News-Record.com

The engineers and workers who are widening the creek at Latham Park (so that it won't overflow anymore) are doing an excellent job. We live facing the park and remember cars washing out of driveways.

Kay Youngblood
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By John Beaman

I enjoyed Andrew Brod's column (Ideas, Aug. 26). I, too, wonder about that Yadkin River bridge every time I go over it.

Brod hit a lot of good points, but one he did not hit is the way our legislature is dealing with the issue. Ever since Hurricane Floyd, they have been robbing the state's Highway Trust Fund (from gasoline taxes) to balance their budgets. The budget just passed took $172 million from the fund. According to Brod's statistics, that money would allow all the bridges in North Carolina to be repaired. I understand why this might have been used as a temporary expedient to find funds to repair the damage from Floyd, but that was a long time ago. I can imagine what the nine-year total must be.

Why do they do this? I asked my senator, Kay Hagan, and she replied because increasing taxes enough to avoid raiding the Highway Fund would not be popular in, or pass the legislature.

I can understand that, but sometimes it is necessary to bite the bullet and do the right thing. Our legislature did this in spite of starting the budget work with a $2.2 billion surplus. Why not spend that $172 million from the surplus on roads and bridges instead of other things? Yes, there are tough choices, but I wonder what the legislature's reaction will be when that Yadkin River bridge falls? I realize, politically, that “doing the right thing” is an oxymoron, but if we are ever to get our roads repaired and new ones added, they must leave the fund alone.

A lot of people in this state worked hard to get FedEx and Dell here in the Triad. I am sure those two giants were depending on our road system to be ready when they were. However, completion of our Greensboro beltway has been postponed for at least 10 years instead of being ready in 2010 like it was originally. That sort of delay, for basically political reasons, will not play well the next time we try to lure a large industry.

Until there is public pressure to stop robbing the Trust Fund, it will go on and on. It's too easy to do to avoid doing something unpopular. Speak out to your legislators.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Finally! Some of our community leaders, Dr. James Wyatt of the Moses Cone Trauma Center and Detective Ernest Cuthbertson of the Greensboro Police Department, are speaking out about the growing problem of gangs in our community.

Hunter Hills West Neighborhood Association had the privilege of hearing Darryl Kosciak, Youth First and The Hope Project (gang prevention) coordinator, and Matthew Hogan of the Guilford County Court Alternatives, present an educational guide for a better understanding of this growing subculture. The information was shocking but very informative.

I asked if this information is being offered in our schools and the answer was, "No. The Board of Education will not approve it." How can that be? Why would a board member not want this?

We teach drug, alcohol and smoking prevention. Why not gang prevention? What are we to do? Wait until the kids are in the justice system? It is too late by then.

If we do not teach gang prevention to our children, we are asking for trouble. We will see more violence, death and destruction of property.

I urge each citizen to contact his or her Board of Education member and school principals and demand that gang prevention education be included in all school curricula.

You will be saving a life, or two or three -- maybe your child's.

Pamela Smith
Greensboro

Editor's note: Guilford Superintendent Terry Grier has expressed interest in beginning such a program and has met with police about it.

The News & Record editorial cartoon (Aug. 25) shows a caricature of President Bush saying, "If we leave now, Iraq will become just another Vietnam." The statement reminded me that when Bush addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention a few days ago, he referred to the bloodshed and population displacement that occurred in Southeast Asia after the U.S. military left Vietnam. He argued that the military withdrawal was the cause of the carnage, and that leaving Iraq would cause a similar result.

I believe it would be more accurate to say the deaths that occurred after we left Vietnam were a direct result of the U.S. decision to intervene in that war. And the current Iraq disaster has one main cause: the U.S. invasion of that country.

American citizens should not buy the Bush big lie.

Bill Burnett
Greensboro

What Michael Vick did was reprehensible. What is good is that he has repented, apologized and sought forgiveness. We can all agree on that.

It seems we have more difficulty agreeing about something that is done every day in this country: the senseless and wanton slaughter of human beings still in the wombs of their mothers -- events infinitely more vile and repugnant than the inhumane treatment of animals, as bad as that is. And the perpetrators will serve no time in prison for their murders of God's highest creatures.

Vick has been forgiven by the High Court of Heaven but will likely serve time in an earthly prison -- and rightly so. Do you think the High Court might call abortionists to account? The answer is yes.

Marion Griffin
Asheboro

As a home schooling mom, albeit not an unschooling mom, I would like to take issue with Ron Rubenzer's Counterpoint, "Test-taking skills still critical to success" (Aug. 25).

I suspect he, and perhaps many others, equates child-led education with prolonged Lego and video game-playing. In fact, unschooled children mature quite nicely and are led, by their own interests, to meet the requirements for the goals they choose. If a child needs advanced math skills to accomplish his goal, he will find a way to acquire them. If he needs to learn test-taking skills, then he learns them. Eight years of yearly testing is not the only way to learn these skills.

So, if an unschooled child chooses to pursue a tuition-free ride to Harvard or Princeton in our family, then he or she, with parental facilitation, goes for it. And many have been successful.

Patsy R. Manning
High Point

It is truly amazing what you can learn from the Internet. At one point last winter, 3,000 people a week were fleeing Iraq. Imagine an equivalent number — about 500,000 — fleeing the United States every week.

