News-Record.com

So now we have a new president, and he happens to be black. The question is being asked across the country, “What is President Barack Obama going to do for black America?” The answer is nothing. What he does he will do for America, and if the black man benefits from what he does, then that’s a good thing.

The question that we should be asking is, “What is black America going to do for black America?” If we don’t stop killing each other, destroying the lives of the young and old, destroying future generations, then it does not matter what he does; we will continue to propel ourselves down that road that leads to destruction and maybe even annihilation.

Phillip T. Wrenn
Greensboro

Leonard Pitts wrote (Jan. 26) that Rush Limbaugh said he hopes President Obama fails, then called Limbaugh and his supporters names, such as clowns. Pitts either did not research Limbaugh’s statements thoroughly, purposely misinterpreted them out of context, or is plain stupid. Limbaugh clearly explained that he hopes Obama’s socialistic policies fail. I, too, hope he fails in pursuing these goals.

For the past several years, the left-leaning mainstream press and politicians did the same to George Bush. Not only did they hope he failed, they actively pursued measures to that end, such as constant public criticism of his anti-terrorist policies, overplaying petty hazing at prison camps, and even an unverified forged letter. Where was Pitts’ outrage then?

Paul Camp
Greensboro

The article, “Puppy thrown out 2nd-story window; woman charged” (Jan. 26) was disturbing. It is sad on both sides of the story: for the woman and this puppy.

As a former employee of the SPCA of the Triad (a local animal-rescue group), I am all too aware of the abuse that happens here in Greensboro. It’s sad that people abuse and neglect the very thing that will love them unconditionally.

It makes me wonder what is going on in this woman’s life and the choices she made that led her to that moment. I hope she finds the support she needs to get her through these hard times.

Our current economic state makes life hard for everyone, but we must not forget about the ones who do not have a voice in this matter. We must all become advocates for our furry friends.

Corey Miller
Greensboro

Headline: “Obama reverses policy on abortion services.” Killing more babies in the womb. That is change you can believe in. How pathetic! Congratulations, America.

Eric Lintz
Greensboro

Horace Kornegay’s passing deserved better than your editorial of Jan. 23. Congressman Kornegay, raised in Greensboro, defended our nation against fascism in World War II, then received his law degree at Wake Forest. As an attorney, he served as a prosecuting attorney, a voice for those who had been done wrong, with his keen mind and strong voice. He was elected and served nearly a decade in Congress, where he continued to be a strong voice for those who needed a voice. His leadership of the Tobacco Institute gave him still another opportunity to speak for farmers, factory workers and others who were often not heard. He told me more than once that his voice for tobacco was based on economic grounds; he was not a scientist.

Horace Kornegay should be remembered for being faithful to his calling. Guilford County lost a good citizen, a friend to many and a faithful servant who fought the good fight for those needing a fighter and voice.

Robert Caldwell
Greensboro

I, too, went to the Eagles concert and paid $15 for parking. Is this not the same parking lot where people who go to the Super Flea and the Carolina Craftsman shows pay $3 to park? This is blatant price-gouging, and the city of Greensboro should be ashamed!

Susan Craver
Pleasant Garden

After watching the election campaigns and now the news regarding the “stimulus package,” it has become abundantly clear that we have a real problem in the United States. The way our government is set up, it really doesn’t matter who is elected to the position of president or who ends up occupying the Oval Office.

But with all of the “pork” that is in the stimulus package that is being reported on in the news, it is obvious that we need to start spending more time choosing whom we send to the House of Representatives and the Senate.

We are currently being represented by individuals who are driven by hidden agendas and greed and certainly do not have the American people and their welfare in mind.

What is it going to take for the American people to wake up and start holding the representatives they have elected accountable for their actions?

Michael Rook
Greensboro

The federal government must apply the following crucial restrictions, when relevant, for business stimulus money that is given to each state:

Justification for the use of this money must be provided.

The money can only be used in that state.

Contracts let must be to contractors from that state.

The state must ensure that the contractor:

a) hires unemployed workers from that state;
b) hires workers who are American citizens;
c) provides the hired workers with a fair wage.

Also, management salaries, including the CEO’s, must not exceed a reasonable amount.
Accountability must be made to the federal government every three months by the state.
County and city governments that receive business stimulus money must adhere to the same restrictions — replace the word “state” with county or city.

Accountability for this money must be made to the state government every two months.
Without accountability, it will be like throwing money to the wind.

William Joseph Colozzi
McLeansville

Recently I had the honor and privilege of saying “thank you” to the incredibly generous community of greater High Point, as we celebrated the results of our 2008 United Way campaign: $4.526 million.

In exceeding last year’s total, even by a small amount, we have proudly accomplished the only campaign increase among major United Way organizations in North Carolina to date.

How fortunate we are that during a year of enormous economic instability, so many of the good people of High Point, Archdale, Trinity and Jamestown chose to support our 29 partner agencies that provide critical help to those in need, and enrich our way of life. Through your gifts and volunteer service to United Way, you bless the lives of your neighbors, and give them hope.

Every gift to our campaign, large or small, is important, and we are grateful for each and every one of them.

Thank you, greater High Point, for touching and affecting the lives of others in such positive ways.

I am inspired and humbled by the depths of your support and compassion for our community, especially during these difficult times, and I have never been prouder to call myself a High Pointer.

Coy Williard
High Point

The writer was the 2008 campaign chairman of the United Way of Greater High Point.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed three dead owls lying within a mile of the Guilford-Rockingham county line. All three were in the median strip on the side of the northbound lanes, likely victims of car strikes.

I wanted to alert our community that when we throw food out of our cars, it attracts mice. Hungry owls and hawks are attracted to the roadsides because of the rodents.
We can help reduce these accidental deaths by properly disposing of our leftovers (even apple cores) away from the busy highways.

A mouse is quickly replaced by another, but the loss of one of the remaining top predators takes a few years.

Jeff North
Reidsville

The writer is director of the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Educational Center in Reidsville.

The average soldier receives 5.6 hours of sleep a night. This isn’t the recommended amount of rest nor enough to perform for long periods without consequences.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has symptoms, including flashbacks, withdrawal from society, irritability and sleeplessness.

Half of the soldiers currently serving already show signs of PTSD. Those soldiers are more likely to engage in unethical conduct, and some have admitted to abusing civilians and property.
Signs increase in soldiers with multiple deployments. Twice as many soldiers in Iraq show signs of PTSD compared to those serving in Afghanistan.

The answer to the war debate, no matter your side, is that our soldiers need help! Treatments include therapy and medication, which soldiers often refuse because of stigma, or sending soldiers to veterans centers, which are limited.

What about deploying mental-health workers into combat areas? Start fixing the issue before it’s a problem. Give our soldiers rest!

Dana Kroh
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

Regarding your “downtown parking debate” editorial (Jan. 29):

The editorial is insulting and Pollyannish in its dismissal of a very real current problem, particularly by implying to the reader, and to downtown shoppers, that parking far from their destination is good for them and that they could “use more exercise.”

I am pleased a parking compromise has been proposed so that downtown Greensboro has another new property on the horizon. And yes, 14,000 downtown parking places are available.

Yet, recent studies regarding downtown development have emphasized the need for more parking and easier access to downtown merchants, if downtown is going to thrive.

By original design, several of the largest parking decks are located near major office buildings, wisely catering to the employees in those buildings, but they are far from all but a few retail merchants.

And, on an admittedly personal note, almost none of the 14,000 spaces are located in historic Old Greensborough, South of the Tracks, where “downtown” began, and where merchants like me hear complaints every day about the lack of parking.

If the editorial writer — or anyone else — needs a wake-up call, try finding a parking place from Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., while trying to grab a pizza at Mellow Mushroom, have a great meal at Table 16, or browse any of the several antique shops and art galleries in the area, including mine.

Downtown has made progress in many ways over the last few years, but much more needs to be done.

A flippant editorial like this does not help when it creates a seriously false impression regarding the parking situation downtown.

The writer lives in Greensboro and is the owner of Jules Antiques at 530 S. Elm St.

Regarding the editorial review of the rap movie “Notorious” (Allen Johnson column, Jan. 25):

Johnson is to be congratulated for his heroic efforts to put lipstick on a pig. By that I mean the whole rap music culture, not the movie (which I will accept his “pretty good film” review of), since I’m interested in the larger picture.

Doesn’t rap music — if you can call it music — caricature the black subculture as illiterate and stupid? Doesn’t rap glorify violence, drugs and illegitimacy? Doesn’t rap make blacks look like sullen, anti-social non-participants in society’s big picture?

Far be it from me to suggest there shouldn’t be music for the low-brow (and no-brow) among us, but there is no criticism of rap’s message in our society anywhere.

And, notwithstanding the occasional “pretty good” film about a recently executed gangster-rapper, beneath that lipstick the rap culture is still a pig. Until our society can bring itself to condemn rotten behavior everywhere, our jail populations will be more than 70 percent black.

Chuck Forrester
Greensboro

I have been working with ex-offenders who are trying desperately to find jobs. They want to change their lives, but it is next to impossible for them to become employed and integrated back into our community.

No wonder! Most times they return to their old neighborhoods with no more education and not one additional skill than before they were jailed.

Fifty-two percent of our prison population reads below a seventh-grade level. Without giving them education and training, we will continue to recycle these repeat offenders. We are spending millions to “punish” them in facilities where they learn more violent and sophisticated ways to break the law.

The proposed $825 billion stimulus package allocates billions for education. This is essential but fails to reach the most expensive part of our education problem.

The solution is twofold: Change the outdated law making it OK to drop out of high school before earning a diploma. Provide the Department of Correction with the resources it needs to prepare men and women to enter the work force.

Laura Chambers
Asheboro

It was certainly interesting to read Ross Howell’s letter in the Sunday, Jan. 11, News & Record, in which he stated that President Bush “does not read.”

This is a statement that calls the question as to where he got this information. Mr. Howell’s letter comes hard on the heels of a recent article in The Wall Street Journal by Karl Rove discussing how much President Bush does read and naming the far-reaching subjects of a few of his recent selections.

President Bush’s choices were certainly not ones I would pick up when wanting light reading. The books were heavy on history and nonfiction. There was no “fluff” among them.

The cry during the Bush presidency was how stupid he is. Yet he graduated from Yale University with a “C” average in the days before grade inflation and went on to earn an MBA from Harvard University’s School of Business. How many of those casting stones about President Bush being stupid can say the same?

I wonder what books are on Mr. Howell’s bedside table.

Phyllis Picklesimer
High Point

Regarding Gay Cheney’s letter (Jan. 24):

The writer states how proud she is of our country, now that we have a new president, and how ashamed she has been over the past eight years. Personally, I supported President Bush and believe, under the circumstances, he made very hard decisions with our greater good as his motive.

I did not vote for Obama but now support him by virtue of his title. We can all be proud of our peaceful transfer of power and a giant step toward further elimination of one of our country’s worst sins.

But what I find ironic about Cheney’s letter is a letter on the same page about one of our new president’s first calls to action: to promote and support abortion worldwide. While some struggle to have children, the United States has executed 40 million young lives since abortion was made legal.

Do Cheney, and others, believe, in some part, that God had us elect Obama with this as an agenda item?

How long should we expect to be blessed by God, while our country, rapidly wanes in its concern about what God would have us do?

Chip Slaughter
High Point

I am constantly amazed that we of the richest nation on earth are so obsessed with freebies that we will let highways, railroads and sidewalks deteriorate rather than practice good maintenance of the world we live in. After all the tax cuts for big business and the rich, maybe we should go back to letting them help us all have a better place to live.

William Herring
Greensboro

Lung cancer will kill 162,000 people in 2008 which is more than breast, prostate, colon, leukemia, ovarian and cervical cancers combined.

The cause for the drastic difference in death rates between these cancers is the obscenely low amount of funding that goes to lung cancer research. The National Cancer Institute had a $4.8 billion budget in 2007 and spent less then 5 percent of that budget on lung cancer research.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths and the second-leading cause of all deaths in men and women. On Jan. 9, the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009 was introduced.

The senators who proposed this bill along with the Lung Cancer Alliance (www.lungcanceralliance.

com) are hoping to reduce the mortality rate 50 percent by 2016.

This cancer can be beaten by early detection. More money, dedicated specifically to lung cancer, is desperately needed in order to allow early detection, which would save a priceless number of lives.

All cancers should be treated equally, just as the people who are diagnosed with them should be.

Heather Wakefield
Chapel Hill

On Friday, Jan. 16, my water pipes froze. I was getting ready to go to see my cancer doctor, and I couldn’t take a shower.

As my wife and I were putting a light bulb under the pump cover, a truck pulled into the driveway and its driver asked if we needed help. My wife said yes, we could use all the help we could get.

Three people got out of the truck. I was surprised and blessed because it was County Commissioner Billy Yow and his two helpers. They thawed the pipe and got the water going again.

Yow and his helpers were just riding by and stopped to help. My wife told him they were angels in disguise. I would like to thank him again and again for this deed of generosity.

Yow would not take any money and said that this was his good deed for the day. I have heart problems and am on oxygen 24 hours a day. I am limited to what I can do. God was looking out for us that day

Glenn Harden
Randleman

Most people think of race when they think of the word “discrimination.” I, on the other hand, think of different issues.

One particular issue that comes to mind is the fact that there are no baby-changing tables on my college campus.

Because I attend UNCG and have a daughter, it really upsets me that I have to walk all the way to my car to clean her. I am involved in a lot of activities on campus and enjoy taking my daughter with me.

It makes it much more difficult when a campus encourages mothers to go back to college yet will not supply simple necessities to help the cause.

It would not be that huge of an expense to provide these tables to help mothers continue school. It would, however, be greatly appreciated.

Laura Chamberlin
Greensboro

If you are someone who desires to be a parent, but struggles having children of your own, you should consider foster parenting as an alternative to international adoption and costly fertility treatments.

Right now in North Carolina there are many children of all ages in group homes who could benefit from the love and care they would receive through foster parents. These children have been removed from their birth homes because of abuse, neglect or abandonment.

If you are at least 21, have a stable income, a place to live with an extra bed, and room in your heart, you can impact the life of a child forever.

In addition, financial compensation is provided to ensure that the child’s needs are met. Foster parent licensing classes are offered at your local department of social services or other human service agencies such as The American Children’s Home in Lexington.

Brittany Kohns
Greensboro

Do any of your readers know what Sen. Richard Burr is for? I watch C-Span and he seems to vote no on everything.

He voted “no” on the Fair Pay Act.

He voted “no” on health insurance for kids.

Sen. Kay Hagan voted yes on these bills, even though she did not like how the health care bill taxed tobacco in North Carolina.

Albert Soriano
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Robert Cone

I write to express my disappointment with the Jan. 23 editorial in this newspaper criticizing the late Horace Kornegay, a native North Carolinian who spent 15 years as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry in the 1970s and 1980s.

Regrettably, the editorial focused mostly on his tobacco advocacy, despite his long record of service in other areas, including as a prosecutor and congressman.
The evils of tobacco are — and certainly were 25 years ago — much more debatable than it would appear from the editorial.

If not for tobacco money, much of the wealth of the state would not be here. Duke and Wake Forest universities, and their hospitals and medical schools, all were made possible by tobacco.
Many of the charities and foundations that enrich the fabric and culture of our state are also the products of tobacco. The Duke Endowment, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the Kate B. Reynolds Foundation are examples.

Thirty and 40 years ago, what was good for tobacco was good for North Carolina. Besides, what we define as evil is relative. Unlike in the financial services industry, tobacco executives have not pursued insider-trading schemes or used company money to pay themselves huge bonuses while seeking bailouts on the eve of bankruptcy.

Banks and insurance companies brought us to our current economic crisis, not tobacco. Largely because of tobacco wealth — much of which was donated to charities — Horace Kornegay’s beloved North Carolina is positioned to weather the financial storm. The universities that tobacco built will, no doubt, lead the way forward, attracting students, scholars and grant money from across the country.

As a lawyer, Horace was a tough advocate but honest and fair. Upon returning to Greensboro in the mid-1980s to resume his law practice, he served his profession and his community with countless hours of volunteer work and as a mentor to dozens of young lawyers. He chose public service for many years when he could have engaged in more lucrative endeavors.

Wounded in battle during World War II, Horace Kornegay was a shining example of the best of our Greatest Generation. Upon returning home, he studied hard, earned a law degree, married the woman who would be his wife for nearly 60 years, raised a loving family and worked to improve the community where he grew up.

