News-Record.com

Elon journalism instructor Michael Skube writing in the Los Angeles Times:

"Nine months later, the vigilante posters have come down, the candlelight vigils have gone dark and little has been heard from the New Black Panther Party or the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Even among the aspiring activists who banged pots and pans last spring in solidarity with the alleged victim, there is the disquieting sense that maybe she wasn't one after all -- that this time the story might not be reducible to the all-purpose epistemology of race, gender and class.

"Duke University and historically black North Carolina Central University are once again cross-town neighbors with nothing much to say to one another. The cause celebre who brought them together in the spring -- a part-time N.C. Central student who moonlighted as a stripper and alleged that she was sexually assaulted and raped by three Duke lacrosse players -- has long since ceased to be a sympathetic figure.

"Privately, people who rallied to her defense tell you that they were snookered. As they do, a different posse prowls the airwaves and Internet. This one wants not the Duke lacrosse players brought to heel but Durham County Dist. Atty. Mike Nifong -- and along with him, the highest stratum of Duke's administrative hierarchy, including university President Richard Brodhead. It was the university, these critics argue, that failed to stand up for its students and let it be cast as the original 'Animal House.' "

Read the rest ...

Update, Jan. 3:

How detached from reality is Mike Nifong's mental state? Here's what he told reporters after his swearing-in yesterday, as quoted by the N&O:

"I don't feel that I'm part of the problem. I feel that I have assisted in revealing the problem. Durham has some healing to do. And I need to be part of that healing process, and I need to have something to do with how we move forward."

Mr. Nifong, please come to your senses. You are the problem.

Joe Killian reports today that wireless Internet access is "becoming a part of everyday life."

In Greensboro and other cities, maybe, but not everywhere. Or is it?

While we were visiting at Christmas in my wife's tiny hometown of Columbus, in Polk County, my son, Kenny, was surprised to discover that his grandparents' home is in a Wi-Fi hot spot.

The Wi-Fi Freespot Directory, www.wififreespot.com, lists Tea Thyme Internet Cafe as offering wireless Internet access. It's just down the street in Columbus, maybe 500 yards on a straight line. Could its coverage extend that far?

I often joke about "Slow Polk County," but that's really one reason why I enjoy spending time there. I certainly never figured Columbus would be a hot spot for anything, but the world is changing fast 'most everywhere.

The United Way of Greater High Point is encouraging people to participate in an MLK Day of Service Jan. 15.

"Please join us as we strive to make the Dr. King Holiday 'A Day ON, not a Day OFF,' " the organization says.

The UW Web site adds this quote by the late Coretta Scott King:

"The greatest birthday gift my husband could receive is if people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds celebrated the holiday by performing individual acts of kindness through service to others."

If the MLK Day of Service takes hold in High Point, it will do more to honor King than the naming of a street in his memory.

For years, the city's refusal to do that has been a sore point for leaders in the black community. It even made the list of "intolerable racism" complaints.

I don't see that. This is a same city that declares King's birthday a municipal holiday and sponsors official celebrations, putting King in a category above all other Americans.

Besides, naming a street for someone feeds no one, clothes no one, shelters no one, improves no one's circumstances in any way.

If the MLK Day of Service does any of those things, it will be a truly meaningful tribute.

Hook-and-ladder? Statue of Liberty? Man, Boise State plays some kind of football.

(I recommend the Idaho Statesman's coverage.)

Now Wake Forest has to beat Louisville tonight to press its claim to upstart-of-the-year status in college football.

I'm sorry I missed the incredible finish to last night's Fiesta Bowl.

But I'm watching all the way through tonight's Orange Bowl.

Go Deacs!

(Side note: Kenny tells me tailgating outside Dolphin Stadium began at noon, eight hours and 20 minutes before the scheduled kickoff. It was hard to hear him over the whooping and hollering. I hope the Wake fans have been pacing themselves.)

WorldPreview, a promotional magazine produced by Las Vegas Market, arrived in the mail over the holidays.

It's good. Scary good, from the High Point perspective.

If this is an accurate indicator of how hard the Vegas people are working to sell their Jan. 29-Feb. 2 furniture show, it's likely to be a big success.

The World Market Center unveils its second major exhibition building at this show, 1.6 million square feet on 16 floors. The first building, which opened in July 2005, holds 1.3 million square feet of showroom space. Plans call for a similar addition every year through 2013, by which time Vegas would rival High Point for sheer showroom volume.

There's no guarantee Vegas will get there. After making a big splash in its inaugural show, it lost momentum and saw attendance slide to the point where organizers simply refused to say how many people came last July.

Hence the extra effort to promote the upcoming show. Its WorldPreview magazine, 128 pages full of information and ads by exhibitors, is an impressive part of the plan.

The show's slogan -- "Not just market. LAS VEGAS Market" -- conveys attitude. Organizers are trying in every way to capitalize on their city's assets:

"Put the most important new home furnishings market right in the middle of the hottest town on the planet, and you've got an unbeatable combination of 'wows.' Vibrant, extravagant and visitor friendly like no other city on earth, Las Vegas welcomes you -- home furnishings buyers from all over the world -- to an amazing marketplace and a one-of-a-kind Market experience this January."

Vegas is clearly turning up the heat on High Point, touting "the convenience and lavish hospitality of the world's most exciting city."

