News-Record.com

A bill that would extend "conscience protection" (already available to physicians and nurses) to pharmacists was filed in the N.C. House of Representatives April 21.

But the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy already has a very good conscience policy.

In fact, I think it's preferable to the proposed bill, which lacks a referral requirement.

The board notes that pharmacists do have the right to avoid moral or ethical conflicts but not to obstruct otherwise legitimate prescription dispensing or delivery. Therefore, if they decline to fill a prescription, they are obliged to get the patient and the prescription to a pharmacist who will dispense the prescription in a timely manner.

That should be a reasonable accommodation for everyone.

Please see our editorial in today's edition.

I understand the point of view expressed by David J. Undis of Lifesharers in today's letters column.

I just don't agree with it.

I have an organ donor card. If anyone can make use of my heart, lungs, liver, eyes, whatever, when I don't need them anymore, please take them.

And I mean anyone, not just someone who also happens to have an organ donor card. One person's life is worth as much as another's, and I wouldn't deny a chance for life to someone who -- for any number of reasons -- simply had not made a decision to become an organ donor or, even more selectively, to become a member of Lifesharers.

Poor Jack Spong. Some people don't like him.

But then, as he told N&R religion reporter Nancy McLaughlin last week, "Jesus didn't die a popular man."

Jack and Jesus. Both founders of new religions ...

Fortunately, the Triad experiences many more green days than purple, according to the state's Division of Air Quality.

Green means good. Purple probably means the air might be comparable to what you would have breathed if you'd attended an indoor Jimi Hendrix concert back in the '60s.

Anyway, we haven't had a purple day for ozone since 1999. And the number of green days increased from 57 that year to 118 last year (out of 153 measured during ozone season).

I'm not saying everything is blue skies and sunshine. But our air really is getting better. Check out DAQ reports for yourself.

I also like to go to the sehazecam.net Web site for daily air-quality conditions.

So this guy is talking about filing a lawsuit because he found part of a finger in his frozen custard?

Come on. It wasn't even his finger.

My column today:

North Carolina's constitution probably won't be amended this year to bar same-sex marriage.

But, if you favor gay marriage, don't applaud. That's not going to happen, either. Not for a long time, if ever. ...

Do we need video cameras in public school classrooms?

In light of discipline problems, and cases where parents refuse to believe and support teachers who are having trouble with their children, does it make sense to keep video/audio records of what actually transpires in classrooms? Then, when conflicts arise, everyone can see and hear exactly what happened.

I know. What are we coming to? Or are we already there?

I hope Guilford County commissioners won't follow the lead of their counterparts in Mecklenburg County, who voted Tuesday to designate next week as Confederate History Week.

We've had enough Confederate problems here.

Mecklenburg Commissioner Jim Puckett, a Republican who introduced the resolution, said the Confederacy stood for good and bad things, but for the purposes of Confederate History Week, "We choose to focus on what is good and noble," the Charlotte Observer reported. "We highlight what is the best and worthy."

Six commissioners -- two of them Democrats, including Wilhelmenia Rembert, who is black -- voted for the resolution. Three Democrates voted against.

My vote would have been NO. And I would have asked Mr. Puckett to explain what was so "good and noble" about the Confederacy.

The noble sacrifice of so many brave and true men and women is not the right answer. I'll stipulate that many of them were brave and true.

But not their cause. Not the Confederacy. And certainly not the tragedy that ensued from its establishment. The Civil War was a four-year horror show that this country should have found a way to avoid. The South's glorious dead gave themselves up for a misdirected cause. They should be mourned, but what they fought for must be profoundly regretted.

Commissioner Rembert, by the way, said she voted for the resolution because, "quite frankly, a week to reflect on that terrible history may be a good thing so it never, ever happens again."

We should know that without holding a Confederate History Week.

Judge Susan Bray yesterday ruled that a 15-year-old boy can be tried as an adult for a series of sexual assaults in Greensboro last year. The victims were elderly women.

If the suspect is convicted, he'll almost certainly be sent to the state's Western Youth Institution in Morganton. When he ages out of that facility, he'll be transferred to a regular prison.

If he remained in the juvenile system, he could be released within three years. If convicted as an adult, he may face up to 30 years in prison.

Did Judge Bray make the right call?

After discussing several aspects of this troubling story in our editorial board meeting this morning, and acknowledging it is not a happy necessity to throw a child into the adult criminal-justice system, our consensus was that Judge Bray was correct in her decision.

