My husband and I drove from Raleigh to watch our 11-year-old granddaughter play basketball on Saturday, Dec. 15, at Rashkis Elementary School. The opposing team had not yet received their jerseys to wear in the game. The assigned referees refused to officiate because of this.

It is my understanding they were compensated to sit on the side lines and chit-chat while the girls played their game and one of the coaches refereed. What kind of message does this send to our young people?

Certainly I was embarrassed for the coaches and the girls to witness someone with so little character and integrity to be associated with Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation. It certainly did not exemplify the role model I wish my grandchildren to emulate.

It is my sincere hope these two men will be disciplined and also required to apologize to all coaches and girls that had to witness such unacceptable behavior.

Kitty N. Parker

Raleigh

Town’s lifeblood

This is in response to Tom Carson’s letter (CHN, Dec. 16, bit.ly/ZVcqKY) in which he resents having to view the UNC basketball images in the windows of the Tobacco Road restaurant at East 54 when he exits the Glen Lennox neighborhood:

In a town whose lifeblood is the university and its athletics, to criticize the presence of these iconic images displayed in a privately owned business tells me that either Mr. Carson was not born or raised in North Carolina or that he’s plain stupid. On the other hand, the fact that the Town of Chapel Hill is now involved and scrutinizing the artwork is even more stupid!

Haven’t we been regulated by bureaucrats enough? Must every aspect of expression be put under the lens of a microscope? The wall murals throughout the town and yes, even those “cow structures” are what make Chapel Hill unique and special.

Let the town government spend its time and taxpayer money handling more pressing matters, and let the citizens of Chapel Hill enjoy its proud traditions without having to be defensive about it. Amen!

Helen Paliouras

Chapel Hill

Lucky to have her

I am writing to congratulate Coretta Sharpless on her appointment to assistant principal of Northside Elementary. My son attended Carrboro Elementary when Ms. Sharpless was a teacher; she always had a smile and a moment to speak with the students and the parents. She is generous, nurturing and a wonderful educator. Northside will be lucky to have her.

Terri Turner

Carrboro

‘Pure hogwash’

In his guest column (CHN, Dec. 12, bit.ly/12s5Yeg), Roger Perry tried to paint himself as the wise, reasonable one dealing with unfair southern-area residents in the Obey Creek debate,

I think most people will see through his claims of great outreach (a la the Glen Lennox developer) for the pure hogwash it is.

Keep this in mind: At one hearing on Obey Creek, Councilman Matt Czajkowski held up a map derived from the directives of the focus group charged with addressing the Obey Creek project and stated that it showed “pretty clear” mandates came out of that group as part of the Chapel Hill 2020 process. Czajkowski further stressed that Perry’s concept plan for Obey Creek was certainly not in compliance with those development directives regarding height, expanse and no big-box retail.

Perry and certain council members choose to dismiss the intense work and conclusions of this southern-area focus group, as well as ignore the appropriate admonishment of Councilman Czajkowski.

I guess if you don’t get the answers you want to hear, you just move forward as if it never happened until you do.

Joe Buonfiglio

Chapel Hill

Splitting hairs

I am so sorry the mayor’s office is so bogged down in free speech, the wrong guidelines and semantics. The bus ads were offensive not only to the Jewish community, but also to the gentile one.

If I wandered down Franklin Street at age 84 in my bathing suit in December, that would be inappropriate. If I wore less I could be arrested. One is in bad taste; the other is against the law.

I find this splitting of legal hairs offensive. The Town Council’s guidelines forbid “displays or information that is offensive to a reasonably prudent person of average sensitivity including derisive, distorted, immoral, profane or disreputable language or impressions.”

How do you select a “reasonably prudent person”? That would eliminate many of the Jewish faith because of their more than average sensitivity to this issue, and perhaps some Christians as well.

December 8 was the first day of Hannukah, which in the ruined temple the priest found oil enough to burn one day, and it burned for eight.

In two days we’ll celebrate Christ’s birth. A time of good will toward men.

We can only hope the words of the son will come true: “Let there be peace on earth. and let it begin with me.”

Ariana Mangum

Chapel Hill

A good investment

In her letter (CHN, Dec. 5, bit.ly/VSVE8r) Bette Smith’s grandson says, “That’s a lot of money, $8 million a day (in aid to Israel)! What do we get in return?” Ms. Smith didn’t have an answer, but I do.

First of all, aid to Israel is in the form of loans, which Israel pays back and pays back on time. From 2007-11 total U.S. exports to Israel earned the U.S. $57.6 billion. That’s $11.7 billion in annual average income this past decade, more than five times the American aid package. There is your answer, Bette, but I could go on.

Let’s look at another aspect. U.S. aid has put Israel at the forefront of stem-cell research, development of a new vaccine to halt the spread of cancer, and development of a device which gives paralyzed people a chance to walk. Don’t forget to mention that.

Lastly, be sure to tell him that our American soldiers avoided a nuclear war during “Desert Storm” (1991) thanks to Israel having destroyed the almost-completed Iraq nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981.

Please ask him what the U.S. has gotten in return for the millions a day we give the PLO.

Rene’ Paul de la Varre

Chapel Hill

Fed up with gridlock

Like many people, I am fed up with the gridlock in Congress over the past four years. The fundamental choice is who should pay to reduce the deficit and get our economy working again.

I strongly believe we need a balanced approach that asks the wealthiest Americans and big corporations, many of which pay a lower tax rate than middle-income Americans, to pay their fair share.

As part of that process, I support letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire for the top 2 percent wealthiest Americans only. This would bring their rates back to what they paid in the late 1990s, when our economy was booming. The middle-class and the poor are going to bear the brunt of most spending cuts, and it is only fair that the wealthy should also pull their weight.

Enough is enough. After years of siding with the wealthy, is Congress ready to stand up for the middle class? I hope so.

Joe Reed

Pittsboro