For the opening of the new building, it promises a party that "will keep the industry buzzing for years to come."

"Come to Las Vegas Market this January and be dazzled," it coaxes.

The mag also includes maps, shuttle schedules, floor plans of the exhibition buildings, exhibitor directories, event schedules, entertainment options, info about food and drink giveaways, and more. It's a useful, eye-catching publication.

This post is going to anger some of my High Point friends, who will accuse me of shilling for Vegas.

What I'm really doing is warning about the competition. It's charging hard.

Here's a not-very-profound observation: A market is about marketing. Vegas is aggressively marketing its furniture show. This WorldPreview magazine is just one tool, and it looks to me like an effective one.

The High Point Market people are working hard, too. They have to, because Vegas is out to take their business away.

Congratulations to Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to take the oath as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans may be whining, but I don't fault Democrats for shutting them out during the first 100 hours when the new party in power hopes to push through top-priority legislation.

Republicans are disingenuous in the extreme, because they rolled over the Democrats when they held majority status.

So what if Dems promised to do better? They have the numbers, won fair and square in the November elections, so they get to exercise the power. If Republicans don't like it, well, they know when the next elections are.

That said, I don't believe for a minute that the Democrats are going to be more ethical or more fair and open or more whatever than the Republicans were. Politicians of both parties are cut from the same cloth. Their operative goals are to gain power, then to keep it.

It's a new day in Washington, and it will bring a focus on some new initiatives. But I'm betting we won't have to look too far below the partisan differences to see that not much is really going to change.

The lawsuit filed by a former Duke student against a professor and the university seems trivial on the surface, but it may have real significance.

Kyle Dowd claims visiting professor Kim Curtis gave him an F in a politics and literature course last spring because he was a member of the lacrosse team. The university later changed the grade to a D, but Dowd says the incident put his graduation in jeopardy and created emotional distress, etc. He's seeking $60,000 in damages.

What makes the allegation plausible is that Curtis was one of 88 faculty members who published a statement last spring buying into the then-prevailing theme of rich, white, drunken athlete rapists running amok on the Duke campus.

More than anything, that kind of attitude among faculty members may be responsible for the decline in student applications this year. Who wants to attend a university where the professors regard you with a presumption of guilt?

Not all professors, though. Blogger K.C. Johnson reports that 17 faculty members in the economics department issued a statement yesterday supporting the accused students.

The university administration recently has come around, too, ending the suspensions of Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty. I'd guess, though, there are a lot of professors whose classes they will avoid.

Free speech should be encouraged on campus, but prejudicial attitudes against classes of students can't be tolerated. The university may be held accountable, if only morally, for the actions of those professors who jumped to the wrong conclusions.

So global warming isn't a total catastrophe? Maybe not if it contributes to lower natural gas prices.

If it doesn't require as much energy to heat our homes, falling demand will force down prices.

Decreased consumption of fossil fuels has another benefit: It will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming.

So, then, the climate can cool off again.

But then we'll have to burn more energy to stay warm. Which will raise the temperature outside, too.

I'm predicting this warm early January weather will bring about a cold snap in February, which in turn will produce warming temperatures by March or April.

Why can't we do a better job of regulating the earth's temperature? I thought we had all the answers.

I attended the last couple of hours of the Guilford County commissioners' planning retreat today and commend them for working on "developing our roadmap," as they subtitled the session.

All 11 participated, which is encouraging in itself.

They also heard from six community leaders -- Carole Bruce, Henry Frye, Pat Danahy, Tom Dayvault, Jim Morgan and Lee McAllister. Each was asked to present a vision for Guilford County.

I'll write more about that next week, here or in print, but I want to briefly mention points made by Frye, former chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court, and Dayvault, president of the High Point Chamber of Commerce.

Frye threw out the idea of 211 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot. But raise the temperature by just one degree and water begins to boil. That releases steam, which can power engines and make things happen.

So, where do we need to raise the temperature just one degree to make things happen in Guilford County?

Conversely, where are we in danger of losing steam if we let the temperature drop by just a degree?

Dayvault emphasized one overriding issue: job creation. The Triad has lost a lot of jobs in the last 10 years, he said, but it's poised to turn things around. That requires Triad cooperation, he asserted. Communities have to work together as allies, not separately as competitors.

On that subject, I'd challenge leaders in Guilford and Forsyth counties to answer this question:

What will you do to help land a Toyota auto manufacturing plant ... in Davidson County?

Davidson County has the land, and apparently is on Toyota's list of possible locations. What assets do larger, wealthier Guilford and Forsyth counties have that they can leverage to help attract this potentially huge economic development deal that would benefit the entire Triad?

By itself, Davidson County might not be able to generate the 212 degrees it would take to get it done. There's got to be a way its neighbors can make a difference.

Commissioners Chairman Paul Gibson is off to a good start in 2007. For now, commissioners all seem to be looking in the same direction. That's the way to develop a vision for Guilford County.

Any vision has to be broad enough to take in the entire Triad.

Our Sunday editorial (not posted) raises the question of whether Greensboro needs a full-time mayor.

Your thoughts?

Also, who would you like to see run this year? Keith Holliday, Yvonne Johnson and Florence Gatten all told me they're thinking about it, but none has announced a decision.

Who else is a possible candidate?

What kind of mayor does Greensboro need? Is the job currently structured in a way that allows the mayor to exert strong leadership? If not, how should it change?

