We've devoted so much space to the Amendment One debate over the past month that many letters on other topics got overrun. Here are more than a dozen.

Some letters that got overrun by other topics.

Your breathless piece about the start-up game company Autarch (“Local developers say their role-playing game fills a long-standing niche,” Oct. 10) should scare the pants off parents not paying attention to how their children spend their time. Like the infamous Dungeons & Dragons cult, adherents to the Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS) can be easily absorbed into an imaginary world populated by evil and bizarre beings.

Likening hardcore D&D followers, and now those of ACKS, to a bowling league is like comparing punk rockers to Mary Poppins. And not antisocial? Why do they call their publication Escapist Games? They retreat into a dark, sinister and macabre world fraught with fantasies of violence, greed and mayhem. Players frequently substitute their own sense of warped reality for real human relationships. There are real dangers in these games.

Having watched youngsters become caught up in their fantasy existence and suffering the consequences, I offer a warning to parents: Be afraid, be very afraid.

Mike Hoyt
Raleigh

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The last paragraph in the Oct. 19 article “Hospital rule changes proposed” was absolutely stunning. I read and re-read it several times to be sure I had not misunderstood it. It concerns how the White House says many rules that apply to hospitals and other health care providers will be rolled back after concluding that the standards were obsolete or overly burdensome to the industry.

The paragraph said that in order to save money, “Other proposals would eliminate requirements for hospitals to keep detailed logs of infection control problems and would relieve certain organ transplant centers of the need to certify the blood type of organs donors.” Can you imagine the horrors that could occur from the elimination of these two procedures? The wonderful standards of U.S. health care would possibly revert to third-world countries’ standards.

The article also says that in order to save money patients could self-administer both hospital-issued medications and the patient’s own medications brought into the hospital. Another situation that could cause a great deal of confusion and medication errors.

Annette Rose
Smithfield

Editor’s note: The quoted paragraph concluded by stating, “Hospitals would still have to investigate outbreaks of infections, and other medical experts would check on donors’ blood type.”

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As reported in Under the Dome Oct. 10, the plan of a group called Americans for Securing the Border to persuade presidential and congressional delegates to pledge to build a double fence the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border is an ambitious goal. And I mean getting delegates to make the pledge is ambitious. The proposed 1,969-mile double fence, to be completed by the end of 2013, is even more ambitious.

A number of questions come to mind. What materials are they considering to use for the fence? Masonry, metal, wood? How high will it need to be? In the interest of being secure as soon as possible, will one fence be completed first, and then the other? Or will both fences be constructed at the same time?

How much space between the two fences? If someone should by chance get over one fence, would he have to walk to one of the ends to get out, or will there be escape hatches every so many miles?  If so, how will the escape hatches be made secure? What is the estimated cost? Has consideration been given to asking Mexico to pay half? Finally, I’m wondering if this is really for our security or if it might be a conservative activist’s idea of job creation.

Dudley Waldner
Chapel Hill

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How can a $60 million cut in Medicaid be made into a $120 million [cut? The North Carolina legislature said it was an “accounting error” (news story, Oct. 27). If an error of that size were made in my classroom when I was teaching, it certainly would have been pointed out and corrected.

My sister, who has severe mental and physical disabilities, depends on the help that Medicaid gives to her caregivers and doctors. Now she can’t even get a new prescription for her eyeglasses. Medicaid also won’t cover the medicine she needs to help her swallow and keep down food. She can’t afford the medicine she needs for her eyes in order to heal a cyst on her lid. She can’t even afford to get her lunch at the care center she attends to help her with daily living. Why can’t someone in that legislature help with the math so that at least the huge cuts in this program aren't doubled by mistake?

Karen Kauffman Fletcher
Retired Wake County school teacher
Raleigh

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Here are most of the letters we've received since last night. Some arrived today too late and too long to see print, and some will be on tomorrow's Other Opinion page.

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I have served as a PTA president or other officer at a District 3 school for 11
of the last 16 years and was recently elected chair of the District 3 Parent Board
Advisory Council. As a registered Republican, I consider myself conservative on many issues, but I am a firm believer that our BOE should be nonpartisan and place the welfare of every student and their achievement at the top of its agenda.

I have worked with Kevin Hill for the last four years on many issues regarding
District 3 and the entire county. He prides himself on doing his homework and knowing the details. We have not always agreed on everything, but he has always listened, studied the information and made a decision based on what he believes is in the “best interest” of the children. He has always exhibited the utmost professionalism and personal integrity at every meeting I have attended, in huge contrast to the behavior I have witnessed and been personally subjected to by most members of the newest BOE majority.

There is much at stake for our children in this election. Kevin understands the
issues inside and out! He knows the parents and administrators and has the unique
insight of a former educator. He has been a teacher and/or principal at every level of
the education system in our county! Doesn’t it make sense to have one BOE member who knows firsthand the realities of educating our children? Kevin believes in schoolstability for those children already enrolled in a school and he believes that details in the newly approved choice plan can be worked out!

Conversely, Heather Losordo has lived in our county  only three years. She has scant knowledge of the issues that pertain to the people in District 3, never mind our entire county!

There is a lot of orchestrated misinformation being circulated in District 3. This
is very troubling to me. I am sure Kevin would agree that he has his flaws, but it’s time for the BOE to stop the petty political infighting and get back to educating our children!

Never has the public been so isolated from the BOE and the leaders of this school
system than they are today! Led by the current majority, this BOE has repeatedly
made decisions behind closed doors, prepared a student assignment plan in secret
and held public meetings that do not allow any discussion from the very people that
their actions effect most! This is unacceptable! Ms. Losurdo leaves me unsettled, as
she has backed all of these members since they took office two years ago! And more importantly, the thought of her backing John Tedesco for BOE Chairman renders me sleepless!

I proudly rally behind the candidate who listens to his constituents, believes
in honest answers, student achievement and the education of all the kids in WCPSS!

Don't stay home on Tuesday. Our kids are counting on you!

Jody Gross

Raleigh

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    Despite the heated controversies of the past two years, the current Republican majority school board has accomplished much. They made an excellent choice in hiring Superintendent Tony Tata. He is an excellent leader and also a man determined to identify and solve school system problems. Even Democratic icon Mayor Meeker said Tata, "was a very good choice" and he "surpassed expectations." Under Tata's leadership much has been achieved besides the new busing plan; for example, improved opportunities for minorities to take Algebra I; a reduction in the number of long term school suspensions; and the establishment of experimental single sex and K through 8 schools.

    As to a new busing plan, even the Democrats admit it is needed. The old plan bused minority students receiving subsidized school lunches out of downtown neighborhoods to make room for mainly white students to attend enhanced program magnet schools. It also attempted to keep minority enrollments in all schools below 40%. It’s no longer workable; white students are now a minority in the system and the Government will no longer allow the use of school lunch subsidy data to pick students to be bused for diversity.

    The election Nov. 8th can alter the balance of the school board. The board had been chaired by Kevin Hill prior to the last election. Evidently, he was not concerned as to how the busing of students for diversity affected the education of those students. For under his leadership the school administration did not track the achievement of students bused for diversity.

    Considering the progress made over the past two years maintaining the Republican majority on the board by electing Heather Losurdo assures continued improvement for ALL students

Morton Lurie

Raleigh

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Perhaps it was somewhat unfair to dredge up Heather Losurdo's youthful indiscretions regarding personal bankruptcy and employment as a server in a strip club.  After all, many folks do things as young people that they aren't really proud of and wish they could change.  

However, it is the very recent indiscretion that concerns me most as a voter in the 3rd district.  Do we really want a school board member representing us  who thinks it is funny to post a joke on a public social network that makes reference to our president's biracial background by likening him to a skunk and then to add the comment "LMAO"? This kind of indiscretion is far more telling concerning current character. 