We are preparing an editorial on the subject (no publication date set yet).

What do you think?

Hooray for the N.C. Supreme Court. Yesterday it stood up for citizens against the power of government in an important case.

We wrote about City of Burlington v. Boney Publishers April 19.

The Supreme Court's four-word ruling, "Discretionary Review Improvidently Allowed," summed up what we said in our editorial: This case never should have gone so far.

The effect was to let stand this unanimous decision by the N.C. Court of Appeals.

It means that, if you dare challenge the right of your local government to conduct public business in private, it can't file a pre-emptive legal strike against you -- forcing you to defend your rights in court.

Thanks to our appellate courts for protecting the people from a bit of government bullying.

We've already stated our support for the idea of granting in-state tuition at UNC campuses to undocumented immigrants who have lived in North Carolina for at least four years, graduated from a North Carolina high school and taken steps to attain legal status.

Here's the proposed legislation that would allow that.

Now GTCC is considering a policy change to admit undocumented immigrants as students. They would have to pay out-of-state tuition, unless the previously mentioned legislation is approved.

GTCC's trustees chairman, David S. Miller, told me today he expects the board will agree to the new policy, which represents a developing consensus throughout the commmunity college system. It likely won't affect many students right away, but it does recognize the increasing impact immigrants are having on our society.

As long as they're here, the idea is to open more doors of opportunity so they can become more productive contributors to our economy.

What's your opinion? GTCC is a public institution, and the public is entitled to have input about its policies.

We'll have an editorial on this subject next week.

How about a round of applause for the N.C. Department of Transportation's wildflower program?

My drive on I-40 west from Winston-Salem to Morganton this weekend was brightened in a couple of dozen places by patches of red, white, yellow, pink and violet. Poppies are the most common flowers seen, but plenty of varieties are represented.

Our state also does a fine job keeping rest areas clean and green.

We may have high gas taxes, but we do get a nice ride along much of our highway system.

Among the interstates, I'm particularly fond of I-40 west of Winston, I-77 north of Statesville and I-26. All offer some nice scenery - spectacular in places - and the wildflowers provide an extra attraction.

Chan Chandler, pastor of East Waynesville Baptist Church, ought to be fired -- despite his protestations of a "great misunderstanding."

He's embarrassed his church and the friendly mountain town of Waynesville, where I lived for a couple of years in the late-'70s.

The question that intrigues me is whether the ousted members of his church have a legal case ...

It's just one measure -- and it has flaws -- but it's significant that Guilford County's public high schools rank among the nation's best according to Newsweek magazine.

First, congratulations to Grimsley, No. 67 on the Newsweek list. That puts the Greensboro school ahead of 27,401 other high schools in the country.

Our story today gives the rankings of other Guilford high schools -- all in the top 700.

This news may be received skeptically in some quarters. That's understandable, because some of our high schools have big problems. How can Newsweek place them among the nation's best?

My column this week:

It's a mistake for Guilford County Commissioners Bruce Davis and Paul Gibson to take a tax-paid trip to Hawaii -- without their colleagues....

The death of High Point University student Terrence McMann is very, very sad.

My heart goes out to his family. This must be a nightmare for his parents. As the father of two college students myself, I know the worries associated with sending your kids away to school. Terrence's parents are experiencing the worst that can happen.

The circumstances are under investigation.

Obviously, one point of interest for police or state ALE agents will be whether Terrence, who was 20, was served alcoholic beverages at Cleary's Pub, as reports from witnesses seem to indicate. If his death is alcohol-related, this is an extremely serious matter.

In my view, there's a good reason why the legal drinking age is 21. People younger than that should not be served beer in public places.

Cleary's Hidden Shamrock Pub is a nice place -- a restaurant as well as a bar -- and attracts a respectable clientele. The owners, by reputation, are responsible business people. They must be stunned by this terrible event.

Right now, authorities need to know what happened and how.

East Waynesville Baptist Church preacher Chan Chandler has resigned, which is a smart move.

The Internal Revenue Service could still move to strip the church of its tax-exempt status because of its political activism. The Miami Herald reported in March that the IRS is investigating a church in Liberty City for a similar reason.

As I remember, John Kerry campaigned in churches just about every Sunday in the weeks leading up to the election.

It's good to read that the Greensboro Coliseum is still in the running for future men's ACC basketball tournaments.

