News-Record.com

I know that spirited debate about issues in an election is healthy, but I have noticed some negative and personalized campaign tactics in the current City Council election that concern me. Greensboro has a history of good government that has been free for the most part from such tactics. We should be careful to avoid a new pattern of politics in our city.

I am also concerned with some campaign statements about our police department. I believe we have a excellent department, staffed by many highly trained, competent and caring officers.
Tim Bellamy's steady leadership is what the department and our community need right now in a chief. I also know City Manager Mitch Johnson well, and know him to be a bright, competent and highly principled professional. The relationship between the chief and manager is critical, and I believe the current relationship will lead to effective policing for our city.

A leader from another city once told me that Greensboro has a dysfunctional tendency to continually "pick at our sores" It's to be expected that the controversies in our police department, so prominently covered in the news, would be campaign topics.

But let's look through the windshield rather than the rear-view mirror, quit "picking at our sores" and move forward in constructive ways.

Ed Kitchen
Greensboro
The writer is a former Greensboro city manager and is vice president of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation.

A recent letter ("Using too much water drains neighbors' wells," Oct. 22) indicated that Grandover Resort is an irresponsible neighbor if not the blatant cause of the lack of well water in that part of the city because it has continued to water its grass this fall. This is a golf resort!

While the grass in my own yard continues to turn from green to brown, I am happy that the many sporting venues and tourist attractions in our state have remained open, beautiful and generating revenue. Thank goodness that thousands of area families were able to experience "the Thrill of the Grass" this summer at North Carolina's many fantastic (and green) minor league baseball parks.

Thankfully, Bryan Park continues to be a safe and fun place for thousands of area kids to play soccer on wonderfully soft, green grass fields. I, for one, am ecstatic that our climatically challenged neighbors to the north bring their vacation dollars south every fall and winter to play golf on our wonderful courses!

We should all cut back on our water consumption where we can, Grandover included, but we needn't destroy our economy in the process.

Frank Hall Jr.
Greensboro

The lack of public education surrounding cell-phone courtesy is fostering widespread cell-phone abuse. Ignored, swept under the rug or flat-out denied, the problem runs rampant.

Consequently, an incredibly useful technology remains in the hands of users who never grow up emotionally.

Consider these examples:

1. A young man pedals a bicycle into a four-way-stop intersection, with no helmet, one hand on wobbling handlebars, the other holding a cell phone to his ear, causing him almost to lose control in a split-second of negotiating traffic.
2. A woman orders a sandwich, rudely taking a cell-phone call in mid-order, putting the order taker on hold, stopping the train of thought required to get the order right, and holding up a line of other customers.
3. A couple walks hand-in-hand across a busy parking lot, each talking to somebody else on separate cell phones, totally oblivious to one another, their own safety or anybody else's.

In this way, material things and mechanical marvels serve only the bad habits of people never educated in shared values of their effective use to begin with. Pretty buildings, the latest technology and new products do questionable good if socially retarded consumers are the ones using them.

Robert Kernodle
Greensboro

Tilly Gokbudak's letter ("Congress should defeat anti-Turkey resolution," Oct. 26) on the Armenian resolution completely sidesteps the issue of acknowledging a genocide. The resolution is about recognizing the mass murder of 1.5 million human beings.

It also sends a message to a nation that officially denies this horrendous tragedy to the point of criminalizing any discussion. This is not "anti-Turkish" any more than recognition of the Holocaust is anti-German.

There are only two reasons to oppose this resolution: either realpolitik trumps telling the truth or some of us are refusing to accept history.

William Jarrell
Greensboro

Over the past month, President Bush has accused the Democrats in Congress of fiscal irresponsibility for the $35 billion it wanted to expand the federal child health care program. Bush vetoed that bill claiming that it would extend coverage to some families that could afford private health insurance and the Congress couldn't muster the votes to override it.

Just recently, the president asked the Congress for $196 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and many more billions in aid to foreign countries.

Doesn't it sound odd that a president with an MBA couldn't scrape together money from those projects for American children?

It certainly makes clear where the priorities of this administration lie.

John Bursey
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Carlton T. Boyles

How quickly we seem to forget tragedies caused by drinking and driving. It is unacceptable to equate increased revenue as a norm on the basis that Archdale and Thomasville allow alcohol sales.

Archdale grew for more than 35 years before voters narrowly passed a beer and wine, malt beverages and unfortified wine referendum.

Randleman's city manager has been quoted as saying that ABC revenues reduced the property tax rate several cents. Who in their right mind would trade the life of anyone for a savings of about $40 per year on a $200,000 home?

The N.C. State Highway Patrol's First Lt. B.K. Regan was quoted in the Oct. 21 issue of the High Point Enterprise as saying that since Oct. 10 there had been 88 alcohol-related accidents in Randolph County, of which five resulted in death. We expect approaching drivers to stay on their side of the road, but alcohol and its effects can cause drivers to lose control of a vehicle.

Regan shared these statistics for 2007 through Oct. 10 for Randolph County:
* 299 arrests of people driving while impaired.
* 46 arrests were of those under the legal drinking age.
* 114 were of those who failed to comply with alcohol restrictions on their licenses.
* 69 percent of the collisions handled by the highway patrol are in the northern part of the county.

Teenagers know that when leaders sacrifice their principles for ill-gotten financial gains that they are hypocrites. As for me and my household, there will be no alcohol allowed in our home for any occasion. We should be willing to establish positive guidelines that enhance the growth of our young people and adult citizens.

