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This week's column:

So many questions, so little time ...

The 225 local leaders and citizens who attended the One Guilford leadership symposium May 16 at High Point University obviously had a lot on their minds.

When invited to submit written questions during a panel discussion, they responded with a torrent of hand-scribbled queries and comments.

Unfortunately, the clock ran out long before the questions did.

But with an eye toward follow-up discussions (and there will be follow-ups), we've saved every precious slip of paper.

What some of them said follows below as food for future thought:

An e-mail from "Wachovia Bank" came this morning.

"Dear Customer," it reads. "Wachovia Internet Banking, is here by announcing the New Security Upgrade.

"We've upgraded our new SSL servers to serve our customers for a better and
secure banking service,against any fraudulent activities. Due to this recent upgrade,
you are requested to update your account information by
following the reference below."

Yeah, right.

One tipoff right away is the poor grammar in the note. Another is the fact that I've gotten so many similar emails allegedly from ebay, PayPal, the IRS and a score of banks I don't even do business with that I know these things are bogus.

A phone call today confirmed that in Wachovia's case.

But these suckers can look extremely official. Don't bite. If in doubt call your bank. These queries are no more authentic than those earnest e-mails from African royalty asking for your help in transferring fortunes to the U.S.

Last week, Joe Stafford basked in the school board's vote to name the elementary school in the Reedy Fork community for Challenger astronaut Ron McNair.

Stafford, a mainstay at board meetings, has long championed schools named for notable people rather than places -- and especially rather than directions and compass points.

But the McNair name may not be a done deal, Stafford fretted in a recent phone call.

He's worried that a campaign is underfoot to reverse the decision to call the school Ron McNair Elementary School at Reedy Fork.

I myself have been surprised by how passionate the opposition still is, as reflected in some letters to the editor. McNair, who died in the shuttle Challenger explosion, certainly deserves the honor. And other concerns certainly are more deserving of parents' energy and attention.

Go figure.

I'll be speaking at a conference at the University of Calgary next week on the impact of local blogs and media coverage of the Truth and Reconciliaton initiative in Greensboro.

Given the considerable chatter the T&R effort generated in blog posts and letters to the editor -- and the fact that the Truth and Reconciliation folks created their own blog -- I thought it might be instructive to solicit your reflections.

What do you think?

It's always a judgment call on letters to the editor that express potentially offensive views.

Consider a recent letter in which a parent expressed frustration at bawdy behavior at local high school graduations.

The writer made some cogent points about how rude and distracting some people's irrational exuberance can be. Then she added a line that "basically it is the black community that behaves this way."

Should I have cut that reference? Would it alter the thrust of the letter? Was she entitled to that opinion or is a racist observation? In the marketplace of ideas do such opinions need to be aired?

And was she merely reported what she has seen and heard?

One letter writer offered this reaction:

"In response to the distress caused by the lack of seeing her son graduate in a peaceful manner, I extend my sympathy. Though, admittedly, I do not understand the printed honors of her son included in her submission. Surely she is not the only mother in Greensboro who has a son or daughter graduating from High School with top honors. I failed to understand how this information affected her reasons for submitting her entry. Therefore, I must presume that the inclusion of this tidbit of information was for her personal gratification.

" I agree that this is an occasion that a parent should enjoy. I however do not agree with the connotation she made that accused an entire race of people of the years long disturbances caused at such occasions. I believe that Ms. Davis needs to take into account several factors before she can make such an inconceivable declaration. (1) Emotional states of both parents, students and friends will be elevated due to the nature of this occasion, (2) Other races are also present during commencement exercises and I think it is safe to assume that they may be the cause of their own fair share of disturbances, and (3) It is impossible to assign blame to any one race due to one person's narrow view and past experiences at commencement exercises. To make such a deduction would require that Ms. Davis be present at every commencement exercise in not only Greensboro but the entire country. Assuming the impossibility of this fact, I can safely say that she is incorrect and unfair in her assessment of the African-American race's behavior during commencement exercises. Truly I am saddened that my first editorial letter to the News and Record had to be one of such a sad circumstance. I hope that other loyal readers will not share the same experience in the future."

In a comment on the letters blog, Sue was a little more cynical (unless she was joking). The racial reference was why we published the letter, she wrote..

It was not.

The balancing act in choosing letters is a delicate process. We try to represent a wide range of different views, without passing judgment on those views, but we try not to publish mean or offensive letters. Obviously it's a subjective judgment.

In this case, did I make the right call? What would you have done?

I attended my niece's graduation tonight from Western Guilford High School, so I got a chance to see -- and hear -- firsthand how parents and friends comported themselves.

By and large they heeded repeated requests to be respectful and to not yell or hoot so long and loudly that students' names could not be heard.

In fact, they were asked not to hoot and holler at all, merely to applaud. Parents also were invited to stand when their sons or daughters' name was called.

Of course, lots of people hooted and hollered anyway. As for the racial issue a reader raised in a recent letter to the editor, the squeaky wheels seemed evenly distributed among racial and ethnic groups.

But none of the noise -- which still seems to me better suited for a sporting event -- disrupted the program or drowned out the announced names of graduates.

That said, I am not a violent person but I would like to get my hands on the people woh smuggled air horns into the coliseum Special Events Center.

What utter and complete idiots.

Interesting sights along one of my morning running routes:

An unusually high number of dead animals in the street, especially rabbits and possums.

A residence with the 10 Commandments posted out front (aha; now there's one place where it makes perfect sense to do that).

An empty rental house in a nearby neighbrhood has been marked with graffiti.

Sigh.

I'm back from from one and one-half week for vacation and it seems I've missed a lot:

Mike Nifong is disbarred. Good for him.

Barber Park is contaminated. Bad for us.

The county passes a budget that savages the county schools' request. Bad for the community and the schools.

And folks are still debating the name of the new school in Reedy Fork, plus another school name controversy arises. Maybe we ought to be like New York City and simply give them numbers (I'm joking, lest someone bring that idea up in a school board meeting).

Is Greensboro Coliseum Director Matt Brown's political relationship to Greensboro City Council candidate Kevin Green off-color?

According to city codes, which permit city employees to be politically active, Brown's possible involvement in Green's campaign breaks the rules only if he engaged in those activities on city time or when using city equipment.

Whether either of those conditions applies in this case are uncertain -- and Brown, who normally does not shy away from having his say, isn't saying anything.

In an e-mail obtained by the News & Record Brown was asked by a printer if he had "dropped the ball" on campaign posters for Green, who happens to be chairman of the War Memorial Commission, which happens to oversee the coliseum.

In another e-mail, Brown asks a local man who was a major proponent of a swim center at the coliseum, Ted Oliver, if he had considered running for the council.

Brown, who has frequently operated according to his own regulations, appears to be at it again. And again, his ultimate goal appears to be to promote the coliseum and to expand his operations there.

Whether expressly prohibited by the rules or not, Brown's activities are ethically inappropriate. What if other city department heads became involved in political campaigns? What if City Manager Mitchell Johnson or transportation director Jim Westmoreland were out recruiting candidates?

Brown needs to back off of his new role as political kingmaker. And maybe the city needs to change its rules to remove all doubt about what's appropriate and what isn't.

This isn't.

The new elementary school in the Reedy Fork community won't bear the name of Ron McNair after all.

The school reversed an earlier vote Thursday night and will name the school Reedy Fork.

Which, when you think about it, makes good sense.

Why name a school for a man who excelled in the classroom, attended college here, went on to be an astronaut and gave his life in a space shuttle tragedy when you can honor ,, . a creek?

I was not one of the people who gathered at stores as early as 4 a.m. Friday to capture the Holy Grail of the Gadget Geeks, the iphone.

iguess there is no reason to live now.

Of course, I still don't own a cell phone, which people increasingly don't believe when I tell them.

They kinda give me the same look I think I'd get if I'd said I don't have indoor plumbing.