Greensboro, and the Coliseum, provide the very best location for this outstanding athletic and cultural event.

And this may be the only place where the ACC tournament is a cultural event.

What worries me, though, is the impact of ACC expansion from nine to 12 schools. That translates to a 33 percent increase in demand for ticket allocation and pressure to hold the event in a much larger facility, such as the 36,000-seat Georgia Dome.

The Greensboro Coliseum seats 23,500 for basketball.

Basically, the difference between the two venues boils down to 1,000 tickets per school. That potentially represents a lot more happy donors when the tourney goes to Atlanta.

There are good reasons for the league to keep Greensboro in the tourney mix, and I hope those always will receive fair consideration. One is simply that those who do attend will have a much better tournament experience.

But there were good reasons to keep the ACC at nine members. The league decided to expand for reasons having a lot to do with money.

And, in terms of football, a 12-team conference divided into two divisions, with a championship game, makes sense.

For basketball, in my opinion, a 12-team league stinks. It's too big, it creates scheduling problems, and it waters down traditional rivalries. I've written a couple of times before about my ideal alternative.

Add to that the possibility that Greensboro will have fewer opportunities to host the ACC tournament.

If that's the way the ball bounces, I don't like it.

It looks like county tax director Jenks Crayton has survived another investigation.

The N.C. Department of Revenue has found no wrongdoing in his office.

The county manager and the SBI reached the same conclusions in similar probes.

So, what will those commissioners who are determined to pin some transgressions on Crayton do now?

Call in the ACLU, ASPCA or AARP?

Or is it time for an apology?

Maybe Crayton's the one who should get the trip to Hawaii instead of his accusers.

A gentleman writing in today's letters to the editor contributes his recollections from the 1930s to the debate about whether the weather is getting warmer. One sign of a chillier era, he says, was that the ponds froze over solidly enough back then to allow ice skating.

I wouldn't challenge John Kincaid's memory. But the official weather records show some interesting information. (When you call this page up, go to monthly temperature listings in the left-hand column and click on "average.")

The Greensboro temperature records begin in 1933 and go through 2004. It looks like there were some cool years during the 1933-39 period, although the average temperatures for 1996 and 1997 both were lower than for any of those earlier years.

There were some very cold months, however, particularly if you count January 1940, when the average temperature was 27.05 degrees. That would keep a sheet of ice over the old mill pond. Other subfreezing months during the era were February 1934, 31.98; and December 1935, 31.34.

Looks like we haven't had a subfreezing month in Greensboro since January 1978, when the average temp was 31.26. A year before that, January 1977, was the coldest month on record in Greensboro, at 26.65. We ought to be telling our kids about that one.

I guess you can twist these numbers a lot of ways to determine whether it's getting warmer around here. A 10-year average for 1933-42 comes to 57.98. A 10-year average for 1995 through 2004 comes to 58.62. That seems to be a fairly significant rise.

(Added thought at 8 a.m.: While an increase of .64 degree in temperature over seven decades does seem to be fairly significant, it's not really dramatic and likely would not have been noticed by most people whose lives have spanned all that time. It also could be at least partially accounted for by the urbanization of the airport area. Cities tend to be warmer than surrounding rural areas.)

If you take a 10-year sample out of the middle range, 1964 through 1973, you get an average temperature of 57.86. Man, was it cold back when I was a kid!

My wife was monitoring EOG retesting yesterday. This is for students who failed the test the first time and, after some remedial work, are trying again.

At dinner last night, Margaret was telling me about one girl who seemed to be having a real struggle.

"She was trying so hard," Margaret said. "At one point I just stood over her and ..."

I knew what she was going to say.

"No! Don't tell me. You didn't ..."

"I said a little prayer over her."

"Aagh! Oh, no! You can be fired for that!"

"Well, no one knows I did it. I said it silently."

I was kidding her. Actually, although some people might be horrified at such an intrusion of religion into our public schools, students and teachers CAN pray -- privately.

In fact, at this time of year it's a very good idea.

Today's Cal Thomas column, printed on our Second Opinion page under the headline, "Blogs are not serious journalism," can be found online here.

After they finish those dreaded, pressure-packed EOGs, some schools let the kids work out their tensions with "field day" activities.

They might have a tug-of-war, run relay races and conduct other kinds of games and contests.

But this is the sort of field day I think they should have.