His was a life worth emulating. In death he deserved a better shake from his hometown newspaper.

The writer is a Greensboro lawyer.

After March 15, Greensboro will encounter a major homelessness dilemma. That day, nearly all of the social service agencies in Greensboro that provide emergency winter shelters to Greensboro’s homeless population will no longer be protecting those individuals from cold weather.

Currently, individuals can enter into an overflow shelter when the weather is 30 degrees or below, receive a hot meal, and sleep in a warm, safe place for the night.

As a future social worker, my question is what happens after March 15? Records show that March temperatures can still dip into the low-30s. Given a deteriorating economy in which hundreds become homeless each day, Greensboro should provide an alternative for these individuals.

Even a temporary alternative would help, at least until it gets a little warmer for those who must sleep outdoors.

Katie McDaniel
Greensboro

Tiger Woods was instrumental in the election of Barack Obama. There are remarkable similarities in both men. They are tall, handsome and athletic with wide, toothy smiles. Both are smart and well-spoken. Both are biracial ... family men with high moral standards untainted by scandal ... highly motivated, goal-oriented. Both are respected worldwide.

Tiger Woods conquered a white man’s sport. Americans saw Tiger, the man, and not his race. They liked what they saw. Tiger earned the respect and admiration of all.

Now here comes Barack Obama, presidential candidate. Undoubtedly, he had the qualifications, the oratory and a message to transform America.

That wasn’t enough. At first, he didn’t have enough white support to close the deal.

But Tiger Woods before him had cracked open that door to white America — the door that is tightly closed to so many. Tiger greased the way for Obama to open that door wide. Maybe it was easier for Tiger’s fans to embrace Obama because Obama had many of the same traits as their hero. Sometimes people react for odd reasons.

Maybe it was subliminal. Nonetheless, that white vote was crucial. Meet the new voting bloc: golfers, the true “swing” vote.

Max Roseman
High Point

Regarding Deaira Brown’s letter, “Poor teaching hurts classroom performance” (Jan. 28):

While I am disappointed to hear of experiences at three of our local schools by Ms. Brown, I would like to offer my experiences.

As the mother of school-aged children and the wife of a public school teacher, I have had the pleasure of witnessing children thrive and grow emotionally and academically. My children’s teachers, as well as many of my husband’s colleagues, have done far more than the word “teach” suggests. They have been nurses, social workers, stand-in parents and advocates for students. And not just in one classroom with a few children, or at one school. Not just with the “good” kids and not just at the favorably rated schools.

Is every teacher without fault? No, of course not, as is true with any profession.

But I would encourage Ms. Brown and others to consider all experiences and avoid labeling “most teachers” as not caring for students’ successes, especially when it was just three schools she visited. I also hope we all encourage and empower our students to take responsibility for their learning needs and speak up to administrators or other student advocates when those needs aren’t being met.

Marian Eakes Friedman
Greensboro

The last poll I read before George W. Bush flew away into oblivion (we hope) indicated that his approval rating was still hovering around 20 percent.

I was beginning to believe that a significant number of that 20 percent lives in Greensboro after reading so many absurd letters in the News & Record defending Bush’s sickening record, along with Limbaugh’s usual moronic and destructive diatribes. So it was a breath of fresh air for a change to read the letter from Bill Yaner (Jan. 31) telling it like it really is. Whoops, Bill — I just noticed you are from Jamestown. Sorry if I insulted you.

Oh, well .... it’s back to Greensboro with that 20 percent.

Joan Hunt
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Bud Blower

I am concerned with the recent negative slant with which the media, and some on “the Hill,” are portraying business aviation. The Triad has been hard hit over recent years by the outsourcing and off-shoring of jobs. The furniture, textile and tobacco industries have all suffered severe losses. They had provided stable jobs that paid well to our region. These jobs will not come back.

Recently, our region has been fortunate enough to become home to a new industry that has real potential to replace these lost jobs: business aviation. Business aircraft manufacturer HondaJet has built its headquarters, its manufacturing plant and its research and development center in Greensboro. It also built its turbine engine facility in Burlington.

The Cessna Citation Service Center provides maintenance and support for business aircraft operators throughout the Southeast. Fixed-base operators Landmark Aviation and Atlantic Aero also provide a variety of business aviation support services.

The local media reported recently that a large business aircraft manufacturer has made Greensboro a finalist for a new aircraft completion center, citing the skilled work force that remains from furniture and textile industries. This center alone would provide an additional 800 good jobs.

Businesses of all sizes use aircraft as an effective tool to make their people more productive. Business aviation gets employees to thousands of communities and places the airlines just don’t serve.

Business aviation accounts for thousands of good jobs in our area, with the potential for many more. It is American workers in areas like Greensboro, Savannah, Ga., Wichita, Kan., Lakeland, Fla., and Little Rock, Ark., who really stand to benefit from a strong business aviation industry.

Business aviation benefits not only the business community, but the general public as well in the form of jobs and a stable tax base. Please support business aviation.

The writer lives in Jamestown.

The story about Mecklenburg County’s consideration of domestic partner benefits (Jan. 30) is much appreciated.

Unfortunately, the article contains two totally erroneous statements from Commissioner Bill James, without bothering to state the truth.

James is quoted as saying, “State laws make homosexual relationships illegal.” Untrue. Gay and lesbian relationships, or love between two people of the same sex, are legal in North Carolina and every other state in the union.

James further said: “You cannot offer health benefits for people engaging in behavior that the law says is a criminal offense.” Again, untrue. The behavior he speaks of, sodomy, when done in private is legal in North Carolina and every other state in the union. When done in public, even by a man and a woman, it is illegal.

Simple fairness requires that employees who are gay and lesbian couples be entitled to the same benefits for their partners as are heterosexual couples. That is why cities (including Greensboro), counties, towns, states, almost all of the Fortune 500 companies, and many, many businesses, large and small, now offer domestic partner benefits. It is time for Commissioner James and others like him to stop demonizing gays and lesbians.

Ellen Gerber
High Point

A two-paragraph article on the last page of the front section of the Jan. 25 edition, attributed to wire reports, said that U.S. forces killed a farmer and his wife and wounded their daughter in an Iraqi government-approved operation against a wanted man and that the killings were in self-defense.

This information was effectively buried under layers of information about American financial woes and questionable Obama appointees.

Of course, our self-made problems are always more important than anything else in the world, including the problems we continually make for others.

But, really, after all the media chatter about the tough negotiations on the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement), turnover of sovereignty, and Iraqi government jurisdiction over crimes committed by American forces, one might expect a higher priority for stories about these kinds of incidents continuing.

Will the New & Record print a follow-up or analysis of this incident and others like it? I wonder if our new administration will take notice and act on its campaign promises to get out of Iraq.

Atrocities and “collateral damage” (euphemism for excess of lethal force) will continue as long as we are an occupying foreign presence.

Jack Stone
McLeansville

Regarding Phyllis Picklesimer’s Feb. 3 letter defending Bush, all I have to say is: Priceless.

“Graduated from Yale with a C average in the days before grade inflation.” Really? Does one have to resort to this to make him look good? I guess so.

Frank Brooks
Greensboro

A few weeks ago, I was ecstatic to have Barack Obama as our new president. My heart was overflowing with a sense of hope and pride.

Today, my heart is deflated with fear and sadness. As much as I wanted to believe he was unlike past presidents, recent events in Pakistan have proven otherwise.

The government, with Obama behind the wheel, launched illegal missile strikes into Pakistan, killing nearly 20 people. At least one child was murdered.

Foolishly, I believed that Obama was different and was our cure for American policies that have dictated the United States’ behavior with other countries.

I will have to resign to the fact that, regardless of party, no president is ever truly different.

Ashley O’Brien
Greensboro

Many people believe that homeless people bring homelessness upon themselves. I do not believe they choose this path.

Now, the main cause of homelessness is the economic and mortgage crises. People are losing jobs, homes and the little savings they have. A poor economy puts a lot of people at risk of becoming homeless.

People should have more compassion for those who are homeless because, at a drop of a dime, the shoe could be on the other foot.

More community support in providing more shelters and finding ways to help with financial assistance wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would help.

When a community comes together, the impact can make a huge difference in people’s lives.

Shante’ Riddick
Greensboro

If it takes a village to raise a child, what happens when that child grows up and becomes an elder in the village? Does the village still band together to make sure their needs are being met?

My optimistic side says yes, we are doing what we can for our elders. The social worker side of me, who sees the realities, says we are not doing all we can.

We are simply letting elder care slide in favor of “more important” issues. My grandparents’ battle with illnesses and their troubles navigating Medicare coverage is a disheartening family and community issue.

When we become elders, what kind of community support would we like to have?

I believe that the same village that raised the child needs to continue to support and advocate for that person when he or she becomes an elder.

Please don’t forget about our elderly citizens.

Amanda Johnson
Sanford

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Nancy Probst

Several months ago, I made plane reservations to visit my daughter over the Martin Luther King weekend. She teaches in Tampa, and we looked forward to spending the weekend together.

Later, I realized that I’d be traveling home on Jan. 20, missing the swearing-in of our new president. Before leaving, I programmed the VCR, but sound bites wouldn’t be enough.

I had an early flight with a connection in Charlotte and arrived with almost four hours to kill before my next flight.

I looked for a gate with a TV monitor, hoping to watch the events unfold, but there are no gates with TVs in Charlotte.

I found a bar with six TVs — three tuned to inauguration festivities. I stood outside, watching through the glass and reading captions on the screen.

Tired of standing and frustrated at not being able to hear, I entered and secured a stool in front of a screen. A special day warranted a special treat, so a beer and a burger was a small price to pay for a stool and TV with sound.

As I watched the swearing-in, tears began rolling down my face. As I fought unsuccessfully to control them, I looked at the others seated near me.

There wasn’t a dry face among them. I was overwhelmed with emotions — awe, gratitude, patriotism, hope and disbelief. As a child of the 1950s, I remembered early civil rights struggles on our primitive, grainy, black-and-white TV.

I recalled the attack dogs and fire hoses and black children being barred from entering white schools and colleges.

As a college student in the 1960s in Washington, I witnessed the Poor People’s March, the tent city on the mall and the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination.

Never could I imagine a day when I would witness a black man pledging to uphold the Constitution as our 44th president. My mind and heart struggled to comprehend the enormity.

As Chief Justice Roberts completed the oath, the entire bar, as well as everyone gathered outside, erupted into loud cheers. I felt part of a community — anonymous travelers united for an hour in observance of a special moment in our nation’s history

As I reluctantly left my bar community for the departure gate, I was warmed by hope that President Obama will begin to unite this country the way he did this group of strangers in a bar — from all corners of the country and all walks of life.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Only weeks into his term, Barack Obama’s halo is beginning to wither. Rather than put forth a real solution to jump-starting our economic engine, he has deferred to Nancy Pelosi’s package of social programs, pork and political payoffs disguised as a “stimulus” package.

This bill threatens the stability of world commerce by introducing protectionism, which, history shows, will plunge the world into a dangerous trade war.

And for President Obama saying that labor unions are “part of the solution, not part of the problem,” that is a political payback to an interest group that stands firmly in the way of our competitiveness.

Please, don’t pass this hastily fashioned bill and make the same kind of mistakes as were made in the bank “bailout” bill. I’d rather have events play themselves out, with business failures and foreclosures taking us to the natural bottom of this de-leveraging cycle, than to have government micromanagement prolong and deepen the pain.

Mike Kendro
Greensboro

The Jan. 21 News & Record editorial stated: “Unlike most private-sector workers, people enrolled in state (health) coverage don’t pay a share of premiums, although they do pay for dependents covered.”

Many state employees wish that statement meant we were as privileged as it suggests.

Our state health plan “guardians” seem a bit obsessed at charging zero premium cost to those on “employee only” coverage. And if their lucky spouse has a plan with her or his employer, then that household would pay zero.

If a state worker has the nerve to be married, and her or his spouse is an “ailing undesirable” with no matching employer coverage, their cost is $462 a month (56 percent of total premium cost). That’s if they have no children. If they had 10 children, their cost becomes $489 (57 percent of premium cost). These scenarios are for an 80/20 PPO standard plan.

As Raleigh addresses our bleeding State Health Plan, all those on family coverage will take a sizable hit for the cost to resuscitate it. That’s the legislative usual and customary payroll proclamation.

You decide what’s going on here, reader. You needn’t be a cost accountant or primary care physician to render a diagnosis.

Bob Costa
Reidsville

The writer is a human resource management professor at Rockingham Community College.

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Melanie Golter

Regarding the News & Record news article on Jan. 22 about the closing of the art galleries in downtown Greensboro:

We, The Marshall Art Gallery Partners, are sorry to see the closing of any art establishment in Greensboro.

Gallery folks are like-minded individuals who know the value that art can bring into your life, whether it be a sculpture in your garden done by a local artist you met when visiting him in his studio, a beautiful oil painting that brings you pleasure every morning when you wake up and walk into your kitchen, or a detailed and serene watercolor that takes you to another time and place.

Art can be a form of therapy for some, whether they create it or appreciate it. Art can be a catalyst for someone, perhaps moving them from one place in their life to another. Art gives us the opportunity to express ourselves, when words won’t do.

Greensboro art galleries do a great job of supporting local, national and international artists, and now we are asking the citizens of Greensboro to do the same. Thank you to the Greensboro residents who continue to come out and support the art galleries.

We can’t make it without all of you. To those of you who have not yet appreciated the beauty of the local art scene, we encourage you to stop by for a visit.

Our doors are open.

The writer is affiliated with Marshall Art Gallery Partners at The Village at North Elm in Greensboro.

The News & Record editorial, “No whiffs and/or butts” (Feb. 4), suggested debate over HB 2, introduced at the opening of the state legislative session by Rep. Hugh Holliman. You vigorously support the proposal to make workplaces smoke-free, but are less enthusiastic about mandating coverage of restaurants and bars.

Yet, restaurant and bars have wait staff and bartenders who currently work in smoke-filled environments. Studies of bartenders’ respiratory symptoms and biomarkers of secondhand smoke exposure, such as cotinine, before and after elimination of smoking in bars in California and Ireland showed vast improvement after smoking bans.

While about 450 restaurants in Guilford County are voluntarily smoke-free, many restaurant owners would like the state to level the playing field so they can benefit from becoming smoke-free without alienating the smokers among their clientele. You suggest enforcement problems with smoke-free ordinances. But our experience in Greensboro after the passage of a referendum in 1989, which made all large stores smoke-free, showed that to be a non-issue.

The measure came up for repeal in 1991 and the law was reaffirmed by more than a 2-1 margin.

The public should be protected against the health hazard of secondhand smoke.

Richard J. Rosen, M.D.
Greensboro

The writer is chairman, Smoke-Free Guilford.

In Ramallah on our interfaith trip, a Jewish participant commented, “All my life I have been told Palestine was vacant until our people came. That’s not true, is it?”

I assured her she had not been lied to, but that her narrative was “true” for those telling it. But, no, it did not match the narrative of the Palestinians living there.

Recent contributors to these pages have cited their own narratives regarding Gaza, each claiming truth. One person’s “collateral damage” is another’s “family.” One person’s “suicide bomber” is another’s “martyr.”

A higher narrative exists. Rabbi Hillel: “What is hateful to you, don’t do to your neighbor.”
Jesus: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Muhammad: “Not one of you believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.”
A visitor recently on our campus said he was willing to inflict tremendous violence on the “other side” to assure none on “his side.”

Hillel, Jesus and Muhammad probably groaned. Yet such sentiments aren’t uncommon in recent contributions

Such an attitude is, unfortunately, part of the current narrative, and it falls woefully short of a higher truth.

Max Carter
Greensboro

The writer is director of Friends Center at Guilford College.

In his attempt to elicit Republican support for his stimulus plan, President Obama removed a provision providing funding for contraception for Medicaid recipients.

The removal of this provision is a betrayal of President Obama’s campaign promise to prevent unplanned pregnancies. It also will hurt the nation’s economy. The Congressional Budget Office had estimated that such funding would save the government $200 million over five years and $400 million dollars over 10 years.

Helping low-income women to prevent unplanned pregnancies not only significantly reduces government medical expenses, it also enables more women to remain in the labor force instead of being forced to rely on government support. Reproductive freedom for women makes good financial sense

Lisa Levenstein
Greensboro

Some question President Obama’s vetting process after four nominees have withdrawn their names. The vetting questionnaire was thorough enough; the mistake was not hooking the prospective nominees to lie detectors when they answered.

