Letters to the Editor

Inspiring example

Kimberly Bowman's got wings! She got them every day in elementary school when she participated in the WINGS after school program that develops social and emotional skills in young kids.

We are so proud of what she's accomplished -- accepted to a record-breaking 20 colleges, $630,000 in scholarships. The March 3 story about Kimberly is filled with WINGS-like quotes from her. She says: "It's not something you can buy at a store. It's just common sense. I don't know what to tell you. Just learn right from wrong and live life in a positive way and don't go around looking for a problem. Make things better for yourself."

Social and emotional education teaches kids to behave well, make good decisions and build healthy relationships. It also teaches kids the "want to," the motivation to believe in yourself, to set high expectations, to go after your dreams.

Kimberly sets an inspiring example of what happens when kids get wings.

Ginny Deerin

CEO/Founder

Wings for kids

Rivers Avenue

North Charleston

ObamaCare

Since it appears that the Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives are desperately trying to commit political suicide by using the nuclear option (reconciliation) to pass ObamaCare, it seems to me the more appropriate term for reconciliation would be the "Kamikaze Option." Just a thought.

Doug McDaniel

Riverfront Drive

Charleston

Material lifestyle

Sometimes it takes a trip abroad to get a perspective on our relative position beyond these shores. Often times it's mostly comforting to be able to relate positively to our USA motherland. But sometimes comparisons are unsettling.

What was striking in the past weeks visiting South Africa was the healthy physical condition of the younger generation, the under 50s. Not too different from frequent observations I have made in some European countries and Australia, New Zealand.

Like clockwork, jogging past our suburban villa in Cape Town each evening after work, a local club routinely rounds out a five kilometer run. As these agile, robust, males and females of all stripes glided up the hilly slopes with ease, I wondered where in the USA this would be occurring? Probably only in urban settings, and then amongst die-hard athletes.

Sensitized to this surprising and conspicuous absence of obesity, I began noticing the paucity of fast-food and pizza outlets. Instead, there is a plethora of salad bars and lunch counters, offering mouth-watering healthy meal alternatives. Local menus don't cry out "All you can eat for 'X' dollars," but instead reference low glycemic index (GI) menus.

These GI (low carbohydrate) foods are broken down and absorbed slowly into the body. These are helpful to weight and insulin control, curbing appetite and delaying hunger. Eye-catching ads for "GI menu options available" are evident at many convenience eateries. Sadly, I have not seen too many around here.

Maybe instead of the "emphasis" on health care, we, as a country should be more obsessed with preserving health per se.

As world league tables go, we bottom out in terms of healthy living, happiness, sustainability, vacation and leisure time for families.

Yes, our productivity and wealth still lead the world, and we are justifiably macho about our work ethic. But that price is high for our obsession with the material lifestyle, as is the cost in working hours to service that personal debt.

David J. Waldron

Cotton Field Drive

Mount Pleasant

'Bravo, Brian'

It must be terrific to have your own newspaper column. Think of the ways you could use such a platform to serve the community. You could research important issues, air both sides of an argument, shed light on problems in the community or causes that need our attention.

Or, if you were Brian Hicks, you could do none of that. Take the recent column about a new federal rule regulating the possession of firearms. It follows the typical Hicks formula: one part snark, two parts mockery (targeting a perfectly reasonable point of view), and a good helping of cynicism. He managed to write a 500-plus word column about gun rights without using the words "Second Amendment."

Or take the column about the storage of nuclear waste. We didn't learn anything about the actual controversy. We learned nothing about the science.

He had nothing to add about the cost to S.C. consumers, or the threat of terrorism that comes with storing used fuel rods in literally hundreds of locations around the country. What we did learn, though, is that Hicks thinks one of the candidates for governor talks funny. Bravo, Brian!

Suffice it to say that sometimes after reading a Hicks column, I actually know less about a subject than when I started.

Not just anyone can cause people to unlearn things, but we count on that twice a week from Brian. Surely there is someone in this community who could make better use of such a prestigious place in the newspaper.

Fred Wszolek

I'On Avenue

Sullivan's Island

Focus on driver

A March 14 writer admonishes Toyota to get all of its potentially deficient cars off the highways to protect all other drivers.

While there certainly is a Toyota concern, that concern needs to be put into perspective. The percentage of deaths due to the acceleration issue is scarcely on the chart compared to the 43,000 plus deaths per year on U.S. highways caused by speeding, drunks, cell phone users and other driving incompetents.

And anyone who does not know to shift to neutral, stop and turn off the engine in the event of engine acceleration (which can happen in any vehicle) should not be driving on the highway.