My son, Andrew, graduates today from UNC Charlotte with degrees in mechanical engineering and international studies.

He plans to enter the Peace Corps.

True to form, he leaves Sunday for a mission trip to Montana, where he and his group (that's him in the middle) will work on an Indian reservation.

In the past, he's gone on missions to Haiti, Belize, Eleuthera and several locations inside the U.S., and has been active in service projects in Charlotte. He's a dedicated volunteer for International House there. Last year, he received UNCC's highest service award.

Regular readers of this blog know he's a frequent contributor -- and he isn't shy about expressing views that differ markedly from those of his old man.

I couldn't be more proud of who he is, or love him more.

My family spent many wonderful vacations at Topsail Beach.

Then came the summer of 1996, when Topsail was hammered by Hurricanes Bertha and Fran.

The island was devastated. And we shifted our annual beach vacation destination to Ocean Isle.

From what I heard, Topsail's recovery was slow. For years, it looked beaten down and shabby.

Margaret and I finally visited again -- for just a weekend -- last summer. It seemed to have regained its old charm.

For us, when our kids were young, the appeal was its relative isolation, its serenity. In fact, for several years we rented a condo in a development called Serenity Point at the south end of the island. It was a beautiful, quiet spot -- a great place for families.

When they got to be teenagers, our boys and their cousins preferred Ocean Isle, though, because it wasn't far to Myrtle Beach. Now, with them grown up, we don't even take a family trip to the beach anymore.

But now, something exciting is happening at sleepy Topsail Beach. The town's police chief announces that topless bathing is OK.

Maybe that will liven things up and draw more tourists.

But, somehow, this doesn't seem to square with the old family beach image.

Margaret might scratch Topsail off our list for weekend getaways -- ironically, just when our twentysomething sons might decide they wouldn't mind checking it out again after all.

Greensboro City Councilman Tom Phillips really, really thinks his fellow elected officials should pay their taxes on time. So much so that he suggested to our reporter Matt Williams (see today's Inside Scoop) that he might introduce a resolution prohibiting council members from casting votes if their tax payments are overdue.

Looks like that idea's a nonstarter. City Attorney Linda Miles says it would "deprive those people who elected them of representation."

"If that's what she says, I guess that's what we have to live with," Phillips told me. "I just think elected officials should be more responsible."

Agreed. So, what should be done about elected officials who vote to spend tax dollars but don't keep up with their own tax bills?

The U.S. Supreme Court often renders decisions by a 5-4 count.

But not this kind of 5-4:

Kennedy, Scalia, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer

vs. Thomas, Rehnquist, O'Connor and Stevens.

The case has to do with interstate wine sales via the Internet. Here's the AP story posted on our Web site, with a link to the decision.

It produced really odd alignments of justices. You don't see Clarence Thomas splitting from Antonin Scalia very often, let alone finding common ground with John Paul Stevens.

Maybe there's a wine line on the court that transcends normal philosophical differences.

Maybe the Supremes sampled too much of the evidence and got all mixed up.

How else could Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg end up together?

Anyway, I hope this will create some new marketing opportunities for the many excellent wines being produced in North Carolina.

The United States has killed 250,000 innocent civilians in Iraq.

Or a total of 250,000 Iraqis.

Or 250,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the war.

The common thread is 250,000 -- a horrendous number no matter how it's apportioned.

That number is starting to show up in letters to the editor, whose writers use it to emphasize their point about the destructiveness of an unnecessary U.S.-launched war in Iraq.

But is the number correct or even remotely accurate? How should we as editors treat it?

I can't find substantiation for the 250,000 number. The closest I've seen is 100,000, based on a study by medical researchers and released last October. However, that study was widely criticized for its methods.

The most credible source for this information that I'm aware of is iraqbodycount.net, which currently puts the number of Iraqi civilians killed by military action at a little less than 25,000.

That's still a terrible figure but a far cry from 250,000.

Are there reliable sources I've missed?

My column today:

Hi, Ma. Glad I caught you. Sorry I haven't called in a while.

Where am I? In the car, taking the kids to school. ...

My younger son, Kenny, is embarking today with some of his college buddies on a major league baseball pilgrimage. They'll attend nine games in nine cities in nine days.

No, the number nine is not coincidental. We're talking about baseball.

The leadoff game is tonight in Washington. After that -- don't hold me to this order -- they go to Philly, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincy, Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee.