In his attempt to save his nomination, Sen. Daschle wrote the Senate committee:
“In December (2008), my accountant advised me that it (referring to the car service) should be reported as imputed income in the amended returns. At about the same time, the friend’s company, a consulting client, informed my accountant of a clerical error it had made on the Form 1099 it provided to me and reported to the IRS for 2007.”

Maybe I am too cynical, but suggesting that a “clerical” error on a 1099 resulted in owing more than $100,000 on an amended return sounds disingenuous, to be charitable about it. Or his accountant needs to have his CPA license revoked permanently and Daschle’s friend should fire his clerk!

As Jay Leno said, when big shots fail to pay big tax bills, it’s always an innocent mistake. If you or I do that, it’s Exhibit A for the prosecution.

Full disclosure: I voted for Obama and still support him.

Keith Hoile
Greensboro

As an intern for a transitional housing program, I have seen a recurring theme of the impact that domestic violence has on the plight of women. As an individual who aspires to be an advocate for those who are mistreated, I feel that domestic violence must be addressed properly.

I did not grow up in a home where domestic violence was present nor do I have anyone in my circle of influence who is a victim of it. Yet I know what it is to look into a woman’s eyes that no longer have light, who feels that she is powerless and does not understand she does not have to be a victim for the rest of her life.

In this nation, yes, we serve those who are without shelter and food, but my concern is we are neglecting the needs of emotionally wounded individuals.

Jennifer Smallwood
Greensboro

Society is still crumbling. The money spent on drug and substance-abuse problems in this country has not been effective. After many years of spending money for law enforcement to get dealers off the streets, the problem still exists. Drug abuse is still rampant in this city and still destroying the lives of many families and children.

We need to attack this problem from a different angle. Perhaps it is time to take some of that enforcement money and provide more substance-abuse treatment centers. As it stands, most people cannot afford to go into drug rehab because of the cost.

We need to make these treatment centers available to everyone who needs help. The few treatment centers that will take the homeless or low-income people are full and have waiting lists.
Most treatment centers do not include employment programs to help people get back into the work force after being treated. These people become discouraged and sometimes fall back into the patterns of abuse.

We have to try new ways of dissolving this generational cycle of substance abuse in our cities. The current ways are not working.

Dawn Lancaster
Greensboro

I confess I was one of the misguided teachers who supported the “save our summers” initiative that led to legislation mandating that school could not begin prior to Aug. 25. My intent was sincere, as I am sure was the intent of others (including NCAE) that lent support. The school system I was working for at the time cut deeper into “summer” every year. We prepared for the new traditional school year in the final days of July on one occasion. It was a bit over the edge.
But now, my current school system has decided we will miss the first portion of spring break to make up the recent “snow” days. Not that I really fault them. Their choices (and ours, as teachers) have been very restricted by the “SOS” law.
Sad to say, but it’s time for Raleigh to give back local control to school systems on this matter. This measure would never have become law, regardless, if the big-money tourist lobby had not pushed it.
Bill Toth
Greensboro

While interning with the Guilford County Department of Social Services, I have found that there is a need for more culturally diverse foster parents.
Guilford County has many residents who are not African American or Caucasian; therefore, we need foster parents of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Child Protective Services has worked with children and families from many ethnicities, such as Pakistani, Korean, Latin American and Laotian. Our department is expected to provide services and to be culturally competent to these citizens.
Ideally, we would like to place clients in foster homes with families that share similar cultural backgrounds. Maintaining the client’s religious beliefs and culture can be helpful in their transition.
Sometimes problems arise when foster parents are not aware of or in tune with the child’s religious beliefs and cultural values. Most importantly, children need to be placed in a caring and understanding home today.
Crystal Kellum
Greensboro

Many Americans know February as Black History Month. This year marks 83 years of celebration of the accomplishments made by many influential African Americans. Teachers in many classrooms around the United States will take a few moments to present a few facts on African American history.
Three weeks after the inauguration of America’s first black president, I have high hopes that we will soon realize that it is not only black history but America’s history, too.
We must understand that the events and people that are usually only discussed in February have made America what it is today. In Greensboro, we remember the Greensboro Four who raised the bar for civil rights in North Carolina. Ironically, after the election of President Obama, contributions have been made to finally finish creating a civil rights museum where those four sat and peacefully demanded equal service.
In the midst of these two historic events, I want to urge parents, educators and other citizens to remember their history. Black history is America’s history, and in order to move forward, we must present it that way.
Fifty years from now, will President Obama only be discussed during February or will he be placed in the history books as an American leader?
Catrice Sales
Greensboro

I agree with Don Mulligan of High Point on the issue of abortion. Why doesn’t the United Nations do something worthwhile? Abortion is “murder.” We don’t have the right to take a life. I’m really concerned about this, as are other people.
Nancy Smith
Greensboro

Regarding your “Take-home police cars” editorial of Jan. 31, I support police officers taking vehicles home as a crime-fighting method.
I disagree with your suggestion that rear-wheel-drive police cars be replaced by front-wheel-driven cars. Aside from their superior acceleration stability, rear-wheel-driven cars have proven longevity over front-wheel-driven cars. New York City taxis are virtually all rear-wheel-driven Ford Crown Victorias and a few old Impalas or Caprices, and last for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Marty Spottl
Greensboro

Tom Daschle, the former Democratic senator nominated to head health reform in the United States, admitted to tax problems and filed an amended return. This amended return required him to pay an additional $128,000 in taxes and a $12,000 penalty.
There are probably not 25 percent of Americans making this much money, much less paying that in taxes. A spokesperson was quoted as stating, “Sen. Daschle made a mistake which he deeply regrets.”
If I made a mistake as Tom Daschle and Timothy Geithner have done, would it be considered a “mistake” and all would be forgiven?
What a country we have become when we have harassed our citizens and forced them into federal court for smaller tax violations than these, and now they are simply called “a mistake.” May they be so kind to me if ever I am found in error.
I feel so much better about the “change” President Obama has brought to our government. Although I did not vote for Mr. Obama, I did have high hopes that he would bring needed change to our politics-as-usual appointments.
Roy Riggs
Greensboro

Entry deleted.

The Senate voted last week (News & Record, Feb. 4) to give a tax break to new car buyers. This is welcome news for middle class families that will be purchasing a car this year.

However, careful review of the tax break plan indicates this will be applicable to the first $49,500 of a new car purchase and individuals making $125,000 and couples earning $250,000 could qualify.

It is hard to understand why, when someone can afford a $49,500 car or earns $250,000, they should be given a tax break. Tax breaks should be limited to buying U.S. cars, which are energy efficient, don’t cost more than $20,000 (typical midsize car) and meet certain standards in fuel economy.

Ajit Kelkar
Greensboro

Homelessness in Guilford County has grown by 36 percent since 2006. Of that number, 440 are children, according to the Homeless Prevention Coalition.

Guilford County needs more transitional facilities and shelters during these times of economic stress. The winter season will be coming to a close over the next two months, meaning that winter emergency shelters will end their supportive efforts of supplying shelter to the homeless.
People occupying shelters will be put on the streets with nowhere to go — standing and sleeping at the corners we drive by every day.

As social work student at UNCG, I’m asking the community to consider making an effort to fight homelessness. You can by volunteering at your local shelter or outreach organization, starting a community outreach team at your church, or donating to food and clothing banks.

Crystal Rainey
Burlington

In response to a recent project sent home with my third-grade daughter regarding famous African Americans, I would like to say some of the staff at Monticello-Browns Summit Elementary have lost their minds.

Among some of the most influential people on the list a name stuck out like a sore thumb. I agreed with all but one name – Michael Jackson. He is a very influential and famous African American; however, I can think of more bad than good.

For starters, he was accused of molesting children. That’s all I need to know. Acquitted or not, he was accused by a child of molestation.

The children who accused him and their families would stammer at the fact Monticello-Browns Summit Elementary thinks he should be put on a bulletin board and recognized for his good deeds.

If you are struggling to come up with African Americans to suggest, allow me to assist you with some that may be more appropriate – Tiger Woods, Colin Powell, Will Smith. But not Michael Jackson.

Dara Ringel
Browns Summit

What better example could we have for a tax based on consumption? Does anyone reading or watching the news fail to see why our federal government and elected representatives are opposed to a tax based on consumption?

The answer is evident. They don’t think the income tax code applies to them. How do you forget to pay taxes? Do you suppose, in most cases, that they failed to even file contributed to the faulty memory?

Do you think their memories were suddenly jolted by being appointed to high government jobs? How comfortable are you that the person in charge of the IRS had such a memory lapse?
Shucks, I think I just forgot to file next year’s income tax.

Edgar G. Phillips
Pleasant Garden

Regarding the Feb. 3 letter about “recycling” inmates: I own two companies in the Triad that employ 75 to 80 people. Almost one-third of those employees are inmates in a work-release program. I have found them to be either average or above average in their abilities to learn on the job. They are, in fact, willing and eager to do so, so they can find gainful employment with us or another company with the skills they’ve learned.
There is a benefit to hiring them: tax credits, no benefits to pay, plus they are paying state and federal taxes. While employed they have a per diem amount deducted from their pay to subsidize their prison time. Since they are paying state and federal taxes, this feeds money back into the system, lessening the burden on taxpayers. Our retention rate after they are released is relatively significant.
Having participated in this program for more than five years, I feel these men are better prepared to transition back into a normal, productive lifestyle. The state Department of Correction should promote this opportunity to the public further.
Having job skills is crucial to finding employment after release.
Cam Hall
Greensboro

More and more the chorus rises that sprawl is a land-use and transportation pattern no longer sustainable in the United States. Its negative effects are magnified as we export this pattern to developing nations around the world.
Do North Carolina taxpayers really want to spend almost $63 million to widen 6.3 miles of Skeet Club Road in High Point? We already have three major interstate highways and many broad connectors in this area.
Why spend $63 million on 6.3 miles that fosters a land-use and transportation pattern that is no longer sustainable?
Sprawl ignores the existing infrastructure and resources of our cities through financial neglect, in favor of extravagant spending for new infrastructure at the edges of our cities that lays waste our farms and open space.
Urban sprawl is an outdated land-use and transportation pattern of spend and waste. It’s also a planning process that too often supports the narrow interests of developers, their agents and lawyers, over the interests of the common good.
Elected officials should be encouraging staff to study new sustainable patterns of land-use and transportation planning following models like those found in Pennsylvania and Oregon. We can stop urban sprawl now.
Dorothy Darr
High Point

Regarding the president’s decision to fund the United Nations Population Fund: One letter went as far as to say that this policy will allow for this assistance to pay for forced abortions in other countries. The overturning of this policy has brought up an intense uproar and fueled the ongoing abortion debate.
The president’s decision, however, was not one reflecting right and wrong, “for” or “against” abortion. His decision was supporting the funding of family planning, which will allow for families to prevent unplanned pregnancies, as well as allow reproductive health care for women and other services that would not be possible without this funding. Though this decision includes the option of abortion, it seems Americans have enough on our plate right now without spending precious time to impose our morals on other countries.
Mary Wrenn
Greensboro

This is Woody, the Natural Science Center groundhog and weather prognosticator. I did not like the tone of the News & Record article on Feb. 6 that doubted my instinctual and uncanny weather-predicting abilities. I am a well-educated rodent with a strong understanding of meteorological principles and the two-sided global warming debate. I have my own weather station that plugs directly into nature and not a bunch of computer nonsense.
Unlike you humans, my kind has endured millions of years of global cooling and warming, thus making me perfectly adapted to nature’s natural fluctuations. Your tongue-in-cheek analysis of my innate climatological skills was insulting. I think I recall just a few days ago when every weather person in Greensboro was predicting a significant snow event that turned into a mere dusting.
Don’t doubt the rodent! The Natural Science Center is at the center of scientific inspiration for Greensboro, and I, Woody Woodchuck, have served them well for years and years.
Woody, aka Glenn Dobrogosz
Greensboro

Glenn Dobrogosz is director, the Natural Science Center.

After the National Institute’s report for health care was released in April 2008, policy makers are paying more attention to the crisis of health care for the elderly. The elderly population is expected to double by 2030, but the number of geriatric professionals is not rising with this growth. Current deficiencies in long-term-care facilities are understaffing and minimal training and opportunities for professionals and paraprofessionals. Quality care requires a stable work force.
The “Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008” would expand education, training programs and opportunities to address the nationwide shortage of geriatric health care professionals. Expanding the foundation of knowledge and resources in geriatrics now would trigger a higher standard of care for the aging population. Public and political attention on improving elder care is long overdue.
Aging is inevitable; encourage dignity in elder care.
Tina Gaither
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint
By Joe Benson
Regarding Charles Davenport’s column (Jan. 24):
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie … shame on you for picking on Elon University and one of its academics, in a vague attempt to garner attention and reaction from News & Record readers; eerily similar to your “harrowing” account of a “near-writing experience” in the emergency room of a local hospital.
Ah, reaction was swift, tempers flared, debates started! Writing mission accomplished.
I am sure you will receive an abundant number of heartfelt, memoirist anecdotes related to college students and their encounters with academics — positive, negative and neutral.
Truth be told, we could all benefit from greater tolerance on both ends of the spectrum, the seeker and the guide, on an equal journey to enlightenment.
You could fill in the blanks and be assured of a hearty response, which is so cheaply sought: “______, a student at _____, disagreed with _____over comments made in ______, which uses as a required text______.” The rest can be developed at will, factually or in the memoirist fashion or simply invented: “Readers rally to the defense of _____ or _____ ... .”
The article should have been titled, “An episode of intolerance designed to induce the ire of the general public to ensure Charlie’s job security.”
I would suggest that his next “episode” include some controversy involving the police or fire and rescue professionals. That way, when he needs their services, he can whisper to the EMT: “I’m Charles Davenport Jr. and I didn’t really mean it!”
Then, he can chat with the emergency personnel about letting sleeping dogs lie, and finally, be comforted by a member of the clergy, who happened to have learned much from Professor Stephen Schulman, while a student at Elon University.
Charlie, master of the non-story, keep ’em coming!

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I was once a foster child. I was lucky enough to be put in a foster home with a parent who really cared about me and how I was going to live my life.

Both of the foster homes I was in helped me to become the person I am today. My guardian has helped me through high school and in college.

Once children in foster care turn 18, they can decide whether or not to stay in foster care and finish school or move out on their own.

My first impression of social workers was that they didn’t care about anything but breaking up families. I couldn’t understand why my sisters and I were taken away from our parents.

Now that I am older, I realize that social workers have the children’s best interest at heart even when they split siblings.

Mendy Cooper
Greensboro

I read the recent letter on lung cancer research by Heather Wakefield of Chapel Hill. I certainly support more research for all cancers, but I want to make the public aware of the very low level of funding for kidney cancer research.

Kidney cancer strikes about 54,000 people in the United States each year compared to 215,000 for lung cancer, 37,000 for pancreatic cancer and 182,000 for breast cancer.

Yet in 2007, we spent only $31 million on kidney, $226 million on lung, $74 million for pancreas and $573 million for breast cancer.

We invest only $575 per kidney cancer victim while spending $1,051 for each lung cancer victim, $2,000 per pancreas cancer victim and a whopping $3,148 per breast cancer victim. The figures are from the National Cancer Institute.

All of these amounts are way too low, but it’s clear that kidney cancer research spending is shamefully low compared to other cancers. It is time for parity in funding for these dreaded diseases. Kidney cancer victims’ lives are just as valuable as any other cancer victim.

Randy Scott
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Andrew Young

Lorraine Ahearn’s compassionate and thoughtful article about the plight of refugees in our area asks whether there is an alternative to the “crazy quilt, hit or miss” collection of services and to the chance that determines the success or failure of our newest Americans.

With the economic downturn, expected huge cuts in state budgets that have supported refugee resettlement, mass layoffs and failure of many businesses, one answer is to cut or reduce services and allow families like those depicted in the story to further suffer. At some point, the nonprofits that deliver services will be so depleted that their existence will be put in jeopardy as the economy worsens.

Of course, there are our churches to turn to. But they are already burdened with providing social services and care for the poor and struggling. As things get worse, refugees will compete with Joe the Plumber and his family for help.

Another answer to Ms. Ahearn’s question is for the so-called creative class to start being creative and develop new models that would allow important social services and nonprofits to continue to function.