Will the Christians in the 70-plus churches rise to the occasion on Nov. 6 and soundly defeat the four alcohol-related issues on the ballot in Trinity? I trust our citizens will do the right thing.

Carlton T. Boyles lives in Trinity.

Equal opportunity, equal rights -- does this only apply to ethnic groups? When applying for employment, my 25-year-old son, who was convicted of a felony at the age of 19, has repeatedly been turned down for employment.

Keep in mind that being convicted does not automatically make you guilty of the crime. (Recall a recent Winston-Salem case in which a man spent 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.) It happens a lot more than you would imagine.

Regardless, when people are convicted and serve the punishment, paying their debt to society, one would think they should be able to start anew. But this is not the case. The punishment continues because employers hold applicants' backgrounds against them and will not hire them. (Companies, you know who you are; prove me wrong and hire my son.)

We bend over backward for illegal aliens. Let's bend a bit instead for our U.S. citizens who have paid their debt.

Cheryl Mosher
Kernersville

Our hero comes home today. He is special to us because he is our son. But the things he has done and experienced are no different than the sons of many have done.

Travis has faced an enemy and fought in pitched battles. He has fired upon another human being in a deadly confrontation. Unless you have experienced it, you cannot imagine its effect.

It is important for us all to remember why he and others are going through these perilous times.

Soldiers become soldiers for different reasons. But in the end we send them to protect the freedoms we enjoy.

Travis is not so much exceptional among the hundreds of thousands who protect our way of life. But for us, he is exceptional in that he is our son. They are all somebody's sons or daughters and all made in the image of God.

But Travis should also be exceptional to you in that God gave you a relationship with him. He is your protector. We are proud of those who are called to protect our freedoms and our way of life. We are especially proud of our son.

Wayne Haynie
High Point

Lying to Congress under any situation -- as President Bush has done about our aggression and incompetence in Iraq -- constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor by any reasonable definition of that phrase. Lying to the American people is treason of the worst kind. The simple fact that Congress is doing nothing about it can only mean that Congress is part of the problem. Even the so-called conservative politicians impeached President Clinton for lying.

Hank Wilkins
Greensboro

Vetoing SCHIP -- good conservative policy. And no one really gets hurt! As the president says, there's always the emergency room.

So take your kids to the ER for their postnatal and yearly checkups, lab tests, immunizations, allergy shots, pink eye, ear aches, rashes and psychological problems -- whatever. If the ER won't take them, speak to the dozens of pediatric specialists your kids will surely need to care for them through high school. They're nice people. They'll understand.

I have six children. My company health insurance covered their medical care for ailments (minor and serious) by general practitioners, specialists, consultants and surgeons. They all reached a healthy adulthood, although there were some pretty close calls.

My kids have their own children, 15 in all -- more than half are not covered by health insurance.
But saving $36 billion by denying insurance to kids who need it (except that guy making $82,000) is an affirmation of the American way, conservatism and, above all, do-it-yourself Christian morality. (Where are the Samaritan conservatives when you really need them?)

Just politics. Nobody gets hurt. Except about 4 million of our grandkids. Not to worry, though, we've stopped creeping socialism in its tracks!

Michael J. Scotto
Greensboro

The Short Stack column ("Food for thought, quick and over easy," Oct. 22) left a bad taste in my mouth. Nido Qubein, president of High Point University, stated that, "People who know the how will always have a job, but people who know the why will always be their boss."

This kind of logic is why nothing ever seems to get "fixed" in this country. We are told "why" we need to address issues (terrorism, health care costs, climate change, etc.) but no one seems to know "how" to get it done.

If our bosses are only able to tell us "why" we need to do something but have no clue as to "how" it can be accomplished, then we need fewer bosses and more workers. I may know "why" I want to keep my head above water, but it does me no good if I don't know "how" to swim.

Keith Elliott
Eden

Felony erasure bills sponsored by Sen. Doug Berger, D-Franklin, and others would erase the conviction record of 16- and 17-year-old criminals statewide who commit Class H and I felonies. The legislation would hide these convictions from public scrutiny, putting our schools, places of work and our communities at severe risk.

The N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts estimates thousands of convicted felons will apply to have their criminal records erased.

A crime of "youthful indiscretion" might warrant a second chance. But consider the following felonies that are eligible to be erased:

Third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor; soliciting sex with a minor via computer; distributing drug paraphernalia to minors; domestic abuse, neglect, exploitation of disabled or elder adults; possessing stolen property; using drugs or instruments to destroy an unborn child; larceny of property worth more than $1,000; breaking and entering; forgery; larceny of a firearm; receiving or possessing a stolen firearm; possessing a firearm on school property; looting; cross burning.

Are these petty "youthful indiscretions"? Certainly not. The victims know these are adult crimes.

Contact your senator and tell them that Sen. Doug Berger's felony erasure law and similar laws are bad laws and not good for North Carolina.

Chuck Stires
Youngsville

The writer is a member of N.C. Citizens for Accountable Government.

Here's something local liberals and conservatives can agree on: The natural areas surrounding our city are in trouble. Every time we lose more acreage to bulldozers and development, we lose part of what makes life worth living. We lose the opportunity to experience quiet, green, awe-inspiring and untarnished nature. Why do we allow this to happen? Money. Big money.