I personally do not want to have this kind of attitude at the table when decisions are being made that are purportedly for the good of all students in our Wake County Public Schools. 

I challenge the voters of District 3 who think that a simple school board run-off isn't worth the time to go out and vote to please rethink that and vote  Tuesday.  It does matter and your vote is needed to make sure that all the students of Wake County are represented with integrity and respect.  Kevin Hill can has done that and should be given the opportunity to continue to do that.

Colleen Lee
Raleigh

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The contrast between the candidates for District 3 representative on the school board could not be greater nor couldstakes be higher.  Will Wake County move away from the unprecedented partisan shananigans of the last two years by re-electing Kevin Hill or will we elect Heather Losurdo and be in for at least two more years of the school board working for the interests of their rich backers who own and support charter schools and openly scorn public schools? 

Here are the candidates' qualifications.  Kevin Hill has been involved in education in Wake County since attending Sanderson High. He taught in Wake County schools for 14 years, spent another 14 years as a principal and assistant principal, and now teaches at N.C. State.  Heather Losurdo has exactly zero experience in education and has only recently moved into the area.  

Kevin Hill has been both the chairman of the school board and a vocal critic of the highly partisan antics of the current board majority which spent money foolishly, conducted meetings in secret, resorted to childish name calling, and imperiled the accreditation of our high schools. Ms. Losurdo spent her time as a leader of the Republican party. 

Even those of you who can only see issues in terms of dollars and cents can agree that the stability and reputation of our high quality schools is paramount to attracting new businesses to the area. 

Finally, I leave you with two very frightening words if Kevin Hill is not re-elected: Chairman Tedesco.
 
Dave Greune
Raleigh

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I am a retired Wake County school principal who fully endorses the reelection of Kevin Hill to the Board of Education.  I am not going to repeat all of the personal and professional qualifications that Kevin possesses.  However, I want to pose one question to the voters:  Without Kevin sitting on the board, who will be making decisions that has had any experience working in public schools?  Not a single board member or the superintendent. 

I assume all have good intentions but without a voice of experience, no one will be able to look at the unintended consequences that decisions at the board level can have. Nor will anyone be at the table to look at how a decision will actually be implemented in the schools.

Kevin, with his experience as a teacher and a principal at elementary, middle and high schools brings that experience, expertise, and knowledge that will be critical in the decision-making process.  Don't we want at least one voice of experience in this critical role?  It's your choice: experience, expertise, and knowledge or just good intentions?

Tom  Benton
Zebulon

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I am watching with serious interest the run-off in Wake Countys District 3 School Board election.  In January of this year ,I was among many in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina who voted in favor of a resolution the content of which may prove helpful to District 3 voters. The part of the resolution which, to me, speaks clearly to the decision at hand reads:  That the 195th Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina, in light of the witness of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11), believes diversity is an essential criterion in student school assignments to ensure equal education. The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina urges its bishops, priests, deacons, and lay members to work for an equitable education for all students...  We work for an equitable education for all students by our witness in the public arena and by the ballots we cast as citizens.  Those who will cast a ballot in hopes of supporting diversity in education are not alone. 

Lorraine Ljunggren
Raleigh

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I hope that voters will follow the money in the District 3 school board runoff. Heather Losurdo’s list of donors includes the usual cast of characters who do not support public education. Some of these supporters have defunded public schools at a state level and have worked against local school bonds.

Why would Art and Katherine Pope, Bob Luddy, House majority leader Paul Stam and former state Rep. Russell Capps support Losurdo? Do they expect a return on their investment?

In contrast, Kevin Hill’s list of supporters is full of citizens who support public education; a number of his donors are former teachers and principals who have devoted their lives to teaching our students.

The choice could not be more clear for District 3. Say no to special interest groups, vote for Kevin Hill.

Vickie Adamson
Raleigh

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Reading about the Wake County school board race two years ago, I felt like I was having a flashback to the ’70s. Despite the updated language of economic diversity, the issue was still neighborhood schools versus mandatory busing.

And so it goes once again in the District 3 runoff. While the costs of busing versus its putative benefits have been much discussed, the idea itself is flawed. At its core, busing for diversity is nothing more than paternalism: Send disadvantaged kids to nice schools in middle-class neighborhoods and we will take care of them.

One proven key to public school success is family and community participation. Granted, this is not easy to achieve in poor and disadvantaged communities. But one way to make sure it never happens is to bus students to distant parts of Wake County.

Proponents of mandatory busing see its continuation as the way forward. In truth, it is a sidetrack. The time has come to abandon this temporary remedy from the Nixon era and engage all families, neighborhoods and communities in the great task of educating our children.

Rob Ahlin
Raleigh

The writer was a Wake school board candidate in 1995.

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Wake County’s excellent public schools have been a pillar of our economic success; they have made our community a magnet for creative and innovative people and companies from around the world. School board member Kevin Hill served as a highly respected teacher and principal in our public schools for 28 years. By contrast, his runoff election opponent, Heather Losurdo, has no college degree and has not worked in education.

I hope we will elect the candidate who has dedicated his life to our schools, not the candidate whose backers would rather dismantle them. If Wake County’s public schools are allowed to decline, our period of economic preeminence will end, and the whole community will suffer.

Matthew Brown
Raleigh

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I hope the voters in the Wake County school board runoff election between Kevin Hill and the right wing’s latest designate to carry out its anti-public education agenda will recall that only a handful of votes for Hill would have prevented this election.

Hill, despite whatever trash is out there about him courtesy of the right wing’s surrogates and minions, is a bonafide candidate with experience and, most of all, integrity.

Please don’t take anything for granted Nov. 8. Get out and vote, or help get out the vote, for Hill.

Donald Schlenger
Cary

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The Oct. 27 letter “Margiotta is the issue” tried to incorrectly place blame for the lack of civility at Wake County school board meetings on chairman Ron Margiotta and the fact that he is not from the South. The letter-writer couldn’t be more wrong. It is so clear that the discord and acts of disobedience were very well orchestrated by those who opposed the changes being made.

From the first meeting in December 2009, the Rev. William Barber (a Southerner) led the charge in disruptions, arrests and rude behavior. It wasn’t people from New Jersey who got arrested for trespassing at board meetings. They were Southerners. As a woman who has lived in the South all of her life, I believe Margiotta was overly tolerant of this abhorrent behavior.

Pam Stevens
Raleigh
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Human resources professionals at all employment levels understand that in order to avoid “pitfalls” in hiring for any private or public positions as well as recommending or electing candidates to state and local boards, careful scrutiny of background and experience is vital. This is especially true in the Wake County school board District 3 runoff.

Board member Kevin Hill holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from N.C. State, has more than 28 years professional teaching and educational background in Wake public schools, numerous volunteer civic and local experiences and is currently an assistant professor at NCSU College of Education. Heather Losurdo has lived in Wake County for three years and, according to a Nov. 1 N&O article (“School candidate defends her resume”), has no college degree and has a history that includes a 1993 Colorado personal bankruptcy and brief work experiences as a waitress in New Orleans, service in the Air Force and in First Union banking.

Voters in District 3 have the opportunity and responsibility to complete the reversal of the 2009 deceptive assault on North Carolina’s largest and nationally recognized premier school system by returning Hill to the board. He will continue the careful planning for Wake’s current and future students and their parents.

Doris Whitfield
Raleigh

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Regarding the Nov. 2 letter “Principled stand”: The writer wrote supporting Kevin Hill and ended by stating “Reassignments would have occurred in Wake County even if there had never been a commitment to integration simply because our county didn’t plan well enough for growth.”

The board prior to 2009 was controlled by the Democratic majority, including two years with Kevin Hill on the board. Planning for growth was a major part of their job.

When I was vice chair of the Cardinal Gibbons High School board, the majority on the board wanted to put the new high school in Southeast Raleigh to enhance diversity. I persuaded them to put it instead on Wade Avenue next to the RBC Center to facilitate future growth. The new school has increased its enrollment by 400 percent there. Do you care to guess what the growth would have been now if it had been built in Southeast Raleigh?