June Atkinson is North Carolina's elected superintendent of public instruction. One of the candidates she defeated in a 2004 Democratic primary was J.B. Buxton.

So much for what the voters think. Last week, the State Board of Education appointed Buxton to the position of deputy superintendent with the power to actually run the department and a salary higher than Atkinson's. As The News & Observer reported, the move makes Atkinson in effect an elected figurehead.

Buxton has been an education adviser to Gov. Mike Easley, who wields a lot of influence over the State Board of Education. Indirectly, that gives the governor a lot of say in how DPI operates.

I think that's fine. The governor is the state's top elected official, and public education is the state's primary responsibility. The governor, with the board of education, should set the state's public education policies and be held accountable for results.

To make that clear, DPI should be put directly under the governor's authority. The idea of having an independently elected superintendent, especially one with limited authority anyway, is absurd.

One problem with public education in this state has been leadership fragmentation. The governor proposes this, the legislature funds that, the state board goes this way, the state superintendent goes that way, and then the Supreme Court says none of them is doing the job right and puts a Superior Court judge in charge.

The whole outfit should be reorganized. The governor should be in charge. He should appoint the people who run DPI. A board composed if voluntary members should give advice. The legislature should provide funding as appropriate. The courts should weigh in when legal or constitutional questions are raised. Then maybe we can all get going in the same positive direction for once.

The announcers for last night's televised UNC-Florida State men's basketball game talked quite a bit about Carolina's Reyshawn Terry. The senior from Winston-Salem is a good player, but he sometimes gets a bit lost among his younger, super-talented teammates.

Terry has put himself under a lot of pressure, they said, because he wants to "take care of his family."

I understood that to mean he hopes to play professionally next year and make a lot of money.

His personal information at tarheelblue indicates he is the son of Barbara Terry and James Johnson and has six brothers and sisters. That sounds like a big family to "take care of."

I think Terry is good enough to play professional basketball, if not in the NBA then overseas somewhere. He has a lot of potential earning power. But then, he hasn't always played up to his potential at Carolina.

But listening to the discussion last night, I was hoping one of the announcers might say something like this:

"Wait a minute. Terry has enjoyed a full scholarship at the top public university in North Carolina, one of the best in the country. A degree from UNC-Chapel Hill means he should be prepared to earn a good living, even if he never bounces a basketball again. He might not become a millionaire, but how many people do? And actually succeeding in life by virtue of intelligence and a good education would set a worthy example for others."

Terry's athletic talents gave him the opportunity to attend an outstanding university. But he also had to qualify academically. I hope he's been doing more than playing basketball there for the past four years. I'm sure he has, because my impression of the basketball program at Carolina is that it's about more than basketball.

This is a stunning coincidence.

The tiny town of Ahoskie in North Carolina's Hertford County claimed two members of the North Carolina legislature (more than High Point), and both have died since Sunday.

First was Rep. Howard J. Hunter Jr. who served 10 terms in the House. He was 60 years old.

Early today, Sen. Robert Lee Holloman died. He served three terms and was 53.

Both men were re-elected in November. Both were African American.

Is there an explanation that makes sense of this? I'll look forward to more reporting on the strange timing of these deaths.

Decker Communications names High Point University President Nido Qubein as one of its Top Ten Communicators of 2006.

Qubein places No. 6, but is the only person on the list to repeat from last year.

Decker says:

"Nido Qubein will also someday be known by the one name 'Nido,' because he continues to communicate his vision of the world in a way that positively impacts tens of thousands. Chairman of four companies and a multi-millionaire businessman who gives away his millions -- he also is President of High Point University in North Carolina. It is there that this one man has single handedly inspired his team to literally transform a University in the space of less than two years. $100 million dollars raised, 10 new buildings, a tangible new spirit of 'WOW' on a campus that is doubling in applications, inquiries, and results. Nido is one of those who could speak for one minute or one hour at a moment's notice, and change your life. He's that good."

Others on the list include Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Rick Warren, Tavis Smiley and Jon Stewart. Oh, yeah, and Angelina Jolie. Hey, looking good is communicating, too.

Check out the Worst Communicators list. It includes well-deserved mentions for Nancy Grace, Barry Bonds, Mel Gibson, George Allen, O.J. Simpson and George W. Bush.

I doubt there was another North Carolinian anywhere close to making the list of Best Communicators. Nido -- yes, around here one name suffices -- really is a star.

John Edwards doesn't get a mention in Peter Brown's Second Opinion column today, but he could have. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, writes that bashing Wal-Mart is a losing issue for Democratic presidential candidates.

Edwards has been a leading Wal-Mart basher, even proclaiming a personal and family boycott of the giant retailer.

The Quinnipiac polling confirms what I've already written. Most Americans like Wal-Mart, and they're not going to stop shopping there because a politician -- who can afford to shop at the most expensive high-end stores -- campaigns against it.

I was surprised by the finding that Americans recognize what's behind the anti-Wal-Mart crusade. The Democratic candidates are angling for the backing of big labor, which desperately wants to unionize the country's No. 1 employer. Not at all incidentally, if that happens a lot more union dues would accrue to Democratic coffers.

Personally, I'm not for or against Wal-Mart. I almost never go there. But I sure don't look down on anyone who does shop there. People go to spend less, and what they save there they can spend somewhere else -- maybe even buy a newspaper.