Yes, Democrats voted for the president to go to the United Nations and do everything necessary to force Hussein to comply. I probably would have done so, with all of the "information" that we were given. After all, we had just seen President Clinton, Vice President Gore, Secretary Cohen and Gen. Clark go into Bosnia, depose a tyrant and try him at the Hague. He is imprisoned for life, not beheaded by thugs. All of this was done without the loss of one American troop or one cent of debt to communist China.

How could we know that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Franks would make such a mess, using the same glorious military at the cost of so many lives, our international reputation and $2 billion debt every month to communist China? Will the people of Iraq ever forgive us for destroying their nation? Will the world ever forgive us? But most important, can we ever forgive ourselves?

Flora Memory
Randleman

The Guilford and Rockingham county commissioners have an important decision to make in the next month. A Boca Raton, Fla., developer wants to build a private and gated golf course community adjacent to Haw River State Park. The state has inquired about purchasing this property for more than two years. The state is willing to pay the market price for this property and close in a short amount of time. Funds are set aside for this acquisition.

Haw River State Park is in its infancy. Without significant contiguous parcels of land, the park will not be able to offer the full range of recreation opportunities. We are on the verge of turning our back on a state park in our midst with this proposed rezoning.

There are numerous reasons for turning down this project, including water withdrawals from the river for golf course irrigation, pesticide and fertilizer runoff into the Haw River, and a private sewage plant in the Rockingham County portion of the project.

More information is available at www.CitizensForHawRiverSP.org

The choice is simple: Do the citizens of Guilford and Rockingham counties want Haw River State Park or a private gated golf course? Please tell the commissioners how you feel.

David B. Craft
Greensboro

The writer is a member of Citizens for Haw River State Park.

A new sign posted in front of some beautiful woods exclaiming a new grocery store "soon to be" prompted this e-mail. I submit a passage from Chief Seattle to remind us of our connection with earth:

"You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children — that the earth is our mother. This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself ..."

For those of us who know these words as truth, let us reject our own complaining and transmute our apathy into action. Earth needs our powerful and compassionate voices. May we do our part. Do our best, and live with renewed conviction, creating new awareness and doubt regarding our current definition of "progress."

Barbara Germain
Julian

A very telling remark was made in the article pertaining to the "Recall Small" petition and vote. Howard Alexander made the statement that T. Dianne Bellamy-Small "supported the black issues." I am certain that is a true statement.

The last census showed that District 1 is made up of 66.1 percent black, 26.7 percent white and 7.2 percent other. Therefore, one-third of Bellamy-Small's constituents have no support, recognition or voice on the City Council. The Founding Fathers referred to this as taxation without representation. Alas, it still holds true.

T.R. Bowden
Greensboro

In reviewing periods of time, unusual situations or moments in history, it is often that some relatively unimportant declaration or comment becomes attached to the moment and thereafter becomes a quoted key to the time or situation.

For many years, I have observed political campaigns and ideologies engendered by opposing parties. Nothing I have seen from Calvin Coolidge to George W. Bush has approached the anti-Bush sentiment of Democrats in the past two years. Whatever his administration proposes must be savagely attacked. No reason need be given to alternative proposals; if Bush said it, it is false, unworkable and to be scorned.

We are told this is Bush's war, never necessary, not winnable and to be terminated at once. The Democratic Senate leader has declared that we have lost the war; patriotism calls for the troops to come home.

Recently, reports indicate that we are winning, that victory is in sight, even if far down the road.
A prominent Democrat, asked about possible victory, replied, "If we win this war, victory will be a grave problem for our party." That is the key Democratic quotation of 2007: This is Bush's war, and we prefer defeat to victory.

Dick Douglas
Greensboro

Well, it's about time. After all the whining from those intelligent folks at the Cardinal about the impending airport noise, we are finally going to come up with a master plan to limit residential construction near the airport (Local, Aug. 8).

We obviously cannot depend on purchasers of housing to choose wisely, but we can count on them to insist that we bail them out when airport noise disturbs them. I guess they just didn't know the Triad was in growth mode when they bought.

The study group should draw a wide band around the airport. Let them anticipate a fourth runway, if not a fifth, which may be necessary to get it right. A well-thought-out plan should make developers happy since they will no longer have to guess where and what they can build on that side of town. Let the commissioners/council members stick with the plan regardless of who may come to them begging for special exemption. After all, once the plan is public, everyone will know what the deal is ahead of time. The sooner it gets published, the better for everyone, so let's see the study group's progress reported in this paper regularly.

Walter J. Sperko
Greensboro

Regarding the excellent article on the Haw River State Park (Aug. 26): Two points can be added to the long list of objections to the proposed Bluegreen project.

Previously, you carried an excellent article about the pollution of Lake Jordan by the waters of the Haw River. According to the article, it would take millions of dollars to clean up the lake.

Second, in 2006, both Guilford and Rockingham counties entered an agreement that new water-treatment facilities would not be put within 500 feet of rivers.

Why would we approve this project, which is counter to a mutual agreement made one year ago, and when the company is a proven polluter?

