School board shows questionable traits

The right to challenge elected officials and express dissent at policies with which there is disagreement are foundations to the concept of American democracy.

However, occasionally a board of elected officials behaves in such a way that even these most basic of rights are ignored. This is the case with the current Orange County school board with the exception of Al Hartkopf.

There is an attitude that permeates this board that is most unbecoming. As a parent of children in Orange County schools, I have witnessed some disturbing behavior over this past year. Comments made by board members during open meetings, comments made between board members and other parents, and comments made to the media by various board members have left many parents feeling intimidated and undermined: bullied into submission rather than engaged in their children's learning.

In short, parents fear speaking out against this board for fear of unfair retaliation. I would have hoped that the current chair, with his long military career, would have understood and honored this most important of American ideals.

In addition, the secretive methods employed by this board only exaggerate these fears. For example, I have met many parents who feel as if the real conversations about board policies do not occur in the board room in public as they should be, but rather occur after hours, during frequent lunch outings among board members, or in communications that are not in the public sphere.

Doesn't this undermine the transparency that is required of a school board? It is time that the voters of Orange County step up and reclaim for themselves what belongs to them. I hope that on May 6, they will. -- A.R. Chandler, Efland

School system has culture of control

I trust you all saw the front-page column in the Feb. 10 Chapel Hill News about the boy kicked out of class for speaking Spanish to a classmate during informal time ("Archeological findings bury English Only"). My guess is that it happened at East Chapel Hill High -- principal Dave Thaden has a track record for such tyranny -- but it could have been at any of our district's schools, given the culture of conformity and control that radiates from Lincoln Center. The most frightening thing about the column was the boy's comment, "The Hispanic kids will never stand up against something like that. They're too afraid." How damning. The intimidation of Hispanic parents is bound to be just as bad.

Worse, you can swap "Hispanic" for any other minority group, including black or special needs, and, based on what I've seen, the intimidation of parents is just as bad. While some parents in these vulnerable populations do speak out, even strongly, it results in very little real or system-wide change.

Culture change is the only way we're going to improve district performance, and that means new leadership from the superintendent on down. -- Carol Conway, Chapel Hill

Only best facilities will attract professors

I am responding to the claim made in The Chapel Hill News guest column ("Town, university ignore pitfalls of Carolina North," Philip Duchastel, Feb. 6) that UNC's motivation for Carolina North is "needless growth" and "aggrandizement."

For the Carolina North debate to get anywhere, citizens must understand the big picture why UNC needs to build Carolina North.

The big picture is that there are more than 100 top-tier universities competing for success and funding in the world economy. Duke, Stanford, MIT and Cambridge UK and M.D. Anderson in Texas are examples of universities that UNC competes with intensely. What is the "seed corn" for the success of the universities? The foundations of university success are the quality of their university faculty members and the impact of what they produce, the resulting "brand image" of the university, which then attracts the best and brightest to that university to ensure the success of its programs.

So the seed corn of UNC's success is the faculty, and faculty require good facilities and laboratories. Mini-decisions are being made everyday in the world by faculty members. Is it best for me to locate in Chapel Hill, San Diego, Boston, Europe or Asia? UNC needs the Carolina North facilities to attract these people here for UNC to be able to compete in this global competition.

While we debate whether to approve Carolina North our lunch is being eaten by the fast-changing global economy, by high-energy entrepreneurial people around the world. So what UNC spokesmen have said are the reasons for these facilities is correct and should be accepted. -- Eric Nelson, Chapel Hill

Another perspective on UNC's class

Eddy Landreth's Viewpoint ("A closer look at UNC's class," Feb. 10) focuses on player skills as the metric for evaluating UNC's incoming football recruits and praises coach Butch Davis and his staff for their acumen.

Naysayers who wallow in scouting-report rankings should also keep in mind that the incoming class is shaped by UNC's commitment to academic success. UNC's graduation success rate of 79 percent ranks fourth in the ACC, and across the Big-10, Big-12, Big East, PAC-10, and SEC, only eight of 57 football squads have been more successful.

Other NCAA metrics that reflect progress toward degree are also impressive. Kudos to our coaches for their commitment to academics as well as to athletics. -- Steve Reznick, Chapel Hill

Gas-can-toting man may be a scammer

Over the past six months, my husband and I have observed an older Afro-American man in Chapel Hill walking with a gas can. We have spotted him asking for help behind Bob Evans, Wal-Mart parking lot, in two entrances to Interstate 40 and walking along I-40.

Each time with a gas can. Sometimes he has a young child (maybe 8 or 9 years old) and other times he is alone. How many times can a person run out of gas? I wonder if he even has a car.

Beware, this may be one big scam. -- Carol Collins, Chapel Hill

Family takes steps to conserve water

I don't think most people understand the true seriousness of the drought, and I think many more aren't doing enough to conserve our precious water resources.

My husband and I have cut our water usage in the past few months from 6,000 gallons per month to the current 2,000. We installed low-flush toilets several years ago that have made a big difference. We've also been taking military-style showers for several months now: You wet yourself, turn off the water, lather up and then rinse off.

We collect water in a bucket from the shower warming up and use that to flush toilets and have a large bowl in the kitchen sink that we use to rinse off things before putting them in the dishwasher.

I urge all North Carolinians to take similar measures because, if not, water rationing will come sooner than you think. -- Trisha Lester, Chapel Hill