What Americans aren't buying is the effort to make Wal-Mart a political punching bag.

Plus, as Edwards learned in November, Wal-Mart can punch back.

In fact, it announced a national counterattack today.

The past year was tumultuous for the Greensboro Police Department, but the city's crime rate was virtually unchanged from 2005. The number of "Part 1 offenses" -- murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larcency and auto theft -- increased 0.5 percent, according to department stats.

That did bring the total number to the highest level since 1998. Crime took a substantial dip in 1999 and 2000 and has been inching back up since then.

There were 30 homicides recorded in the city last year, compared to 32 in 2005. The average for the past 10 years is 25.7.

The Carolina men's basketball team will hold on to its No. 1 ranking for a while. The most dangerous games I see on its schedule for the rest of the regular season are at Clemson Jan. 17 and at Arizona Jan. 27.

Theoretically, it is possible for Clemson to remain unbeaten -- the Tigers don't play in Chapel Hill this season.

The Cary High School student who put hydrochloric acid in a teacher's water bottle faces criminal assault charges. Beyond that, he should never be allowed to attend a public school again. The teacher took a mouthful of the poisoned water but spit it out before swallowing, thank God.

Events in Somalia are confusing, but it seems like a good move for the U.S. to use air power to back up the Somali government's military offensive against Islamist/Al-Qaida guerrillas. The Somali people have been under the thumb of terrorist thugs for too long, and it's good to wipe them out before they infiltrate into neighboring Kenya. If some were involved in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, all the better.

Since the N&O reported the story of Harnett District Court Judge James Ethridge today, I've talked to a couple of people at the state's Administrative Office of the Courts trying to get a handle on the problem.

Ethridge was disbarred by the North Carolina State Bar in October. AOC won't let him hold court. But he hasn't been removed from office, and he's still drawing paychecks at a rate of $101,000 a year.

It's a very interesting case, one that possibly has never come up before or will happen again.

OK, this ought to be simple. The guy is disbarred. He's no longer a licensed lawyer, so how the heck can he be a judge? His dismissal ought to be automatic.

Well, let's look at what the state constitution says.

"Article IV, Sec. 22. Qualification of Justices and Judges.

"Only persons duly authorized to practice law in the courts of this State shall be eligible for election or appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge of the Court of Appeals, Judge of the Superior Court, or Judge of District Court. This section shall not apply to persons elected to or serving in such capacities on or before January 1, 1981."

Notice, this refers to eligibility for election or appointment to judicial office, not to holding that office. AOC Deputy Council Pam Best confirmed my interpretation that, while this would prevent Ethridge from running again for the bench, it probably doesn't disqualify him from serving as a judge.

The explanation takes us back to the history of this constitutional provision, which you'll notice only went into effect in 1981. Before then, incredibly, a person did not have to be a lawyer to be a state judge in North Carolina. When the constitutional measure was enacted, it raised the bar for new judges but allowed nonlawyers to serve out their terms. That's why it didn't say someone had to be a licensed lawyer to serve.

OK, but surely a sitting judge can be removed for cause. Absolutely. The state constitution, in Article IV, section 17, says:

"(1) Removal of Judges by the General Assembly. Any Justice or Judge of the General Court of Justice may be removed from office for mental or physical incapacity by joint resolution of two-thirds of all the members of each house of the General Assembly. Any Justice or Judge against whom the General Assembly may be about to proceed shall receive notice thereof, accompanied by a copy of the causes alleged for his removal, at least 20 days before the day on which either house of the General Assembly shall act thereon. Removal from office by the General Assembly for any other cause shall be by impeachment.

"(2) Additional method of removal of Judges. The General Assembly shall prescribe a procedure, in addition to impeachment and address set forth in this Section, for the removal of a Justice or Judge of the General Court of Justice for mental or physical incapacity interfering with the performance of his duties which is, or is likely to become, permanent, and for the censure and removal of a Justice or Judge of the General Court of Justice for wilful misconduct in office, wilful and persistent failure to perform his duties, habitual intemperance, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, or conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute."

I especially like the parts about moral turpitude and habitual intemperance. But what about Ethridge? You could say his conduct "brings the judicial office into disrepute," but that seems to imply conduct while in office.

Consider the "habitual intemperance" part. Suppose someone had a drinking problem but sobered up. Then he was elected to the bench. At one time he might have been guilty of habitual intemperance, but surely the constitution doesn't mean that a recovering alcoholic is unfit to serve as a judge. So it seems to me there's a legitimate question as to whether this provision allows the impeachment of a judge whose misconduct occurred before he was a judge.

I think the authors of the constitutional language failed to anticipate a situation like this one. The legislature should rewrite Article IV, section 22 to make it certain that a disbarred lawyer cannot serve as a judge. The change would have to be approved by the electorate, which I hope would be no problem.

In the meantime, AOC is seeking help from the Attorney General's Office. There might be some legal remedy to this dilemma that isn't readily apparent.

One solution, obviously, would be for Ethridge to resign. That would be the ethical thing to do. Maybe he will, although I'm told he has appealed his disbarment, so I suppose there are issues of due process in play. At the moment, though, he is disbarred, and that should mean automatic and immediate removal from office.