We have the opportunity to preserve a new, growing state park, which would be a hallmark for Guilford and Rockingham counties and serve the citizens of North Carolina. We already have 52-plus golf courses in the Guilford County area (three within five miles of this proposed site). Protect, preserve and grow the already-designated greenway. Haw River State Park or a gated private golf community? For me, Haw River State Park.

Robert Cook
Browns Summit

It is time for the elected leaders of Greensboro and Guilford County to consider a moratorium on building. Sales of new and existing homes, townhouses and condominiums are extremely slow, hurting the overall community.

We continue to lose the beauty of stately trees that are being destroyed, and now we have a serious water crisis. Schools are overcrowded, and taxpayers are saying "enough."

What does it take for officials to follow the wishes of those who elected them? Greensboro, let's take a time-out and plan the future properly.

George Burfeind
Greensboro

The front page of the Aug. 29 paper had two articles stating that two projects each needed $1.5 million of tax money. One was the International Civil Rights Center and Museum and the other was the Greensboro Police Department.

I hope that the good citizens of Greensboro will agree that a safe city is top priority. I believe that our police try to do as good a job of protecting our citizens and noncitizens as possible. I like to feel free to call on police help whenever I need to.

With more officers, we would get better protection and more laws enforced.

Sandra Davis
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By ASHLEY CAMPBELL

DARE being taken out of schools should not be commended on any level. Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes did not take DARE out of schools willingly. The amount of funds that were given to him by the county commissioners was not sufficient to continue the program. I know that if there were any way for Sheriff Barnes to keep the DARE program in schools, he would have done so in a heartbeat.

I am part of the Guilford County Sheriff's Office Explorer Post 592. I have talked with the deputies who taught DARE in schools, and they are the most thoughtful and caring people you will ever meet. They are like extended family to me, and they have a special place in my heart. One of the officers said that she wanted to cry when she found out the program had been canceled. One of the deputies I had the privilege of getting to know was the original DARE officer. When the program was canceled, I could only think that all he had worked for was being taken away from him.

While working with the deputies this summer during Safe County, I have seen children run up to the officers and hug them and tell them what fun they had in the DARE program and that they have learned so much. I also remember my own DARE officer, who is now retired but whose memory will be with me forever.

I felt like my DARE officer was a person who I could talk to if I had a problem and know for sure that he could give me advice. I still remember all the things I learned in DARE and use them in my daily life. When I took part in the program, there was no patronizing. The pictures that were shown were only to illustrate to students the results of bad decisions and drug use. These pictures were not meant to frighten children, and the officers explained the pictures.

I will not argue that some children may not have taken anything from the program, but the fact is most of the children learned at least one thing in the program, and that is better than not learning anything at all.

Getting to know all of these officers has made DARE feel even more important to me. I am not the only person influenced positively by DARE; there are many more students and adults who feel the same way I do.

The writer is a student at Southeast Middle School.

Regarding the story "First-day bus problems irk parents" by Tom Steadman (Aug. 30):
Rick Sherwood of Pleasant Garden states that a sex offender is listed as living in our neighborhood and that he has concerns about his daughter waiting for her bus at the location the school board had designated.

Fact is, there are not sex offenders in our neighborhood. The address Sherwood gave the school board for the sex offender is an empty house and is for sale by Arnold Barrett Realty. This home has been unoccupied for two months.

Obviously, our community is upset about this erroneous statement, especially those people who have their homes for sale.

Roger L. Jarrell
Pleasant Garden

In your AP story of Aug. 25, Sen. Elizabeth Dole appears to confuse illegal immigrants with felons. She says, "Illegal aliens have committed crimes, often over and over and over again, and what can we do?" Is she referring to those people whose offense is to have crossed the border searching for a better life, or is she talking about real criminals?

There is no doubt that the 600,000 or so foreigners who have walked across the border have not been discouraged to do so by our farms, our construction, our meat packing and our hotel and restaurant industries — nor by those of us who would not do the work they do. We all benefit by their presence. Our economy has been significantly impacted by the Hispanics who annually contribute about $756 million (2004) in taxes. Our immigration system is flawed.
Why not work with those people who have a real solution to the problem and not a political agenda? This problem will not disappear, and using sheriffs to enforce immigration laws is scandalous.

By the way, Elizabeth, this constituent encouraged you to support President Bush's immigration compromise bill.

Bonnie Miller
Greensboro

As a candidate for the Summerfield Town Council, I will focus on important issues, including:

Regarding the article "Sprinkler stalker" by Jason Hardin (Aug. 30):

I think before you pit neighbor against neighbor, a la Nazi Germany, you should clarify your article.

I called the number you provided to see if the city of Greensboro had altered the ordinance concerning the use of water for lawns — specifically, that part of the ordinance concerning wells. I was informed that it has not. Those folks with wells, and that probably includes every developed property annexed since 1960, can water their lawns every day of the week all day long as long as their hose is hooked up to their well and not to the city water line.

Maybe Jeff Denny is aware of the distinction. Not all city employees or city residents are. Evidently Mr. Hardin isn't either.

Fred H. Cothern
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint column.

By Deborah Leiner Fields

On Aug. 21, the Greensboro City Council adopted the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, joining more than 600 "Cool Cities" nationwide that have pledged to reduce their cities' greenhouse gas production to pre-1990 levels in five years. This progressive action will move our city toward a healthier future for our children.