Why don't we take a moment to breathe slowly and deeply and agree to stop selling off our greatest assets? And let's vote for folks who share our need for nature and all that it has to offer.

Bob Beerman
Greensboro

Congressional Democrats and Islamic terrorists, whom the Democrats strive to protect, both cling to the past. The terrorists still think it's the 11th century, while the Dems still believe it's the 1970s, when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was introduced. Just as the terrorists have refused to join the 21st century, the Democrats still think that communications technology is '70s vintage. Why?

To score points with the fringe, lunatic Web sites that fund them. The result? Getting our soldiers killed.

Last May, three U.S. soldiers were taken hostage by al-Qaida terrorists and two were killed. Instead of immediately springing into action, our intelligence officials were hamstrung for nearly 10 hours seeking approval (as demanded by Democrats) for wiretapping the terrorists despite the fact that the calls were between two parties in Iraq. Another disgusting example of Democrats trying to protect terrorists, thereby endangering our troops.

How could these traitors mangle the FISA laws to this extent? Because, though the calls were within Iraq, they passed through fiber optic cables located in the United States. The Democrats know this but are desperate to protect terrorists. They are invested in defeat. If we win, they lose. They've bet on the terrorists!

Tony Moschetti
High Point

"What a difference 10 years can make!" is the thought racing through my mind as I absorb the gleeful coverage of the Skybus Airlines announcement.

As I reflect upon the experience of having been a pilot for Greensboro's own home-team Eastwind Airlines — right up until our last flight on Sept. 7, 1999 — I can only wish that we could have enjoyed the largesse of these huge state and local incentives.

Also, just 10 short years ago, if we would have had the advantage of the Triad media gushing forth about our service, we would have made a big difference in Greensboro air travel.

Yes, we had some managerial problems, but all our Eastwind employees worked so hard to make affordable air travel a reality for the Triad. Yet, local and state government — plus the media — did little to help us, even seeming to actively work against us. Mike Easley, working at the time as attorney general (and anticipating his gubernatorial run), even targeted us to help make a name for himself.

Godspeed, Skybus. I wish you much good fortune. You'll need it when the community decides to turn against you.

James Furr
Landis

Your Oct. 23 editorial endorsing a candidate in District 2 was interesting from the standpoint that both candidates have suggestions regarding crime and gangs that may work. What candidates, your editorial staff and the public don't know is that there is a push by members of the state legislature to eliminate all funding for juvenile day-reporting centers and/or structured day programs. If that happens, Goldie Wells is right: More police will be needed and schools will have one less resource for students on probation who cause problems at school. Lance Jones suggests mentoring gang members. Day-reporting centers already do that but, more importantly, place heavy emphasis on gang prevention.

If day-reporting centers are closed, there will be a need for more police, courts, judges and prosecutors. Our state legislature has already taken care of that for us, except the police part, that is. They funded more judges, courts and prosecutors at the last session. I guess they already know what is next.

John Morrissett
Greensboro

I never thought I'd be saying this to our elected officials, but please bring back the red-light cameras. Either that or find some other way to penalize people for driving through red lights.

I grow more concerned every day as I sit and wait at local intersections for my chance to go. More often than not, a car will fly through the red light on its side of the intersection, well over the speed limit, long after my light has turned green. Making matters worse, at multilane intersections with large trucks and taller vehicles waiting in turn lanes, I don't even see them coming until just before I hear my own brakes screeching to accommodate their apathy and save my children's lives. The sad thing is that the person whom the lawbreaker hits is the most likely to suffer severe injuries or death.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, accidents "within intersections" contributed to 217 fatalities in North Carolina in 2006 alone. The number injured is much higher. Guilford County ranked in the top five counties in the state in number of traffic-related fatalities.

What's your excuse for running red lights? How do you think you'll feel using it when explaining your actions to the victim's loved ones? Even preschoolers learn green means go, yellow means slow, and red means stop!

Robert Mitchell
High Point

As reported Oct. 24, many College Park residents are disturbed by a letter from UNCG that reads in part: "The UNCG Board of Trustees approved a new Long Range Master Plan on Sept. 6, which expanded the area of the campus as it relates to land acquisition and development.

"That new plan identifies the property at (your address) as part of the future expansion of the campus. We are writing to ask if you are in a position to consider selling to the University. If you are interested, we would like to talk with you about this property and possibly have an appraisal completed."

Why are the residents so upset? True, the letter is naively arrogant, vaguely threatening, presumptuous, slightly patronizing, insensitive and ignorant of human nature. Otherwise, it is a perfectly nice letter, confident in its purposes, quite in keeping with established procedural practices in the UNCG planning offices (see "State auditor pans UNCG bid process," July 12, 2007, and http://mm.news-record.com/legacy/indepth/07/UNCG_audit.pdf).

Tom Kirby-Smith
Greensboro

Doug Clark's Oct. 28 article about One Guilford contained a very untrue statement. One person with doubts does and did pose an obstacle. And I am that one person.

I have been very vocal about my doubts as to why N.C. A&T has allowed the farm to be butchered in the name of a research park. I have serious doubts that A&T Chancellor Stanley Battle is very informed about this project since its quiet inception in 2003, as plans were not revealed until December 2006 and the neighborhood nearby notified in January 2007.