The economic downturn will mean thousands of experienced, talented high-tech workers and managers face the choice of relocating to a place that may be just as hard-hit or staying here.

In the buzzwords of the time, we are challenged to develop “human capital” (such as our refugee population) for which we can only offer “social capital” to these creative workers as payment. Since there’s no money to be had, social capital — new partnerships, professional contacts and working relationships — increasingly become more important. The Triad should work to keep talented people here since recovery, when it comes, will be difficult without them.

As usual, the Triad’s response is to wait until the full force of events, in this case at least a year or more of suffering and struggle for everyone, is here and then start a regional committee to examine it.

If our centers for innovation in business, education and government don’t encourage and support new models of employment, investment and community, the region will be hollowed out by the end of this recession.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

The “Messiah” descended from heaven saying he would clean up politics. Really? During his dishonest campaign he railed against lobbyists, saying there would be none in his administration. Thus far there are 12, including cabinet positions.

He then selected a tax cheat to run the IRS. Just an oversight, Geithner says. Really? His employer sent him reminders for the payments. Then he blamed TurboTax. Wish I had known.

He also didn’t know that he couldn’t deduct his child’s trip to camp as “child care” expenses. But, he’s the only one smart enough to fix the crisis.

Tom Daschle didn’t pay his taxes, saying he thought the Cadillac and driver given him were gifts. I guess he thought the money he received for consulting was also a gift.

Bill Richardson was forced to resign (corruption investigation) before he could apologize and be confirmed by the D.C. Crime Family, also known as the Senate.

Joe Biden should have sent his “it’s our patriotic duty to pay higher taxes” speech to his boss’ cabinet nominees.

Some things have changed. Tax cheats used to be disqualified from high positions in government. Now they apologize and become “made men” in the D.C. Crime Family.
I guess that’s change.

Tony Moschetti
High Point

British Petroleum and General Electric stood front and center among businesses supporting Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, not because Obama would change Washington but because he knows how the game is played.

This round started with Enron (remember Enron?) buying up solar and wind electric businesses while lobbying hard for the global warming policies necessary to make the acquisitions profitable.

After Enron got too clever for its own good, BP inherited the solar assets and GE snapped up the wind farms.

Wind and solar remain by far the least efficient and most expensive means of generating electricity, not competitive in an open market.

The new owners have held on to these perpetual losers for years, never losing sight of Enron’s dream of someday getting their noses into the government trough.

Someday, it seems, has arrived. Obama has promised to double America’s “investment” in alternative energy. As Congress debated the details of an $800 billion stimulus package, who would notice one more bailout, especially one cloaked in the politically correct mantle of economic recovery/environmental responsibility/energy independence?

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Don Davis
Archdale

Congress will soon vote on the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, a far-reaching bill to protect wilderness areas, rivers, heritage sites and parks on public lands across the United States.

These areas benefit rural economies by increasing property values, providing new economic opportunities in recreation and tourism, and creating desirable places to live and work. This legislation will ensure preservation of the land for present and future generations.

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “In wildness is the preservation of the world.”

I hope Rep. Brad Miller and his colleagues will support this important legislation that will sustain not only these lands but also the souls of people who use them.

Phyllis Shaw
Greensboro

The Democrats have crafted a stimulus bill that may be signed by the time you read this. Only three Republican senators support it, the rest are in nay-saying lockstep. The Republican mantra seems to be tax cuts today, tax cuts tomorrow, tax cuts forever.

The Republicans gave tax cuts when there was surplus, saying it was our money and they were just giving it back to us.

They gave us tax cuts when the economy was doing poorly as it was necessary to restore fiscal health. Then the economy tanked and they still haven’t changed their tune.

There’s something wrong when the two parties are nearly unanimously on opposite sides of such an important issue.

If both sides were allowed to vote their consciences, not forced to do so by a party whip, maybe we would learn what is best for our country.

Harvey B. Herman
Greensboro

This is in reply to the Don Mulligan and Nancy Smith letters.

Abortion is not murder. One has to be born to be murdered. Get over your obsession with abortion as murder and try to find some common ground.

People who are so sure of their opinions cannot be trusted or respected. How can you be so sure you are right? What if you are wrong? Can you explain all of your self-righteousness to the Lord when you meet your maker or will you never get the chance?

Ron Loftis
Jamestown

It’s accurate to classify the profession of social worker as one that helps in the navigation through the standardized yellow tape that constructs our welfare system.

I am well prepared for the harsh truths I’ll encounter as I embark on this profession. However, I’m unable to continue without noting how this seeming position of power has been an incredibly humbling experience.

The interactions with the individuals who have endured such burdens have opened my eyes to a forgotten aspect of humanity. I have learned that the longing to be accepted escapes no individual and crosses cultural barriers. Even in these desperate times an inner power has been revealed through these human beings.

I feel, more than ever, a revival of our natural-born ability to connect, and this exceptional gift fills me with hope. The new year seems to be one of many firsts, and we may be curing a long-blurred perception.

Terrifying as it seems, I’m optimistic about a clearer vision and our chance to discover bonds in the most unexpected places.

MacNair Coleman
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Kathy Davidson

I attended the 1A/2A Swimming State Championships at the Willis R. Casey Natatorium at N.C. State University. It is the third year I have attended the event.

The last two years the event was overcrowded. Apparently the fire marshal was not happy after last year’s event and supposedly threatened to shut the event down this year if the same thing happened.

This year, we were told that we may not be allowed in to watch our children swim if the facility became overcrowded as it did last year.

So, here were all these parents, many who drove long distances and had done everything they could to get their child to this event on time, being told they may be turned away.

I did get in, in the morning, but many parents who showed up later than I did had to wait in line — some almost two hours. Many missed seeing their child swim.

This is unacceptable. Why was an event of this size allowed to be held at a facility that was too small?

Why didn’t the NCHSAA separate the event when it knew there were going to be big crowds? Why did they allow an additional 200-plus swimmers into the event?

So, Greensboro, we have an opportunity waiting around the corner. Let’s get our swimming facility built. Then our swimmers can swim and parents and family can actually watch them without having to worry whether they will be allowed inside.

I, for one, would like to spend my hard-earned money a little closer to home where it would be a little more appreciated and not be treated so poorly.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Millions of Americans placed their good will, faith and hard- earned money in the nation’s financial institutions and fund companies. Today, retirement is a fantasy and survival itself is at stake.

I believe the government should allow people to withdraw what’s left of their IRAs and other retirement accounts without penalty and without taxation, if they so desire, immediately.

That is only fair because the American people understood the rules, but the rules were not backed by due diligence on the part of financial institutions.

Read the small print at the bottom of every IRA retirement plan and fund: “Investments may lose money.” That was understood if it involved market fluctuations in an honest environment.

What we didn’t agree to was the widespread abuse and corruption of those institutions, and the conspiracies to fleece Americans. Perhaps our investments were nothing more than a casino bet. But we didn’t know the dice were loaded and the decks were marked. That’s illegal, even in Las Vegas.

Lino Tornero
Colfax

Realtors across North Carolina and the country are advocating for a comprehensive stimulus package to reduce housing inventory, make mortgages more affordable and available, and help families refinance or modify loans to keep their home.

North Carolina is in significant economic decline, and definitive action is needed. It’s important for leaders in Washington to understand that a stable housing market is the only way to begin an economic recovery.

To accomplish these goals, it’s vitally important for President Obama and Congress to complete a bipartisan stimulus package focused on housing. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a good start, but more needs to be done.

Federal dollars should be directed to buy down mortgage rates. A half-million additional homes could be sold if interest rates were lowered by just 1 percent.

Realtors also support a $15,000 home buyer’s tax credit and expanding it to include all home buyers, not just first-timers.

Reinstating the increased FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits will also help by increasing mortgage liquidity.

Realtors urge working together to restore confidence in the housing market and financial system.

Julie Woodson
Raleigh

The writer is director of public affairs for the N.C. Association of Realtors.

Our U.S. senators were busy this week negotiating elements of the Obama stimulus package. Unfortunately, few of them have any idea what will stimulate the economy and what will not.

Like lawyers, they pretend to know, posture and pose that they are seriously negotiating with each other.

The Republicans say the package is full of pork. They prefer tax cuts, which work more slowly than any stimulus proposed.

The Democrats, in addition to lower taxes for the middle class, want to fast-feed many federal agencies, hoping to get the money into the economy fast.

Let us now admit that they need to spread the money near and far and it will still turn out to be too little, too late.

James Deere
Greensboro

I look in bewilderment to the news daily to find out if Congress actually cares about the people of this country.

We elect senators who are supposed to be looking out for us. Instead, we get arguments and opinions from the GOP about the stimulus plan proposed by President Obama. I am outraged that these know-it-alls attempted to block a plan to move this economy forward. I have news for the GOP: We the people didn’t elect you for your opinions. I couldn’t care less what your opinion is, Congressman Coble and Sen. Burr. I voted to get this economy moving again and to restore America to the prosperity we once knew. Let’s be honest, guys, you are looking out for these corporate bigwigs and not the middle-class American.

I’ll remember that at election time. By the way, I am a registered Republican.

Robert Byrd
Greensboro

We have all heard the practical definition of insanity— to repeat the same thing but to expect a different result. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Japanese and our very last Congress all tried to throw money at their respective economies to “stimulate” them, and all three attempts failed.

Now President Obama and his legislative colleagues are planning to repeat almost identical maneuvers on a scale massive enough to impoverish generations to come. They expect a different result. This is still insane.

The only thing that has ever “stimulated” any economy is to lighten the tax burden on those who produce the jobs. Should not insane people be kept in mental institutions rather than be elected to positions of power?

Marion Griffin
Asheboro

After reading your opinion page on Sunday, I realized everything in my world was now upside-down. Black was now white, two plus two no longer equaled four, and I’m sure W was somewhere telling a reporter about all of his mistakes.

All of this because, after lo these many years, I agree with Charles Davenport Jr. (Feb. 8). Davenport rightly points out how asinine our laws and attitudes are regarding marijuana. While I don’t condone use of marijuana or any other drug, we have made criminals out of millions of people for using a drug less harmful and addictive than others that can be purchased legally.

Marijuana use should be regulated like other drugs. Perhaps more importantly, having the Chuckster speak favorably about Earl Jones and how marijuana use, while not a gateway to other drugs, is a gateway to increased Little Debbie consumption, makes me wonder if he sparked up a doobie before sitting down at his keyboard.

So, keep up the enlightened attitude, Chuckmeister. I can’t wait to hear about you driving around town with an Obama sticker on your car, or possibly holding a Planned Parenthood fundraiser.

I’m sure you will disappoint me in the future, but for today, right on (and write on), dude.

Mark Campbell
Greensboro

Hello? As I understand it, the Greensboro City Council is giving an “incentive” valued at $100,000 to a developer for a new downtown building on South Elm Street. Hello?

Three comments come to my mind:

1) In this economy, why doesn’t our city support our already-built and in-good-shape residences, offices and restaurants?

2) I find it highly unpleasant, unnecessary, unfair, untimely, unseemly and almost unethical.

3) Something is definitely not right here.

Judith Abraham
Greensboro

The headlines in the News & Record on Feb. 11 about bank robberies, gunshots fired at Greensboro police officers, and an arrest in the murder at the Old Navy should give every citizen in Greensboro a feeling of pride in celebrating the diligent work of our local officers.

So much negative publicity regarding GPD recently causes many citizens to forget the incredible sacrifice each man and woman in law enforcement in this city makes each day. These headlines make it clear that these officers diligently work on, despite the negativity.

Now, we as a community must hold those involved accountable. We can do so by watching the decisions made in these cases as they go through the court system. Those found responsible for shooting an innocent man at the Old Navy, whose family’s life will never be the same, and those found responsible for frightening bank employees and then shooting at officers in reckless disregard for all life, must face the harshest punishment.

Today, as you travel the streets of Greensboro, thank an officer as he or she passes.

Julia Wolf Hejazi
Greensboro

Youth failing or dropping out of school has become a major problem. Research has revealed that high school students who drop out are almost three times more likely to be incarcerated than students who have graduated from high school.

As a school social worker intern and a mother of three children, I know motivating teenagers to make the right choices and pursue an education can be difficult. However, youth failing in school or dropping out in today’s economic uncertainty cannot be an option. Helping youth succeed and move forward is a shared responsibility among family, community and school.

We are in desperate need of individuals who are willing to dedicate themselves to the cause of inspiring today’s youth and shaping tomorrow’s future.

I encourage everyone to seek ways to get involved in your community or local school.

Cynthia Norman Johnson
Greensboro

Thank you for the excellent News & Record article (Feb. 8) about the urgent need for an animal shelter in Rockingham County. There are so many worthwhile shelters and rescue groups in this area. I can’t imagine why someone would pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a pet when tens of thousands of animals in North Carolina alone are euthanized every year.

I am a long-time volunteer at the Guilford County Animal Shelter, and over the years I have seen full-bred dogs of almost every breed looking for homes. I have three dogs from our shelter and they are absolutely wonderful. For anyone looking for a new pet, please consider adopting from a shelter or rescue group.

Two excellent Web sites for information are www.argnc.com and www.petfinder.com. Save a life!

Jan Grafton
Greensboro

Leonard Pitts, in his Feb. 9 column, slobbered all over Barack Obama, to the point of risking dehydration. What did Obama do to deserve such slavish praise? He admitted that nominating Tom Daschle was a mistake.

That’s all well and fine, but what about Tim Geithner?

If Tom Daschle was a mistake worthy of apology, why not Geithner, the other tax cheat?

In fact, the Obama administration reminds me of the new TV show “Leverage,” in which a lovable gang of criminals fights for truth, justice and the American Way.

Is this the kind of change we can hope to believe in?

On the plus side, if we can keep Obama nominating staffers long enough, we might collect enough “forgotten” taxes to put a serious dent in the budget deficit.

Robert Hudson
Pelham

I was saddened by the news that a student from A&T was murdered outside of his apartment complex, and his murder is still a mystery.

I feel that it is the responsibility of the young adults in the community to come together and help prevent this from occurring on a regular basis.

The Peace March that took place in downtown Greensboro with students from UNCG, N.C. A&T State University and Bennett College for Women is a wonderful step in the right direction.
With the recent election of President Barack Obama, I feel that it is our responsibility to bring the change we need.

As a young adult, I feel that we must pull together to bring forth information necessary to solve this murder, as well as prevent things like this from taking place in the future.

Allyson Allen
Greensboro

Your long article on the first page of Sunday’s paper (“Worth saving,” Feb. 8) was heartbreaking. I hope everyone reads it. We know all the animal shelters have been overwhelmed, particularly because of the awful economy and people having to give up their pets for lack of money. But the statistics in this article are simply staggering. In the third quarter alone, 938 animals had to be euthanized. That is beyond pitiful.

The article states that the Rockingham County animal shelter is trying to raise $1.7 million to open a new shelter in 2010 and has only been able to raise $60,000. If everyone who loves animals would just donate $10, they might raise the needed amount sooner than that. That could mean forgoing one small pizza. How hard is that, people?

Vivian Robinson
Jamestown

There is a quote that states, “Children are one-third of our population and all of our future.”
If we believe that is true, why are we not properly preparing our children for life on their own?

Many teenagers do not have an appropriate understanding of budgeting, grocery shopping or even how to write a check. School systems need to better educate our children on real-life experience rather than worrying if they can pass the standardized tests at the end of the year.

Let’s start educating our children on the dangers of credit cards and teaching them how to budget their money so that our economy is not always this disastrous. Let’s start putting more emphasis on our children actually learning something valuable in school rather than having the best test scores that will mean nothing to them when they have to survive on their own.

Holly Nowak
Greensboro

Here is the Bolmer Economic Recovery Plan. It would only work once, but it is comparatively inexpensive. Let anyone cash in their retirement, in whole or in part, without any penalty or tax, to buy a house, or to build a house and buy land if necessary, or to buy a Big Three automobile. If the government still wanted to give money away, it could issue car vouchers, similar to food stamps, to middle-class taxpayers and below, either outright or by auction or lottery. Tax credits to homebuyers would also be helpful.

Stephen Bolmer
Greensboro

In response to “Don’t limit black history to a single month” (letter, Feb. 9):

I agree with Catrice Sales, especially about the Greensboro Four. I have been to civil rights museums in other states and they all mentioned the Greensboro Four. I never understood why the state of North Carolina did not do more to recognize this event, these four, and the impact it had not only on Southern history but America’s history as well. North Carolina is a state filled with many accomplishments, but it needs to do more to commemorate them.

