Letters to the Editor

Wild Dunes parking

Regarding the recent article titled "IOP to get county funds for beach": There has been a suggestion that there could be a need to have public access and parking for the beach areas inside the gated Wild Dunes.

Which entity or entities within Wild Dunes will provide access and parking? Will it be Destination Wild Dunes, the resort with its commercial properties and restricted parking in those areas? Or will it be the front-beach property owners and/or their entities, which own properties immediately adjacent to the beach that is being re-nourished? These properties are either privately gated and/or have restrictive parking. Or will it be the remaining home-owners within Wild Dunes, whose only access to the beach with parking are the areas in front of their properties?

Since the re-nourishment project benefits all of these groups and should public access and parking be required for the county's contribution of $900,000, each group, to be fair, should provide an equal amount of parking at their respective locations.

DENNY DONAHUE

Pelican Reach

Isle of Palms

More than teachers

Am I the only person in the area who read a Jan. 10 article in The Post and Courier titled "Study: State tops in teachers, 41st in student achievement"?

I thought surely there would be some response, but it appears we as a community just "don't get it."

The article stated that "although South Carolina ranks No. 1 in the country for its efforts to attract, develop and keep the best teachers, its kindergarten through 12th-grade students' performance languishes among the bottom tier of states, according to the Quality Counts 2008 report released Wednesday."

This is proof once again that it takes more than a teacher.

If parents would step up to the plate and do their share, we would hopefully see improvement in student achievement.

SARA BAKER

Lombardi Lane

Hanahan

Fear of deficit

The standard Republican response to concerns about the budget deficit is to state that wasteful spending is the cause, so increasing taxes is not the solution. Usually, this is combined with the accusation that the "tax and spend Democrats" are the root cause of the problem. Before we get too far into the partisan, name-calling campaign season, I would like to ask a few pointed questions for voters to ponder:

-- If there is so much unnecessary spending, why didn't the Republicans eliminate it during all those years when they controlled the presidency and both houses of Congress? You may note that instead of cutting programs, the Republicans significantly expanded domestic spending.

-- Recently, President Bush proposed the largest budget and largest deficit ever. How were the Democrats to blame for his proposals?

-- Exactly what programs have your representatives opposed, the elimination of which would balance the budget or, at least, drastically close the gap?

-- What amount of debt (stated as a percentage of gross domestic product) would you find alarming and worthy of your representative's immediate and undivided attention to solve?

-- Whatever happened to the promises of fiscal responsibility contained in the "Contract with America"?

I am deeply concerned about the budget deficit and the impact of the public debt on the future of our nation. I understand the need to occasionally stimulate the economy through fiscal policy. However, we have such massive debt already that we will soon run out of the ability to do minor adjustments.

Reflexively, the Republicans have always proposed tax cuts without any equivalent reduction in expenditures. These policies have produced today's massive debt load. Financial excesses of this type are reminiscent of the similar "feel good" policies that led to the Great Depression. I'm sure everyone appreciated the profits from the stock markets until the crash in 1929, and it was primarily the banks that failed then. Today, government borrowing to produce prosperity will surely have a similar day of reckoning sometime in the future.

Frankly, I always thought that the responsibility of our leaders was to protect us from danger. Unfortunately, the public debt, created entirely by our leaders, is the most serious danger we face. Our leaders have not done their jobs.

Speaking for myself, I voted for the Republicans for more than 30 years. I changed parties a few years ago. I didn't abandon the Republican Party. Long ago, the Republicans abandoned their principles.

LARRY HASKELL

Fountainhead Way

Mount Pleasant

Fiscal responsibility

The most sensible thing to do with the federal rebate checks is for all those who receive them to return them to the government.

I am a senior, and according to what I have read, we will get a rebate of about $300. Whatever the amount, it will not make a big difference in our lives. But you had better believe, somewhere down the line, we are going to have to pay the money back because the government is broke and trillions of dollars in debt.

The Republicans are using fear tactics again by saying if you vote for the Democrats they will raise your taxes. If President Bush didn't give the first tax breaks, maybe we wouldn't be in such a mess economically.