As one voice in my neighborhood, I managed to alert the neighbors and we then delayed the start of construction until our voices were heard. I, along with my neighbors, am very involved in the ongoing construction activities. I have read the plans for the research park, and they don't include as much involvement for young people as for attracting businesses to lease space for unknown research.

Yes, it does include a nanoscience/nanotechnolgy school and U.S. Department of Agriculture, but that does not justify the other 10 buildings that will be part of the South Campus.

Get your facts straight, and the next time don't leave my name out.

Sharon Hightower
Greensboro

I was shocked to read the article in Fast Forward, "Greensboro is slimming down streets" (Oct. 29). The article reports that, beginning Jan. 1, the city will drop the minimum width of the streets from 30 to 26 feet, will rein in the speed of traffic and make walking more comfortable and pleasant. That's great.

Did the City Council ever consider leaving the width as is and marking off designated bike lanes? How is this city ever going to be considered bicycle-friendly if it starts making the streets less wide? I have to believe that, as in most cases, it all comes down to dollars and not common sense.

While you're at it, did anyone ask fire and police how they like the idea of slimmer roads in residential neighborhoods? It must be exciting to try to get those big hook-and-ladder/pump trucks down slimmer streets for emergencies.

Perhaps the title of the article should have been, "Greensboro is slimming down streets while adding pounds to its residents."

Troyce Hood
Greensboro

I read the letter from the senior minister of a large Greensboro church in praise of Ed Cone. The minister went on to say he used Tom Friedman to "make sense of the Middle East," Leonard Pitts as a "guiding perspective on cultural issues" and Ed Cone to "make sense of Greensboro issues."

I use a different approach. I formulate my opinions by using my life experiences, moral and religious principles, respected experts in their fields without overt political motives and factual news sources. When I read Pitts, Cone, Friedman and the other opinion columnists, it's to get their opinions, not mine. That and for the entertainment.

If my minister or any other person in a position of leadership is using the columnists to help draw conclusions, form opinions or understand things, I hope they keep it to themselves.

Richard Thompson
Asheboro

You can depend on Charles Davenport to put a damper on anything positive. His recent diatribe about "diversity week" at FedEx (Oct. 28) denigrates an effort by a new employer that wants to set an expectation for its managers and employees that diverse cultures will be safe and respected in their work environment. The internal memo was intended for the company's use, not Davenport's misuse.

Davenport tries to salve his conscience by declaring that incidental cultural diversity is a much-preferred alternative. However, it would not occur without a public and continuing effort to create the environment that encourages it. As Davenport points out through Louis Farrakhan's remarks, diversity will not occur when public figures call for isolation.

And so all public effort to assure that there is increasing equity in the marketplace, workplace, recreation place and worship place must include encouragement of public acceptance of diversity. Any effort, corporate or governmental, should be applauded for stating that respect for diverse experience, culture and personality contributes more than the sum of individual efforts.

I find it strange that the News & Record continues to give Davenport an outlet of public expression when the paper is embarked on a "One Guilford" effort.

Dan Mosca
Browns Summit

The Caldwell family would like to thank police officers Michael Terry and John Slone for their dedication. They deserve a medal for what they do every day.

Since Dec. 25, 2006, these men have been in our lives. If it were not for their hard work, April Caldwell's alleged killer would still be on the run.

When they came to our house on Sept. 20 and gave us the news of her alleged killer's capture, we finally began to hope that justice can be served. They proved they've got what it takes to be dedicated police officers. Without men like this, there would be no justice. They take their jobs seriously.

A person's character is judged by how they present themselves. These detectives have more heart and kindness then any men we've met. We cannot thank them enough for what they have done for us. We can only hope that if anyone needs a good detective, they will get one of these.

It is not about making money to them; it is about delivering the good news as they did ours that day and seeing the tears of joy and relief. We no longer have to live in fear, and now April's justice is served.

Marsha Bond
Reidsville

The writer is the sister of April Caldwell, who was stabbed to death last Dec. 25 at age 17. April's ex-boyfriend, Juan Carlos Ramirez, has been arrested and charged in the slaying. Bond sent the letter on behalf of the entire Caldwell family.

I, a WASP, would surely be counted by Michael Lashley ("Sell Confederate plates instead of Mexican ones," letter, Oct. 24) as a casualty of "cultural genocide" because I bought one of those Mexican flag plates at the DMV and screwed it on to my car.

Why? Well, I came up with nine good reasons, then added a 10th for Lashley's thoughtful consideration.

1. Wonderful Mexican people; I am fortunate and proud to count many as close friends.

2. Beautiful Mexican women; I married one.

3. Delightfully happy Mexican children; two are my own.

4. Closeness of family, the kind I have tried to emulate.

5. Spectacular country, from desert to tropical forest, mountains to beaches; I have spent time in all of the Mexican states except one.

6. Gorgeous romantic trio and mariachi music; these are songs I love to sing.

7. Delicious food, especially the ripe, fresh fruit.

8. The proud Aztecs and their ancestors, the remains of whom I have spent a lifelong career studying.

9. The richly expressive Spanish language, Which I have been delighted to learn over the past 45 years.

10. Mexico officially abolished the shameful practice of slavery in 1829, 36 years before the United States did.

Joseph B. Mountjoy
Greensboro

President Bush has asked Congress for $46 billion more to fund the war in Iraq. Why $46 billion for war and nothing for America's children?

