The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 14

WFDNFSDAY NOVFMBFR 28 2007 DO NATION THF CHARI OTTF OBSFRVFR I www charlotte com ANN CAUIKINS President and Publisher 1AMI5 FD W1UJAMS Editor Fditorid Page Editor Cl 11-RYL CARPENTER Managing Editor QUOTABLE The words of a dead manAre modified in the guts of the living wh auden (1907-1973) anglo-american poet ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Jack Betts Fannie Elono Mary Newsom Mary Schulken DEPUTY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: Jane McAlister Pope FORUM EDITOR: Lew Powell CARTOONIST: Kevin Siers editorials Assessing our region 14 counties in Charlotte region can learn from each other 14A turned over too many land-use decisions to developers whose piece-meal projects often created sprawl inadequate road systems and inefficient use of public services They urged greater public initiative It has been slow in coming but there are encouraging signs such as incentives for denser development along the South Corridor light rail line indeed light rail itself Democratization: Gone were the days the 1995 report noted when a few corporate CEOs in skyscrapers ran Charlotte But too often public policy decisions were shaped by private groups with narrow interests still true They and another speaker Paul Grogan president and CEO of The Boston Foundation spoke of the value of a well-funded Citizens Forum to advocate for the public interest before elected officials In 1995 and again Tuesday Mr Peirce and Mr Johnson urged the Urban Institute at UNC Charlotte to play a larger role in providing information to help define the problems assess its condition and compare it to similar regions elsewhere The institute unveiled one such initiative a Regional Indicators Project that will compile information about the standing in 10 important areas including education economy environment transportation and public safety The idea is that knowing where our region is will give a clearer view of where headed We agree Meetings such as this one play a role too They help generate thoughts that lead to action Meetings such as Regional Issues Conference usually make big news but that mean unimportant This one convened by UNC Urban Institute focused on one of our 14-county most important issues: how to deal with growth Our region could be a testing ground for responses to growth It consists of a big city (Charlotte) surrounded by numerous towns and suburbs with rural areas at the edges Mecklenburg County offers many case studies good and bad So do towns such as Davidson Concord and Pinevillc and counties such as Union and York Some national experts added to the discussion They included Curtis Johnson and Neal Peirce of The Citistatcs Group which in 1995 studied our region reported its observations and made numerous recommendations Back then they found much to like here civic exuberance a strong economy committed citizens They also found problems such as: Education: Their 1995 report concluded an Information Age any region saddled with a reputation for meager education and knowledge is in a precarious position No region will stay both dumb and rich for still true Yet at present in nine of the 21 school districts in the 14-county region 30 to 40 percent of high school freshmen graduate from high school within four years compared to 25 percent nationally Growth: The 1995 report said our region had The Observer Forum Speedway saga responses to for the perfect (Nov 17 Viewpoint) Where is the outrage? Patricia Bauer clearly states that babies diagnosed with Down syndrome arc aborted rates that arc thought to approach 90 Have we decided that a whole group of people worthy of life? valuable to society? If we are testing for the perfect baby please know that our child with Down syndrome is perfect Bruce Cunningham Stacey Cunningham Waxhaw Bruton Smith exploited economic fears of Concord Why did moms have to suffer? In response to raise hand to snag Hannah (Nov 26): What has become of society? What arc we teaching our children? That OK to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a concert while hungry and cold people are living on the streets? That OK to act like hazing victims by standing out in freezing weather with a hand on a car to obtain these tickets? And what exactly were the contest sponsors thinking? I can only imagine them sipping hot cocoa in the dealership showroom and chuckling while watching these gullible pitiful ladies They should be ashamed Jane Hood Charlotte terprises The photo of Smith surrounded by numb local officials is telling: the only one smiling John Martin Charlotte With everything to lose town was no match Bruton Smith played high stakes poker with the City of Concord The billionaire with nothing to lose beat the town with everything to lose Stan Teague Charlotte Was returned home? Docs anyone else feel like Bruton Smith kidnapped his own held it for ransom and got the City of Concord to pay up? Glo Kearns Charlotte We hate to say we told you so But we did Right from the start we said the speedway saga would likely end with