Bailey Thirloway
Greensboro

Apparently, Democrats are anxious to raise taxes as long as the leaders of the party don’t actually have to pay their taxes.

Barry Meadows
McLeansville

Being constantly around people every day, I cannot help but notice the hate some Americans have toward non-Anglos. I never really became concerned about this issue until I saw a film clip about immigration.

I became outraged that some Americans would view immigrants and portray them as invaders and disease-infected animals who are trying to recapture land that once belonged to them.

I think it is cruel for America to depict itself as a land of opportunity when some Americans not only fail to reach out to people who come here for a better life but also spew hate.

Most people from other countries would not hesitate to accept a visa to enter into the “promised land” of America. But is America truly promising? I believe America presents itself to be a place where dreams come true, a place of new beginnings, but the truth is that some Americans will only accept their own kind.

Immigrants have little to no chance of being accepted if the views of the hateful prevail.

Channen Farrington
Greensboro

I’m asking you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yourself (President Barack Obama). This powerful message places enormous responsibility into our hands as American citizens. While policies are essential, it is imperative that we step up to the plate and help create change in our country as well.

One way in which we can all work toward this common goal is through volunteer efforts. There are numerous opportunities to become involved in volunteer work in your own community: Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, Foster Friends, Communities in Schools and Meals on Wheels, to name a few.

Volunteering at a local nursing center last summer, I found the residents to be genuinely grateful to have someone to simply talk to for a while. In addition to making me feel that my time made a difference, this experience also taught me that I truly enjoyed working with this population.

I challenge you to regularly donate several hours of your time to make a positive change in your neighborhood. Putting political differences aside, let’s join hands for the common good of our communities and our country.

Kara Shanaberger
Reidsville

As Americans, regardless of our political affiliations, we are supposed to help each other in times of need.

We are in a time of great need. The economy is suffering and so are the people who work for a living to make your day better.

Please think of the woman who is working three jobs, one of which is fixing your Egg McMuffin in the morning to support her kids.

Please think of me.

I’m a 20-year-old quadriplegic in a wheelchair, who is trying to support three able-bodied adults with my disability check because they were either laid off or can’t find a job because no one is hiring.

There are many people in worse situations than me and they need my help and yours. I wrote my senators to tell them that President Obama’s plan is our best bet to begin the process of getting out of this economic slump that we are in.

If you weren’t patriotic when George W. Bush was in office, I am with you, but drastic times are here. If we do nothing, it is going to get worse.

It is time to fight for your government to help you and your neighbor.

Ananda Rose Bennett
Greensboro

In your Feb. 4 editorial, “No whiffs and/or butts,” you write, “employees never should be exposed to secondhand smoke.” You also say, “The mandate (to ban smoking in the workplace) is overdue for workplaces.”

However, you seem to suggest restaurants and bars should be able to continue to allow smoking. Are restaurants and bars not workplaces?

I am a waiter/bartender. I go to my workplace and am paid by my employer. I am an employee. A person you say “never should be exposed to secondhand smoke.” Your argument is seriously flawed. You are saying save the retail and office worker, but kill the waiter, bartender, cook and thousands of other restaurant employees. Not even to mention the numerous children who are also exposed to deadly secondhand smoke when their careless parents take them to smoky restaurants.

Carey Sickels
High Point

Society is failing our children. Many Americans work 40 hours a week and still live below the poverty level. Most people who live below the poverty level are single parents with school-aged children. Many don’t make $6 an hour. Some say raising the minimum wage hurts business.

But what about our children?

Many minimum-wage earners are a paycheck away from poverty and becoming homeless. They can’t afford to miss work due to illness or inadequate child care. Their children live without affordable health care and proper nutrition. Many children live in neighborhoods that aren’t child-friendly (crime on every corner). Where is society when your hungry child is crying at night?
For some of these workers, food stamps are not an option because they make a little more than the requirement for this type of assistance. That leaves many children depending on schools for food because their parents can’t afford to provide even one decent meal a day. Then we wonder why so many children, especially young boys, are hustling on the streets. Often it’s to help their families provide the basic necessities. When will poverty end?

Mary Thompson
High Point

Each spring my teenage daughter and I enjoy a tradition that dates back from the time she was 3 years old. We rise early on a Saturday morning, go out for breakfast at a local diner, and go strawberry picking.

Picking strawberries is really just my excuse. It’s more about the leisurely breakfast and spending time with my daughter.

On our last adventure the lines at some of the great smoke-free diners in Greensboro were out the door, so we chose another restaurant that permitted smoking.

I was struck by the waitress working the smoking section. She was only a little older than my daughter, probably about eight months pregnant, and nearly lost in the clouds of smoke.

This year the legislature will consider making all work sites, including bars and restaurants, smoke-free. Remember, these are places of work for many people, often those without health insurance. They are college students, hardworking parents and very often teenagers. They work harder than most of us and deserve the same protection from secondhand smoke enjoyed by our state employees

Let’s see that they get it.

Mary Gillett
Greensboro

I used to have a pretty good fastball and was a decent line-drive hitter, but neither of those abilities landed me a contract with the New York Yankees.

So, after living here for almost four years, I got to thinking about what a “Yankee” is after being called that by a neighbor last evening. Here is what I’ve come up with:

If you come from a state where unions are strong and people have had the courage to risk life and limb and stand up for fair treatment and question unreasonable authority, you’re a “Yankee.”

If you come from a state where teachers are paid fairly and receive the benefit packages they deserve, you’re a “Yankee.”

If you come from a state where cigarettes are recognized as a genuine health risk to both smokers and nonsmokers and the state legislature actually has the guts to do something about it, you’re a “Yankee.”

The list goes on.

I like Greensboro and where it’s heading. I like volunteering here in worthwhile projects. I like UNCG, where my daughter attends. I like my neighborhood and have made terrific friends.
But what I really like is being a “Yankee.”

Kenneth Trager
Greensboro

My friend Max Carter, director of Friends Center at Guilford College and author of a recent letter to the editor (“A bitter, war-torn world of clashing narratives, Feb. 7), relates that he was recently characterized by another religious leader and friend of mine in this town as being a “dishonest broker” of information about the Israeli/Palestinian situation.

If this good and decent man, this godly man who has traveled and lived and taught extensively in the region and who bends over backward to be generous and fair to the people of all sides of this enormously complicated issue, is to be thought of as dishonest, then I invite those who think of him this way to think the same way of me.

It is an honor and a gift of grace to be able to stand with him — against no one, but for a greater justice in this world, with peace.

Charles Hawes
Greensboro

Regarding the story, “Legislators say longer House terms save money, time” (Feb. 9):

I am against doubling the terms of members of the state House of Representatives. Incumbents, as you know, usually are re-elected.

Giving them an extra two years means they will be able to raise more money, which will make it even harder for candidates to run against them.

We should worry about politicians who want to increase their political power or decrease ours. What will they do next ?

Will they give themselves the right to vote themselves pay raises? They have already done that.

State legislators and all other elected officials should be limited to one term or two nonconsecutive terms. I encourage you to write to your state legislators and tell them not to extend their terms.

Chuck Mann
Greensboro

The topic of every discussion seems to be the downfall of our economy. Businesses that have been lucrative for many years are closing their doors forever.

Layoffs are sadly becoming an expectation. Because of this, more people are making the decision to return to school. Here comes another economic dilemma: tuition, fees, and the ridiculous textbook prices.

From a personal perspective, the average cost of my textbooks is approximately $100 each and I generally take four classes per semester. Let’s calculate: Four times 100 equals $400. What a setback when income is already limited. My concern is that students are being ripped off and there’s nothing we can do about it.

The textbooks are required, and without them one can’t study or be prepared for class and complete assignments. Authors are probably the only persons not feeling any of the effects of the economic crisis.

Carol Perry
High Point

The issue on the right to a legal abortion has been hotly contested for decades. We take our position, then fiercely oppose the other.

We write letters, attend protest demonstrations, and join well-organized associations to convince the other side that we are right and they are wrong.

Let’s stop this arguing, it does not work. Instead, let’s participate in constructive dialogue. We might begin an exchange by considering that, really, both sides are right.

Both sides want every woman, who chooses so, to experience only planned and wanted pregnancies. Certainly, no one on either side wants any women to have to go through an abortion.

Everyone, on both sides, has strong feelings on this serious matter. Do we share any of them in common?

Mary Partrick
Greensboro

Readers of the article, Feb. 10, about the demonstration by Warnersville residents in front of Greensboro College have reason to be puzzled by the apparently conflicting report.

There are quotes about how much Greensboro College has done for the community and from residents opposed to the college’s plans. When sorting out these contradictory quotes, pay attention to the reported survey that 90 percent of residents oppose the plans.

The college has had an advisory committee of Warnersville residents, which makes it sound as though the college is mindful of community wishes. However, what the college hasn’t revealed is members of this committee were hand-picked supporters.

President Williams attended a meeting at the Warnersville Community Center on Jan. 27. When asked, he was unwilling to name committee members. When some inquired about being allowed to join, he made it clear that he did not want “negative” members.

We have a white institution that hides behind the façade of a black “community” advisory committee that it knows is not representative of community sentiment.

Furthermore, Williams speaking of a “divisive campaign” is ironic given that he practices a divide-and-conquer tactic that accentuates community differences.

With good reason, some protester signs questioned the college’s moral compass.

Larry Morse
Greensboro

Republican congressmen overwhelmingly opposed the “stimulus bill” because they want to be in a position of being able to say if it fails “we told you so, we didn’t vote for it, they did.”

They knew Obama had most of the Democrat votes and enough Republicans to push it through. They will have set themselves up for future voter support if it fails. They don’t know if it’ll work (no one does), but they want Obama and the Democrats to take the risk alone.

What Republicans are doing may be smart politics, but is that the kind of ethics vacuum we want from our elected officials?

I don’t know about you, but I want my elected officials to show enough courage to share the risk. At least try something like this that has the support of economists from both the right and left.

I always heard it’s better to fail than to fail to try. And, isn’t spending exactly how you stimulate the economy? The fiscal truth is more should be added to the spending.

Gary Parker
Archdale

I am writing about members of Congress strolling fancy resorts, spending tens of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars and mingling with lobbyists.

This happened at Kingsmill Resorts and Spa near Williamsburg, Va., where House Democrats spent about $100,000 on a three-day annual retreat.

In a time of layoffs, people losing homes, going hungry, why does this happen and no one does anything about it?

Our leaders should work together to help us instead of spending money on themselves.

Shame on them.

Iris Newby
Eden

Today, I read with heartbreak about a 13-year-old child who was sexually abused. A 32-year-old man is under arrest and charged with felony child abuse/sexual act, indecent liberties with a minor, first-degree sex offense of a child, first-degree rape of a child and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Parents check sex-offender lists, but that represents only those who have been discovered, tried and convicted as adults after 1996. In the United States, there are 664,731 registered sex offenders and, on average, 5,317,848 unregistered sex offenders. In Forsyth County, 376 are registered with about 3,000 unregistered.

What about those who committed crimes as juveniles? They aren’t required to register. What about those who were convicted before 1996? They aren’t required to register. And what about those who have never been found out? They may never be discovered or registered.

Is there anything being done to prevent these horrific acts on innocent children?

Chris Carpenter
Winston-Salem

We, the public, elected our current City Council. We did not elect you to create a state of anarchy and chaos within our municipal government’s meetings and proceedings.

We elected you to operate as a nonpartisan body under the mayor/manager form of government and serve the needs of constituents. Changing the format of municipal government was not on the ballot.

History is replete with the results of governance by warring factions. Guilford County itself is an example of the slow death of good government at the hands of a constant barrage of radically opposing actions and philosophies.

Isn’t now the time for citizens of Greensboro, including City Council, to realize that the path being set by a council minority is without merit and without provocation?

I call upon this council to refrain from unmerited dialogue and procedural tactics, which will only serve to further fracture this council and this city’s professional governmental staff. And that, instead, you work together to restore confidence to the majority of Greensboro citizens that our needs and concerns are being addressed.

Julia Blizin
Greensboro

President Obama and Congress want to spend approximately $800 billion to create or keep 4 million jobs. I know a way to create at least 6 million jobs. We currently have 12 million to 20 million undocumented workers in the United States. It is time to place the welfare of our own American citizens above these workers.

I suggest that Congress pass a bill fining any company found employing undocumented workers. The fine should be set at $20,000 per worker, all money going to unemployment compensation. The employer can keep his worker, if he desires, but at an extra labor tax of $1,000 per worker per month.

This will make the cost of hiring an undocumented worker roughly equivalent to the pay of an unemployed American worker.

This is a humane way of encouraging undocumented workers to return home, without traumatic ICE raids or police activity. Failure to take this or similar action would be a signal that our government is prepared to cripple the American working man and his family.

Ed Philpott
Greensboro

Regarding the Feb. 5 letter from Joan Hunt (“Is Greensboro a haven for Bush’s 20 percent?”):
Usually I read the letters to the editor and just shake my head. However, this one’s complete lack of intelligence caught my attention.

Before you bash someone, at least make an attempt to research your conclusion (i.e., the slamming of Rush Limbaugh). I listen to Rush and I heard the “complete” interview with Sean Hannity regarding Limbaugh wanting President Obama to fail.

Having heard the complete answer, I agree with Rush 100 percent. Obama’s socialistic agenda is what Rush and I want to fail with this president.

So, I suggest Ms. Hunt take another breath of fresh air and realize that her “right” to take that breath came from strong, conservative forefathers who founded this country on godly principles. The same principles Rush Limbaugh and President Bush stand for.

I also suggest that she take her “We can, hope and change” head out of the “I feel so good about voting for Obama” clouds and realize he is leading us straight into socialism — a place I don’t think you really want to be.

Cathy Self
Greensboro

I was interested in your article about the Lincoln Memorial and French’s statue of Lincoln (Sunday, Feb. 8, page A2). It pointed out the contrast between the left and right hands.

Your readers may be interested in a bit of related deaf folklore. Deaf people look at Lincoln’s hands and see his initials, “A.L.,” using the manual alphabet. The left hand is clearly an “A,” and the right hand is very close to an “L.” (The index finger actually needs to be straightened more to make an “L.”)

It is certainly true that the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, before he created Lincoln’s statue, had already sculpted the statue of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, which stands at the entrance to Gallaudet University, and in that sculpture Gallaudet is showing Alice Cogswell how to make an “A.”

A good discussion of whether French really intended the “A” and the “L” can be found at the Gallaudet University Library’s Web site.

Samuel Johnson
Greensboro

The writer is an attorney in Greensboro who was previously a faculty member at Gallaudet University for six years.

Our foster-care system provides money to take care of a child financially but no continuing education requirements to help the foster parent properly raise that child. As a result, foster children go through many challenges and sometimes are even abused.

Why doesn’t the government require foster parents to go through extensive training annually to learn how to properly care for these children?

Foster parents should learn about abuse and neglect prevention, disciplinary techniques and how to reduce stress. If they received the proper training, mandatory counseling, unannounced home visits and frequent, one-on-one meetings with social workers, the number of foster parents failing children in the system would be reduced.

Shuantia Barber
Greensboro

Let’s hold our leaders to the same standards we hold leaders around the world. If we don’t, our moral authority, our greatest asset, will further erode.

This is not just a gesture. This is about justice for thousands of people needlessly killed and injured, millions more who have lost their homes.

Matthew Armstrong
Greensboro

Benjamin Franklin once said: “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”

Franklin’s quote, in light of our socialists in Congress voting for this nearly $800 billion spending monstrosity, is noteworthy.

It should be supported by this from Alexander Hamilton: “It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.”

This is precisely what our elected morons have now done to us by passing this bill with none of them knowing what is truly in it. To them, this is “Monopoly money,” but our coming generations will truly pay for their political gamesmanship. Our generation will pay for it through the loss of our republic by our spiral into socialism. We may have a coming Second American Revolution.

This is precisely why our founding fathers let us have the Second Amendment.

Steve Gorden
Kernersville

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Larry Roland

Thank you for “The Edge of Life” article about palliative care in Dallas, Texas, as described in a recent Life section article. Palliative care is a little-understood, rapidly growing medical specialty; it’s been available in Greensboro since 2004. Please help us continue to spread the word about the benefits of palliative care.