George Bush has already vetoed legislation that would have provided heath insurance for 10 million needy children. Now he threatens to do the same thing again for a similar health plan revised by Congress, even though this bill has the broad support of both Republicans and Democrats. Is this what we really want for our children?

The cost of this children's health insurance proposal is the same as we spend in 40 days of war in Iraq. What has become of the "compassionate conservative" that the president claims to be?

Bob Kollar
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Anita Bachmann

I want to express my sincere appreciation to the leadership of Page High School and the Greensboro Police Department for their very swift call to action and response to the unfortunate events that occurred at Page on Oct. 25.

The fighting and disruption that occurred that day were very disconcerting and presented a very dangerous environment for everyone. The immediate call by school leadership and the school resource officer for additional assistance, upon recognizing the severity of the issue at hand, was extremely critical in gaining control of the situation. Likewise, the very swift response by the 30-plus Greensboro police officers was also critical in dealing with this potentially dangerous situation.

In addition to managing the various situations that occurred that day, they made sure that the students who were not involved remained as secure as possible. Upon restoration of order, the school staff and police officers made time to go to the classrooms and to escort students for bathroom breaks, as needed. Additionally, the police officers returned the following day, monitoring hallways and the school grounds, again, to ensure safety.

On behalf of many parents, thank you to the Greensboro Police Department, the school leadership and our school resource officer for working so quickly and efficiently to ensure the utmost safety of our kids every day at Page High. Your commitment and dedication to our school's safety on a daily basis is to be commended.

It is unfortunate that such oversight is needed, and we are very thankful for your presence and support. I am hopeful that incidents such as this will be a "call to action" by our school board to take a "zero tolerance" approach in these situations.

The writer is a parent of a Page student.

As a UNCG alumna, and someone who lived, worked and voted in Greensboro after college, I heartily second the Oct. 31 News & Record editorial suggesting that UNCG focus its expansion on the Lee Street/High Point Road corridor.

The College Park and Sunset Hills neighborhoods should retain their character. They are among the parts of the city that would convince me to move back. UNCG should expand towards Lee Street, with care for student safety and security — and in partnership with the city to create a truly welcoming corridor.

When I come to Greensboro as a visitor now, I enter along Lee Street, and I see the same shabby road that gave my parents pause when they dropped me off at college years ago.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if Lee Street/High Point Road showcased both Greensboro's university community and Greensboro's vibrant downtown character?

What if someday "Lee Street" sounded like "Tate Street"?

Caroline Ring
Durham

On Oct. 25 you had an article that the United States spent at least $38 million on a computerized accounting system for the Iraqi government that it didn't use.

I think this money could have fed a lot of people here in the United States. So many food banks are empty because so many more people are counting on them for food. Why? Because of jobs lost and no new ones opening.

I believe in helping people. They are more important than machines. Our government needs to get its priorities straight.

God bless America and may God bless all of us.

Iris Newby
Eden

In 2000, our citizens voted "yes" to build Animal Discovery at the Natural Science Center, with an overwhelming 72 percent for it. Since then, many positive changes have occurred, far too many to list. But that isn't this letter's point.

The community needs to have some awareness about the national accreditation moving forward right now at the Natural Science Center and new zoo. Accreditation is an exhaustive but invaluable process. Our team is determined to meet the nation's highest standards for zoological park operation as set forth by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

In one week, a CEO from Louisville, a veterinarian from Jacksonville and a general curator from Miami will spend days inspecting every nook and cranny of our institution. Based on our 500-page application, they will review animal care, records, animal husbandry, science education, conservation, research, safety and security, drills and protocols, finance, governance, volunteerism, institutional planning, mission and vision — just to name a few.

Greensboro should be proud of the Science Center staff and trustees who are voluntarily and proactively enduring such scrutiny and quality controls to be the best possible organization for Greensboro.

Greensboro has been good to us. We want to be great for Greensboro.

Glenn Dobrogosz
Greensboro

The writer is president and CEO, Natural Science Center of Greensboro.

I read with interest your Oct. 28 "10 Plus" item about U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal. If I lived in North Carolina, I would vote against him not based on his sexual orientation but because of his ignorance of the Emancipation Proclamation and his choice of Lyndon Johnson as his "role model."

His comment was that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was "arguably the most controversial piece of legislation in [our history] with the possible exception of the Emancipation Proclamation." The implication is that the Emancipation Proclamation was legislation; in fact, it was a self-serving unilateral decree by President Abraham Lincoln "proclaimed" to serve political ends.

President Lyndon Johnson should be commended for his progress in civil rights. But in context, one must remember he was a shrewd, manipulative, nasty, mean, self-serving politician who in World War II somehow "earned" a Silver Star, a decoration for combat bravery, when he was never in any combat justifying the award.

Also, on his hands is the blood of tens of thousands of Americans and Vietnamese, seeping from a war that should never have been fought.

Charles A. Jones
Norfolk, Va.

The writer is a native of Greensboro.

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Richard L. Phillips

I am deeply concerned about the proposed Bluegreen development in northern Guilford County. I believe there are three very important reasons for the county commissioners to deny this change in zoning.

First, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really have a nice park. The state already has a "half a park," and the tract in question would expand it to a reasonable size.

Where in this area of the Piedmont will you find 600 acres that can be added to an existing park? This is an opportunity that may never happen again, and it should not be passed up.
Second, and probably more important, is the water quantity issue: the water required for the golf course and the surrounding homes. (Golf courses seem to be exempt from most water restrictions.)

