I worked all my life and worked until retirement age (I would have worked longer, but my job went to Mexico), and I have never asked for public assistance. But I would like Glenn to look on this side of the situation. It cost me $100 to have my regular dentist send me to the specialist who charged me $900 for the root canal.

Joan Helsens
Jamestown

At a gospel singing recently, the music was so loud it drowned out the words of the songs, and we were sitting near the back. One lady was holding her ears. Three or four others left soon after it began. Those hard of hearing, teenagers, or those on stage behind the speakers might not have been affected as much.

The latest amplifiers are more powerful than they were 20 or 30 years ago. Just because they have the power doesn't mean they have to use it. In a small church, it seems even louder. If people's ears are hurting, and it quenches the Holy Spirit, isn't that defeating the purpose?

Possibly the singers are hoping it will make people enjoy it more, but if people start leaving, shouldn't they wonder why, or at least ask is it too loud? If people wonder why church crowds are decreasing, this is one reason.

When Jesus was on earth, there were no amplifiers. I enjoy good gospel music, but not if my ears need healing as a result. By the time people read this, I hope my ears will have stopped ringing.

Leroy Seawell
Greensboro

Now is the time for a real change in the way we pay for maintenance of city-owned property in Greensboro. The city can produce energy by using the roofs of publicly owned facilities. This energy can be sold or used within the building. The money saved can be used to help defray maintenance costs of those very buildings.

As roofs are replaced or repaired on existing city-owned buildings or installed on new facilities, they can be fitted with energy-producing solar units. The project would cost less if done as roof repair or as replacement is done. Solar power helps reduce pollution by reducing the need for more coal-burning or nuclear-powered energy plants. Clean solar power pays for itself.

City Manager Mitchell Johnson told me that solar power is not economical and not a good option for city buildings in Greensboro. He did say that the Melvin Building has passive solar because there is a skylight into the plaza area.

Still, I urge citizens of Greensboro and Guilford County to write, call, e-mail or speak to elected officials at meetings. Suggest that solar energy be explored. It is being used in other cities in the United States and around the world. It just makes sense.

Diane Davis
Greensboro

There has been much discussion lately about whether sheriff's deputies should carry Tasers in schools. Can you face reality?

The reality is that we have some youths who are out of control and commit dangerous and illegal acts within the schools.

Our sheriff has taken a big hit on the issue of Tasers. Why? Would we rather have continued injuries to school staff and officers than control the initiators of school violence, or eventually force an officer to use deadly force (intentionally or not) to control a life-threatening situation?

Our sheriff could have been politically correct, choosing not to allow the Tasers in order to please a small group of parents. BJ Barnes has the courage to offer preventive protection to our fellow citizens (school staff and his officers) from the bullies who attempt to disrupt and place violence in our educational system. Our sheriff, one of the finest professionals, has the guts to tell it like it is, although there is a potential cost for him.

Vern Sieg
Greensboro

The recent rise in President Bush's approval numbers after the failed terrorist plot against airlines in England is pathetic. These weaklings who fear terrorism (the new fear replacement for communism) ignore all the other Bush administration outrages:

1) the conspiracy to manufacture evidence supporting the Iraq invasion (which Bush indirectly admitted to recently in his press conference);

2) obstructing a legitimate investigation of the administration's actions prior to 9/11;

3) outing CIA operative Valerie Plame and then obstructing an investigation;

4) NSA wiretapping, contrary to the Fourth Amendment;

5) signing statements of more than 700 laws, contrary to our Constitution; and

6) criminal negligence in incompetently preparing for the Iraq invasion, while cutting veterans' benefits.

Republicans had no problems criticizing Roosevelt, Truman and Johnson during previous wars. Why should Bush be exempt?

If this administration were truly anti-terrorist, it would have pursued bin Laden in Afghanistan rather than diverting our forces in the oil and power grab against an already weakened Saddam.

The secrecy, incompetence, corruption and anti-freedom policies of the Bush administration are a much more serious threat to Americans. How embarrassing it must be to be a thinking Republican these days.

James R. Jackson
Reidsville

I would like to know why the American taxpayers should send a dime to a country such as Lebanon that supports and bows to terrorism. Let the Iranians and Syrians rebuild the country. They supplied the weapons that made the war possible. If they won the war, as they claim, why is there any need for funds to rebuild?

Iran should step in with foreign aid if it wants to be the king of the roost and accept the responsibility of being a superpower, which is another name for unlimited international welfare.

With investors leaving Lebanon, knowing that it is impossible to protect their interests with terrorists running the country, it still makes me wonder why the news media were so stupid as to believe Israel lost that war. We should vote every politician out of office who votes to send foreign aid to a terrorist country except for catast