My column today:

"I'm not going to let Durham's view in the minds of the world to be a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl in Durham" -- Mike Nifong, April 2006.

For a few weeks after the incident at a rowdy off-campus party last March 13, that was exactly the image of Durham: a city of spoiled white athletes carousing through an unreconstructed South. Many were eager to embrace and exploit that depiction.

It probably could have happened as easily in Greensboro as in Durham. ...

Darn George W. Bush. He never should have ordered our military to go into Iraq, and then he botched the job.

But how do we fix the mess? With a troop surge and new tactices, as he proposed last night?

A couple of other options are to continue what's not working now, or to admit we're beaten and start pulling out.

The second course is absurd. I'm afraid the third will leave matters as two area National Guardsman said on our front page today:

Chris Williford: "It's going to be an abomination against the soldiers we're already lost if we pull out now. Their death would be pointless."

Ivan Alston: "If we leave, it's going to be a terrorist haven."

But will the new effort work any better, or will it just sacrifice more brave Americans in a hopeless cause?

I'm engrossed in Martin Gilbert's latest book, "The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War." The English and French generals behind the 1916 Western Front offensive believed they could achieve a breakthrough if they could just pour more men and machines at the enemy, that they'd win the war of attrition that was claiming thousands of lives every day at its peak. What a disaster.

Yet, somehow, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress the next year decided it was a compelling national interest to throw American troops into that meat grinder. More than 50,000 were killed in battle before "victory" was achieved in November 1918.

What is the "victory" we want to accomplish now, and how will we know it?

From a humanitarian perspective, you could argue that the Iraqi people need protection against the terrorists, as much as or more so than the people in Darfur need protection from Sudanese government-backed guerrillas there. Some of the same politicians who say we have to get out of Iraq now want us to intervene militarily in Sudan. What's the difference?

Maybe we should conclude that the Iraqi people aren't worth saving, that we simply can't stop them from killing each other, and that the only sane and prudent course is to get out. It's hard to see how doing that will leave anything but long-term destablization there. But it also might be that we can't afford to do better.

Your opinion?

Everybody's saying something about Deena Hayes and her "slavemasters and slaves" remark. I don't need to add anything to that conversation.

I'm more concerned about her attitude as suggested by this part of her statement delivered at the Dec. 19 school board meeting:

"When you take a community or a program whose participants are affluent, middle class and predominantly white, and you move them to a very vulnerable community that is working class, poor and predominantly black and of color, it can be very exploitive."

The subject was the Very Strong Needs program at Lincoln. It pulls students who are disproportionately white and from middle-class or affluent families to a school whose general population is mostly low-income and minority.

The point is that the different groups of students don't really mingle, and this creates feelings of superiority/inferiority.

I'm sorry if that's true, but I see nothing "expoitive" about it. On the contrary, it creates opportunity.

The accusation of exploitation implies that the VSN students or their families use the Lincoln community for their own benefit, leaving it worse than it was before. Has that been the experience? Or do they actually contribute to the school?

I don't know the situation at Lincoln, but it's certainly analogous to High Point Central, where former Superintendent Jerry Weast put in place an International Baccalaureate program back in the '90s. The goal was twofold: to offer a more rigorous academic experience for willing students, and frankly to entice affluent families to send their kids to or keep their kids at a struggling, inner-city school. And it had some success on both counts. A lot of kids who otherwise might have gone to private schools enrolled instead at Central.

It's true that IB students didn't sit in many classes with average students. But they did "mingle" in some courses like PE, art and music, at lunchtime and in athletics and other activities. They were all part of the same student body and had a chance to form friendships they otherwise would not have.

As for exploitation, well, I didn't see that. Instead, most of the affluent parents strongly supported the school, funding the PTA and athletic boosters programs, doing most of the work for clean-up days, volunteering in all kinds of ways.

I was involved in PTA at that time, and it was my observation that the best volunteers you could have were full-time moms who had the time, talent and energy to work really hard for the benefit of the school and all its students.

There was another advantage: Offering a strong academic program at an inner-city school expands the ownership of that school to a wider community. If there are families all over Greensboro and Guilford County who look at Lincoln as their school and care about its success, that's a big plus. It should be encouraged rather than discouraged.

That ought to build feelings of pride in the school, not shame.

When my kids were at Central, we sometimes joked about their rich classmates.

One evening when my older son was a senior, he reported that he was the only student in a certain class who didn't have a car.

Later, the younger son topped his brother. He was the only kid in one of his classes, he informed us, whose family didn't own a beach house.

Neither one of my sons ever caught up in terms of cars or beach homes. Even so, I don't think they ever felt a bit inferior.

I would have honked at the downtown war protesters, too:

"Get the heck out of the street! Honk! Honk!"

Twenty-year-old Karina Stephens, quoted by Joe Killian, appeared to be the wisest one of the bunch:

"I'm here to protest Bush and this war," she said. "But you have to know when to stop, and endangering people by standing in a street isn't going to help anyone."

Exactly.

Nine demonstrators were arrested for impeding traffic. They forced a pointless confrontation with police. One officer might have overreacted by subduing 19-year-old Kristopher Michael Hilbert with a Taser.

These folks have every right to express their opinions, but trying to block downtown traffic at rush hour was irresponsible and certainly wouldn't influence anyone's view of the war in Iraq.