A golf course almost 200 acres in size requires a lot of water, and it has been proven that we do not have that much in this area. If a golf course of this size is irrigated the same as a lawn — one inch per week during the dry periods of an average year, and at least 1.5 inches per week during an extreme drought like the current year — it will require from 5.3 million to 8 million gallons of water a week.

Since this will be withdrawn from the Haw River, it will adversely impact and possibly prohibit the ability for Greensboro to pump needed water from the Haw into Lake Townsend, as it is set up to do.

Third and last, there is the water quality issue. Golf courses are probably the highest users of fertilizers and pesticides of all land uses — that is why they are so beautiful. Some of these pollutants will undoubtedly wind up in the Haw River either as surface or sub-surface flow.
However, golf course runoff is not the only adverse water quality issue — there will be the discharge from the proposed package plant for treating wastewater from all the new homes.

Package plants are a simplistic mechanism for treatment and typically do not allow for advanced treatment to further reduce nitrogen and phosphorus levels. This is especially important on a nutrient-sensitive stream such like sections of the Haw River.

In conclusion, I believe the rezoning should be denied for any of these reasons.

The writer is an adjunct associate professor of biological engineering at N.C. A&T.

The following is a Counterpoint.

By John Dykers, Jr.

I noticed that my friend Rosemary Roberts got upset because the UNC Educational Foundation (Rams Club) raised $51 million in fiscal year 2006-2007 and the general fund only took in six times as much, $312 million. Of the $51 million, remember that $8 million went to the general fund for scholarships.

Forty-three million dollars is a lot of money to spend on staff and facilities, and a transparent accounting is certainly appropriate. But before we get indignant about coaches' salaries being higher than the average professor's, we should recognize that coaches spend a great deal more time and have a great deal more influence on each student under their care than does the average professor.

Only the best should hold those positions. Top-notch football and basketball have certainly become as complex as chess and biochemistry. Having participated in all four, I can vouch for that from personal experience.

Many who consider themselves primarily intellectuals or academics resent athletics, but the ancients reminded us, "Mens sana in corpore sano" ("a sound mind in a sound body").

The enthusiasm for the university as a whole that is generated by sports excellence is well documented. We should appreciate athletics and academics as complementary, and I have proposed the following inscription for the donors’ board at the new Ernie Williamson Athletics Center, which will house the UNC Athletics Office and the Rams Club: "Educators (coaches) must usher each generation to the edge of knowledge where colleagues (teammates) find faith, hope, effort, success, confidence, trust, love and civilization. The edge of knowledge is always moving and learning is a lifetime adventure." Learning how to work/play together as a team is important in all aspects of life.

I've given $1.5 million worth of uncompensated medical care and $600,000 worth of continuing education to the community. Unfortunately, I could only give less than a 20th of that to the Rams Club, but please let me do so and have a little fun. I've got a couple of extra tickets to the football game and you can go with us.

The writer lives in Siler City.

Addison Ore's comments regarding studies on abstinence education as quoted in the News & Record ("Conference to advocate abstinence until marriage," Oct. 29) are not fully reflective of the studies available.

I assume the comments are based on a recent Mathematica Policy Research study. In it, only four out of hundreds of programs were studied; further, only programs given in upper elementary or middle school were involved.

Some children only participated for one year with a maximum participation of three years. The children were then interviewed up to five years after their last class.

It is no surprise that there were no lasting effects from this minimal intervention. The study's authors say, "However, the findings provide no information on the effects programs might have if they were implemented for high school youth or began at earlier ages but continued to serve youth through high school." Further, Ore's comments ignore the nine other studies found at: http://www.abstinenceassociation.org/docs/NAEA_Abstinence_Works_041207.pdf These studies show many positive results. They also show that abstinence programs can reach youth from many backgrounds.

Lyn Thrasher
Greensboro

I am a sophomore at Southwest Guilford High School. I ride the bus, and this will be my last year. I've ridden the school bus ever since second grade, and I've watched the school bus go from something fun to a miniature prison. Why?

The restrictions that bus drivers impose on the students (although they say they're all school board decisions, some bus drivers ignore these "decisions") are outrageous. For instance, the bus I currently ride requires high schoolers to sit in the front, middle schoolers to sit in the back, boys to all sit on one side of the bus, and girls on the other. We've been reduced to separation by sex? How immature do they think we are?

Sure, some kids are radically immature, but, as I've read, riding the bus is a privilege, not a right, which can be easily taken away. So take it away from the troublemakers and let the innocents ride the bus restriction-free.

If this unfairness streak continues, it won't even feel like a privilege anymore.

Roger Burton
Greensboro

I was extremely disappointed to find the garbage tossed into my yard and alongside my street following the N.C. A&T homecoming game Oct. 27. The street by the side of my house usually fills up with parked cars for homecoming, but typically the fans are nice enough to take their trash to a proper receptacle. Not only did they litter, but they threw food trash over my fence that could have been harmful to my four dogs.

As bad as this behavior was, I'm certainly glad that Bethune-Cookman didn't hang 70 points on the Aggies again. It's hard to tell how bad these fans may have abused my property then.
Enjoy your parking next year. Hopefully, that losing streak will be over and you folks will be happy enough to treat the neighborhoods you're visiting with due respect.