The 2007 U.N. Intergovernmental Climate Change Report, a consensus opinion of more than 2,500 scientists, states that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal" and gases released from burning fossil fuel are a significant contributor. Global carbon dioxide emissions increased 80 percent from 1990 to 2005, with the United States leading the pack in both total and per capita emissions.

These changes are affecting human health. Since children are among those least able to adapt, they bear more burden from heat exposure and from waterborne diseases, tick- and mosquito-borne diseases and injury, death and disease resulting from extreme weather.

Ground-level ozone increases with rising temperatures. The American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement on Ambient Air Pollution links outdoor air pollution to more asthma attacks and lung infections, more pre-term births, higher infant mortality, permanent deficits in lung growth in healthy children and new onset asthma in children who regularly exercise outdoors. The air in the Southeast is getting dirtier faster than the air in any other part of the country.
Children worry about the world they will inherit. Sometimes they worry themselves sick, like the 13-year-old Greensboro girl with asthma who recently sought medical attention because she was having trouble breathing. She was not having the asthma attack she feared, but an anxiety attack, brought on by fear of the poor air-quality index.

Children feel more secure when they believe adults will protect them. Fortunately, Greensboro's leaders are doing just that. Environmental policy decisions today will have minimal effect on our lives, but far-reaching impact on the lives of our children and grandchildren.

I commend the city for the many energy-saving measures under way and for going a step further by adopting the mayors' agreement. It's going to take visionary leadership and all of us working together to meet the 2012 target. Imagine our academic, faith, health and business communities; our schoolchildren; and private citizens working with city government to create innovative solutions to the climate crisis and building a healthier, more environmentally and economically sustainable community.

The writer is a pediatrician who lives in Greensboro.

I respectfully disagree with Richard Koritz's Aug. 30 Counterpoint, "Recall rebuff a victory for District 1 voters." I propose an alternative message to those who supported the recall.
To push for a special election in the same year as a general election was folly. It resulted in the unwise use of Greensboro's precious resources. Perhaps recall opponents could have done a better job pointing this out instead of challenging the recall process.

If Greensboro is to move forward, the racial and political rhetoric must stop and honest debates on issues must occur without such flawed arguments and incendiary language. Otherwise a climate of trust and cooperation may never exist and we will struggle to realize our potential. Hopefully, the citizens of Greensboro can recognize this and use better judgment going forward.
The primary fallacy in Koritz's argument is "begging the question." This is a form of logical fallacy in which an argument is assumed to be true without evidence other than the argument itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as proven without logic to show why the statement is true in the first place.

Fred Cundiff
Greensboro

I have been reading the letters comparing Michael Vick's dog fighting/killing to hunting. I am aware some abhor hunting under any circumstances and it isn't my purpose to debate that. I am, however, compelled to point out that dogs, unlike other animals, have a unique relationship with man, at least in most Western civilizations.

In the earliest days, dogs helped man survive by assisting in the procurement of food. Dogs have acted as guardians, helped locate the lost and injured, helped the police and the physically challenged, helped comfort the sick or despondent, helped win wars and preserve freedom and have become family members. They have given much more than they have received.

They have been fought in confined areas for the pleasure of man. They have been abused, starved, chained up and ignored. Yet they remain loyal to those same people. No man, woman or child would be willing to suffer so much abuse. We ask so much from them, yet often are willing to give so little.

Those who use this opportunity to rant against hunting trivialize the sacrifices dogs have made serving mankind. Instead, they should do something to enhance the life of man's best friend.

Richard Thompson
Asheboro

John Young's Aug. 29 op-ed, "Parcel essential for Haw River State Park," should serve as a heads up for Rockingham County.

On Sept. 17, Bluegreen Corp. will present a rezoning request to Rockingham's planning commission for 17 housing units, a sewage treatment facility and retention pond. But this isn't the whole story.

The tract under proposal for development crosses into Rockingham County, but lies primarily in Guilford County. Bluegreen plans to build 775 housing units in a gated, golf-course community. Rockingham will provide water via a pipeline running from Reidsville for the 17 housing units located in Rockingham as well as more than 750 housing units located in Guilford. In return, Rockingham will get a whopping 17 housing units, a sewage treatment facility and a retention pond for run-off water from the development and the golf course (which will be sprayed with effluvium from the sewage treatment facility).

Bluegreen Corp.'s proposed development clearly exploits Rockingham County. Let's tell Bluegreen to go back to Boca Raton, Fla. Rockingham County would benefit far more from the expansion of the Haw River State Park.

Joan Kimmel
Reidsville

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Karl Fields

I thought the Second Opinion column by Dr. James Weissman ("Cone-Blue Cross part of larger crisis, "Aug. 29) was very insightful in noting that the greater issue in the Blue Cross and Moses Cone standoff is fair access of all citizens to health care. Many individuals like myself feel that health care should be a right for all.

It was announced recently that North Carolina has 20 percent of its citizens without health insurance. My perspective about the issue is tempered by what I have experienced at Moses Cone hospital.

I have worked at the Family Practice Center there for 23 years. I am not a Moses Cone employee but rather a professor hired by UNC Medical School.