In the runoff election, Heather Losurdo is a better choice for the board.

Winston T. Hooker Sr.

Cary

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I have been a teacher at Baileywick Elementary since the doors opened in1996. It is a wonderful small school with dedicated, caring teachers. I am very devoted to my school so you can imagine the surprise and concern I felt when I opened my mailbox recently and read a campaign flier with false statements made by Heather Losurdo concerning Baileywick.

She claims that we are a high-needs school that has been denied federal funds because of Kevin Hill. This is not true as we are currently a federally funded Title I school. Baileywick offers a rich and varied program to meet the needs of all our students. Based on 2010-2011 test scores, Baileywick was named a School of Distinction and exceeded growth, and our level IV and AIG students posted one of the highest gains in Wake County.

In addition to weekly art, music and PE classes, students enjoy clubs such as Computer Art, Cardio Power, Chorus and Digital Storytelling.

Losurdo falsely claims that our school is unable to get the funds we need because Hill will not advocate for us. Most schools in Wake County need additional funds, and Kevin Hill does support Baileywick.

Becky Norkus

Raleigh

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As a student in the Wake County Public School System, I have been closely watching the upcoming runoff election in the third district.  When I glance at Kevin Hill’s resumé, I am extremely impressed.  Hill has been an advocate for schools all of his career as a teacher, principal, and board representative.  He is in tune with the needs of parents, taxpayers, educators, and first and foremost, students. 

Additionally, Hill has lived in Wake County for over forty years.

Then I look at Heather Losurdo’s record, and my smile fades.  Losurdo lacks the necessary experience and knowledge of our system to be on the Board of Education.  After all, she has only resided in Wake County for three years.  Not to mention a vote for Losurdo is a vote for John Tedesco as chair.

I sincerely hope that the voters of District 3 will choose an experienced leader who will set a positive example for students in Wake County.  Mr. Hill is that leader.

Joseph Womble
Cary

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 A few letters that got overrun by other topics:

In our criminal justice system, certainty is often the enemy of truth. Anneliese MacPhail, the mother of Mark MacPhail, the man Troy Davis was executed for killing, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she was certain Davis killed her son. You recently reported that Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline was so certain that a man whom a deceased witness had called Little Head referred to the defendant Angel Richardson she didn’t even bother to ask the police or turn over the witness statement to Richardson’s lawyer. And prosecutors in North Carolina are so certain that men like Kenneth Kagoneyan and Robert Wilcoxson who plead guilty to serious crimes are guilty, they want to deny them an opportunity to take their cases to the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission.

As The N&O learned, Cline was wrong: Little Head was not Angel Richardson. And a three-judge Innocence Inquiry panel just exonerated Kagoneyan and Wilcoxson; their confessions were false, given to avoid the death penalty or life in prison. Truth ultimately prevailed over certainty. We likely will never know if Mrs. MacPhail is wrong. But if she is, it is too late to correct the mistake.

Shouldn’t we leave a space in our criminal justice system for the discovery of mistakes before they are irreparable?

James E. Coleman, Jr.J
Duke Law School
Durham
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The National Labor Relations Act was enacted in 1935 when total private sector union participation was over 30 percent. Today, it is less than 8 percent. It thus established the National Labor Relations Board, which is supposed to be a five-member panel to be neutral in addressing grievances between companies and unions. It also has a chief attorney who oversees and brings complaints for the board.

At present the NLRB has three members with two vacant seats. All are Obama appointees.

This nation’s economy is no longer a national economy. Companies must compete globally with foreign companies in order to survive. An American corporation owes it to its workers and shareholders to be able to produce in a competitive environment. Boeing made the choice to open a new product line in South Carolina, a right-to-work state. Even though Boeing has not eliminated one union job, the Machinists Union along with the NLRB general counsel have taken exception and are trying to force Boeing into operating only in unionized states.

One question needs to be asked of the NLRB, the Machinists Union and President Obama: What would all of you do if Boeing simply decides to close all American operations and move everything, lock, stock and barrel to China? I’m sure China would be happy to supply the moving vans!

Gary L. Evans
Fuquay-Varina
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Thanks for your fine reporting around the situation at Peace College. I do lament the choice of headlines, as they continue to suggest that the unrest at the school is about the decision to admit men and change the college’s name. While those choices were the catalyst for action, they are merely symptoms of a much greater disease.

The real focus is around institutional integrity and precipitous actions taken by the administration and Board of Trustees. The new administration swept into town, laying waste to faculty, staff and curriculum without a backward glance. Using popcorn logic and statistics that defy any practical business application, the new president convinced the board that they had a mission problem.

Examples of poor governance abound, but when three past presidents of the college publicly deplore the current decisions, it speaks volumes.

Peace’s challenges are likely more rooted in marketing than mission, but her biggest obstacle is a sitting president who is ill-suited to the task, and a board that has forgotten that their fiduciary responsibility lies with the school and not the ambitions of the president.

Glenda Kiddoo
Chapel Hill

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As a North Carolinian and supporter of gay marriage, I can say without any doubt in my mind that I have never been so appalled and ashamed in the leadership that is determining the course of our state. Perhaps it is the voice that calls for government intervention where it suits them and derails government intervention when it does not. Perhaps it is the nature of the proposed amendment itself, constitutionally preventing gays from marrying in our state. What century is this?

Now is the time, while countries like China and India collaborate and surge forward in the ways of technology and science, for Americans to teach acceptance, not exclusion. It is the time to bring our future together, gay or straight, so that we can work for the common good and promote the general welfare. A homosexual human being is just that: a human being, with every right to love and marry whomever they want.

Defense of marriage, you say? How about the pursuit of happiness? Now is the time: Narrow-minded ideologies and exclusive discrimination can take their leave; the time for equality has arrived.
 

Graeme Peterson
Raleigh

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Conservative political rhetoric that America can’t address climate change with a depressed economy must be questioned.

Based on progress on both fronts in Germany, the largest European economy, unemployment fell there in August for a 26th straight month. The jobless rate held at 7 percent, the lowest since Germany reunified in 1991.

Simultaneously, according to the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, as of the end of August, 20.8 percent of Germany’s power came from renewable sources. Under the visionary leadership of Norbert Röttgen, minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety, Germany has adopted a policy that it must have a safe and affordable energy supply that isn’t irresponsible to future generations. The nation has adopted an energy plan that will end the use of nuclear energy by 2022.

Currently, German companies hold the largest share, 16 percent, of the global market for environmental technology, and some 1.8 million new jobs have been created in environmental and energy technology.

It is time also for Americans to reject business-as-usual scenarios with dependence on fossil fuels and demand that our elected officials unite on an energy plan based on greatly increased energy efficiency and safe, clean renewable energy sources.

Carl W. Sigel
Chair, Steering Committee, North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light
Raleigh
 

And the letters about the Sept. 2 guest column by staff writer Katelyn Ferral's unhappiness about Southern food just keeping coming:

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After reading the guest column by Katelyn Ferral, I feel compelled to defend the Southern culture from another unwarranted Yankee attack.  Actually, what I feel compelled to do is correct the egregious misconceptions about Southern food.  Ill start with the delusions about the biscuit.

Apparently Ms. Ferral has all Southerners confused with either Bojangles or Biscuitville.  The biscuit is not the sun in our solar system -- it is the bread that traditional Southern ladies learn to bake at their mothers' side from early childhood.  It is the traditional baked good because it can be made in a relatively short time period and doesn't require either yeast or proofing.  The reason we may fill it with meats is the same that induced the Earl of Sandwich to put roast beef in his bread in the early 1700s, convenience.  However, it is still just bread and no more served at every meal than sub sandwiches are in Philadelphia or pizza in New York City.  