The exact sequence works out perfectly. And they've arranged to stay with friends or relatives everywhere except Cleveland, so they only need a hotel for one night.

I'm sure they invested more study time in planning this trip than in preparing for their final exams.

Of course, what baseball fan wouldn't envy them? I thought about trying to tag along until I remembered I'm not 22 anymore.

The other day Kenny and I ran into Mike Cook, who coaches baseball at High Point Central. Kenny told Mike about the trip. Mike actually became a bit misty eyed. "I've always wanted to do that," he said wistfully.

If I'm a little misty eyed myself, it's because none of Kenny's crew owns a reliable car. They've borrowed my new one.

Inevitably, some of these "designer cats" will get loose, or be abandoned, and go feral.

That will have quite an impact on native birds, rabbits and other wildlife.

And maybe even small dogs.

The Savannah, featured in today's article, is a mix of a domestic cat and a serval, a type of leopard native to Africa.

Once we develop a sufficient population of these animals in the wild, maybe we'll adopt the Wisconsin solution.

Two good things happened at last night's commissioners' meeting in regard to the Jenks Crayton matter.

First, the county tax director was reinstated after a six-week suspension.

Second, the vote was 9-2, with Democrats Paul Gibson, Carolyn Coleman, Kirk Perkins and Kay Cashion splitting from Crayton persecutors Bruce Davis and Skip Alston.

That split was an encouraging development if it continues. And I hope the four reasonable Democrats are now sufficiently warned about the dangers of aligning themselves with Davis and Alston.

The funniest moment during the meeting -- a close second coming when Davis said that Republican Linda Shaw, known to be emotional, sometimes gets her "dandruff" up -- was when Alston accused Republican Steve Arnold of being an insurrectionist of sorts. He quoted Arnold as once saying his job was to make life miserable for the Democrats on the board.

That's exactly what Alston himself has done lately. His tirade against Crayton last night -- calling him "crooked" and the "poorest employee" of Guilford County government -- should have made the four reasonable Democrats squirm in their seats.

Davis was more civil in his language but just as irrational. He made it clear he refuses to accept the findings of the N.C. Department of Revenue audit of the tax office and specifically the state's examination of the 20 or so cases that Davis and Alston are sure constitute evidence of wrongdoing by Crayton. The state's report of no wrongdoing was a "glaze over," according to Davis. Meanwhile, Alston presented specific allegations, which apparently already had been looked at by the experts from Raleigh and were easily explained on the spot by Crayton.

Davis read a lengthy statement that attempted to justify his handling of this affair. It didn't wash. Even if there were valid reasons for launching an investigation in the first place, his rejection of the results of that investigation belie his contention that he's just seeking the truth. He's got it and isn't satisfied. Therefore, what he and Alston really want is something other than the truth.

As chairman, Davis should do much better. But this speaks to a point I've made many times before. The board should limit the position of chairman to one of its two members who is elected at-large. That way, the chairman is accountable to all the people of Guilford County. Davis was elected (without opposition) from District 1 in High Point. His constituents amount to roughly 11 percent of the county's population. Yet he holds the most important elective office in the county.

He was elected chairman by himself and the five other Democrats on the board, so he's also accountable to them. I hope the four reasonable Democrats will enforce some accountability on him and let him know they expect better leadership. Otherwise, they may be the ones who ultimately will answer to voters fed up with this kind of nonsense.

Teddy Kennedy is so worked up over this judicial filibuster issue that he's become practically hysterical.

Comments he made in the Senate yesterday provide an example. I caught a portion on the radio.

He said Republicans have taken over the White House, taken over Congress, and now they want to take over the independent judiciary.

Oh, my.

The senator from Massachusetts should be aware that Republicans have not taken over the White House and Congress. The American people elected a Republican president and Republican majorities in the House and Senate. There's a difference.

And what does he think amounts to taking over an independent judiciary? The president is empowered by the constitution to nominate judges to the federal courts. The Senate is to give advice and consent.

Traditionally, a majority vote in the Senate has been sufficient to confirm a judicial appointee. Now Democrats effectively want to raise the standard to 60 votes by making the filibuster a regular practice during confirmation proceedings.

That's pretty short-sighted. I'm sure I will live to see another Democrat elected president. I kind of doubt I'll grow old enough to witness the day when Democrats gain 60 votes in the Senate. So the standard they're trying to establish now will only come back to hurt their next president.