I received an urgent e-mail press release today from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headlined:

Given Chance to Support Life-Saving Research, Congressman Hayes Votes Against North Carolina Families

Hayes joins President Bush in opposing advancement of stem cell research

"Hayes" is Republican Robin Hayes of North Carolina's 8th District.

The DCCC alert continued:

"'Congressman Hayes demonstrated that he is willing to put partisan politics ahead of the promise of cures for millions of Americans,' said Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 'While this Democratic Congress keeps its promise to push for new medical innovation, Hayes continues to try to put up roadblocks. Americans voted for change in November because they wanted progress, not the same old politics.'"

The statement ignores a couple of interesting facts:

1) Voters did re-elect Hayes, albeit by a narrow margin;

2) The only newly elected North Carolina congressman, Democrat Heath Shuler, voted with Hayes against the stem-cell research funding bill.

If Shuler's vote was exactly the same as Hayes', and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says Hayes' vote was "against North Carolina families," then is the DCCC saying Shuler also voted against North Carolina families?

Of course, the DCCC didn't say that. It simply ignored Shuler's vote because he's a Democrat.

So, who's putting "partisan politics" first?

I'm not going very far out on a limb to predict that shortly after a special prosecutor takes over the Duke lacrosse case, the remaining charges against Evans, Seligmann and Finnerty will be dropped.

No sensible prosecutor would go into court with an incredible accuser and no evidence whatsoever.

But that won't close the case. There's got to be some accountability for this long, loud and costly legal debacle.

Ted Kennedy's pushing for a new crackdown on tobacco companies.

Richard Burr says he'll fight him.

Any bets on the outcome?

(I think Burr will get rolled like a cheap cigarette on this one.)

I wonder what's stopping anti-smoking politicians from trying to ban tobacco products altogether.

Oh, yeah ... tax revenue.

Be careful, Teddy.

Watching the trailer for "Primeval," I couldn't tell what sort of African serial killer the movie featured. Idi Amin, maybe?

Turns out it's this, a real-life monster croc named Gustave.

OK, cancel the plans for the canoe trip on Lake Tanganyika. I'd rather take my chances with an African kitty cat.

The N.C. Court of Appeals gave new life to the case of a Greensboro Muslim woman's complaint that she wasn't allowed to take an oath on the Quran.

A unanimous decision by a three judge panel said that Syidah Mateen and the ACLU of North Carolina deserve a judgment on their contention that state law requiring a witness in court "to be sworn to lay his hand upon the Holy Scriptures" does not refer exclusively to the Christian Bible.

Their complaint had been dismissed in December 2005 by Judge Donald L. Smith in Wake County Superior Court for "lack of jurisdiction due to a lack of justiciable controversy."

The appeals court, in a ruling authored by Chief Judge John Martin and joined by Judges Rick Elmore (from Greensboro) and Barbara Jackson, expressed no opinion on the merits of the claims by Mateen and the ACLU. However, it did decide that their complaint should be heard.

I agree. This is an important case about an old tradition, or ritual, in our courts. I think there is continued value in asking witnesses to swear their truthfulness upon a sacred text (or affirming their oath if they prefer). But the practice is meaningful only if the text is held as sacred by the persom making the promise. If that's a Quran, or the Hebrew Bible, or some other holy text, then so be it. Our law should not bestow authority exclusively on one above the others.

Remember the war in Afghanistan, where the enemy really was behind the 9/11 attacks? It's not going so well, either.

U.S. officials may seek to increase troop levels there, too.

How long before anti-war activists start demonstrating for a pull-out?

Here's what I'm afraid of. After we get out of Iraq, Afghanistan once again will become the main battlefield in the war against Islamic terrorists. Al-Qaida will redouble its efforts there, and jihadists will pour in at a faster rate from throughout the Muslim world.

We should have sent enough troops in the first place to secure Afghanistan instead of shifting our focus to Iraq. But we may be fighting in Afghanistan long after we're out of Iraq. After we give up in Iraq, we can't afford to lose in Afghanistan, too, because the next front may be a lot closer to home.

As Jennifer reported yesterday, North Carolina high school students now are being allowed "unlimited" time to take state end-of-course tests.

Come on. There are limits to everything. Human endurance comes to mind.

The exams supposedly are tougher and longer. That would suggest scores will drop -- an unacceptable possibility when the governor, the State Board of Education and that pesky Judge Manning are demanding that more students pass.

What to do? Give students as much time as they need to finish. Just maybe, the kids who otherwise would lose credit because they ran out of time can answer all the questions and improve their scores.

Sure, for some, all the time in the world won't help. But lots of students get flustered when they're working under deadline pressure. If the clock isn't running, their brains might relax and work better. So let them think until they get it right. ...

As long as it doesn't take all night.

My column today:

Oprah Winfrey was blunt when asked why she spent $40 million to build a school in South Africa rather than, say, in Chicago.

"I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools (in the United States) that I just stopped going," she told Newsweek. "The sense that you need to learn just isn't there. If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school."

That's kicking some shins, but she makes a point: American children have schools. They can get a free high school education. Virtually every youngster in this country, even those living in the worst inner-city neighborhood, has educational opportunities that most children in South Africa can only wish for. ...

I have to hand it to the Democrats. They've turned this global warming problem around in a hurry.

Will Barack Obama take more Democratic votes away from Hillary Clinton or John Edwards?