As to her claim that pork chops are a staple for the breakfast biscuit, I can only say that she must be spending too much time at the aforementioned fast food restaurants because I have NEVER seen that combination served for breakfast and my family has lived in the south since the Earl of Sandwich invented his revolutionary food item.

Gray gravy? Really?!  No self-respecting Southerner would ever serve a gravy that is gray.  Again, reference where she must be getting her southern foods; its apparently not from a true Southern kitchen.  Furthermore, Southerners certainly have not cornered the market of gravy on breads.  Think chipped beef on toast or google gravy bread and check out all of the offerings listed, none of which have their roots in Southern culture.

Now to the most inaccurate portion of the article:  the truly appalling discussion regarding grits is based on an entirely erroneous premise.  Grits are not cereal!  They are not analogous to cream of wheat or to oatmeal, much less Cheerios or Honey Bunches of Oats; we would never put sweetener on them.  Grits as a side dish are comparable to rice or pasta. Moreover, comparing grits to mashed cornmeal is the same as saying that cream of wheat is mashed flour.  Are you kidding me?  That said, all of the disparagements regarding what to serve with grits are totally meaningless and merely serve to illustrate Ms. Ferral's ignorance.

Finally, Ms. Ferral closes her opinion piece with the conclusion that she does like something about the food from the region where she has chosen to make her home.  She likes sweet tea.  Perhaps she is unaware, bu, tea is not a food, it is a beverage.  Of course, that misconception is right in line with all the other misconceptions  she espoused in that flawed and offensive discourse published by The News & Observer on Friday.  It is also typical of the condescending attitude that makes Southerners resent those outsiders whose mouths outrun their brains, bless her heart!

Sarah Homes
Raleigh

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The guest column on 9-2-11 by Katelyn Ferral was insensitive, to say the least.  She is entitled to her opinion of foods, but she overlooked a major issue:  Food has deep emotional connections.  Some foods mean love/home/roots, and the subjects of her ire are some of these.  Many North Carolinians grew up rural and poor.  Supper may have consisted of biscuits and gravy. The country ham is salty and dry because that was the only way to preserve meats before electricity was available … the iceman did not make house calls outside the city.  People tend to eat what is cheap and available.  The high salt diet is not healthy in our modern air-conditioned world, but it helped prevent sodium depletion in a hot climate where physical labor outdoors could be deadly.

I would guess that each region has cultural oddities that outsiders might find peculiar, but an open mind about food origins might be helpful to the reporter.  Reared by a Canadian mother, I was biscuit-deprived except for yearly visits to Raccoon Valley, Tenn., where my Mamaw served them up at every meal.  The cold ones did not last long, waiting in the cupboard to be snatched by grands on the way through the kitchen.  My mother-in-law made excellent biscuits also, squeezing perfect lumps of dough between her fingers and nesting them neatly on the pan.  I took notes on both these kitchen queens and came up with a reasonable offering.  My husband grew up with a slice of tomato in a biscuit.  I laughed, but tried it, and became a convert.  Our son in Austin, Texas, has made converts to this delicacy with many of his friends there.

Loosen up, Wisconsin.  Maybe those frigid winters have caused a brain fart.  Many of our snowbird transplants like shrimp and grits.  You might even like biscuit and tomato, who knows?  WANT A GOOD BISCUIT RECIPE?

Mary B. Slaughter, RN
New Bern

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I feel insulted, frankly, angered, by your guest columnist Katelyn Ferral’s comments. What was the point of this column? Is she trying to be funny? She’s not.  I think she needs to do some research about the history of the South and why some foods were created before passing judgment on the foods of the area.

Most regions worldwide have foods that are unique to a particular area, and chances are, they’re not healthy, but they fed families in hard times. Take Cincinnati. Chili over spaghetti?  Or Pittsburgh where they put the French fries inside the sandwich!  These may sound crazy if you didn’t grow up eating them, but there is a reason these foods are still around. 

Maybe she should look at some of Wisconsin’s famous foods. The “Cannibal Sandwich”? (Raw ground beef with onions served on bread)  At least we cook our hamburgers in the South! 

I’m not even going to comment on her ignorance about shrimp and grits. She’s just lucky that she didn’t write her opinion down in the South Carolina Low Country! If she doesn’t like the foods that fed our region since it began, she doesn’t have to eat them!

Suzanne Menius
Durham

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It is a shame this columnist did not take the time to do a little research on the foods and the region she ridiculed.  Perhaps she thought the column was humorous. Sometimes it is better, as the saying goes, to remain silent and appear ignorant rather than speak and remove all doubt. 

Oh, and that whistling sound she is probably hearing are some "big ol' ball of carbs" coming her way.  She needs to go back home to Wisconsin, which I imagine is a wonderful place full of wonderful people with tasty regional/ethnic foods.

Janice Dawson
New Bern

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Your guest column by Katelyn Ferral denigrating Southern food (and by extension Southern people) was offensive in so many ways I don't know where to begin.  I can only assume it was the result of ignorance or perhaps bad manners. 

Southern food choices developed over time as a consequence of a primarily rural agraian society, where corn was a major source of food for both livestock and southerners.  Livestock that could forage, pigs and chickens, were favored. 

Who wakes up and wants high carbs and pork?  People who will spend all day working outside, farming.  They need the calories to make it through the day.  All of us may not spend all day at manual labor, but our parents and grandparents did, and their food became our food. 

Bratwurst is an OK food, but not nearly as good as a red hot dog all the way.  I see no need to make fun of brats, however. 

If Ms. Ferral is in fact not ignorant of Southern heritage, then it must be a manners problem.  Sorry about that - Our mamas taught us better.  She should be aware that the road from Wisconsin runs both ways.  

Frank Proctor
Cary

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Okay, I'll bite. Some Southern cook was bound to do it. The guest column, "Kiss mah grits"  (which seemed anything but pleased with grits - "a flavorless...mash") seemed intent on bashing our biscuits and other main stays of Southern cooking. The harshest insults were aimed at country ham ("it really shouldn't be considered food for humans"), cheesy grits and biscuits with gravy ("who wants to eat soppy bread?").

Oh, honey. Somebody must've eaten a bad biscuit!

Well, in defense of bisuits and gravy, the dense structure of Southern biscuits allows them to take gravy without getting soggy (people around here eat them so fast they don't have time to get soggy) - also, there's always sausage involved, either in or with the gravy.

I don't really know how to explain cheesy grits - they just taste good. Grits, by the way, are not considered "cereal" in the South - it's more like polenta, which is commonly served with meat (even in the North, I believe). Really, I would go so far as to class grits along with mashed potatoes.

Anyway, somebody needs to take this columnist out to Bojangles and show her what she's been missing! They also have great sweet tea there...
 
Rachel Armstrong
Knightdale

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My wife and I come from families whose roots in North Carolina go back to the late 1600s. We found the column to be offensive in the extreme. Instead of subjecting a topic the writer knows nothing about to ridicule and derision, I strongly suggest that she educate herself as to why the foods she so cavalierly insulted (and by extension all native North Carolinians) became food staples associated with this state.

    North Carolina was settled primarily by English and Scots-Irish who created farms throughout the state where corn was a common crop. When one is hungry, one eats what is available; hence grits. The common farm animal was swine and therefore all parts of that animal that could be eaten were used. Hams were salted so that they would be preserved into the winter as a food source. Since there were no Harris Teeter stores on every corner, one had to create bread as one could using available ingredients; hence biscuits. If you were to attend any function in the home of a North Carolinian, you find that the table dish sought after by all was the "ham and biscuit" because it is a traditional staple. The "biscuit and gravy" (ham or chicken) was also a traditional staple.

    I could go on and on, but I'm too polite. I'll close with two thoughts. First, all areas of this country have their traditional dishes handed down from the original settlers of that region. Having lived also in Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, I can assure you that each of them has unusual dishes. The people who live there like them, and it's what makes them "them." For outsiders to criticize is RUDE.  Second, go to a good Southern restaurant and try various dishes ... you might be pleasantly surprised. 