The word “palliate” means to make comfortable. Palliative care may be offered at any stage of serious illness and may provide benefits before, during or after curative treatments. Our Palliative Care Services medical team helps inpatients and families with numerous issues, including:

• reviewing patient goals of care so families can make decisions based on these goals;

• treating patient symptoms;

• offering support during difficult times when a patient’s illness is progressing and his condition is declining;

• offering patient/family advanced-care planning when faced with a life-threatening illness.

Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro offers palliative care to inpatients at Moses H. Cone Hospital and Wesley Long Community Hospital, thanks to a collaborative initiative with Moses Cone Health System. Patient referrals in 2007-2008 numbered 1,184, a 9 percent increase over the previous year.

Hospice also offers palliative care in long-term care facilities, including assisted-living residences, in the greater Greensboro area. For more information about palliative care, ask your physician or the medical staff serving your family. For general questions, call Hospice at 621-2500, or go to hospicegso.org; click on palliative care, under “HPCG Services.”

As one of our Palliative Care Services nurse practitioners summed it up, “Our PCS team works to treat the patient’s body, mind and spirit. Through caring, but frank conversations, we can inform the patient of all their options so they can establish their personal goals of care. It’s the patient and the family’s goals that then direct our supportive work.”

On behalf of our Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro Board of Directors, I offer my heartfelt thanks to the greater Greensboro community for its support over the last 29 years.

The writer is chairman of the Board of Directors, Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro.

It is surprising to me that during my two years on a state university campus I have never heard of Gary Haugen and the International Justice Mission. As a social work major, classes often focus on the needs of the oppressed. Never have I heard mention of the human rights agency out of Washington, D.C., whose mission it is to secure justice for those suffering under the yoke of slavery and sexual exploitation across four continents.

I am grateful to the New Yorker for shining a light on this admirable but little known hero (“The Enforcer,” Jan. 19). Though the International Justice Mission is by far not the only Christian organization striving to help those less fortunate, it is the only Christian agency that works alongside the legal systems on each continent. In this way they work not only to promote justice, but to help strengthen crumbling legal systems as well.

Elizabeth Leon
Graham

My, my. I now read that our country has a national coalition of parents and educators to prevent Scholastic Books from selling their merchandise during school book fairs (“Book club chided for marketing toy items,” Feb. 10). A nationally based organization is not needed. In Guilford County, Scholastic book fairs are organized, operated and manned by moms, dads and teacher volunteers.

In our elementary school, we devised a simple rule: The student must buy a book before said student may buy “the stuff.” We also moved the glitzy merchandise away from delighted eyes to areas not easily reached. Simple!

Perhaps Scholastic did not approve of our methods, but our records show our school had very lucrative book fairs — selling books!

Eventually our kids may have purchased a pencil with a funky eraser, or that coveted Corvette poster or now the Hannah Montana poster, but they also had a book. Scholastic is a company that has a right to merchandise its wares.

Books first, “stuff” second. Not a difficult decision to implement.

Linda Nauman Sirmons
Jamestown

Kudos to Lorraine Ahearn (Feb. 8) for her informative and timely comments about the success of Crisis Intervention Training for Law Enforcement Officers. The basis of the program is to offer training for local law enforcement officials in matters regarding individuals with mental health challenges, who often need their understanding and compassion during individual crisis.

Police Chief Tim Bellamy and the entire Greensboro Police Department have embraced the safe, proven practices of crisis intervention training. Ahearn helped to bring this additional community asset to light, very good news in a climate of negative emphasis regarding the increased violent crime rate.

We hope that the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office will soon offer the same training to its law enforcement personnel. Everyone wins when proper training assists police, thereby benefiting people with mental health conditions and our entire community.

Blair Benson
Greensboro

The writer is executive director of the Mental Health Association in Greensboro.

The current reform of the state mental health system is putting mentally ill people in jail because when people are sent to state hospitals they are released long before making enough progress to justify release. They are sent back to their communities with a one-week supply of medication that will not last until they can see a physician. When they run out of the medication they may go to an emergency room or may be picked up by the police because of some behavior the medication could have prevented.

State reform promised that the money saved by releasing people from state hospitals would follow the persons back to their communities. It has not, and the current practices have forced communities to put them in jails because there are no funds for them to be treated in community hospitals that are already overcrowded.

Mark Long
Burlington

On Feb. 9, I attended a meeting of the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners with residents concerned about the revaluation of property.

The meeting started with the board reviewing reasons for revaluation and how it is done. Almost everyone present, several hundred, saw significant increases of property values since the 2003 notices.

The media are constantly informing us that property values are way down nationwide.

Amazingly, Rockingham County values have managed to increase significantly.

Crowd control was unmanageable because people were upset and angry.

The real issue was never addressed by the board. Considering the state of our economy, job situations, and housing market, this revaluation was bad timing and worse math.

Citizens are afraid, and the national bailout may not work. It seems to me that all government agencies need to work on contingency plans that consider absolute necessities in case nothing works. As tax bases spiral downward, we can’t continue increases on a dwindling populace that is able to pay. You can ride a good horse to death.

Dicky Carico
Madison

I have a question for Ron Loftis, whose letter appeared in the News & Record. Regarding people who call abortion murder, he states, “People who are so sure of their opinions cannot be trusted or respected.”

Here’s my question: Is he sure of that?

Beth Reitz
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Michael Northuis

Cal Thomas is perhaps the most out-of-touch editorialist working. As a Christian/conservative, he has been nothing but a cheerleader for all things Bush/Cheney, somehow even making a Christian-friendly case for torture.

His editorials about Iraq since the beginning of this ill-fated and arguably unnecessary war always made me wonder what Jesus he subscribed to; certainly not the “Prince of Peace” Jesus.

His Feb. 13 column not only shows his ignorance of the depth of the current financial crisis, but also his lack of compassion for millions of people losing their jobs, homes and confidence in their futures.

He is still using that worn-out Bush ploy of pointing to a few instances of financial growth and repeating the conservative mantra “the economy is strong, liberals just want you to believe it is not.”

Republican pundits are all in lockstep. They seem to think that one more sweeping tax cut for the rich and more deregulation will help the “free market right itself.”

The ultimate paradox here is that almost 30 years of unregulated trickle-down economics, a Reagan conservative invention, has turned America into a socialist “lite” state that rewards institutionalized incompetence and failure.

Let’s see: Mr. Thomas thinks the panacea for this non-existent crisis is to watch the movie “Hoosiers.” Rush Limbaugh wants Obama to fail even if the whole country goes down so he can feel superior. Ann Coulter agrees with Rush but would not “phrase it that way.”

House and Senate Republicans lost the last inning so they are not going to play anymore, just pout until they get more tax cuts for the wealthy (themselves). Send all their mail c/o LaLa Land.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Want to help the economy? Nationalize the banks. Their greedy predatory lending and speculation have sunk the economy. Working people are seeing millions of jobs and homes disappear, retirement funds vanish, and health insurance a distant memory.

Last fall, both major political parties together pushed through the $700 billion bailout of the Wall Street crooks, making the rest of us pay for their crimes.

The Treasury Department has refused to say what happened to the first $350 billion. Recent news articles indicate these same banks may come back for one trillion more.

While we the people are suffering, $18 billion in bonuses were recently paid to top managers of banks and investment firms for their “performance” in 2008.

Merrill Lynch alone lost close to $30 billion yet still gave $4 billion in bonuses for a “job well done” just before it was merged into bailed-out Bank of America. What a slap in the face to us. Congress has nationalized the bank debt on our backs.

Private banks and investment firms have proven they are a cancer afflicting our society. They should become publicly owned and run on a break-even basis for the good of the people.

Sandra Koritz
Greensboro

I used to read the editorial page until my eyes bled so much from liberal opinions. I have something novel for both liberals and conservatives to figure out.

After watching “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Anderson Cooper 360.” how can Americans get some realistic numbers on the approval ratings of this stimulus/bailout boondoggle?

One show gives the polar opposite numbers of the other. From elections past, I know that even MIT grads can’t do something as simple as count ballots honestly.

How about everyone getting off their moral high horses and demand honesty and straight talk from Congress?

How about not being able to serve there unless your taxes are paid, including penalties?
I asked Richard Burr to introduce that exact legislation. Let’s see what happens.

Jim Watson
Eden

A noteworthy fact surrounding the Peanut Corporation of America’s criminal and lethal tainted food scandal is that the workers themselves were too intimidated to blow the whistle on their bosses for gross safety violations.

Had these workers belonged to a union, they would have been in a strong position to protect their own safety and that of the public. Without union protection, fear reigned.

Fear tactics and intimidation are used by almost all companies to suppress their work forces into steering away from unions. Companies routinely harass union activists, threaten to close down plants or make promises to keep the union out. Such actions are illegal, but there is no penalty for violations.

In this corporate climate of intimidation, there are no free and fair elections when it comes to union votes. The Employee Free Choice Act legislation, if passed, will help level the playing field for workers who want to join unions and increase penalties for unlawful corporate activities.

We should support and encourage a fair process for gaining unions, for the well-being and safety of both the workers and the entire public.

From the food supply to general product safety, your health and life could depend on it.

Melissa Dimondstein
Greensboro

During the darkest days of World War II, when England was standing alone against all of Hitler’s might, Winston Churchill said to his people, “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.’ ”

During the darkest days of the Great Depression with thousands of bank failures and 24 percent unemployment, Franklin Roosevelt said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

During our current economic problems, President Obama said that if his stimulus proposal is not passed “it will turn crisis into a catastrophe.”

Really pathetic.

Bill Stevens
Greensboro

This morning (Feb. 17) on the way to school, my children, along with our carpool children, witnessed a horrific sight: an occupied baby car carrier on the trunk of a moving car.

Frantically, I began to honk my horn and scream at the man to get his attention. After a few seconds, he finally rolled down his window. He stopped and I continued on my way trying to explain to the young children (ages 4 to 11 years) what had just transpired.

I was clearly shaken and was approached at the next stop light by a man who also was very upset. I prayed that the driver would have the sense to take his baby to the hospital; it was 25 degrees.

Later, I learned that this was nothing but a sick joke by a local radio station trying to prove a point.

Explain your point to my children. Explain to my 4-year-old why you felt the need for such an act that made her cry, worrying that the baby was in danger.

Why doesn’t this radio station use its weight with our local community and do something right by motivating listeners to pay it forward?

Alison Ahmuty
Jamestown

The only correct statement in Channen Farrington’s uncharitable tirade against fellow North Carolinians (letter, Feb. 16) is, “Most people from other countries would not hesitate ... to enter the 'promised land’ of America.” How true!

Most of the world’s population would choose America, given the chance. Which is why America has the same right as every other nation to implement an immigration policy that will benefit and protect its own interests and citizens — only more so.

The Indian surgeon, the Swedish engineer, the Japanese musician, they all bring something to the table — which is why they are legally admitted.

If Mr. Farrington decided to leave his “hateful” America for a foreign utopia, would he sneak into his chosen country, refuse to learn its language, sneer at its customs, have contempt for its laws and conspicuously proclaim his allegiance to the land of his birth? If so, what welcome would he expect? What welcome would he deserve?

One more thing. I’m an immigrant — a law-abiding, taxpaying, business-owning legal immigrant. All I’ve ever experienced from the people of North Carolina is kindness, friendliness, graciousness and generosity.

Christopher Rees
Oak Ridge

Regarding the recent proposal to lengthen their terms: N.C. legislators should first follow the lead of Iowa and set up a nonpartisan redistricting process, as its legislature did in 1980.

According to centrists.org, “the policy think tank for centrists”: “The nonpartisan Legislative Services Bureau starts the process. The Bureau must develop up to three plans that can be accepted or rejected by the legislature.”

The four criteria for the bureau’s plans, in priority order: 1) population equality; 2) contiguity; 3) unity of counties and cities (maintaining county lines and nesting house districts within senate districts and senate districts within congressional districts); and 4) compactness.

If the legislature does not approve any of those three plans, it must itself approve a plan by Sept. 1, or the state Supreme Court will determine the districts. In Iowa, the governor also has veto power over the plans.

This process practically eliminates legislators drawing district boundaries to make existing seats “safe” for the incumbents and for the majority party to gain the advantage.

It would be so refreshing to replace the North Carolina process with one similar to that described here.

Paul Larson
Greensboro

Insanity, as described by Marion Griffin (letter, “Stimulus plan has been tried and failed before,” Feb. 14) is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different outcome. That is correct.

Unfortunately, that is the only accurate statement in the letter. Let’s take a look. Republicans have held Congress for 14 of the last 16 years and the presidency for the last eight. Now Griffin would have us believe that President Obama and his team are going to “repeat almost the same” as did Japan, Roosevelt and the last (Republican) Congress.

In that statement alone he acknowledges that the stimulus is not exactly the same, therefore does not meet his own description of insanity. What Griffin apparently prefers is that we continue to try the same old policies that put us in this position to begin with. Hmmm, same old policy, expect a different result? Now isn’t that insane?

Brian Haidinger
Jamestown

Thank you, Greensboro. Over the holidays, you confirmed your generosity with outstanding support of The Salvation Army’s Christmas programs:

• Red Kettle donations exceeded $253,000, a record amount.

• Give-A-Kid-A-Coat distributed 5,383 coats compared with 4,001 in 2007.

• The Army’s combined programs provided 9,198 individuals with assistance, a 28 percent increase.

It couldn’t be done without hundreds of dedicated and energized community volunteers and groups and, of course, generous financial support.

Many people rang bells to fill red kettles, while many others shopped for children in the Adopt an Angel program or extended their hearts in so many other ways.

Unfortunately, the current economy magnifies the need for the Army’s services all year: The Center of Hope Shelter for Success and successful, after-school enrichment and summer programs at the Boys & Girls Clubs. In winter, The Salvation Army provides rent and utility assistance and an overnight shelter for the homeless.

Throughout 2009, please keep The Salvation Army and other service organizations in mind with your continued support.

Together we will make a difference, and that benefits us all.

Gayle Koonce
Greensboro

Of all the social injustices today, the one that I think is most prevalent involves our young, black male youth. According to a survey I’ve done on police brutality among different ethnicities (African American, Latino and Caucasian), I found that Hispanic and African American males had the most negative encounters with police. I believe these males are unjustly profiled because of the stereotypes society has imposed on them.

To correct this problem, police officers need to be screened more closely, and police forces should be more culturally diverse. Police academy training programs should include diversity training, including role reversals so police officers can see how it feels to be on the receiving end of racial profiling.

Maybe then all males will be treated fairly.

Patrina Harrison
Greensboro

Bill Yaner’s Jan. 21 letter about the Rush Limbaugh/Leonard Pitts issue misses a key point: Limbaugh espouses conservatism versus liberalism/socialism. There’s no “double standard.”

Given Obama’s training, associations, articulations, promises and maneuvers to date, wishing his success is tantamount to condemning our republic to ultimate failure.

When we excoriate Limbaugh, we react to the messenger without listening to the message: Liberalism is bad for this country, and socialism even worse. There’s plenty of evidence the housing crisis was spawned by political agendas and pressures to provide affordable mortgages for people who couldn’t afford them.

Note that more oversight isn’t stopping politicians from socializing us into more financial trouble.

Socialism isn’t just a “tired catch phrase,” as Yaner writes. It’s a political/economic philosophy that, whenever insinuated into political structures, ultimately creates repressive, long-lasting dictatorships and sometimes costs millions of lives. It doesn’t work, and never will. When we blind ourselves to that in the name of “getting this right,” we invite the kind of deeply entrenched disaster Limbaugh predicts.

Any doubts about the words “deeply entrenched”? Google the recent Associated Press story on Huang Qi and how China’s communist dictatorship deals with dissenting opinion.

Jim Mooney
Jamestown

As a co-worker of Juan Salado, I want to express my sincere thanks to the Greensboro police, the N.C. A&T police and the citizens who were responsible for the capture of Juan’s alleged killer. While we don’t always realize it, there is a lot of work and effort that goes on quietly to effect an arrest.

Again, a heartfelt and sincere thank-you to all involved.

Joseph Malcolm
Charlotte

What do we make of the contradiction between your headline (“Stimulus a buoy, not a lifesaver”) and what President Obama says (“If we don’t pass this now we may never recover from this recession”)? Because one of the two is wrong.

Gerald Hutchinson
Greensboro

When I read Short Stack (Feb. 16), I realized that once again the suggestion has been made that the arts are somehow less important than math, computer science, etc.