Tough test tonight for both the Tar Heels and Clemson to see which team can bounce back best from a disappointing loss Saturday.

Congratulations to Guilford County Manager David McNeill, hired with strong bipartisan support -- despite opposition from Skip Alston and Carolyn Coleman. After seven months as interim manager, McNeill was the logical choice. His selection promises steady leadership and continuity.

Jim Coman is going to be a busy man. The deputy attorney general already is heading up the (hopefully nearly finished) Greensboro PD investigation, and now he's in charge of the Duke lacrosse prosecution. I wonder if AG Roy Cooper would have added the Duke assignment to Coman's workload if any charges in the GPD case were likely.

Speaking of Duke, for $25,000 the university will let you have your ashes scattered at its Memorial Garden. How much for courtside at Cameron?

Congressman Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., introduced a bill this month (H.R. 68) amending the Water Resources Development Act of 1976.

Its intent is to extend controversial beach renourishment projects -- with federal funding -- and bypass additional environmental oversight.

As explained by a Wilmington Star-News story today, the federal government long ago gave the Army Corps of Engineers authority to pump new sand on eroding beaches, but put a 50-year time limit on that authority.

For Carolina Beach, the clock began ticking in 1962. It stops in 2012. After that, further renourishment projects would have to withstand new scrutiny.

Sounds good. Not everyone thinks it's smart to pump sand onto beaches only to see it washed away by the next big storm. Besides, nature moves sand where it will; humans shouldn't interfere.

Whatever your view of that, you should appreciate the requirement to at least take another look every half-century to decide whether it makes sense to stay the same course at Carolina Beach or wherever.

But McIntyre's bill would do away with any review, authorizing the secretary of the Army to continue renourishment activity at his or her own discretion for up to 50 more years.

That doesn't seem like a good idea.

I'd say area school systems made the wrong call today to proceed on normal schedules. Driving conditions aren't safe.

There have been lots of accidents.

I passed two serious wrecks on Business 85 near Jamestown and several other cars that had spun off the road. A colleague just told me he was delayed 15 minutes by a wreck on Wendover.

Things could get worse as the day goes on.

We're not likely to have many snowy days so it would have been prudent for schools to close on this one.

The increase in "deer-human conflicts," even in urban areas, prompts the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to propose a new hunting season "open to cities, towns and villages."

The commission says:

"Numerous landowners, community leaders, legislators, and hunters are interested in reducing deer populations within many urban/suburban areas across the state. This regulation change gives municipalities another tool with which they can reduce deer/human conflicts."

The proposal applies only to bowhunting. The additional season would "open the Saturday after Jan. 1 and close the fifth Saturday thereafter."

Most importantly, municipalities would decide for themselves whether to participate.

So, what do you think? Do you want to have a deer hunting season in your town?

(We're planning an editorial stating our view.)

I'd have more respect for the state NAACP's call for restraint in the Duke lacrosse rape case if it were consistent.

"We sincerely believe that the high level of public scrutiny and controversy involved in this matter is unwarranted and threatens to pervert the truth-finding process," president William Barber said yesterday.

That marks a dramatic change in attitude. Back in August, the NAACP published on its Web site an 82-point "Duke Lacrosse Update: Crimes and Torts committed by Duke Lacrosse Team Players on 3/13 and 3/14 as Reported in the press, mainly from the Three Players' Defense Attorneys."

It was OK then, according to the NAACP, to speak out about the presumed guilt of the accused. But now that it strongly appears they're really not guilty, everyone should just shut up about it.

Gov. Easley's foot-dragging on judicial appointments is inexcusable. He's had months to evaluate candidates and make decisions. At this point, he's slowing down the administration of justice in Guilford County and elsewhere.

I met Art Buchwald once but was more impressed the second time I saw him, back in the '80s. He was having lunch at the Maison Blanche restaurant in Washington with Lauren Bacall.

They looked like an odd couple for sure, but the witty writer with a thick Brooklyn accent and thicker cloud of cigar smoke swirling around him could charm anyone, even a sultry, sophisticated Hollywood legend.

He was funny and wise and had a way of cutting bigshots down to size and even making them smile while he did it. At a time when there's too little humor in the news anymore, he'll be missed.

Not surprisingly, Buchwald left this farewell column.

Thanks, Art.

The Google facility promises much-needed good-paying jobs for Lenoir, a town where economic fortunes rose and fell with Broyhill Furniture.

Lenoir's a nice town, and it's been in danger of becoming little more than a place for people driving to Boone to stop for gas and a hamburger.

The governor justifiably touts this announcement as very good news for North Carolina.

Indeed it is, although the price of $100 million in state and local incentives is immense. We're talking about 210 jobs. Google reportedly will receive huge breaks on local property taxes for 30 years.

What's it going to cost North Carolina to get a Toyota auto plant -- a billion dollars?

Addendum, Jan.. 20: The proposed incentives for HondaJet look like a much better deal.

That irresponsible Fox TV network has done it again. Its new season of the popular drama "24" portrays terrorists as being Muslim.

This has drawn familiar complaints.

As well it should. Muslims are not terrorists, and terrorists are not Muslims. Terrorists are some other people, maybe Polynesians or even Icelanders.

(Actually, I remember some movies that portrayed Irish Republican Army terrorists as being Irishmen, which offended me, so I know how Muslims feel.)