    Finally, for those  who have chosen to move to our state: If you do not like our traditional food then do not eat it, but don't look down on those of us who were raised on it and enjoy it.

John Broughton

Cary

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Friday's Guest Column "Kiss mah grits; is this food ?" was in very bad taste (pun intended.)

Ms. Ferral may have aimed at humor but missed the mark by insulting a culture.  I personally don't eat biscuits with whatever, but the origin of biscuits and grits probably stemmed from availability of flour and cornmeal to fill empty bellies during hard times.

My Wisconsin family struggled during the Great Depression, and we ate beans and cabbage, cornmeal with salty milk, lung soup, blood soup, blood sausage, kidney stew, liver and onions and ... boiled tongue.

Instead of mocking other cultures, the world would be a kinder place if we all tried to understand them. I call that a recipe for harmony.

Eve Shy
Efland

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In response to Ms. Ferral's column of Sept 2 regarding inedible Southern food, I have just a few observations.

First, it is obvious that she was not raised in the South. While we are teaching our children to bake flaky biscuits, we are also teaching them to be polite; this does not include belittling another's culture.
 

Then it occurred to me that since she is so disgusted with our podunk ways, perhaps she should return to the sophisticated Midwest, where it is considered the height of fashion to wear a wedge of cheese on one's head.
 

Finally, if this leaves Mr. Quarles in need of a guest columnist article every two weeks, I have a cat with more cultural sensitivity than Ms. Ferral. In additon, Sassy will work cheaper - she will accept shrimp and grits as payment.

Rhonda Catlin
Garner

It's been awhile since we had a topic that brought one letter after another all morning. Guest columnist Katelyn Ferral, an N&O staff writer from Wisconsin, got folks riled up with her column questioning Southern food. Enjoy a taste and add your own comments:

We get far more letters than we can print. Here are some that got overrun by other topics:

July 30 marked the 46th anniversary of the Medicare program. Medicare is representative of old age in America to most of those who receive it and disability coverage for others. It now includes health coverage and economic security for seniors and their families. As we celebrate this anniversary, lawmakers in Washington are poised to make deep cuts to the Medicare program as part of an effort to reduce the federal debt.

Few programs have seen the unqualified success that Medicare has. With good reason, Medicare is especially important to vulnerable older patients with multiple chronic conditions. Their care is complex and often expensive. Health reform is only making the Medicare program stronger.

I am active in the Campaign for Better Care, which is recommending that lawmakers look to reduce costs by improving the quality and coordination of care for our oldest and sickest patients. Rather than cutting this essential program in ways that threaten Medicare as we know it, by reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions and hospital-acquired infections, and paying only for high-quality care, we can save billions of dollars.

That’s a much better way. We need to preserve and protect the Medicare program that seniors, the disabled and their families rely on.

Patricia Baker
Knightdale

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Your “Mallard Fillmore” comic strip just keeps getting worse and worse, increasingly and outrageously partisan, and personally smearing of our elected president. It is not funny, especially in this most fractiously partisan time in our nation’s history. The strip’s making up ridiculous “quotes” from President Obama for things he hasn’t actually said is way over the top in lack of fairness. It wouldn’t be quite as bad if you put the strip on the opinion page, but its total lack of subtlety and humor would be a waste of space. I’d like to keep my subscription of 21 years, but this embarrassing partisanship in the funny papers during these frightening times is pushing me to the brink.

Terry Eason
Pittsboro

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Your July 25 Science & Technology section included a nice report on the production of 2.5 million pounds of hybrid bass in North Carolina, worth about $10 million. It was pointed out that the former director of N.C. Sea Grant, Dr. Ron Hodson, was instrumental in initiating the crossing of wild striped bass with the fast-growing white bass that flourishes in deep waters of freshwater lakes. I have known Ron for nearly 30 years and his charisma and devotion to North Carolina freshwater aquaculture research is praiseworthy.

Prof. Craig Sullivan of N.C. State University wisely follows Ron Hodson’s original initiative on hybrid bass genetic studies. However, it is also important to recognize Dr. Howard Kerby of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who first introduced hybrid bass research in North Carolina while stationed at NCSU.

There is substantial promise to enhance hybrid striped bass aquaculture in Falls Lake, Jordan Lake and Kerr Lake, and obviously this dream hinges on restoring the health of these freshwater bodies that are becoming a victim of nutrient overloading. Falls Lake is an umbilical cord for the Triangle community and provides drinking water for half a million people. Let us encourage all stakeholders to remain vigilant to keep Falls Lake healthy.

Robert Y. George, Ph.D.
Wake Forest

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The caption under a July 30 photo said, “Students won’t have to suffer through an extra five days of school this year.” Is that really the message we want to send? That students have to suffer through school? Education is a privilege, and they should be grateful for it.

Joel and Amy Huenemann
Cary

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I would like to commend the state House for their override of the governor’s veto of legislation that would require a woman to receive additional information prior to having an abortion. While categorized as a restriction, the legislation is anything but. While the option of abortion is still law, a final override will allow for a more informed decision about a procedure that will alter two lives. How can anyone argue against education?

Is one’s life not worth a little education, and is a life not worth at least 24 hours? I’m sorry if the life created is an inconvenience and I’m sorry if a little education and a 24-hour waiting period keeps someone from getting their body back or keeps them from getting back to the grand life they had planned. Decisions have consequences.

I am sure that Rep. Alma Adams, D-Guilford, is thankful that her mom didn’t need any further education in her decision to carry the creation in her womb to full term.

I am thankful that Adams’ mother felt that the life she helped create was more important than the other aspects of her life or her body.
Representatives, it’s about personal courage, not politics.

James Wagner
Mount Airy

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The July 15 photo of John Edwards leaving a federal courthouse could have been one of a jocular “Three Amicis.” Yet the article spoke about three of the most skilled legal entities in the entire state of North Carolina and their daunting task to defend one of their own against “complex charges.” They must meet this challenge in a mere few months! Though the charges have been known for months.
Money laundering. Campaign finance violations. Betrayal. Perjury. Not to mention megalomania.

I see two ways to solve their problem without delaying the trial.

1) Hire the lawyers who defended Meg Scott Phipps and/or Jim Black and/or Mike Easley. They were aware of how badly their clients had screwed up. But they didn’t feign challenge overload.

2) Just plea bargain for simple possession of a controlled substance and throw his butt in jail for five to 10.

The residents of North Carolina will be satisfied. And we will have saved a ton of money that can be better allocated to helping the ever-growing number of Part B members of the “Two Americas” who are delinquent on their mortgage payments due to lost jobs. That would be something to smile about.
 

Mike Webb
Wake Forest

Letters about the debt debate have abounded over the past few weeks. Here are 10 more:

Hedge fund manager John Paulson made $5 billion last year. House Speaker John Boehner and the tea party believe he deserves preferential tax treatment. They want us to believe all federal revenue increases are bad and that all tax reductions will increase jobs. They are so committed to this they will allow our government to default before charging hedge fund managers income tax on their income.

On the state level, budget cuts directly put 31,600 out of work while the private sector generated 28,900 jobs. Unemployment payments go up; consumer spending drops.

Hedge funds seek short term share-value increase by forcing layoffs, reduced R&D and maintenance. Boehner and the tea party say this is okay.

Paulson’s company employees gave John Boehner’s campaign fund $61,950 in June, 2011. Have you asked your elected representatives who is watching out for you?

Bill Brooks
Cary
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The tea party is insisting on a balanced budget amendment. Republicans have run up the majority of the national debt. Now they want the government to live within its means just like regular people. First, regular people wouldn’t go to the boss and ask for a pay cut, just like cutting taxes reduces government income. Taxes are at the lowest since World War II. Second, borrowing is essential to growing wealth. If people were not allowed to borrow to buy homes, cars, etc., they would rarely ever be able to afford those purchases. I learned this in Economics 101.