In order to have a well-rounded education, students must be exposed to a wide range of disciplines. To require one credit in either theater, music, visual arts or dance seems to be a reasonable expectation, which perhaps could lead to a strong interest in, or at least a deeper appreciation for, one of the above-mentioned subjects.

You wrote that math is creative, but that is hardly the same thing, is it? My hope is that the bill that Alma Adams and the other representatives have filed mandating this high school credit will pass.

Nancy L. Poulos
Greensboro

For the third time in a five-year period, I have been rear-ended in broad daylight while sitting perfectly still at a red light. Each time, the driver of the vehicle that hit me was on a cell phone.
Now my insurance agent tells me that my auto insurance may go up due to “a pattern of involvement,” even though in every single incidence I was not at fault!

Legislation to prohibit cell phone text-messaging and e-mailing while driving should also include talking on a cell phone whenever a vehicle is in motion. Come on, people, hang up and pay attention!

Teddi Byrd
Whitsett

Our community has lost a good friend and educator with the death of Neal Hatcher, former athletics director at Grimsley High School.

Neal was a champion for all student-athletes in every sport in every season. He knew that true success in high school athletics isn’t measured by wins and losses but instead by the manner in which you compete. He taught good sportsmanship daily.

Too often we wait too long to express our gratitude, and now we can only share our thanks and admiration with Neal’s family. But his legacy will be reflected in the lives of the thousands of young men and women he helped learn some of life’s lessons through sports.

Howard Neumann
Greensboro

I took my grandchildren to the circus on Feb. 14. My youngest grandchild is 4, and we were greeted in the parking lot by gun/knife collectors, men carrying guns and swords.

Little did I know, Greensboro Coliseum had scheduled the Gun Expo on the same day as the circus. It was not a family friendly atmosphere. I was not impressed by the combination of events that day. They made a poor decision by having these events scheduled at the same time.

There were more people attending the Gun Expo than the circus. What does this say about our family values?

Frances Wilcox
Ronda

I and several of my friends wrote e-mails to our new senator with concerns about the stimulus bill. None of us received any response. Is this what we can expect from our senator who complained about Sen. Dole not communicating with her constituents?

Steve McCurdy
Greensboro

Fred Gregory of Greensboro submits this video letter. The written text follows below.

Good morning, viewers. My name is Fred Gregory and I reside in Greensboro.

I am going to briefly discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus bill. I obviously won't have time to cover all 788 pages.

Economics was once described by Carlyle as the " Dismal Science ". It is, as he implied, a poor presage of how our business engine will perform or how massive government pump priming will impact it.

The so-called stimulus package is a bad bill, even according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office . It looks like a Christmas list for traditional Democratic special interest groups . Nearly $800 billion is to be thrown at pet projects of lawmakers, all based on the myth that this madcap spending, will bring us recovery. At best, 10 percent of it is stimulative.

The bill is also loaded with expansion of entitlement programs and new income redistribution schemes, from medicine to education, pushing us closer to a European socialist state.

Back in 2004, two UCLA economists concluded that the Great Depression dragged on for seven years because of FDR's "New Deal" policies.

H.L. Mencken once famously said that the

"New Deal had been the most stupendous digenetic enterprise ever undertaken by man.... We not only acquired a vast population of morons, we have inculcated all morons, old or young, with the doctrine that the decent and industrious people of the country are bound to support them for all time. The effects of that doctrine are bound to be disastrous soon or late."

Now please listen to these truths :

Economic growth is driven by individuals and entrepreneurs operating in the free market and not by Washington spending.

And one thing is for certain: You can not multiply wealth by dividing it.

Lesson over. You have been warned. Thank you for your attention.

Obesity creeps up on our body like a silent skillful predator. More Americans are finding themselves prey to this unmerciful beast. With the convenience of fast-food restaurants, obesity has drastically increased. According to IHRSA/ASD Obesity/Weight Control Report, 3.8 million people weight more than 300 pounds, more than 400,000 people (mostly males) carry 400 pounds or more, and the average adult female weighs an unprecedented 163 pounds.
Obesity not only comes from unhealthy eating but also lack of exercise. Guilford County Schools has recognized these disturbing statistics and has introduced a healthy lunch initiative with the motto “to provide an attractive and well-balanced meal for our students every day.”

Fitness centers are also popping up. Americans recognize the effects of poor diet and the lack of exercise and are trying to do something about it. I hope the commitment lasts longer than failed New Year’s resolutions.

Christina Feagins
Greensboro

There is a special provision, passed in the N.C. legislature, regarding out-of-state students paying in-state tuition. As a native of New York City, I had to struggle, paying out-of-state tuition during the first couple of years at N.C. A&T. I decided to withdraw from school and work for a year to gain legal residency in the state (I graduated in 1979).

This provision, which was adopted, allows the schools in the UNC system to reduce tuition for out-of-state students and grant them in-state tuition status. Democracy North Carolina reports that the lost revenue will amount to $10.5 million for FY 2007-08. Because we help fund the UNC system through taxes, we must now find the money to make up that $10.5 million.
When the state is looking to find the funds for our public schools for students whose parents pay taxes, how can we afford to carry the burden for people who are from other states?

I want to applaud Rep. Pricey Harrison, co-sponsor of House Bill 205, to repeal the out-of-state tuition exemption. We want all students to get an education, but there is only so much money to go around.

Ralph Johnson
Greensboro

In response to Ron Loftis’ letter (Feb. 13):

So, according to you, killing a baby by collapsing the skull one day after birth is murder, but killing a fetus by collapsing the skull (as in partial-birth abortion) one day before birth is not.

Please explain the essential difference. Or, maybe you wish to argue that other, less-gruesome methods of killing the fetus create an essential difference.

Agustin Diodati
Greensboro

There they were, Reps. Coble and Foxx, discussing how “bad” the stimulus package is, adding to the chorus of Republican lawmakers who voted no. This was Saturday morning, Valentine’s Day, on one of our local TV newscasts, and then Virginia Foxx was talking about how this will burden future children and grandchildren with debt. Does either of them remember the huge surplus left by the Clinton administration, then squandered by Bush and company the last eight years?

The next segment on the newscast was about a job offering in Spokane, Wash., for a gas meter-reading position. Sixteen hundred applied for this one job. Unemployment in North Carolina is among the worst in the United States at nearly 10 percent. Many people need help now, they are hurting now, relatives and neighbors. Even the wealthy are hurting.

That same morning, I viewed not one or two but 26 Ferraris for sale in the N&R (you can look it up). I thought I was in Hollywood, not Greensboro. I guess some of us live beyond our excesses.

Greg Murray
Burlington

“Obama admits one goof; how about the other?” by Robert Hudson (letter, Feb. 14) is a mouthful that I happen to agree with. Leonard Pitts’ article (Jan. 14) was so distasteful and disrespectful of our previous president. Obama did admit a mistake with Tom Daschle, but as I recollect, Bush admitted to mistakes he had made in his administration also. Forgetting to pay your taxes is ignorance of the law and no excuse. If a taxpaying citizen forgot to pay his taxes, consequences for him would be a hefty penalty plus interest, no questions or excuses asked.

The fact of the matter is we will continue to have increased taxes no matter who is president, and there will always be the Tim Geithners and Tom Daschles who can plead the “forgotten syndrome.” Oh, by the way, I am certain there will be more mistakes in the Obama administration because, after all, he isn’t God.

Kate Sigmon
Greensboro

Cartoon: “a drawing symbolizing, satirizing or caricaturing some action, subject, or person.”

Concerning the recent cartoon of police shooting the chimp:

It is good to see chickens coming home to roost. During the recent presidential campaign, many cartoons of President Bush, Sarah Palin and John McCain were mean, insulting and cruel, and without purpose except to demean that person. No one complained. Now that someone has dared print a cartoon that could be seen as unfavorable to the new president, a howl is going up.

Remember the cartoon about the Prophet Muhammad? Now the liberals are seeing their prophet being attacked, or at least they are interpreting it in such a way. Perhaps there is justice after all.

John Taylor
Greensboro

Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes’ decision not to provide crisis intervention training for his officers is appalling but not surprising. Barnes has an unapologetic history of ignoring, denying and/or insulting people living with mental illness. His disrespect of this population, their families and those who assist them is inexcusable, and his comment in Lorraine Ahearn’s column (Feb. 8) comparing the mentally ill to those who “don’t feel well” is typical of his ongoing record of aggressive ignorance in this area. The training Ahearn writes about in her article is free. To deny Guilford sheriff’s officers this opportunity because Barnes insists on clinging to his archaic beliefs about mental illness endangers his officers as well as the public at large.

Anyone experienced with the mentally ill knows that small yet specific changes in handling any crisis situation can make a significant difference in the outcome; in a law enforcement situation, that difference may literally be life or death. How Barnes remains able to justify his position that intervention training — “by all accounts, a win-win endeavor’’ — is not needed is incomprehensible to me.

Shanon Armfield
High Point

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has departed the city, but I believe local citizens may continue to hear “circus music” for several more months as Mike Barber, Mary Rakestraw and Trudy Wade, three “nattering nabobs of negativism,” campaign and talk themselves out of re-election to the City Council.

Yes They Can! Seriously.

Bill Burnett
Greensboro

Regarding the cockfighting arrest article (“73 named in cockfighting raid,” Feb. 3): What constitutes animal cruelty?

Tying a bucking strap around the flanks of a bull, making it stressed and angry, constitutes an act of animal cruelty. Spectators pay to see this?

Bull fights. It is not hard to stick swords in an animal until it is slowly tortured to death. Yet spectators cheer this skill of the matador. Kudos to the Guinness Book of World Records, which will not accept the records based on the killing of animals. This is in regard to the 11-year-old matador who wanted his record of killing six calves entered.

Poultry farms. The Humane Slaughter Act does little to protect all birds. These animals are tortured every day with crowded and disgusting sheds. They are drugged to grow so obese that, at six weeks, they can’t walk or reach water. To prevent them from pecking each other their beaks are cut off. Many die a painful death.

How is this justified? If any animals are to be eaten, they are entitled to a pain-free death. How can we just arrest those involved in cockfights when everywhere you turn there is animal injustice?

Jean Ann Trull
Greensboro

Superintendent Mo Green’s plan to divide the school district into five regional districts with each district headed by an assistant superintendent sounds nice but is unnecessary. Most taxpayers don’t realize the cost that eventually will be involved for five assistant superintendents, their salaries, retirement, offices, staffs, etc.

This is not really needed and is asking too much from Guilford County taxpayers.

William Blyshak
Greensboro

I was amazed at the revisionist history and lack of economic understanding exhibited in Marion Griffin’s letter about the stimulus plan (Feb. 14).

According to Griffin, President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was a failure. When FDR took office in 1933, the unemployment rate was 25 percent. In each year of the remainder of the decade, except 1937, the unemployment rate decreased and GNP increased.

In 1937, FDR made the mistake of listening to Republicans in Congress and cut the spending stimulus, leading to an increase in unemployment and lower GDP.

Griffin wants to lower taxes for those “who produce jobs,” ignoring that eight years of lower taxes have gotten us to this economy. Let’s assume the tax rate became zero. We would then experience a booming economy under the Griffin scenario.

Yet economists understand that, without demand, no economy can prosper. Lowering taxes is great for those who have money already. But if you have no job or earnings, lower taxes mean nothing. And if you don’t believe that, try spending a zero tax rate at the grocery store.

L.F. Rappaport
Greensboro

President Obama made a huge mistake when trying to get his stimulus through Congress with bipartisan support.

Unfortunately, he told the Republicans that the increased spending was going to be targeted toward the American people. He should have told them that the extra money was needed for the rebuilding of schools and the infrastructure for Iraq and then tried to secretly funnel some of this money to us.

Even with Bush’s gigantic tax cuts for the rich, you saw no outcry from the Republicans when the $500 billion to $600 billion in spending for Iraq was voted on.

If that does not work, he could accuse us of all being terrorists and declare martial law. Either way, the Republicans are bound to go for it.

Bill Garrot
Greensboro

Thanks to the editors for taking a positive stand on the issue of House Bill 88, Comprehensive Sexuality Education.

This is much needed when our children are bombarded with sexual messages daily on the computer, texting, through music and on television.

For once, let’s get our heads out of the sand and realize that kids already know more than many adults. Unfortunately, they do not know how to put this information into real-life context.

Linda DeShazo
Greensboro

The writer works with Guilford Coalition for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.

I am a registered Democrat but never voted a straight ticket.

Can Republicans tell me what they have done for our country that would make me want to ever vote for another one?

Katheryn Mims
High Point

This is in regard to the management of the police department, including the hiring and supervision of the police chief, and whether those duties remain under the jurisdiction of the city manager, are moved to the purview of the City Council, or merged with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.

As a Greensboro resident, I respectfully submit that the council doesn’t have the time or expertise to oversee the police chief or the department’s day-to-day workings.

To suggest merging the police and sheriff’s departments is no less than a back-door maneuver meant to dismantle the city manager’s duties and responsibilities.

To those on the council who say a minimal number of negative news items concerning a minority of police department employees constitutes the need to invoke such a major change in the city’s management structure, I suggest that this concept is a demonstration of shortsightedness and a lack of wisdom.

I call for restraint by the council where personal power and political agendas are concerned. I urge that council members treat each other, city staff and business items with dignity, respect and civility.

Nancy Cavanaugh
Greensboro

Congratulations to all who voted for change in November. You’re getting it in the form of a tax bill your great-grandchildren will be paying.

Estimates put the stimulus cost at $10,000 per person or more than $180,000 for every job created. But everyone doesn’t pay taxes equally. For those who pay little or no taxes, you win. For those who actually pay taxes, the more you make, the more stimulated you get.

I’d much prefer they just give me a fraction of that money and let me decide how to spend it. I forgot, government always knows best how to spend my money.

For those of you who failed Econ 101, government only exists by collecting your taxes and fees or borrowing billions of dollars someone has to repay.

Cheer up, all is not lost. If you have a job and qualify, you’ll be getting a whopping $13 per week less taken out of your check starting in June. Don’t spend it all in one place.

Jim Wiggins
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Mary Cridlebaugh

It was a sad day for the News & Record when your editorial, “Power to the cities” (Feb. 17) in effect denounced democratic elections that would allow citizens facing involuntary annexation to vote on their form of local government. Should they keep their traditional county government or change to the municipality?

Instead of calling it an election or a referendum, you called it a veto that “... would unduly hinder cities from necessary expansion.” What mistaken thinking.

A city may become great without practicing the Triad’s urban sprawl. It should constantly improve and renew itself within its boundaries. There is nothing necessary about physical expansion.

For residents involved, a referendum is important. It is a right ensured by the Constitution. People should have the right to vote on their local form of government with the majority deciding. The county form of government should be protected unless they vote to join a municipality.

You, a beneficiary of one of the greatest democracies, have come out against the one thing necessary for democracy: a fair vote.

Evidently you agree to referenda about liquor by the drink, bond proposals and other decisions subservient to the need for agreement about local government under which residents will live.

You think that voters in annexation areas always will vote against joining the city. But you cannot know that without holding an election.

On High Point’s Hedgecock Road, either side might have won an annexation referendum. Intense urbanization began when the administrator of a 109-acre cattle ranch requested voluntary annexation before selling to a purchaser who would build a massive housing development. Other property owners, dismayed by the swift urbanization and hostility from new neighbors, and tempted by bedazzling offers from housing developers, decided to sell.

If there had been a formal referendum, they would have voted for annexation. They did “vote” for voluntarily requesting annexation.

Voters will decide in an annexation referendum based on their best interest, and nobody can know the outcome until the votes are counted.

Can we have fair elections on annexation? Yes. Should we have a referendum on involuntary annexation? Yes, it’s the American way.

The writer lives in High Point.

The report about upcoming pottery events in Greensboro and Seagrove (“Potters skirmish,” Feb. 19) tells just part of the story. I, along with many of my fellow potters in the Seagrove area, am supportive of efforts to market Seagrove pottery to new audiences.

The two pottery festivals organized in Seagrove last November were each highly successful in attracting attendees, in part because the two events occurred on the same weekend and people could attend both.

The upcoming festival in Greensboro and the kiln openings in and around Seagrove can work the same way.

In fact, I am hopeful that press releases advertising the kiln openings will promote the event in Greensboro, with the hope of attracting record numbers of pottery lovers to our greater region.