Dean Fox
Greensboro

Since it seems every day we have a new doom-and-gloom story about our dwindling water supplies, I'm curious as to what happened to the concept of building desalination plants along our coast. That was a hot topic 40 years ago when I was in school. I realize such plants are high-energy and not very cost-efficient, but many of these plants already operate in Texas, Florida and California. Obviously conservation must still be stressed, but do we have to run out of water before we even start looking at this option?

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to run out of ocean anytime soon. Why don't we at least start thinking about using it wisely instead of using it as a garbage dump?

Eddie Alford
Greensboro

Many thanks for Gene Owens' refreshing column, Oct. 27. He is a Southern treasure, someone you'd love to have over for dinner. What fun!

I'm sure I wasn't the only one moved by his nostalgic landscape of memories, of childhood and rain. It was poetry and I saved it.

Roman Lavore
Julian

The Second Opinion column Nov. 6 by Cory L. Richards, senior vice president of Guttmacher Institute, fails to acknowledge its strong ties to Planned Parenthood, the world's largest provider of abortions. Guttmacher is the research arm of Planned Parenthood.

Any statistics or information concerning abortions provided by Guttmacher should be examined carefully as this group has previously published data found to be factually incorrect more than once. It can be assumed that Guttmacher presents only information coordinated and supported by Planned Parenthood, its "owner."

This column is a prime example of Planned Parenthood using the media to promote abortions, which is a multimillion-dollar business to that group. Serious options to abortion are not seriously presented by Planned Parenthood facilities since it publishes no reliable information on such options.

Don Mulligan
High Point

There are "red flags" ahead. In a market economy, supply and demand determines value, and the creation of too much money eventually leads to a situation where currency loses its value.

Sub-prime loans are doing that with housing -- lowering the key rate can do that -- and just printing money and passing it out to us who are dumb but grateful definitely does that.

The only solution might come from exporting more than we import, cutting back on our credit-card spending and trying to live within our means. There's an old expression: "He who takes what isn't 'hissen' must pay it back or go to prison."

It is in this way that we have taken more than we should have, and "paying the fiddler for the dance" is slowly but surely coming around. We depend on foreign money to finance our debts. They depend on our strong dollar.

Ray Hylton
Greensboro

Thank you, News & Record, for publishing the article by Larry Sabato, "It's time to call a new constitutional convention" (Nov. 4). The polarized nature of contemporary politics aside, it is time to ask the really hard questions of how our constitution aided or abetted the process by which we arrived at this place.

There is no party affiliation aspect to this issue. Democratic, Republican or independent, do we really want our president to have, unchecked, the power to take us to war?

As Sabato quotes Thomas Jefferson, "No society can make a perpetual constitution."

Let's start the discussion.

Jim Kennedy
Greensboro

I travel around the United States and like to jog at the different places where I stop. I just got back from jogging some of the back roads of Greensboro and it was evident that the local people love to eat fast food and drink and drive. It is a shame that people do not take pride in their appearance of their state since North Carolina is such a pretty place.

May I suggest that people take their trash home rather than throwing it out the window? If this cannot be done, may I suggest a few options?

There were several businesses along the roads I traveled. They could "adopt" the road and have employees pick up the trash.

Another option is to have work-release prisoners do the work.

The best option is not to drink and drive, which is the most responsible.

Phillip Sims
Cocoa, Fla.

On Oct. 26, I read an article on the Second Opinion page by Nelson Johnson. In this article, he strongly advocated unionization of Smithfield Foods. The News & Record also published Johnson's photo.

I noted at the end of the article the News & Record stated that the writer is pastor of Faith Community Church and executive director of The Beloved Community Center in Greensboro.

Isn't this Nelson Johnson the same man who was leader of the area Communist Workers Party and who also was heavily involved in the 1979 confrontation between the Communist Workers Party and the Klu Klux Klan?

If this is the case, then I feel the News & Record should give credit for all of Johnson's activities, not just part of them.

Jerry L. Splawn
Burlington

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Tom Duckwall

Thanks to Jason Hardin for his article on the drought (Oct. 28). I want to echo one of his sources, who said that the problem is not that there is nothing we can do, but that there is so much that we choose not to do.

Maybe we should consider a citizen "Board of Water Conservation" to set standards, encourage innovation and evaluate suggestions. The city could hold a contest for a model home design to minimize energy and water use, and arrange for the winner to be built.

Here are some specific examples that could be implemented as suggestions encouraged by incentives, or as minimum requirements for construction, both residential and commercial:

Toilets: Use efficient models and waterless urinals in new buildings and for repairs or remodeling. Encourage replacement of older, 6-gallons-per-flush models.

Water recycling: Study reasonable proposals and change building codes if needed to allow "gray water" collection and reuse at the household level (e.g. bath water drained to a tank and used for toilet flushing). Consider dual water systems that do the same for a larger area. Change to instant water heaters to avoid excess gray water.

Groundwater: A continuous electronic monitoring system should be installed in enough wells to spot trends. We should consider phasing in water-use control measures to cover wells in a manner similar to treated water. Pervious pavement should be used in new construction and repairs of driveways and parking lots.

Lawns: Minimize lawn area in new construction, leave more trees and native plants. Minimize area covered by sprinkler systems, and use cutoff switches activated by rain. Convert turf to wooded areas needing little or no water. Have at least one rain barrel per dwelling, or a cistern for the building and grounds and install rain gardens.

Hydrant flushing: Collect water in tanker trucks and return it to a reservoir or water-treatment plant.