Since Republicans refuse to raise any additional revenue, come Aug. 3 if no deal is reached, we’ll know exactly what it's like to have a balanced budget. I wonder how many people will like what’s happening?

Jim Riley
Youngsville

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If the United States defaults, Congress and the president should be the first ones not paid. In the real world, they would be fired, but I guess we’ll have to wait until the 2012 elections to do that.

Tom Waring
Raleigh
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Following President Obama's call to contact our members of Congress regarding a balanced approach to solving the debt crisis, email contact with House and Senate members was impossible; the House and Senate websites were temporarily down, most likely because millions of citizens like me were trying to send the same message at the same time:

I support a balanced approach to addressing the federal debt and budget problems. Tax increases are needed, as well as spending cuts that are fair and across the board.

Tim Wildfire
Durham
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Our nation is at serious risk of falling into another recession that will make the last one seem like a small bump in the road. The so-called tea party Republicans are blocking any bipartisan compromise that could help invigorate an already sluggish recovery and keep us from defaulting on our debt obligations.

They were not elected to hold a gun to the heads of other Republicans and, in effect, every other citizen just because they can't have their way. They were elected to represent the people of their districts and help run the government, but they are failing in this task.

I cannot believe that a majority of tea party supporters want our country to fall into another, deeper recession by defaulting on its financial obligations. If they do, then we are in for a disastrous future with a misguided and misinformed electorate sending like-minded people to Washington.

It is time for the tea party Republicans to stop playing political games, step up to the plate and do what is right for our nation, for all citizens of our nation.

Sam Worley
Raleigh

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We all need to be calling our representatives to support the president with his budget proposal. I’m very upset thinking about the bait and switch tactics of the speaker of the House.

How easy it is to blame the current president for the problems left from the past one – namely the Iraq war and the hundreds of billions it has cost our country, $2 billion a week!

Someone is going to have to pay for this, and just cutting back spending is not going to do it. No one wants more taxes, but President Obama’s proposal is about taxing only the top 5 percent and those who have gotten tax cuts (like the oil companies making billions lately).

I just don't understand why the Republicans are so against this, unless they are being pressured by the oil companies and super-rich to completely avoid these taxes.

So those Republicans not in the top 5 percent have nothing to worry about. (I do, because I am in that percentile – but I don’t mind paying my fair share.)

Carolyn Aaronson
Durham

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In reference to William H. Chafe’s July 16 Point of View article “Under Clinton, the budget balanced” and to a supporting letter of July 31 (“Showing surplus”):

The error in both is they presume the debt held by the public is the total debt of the federal government, which is not the case. There also are intragovernmental holdings or the Social Security and other trust funds. One must add them together to have the Total Public Debt Outstanding or, on July 28, 2011, $14,342,865,885,306.46.

The Total Public Debt Outstanding under Clinton did not decrease, as extra Social Security collections were used to reduce the debt held by the public but the same amount was added to the Social Security Trust Fund or intragovernmental holdings, resulting in no reduction in the total debt.

I repeat, the U.S. Total Public Debt Outstanding has increased every year since 1957 including every single one of Clinton’s eight years in office.

Tom Hauck
Pittsboro

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My advice to the Republicans: In the future, do nothing about debt. It's a sure loser. If you don't immediately succeed, everyone will complain. If you eventually succeed, everyone will complain that there's nothing to complain about. Then, at the very least, you'll be just like Democrats, except dumber.

Robert Payne III
Raleigh
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    America is deeply in debt. We're cutting back on things like education and Medicare payment rates to doctors to reduce this debt. Yet we just won't increase taxes on those who are "making it." Some would have us believe the enemy is "big government." Yes, there is no doubt that big government is bad.
   

But perhaps the enemy is also ourselves. We are, personally and collectively, desperately clinging to the American Dream. Our American Dream is to "make it." Our belief is that one day each of us could be rich, or at least "comfortable." (Some studies have shown that those who make more money think they need even more money to be comfortable, an unattainable dream.)
  

When we blame only big government" for our debt we are blaming ourselves for our existence. We need  adequate government. (And those who are able have a responsibility to pay for it.) We need investigative journalism that is vigorously and prominently reporting on the big profits of individuals and companies that are making it. We need our leaders to declare, Well reduce our own taxpayer financed income, accept higher taxation for ourselves, and increase taxation on those who have made it, to reduce the debt and pay for adequate government.

Paul K Shaub
Raleigh
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It's something that any college student who puts their paper off until 3 a.m. the night before its due knows too well - work expands to fill the time allotted. If we allow 5 hours to finish a task, we will complete it in 5 hours, though we might not get the result we desire. Yet this principle has also taken hold of the United States government for far too long, with consequences far more devastating than a simple bad grade.

Our government procrastinated a deal that would reduce the national debt for an entire decade, finishing a deal that saved our country from economic collapse at the last possible minute. It's like a student who puts off a paper every night until the night before it's due, when he has no choice.

No one even likes the end result of the deal. But, in the end, the consequences of NOT having a deal were too great. So everyone has swallowed their pride and voted "yes" just to get something done.

College students frequently get away with this, as one grade is fairly insignificant. But is this really the way to handle our country's economic future, something infinitely more important?

Kevin Fox
Carrboro

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I am currently at Peace College for the Women in Office Institute that the NC Center for Women in Public Service has been holding here for eight years.

I attend Salem College, the oldest women's college in the country, and it breaks my heart to see this happen to our sisters at Peace. Women's colleges are fantastic institutions,  and I will never be able to thank Salem enough for the empowerment I have gained during my time there. We have to stand by the institutions that continue to educate women; we have to prove that these institutions are still extremely relevant and worth supporting.

Salem students and alumnae were assured yesterday that Salem will not follow in Peace's footsteps. I can only imagine how I would react if Salem made the decision to go co-ed, but I know it would not be a pretty sight and I know I would transfer in a heartbeat. For all the students thinking of transferring, like Ms. Lucy Stone,  but feel they can't, Salem is still accepting transfer applications for the fall.  Come join our sisterhood. We will not falter in the face of adversity, now or ever.

Zoe Fawcett
Manteo
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I am writing in response to your story, "Move to make Peace co-ed outrages
students," July 22. I am not associated with Peace College in any
way. But I am an educator, and thus find it scandalous that Peace College, as
are more and more colleges and universities, believes that "Adding more
students means enhancing the student experience for everyone and it will
certainly enhance our athletic, academic and extracurricular programs," in the
words of Peace trustee vice-chairwoman, Elizabeth Cherry.

It is telling that Peace's vision for the future foregrounds athletic and extracurricular
programs, which will undoubtedly lead to expensive hires by the college in the
areas of coaches, directors and administrators with a business approach to
education.  It is also likely that any commitment by Peace in the areas of
academics will be staffed by the hiring of adjunct faculty with low pay, no
benefits, and little time for professional development, which naturally affects
academic quality. The result is that while Peace might increase student
enrollment by marketing the "Peace experience" (an elusive notion at best), the
individual and collaborative pursuit of disciplinary knowledge and
understanding will be compromised by the pursuit of games and fun activities.

When will educational leaders have the courage to reaffirm the purpose of higher
education, which is to cultivate past, existing and new forms of knowledge and
understanding for the higher good of humanity?

Brian Thomas, Ph.D.
Fuquay-Varina

------------------------

I find it quiet funny how all the current and former students are outraged at the school going co-ed. I wonder just how many former students, and faculty were elated and feeling victorious when the Citadel (which had a much older and storied tradition) had to let a female attend.

At that time, I was completely infuriated that some girl wanted to be selfish and destroy that tradition. Now I feel elated and victorious that what goes around comes around. If we are not allowed to have all male schools, then neither should the women.