Bruton Smith on top OK So it hard to anticipate that result given that Mr Smith held the best card in the poker game with the City of Concord: Motor Speedway In case you remember this all began when Concord City Council members in October pulled the plug on a drag strip after the speedway began grading land for it without notifying the city or getting the required permits Council even temporarily changed an ordinance allowing a drag strip Nearby residents organized opposition and told council members the site was too close to them and would be too noisy Mr Smith not known for playing nice with others got mad and threatened to shut down the speedway and spend $350 million to build one somewhere else Engineers for his company even identified several viable sites for a new track Faced with the possible loss however remote of a major industry that promised more high-paying jobs and tax revenue city officials quickly tossed in their hand They and Cabarrus County also tossed in big bucks $80 million in incentives most of them road improvements near the speedway Officials said the state will help though Gov Mike office denies offering anything but to honor existing plans We predicted a couple of months ago that the Concord residents would find their victory against Mr Smith short-lived It was indeed At a press conference Monday Concord city officials tried to put the best face on the matter They noted that the speedway was spending $200 million on renovations and upgrades and that a trio of hotel projects arc now moving forward a sign that the speedway and drag strip will lure more investment to the area Maybe But look at the picture in Observer Only Bruton Smith is smiling The speedway saga does highlight the troubling economic situation for Concord Cabarrus County and too many other cities and counties in the state Once thriving industries in case Phillip Morris and Pillowtcx are now gone or leaving and the areas found businesses to fill those voids of tax revenue and jobs Remaining businesses especially big ones with high-paying jobs hold a lot of power at the negotiating table Concord and other NC cities and counties in similar circumstances must work harder on broadening their economic base The state must provide more help for them to do so Mr Smith yanked chain pretty good not even clear that the final deal commits the speedway to address the noise and other concerns the neighbors and some council members raised about the drag strip which is where this all began It should Germans not immune to being detained In response to incarceration: Why not Germans (Nov 24 Forum): German Americans suspected of disloyalty were in fact rounded up and detained After the war some were deported But the treatment of Japanese Americans in the mainland US was extreme by comparison Bill Kirby Mooresville Spying: Clean record for Japanese Americans Japanese on the West Coast were relocated in response to war hysteria Western politicians including Earl Warren then attorney general of California urged the action on President Roosevelt It gave anglos a chance to buy properties at low prices and saved governments the trouble of protecting their citizens and their resident-alien parents from the local crazies In fact no American residents of Japanese descent were ever charged with spying during the war The relocation remains an ugly blot in American history Jim Masson Mooresville FOR THE RECORD Preserving land saves water Plagiarism demands harsher consequence The writer is an associate professor at UNC Charlotte In response to fair penalty for (Nov 24 Everyday Ethicist): The professor cited by Randy Cohen wasted a valuable teaching moment by not holding the student accountable Donald McCabe an authority on plagiarism estimates 25 percent of students will always cheat if given the opportunity 25 percent will never cheat and 50 percent can go either way depending on circumstances By giving the student an for the course the professor prevented her from learning that and from undocumented Internet sources still constitutes cheating! Incompletes should be reserved for students who are passing the course but need more time to complete the assignment This student should have been to learn a valuable life lesson by receiving the grade earned on the paper: an or a 0 Ann Newman RN Charlotte Ban on breast pump hurts mother infant In response to let mother pump (Nov 27): As a breast-feeding mother who has suffered infections while nursing both my sons I find it inhumane for the Mecklenburg County jail not to allow Danielle Ferreira to pump milk while incarcerated Missing just a couple of feedings let alone stopping altogether can be excruciating not to mention the fever chills and nausea that come with the resulting breast infection Even more cruel is to make a 2-month-old suffer and risk mal-nourishment when pumping is such an easy solution JenniffrSidden Huntersville Incident reflects loss of greatness How low can we go? there more than enough arrogance contempt and pettiness in our culture? What legal or ethical standard dictates that a mother pump breast