Anyway, the problem is, it would offend Polynesians and Icelanders, as it does those of us of Irish heritage, to portray them as being terrorists, even if they are. My guess is the producers and writers of "24" picked on Muslims because they think of Muslims as being good sports. Unfortunately, they've gone too far by having their Muslim bad guys commit a series of terrorist bombings, which is completely absurd.

Maybe Fox can ease concerns by having Kiefer Sutherland deliver another heartfelt disclaimer urging viewers not to make false assumptions about Muslims but to watch out for Polynesians and Icelanders.

Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have just made it possible for millions to attend college at less cost by cutting interest rates on federally subsidized student loans.

Or that's what everyone seems to believe.

Writing for Reasononline, Jacob Sollum offers another view.

In his article, he notes studies showing that colleges simply raise tuition to absorb most of the additional grant and loan dollars available to students.

One thing I know about financing college education is that it's like filling a tub with water from different containers. You have a scholarship container, a grant container, a loan container, a work study container and a container for the tuition you pay. The water has to fill the tub, no more and no less. Sometimes, if you obtain a larger loan, the college will reduce your grant by that amount so that the level in the tub remains the same. It's all really complicated, and sometimes you feel like drowning yourself.

Anyway, Sollum also makes a more philosophical point: That, because a college education raises a graduate's lifetime earning potential by such a tremendous amount, the debt load that most accumulate by borrowing for tuition is far from unreasonable and not deserving of government subsidy.

To that I would add: Wouldn't it make more sense if the feds used the same money to help subsidize home mortgage loans? Doing that might make a bigger difference in the lives of ordinary Americans.

Anyway, if most of the additional college loan subsidy dollars are simply enabling colleges to raise tuition, and college students' future earning power means most of them really can afford to borrow at market rates, are we making a smart investment?

Politically smart, maybe, unless struggling homeowners paying 8 percent on their home loans figure out they're subsidizing future lawyers and accountants who are getting tuition loans at 3.4 percent.

Jo Boykin's letter prompts a good discussion on the letters blog today.

She writes that, because President Bush refuses to listen to the American people who want our troops out of Iraq now, hundreds more Americans and thousands more Iraqis will die.

I'm not arguing one way or the other here about the deployment of our troops, but I have to ask why anyone thinks Iraqi lives will be saved if we get out soon. I think the opposite will occur: many, many more Iraqis will be killed in unrestrained fighting, even Shiite-on-Sunni genocide, if we leave with things as they stand now.

Americans demanding immediate withdrawal of our forces should consider that possibility and be prepared to accept it.

"This is not productive, guys. Let's move on."

Margaret Banks used that quote by Yvonne Johnson to close her fascinating story today about the City Council's discussion of Truth and Reconciliation at its retreat Saturday.

Mayor Keith Holliday revealed that, after consulting with Sandy Carmany, Florence Gatten, Tom Phillips and Mike Barber, he concluded there wasn't majority support on the council for crafting an official reply to the Truth & Reconciliation Commission's report issued last spring.

That drew frustrated, perhaps even angry responses from Johnson and Goldie Wells, who had understood the mayor was still working -- albeit very slowly -- on making some kind of proposal for further council action.

After some testy exchanges, Johnson concluded that the discussion wasn't getting anyone anywhere.

I took her comment to mean that there wasn't any point in continuing an acrimonious debate at yesterday's retreat. But her statement probably has broader meaning. At this point in the life of Greensboro, N.C., one could reasonably say of attempts to prompt more general dialogue about the meaning of Nov. 3, 1979: "This is not productive, guys. Let's move on."

The public has had ample time to digest the report and react to it. The apparent lack of interest has been overwhelming. That a majority of City Council members wants to proceed no further undoubtedly reflects the attitude of most Greensboro residents.

The report is done, and it does add significantly to the base of knowledge about the Klan-Nazi killings. It's available to all who want to learn. For that contribution to the city's historical record, commissioners and their staff deserve thanks.

What the participants in that process could not do was convince most Greensboro residents and their elected leaders that this dark chapter in the city's past requires some act of reconciliation on their part today. The report's authors couldn't lay a sense of responsibility for a 27-year-old tragedy onto people who feel little connection to it and are a lot more concerned about the problems of today.

So, yes, whatever she meant, I think Yvonne Johnson summed it up just right. It's time to move on and address the issues of 2007.

This reported incident at Guilford College is a strange and disturbing story, but we should be careful to avoid a Duke lacrosse-type rush to judgment.

Guilford College is the last place you'd think something like this alleged attack would take place.

The reported details are odd, to say the least.

More later.

Probably a lot more.

Addendum, 12:20 p.m.: Here is a new statement by the college, and our latest coverage.

We've been urging Gov. Mike Easley to hurry up and appoint someone to fill a new position for a District Court judge here in Guilford County.

It seems the governor was hasty in naming someone to the bench in Johnston County last week, The News & Observer reports.

Easley appointed Dale Stubbs Friday afternoon -- and revoked the appointment two hours later.

Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell reacted to the appointment by accusing Stubbs, a former assistant district attorney, of leniency in making plea bargains.

"He was giving away the courthouse like Santa does candy at Christmastime," Bizzell told The N&O.

Um, maybe the governor's office should have checked that out ahead of time.

Let's hope that when Easley gets around to appointing a judge here, he'll find someone who can last more than two hours.