City contracts (coliseum): Include an escape clause to allow cancellation of events using large amounts of water during a drought, e.g., for vehicle washing. Maybe the coliseum should have a wash area where water can be collected and recycled, or contract with a truck wash.

I'm sure there are other good ideas that need to be heard. Hopefully, we will find ways to adjust to our changing circumstances.

The writer is treasurer, Friends of the Deep River.

I was quite amused Nov. 2 reading the suggestions for conserving water. One was to let small children take baths together or one after the other in the same water.

This brought back memories of my early childhood in the 1940s when my mother did our laundry by hand. She saved the second rinse water and we children each bathed in it -- the cleanest first and the dirtiest last. This was done not just to conserve water, but also to keep the water bill from being high. A water bill of $5 was outlandish.

It is amazing how we have come full circle.

Ray Joye
Greensboro

Our new Haw River State Park offers a unique opportunity for all citizens. The Haw River Program has developed classes for children covering a variety of subjects. Go to its Web site, www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/hari/harp_main.php, for more details. In 2007, 4,990 students and 1,200 adults participated in these programs. Since this format is unprecedented in the state park system, budgeting for resources has been cautious so more could be served.

However, the possibility that the Bluegreen Corp. might turn adjacent land into a gated community with a golf course puts that expansion in jeopardy. Bluegreen (green as in money) has already shown its true colors in two Chatham County developments, violating the North Carolina Sedimentation Pollution Control Act. (Go to www.hawriver.org/library/publications and click on the "Guilford Co. develop" entry.)

Guilford County already has at least 30 golf courses and plenty of housing developments. There is only one state park. So, should we choose to add another housing development to only be used by its exclusive residents, or choose to expand the state park, which will potentially serve every citizen? Hopefully, our county commissioners will look to the greater number of people who might be enriched by the resources of Haw River State Park.

Louise Brown
Climax

Regarding Don Miller's "First teach basics, then Spanish" (Oct. 31):

I completely agree. I took Spanish every year from kindergarten through eighth grade and again for two years in high school. I am now a junior at N.C. State, and my communications major requires that I spend three semesters studying Spanish. My parents, Guilford County schoolteachers, and I see these three courses as a waste of time and $1,200 in tuition. I do not think that children, at any grade level, should be forced to take Spanish. The foreign language department at N.C. State says the classes are a cultural learning experience.

Taking Spanish at State hasn't given me much of a deeper look into Spanish culture. If this is truly part of the class purpose, then why not let students take strictly cultural courses instead? My parents can attest to the frustration in public schools where students' time is spent learning Spanish when they cannot even function on their grade's reading level. While it may be helpful to know some basic Spanish as a U.S. citizen, students are not learning "survival Spanish."

If students wants to advance their resumes through language proficiency, then let that be a personal decision.

Leah Chumbley
Greensboro

The columns on the Second Opinion page (Nov. 4) by Larry Sabato on a constitutional convention and David Olson on the war powers and loss of civil liberties are thought-provoking. After a second or third reading of both, one can find kernels of value in each and one applauds the energetic efforts of the writers if not their incomplete insights.

One might mount a spirited response to either or both, or one could, as I do, reflect on them and think, "Hogwash."

Harris Johnson
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Edwin M. Yoder Jr.

Inasmuch as my native Greensboro is among the most literate of American cities, it is odd that the News & Record reached all the way to Haverford, Pa., for a reviewer of my novel "Lions at Lamb House" (Peter Ely: "Henry James, Sigmund Freud match wits in novel," Oct. 21). I am grateful for the attention, but there must be a thousand Greensboro writers, amateur and professional, who could have come closer to understanding my book; and that is a conservative estimate.

My complaint isn't, then, that Ely's review is largely negative. It is that he seems not to grasp the novel's plot, tone, themes, language or characters; and little else is left to grasp.

Specifically: "Its main story line," he writes, "is a fictitious attempt by Freud to psychoanalyze Henry James." No, the story line is an imagined meeting of two supreme sensibilities. He writes that William James expresses concern "over his brother's mental condition." No; the term "mental condition" implies mental disorder. William James writes, specifically, that his brother is "very balanced and healthy-minded." In one of the little comedies in the book, the village gossips of Rye spread the rumor, reported in the local newspaper, that Freud is visiting Lamb House to treat Henry James for "unspecified mental disorders." Your reviewer seems to have missed the joke. He writes that "James has been revising his works in an excessively ethereal ... style." No. Whatever else may be said of James' controversial late style, it is as thickly metaphorical and pictorial as Shakespeare's late tragedies. And as in Shakespeare, the metaphor is familiar and homely, in no sense "ethereal." Your reviewer says that James' participation in Freud's analysis is "ambivalent, at best." All imagined characters are ambivalent, to some degree. Freud, according to your reviewer, characterizes James "as, if I recall correctly, oral compulsive, anal retentive, sexually inadequate and latently homosexual." He does not "recall correctly." These are crude buzz-words of pop psychology that never cross Freud's lips in my novel -- or anywhere else, so far as I am aware.

To repeat, a storyteller isn't entitled to complain of negative judgments. He may, however, complain of incompetent reading. I appreciate the time and effort your reviewer expended, for my novel clearly was a struggle for him. But on the positive side, a reviewer who calls Jane Austen's style "convoluted" and Henry James a "wise guy" can pour all the abuse he pleases on my journeyman