Throughout this period of time, my practice has seen between 40 percent and 60 percent of its patients as either Medicaid recipients or individuals without insurance. Never once has Moses Cone asked us to turn away a patient, regardless of ability to pay or the financial pressures of the institution.

I contrast this with my experience a few years ago when I participated with a group of doctors who spoke to members of the North Carolina legislature to oppose plans that Blue Cross had to privatize the company. The only motivation we could determine was that after four years of record profits, Blue Cross executives could see the potential of a buyout by a larger national insurance company, which would yield multimillion-dollar profits to those in the upper tier of management.

I have trouble believing that Blue Cross cares about fair contracts or premiums when I note the behavior of its executives and the remarkable profit growth they have shown in the past several years.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

The apparent impasse in contract negotiations between Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Moses Cone Health System that is being played out in the media is an unfortunate distraction from the more important responsibility of taking care of patients.

It does not serve patients' interests well when the focus shifts away from patient care and onto secondary players around the patient, such as the payer, BCBS or the hospital provider, MCHS, or others.

The repetitive and expensive public proclamations by each organization is an incredibly wasteful jousting process. It consumes financial resources and human talent in a sideshow with no value. It is not putting patients first. BCBS-NC and MCHS should end their public battle and should privately come to terms that will ensure the continued availability of high-quality patient care in Greensboro.

Dean Mitchell, M.D.
Greensboro

The writer is president, Eagle Physicians & Assoc., PA.

In reading the articles and editorials relating to the gang problem, I think there seems to be a recurring problem in addressing the situation. It is unfortunate that by the time a community is aware of this problem, it has to play catch-up in order to deal with it.

Establishing a dedicated gang unit in the police and correctional departments, passing laws that target and punish gang activities and creating jobs and alternatives to the gang lifestyle are all necessary and effective.

The school districts have to get involved and be proactive, whether they think there is a problem or not. Gang recruitment has crossed racial and economic lines. All districts are targets for new gang members.

By having programs starting in the elementary grades that expose the realities of gang membership, the alternatives to this life and how to avoid and say no to joining gangs can impact on the lifeblood of gangs. That is, new members to replace those who are in jail, the hospital or sadly the cemetery.

Howard Claeson
High Point

Mark Binker's Aug. 30 story focused on the report by consultant Alice Lin regarding the "transformation" of North Carolina Mental Health.

"In the rush to complete structural changes, the public partners have lost sight of the effect on consumers," the report says. (Binker, Mark, "Mental health services lagging," Greensboro News & Record, 30 Aug. 2007.)

Unfortunately, services have now slipped for six years while the holes in the flow charts are sandbagged. What the article doesn't mention is that county mental health systems are in equal disrepair. These organizations are now responsible for the hands-on treatment abandoned by the state.

"Fundamental disagreements" regarding the state and county responsibilities sounds familiar. That is precisely what happened two years ago on the Gulf Coast. Federal, state and local officials pointed at each other while an entire metropolitan area washed away. Our representatives continue to be more concerned with flowcharts than with human suffering.

Leaks are springing today in the levees that stand between mental health patients and the streets of Greensboro.

Don Ward
Stokesdale

For several weeks, people have compared hunters to dogfighters. They do so by opinion and not facts.

Arlene Sweeten (letter, Aug. 30) calls me and other hunters "barbaric and beneath contempt." Has she ever spent a day on a farm contributing to the conservation of wildlife in Jamestown or anywhere else in the United States?

Hunters, through license sales, federal duck stamps and the Pitt-man-Robertson Act, along with private and corporate donations, contribute more than $745 million each year to wildlife (fact). The monitored harvest of game animals prevents the spread of disease and starvation (fact). I work tirelessly for the benefit of wildlife and the outdoors. I try to make sure every animal I harvest is harvested in a clean and ethical manner.

I invite any anti-hunter in the Piedmont to come with me on a hunt. I will be happy to teach any about the outdoors, hunting, time spent with friends and family and the general benefit I bring to wildlife here in North Carolina and the United States. Then try to find a dogfighter who will agree to bring you to a dogfight. Then we will see if hunters and dogfighters are one and the same.

Paul Setliff
Reidsville

In his letter, "Democrats see Iraq victory as a problem for their party," Dick Douglas suggests that we are winning in Iraq. The president will say we are winning. He wants the war to continue until the United States has enough power in that part of the world to privatize the oil over there.

Douglas most likely bought all the spin of the truth and the downright lies that started this war. Maybe he will cheer on Bush's pursuit of Iran as well? Naive people believe and follow this cowboy president in his ambitions to manage the world for the benefit of a few powerful U.S. corporations.

In the meantime, we are losing more troops every day and our beloved country is becoming a debtor nation and a nation in which its citizens have lost many of their civil rights under the Bush agenda of war and the egregious "Patriot Act."

The Democrats see Iraq victory as bringing our troops home now.

K. K. Mersereau
Greensboro

A letter in this column on Sept. 1 expressed thanks to the engineers and contractor performing the project in Latham Park (all those big pipes and, yes, the blasting).

Unfortunately, the writer and many others are under the impression that the project will address flooding of the area. It will not; its sole function is to address the frequent overflow of sanitary sewage which usually coincides with heavy rainfall.

In-depth studies of the hydraulics of North Buffalo Creek in the area show nothing can significantly reduce flood levels in the area.

Allan Williams
Greensboro

The writer is water resources director for the City of Greensboro.

Regarding Bonnie Miller's letter, "Illegal immigrants aren't really criminals" (Sept. 4). Illegal aliens committed a misdemeanor when they illegally crossed the border into the United States. This makes them criminals.

The reason they illegally crossed the border is irrelevant. Crossing the border would be a felony if we didn't have such a spineless federal government. Any foreigner who would cross U.S. borders without going through established legal procedures has a low-life mentality and would not hesitate to commit other crimes. Thousands of them are in our prison system for committing additional crimes.

Any tax benefits we get from having illegal aliens in this country are more than offset by the financial stress these aliens cause this country by overwhelming our prisons, hospitals, schools and welfare programs.

Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr did the right thing when they voted against the Bush/Kennedy/McCain amnesty bill.

Laird Freeman
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Michael Northuis

This is in response to Cal Thomas' column, "Dems adopt 'losing is winning' strategy" (Aug. 25).

Have you seen the recent clips on the Internet of Dick Cheney just after the first Iraq war explaining why we did not go into Baghdad? He concluded in that speech that occupying Iraq would be a "quagmire" and that the country could "splinter" into a chaotic civil war, so here we are now in just the scenario he predicted because of him!

So why do right-wing pundits such as Cal Thomas keep trying to turn this war into a referendum on the Democrats?

Thomas's column, once again, distorts facts to make his "hate the Democrats" point. He asserts that we are on the verge of victory in Iraq and those stupid Dems want to cut and run.

Ever since a recent op-ed in The New York Times from the Brookings Institute and Sen. Carl Levin's assessment that the surge is quelling some violence, pro-war pundits are once again claiming "Mission Accomplished."

Well, here are some current facts surrounding Iraq for Thomas' information: A large number of Republicans are against this war. More than 2 million people have left Iraq since our ill-conceived invasion. Large sectors are still without power or water. Forty percent of the remaining Iraqis are living in extreme poverty with rampant unemployment.

Depending on who you listen to, between 100,000 and 800,00 Iraqis have been killed in this war.

And Thomas has the unmitigated gall to say that "Democrats have painted themselves into a corner"?

What does a victory look like in Iraq? Do all 2 million refugees return to buy the world a Coke? Do all Iraq's widows and orphans win a free trip to Disneyland? According to a number of realistic assessments, we will be in Iraq for another decade trying to clean up this huge, criminal, Bush/Cheney mess.

Everybody is a loser in this war no matter who "wins," except for those invested in weapons and oil. Google "Bush family investments" and "Cheney/Halliburton" to see who some of the big winners are.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Have you ever seen a horse so thin the animal was only a frame of bones with skin stretched over? Well, neither had I until recently. Such horses look horrible. One that I saw had been left tied to a tree without food or water -- abandoned by its owner and near death until it was accidentally discovered.

Can legislation be passed in Raleigh to enforce the penalty for equine abuse and neglect? Are candidates or incumbents unaware there is a potential voter base of 1,000 U.S. Equine Rescue League advocates in North Carolina?

For sure, the USERL does mighty work trying to locate and save horses. (Look at www.userltriad.org, second picture.) But the source of the problem is the lack of enforceable laws inflicting punishment to those humans responsible.

Peggy R. Bodenheimer
Winston-Salem

More needs to be done to prevent suicide, a public health problem that claims a life every 16 minutes in the United States. However, stigma and misconceptions about mental illnesses and suicide continue to be barriers.

Because National Suicide Prevention Week is Sept. 9-15, I would like to encourage the public to learn more about suicide. For example, research shows that more than 90 percent of people who die by suicide have an underlying, although not always diagnosed, psychiatric illness at the time of their deaths.

On Sept. 22, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will conduct an Out of the Darkness Community walk in the Triad at Tanglewood Park in Winston-Salem. Funds will support suicide prevention research and education as well as local programs.

Walk with us and help bring suicide "out of the darkness." Together we can help save lives. For more information, visit www.outofthedarkness.org.

Anthony Burchette
Kernersville

Regarding "The color of money isn't green this year?" (Sept. 1):

The Color Marketing Group and the Color Association of the United States do not forecast color trends any more than meteorologists forecast the weather. (Airplane pilots trust weather forecasts that project five minutes into the future — and even then, they keep their eyes on the skies.) The CMG and the CAUS can no more predict the evolving tastes of consumers than anyone else.

I used to talk with CMG members about this in the 1980s, and they sheepishly agreed: It's entirely possible to agree to set a trend. Then when everyone agrees what the trend will be, we see colors coordinated for the season throughout industries that use color in marketing. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Mark D. Gottsegen
Climax

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Wayne Smyth

With the Michael Vick case getting 24/7 news coverage, there is scarcely anyone who hasn't been exposed to his plight, which is self-caused. The NFL star screwed up, has pleaded guilty, and will serve his sentence. Afterwards, the question is, will he play again in he NFL?

Well, that's someone else's decision and will have no bearing on my day-to-day living. Let him play for all I care.

That said, I'd like to address something I really resent. Recently, both the NAACP and PETA have issued comparisons between dogfighting for profit and outdoor sports hunting. The two are hardly the same. One actually is a federal and state felony and blatantly illegal; the other is part of our heritage and, within certain guidelines, is protected by law.

