“Daddy,” a young boy said, “I know what I want to be when I grow up.”

“What’s that,” the father asked?

The son indicated that he wanted to be a tow truck owner and operator. The father beamed and said, “I’m proud that you want to help people when they need it and make a difference in their lives!”

“No,” said the boy, “I want to be able to tow them the minute they park where they aren’t suppose to park, charge them what I want, demand that they pay in cash, and put their cars far away from town.”

“Son,” the dad replied, “There’s no town where you can take advantage of people like that!”

The boy shook his head and simply said, “Daddy, you need to get out more!”

Fred Black

Chapel Hill

Broaden the focus

Is Chapel Hill ready to enter the 21st century, or do we really want to remain an old-fashioned bedroom community?

For years I have campaigned for more business-savvy, reality-oriented Town Council members such as Matt Czajkowski and Gene Pease as a way to broaden the narrow focus of the Chapel Hill political machine. We are turning that corner, and we must continue forward.

Development is happening all around us, and that increased population will impact our roads and environment anyway as people pass through Chapel Hill. Why not capture some of the revenue from actual residents?

Dwight Bassett, our former economic development officer, now Raleigh’s, makes important points about mixed-use: the need to create jobs and the drive most Chapel Hill residents take across county lines to leave tax dollars.

Gene Pease is correct that we need a better commercial tax base to slow the coming rise in residential taxes. Some go overboard demanding mixed-use, as in new apartments on Ephesus Church Road near Ram’s Plaza and Eastgate shopping center. Others ignore the benefit of entrance roads that look vibrant instead of sleepy.

Aaron Nelson, president of our Chamber of Commerce, succinctly pointed out to the Town Council, if new businesses do not fully offset new services, imagine the property tax increase without the expansion of our business tax base.

Lynne Kane

Chapel Hill

Something rotten

Add my voice to the chorus of outrage concerning the involuntary transfers of Chapel Hill High School teachers, Bert Wartski and Anne Thompson.

My daughter had the good fortune to be in Mr Wartski’s A.P. Biology class in 2003. Mr Wartski is an extraordinarily talented teacher of biology and an extraordinarily good influence on students. He has a gift for creating community, so that every single student in his classroom is respected and has a sure place. Think what this means to students, and unless the teacher transfers are prevented, what Chapel Hill High students will be missing.

How does it make sense to assign a gifted, seasoned biology teacher to teach environmental science?

How does it make sense that transferring two of its most talented teachers will be helpful to the students or the culture at Chapel Hill High? Something is rotten in a school system capable of coming up with this idea.

Martha Wheeler

Carrboro

Culture clash

Through the almost daily drip of news about UNC’s football-related troubles, we have learned several things. Many bad things happened, but no one is guilty or accountable. Everyone walked away with lots of money – John Blake, Dick Baddour, Julius Nyang’oro, etc. Butch Davis walked with over $2.7 million, with his phone records.

Chancellor Holden Thorp says it is too costly and troublesome to withhold these monies – but UNC has legal fees way over $500,000. The overall cost, now likely well over $3.5 million, would cover many academic scholarships and professor’s salaries. Oops! None of this is the public’s money?

So we now have a “campus of two cultures, “ and football players getting college credit for taking remedial English courses. They must not teach accountability either. And the two culture environment will expand at games this fall as spectators in the new luxury boxes enjoy their alcoholic beverages without having to suffer the “dry” masses in the regular seats. Is this really what the Carolina Way is about?

Stanley M. Epstein

Chapel Hill

Picking UNC nits

As I perused the July 28 N&O, I read yet again more UNC bashing. I am so sick of reading of what now, in my opinion, borders on minutia and boredom. You have managed to implicate one flawed professor, probably several athletes and laxity in supervision as representative of not only UNC-Chapel Hill but the entire university system.

In my 25 years as a tenured faculty, I had an annual evaluation from my superior including a plan for corrective action when needed as well as follow-up measures. I suggest this is the rule, rather than the exception.

In all those years of teaching, I had only one student-athlete in my course, a female volleyball player. She worked harder than most to make up for any missed classes and completed assignments within the semester in which she was enrolled; she graduated with stellar grades. I suspect there are many more like her at UNC.

I wonder what you will write about if/when you run out of all the UNC nit-picking. Even God forgives sins eventually!

Barbara Rynerson

Associate Professor Emerita

UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing

Simmering thoughts

We have a Democratic society, but as time goes on this system seems to drift further and further from its intended purpose. Our elected officials seem to be more opportunists, than servants of the public.

In any other business, if you’re only there six months to a year, making $170,000, you would be called a dysfunctional employee. Yet our public servants sit high above everyone else and tell us about government waste. The average Joe only matters to them every two or four years.

At one time our veterans were honored. Now they’re used for political speeches and to fight wars. Once the battle starts the politicians’ children are tucked away somewhere safe while our children are dying and being crippled. A patriot fights and protects. A politician uses a war as an opportunity.

There are far more poor and middle class people in this country than rich. Sit back, close your eyes and forget all the racial and economic barriers you’ve gone through over the years and, if this person is your pick, vote for him. But if he only wants to see you every four years and forgets you the rest of the time then you know who’s in your corner. They don’t tell you that the people who go to the emergency room without insurance pass the bill on to you. Read, invest in your future and find out what’s best for you. Don’t let any candidate tell you what you need; you already know.

Bernard Agerston

Durham