Next up on the chopping block should be Meredith, where my grandmother attended, graduated and was a school teacher for 30 years. To those who complained, you are now reaping what you sowed. Beware the men are coming!
 

Chip Turner
Clayton

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News has been swirling around for months about the Peace College mess.  We heard about the new president removing ranking professors and staff with unparelled swiftness, with the new hires having no experience at traditional women's colleges.  Even the lovely  chandeliers in Old Main were replaced with track lighting!
 
Further unsettling was the dismissal of the competent female  Presbyterian chaplain in favor of a male Baptist clergyman who had the mistaken impression that he was first to be named both chaplain and religion professor - not surprising since the Alumnae Office was abolished as soon as the president set foot  on campus.  History be damned!
 
But we said nothing, trusting our friends on the Board of Trustees, believing - falsely it now seems - they were savvy business and community leaders.  Now they have gone too far!  Many colleges have gone co-ed and even decided to become universities (as if that name is a means to greatness).  Strayer University, look out!   we know of no other college making major changes in secrecy rather than following an extensive process of professional study and open debate.  
 
By its recent actions, this small group of trustees has thumbed its collective nose at ALL Peace stakeholders, including loyal alumnae like us. Shame on you!
 
Mabel J. Dorsey,  Class of 1937
Miriam J. Dorsey, Class of 1964
Raleigh

-----------------------

While I am deeply saddened by the decision for Peace College to become a coeducational institution, the greater problem is the way in which this decision was reached, with no input from the Peace community.

A decision that will change the very core of the institution was made behind closed doors. Over the past year, numerous members of the Peace community have asked whether becoming coeducational was a possibility. Every time, we were told that it was not on the table.  Every time, we were lied to. That is completely unacceptable for an institution claiming integrity.

There is no reason why this fundamental change was not discussed openly. Why were there no student forums? Why was there no opportunity for the Peace community to see the data behind this decision, to discuss the alternatives, and to possibly come to this coeducational decision on our own?

When did Peace become a place that cared so little? When did Peace become a place that silenced discussion and debate?

I hope in the future the Board of Trustees recognizes that all Peace stakeholders are deserving of transparency and respect regarding decisions that influence the future of the institution.

Rebecca Mimnall

2008 Peace Graduate
Washington, D.C.

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When I read the headline in the N&O this morning, I knew how olde Rip Van Winkle felt - I thought I had slept 50 years!  It's NEWS that a college is going co-ed, and the students and alumni are outraged!?

Move into the 21st century, Peace College children and alumni!  If some of the greatest and most historic educational institutions of our country made the transition 50 years ago and are still thriving, you certainly can do it too. (And some survived name changes, too).  

Just think, you can now join prestigious halls-of-learning like all of our U.S. military academies, Notre Dame, Skidmore and Fordham University to name a very few. Perhaps even people outside of the Raleigh area may even recognize your new name now, too!

James Stanton
Pine Knoll Shores

----------------------------

The writer of the June 4 letter “Liberal reflex” states that he is not a hater. What he is, though, is ignorant and out of touch.

I don’t know why being a “liberal” is deemed as being “anti-Christian.” The act of marriage is a civil matter, not a religious one. Most people do have their ceremonies performed in a church, but the reality of marriage is a legal contract. With that contract comes many rights and benefits. Without those rights, gay and lesbian couples suffer.

Because we are not allowed to get married legally we have to have legal contracts drawn to protect our properties, estates, rights to be with our partners in times of medical emergencies, etc. In some cases these legal documents can be challenged by family members and taken away from us. Things that we have worked together for, that are ours and ours alone.

There are plenty of churches that would gladly marry me and my partner. That, once again, is not the issue. It’s the “legal” issue that concerns us. And, if what the letter-writer calls Christianity is his belief, then I want no part of it. But my “liberal” view of Christianity, I do intend to keep.

Keith Turnmire
Raleigh

---------------------------

What a sad day for North Carolinians when an elected official such as House Speaker Thom Tillis chooses to cut educational spending under the guise of mandated cuts but has the audacity to hike pay as much as 27 percent for members of his staff. At issue is not the pay hike but the remarkable short-term thinking exhibited in many of our elected officials. For such a time as this, a 21st century global economy, opting not to prepare the next generation educationally – that is, giving them the necessary tools to compete in a highly competitive global economy – will have a devastating long-term impact not only on North Carolina but our great country, America.

Where are the forward-thinking elected officials?

Dorothea Gaulden, Ph.D.
Raleigh

--------------------------------------------

Our national and local politicians have already demonstrated their ignorance by cutting education budgets across the country. Now the state leadership wants to extend the school year by a week. This, in and of itself, will do nothing. But what is even more “brilliant” is the reaction of our Wake County superintendent, Tony Tata. Tata suggests they start each day five minutes earlier and end each day five minutes later. I would love to hear Tata explain how that extra 10 minutes will mean a higher standard of education for our kids. Unbelievable.

What about dealing with the more fundamental issues facing U.S. public education? We have not made learning interesting, we have not changed our curriculum and our teaching methods to keep up with the learning styles and shorter attention spans of today’s students. What about creating more partnerships between area companies and secondary education? What about utilizing the vast and growing senior population as volunteers and academic discipline experts? What about teaching kids how to work in teams, how to communicate, how to creatively solve problems and how to understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle, all things they will need to do as adults?

Why do all that when you can add 10 meaningless minutes to the school day? Where is true leadership when it's most needed?

John Lowe
Raleigh

Got lots of letters today on Gov. Bev Perdue's veto of the voter ID bill. Here's a sampling. Some of these will appear in the paper over the next few days.

It seems that Gov. Bev Perdue is not addressing the 75% majority of North Carolina voters who support the photo ID requirement as she vetoes the photo ID bill. We are required to show our photo ID when we fly on an airplane, when we offer a check or credit card at many stores and when we buy beer.  Presenting a photo ID is apart of our normal everyday life.  The wonderful precinct volunteers have no way to verify if a voter is the person they claim to be without a photo ID.  She states that "We must be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our election." I must agree with Senate President pro tempore Phil Berger that this bill is a no-brainer.

Let's hope six Democrats in the NC House will assist in the veto override vote.

John G. Wilson
Raleigh

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Being military, my husband and I have lived in many states.  Most of them require a picture ID or voter ID card to prevent fraud.

I have read many of the pros and cons in the N&O.  Whether by human error or fraud, I know of at least two instances in whicn someone went to cast a vote only to be told they had already voted.  An ID card would help alleviate some of the errors encountered.

If people are disenfranchised from voting because of having to prove who they are, it makes me wonder why?  I have to show ID to drive, buy my licensce plates, write a check, etc.  Why not show I am who I say I am when voting for our elected officials?

Janet Groberski
Goldsboro

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Hospitals require a photo identification when you are being admitted for diagnostic testing or any other procedure; retail stores require a photo ID when presented with a personal check and/or credit card; the State of South Carolina requires its residents to carry a photo ID on their person at all times. So why is it so difficult for the governor of North Carolina to sign a bill requiring that a photo ID be presented at the polling place in order to vote?

People can get a photo ID from the NCDMV free. If you have the wherewithal to get to a polling place, you certainly can make an effort to get to your nearest DMV and obtain a photo identification card.

North Carolinians have a governor who is obstructive rather than constructive and never more so than when she has had to deal with a state legislature that is controlled by her nemesis - the Republican Party. Voting is a privilege that is abused but the abuse usually favors the Democratic Party. It is time to end the shenanigans and demand that your right to vote means a demand to see photo identification.

Dianne M. Franco
Raleigh

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Gov. Perdue's large red VETO stamp might not stop the well-greased national Republican power-grabbing strategy, but it may at least slow one of its grinding gears here in North Carolina:  the coordinated national attempts to disable opposition voting strength.  