Speaking of fear tactics, the conservative evangelicals tried to use them against Arizona Sen. John McCain during the South Carolina primary. I received a very repulsive telephone call. Evidently, people did not fall for that tactic this time, as they did when Bush used similar tactics against McCain in 2000.

I am tired of hearing Mike Huckabee say he is pro-life and wants to change our Constitution. How dare he? The conservatives are going to try to divide this country again. We have reached the point now where we have shootings in malls and schools, and in council meetings and almost any place where people gather. I would bet that many of the pro-life people are members of the NRA and are against any kind of gun registration or control. Why don't they get outraged about all the killings by people using guns?

I believe people are waking up to what has happened in this country, but I think it has been a long-time coming.

We are going to have to be prepared for a lot of sacrifice to get this country back on the right track.

IRENEE CUZZONE

Springview Lane

Summerville

Abstinence program

Why not be happy that teens are abstaining from sexual activity? Don't we want teens to know the benefits of abstaining until they are ready to form a healthy married family?

We do not need more dysfunctional families with STDs, HIV/AIDS, out-of-wedlock births and parents making child-support payments for children they will never raise.

Comprehensive sex education is required in all public middle schools and high schools. Unless parents opt to have their children taken out of the comprehensive program, they get it automatically.

Yet, while the S.C. law requires that the comprehensive programs strongly emphasize abstinence until marriage, research shows that less than 5 percent of the programs given address abstinence.

Abstinence education cannot displace comprehensive education, but it is available so that students can learn about the benefits of not having sex. Parents must provide written consent to opt their children into an abstinence class.

Abstinence, which is far more than "just say no," is research-based and more than 70 percent of its curricula addresses abstinence and the skills required to practice it.

Heritage Community Services is nationally recognized as one of the most effective providers of abstinence programs. After only one Heritage course, 41 percent of students decide to abstain. If they get the course another year, 72 percent decide to abstain. This should make everyone happy.

PHILMA CIMORELLI

Alexandra Lane

North Charleston

King Street rent

I stopped to pick up some shoes I'd left at Alex's on King Street this past Saturday. I've been a patron there for about the past 15 years, relying on their expertise for all manner of work on shoes, luggage — you name it. While paying, the store owner asked if I lived downtown.

When I replied that I did and asked why, he told me that after more than 20 years of doing business at that address, he was moving. Apparently the rent was increasing more than 300 percent, and he would not be able to make the payments with "only 10 fingers."

I will follow Alex, no matter where he goes, which in this case is to Mount Pleasant. His cheerful manner, professional attitude and extraordinary service are rare in the marketplace anymore. He's truly engaged with his customers. What the landlord has planned for the space is unknown. Retail trends being what they are on middle King Street. The landlord's probably targeting a demographic I outgrew 30 years back. That's the real shame.

When I first arrived in Charleston, the chain stores on King Street were Condon's and Woolworth's. Now, it's one generic experience after another, symptomatic of changing trends and the steady influx of youth into the immediate neighborhood. There is no character on King Street beyond the store facades, as the so-called "mom and pops" have moved away under the crushing increase in rents. I can't fault building owners for wanting to maximize their property income. And I can't realistically expect all the old-time businesses to survive changing market demands. I'm only commenting on the loss of another perfectly viable store and its replacement by a new store I probably won't patronize.

By the way, hooray for the renewal of Upper King Street, but watch out, it's only a matter of time before the footfalls of "progress" cross those thresholds, too.

DAVID N. FISHER

Dunnemann Avenue

Charleston

Financial literacy

I'm proud to say that I took the initiative this year and sent a letter to Gov. Mark Sanford requesting he proclaim April as "Financial Literacy Month" in South Carolina.

In support, on Feb. 19, Mayor Joseph P. Riley proclaimed April Financial Literacy Month in the city of Charleston.

As director of the non-profit Financial Training Center and a committee member of the South Carolina Jump$tart Coalition, I have learned to appreciate how important it is for people in all walks of life to learn how to budget, to be monetarily self-sufficient and be better equipped to make sound financial decisions. Especially during these economic times.

DOROTHEA BERNIQUE

Director

Financial Training Center

Landmark Drive

North Charleston

I-526 extension

Last month's thorough study of the proposed completion of I-526 by a nationally recognized transportation design company (Gattling-Jackson) sent a loud and clear message to the Lowcountry: We cannot expect to solve our transportation problems by using the same strategies that created the problems.

The proposed completion of the I-526 beltway is a throwback to a post-World War II transportation vision of large highways carrying many people to what were the open green spaces of suburbia. Cities across America are now trying to cope with the resulting sprawl, growth and the degradation of urban centers.

In response, places such as Seattle have successfully deconstructed their highways and built expanded networks of smaller roads which have led to "smart" redevelopment projects, consisting of "close-in" commercial and multi-use gathering places. These networks provide route options and encourage walking, bicycling and use of public transportation.

In short, these cities are planning roads to facilitate intelligent development, rather than building or widening roads in reaction to poorly planned development. Cities quickly recoup the cost of infrastructure modification from private investment in redevelopment, an increased tax base and enhanced quality of life for residents.

The alternative is a beltway, such as that in Washington, D.C., that will induce more traffic, which will dump vehicles onto already poorly planned and congested roads; produce choking exhaust and traffic noise; increase global warming; and produce toxic road runoff.

All of this will disrupt thousands of acres of critical marsh habitat, destroy James Island's jewel of a county park and lead to the inevitable urbanization of Johns Island, one of the few remaining remnants of the Lowcountry's rural heritage.

Is a road project that will shorten for a few years some people's drives by a few minutes worth the degradation of the environmental and aesthetic qualities of the Lowcountry, which make it a place we want to call home?

JOHN S. PETERS

Coral Reef Drive

Johns Island

Don't kill gators

As a kid, I used to canoe down the Ashley River with Charles Frampton, Walter Bailey and others. We often had 10-foot alligators and larger come up close to our canoes.

Unfortunately, they never ate anyone. However, I wish they had eaten a couple of those idiots who shot them with BB guns.

I also have had the privilege of swimming with alligators in the Cooper, Edisto and Ashley rivers, as well as at Dorchester County Council meetings, and have never even been nudged or seen anyone bitten or injured.

If alligators were aggressive toward humans, we would be reporting several thousand attacks a year in South Carolina. To pass the proposed legislation is further testament for the reason we should fire most our legislators or put them on the hunted or short-lease lists.

Where is the Coastal Conservation League, Audubon Society, Sierra Club and the World Wildlife Federation when alligators need some representation?

Perhaps we could start a new industry in the Lowcountry and have stands next to the basket ladies in Mount Pleasant, Awendaw and at the Four Corners of Law?

We could have S.C. alligator purses, belts, shoes and change purses for sale. Hey, why not include shark shoes as well?

Please don't feed or kill the gators.

JACK PRATT

Kapalua Run

Summerville

Impact fees

We should have impact fees statewide to pay for newcomers' impact on services. There is a way to do this that is already on the books.

Legislators could increase the deed stamp from $3.70 to $10 per $1,000 and earmark the funds for bonded indebtedness on schools. No new taxes for school indebtedness could be put on all real property by law, and the 8 percent bonded indebtedness could be repealed.

When the bonded indebtedness is paid, then all of the taxes for bonded indebtedness on schools will be off our homes and businesses and newcomers would pay a one-time cost to have the taxes off their homes, too.

Take the sales tax off mobile homes and put the deed stamp on them as they use the schools. This would generate about $500 million a year. Use $300 million a year to buy and pay for bonds to build new schools across the state as needed. Use the other funds for school upkeep statewide.

This way the S.C. Department of Education would have to take care of school construction statewide. It would only need one set of blueprints each for elementary, middle and high school to save money.

There should only be one school district per county.

DAVID WHETSELL

President, STOPTAX

Cannon Trail

Lexington