The real focus in this situation, like virtually all highway fatalities, should be on the driver, not the machine.

Fred Sales

Lawton Harbor Drive

Charleston

'Study the history'

I'd like to comment on Sen. Glenn McConnell's column concerning a Patriots Point monument to South Carolina secessionists and his response to Rev. Joseph Darby's Feb. 19 column.

With regard to the causes of the Civil War, Sen. McConnell states that "the issue of slavery was indeed involved" and advises Rev. Darby to "study the history of the War Between the States more carefully."

Well, I have.

The primary cause of the Civil War was the desire by the overwhelming majority of Americans to prevent the spread of slavery into the territories.

Early on, Lincoln was clear that in order to preserve the union, he would not attempt to ban slavery in the states where it already existed, but rather he hoped to prevent its spread beyond those borders. Southern slaveholders realized that such a prohibition would eventually lead to the extinction of the institution and to the end of their comfortable way of life. To not acknowledge a point universally agreed to by creditable historians with the weary old "states rights" argument is simply feeble revisionist history.

Sen. McConnell also restated the magnanimous Appomattox quote by the great Union citizen-general from Maine, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, espousing reconciliation.

That attitude was also expressed by Gen. Grant in his memoirs in recounting his admiration for Gen. Robert E. Lee as "a foe who had fought so valiantly." But the ending of this Grant quote is more meaningful -- though it was for "the worst cause for which anyone ever fought."

A monument at Patriots Point to these people?

Rich Bennett

Winged Foot Court

Johns Island

Time to worry

I was surprised to find the editors "struck out" in recognizing the risk Sen. Jim Bunning's stunt put to many of our Lowcountry communities and homeowners while he attempted to stonewall the emergency extender bill in the Senate last week.

While focusing on his "fast-ball" at jobless citizens' heads in your March 8 edition cartoon montage, you missed the fact the bill included the extension of our Federal Flood Insurance Program that officially lapsed Feb. 28.

While choosing to highlight Jay Ambrose's op-ed rant blaming "anything goes" Democrats for this dilemma, most of us clearly recognized Bunning as the lone, stubborn ideologue who refused to acknowledge the need for treating this budgetary emergency.

The bill also included a wide range of provisions important to a lot of us beyond the simple extension of unemployment benefits, including surface transportation programs and health insurance subsidies for the jobless.

The bill was clearly aimed at allowing Congress adequate time to work out the intricacies of long-term treatment of these programs.

Fortunately, his colleagues in unusual, but welcome bipartisan unity put an end to Bunning's grandstanding.

As reported in the March 1 edition of the Insurance Journal, Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, reinforced, "Providing protection from flood losses should be more of a priority for the government.

After one of the stormiest winters on record, and with hurricane season fast approaching, it is unfortunate that Congress would fail to act on this issue and put millions of Americans' financial security at risk." Grande went on to say, "This episode should make it clear that short-term extensions, which can be blocked by any senator or congressional caucus, are untenable."

While disagreeing with Jay Ambrose's slant in large, I do agree with his closing as it applies to Bunning, "It's time to start worrying, fellow Americans. Really worrying."

Charles J. McCarty

Member, City Council

City of Folly Beach

Folly Beach

Student opinion

Recently there has been a lot of buzz about Buist Academy, Charleston Progressive Academy, James Simons Elementary and Memminger Elementary, and how they are not earthquake safe. There has been talk about moving these schools to other buildings in order to make them safer.

I am a seventh grader at Buist Academy. My opinion on this issue is very strong. Everything about this makes me upset.

I understand that it is a safety concern, but is there a quicker fix?

I have been attending Buist for eight years; next year will be my ninth and last year there. That building is my second home and I can't imagine leaving it.

Something that bothered me in the Feb. 27 article "Board seems in favor of vacating schools" was the statement, "The uncertainty about when downtown school buildings will be repaired or replaced has stirred up parents and community members' concerns."

I think students should have also been included in that list, considering this affects them.

I hope my voice is heard and the school board figures out an alternative for this issue.

Riley Haldrup

Prince Ferry Lane

Mount Pleasant

Racial profiling?

In regard to the recent racial profiling complaint: About 18 months ago, I was on my way home from Goose Creek to North Charleston at 12:30 a.m.

I was stopped in Goose Creek and Hanahan for a burned-out license tag light. No problem, both officers were polite and gave me a warning.

I am a 70-year-old white female, so was racial profiling a reason for them stopping me?

It never crossed my mind.

Frances Hooper

Buist Avenue

North Charleston