In addition to legislation that dismantles opposition funding and solidifies Big Money support, the Republican national strategy includes hobbling voter registration to suppress the voting rights of traditionally Democratic voters:  minorities, the poor, rural residents, seniors and students.  Their tool is innocently termed voter ID legislation.

The Republican strategy is clearly national in scope.  Republicans in 36 states have launched a variety of voter ID, i.e. suppression, measures.  Wisconsin's recently passed law may by the most cynical -- a cavalry charge in advance of this summer's elections to recall six Republican senators.  That states nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates it will disenfranchise 20 percent of the state's historically Democratic voters. 

South Carolina's new law eliminates 178,000 predominantly minority voters and forbids student IDs as valid voter identification.  Florida's legislation drastically overhauls procedures for changing registration at polling places, adds requirements for third-party voter registration groups and shortens early voting periods.  Those exact measures were signed into law in Kansas.  And now it's our turn.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University estimates that 11 percent of U.S. voters do not have official IDs that would meet the new and proposed state-level requirements.  It is a solution searching for a problem.  According to the League of Women Voters this is a fear-based approach instead of a fact-based solution.  Actual incidents of voter fraud are minuscule.  Examples of Brennan Center research from four states found overall fraud rates ranging from 0.000009 perecent to a breathtaking high of 0.0006 percent.

So, why the coordinated rush to voter ID legislation?  The clear answer is the disciplined strategy to consolidate power by disrupting, even disenfranchising, opposition voting strength among low-income, minority and transient, i.e. student, voters.  

This is not about the sanctity of the voting process.  It is about raw, naked power and who will wield it.  In the words of Craig Gilbert (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), "The issues are secondary ... the goal is not so much to advance one party's agenda, but to actively undermine the infrastructure that allows the opposing part[ies] to exist at all."

The larger aim, beyond the NC legislature, is continued Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the ability to recapture the Senate.  North Carolina is a bellwether (literally, the sheep that leads the flock).  The strategy is especially crucial here and in electoral battlegrounds like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida.

Grover Norquist, the Republican uber-strategist, described the intent:  [Democrats] will only become acceptable once they are comfortable in their minority status.  Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been fixed, then they are happy and sedate.

Here's hoping Gov. Perdue keeps her VETO stamp handy.  There's more fixing to come.

George Gates
Greensboro

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I am outraged by the willingness of Gov. Bev Perdue to deny the majority of our state. This majority wants you to present a valid government ID to be allowed to vote. In almost every aspect of our life, you need to prove who you are to gain services and accomplish something. Does she support corruption? 75 percent of North Carolinians probably think she does now.

As far as race baiting is concerned, I am appalled at the comments of State Sen. Dan Blue. He knows he cannot win the argument if the only thing he can do is call Republicans racists. I know Blue from my time when I ran against him in the majority-minority district we live in. I respect the man but find his behavior juvenile.

Isn't it time we all grow up and do the right thing? As long as we allow fraud to permeate in our system, we are no better than a Third World country.  

Paul Terrell III
Raleigh
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The right of the U.S. citizen, registered with a County Board of Elections and meeting the residency requirements, to vote in local and state elections is fundamental to our country’s democracy. Decisions made in the voting booth affect all of us and our sovereignty as a nation. The results of elections express the will of the majority of the electorate for our self-governance that should not be compromised by any type of voter fraud.

The requirement of a government-issued photo ID is not a hardship and is the only prudent public policy in this day and age. Without precinct workers being able to verify that the person standing before them is who he claims to be, the potential for voter fraud exists.

You are required to show a government-issued photo ID or official ID to fly, to carry out financial transactions, to have your signature notarized, etc. A driver’s license, military ID card or a state-issued photo ID for people who do not drive could meet the requirements of this law.

The General Assembly should override the governor’s veto of this important legislation.

V. Rosan Hutter
Durham
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With an average voter turnout of approximately 50 percent since 1960, why are we intent on making it more difficult for people to vote? We should be doing all we can to encourage Americans to perform the most important function of citizenship, but instead we continually create obstacles.

While we will toss into jail anyone who does not respond to jury duty or does not pay taxes, we allow people not to vote, the most important function of all.

Voting is mandatory is some countries, and their voter turnout is as follows: Australia, 95 percent; Chile, 93 percent; Belgium, 91 percent; and Greece, 86 percent, to name a few.

With this turnout, the people of these countries truly have spoken, and the elected government is not guessing as to the people’s opinion. If someone chooses not to vote, a penalty is imposed ($20 to $50).

We are laughed at when we declare our desire to spread democracy while demonstrating our disdain by our abysmal participation of the process.

Register everyone over 18, and let them know voting is required, then let us see what America really thinks.

Jim Nolan
Morehead City

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The voting right is a cornerstone of American democracy. But Republican legislators in North Carolina want to restrict it by slashing the number of early voting days by one week. It would save money, they claim; the state election chief says it would not.

If it would not save money, then why do it? Well, because Republicans calculate that fewer early voting days will mean fewer Democratic votes in 2012. In 2008, early voting was popular among young and minority voters who helped elect Barack Obama.

To prevent this from happening again in 2012, the GOP is pushing vote suppression efforts in state legislatures across the country. Florida is cutting its early voting days from 14 to six. Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina are joining a dozen or so states where people must show photo IDs to vote. Legislatures in all of these states, as in North Carolina, are Republican-controlled.

This is dirty politics, plain and simple.

Joe Wheelan
Cary
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A photo ID should be mandatory to vote in North Carolina. I wish to thank all those who called and emailed our elected officials and urged them to pass this bill.

People with family members can assist those who cannot drive to a driver’s license office or other appointed places. Those without family members should be eligible for pick up by a community volunteer group. There are many clubs that could make this one of their yearly goals.

The governor should direct the Driver’s License Office or other appointed offices to have a reduced rate for those who require a photo ID only. The charge could be just enough to cover the ID cost. The cost would probably be the same as a fast food meal.

If certain groups are so concerned about those who they deem not able to afford an ID photo, let them establish a fund to support this group. Think positive instead of negative and work toward making our voting system fraud free.

Beth Gorman
Apex

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The constant stream of whining in The People’s Forum regarding voter fraud and the proposed voter ID requirement demands a response.

Currently, a person is required to be a U.S. citizen to vote in North Carolina The voting registration system here is so poor that there is insufficient information on the voter registration form to establish voter eligibility. Beyond that, poll workers don’t know with any certainty to whom they are handing ballots.

Voter fraud involves people who vote but are ineligible to vote (not citizens, dead, etc.). Because the State Board of Elections can identify cases only involving people who voted but didn’t register, this is what they call voter fraud. The board does not have the means to identify true voter fraud. The voter registration system appears to be designed to encourage voter fraud by letting anyone, citizen or not, register and then actually vote.

Rasmussen surveys indicate that 75 percent of likely voters think that a photo ID should be required at the polls. The photo ID requirement does not completely solve the fraud issue but is a good first step.

I would like to have seen the requirement for proof of citizenship during registration added to the legislation.

Richard Gradle
Garner

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The new voter ID bill, dubiously titled Restore Confidence in Government, runs roughshod over my mother, keeping her from voting.

My mom is in her 90s and doesn’t get around too well, but she remains a keen observer of current events. She has voted in every election going back 70 years, seeing it as her patriotic franchise. Mom hasn’t driven a car in years. Her nondriving photo ID expired in 2009, and because of her limited mobility, she will be sorely inconvenienced to get a new photo ID so she can vote.

The bill’s sponsors introduced it to thwart voter fraud, and my mom gets swept away in the backwash. Did I somehow miss the reports of rampant voter fraud in past elections? It reminds me of the old campaign for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning – to outlaw about two instances of it a year – self-righteous paranoia over almost nothing.

The way this new law restores my mom’s confidence in government is that she will be more motivated than ever to vote the current crowd out.

Andrew Leager
Raleigh