Hunters have no interest in exploiting, torturing or maiming their quarry. They go for the quick, clean kill, or pass up the shot. They use what they take and take only what they can use. The real culprits are the poachers, who are criminals. In fact, law-abiding hunters, who detest poachers, provide valuable information to game authorities in order to apprehend these criminals.

Hunters also pay the revenue, making wildlife habitat possible. Developers have done far more damage to wildlife than hunters ever will.

I share the outrage with PETA over dogfighting, but not its fanaticism. I will still consume meat and dairy products on occasion. I will not begrudge the opportunity for farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen and the like to make an honest living. I will respect people's pets and wildlife and oppose cruelty to animals.

And, I will still hunt whenever I feel the need to get outdoors during hunting season. Certain animals were put on this planet for subsistence. Others make fine pets and companions. Still others are simply fascinating forms of wildlife to watch. To animal-rights groups, I say, get real.

The writer lives in Fieldale, Va.

It's good news that Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes is applying to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enable selected officers to be trained to identify illegal aliens.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph was the first local law officer in the eastern United States to take advantage of a provision, 287(g), of 1996 immigration legislation that makes such training possible.

Sheriff Pendergraph described some effects of 287(g) training in a March interview on NPR's "Charlotte Talks":

• It greatly reduced incidence of illegal immigrant gang activity. "The word on the street is that illegal immigrant gangs are kind of laying low because they are very aware of our ability here to identify illegal immigrants and deport you. ... They don't want to get hooked up on some traffic charge and be deported."

• It lowered risks of drunken driving: "A fifth of the 2,600 people arrested and marked for deportation as of August were arrested for drunk driving. ... When you take those people out of the country, there is a good chance that you're removing someone from our community that might run into you head-on tonight — or your family."

Let's hope the federal government provides funding to meet burgeoning demand for 287(g) training.

Tom Shuford
Lenoir

I applaud the News & Record for the inspiring story on Aleyna Castillo. She was indeed a perfect choice for the cover of the Labor Day edition.

When I think back on my own carefree college days, I could not imagine balancing a college career, financial responsibilities, raising a young child and caring for an ill family member, not to mention making straight A's. We can all learn a valuable lesson from this hardworking young lady.

I would like to have an address or a newspaper connection so I can send Ms. Castillo a check to help with her books, and a note of encouragement. I know that many of your readers will want to do the same.

Helen Goley
Greensboro

Regarding Allen Johnson's column (Sept. 2) on Michael Vick:

His "bottom line" that "outrage from the rest of us rings more than a bit hollow" was not appropriate, nor was it supported by the incidents cited. Every incident involving abuse incites moral outrage. However, the time and depth of emotion correlates with the perceived level of atrocity and the ability to affect outcome.

Regarding perceived atrocity, how could "outrage" for torturing dogs to death, bankrolling gambling and dogfighting be compared with that expressed for "other sports and entertainment figures who have skirted the law"?

This is the "apples versus oranges" game. How could drowning, hanging, beating, electrocuting and savagely fighting any animal be compared with possible outcomes?

Most people are fed up with the countless times the elite have not faced consequences for chosen acts (we would be fired from our job without "financial perks" and prosecuted "to the extent of the law" for lesser offenses).

People would be ecstatic if we ever truly began to have "justice for all."

Charles Taylor
Greensboro

Clearing out the cobwebs:

• Sen. John Warner of Virginia leaves a big gap by retiring. He is an honorable, thoughtful public servant. I hope he will hang out with folks like John McCain and Joe Lieberman. They could help this nation regain its balance.

• Gov. Mike Easley deserves a standing ovation for vetoing the $40 million handout the Legislature wanted to give Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Taxpayer money should not be used to give corporations a free ride. Capitalism and free enterprise are great systems — let's not mess 'em up.

• Wake up, City Council and county commissioners! Act on real priorities. We deserve the best law enforcement available to curb crime. Teen deaths by gun and car are out of control. Meet with gangs and the underprivileged and help with ways to a better life.

• As for "breaking news," well, broadcast news is broken for sure. One more pretty blonde talking head with nonstop coverage of Michael Vick, congressional bathroom sex, Diana, etc., and I will regurgitate.

• Once again, a pox upon fast cars, bad drivers, monster SUVs and pickups. They make life less pleasant.

Bill Beerman
Greensboro

In 2001, the Guilford Open Space Program nominated the Haw River for state park status. In 2002, the county commissioners passed a resolution expressing "strong support," helping convince the N.C. Legislature to authorize the park in 2003. It became a reality in 2005 when the state purchased the 200-acre Summit Conference Center from the Episcopal Church. Park plans showed camping, trails and picnic facilities on land adjoining the Summit. Tragically, this property is under option to a Florida corporation, which plans 775 houses in a gated golf-course development.

Despite some increase in the tax base, servicing this huge increase in houses and residents will be a drain to county taxpayers. The park, however, will bring a boost to the local economy. For example, preliminary figures for Hanging Rock State Park show about $8 million added to the economy each year. The rezoning recently approved by the planning board was appealed and will be heard by the commissioners in a few weeks.

The choice is simple: another subdivision or a state park? The commissioners need to make good on their "strong support" pledge. If you agree, write or call your county commissioner and ask for a vote against the rezoning, for the park.

John Jezorek
Greensboro

There was no justice served to residents of southeast Guilford County in commissioner proceedings Aug. 23. Commissioners chose an asphalt plant that will employ three or four people over the health, safety and property values of thousands of residents in southeast Guilford County.

It was more disheartening to have been treated so shabbily by the commissioners. With all the media attention and the vigorous opposition by residents, we thought we would be heard. When Billy Yow viciously attacked our first speaker, it was a bad omen. Paul Gibson emphasized before the meeting started that he expected those present to show respect for the commissioners who would, in turn, show respect for the citizen speakers. It was clear shortly into the meeting, with lectures from Bruce Davis and Yow, that presenters would not receive fair, impartial treatment. Indeed, we were not even shown respect as constituents.

How sad it is to work so hard and do the best job as an ordinary citizen and have your efforts dismissed and ridiculed. It was obvious that the majority of the commissioners had made up their minds before they came to the meeting.

Linda E. Moore
Greensboro

I had to chuckle when I read the article about annexation and how you will not pay as much as you think.

I live off Old Oak Ridge Road, very close to Pleasant Ridge Road, and I am sure I will be affected by the annexation. What the article neglected to mention about your new tax bill would be the doubling of your auto tax, which conveniently is not included in your property tax bill.

I live in a very inexpensive house and paid $872 in property taxes this year and $281.97 in auto taxes. My new tax would be approximately $1,915 in property taxes and $563.94 in auto taxes. My savings on water and garbage pickup would be $392, which would still make me pay $762 more in taxes, for no more services, than I did this year.

I am retired and do not consider that increase minor.

Don Edwards
Greensboro

During a time of historic drought and severe water shortages, it seems necessary to remind all city residents that using private wells for irrigating lawns diminishes our water table and affects all. Water is not a private resource but a public one. Wells are a particular concern for our falling water table during an extended drought such as the one our state and region are experiencing. Researchers have documented the issue. See sites such as Texas A&M's Ag News site (agnews.tamu.edu) and the Oct. 10, 2006 story found on it -- "Reduce Effects of Drought on Water Wells" -- which calls for judicious use of well water.

I would entreat the City Council to enact mandatory restrictions for all residents, regardless of whether they use a private well or another water source. There should be no exceptions.

Don Adams
Greensboro

Recently Sen. Clinton expressed "hope that the Iraqi Parliament will replace Prime Minister Maliki with a less divisive and more unifying figure'' (reported in The Washington Post).

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner apologized Monday for saying Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki should be replaced and for "having interfered in Iraqi affairs in such a direct way" (reported by UPI). If the French can apologize, will Clinton and the Democrats also apologize?

You've got to wonder if Clinton would apply this same criterion to herself if she were elected president. Not a chance! If she were a woman of principle rather than political hypocrisy, she would step down from her candidacy. After all, she is the most divisive and least unifying candidate, according to recent Rasmussen polls.

Gerald Hutchinson
Greensboro

If we had caved in to threats and not helped England, France and Belgium in World War I, sat out World War II and given up South Korea to the North Korean communists during the Korean War, do you think the French, Germans and South Koreans would be better off under the rule of the Russians? The only friends we have are the Australians. A token force is just like a bus token. It is a substitute for the real thing.

God help us if we don't see better presidential candidates on both sides than we have. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama are the biggest jokes of all and dangerous. Who even knows who is running on the Republican side? We know more about their toilet habits than we know about their qualifications.

Ken Sawyer
High Point

Guilford County commissioners will soon make an important decision on whether to uphold a rezoning request that will allow the construction of an enormous gated golf course community in northern Guilford County. This same land is under consideration by the state of North Carolina for expansion of the Haw River State Park.

The possible expansion of the park is a rare opportunity that will benefit all the residents of Guilford County, not just the 700-plus homeowners who will reside in the proposed development. Do we need one more golf course or do we need one great state park? Do we need one more gated community or a place of recreation and education for the hundreds of thousands of residents of this county, a place where our kids can be kids, exploring the great outdoors, catching glimpses of deer, owls, raccoons and other animals that most kids only see in books?

We need a place where families can camp, hike and explore the great outdoors. Residents of Guilford, please support this rare chance. Contact your commissioners, log on to www.citizensforhawriversp.org for more details, and take action before it is too late.

Kyle Klimek
Greensboro

Walter Sperko's Sept. 3 letter indicating that those near the airport are just "whining" because of the impending FedEx facility misses an important point. Everyone near the Greensboro airport or any other airport understands that there may be noise.

My understanding is that when the plan for an extra runway was discussed years ago, it was for a general aviation-length runway for light planes. Such aircraft are not particularly loud and generally land up to about midnight. Few U.S. airports allow all-night heavy-jet aircraft disturbances.

With the Greensboro FedEx facility, I have heard there will eventually be as many as 120 flights per night. Sperko may soon find that he may have spoken without comprehending the amount of noise that a number of circling or departing FedEx, Airbus A-310 or DC-10 wide-body freighter jets can make while he is attempting to sleep, whether his house is near the airport or elsewhere in Greensboro.

Gene Lewis
Greensboro