Anyway, it seems that Kennedy thinks Democrats should decide who's placed on the federal bench, despite the minority status the American voters have assigned to their party. That just doesn't wash.

Connie Murphy of Jamestown, author of today's Counterpoint article on the editorial page, questions the validity of Guilford County high schools' high rankings by Newsweek magazine.

Students here take a lot of AP exams, one of the measurements Newsweek uses to measure educational quality, because the school system pays the $75 cost for each exam, she writes.

In contrast, she offers the example of her niece's high school in Levittown, N.Y., where students have to pay the $75 themselves. That might discourage some students from taking the test, especially if they don't think they'd score well enough to earn college credit.

Ms. Murphy has a point -- but comparing Levittown, N.Y., to Guilford County doesn't reinforce it. As you can see here, Levittown is a wealthy community -- medium household income of $70,000 in 2000 - with a notably low minority population.

At Douglas MacArthur High School, only 4 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. It may not be that much of a problem for the parents of most students to pay $75 for an AP test.

The demographics of Guilford County's student population are much different, but the school board has set a policy of encouraging as many students as possible to take challenging courses. If the system didn't pay the AP test fee, inevitably fewer poor kids would participate. Do we really want to make AP tests more accessible to kids from wealthier families than to those from more modest homes? I don't.

I understand that some people don't want to give the school board and superintendent credit for doing anything right. But I think they're definitely doing something right by pushing more kids into tougher high school courses. It will do those kids a lot of good, even if they don't always score well on the AP test. They learn more in those classes than they would in regular courses, and the experience of taking college-type exams is invaluable. So I say give some credit where it's due, and don't compare our community to one that's very different.

Just to clear up any confusion, I am not this Doug Clark.

When it comes to great results for little effort, it's hard to beat beer can chicken.

I prefer a beer that's full-bodied, flavorful and Irish.

You begin by asking your wife to prepare a whole chicken, i.e., washing it and getting all the gizzards and stuff out of the inside.

Then you open a can of Guinness draught and drink half of it.

Fill up the can with barbecue sauce, and insert the can into the bird.

Stand up the can and the chicken on your grill. Cook at low to medium heat with the top down. Don't place the chicken directly over the flame.

Sit in a comfortable chair with a cool drink. If it's hot out, you probably want something a little lighter than another Guinness.

DO NOT lift the top of your grill or do anything else to interfere with the cooking process. This is not supposed to be work.

If your wife wants any vegetables with dinner, she's free to prepare them. And dessert, too, while she's at it.

After a couple of hours, you can figure the bird is done. You know for sure if you can give a little tug on a wing and it pulls right off.

Remove the chicken from the can. Baste your cooked chicken with the contents of the can and serve. It will be wonderful.

You'll have to excuse me now. I have some cooking to do.

Here's an interesting article that appeared May 15 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

It shows that furniture is starting to become a big deal even in Las Vegas.

This article is balanced and very fair to High Point. It's still worrisome, because when Las Vegas makes something a big deal, that's a force to be reckoned with.

I've been working on an editorial prompted by the verdict in the Jeffrey Niles McFayden case.

He was convicted Friday of DWI and three counts of involuntary manslaughter in regard to the deaths of sisters Tara Howell Parker, Mysti Howell Poplin and Megan Elizabeth Howell in September 2003.

Prosecutors sought conviction on second-degree murder charges, but the jury rejected that in favor of the lesser count.

Much, much lesser.

This case falls neatly into a legal deficiency identified last year by the Governor's Task Force on Driving While Impaired:

My admiration goes to our military women, especially those -- like Tammy Lombardo of High Point -- who have served in Iraq. Every one of them is on the front lines.

But, as our nation's leaders debate what military roles are appropriate for women to fill, I hope they will focus on facts rather than fancy.

We all believe in equal opportunity. But what counts in the military is ability. When it comes to the toughest, grittiest jobs -- boots on the ground combat -- all soldiers have to meet the highest physical standards for strength and endurance. Simply saying everyone is equal doesn't make it so.

I did not serve in the military, so I can't speak from personal experience. I just want the experts to decide these issues on the basis of information like that presented here. But, please, don't make decisions that could impact the performance of combat units and the lives of military men and women on the notion that there are no differences between the genders.