Far from warring with one another, as your article states, most potters in the region are supporting all well-intended efforts to promote Seagrove pottery to the world.

Ben Owen III
Seagrove

The writer is a potter and chairman, the Celebration of Seagrove Potters Festival.

The controversial New York Post chimpanzee cartoon is touted as “racist” by some, despite the fact that the target of the satire is the badly written stimulus plan, not the president.

Popular Super Bowl ads feature a beleaguered office employee surrounded by inept co-workers portrayed by chimpanzees. The company that sponsored those ads was not pilloried for being “racist.”

Moreover, I do not recall any cries of outrage against the innumerable political cartoons that depicted George W. Bush as a monkey. Surely Al Sharpton can find something better to do with his time.

Christine C. Garton
Greensboro

The “science” of global change once had two sides. Though the dissidents are now snuffed out, our position is still valid. True, global temperature is increasing slightly. Yet, if all the polar ice melted, oceans would rise 4 inches (Arctic ice is floating; check the level of your drink as the ice melts). Further, CO2 began increasing decades after the temperature trend was observed, so our emissions aren’t directly causing the “problem.”

Questions to consider? Are small increases in CO2 and/or temperature detrimental to anything? Even an unfathomable two-to-three-times increase in CO2 would be harmless to man and would greatly enhance plant growth. Might temperature changes be cyclical? We’ve had numerous warming and cooling cycles over the millennia. Time magazine warned of a new ice age in the 1970s.

Is man the main source of CO2? Man accounts for less than 5 percent of CO2 from all sources. Finally, will the hundreds of billions of dollars proposed to “fix” global warming make any predictable improvement?

Energy self-sufficiency is a great goal, but chasing global warming, as currently proposed, would be an error with 10-plus zeros after it.

Let’s open up the science and determine the real problem. I suspect power and greed.

Dan Nelson
Summerfield

Having been a foster parent for 50 years, I’m compelled to respond to the letter from Shuantia Barber (“Foster parents lack support and training,” Feb. 18).

All foster parents must have 30 hours of training before becoming licensed and are required to have 10 hours of ongoing training each year thereafter. Our association is pleased to be among those able to offer training classes to foster parents. So does the Department of Social Services.

These parents care for children, many of whom have unbelievable problems, mostly through no fault of their own. Yet these special parents take them into their own homes, love them and try to provide the help and care they need.

This has never been an easy job, but it is one of the most rewarding. It’s especially rewarding to look back over your life and remember the children whose lives were forever changed for the better because of the things you did for them.

Yes, this is easily the most rewarding life of all. I just wish more people had the hearts to do it, too.

Gaynelle Smith
Greensboro

The writer is president, Foster Children & Parents Network.

In response to Harvey Herman’s letter (Feb. 13) regarding Republicans giving tax cuts: It is our hard-earned money! When we get a tax refund, rebate or reduced taxes, the government is not “giving” us anything. It was our money to start with.

Republicans believe that ever-increasing tax-and-spend policies and programs are not a wise use of tax dollars. The reason both sides are polar opposites is that loyalty to party is more important than what is best for America.

If both parties truly wanted to do what was best for America and get the economy jump-started, there is no better way than joining forces and passing the Fair Tax.

This would eliminate corporate income taxes (corporations don’t really pay taxes now as the taxes are embedded in the price that you and I pay for their products), individual income taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, etc. People would no longer be punished for working hard and being successful, and all those jobs lost to NAFTA, etc., would come back to America and put people to work.

For more on the Fair Tax plan, I recommend you read “The Fair Tax Book” by Neal Boortz and Georgia Congressman John Linder.

Steve Sumner
Summerfield

The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans give huge tax breaks to large corporations; Democrats give them the money straight out.

Dan Flak
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Pete L. Little

I was dismayed at the remarks made by jury forewoman Lisa Jones as reported in the News & Record on Feb. 20.

She said, “It was not cut-and-dry for us. There was a time I was afraid we would not be able to reach a unanimous verdict.”

Jones said she felt pulled emotionally between the tearful testimony of frightened bank employees and the sight of the convicted bank robber Christopher Collins’ 2-year-old daughter in the courtroom — because a guilty verdict would leave her fatherless.

Collins was charged with 10 counts each of robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. He was also charged with attempting to discharge a firearm into an occupied vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon.

He was found guilty of these charges by the jury. Ergo, he was guilty. The judge subsequently handed down a 100-year sentence, and indicated by his comments that he agreed with the verdict. Since when does the impact on the defendant’s family determine whether he is guilty?

It is tragic that a 2-year-old girl will wind up with her father in jail. But if a jury’s decisions are made on the basis of the impact on a defendant’s family members, and not on the basis of the facts in the case, our justice system will crumble.

Should Collins have been declared not guilty because of his daughter, in spite of the facts that resulted in his conviction? I wonder if forewoman Jones was properly instructed on the role of the jury: to determine the verdict based on the facts.

I hope this is not typical of instructions to juries in Guilford County.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Recently, a Wachovia Bank was robbed by two men with previous criminal records. They were pursued, cornered and captured. One was killed, one wounded. In the process, they shot a police officer.

If you followed the account of this incident, you are aware that the young officers who bravely stepped into the line of fire are now on administrative duty while the SBI and District Attorney Doug Henderson consider their actions.

We train young men and women to follow the law and protect citizens, but then when they do, they’re required to wait months before being cleared of wrongdoing.

Why is it that the longest wait seems to come once the paperwork hits Henderson’s desk? I hope that he will expedite this matter and get the officers back to assigned posts where they’re needed and appreciated. Maybe it won’t take five months like the last incident.

B.L. Woltz
Greensboro

In the editorial “UNC system shouldn’t place heavier burdens on students” (Feb. 10), the author states that the UNC Board of Governors proposes to increase tuition by 3.8 percent. It is stated that a fair tuition increase would be no increase at all. I agree with this statement completely.

As a sophomore in high school, I am beginning to look at different colleges, my No. 1 choice being UNC. Given the current economy, it is understandable that colleges might use increasing costs as a solution for problems, but students are suffering as well.

Today, it is a struggle for youth to even find a well-paying job to pay for college. People want to hire the experienced, and college is what provides that experience.

Now clearly isn’t the time to place the burden of increased costs on students. Every college student and college-bound student is part of the nation’s future.

It is incredibly important for youth to be provided with the opportunity of an affordable college education in order to better ourselves for what is yet to come.

Madeline Lombardo
Greensboro

The writer is a student at Grimsley High School.

As advocates, parents, educators and social workers, we must be aware of the terminology we use when describing our children.

A casual conversation between two teachers about an “at-risk” teen can unconsciously cause development of a negative preconceived notion.

It’s hard to have patience with someone when you have already labeled them as a troublemaker. Words expressed verbally or in writing travel, and the wrong usage can easily distort the outlook on an individual to anyone who reads or hears them. We must keep in mind there are usually valid reasons behind certain behaviors. Believe it or not, children listen to what you call them and, depending on their mind-set, it can hinder or motivate them.
Labeling children “at risk” bothers me. Everybody is at-risk and susceptible to things, but we aren’t all labeled “at-risk.” Pay close attention to what you are labeling children.

Betsy Corbett
High Point

Thanks for Jeri Rowe’s great article on “Their Life Stories.” I worked with Sandra Redding for a short time, and my folks really enjoyed her presentation at their retirement home.

My mother-in-law is 90. She survived a major stroke, breast cancer, colon cancer, a colostomy and more. They haven’t slowed her down one bit. One of the most significant things that kept her going was a writing class where she composed stories from her diverse life. Her speech is limited but not her pen.

Because it’s so easy to self-publish, her daughter and son-in-law put her stories into a beautiful book (the cover designed by her grandson), and she gave it out to family and friends.

We just came from a reunion with 47 family members where she passed out the last of her books to her great-grandchildren. She may need a second printing. What a wonderful legacy.

Thank you for what you do, Sandra.

Don Byers
Greensboro

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought if I purchased some land, a building, etc., I could do whatever I wanted with my property as long as I abide by the city codes.

In the case of J. C. Price School, which belongs to Greensboro College, Dr. Craven Williams, college president, has reached out to the residents of Warnersville to include them in their plans even though he didn’t have to.

Otis Hairston, a spokesperson for Warnersville, accused Williams of being morally wrong. If that were true, I doubt if he had wanted their input.

He has decided to forgo a plan for a football stadium and replace it with other sports programs — a J.C. Price museum and scholarships to students who qualify.

All of this is in the name of trying to promote good community relations. I would love to see J. C. Price restored to the proud and great prominence it once enjoyed. This is an attainable goal. Let’s not make this a black and white issue. Doing what’s right is colorless.

Shirley J. Wright
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Billie M. Pierce

Medicaid and private insurers limit the length of time mental health consumers can remain in state psychiatric hospitals.

There’s sound rationale behind shorter hospital stays: Better results are achieved when consumers remain in familiar environments, participate in their treatment plans, and receive care in their communities.

Federal and state policies related to mental health focus on helping consumers recover by providing tools and supports vital to managing symptoms and living productively. Person-centered planning with community-based treatment is favored over long-term seclusion in restrictive environments.

As one of 24 Local Management Entities (LMEs) designated by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services to oversee public mental health care, The Guilford Center’s performance is closely monitored by the state.

In its recent quarterly report, DHHS ranked the agency first for meeting 90 percent of standards. The Guilford Center excelled in access to care, timely initiation into services, effective use of state hospitals, and timely follow-up after inpatient care. Forty-three percent of the center’s consumers were seen within seven days of discharge from state hospitals.
Although the rate is 19 percent higher than the average for LMEs, the center works to assure all consumers receive prompt follow-up assessment and care as well as linking them to community resources.

The Guilford Center has the lowest rate (63 per 10,000 population) of all LMEs for community hospital emergency department admissions. Our hospital and jail liaisons work closely with consumers and families to develop plans for illness managing after discharge.

The center provides medication-management clinics in Greensboro and High Point. Consumers are seen for new evaluations within one to two weeks upon approval for services with follow-up within two to four weeks. Last year, we served more than 8,000 consumers.

As director of The Guilford Center, I want the public to know our agency is working diligently with local and state officials, governing bodies, community health care organizations and advocacy groups to ensure Guilford County’s mental health consumers receive appropriate care. We are making tremendous progress and will remain persistent.

The writer is director, The Guilford Center.

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Paula Snipes, RN

Regarding recent reports about local police and mental health issues:

The Guilford Center appreciates the efforts of local law enforcement in the safe, compassionate handling of distressed consumers. We have long-standing relationships with the Greensboro Police Department and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office. Our Crisis/Emergency Team has collaborated with these agencies to develop improved processes for oversight and transportation of clients to and from our facility.

Formerly, Greensboro police officers and county deputies remained with their charges at our Crisis/Emergency Unit for extended periods, taking them away from their regular policing duties and causing a hardship for their units. Our organizations solved this problem by contracting with a private security company to take charge of involuntary consumers awaiting transport to state hospitals.

Officers from both agencies have proactively sought information and guidance from us in managing clients in crisis. They have demonstrated patience and professionalism in disruptive situations, calmly maintaining control while ensuring the safety of all.

The Center has been pleased with the responsiveness of Chief Tim Bellamy and Sheriff BJ Barnes on rare occasions when staff or a client has taken issue with an officer. In fact, the Greensboro police have assigned an officer to serve as a liaison to our agency.

The Guilford Center wishes to publicly acknowledge these law enforcement agencies for the good work that they are doing for mental health consumers.

The writer is director of nursing for The Guilford Center, the county’s mental health department.

I would like to respond to Earl Jones’ comment in the recent article about potential smoke-free workplace legislation (“No more puffs? Legislature tries again,” Jan. 30). Mr. Jones says, “It’s all about economics.”

I have to disagree. Although there is ample evidence that workplace smoking bans do not hurt business in bars and restaurants, it is really about something so much more important than economics.

I am a children’s health nurse. Other people’s smoke can trigger asthma attacks and cause ear infections, bronchitis and pneumonia in babies and children. Secondhand smoke is also linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In adults, secondhand smoke can cause cancer and asthma attacks, and can trigger heart attacks and strokes in those who are already at risk for cardiovascular disease.

According to the surgeon general, there is a no risk-free level of secondhand smoke. This is about the health of North Carolinians.

Clean air is the most basic of rights, and smoke does not obey boundaries.

Jill Balance
Greensboro

Aid to the economy: Democrats 1, Republicans 0. The Republicans still don’t get it. They say they’re against the stimulus bill because it’s all about spending. What’s it supposed to be about but spending in order to stimulate the economy?

When they should be approving aggressive government spending and cutting taxes only somewhat, they want to cut taxes more and lower spending!

They complained they couldn’t read 1,100 pages in 12 hours. It’s the same bill they’ve been reviewing for weeks. Looks good, though, fellows, holding up those 1,100 pages for the camera, saying you didn’t have time to read them.

All this nonsense from the guys who deregulated the banking industry, which has helped bring the economy to its knees; who ran up the greatest annual deficits and total debt in our history by cutting taxes while increasing spending; and who now cry foul on running deficits when that is exactly what all economists know we must do to get out of this mess these fools put us in. Republicans are playing politics and banking on the failure of this measure.

Gary Parker
Archdale

Several observations upon returning from out of town:

The “Counterpoint” by our new city communications expert Denise Turner on the North Carolina Marathon leaving Greensboro for High Point (“Fiscal realities affected marathon decision,” Jan. 22) was verbose and rambling, especially when compared to several of the concise, thoughtful letters by 9- and 10-year-olds writing about President Obama’s election. I’m not sure we are getting our $100,000-plus worth. A source of money for the marathon seems obvious.

Meltonia Loretta Young’s “Counterpoint” (“A time to stop dreaming, start striving,” Jan. 24) enthusiastically anticipates that Obama’s election will result in capitalism being “interwoven with socialism.” That is one of my biggest fears. Where has it worked better than what we got?

For most of the eight years of the Bush administration, Gay Cheney (letter, Jan. 24) spewed vitriol and dissension. Now that her choice has been elected with a 54 percent majority, she proclaims the “whole family of this wonderful country can come alive with pride again.” What hypocrisy!

The firing of the Texas school basketball coach whose team won 100-0 was not justified. The game probably should not have been scheduled, but once it started, the coach should not have told his players to under-perform. How does one benefit by having someone else do less than his best? Should Tiger Woods play worse or miss putts to make me feel better? Self-esteem gone crazy.

Bruce Raynor
Greensboro

On the front page of Section C of the Feb. 17 News & Record, I read an article that left me stunned. In a paper that purports to be progressive, Jeff Myers tells of his almost-orgasmic ecstasy over killing a deer his wife had been feeding like a pet in his backyard.

He did not kill the beautiful creature for food he needed, or to “thin the herd” and prevent starvation. He joyfully killed it to get points in a competition and to display its dead body parts to his manly, mighty friends. He did not rush to the spot where the deer fell. Instead, he had lunch with his brother, then hours later went to see about the deer, which may have been suffering hellishly before it died. All this got Myers’ adrenaline pumping!

Abe Lincoln said, “When I hear a man arguing in favor of slavery, I have a strong inclination to see it tried on him personally.”

When I hear of a man’s joy over having killed one of my fellow beings, I wonder how he’d feel being shot and mounted on the wall.

Larry Surber
Stoneville

Regarding Allen Johnson’s column (Feb. 15) on the Carolina-Duke basketball rivalry:

If Johnson had not stated in his article that he was a UNC grad, I would have sworn he was a Dookie with this misleading nonsense about the head-to-head basketball rivalry of UNC and Duke: “Coach K started eating Dean’s lunch in the late 1980s and early 1990s.”

What? Carolina’s Dean Smith all-time versus Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski: 26-14 (65 percent); Dean all-time versus K at Cameron Indoor Stadium: 10-7 (59 percent); Dean versus K since 1986 (K’s first Final Four): 17-11 (61 percent); Dean versus K during Duke glory years (1986-1992 that Johnson references): 9-9 (50 percent).

If you want to have a healthy argument about who is the better coach, fine. It is sort of like arguing about what is the best flavor of ice cream. I will argue long and hard for Dean, yet K clearly has had a Hall of Fame career as well.

But Coach K never ate Dean’s lunch. Carried his lunch? Maybe, if Dean was in a generous mood. Ate it? Facts are a stubborn thing.

Lee Niegelsky
Reidsville