milk to feed her 2-month-old baby? I low docs Ms incarceration threaten our national or local security? We have changed a lot over the past seven years All of us had better start looking over our shoulders Clara Alexander Denver NC Legal system inhumane to those from elsewhere This incident demonstrates how our legal system mistreats people from other countries including Latin America We need our local leaders to take action to make this a humane and just city Glenn Hutchinson Charlotte Faced with addiction families go blind In response to is a magnificent maze of crime and (Nov 23): In his review of the Devil Knows Lawrence Toppman dismisses the possibility someone could be high on drugs without being noticed Not only is it possible the norm Denial the family members from having to admit a change is necessary the devil you know than the devil you Nancy Haynes Charlotte developed each day! Too often lands near our streams and reservoirs are developed increasing the amount and speed of water rushing into our water bodies Development exacerbates drought conditions because the groundwater docs not have an opportunity to seep into the water table On the flipside in periods of heavy rain also increases severe flooding because there arc fewer natural areas available to absorb excess rainwater like pouring a bucket of water onto your kitchen counter and expecting it to soak in Cataw'ba Lands Conservancy is our land trust dedicated to preserving land throughout the Catawba River basin including Mountain Island Lake to minimize the impacts of drought By working directly with willing landowners to conserve their land in perpetuity the conservancy helps to permanently protect our water quality and supply This type of strategic land protection also provides the public with the added benefits of increased recreational opportunities better water and air quality protected farmland and forest resources and preserved scenic views Being smart about development through voluntary land conservation can mean the difference between enjoying cheap and adequate supplies of clean drinking water and facing ever increasing costs for scarce and polluted water Not surprisingly escalating land prices mean that it is becoming increasingly difficult to conserve land It is critical that our local and state elected officials identify creative ways to provide more money to save our green infrastructure Together we must encourage our elected officials to act soon to boost conservation funding to protect our water supplies before we see the bottoms of even more riverbeds and wells For The Record offers commentaries from various sources The views are the and not necessarily those of the Observer editorial board rA NC population is increasing but the water supplies are not From Dave Cable executive director of Catawba Lands Conservancy in Charlotte We have all experienced drought pains this summer mandatory water restrictions alarmingly low lake levels and parched landscapes It would be comforting to know that this drought is an anomaly and we will not experience the hardships of drought again for years to come Unfortunately research is forecasting the opposite Duke Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions recently released a report that reminds us of an obvious fact: While North population is increasing its water supplies are not The report says we must prepare for a future of increased competition for water and drier summers making drought periods more frequent One of the recommendations for coping with this impending situation is to protect more of North our stream buffers forests farms wetlands and other natural areas Undeveloped land enables water to slowly percolate into the ground and recharge the water table When land near creeks rivers and lakes is impervious because of parking lots and buildings the rain flows off surfaces so fast that the ground cannot absorb it Ground water supplies recharge municipal water supplies become dangerously low and the landscape prematurely withers Catawba Lands Conservancy works to preserve our green infrastructure in the face of rapid development The Environment NC Research Policy Center projects that in the next 20 years the Charlotte developed land will increase by 48 percent 45 acres newly OURS thank you very much Every day since it appeared we have combed the Forum for WRITE THE FORUM We welcome letters Please sign (unless you are using e-mail or computer fax) and include your address and daytime telephone number We edit for brevity grammar clarity and accuracy and we reject letters published elsewhere Letters typically address a single idea and do not exceed 150 words We cannot return or acknowledge letters not used Published letters will appear in paper and electronic format EDITORS THE OBSERVER Bruton Smith at least has reason to smile In response to here (Nov 27): I feel so fortunate Mecklenburg having to subsidize Bruton Smith We already do so much for other undeserving en E-mail: opinioncharlotte observercom The Observer Forum The Charlotte Observer P0 Box 30308 Charlotte NC 28230-0308 1.