I don't doubt for a minute that women do just as well as men in most military jobs. In the air and at sea, particularly, differences may be negligible. Women are certainly as smart as men, or smarter, and every bit as brave. And there may be some women who can meet the standards required for even the most physically demanding jobs.

The problem will come if standards are compromised so that women have an equal chance of qualifying for those difficult military occupations such as paratroopers, infantry and special forces.

That's my view until someone demonstrates with hard facts that there's no difference in the combat ability of men and women.

Would an infantry combat unit be just as effective if half its soldiers were women as opposed to all men? If a Marine is under fire in a foxhole with three comrades, does it make any difference if they're men or women? Those are the questions our leaders have to answer.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid apparently didn't get the word that a truce has been declared.

He issued a statement Monday that said, in part: "Abuse of power will not be tolerated, and attempts to trample the Constitution and grab absolute control are over. We are a separate and equal branch of government. This is our Founding Fathers' vision, and one we hold dear."

There are so many twisted ideas in the statement that I'm just going to leave it alone except to say he illustrates the attitude by the leaders of both parties that brought the Senate to the point of crisis in the first place.

Let it go, Harry. It's over. At least for now.

This is one WFDD listener who will be happy when reporter Stephanie Martin returns safely from Iraq.

My column today:

Dear undesirable graduates of bad high schools ...

"Currently, Charlotte and the ACC have little going."

So says Mike Crum, chairman of the Charlotte Regional Sports Commission, in today's Charlotte Observer (free registration required).

But Crum adds "there are good reasons to believe Charlotte will see an upswing in hosting ACC events in the future."

A major cause for his optimism is center city development, the "unique combination of sports and convention venues, hotels, restaurants, transportation and attractions."

Charlotte's new basketball arena, which will open this fall, won't seat as many fans as the Greensboro Coliseum, but its uptown location could help its bid for future ACC basketball tournaments if visitors would like to attend the event within easy walking distance of hotels, museums, theaters and lots of nightlife.

No city matches Greensboro's commitment to the ACC tournament, but I wouldn't be honest if I said I'm not impressed by the kind of experience uptown Charlotte offers.

Wes Miller, writing in the Charlotte Business Journal, calls for reorganizing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system.

By coincidence, his thoughts echo a theme Guilford school board chairman Alan Duncan touched on at a breakfast meeting I attended in High Point Tuesday. It was sponsored by the High Point Chamber of Commerce and the Guilford Education Alliance.

One topic of conversation was school resource officers, nurses and counselors. ...

Judge Howard Manning uses very strong language (try: "academic genocide") to describe failures in many North Carolina high schools.

His primary focus is on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system, but Guilford County's numbers are barely any better. For an idea, look at the report cards for Andrews, Dudley, Eastern, High Point Central and Smith.

This doesn't detract from the recent Newsweek rankings. It's just that Newsweek is looking at the upper end of the high school experience, while Manning is examining the lowest. Each school can have plenty of successes and failures within its student body.

Manning's mandate from the N.C. Supreme Court is to make sure schools provide a sound basic education. He would be working within those parameters if he ordered schools to end AP and IB programs and use all those resources to pull up at-risk students.

He warns that the state might have to undertake drastic remedies to fix "the high school problem," without spelling out what steps those might be. Is it far-fetched to imagine the end of athletics, other extracurriculars and elective courses at schools with unacceptably high failure rates?

In a ruling four years ago, Manning wrote: "While there is no restriction on high-level electives, modern dance, advanced computer courses and multiple foreign language courses being taught or paid for by tax dollars in the public schools, the constitutional guarantee of a sound basic education for each child must first be met."

He added that advanced courses for college-bound students are "frills and whistles."

Sounds pretty radical. But, again, he has one priority: rescuing students from what he calls academic genocide.

You don't have to be a schools seismologist to see that Manning is starting to shake things up in North Carolina public education.

All right, I'm impressed. Nine-year-old fourth-grader Will Johnson is the mile king at Southwest Elementary, completing the race in a very fast 6:19, according to Tarah Holland's story today.

Will, keep it up. I expect to see you in the 2020 Olympics.

Oh, to be young and swift again ...

OK, I wasn't that swift when I was that young. This kid is a real talent.

High Point's Kivett Drive Gateway project is a good idea, but even for $3.25 million, it's only taking on the easy part of Kivett Drive beautification.

The 1.7-mile segment of Kivett from S. Centennial Street to the U.S. 311 Bypass (later to be designated I-74) doesn't look all that bad, although it certainly could stand some improvement.

