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An e-mail heckler styling himself as Albert Einstein sent around a blast to Wake County commissioners and school board members venting his frustration with the school system's reassignment plan. A copy came in this direction as well. Suffice it to say that the gentleman doesn't think much of any plan that has diversity of students as one of its criteria.

Kevin Hill, school board vice chairman, took it upon himself to respond. He didn't argue. Hill (who also included us on the distribution list) simply wrote,

"Dear Mr. Einstein,

"Please read the attached."

What he attached was an article from Education Week, published last June. The article is titled, "Socioeconomic Integration: It's Legal, and It Makes Sense." The authors are identified as Angela Ciolfi, attorney for the JustChildren Program of the Legal Aid Justice Center, Charlottesville, Va., and James E. Ryan, a University of Virginia law professor. It's a concise piece with this point at the core: Socioeconomic integration promises "more academic benefit for less money than under alternative policies. More than 40 years of social science research shows that the socioeconomic composition of a child's school has an effect on academic performance over and above that of the socioeconomic status of the child's family." (Find the piece here.)

Socioeconomic diversity, or integration, is one of the Wake school system's goals as it prepares to shuffle several thousand students over the next three years (the need to divvy students among new schools that will be coming online also is driving the process). The school board's majority believes that keeping any school's student body from being drawn mostly from families who are poor is a way to promote academic success. The Education Week article is the sort of thing that reinforces their commitment to stay the course. Check it out. There's even a comment posted by a reader that will warm the heart of the board's critics, such as the distinguished Mr. Einstein.

Sometimes the jewels get buried in the paper. On Page 5B on Christmas Eve was a story headlined "Luxury goes underground." What a balm, knowing that the wealthy among us aren't mentioning their European vacations at cocktail parties and are wearing their Cartiers discreetly so that the rest of us don't have to feel quite so bad during this economic disaster. The best quote from the story: "If you're worth $10 million today and tomorrow you're worth $7 million,
it does something to your psyche. We're entering a time period right now where people don't want to show off their wealth.' -- Michael Brader-Araje, president of Durham luxury watch distributor Louis Moinet North Carolina

Because there's no longer a Q section -- where we used to display the year-end retrospective of N&O cartoonist Dwane Powell's cartoons -- you'll get to enjoy them on the Other Opinion page this Friday and next. Do you remember a particularly funny cartoon from the year? Tell us about your favorites. Visit Powell's online page at www.newsobserver.com/powell to jog your memory.

By the way, I'm not sure everybody understands those tabs above. Click on the CARTOONS tab to see roundups of cartoons from other McClatchy artists.

Bill Friday is 88, but you'd never know it. He still conducts interviews for his weekly television show, "North Carolina People" on WUNC-TV, and his phone never stops ringing, either at his office in Chapel Hill or at his home. The president emeritus of the UNC system served as its founding president and was there for 30 years. He's a remarkable man on all counts. Most notable to many is his modesty. If he gets a note from someone who's a fan or foe, he's liable to call them up to chat. He is still called upon for advice by some highfalutin people in government and in private business.

So I'm glad for my sake, as his friend of long-standing and for all those others who depend on him for advice that he'll be back in the saddle soon after a mild heart attack. He's doing fine and is looking forward to Christmas with his beloved Ida and their family.

I suspect if folks want to send him a note, addressing it simply to Bill Friday in Chapel Hill (27514) will suffice.

Be well, old friend.