But if you want to see ugly, keep following Kivett all the way out to Business I-85.

Is there a less sightly stretch of road anywhere in the Triad?

Not only is Kivett from U.S. 311 Bypass to Business 85 scenically challenged, it's narrow and dangerous. There are no sidewalks, even though it has a shopping center and Union Hill Elementary School along the way. Because it's a low-income area, many people walk -- at their peril. In some places, there's not even a shoulder -- just a gulley.

The road is due to be widened soon, so the few trees that once lined the way have been cut down and replaced with a second row of telephone poles. The mostly shabby looking businesses, homes and industrial facilities aren't going to be on the Convention and Visitor Bureau's tour of top attractions.

I guess it would take $3.25 billion to beautify that part of Kivett Drive.

Let's hope visitors coming to High Point via the future I-74 don't turn in the wrong direction when they get on Kivett Drive.

Police have charged a friend of the 20-year-old High Point University student who died after drinking at Cleary's Pub. They say 21-year-old Brandon Michael Wright was passing malt beverages to Terrence McCann.

Apparently, no charges will be pressed against Cleary's or any of its employees.

We'll see how the justice system sorts out this tragedy. But I'm a bit curious. If a 21-year-old is sitting at a table with a 20-year-old and orders two drinks, is there any obligation on the part of the staff to check both IDs?

That's not to excuse the 21-year-old in such circumstances.

Of course, in a crowded bar it may not be so simple for staff to keep track of who ends up drinking what. But is it really that easy for underage kids to drink in a public place?

Having only worked in Greensboro for a year, I'm not a long-time follower of the Kwame Cannon case. But I know it's taken some strange twists and turns.

The latest development is one of them.

It's good of Gov. Mike Easley to reinstate Cannon's commutation of sentence, but the long list of restrictions that will apply over the next five years seems pretty draconian. Hasn't this guy paid his debt to society already?

The oddest wrinkle is this: "He will have no contact or interviews with the media unless the Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission grants specific permission."

A gag order?

Don Vaughan isn't Cannon's attorney, but the Greensboro lawyer and city councilman says he's done more commutation work than anyone else in North Carolina. His take: "I've never had a gag order like that," he told me today. "I've never, ever seen that in the 20 years I've practiced in this area."

What's it all about? The governor's office won't explain.

Cannon shared a platform once early last year with Darryl Hunt, the man wrongly convicted of murder and released after 18 years in prison. Is the governor afraid Cannon will team up with Hunt again and say something to embarrass the criminal-justice system?

Cannon didn't say anything dangerous the last time. What would he say now that might upset people in Raleigh?

But if he does talk to the press, will he be thrown back in prison to finish serving his two life sentences?

He signed the agreement (what choice did he have?), so I guess it's possible.

We'll have an editorial on this in Saturday's paper.

I enjoy "The Quiet Man" every time I see it, as I did on the tube the other night.

It's a John Ford-directed romantic comedy starring John Wayne and set in Ireland.

In addition to the location scenery, the film's greatest attraction for me is co-star Maureen O'Hara.

This is a truly funny and endearing movie, full of characters and a pretty good story line.

It continually throws the viewer moments of hilarity, such as when the wee fellow's horse refuses to walk past a pub. "I guess he knows better than me," says its owner, who marches in for a drink.

But that points to an issue that would make this 1952 film problematic if anyone wanted to remake it today: Its stereotypes.

It portrays many of its Irish characters as eager drinkers and brawlers.

It seems to endorse the idea that husbands have a right to clout their wives.

And it brands redheaded women as hot-tempered and in need of proper discipline.

Sure, it's all in fun. No one means ill. No one gets hurt.

As an American of Irish descent, I don't take offense at its portrayal of Erin's good folk.

Besides, as my sainted grandmother from Castleblaney in County Monaghan, God rest her soul, often said, no one in her family ever used alcohol ... except for medicinal purposes, ahem.

Brawlers? Well, there may be some truth to that. Where does the word "donnybrook" come from, after all?

Who needs a remake of "The Quiet Man" anyway? Is there a new John Wayne or Maureen O'Hara around? Not a chance.

My 22-year-old son Kenny and three of his Wake Forest friends returned home last night from their nine-day, nine-city, nine Major League Baseball game pilgrimage. Here's a Q&A with his dad: