The Daily Dispatch - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 by The Daily Dispatch

CMYK Electric bills could fall as demand dips

U.K. court convicts airline bomb suspects FSU falls short in last-ditch rally vs. Miami

News, Page 3A

Business & Farm, Page 5A

Sports, Page 1B TUESDAY, September 8, 2009

Volume XCV, No. 210

(252) 436-2700

www.hendersondispatch.com

Presidential addresses

SAT score ups and downs

Controversial speech to kids comes today; Laura Bush gives O.K.

Vance, Granville scores better, Warren a bit worse By GLENN CRAVEN Daily Dispatch Editor

Tri-County schools last month received the results from the 2008-09 SAT tests, with scores declining in Warren County, rising in Granville, and improving in Vance albeit with a much smaller number of Vance County students taking the exam compared to the prior academic year. AP photo/CHARLES DHARAPAK The SAT is one of the premier aptitude tests President Barack Obama speaks at the AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic at Coney Island in Cincinnati Monday. taken by high school students as a measure of their readiness for college admission. Vance County students’ average SAT score working men and women. Care Can’t Wait.” that he won’t be satisfied By DARLENE SUPERVILLE improved by 54 points in For their part, some They had to be won,” he until jobs are much more Associated Press Writer 2008-09 vs. 2007-08, rising elements within the labor said. plentiful. to a 1,291 overall on a scale movement have indicated “They had to be fought Shortly after taking the CINCINNATI — of 2,400 points possible frustration with Obama, for, by men and women of oath of office in January, President Barack Obama (a minimum of 200 and a Obama confronted a rapid- who traveled to Cincinnati courage and conviction, declared Monday that maximum of 800 points to speak to a state AFLfrom the factory floors of ly deteriorating economy, modern benefits like paid awarded on each of three CIO gathering, because the Industrial Revolution sections). The improvement leave, minimum wage and a clogged credit system, to the shopping aisles of failing or ailing banks and some key items such as Social Security “all bear NATIONAL WEATHER was reflected across the Shown areboard, noon positions weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bandsas arehe highs for the day. legislation making it today’s superstores. They a a shaky stock market. the union label,” apwithofVance students stood up and spoke out He used his speech here to easier for people to join pealed to organized labor scoringSeattle an average of 424 69/52 unions has languished to demand a fair shake, on the critical reading por- to help him win the health tick off a host of steps the in Congress. To vigorous an honest day’s pay for administration has taken tion of the test last year vs. care fight in Congress. Billings cheers, Obama made a an honest day’s work,” he to steady the economy, and “It was labor that 75/51 407 the year prior, averagDetroit Minneapolis New York 77/62 80/64 pitch for the bill in his said. “Many risked their he made a special pitch for helped build the largest ing 448 in mathematics, 77/65 the health care overhaul speech. He also noted that lives. Some gave their middleChicago class in history. up from 423 points, and 78/56 San Francisco he has pushed. the first bill he signed into lives. Some made it a So, even if you’re notWashington a Denver averaging 419 on the test’s 75/57 Kansas City 86/54 76/64 cause of their lives — like “We have never been law was one guaranteeing union member, every 86/63 writing portion, improved Sen. Ted Kennedy, who we this close,” Obama said. equal pay for equal work. American owes something from 407 the year before. Los Angeles 81/64 remember today.” Obama spent a good “We have never had this to America’s laborAtlanta moveBroken down by high 88/67 At one point before deal of his time extolling ment,” said Obama, whose broad an agreement on school in this county, El Paso 91/68 Obama spoke, some in the the virtues of the union what needs to be done.” He run for the presidency was Southern Vance showed Fairbanks crowd broke into chants accused vested interests of movement. energized in no small part improvement in all three Houston 66/47 93/72 Miami of “Fired up” and “Ready trying to thwart it. Some “We remember that the by unions. 89/78 Please seeHonolulu SAT, page 4A rights and benefits we ento Go.” union-circulated posters 88/76 Obama asserted that Anchorage Hilo Juneau 60/49 84/71“our recovery plan is joy today were not simply held up by audience mem61/48 Please see LABOR DAY, page 3A handed out to America’s bers proclaimed, “Health working,” but repeated

Obama thanks workers on Labor Day

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Mostly cloudy A brief afternoon shower CHICAGO — Janie Johnson

has no health insurance, so when she cut her toe while giving THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY herself a pedicure, she limped to the emergency room at one of Cloudy 85° 87° 85° Chicago’s safety net hospitals and High: 80 Low: 61 waited her turn. 61° 65° 66° “I’m 44, but I probably look Mostly cloudy Partly sunny Partly sunny about 55 right now,” Johnson Wednesday joked in Stroger Hospital’s emergency department where more than 100AND patients sat waiting. Damp ALMANAC SUN MOON Urgent cases, from chest pains to High: 77 Sunrise today ........................... 6:51 a.m. Temperature gunshot wounds, are rushed Low: 63 Sunset today ............................ 7:31to p.m. Raleigh-Durham through 6 p.m. yest. Moonrise first. today Johnson ........................ doctors was 9:19 gladp.m. to High .................................................... 79° Moonset today ....................... 10:47 a.m. Low ..................................................... 63° have somewhere to go for health Details,84° 3A Sunrise tomorrow ..................... 6:51 a.m. Normal high ........................................ care. Sunset tomorrow ...................... 7:30 p.m. Normal low ......................................... 64° “I don’t know what I would do” Moonrise tomorrow .................. 9:58 p.m. Record high ............................ 99° in 1954 Moonset tomorrow ................. Record low .............................. 51° in 1984 without the hospital, she 11:53 said.a.m. Moon Phases “My health would probably get Precipitation

Today

Deaths

24 hoursButner through 6 p.m. yest. ......... 0.13” Month to date .................................. 0.13” William L. ‘Bill’ Tunstall, 75 Normal month to date ..................... 0.97” Henderson Year to date ................................... 23.11” Fields, 55 Normal year to date Lorraine ...................... 30.57”

Kittrell

Joseph K. Brown, 79 REGIONAL WEATHER

Last

New

First

worse.” To all the knotty issues involved in health care overhaul, add one more: The proposals in Congress may threaten the funding and future of the nation’s already-struggling safety net hospitals. It’s an irony hospital leaders are expressing quietly as Congress reconvenes this week to take up health care again. Hospital leaders support expanding insurance coverage to more Americans, but they worry financing the expansion will cause some teetering urban hospitals to deteriorate and close. They point to Massachusetts, the laboratory for health care overhaul, where one safety net hospital, Boston Medical Center, is suing the state claiming it’s cov-

320

295.76

+0.01

Sep 11

Sep 18

Sep 26

Neuse Falls

264

REGIONAL CITIES Today

Oct 4

Wed.

248.64

Today

-0.08

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Asheville Boone Burlington Chapel Hill

82 78 82 82

High Point Jacksonville Kinston Lumberton

82 82 82 85

56 pc 54 c 60 c 63 c

77 75 78 78

56 55 61 61

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Please see HOSPITALS, page 4A

Hospital payments

Patient care hospital revenue by source, fiscal year 2007

Pati by s

About 2,700 U.S. hospitals receive federal disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments to help pay for uninsured patients.

2% Medicare DSH

61 c 66 pc 64 pc 65 pc

79 80 81 84

63 64 65 62

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said she believes there will be garbage collection workers ending up in the unemployment lines should the city government privatize the sanitation services. Evans was stunned at a work session in late June when City Public Works Director Linda Leyen said a proposal specifies trash collection workers would to have to go to work for

Abo rece ate paym unin

3 Other

4 Uninsured or self pay 10 Medicaid DSH 14 State or local government 18 Non-DSH Medicare

23 Non-DSH Medicaid 26 Commercial insurance

NOTE: Based on 97 hospitals that are members of National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems SOURCE: National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems

NOTE mem Publi AP

SOUR Public

<AP> H 090409 graphic Editor’s note: It is mandatory to include all revenue sources that accompany this graphic when whatever private company collection, the present7/8 inch repurposing or editing it with for publication would end up being chosen contract having been in ef-BC-USto handle sanitation. fect since the start of July ETA 5 p

City Council to discuss privatized sanitation tonight

orders to city departments that included studying possible means for having free Salem Warrenton enterprise perform services. A City Council special Asheville Durham 81/63 Raleigh 82/56 Agnes Carroll, 83 work 82/62session And when City Manis set for 6 80/64 Obituaries, 4A p.m. today at City Hall, 134Capeager Ray Griffin made Charlotte his presentation of the Rose Ave., with the topic Hatteras Fayetteville 85/62 86/65 being privatization of Hen-78/70working budget in May, he derson’s sanitation services. said that, as for the future, Wilmington LAKE LEVELS a focus should include The council, at the 80/66 Elevation in feet above sea level. Data as privatizing sanitation. two-day annual municipal of 7 a.m. yesterday. 24-Hr. 24-Hr. City Councilwoman government retreat Lake Capacity Yest. Change Lake Capacityin Yest. Change Gaston 203 199.63 -0.02 JordanMarch, gave 240 marching 213.01 -0.05 Mary Emma Evans has early

Kerr

ering too much of the cost for expanding coverage. Another safety net standby, Cambridge Health Alliance, has closed health centers and cut services; its Somerville Hospital no longer keeps patients overnight. “It looks like a national plan will be modeled on Massachusetts and it’s a disaster for poor people,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, Harvard Medical School professor and a doctor at Cambridge Hospital. “The insurance offered doesn’t cover everyone,” she said. “It’s filled with gaps like copayments and deductibles. Patients can’t afford it, so they turn to the public sector and the public sector isn’t there anymore.”

Full

BHenderson y WILLIAM F. WEST 80/61 D riter Mt. Rocky Greensboro aily Dispatch W Frank Hill, 57 Winston80/63 82/63

Soul City Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows

Please see SPEECH, page 3A

Will ‘safety net’ hospitals survive reforms? Cold front

63°

Weather

WASHINGTON — In a speech that drew fire even before he delivered it, President Barack Obama is telling the nation’s schoolchildren he “expects great things from each of you.” “At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world,” Obama said. “And none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.” The White House posted Obama’s remarks on its Web site at midday Monday. He’s scheduled to deliver the talk from Wakefield High School in suburban Arlington, Va., Tuesday. It will be broadcast live on C-SPAN and on the White House Web site. Obama’s planned talk has proven controversial, with several conservative organizations and individuals accusing him of trying to pitch his arguments too aggressively in a localeducation setting. White House officials, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, have said the allegations are silly. Obama got a bit of a boost from former first lady Laura Bush on Monday when she said she supported Obama’s decision to address the nation’s school children.

110s

Price of federal health care could force some struggling hospitals out of business

Mainly cloudy

By ANN SANNER Associated Press Writer

Stationary front

Warm front Ice 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A FIVE-DAY Opinion . .FORECAST . . . . . . . . . 6A FOR HENDERSON Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A TODAY TONIGHT WEDNESDAY Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-8B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 9B 77°K. JOHNSON By CARLA 80°Classifieds. . . . . 61° 10-12B AP Medical Writer ShowersOur RainHometown T-storms Snow . .Flurries . . .

50 cents

Councilman Garry Daeke at the work session said “Oxford has done this forever,” a reference to that city contracting out garbage collection to a private company. Oxford has long had an agreement with Waste Industries to handle garbage

2007 and to expire at the end of June 2011. Tuesday’s work session will be held in the City Council Chambers and is considered open to the public.

Contact the writer at bwest@ hendersondispatch.com.

Our Hometown

The Daily Dispatch

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Computer security class being offered by VGCC

Mark It Down Today Appearance Commission — The City of Henderson’s Appearance Commission will meet at 3 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of City Hall, 134 Rose Ave. Granville Commission — The Granville County Commission will meet at 7 p.m. in the commission meeting room, 145 Williamsboro St. Oxford Commission — The Oxford City Commission will meet at 7 p.m. in the commission meeting room of City Hall, 300 Williamsboro St. Mental health meeting — The Five County Mental Health Authority’s Consumer and Family Advisory Committee (CFAC) will meet at 6 p.m. at the Vance-Granville Community College, Warren campus, Building 4, Room W432, 210 W. Ridgeway St., Warrenton. Consumers can sign-up to discuss issues with the CFAC from 6:15-6:30 p.m. The committee meets monthly to assist in developing and revising the mental health plan that drives mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse services for the five-county area. For more information, call 430-1330, ext. 3035 and ext. 3050. Board of Elections — The Vance County Board of Elections will meet at 11 a.m. in the Elections Office in the Henry A. Dennis Building, 300 S. Garnett Street.

Wednesday Economic Development Commission — The Downtown Oxford Economic Development Commission will meet at 8 a.m. in the mayor’s conference room on the second floor of City Hall, 300 Williamsboro St. Wednesday Farmer’s market — The Wednesday Farmer’s Market, located near the track behind the Henderson Family YMCA, 380 Ruin Creek Road, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. selling local produce. The market is sponsored by the YMCA, the Vance County Cooperative Extension Service and Maria Parham Medical Center. Venders interested in selling at the market should contact Wayne Rowland at 438-8188. Oxford Farmers’ Market — The Oxford Farmers’ Market, located on the corner of McClanahan and Lanier streets across from the police station in Oxford, is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Thursday

Vance-Granville Community College will offer a new course, “Basic PC Security,” on Tuesday nights, Sept. 10 through Oct. 29. Students will learn the nature of threats to their personal computers, assess their vulnerability, identify the “weak links” in their(Left to right) L. Lee Isley, chief executive officer, Granville Health System; Dr. Joanne Fruth, systems, and learn how to South Granville Primary Care; Janet Randazzo, art instructor, Butner-Stem Elementary; and Gus Gillespie, principal, Butner-Stem Elementary, announced the “Kid’s Living Healthy” color- implement simple solutions to minimize risks. ing contest. Students will explore the vulnerabilities of operating systems, software and networks. They will gain an understanding of how hackers gain access to computers without their owners’ knowledge, as well as why, where, and how viruses, worms and blended Granville Health Sysvariety of prizes by sketch- said Isley. “Health, nutrithreats are created. tem has announced that ing or coloring their way tion and fitness should alStudents should be fathe health system will towards healthy living. ways play important roles miliar with general PC tersponsor the 2009 Kids Liv“We feel honored to be in the lives of our students minology and have a basic ing Healthy Art Contest at included in this art contest and their families. This understanding of Windows Butner-Stem Elementary being sponsored by Grannew program provides a to take this course. Donna School. ville Health System. This fun and creative approach Gill, an instructor for L. Lee Isley, chief is a fantastic opportunity to learning.” VGCC’s information sysexecutive officer, met with for our students,” said Winners will be antems security and networkhundreds of Butner-Stem Gus Gillespie, principal of nounced during an open ing technology programs, Elementary students on Butner-Stem Elementary house gallery showing for will teach the class, which Aug. 31 as he explained School. “Our school looks students and their families will meet in Building 7, that Granville Health Sys- forward to the challenge at South Granville Priroom 7330. tem physician Dr. Joanne — promoting healthy mary Care, located at 317 For more information Fruth and her Butner living through talent and Central Avenue in Butner, and to register, call 738medical practice, South creativity!” on Oct. 13 from 5:30-7:30 3417 or 738-3324. Granville Primary Care, The program will p.m. will host the program. consist of three levels of “South Granville PriThe contest is a wellparticipation: pre-K, kinmary Care is absolutely ness initiative designed dergarten and first grade; thrilled to be hosting this to encourage students second and third grades; program and looks forward and their families to live and fourth and fifth to the open house when all healthy lifestyles. Stugrades. Prizes will include the children’s hard work dents will be challenged certificates, ribbons, gift will be on display,” said to select themes such cards and savings bonds. Fruth. “The Kids Living as nutrition, exercise or “As a community health Healthy Art Contest is Marketplace other ways to stay healthy partner, Granville Health a wonderful way to keep and illustrate their ideas System is pleased to join wellness and nutrition top Cinema Marketplace Shopping Center through individual pieces Butner-Stem Elementary of mind while allowing of art. Each child will have in presenting the Kids Liv- students a creative outlet 438-9060 the opportunity to win a ing Healthy Art Contest,” for expressing their ideas.”

Granville Health System sponsors coloring contest

If you miss your paper,

Kerr-Tar RPO — The Kerr-Tar Rural Transportation Planning Organization (RPO) is having a Rural Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) meeting at 1:30 p.m. at the Oxford Public Works Facility in Oxford. The public is encouraged to attend. More information, including an agenda and directions to the meeting, can be viewed on the Internet at www.kerrtarcog.org/ rpo. 4-H meeting — Warren County 4-H will hold an interest meeting for potential volunteers at the Warren County Extension Office from 6-8 p.m. To register for the meeting or to obtain more information, contact Erin Bain, 4-H youth development extension agent at 257-3640 or erin_bain@ncsu.edu. Parks and Rec meeting — The Henderson-Vance Parks & Recreation Commission will meet at noon at Aycock Recreation Center, 307 Carey Chapel Road. Childbirth classes — Prepared childbirth education classes are held at Granville Medical Center, 1010 College St., in Oxford, every Thursday night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the first floor conference room. To register for the classes, call the Childbirth Education Department at (919) 690-3208. Retired School Personnel — The Vance County Unit of the North Carolina Retired School Personnel will meet at 11 a.m. at the Western Sizzlin’ on Ruin Creek Road in Henderson. Each member is asked to bring a prospective member. Any one who needs transportation to the meeting should contact Louise Kelley at 438-8071 or W.T. Ramey III at 492-3096.

Friday Granville Chamber — Granville County Economic Development Director Jay Tilley will make a presentation at 8 a.m. to the Granville Chamber of Commerce’s Government Forum Committee at the Economic Development Commission office, 310 Williamsboro St., Oxford. Fundraiser — Mums in a variety of colors will be on sale at the John 3:16 Center, 407 East End Ave., Littleton (next to Hagwood’s Car Wash) from 2-6 p.m. and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mums can also be ordered in advance. For more information and to place an order, call (252) 586-1800.

PLEASE CALL before

11:00 am — 436-2800

DISTRICT 9

Seasonal flu and H1N1 flu information seminar to be held at senior center The Vance County Senior Center will sponsor an information seminar on seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu on Sept. 17 at 11:15 a.m. in the dining room. Wendy Smith, RN, emergency preparedness coordinator for the

Granville-Vance District Health Department, will be the guest speaker. She will explain the difference between the two, give general information about both, discuss ways to protect oneself, provide information regarding

Wester Insurance Agency 1020 S. Garnett St. • Henderson, NC 27536

the vaccine campaign for both the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu, and answer any questions attendees may have. The senior center is located at 126 S. Garnett St. The public is invited to attend. For more information, call 430-0257.

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Advantage Ministries

Advantage Ministries will be sponsoring Kid Advantage After school Program which will begin Monday, 8/31/09. The hours are from 3pm-6pm.The cost is $25.00 a week per child which includes transportation and a snack. If interested please come to 103 Wortham Court, Henderson and fill out an application. There are only 20 slots available so act fast. 252-433-6100

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From Page One

The Daily Dispatch

Electric bills might fall as demand dips

NATIONAL WEATHER

Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Seattle 69/52

Billings 75/51

Detroit 77/62

Minneapolis 80/64

By MARK WILLIAMS AP Energy Writer

New York 77/65

Chicago 78/56

San Francisco 75/57

Denver 86/54

Washington 76/64

Kansas City 86/63

Los Angeles 81/64

Atlanta 88/67 El Paso 91/68

Fairbanks 66/47

Anchorage 60/49

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Houston 93/72 Honolulu 88/76

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Juneau 61/48

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FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR HENDERSON TODAY

TONIGHT

WEDNESDAY

77°

61°

80°

63°

Mainly cloudy

Mostly cloudy

A brief afternoon shower

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

85°

87°

85°

61°

65°

66°

Mostly cloudy

Partly sunny

SUN AND MOON

Temperature

Sunrise today ........................... 6:51 a.m. Sunset today ............................ 7:31 p.m. Moonrise today ........................ 9:19 p.m. Moonset today ....................... 10:47 a.m. Sunrise tomorrow ..................... 6:51 a.m. Sunset tomorrow ...................... 7:30 p.m. Moonrise tomorrow .................. 9:58 p.m. Moonset tomorrow ................. 11:53 a.m.

Moon Phases

Precipitation 24 hours through 6 p.m. yest. ......... 0.13” Month to date .................................. 0.13” Normal month to date ..................... 0.97” Year to date ................................... 23.11” Normal year to date ...................... 30.57”

Last

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REGIONAL WEATHER Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows

WinstonSalem

Asheville

80/61

80/63

Durham

Raleigh

82/62

85/62

80/64

Cape Hatteras

Fayetteville

78/70

86/65

LAKE LEVELS

Wilmington

80/66

Elevation in feet above sea level. Data as of 7 a.m. yesterday. 24-Hr. Lake Capacity Yest. Change Gaston 203 199.63 -0.02 Kerr 320 295.76 +0.01

24-Hr. Capacity Yest. Change 240 213.01 -0.05 264 248.64 -0.08

Lake Jordan Neuse Falls

REGIONAL CITIES Today

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82 78 82 82 87 80 82 79 83 86 84 82 84 78 81

High Point Jacksonville Kinston Lumberton Myrtle Beach Morehead City Nags Head New Bern Raleigh Richmond Roanoke Rapids Rocky Mount Sanford Wilmington Winston-Salem

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c pc pc pc pc pc r pc c sh c c c pc c

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Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice

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Est. Aug. 12, 1914 304 S. Chestnut St. P.O. Box 908 Henderson, N.C. 27536

The Daily Dispatch (USPS 239-940) is published Tuesday through Sunday mornings, except Dec. 25, by Henderson Newspapers Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Henderson, North Carolina, 27536. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Dispatch, P.O. Box 908, Henderson, N.C., 27536

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“There’s a place for the president of the United States to talk to school children and encourage school children” to stay in school, Mrs. Bush, a former school teacher, said in a CNN interview. When told some parents were keeping their children home because of the president’s address, she said “that’s their right .. to choose what they want their children to hear in school.” She added that it was “really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States.” And Florida Republican party chairman Jim Greer, who said last week he was “absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology,” said Monday he now favored the speech after changes he said the White House, under political pressure, had made to supporting materials for teachers and to the speech itself. “It’s a good speech,’ Greer told ABC News. “It encourages kids to stay in school and the importance of education, and I think that’s what a president should do when they’re going to talk to students across the country.” In a Labor Day speech in Cincinnati, Obama

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moved indoors to a music pavilion because of threatened thunderstorms. Obama chose the Labor Day union picnic as the backdrop to announce his selection of Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Bloom was senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as part of the auto industry task force

since February. Bloom, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an investment banker. Bloom will work with the National Economic Council to lead policy development and planning for Obama’s work to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, the White House said.

warned students that if they quit on school, “you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.” Obama acknowledged that “being successful is hard,” but told the students the country badly needs their best effort to cope in an increasingly competitive global economy. “What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country,” Obama says. “What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.” The president noted that he was raised by a single mother, who made him buckle down and work harder at times. He said he’s glad she did. Some conservatives have urged schools and parents to boycott the address. They say Obama is using the opportunity to

promote a political agenda. Schools don’t have to show the speech. And some districts have decided not to, partly in response to concerns from parents. Duncan’s department has also taken heat for proposed lesson plans distributed to accompany the speech. On Sunday, the secretary acknowledged that a section about writing to the president on how students can help him meet education goals was poorly worded. It has been changed. “We just clarified that to say write a letter about your own goals and what you’re going to do to achieve those goals,” Duncan said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Former Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush delivered similar speeches to students, the White House has said.

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mentioned his upcoming address. “I’m going to have something to say tomorrow to our children telling them to stay in school and work hard ’cause that’s the right message to send.” “It’s a sad state of affairs that many in this country politically would rather start an “Animal House” food fight rather than inspire kids to stay in school, to work hard, to engage parents to stay involved, and to ensure that the millions of teachers that are making great sacrifices continue to be the best in the world,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday. “It’s a sad state of affairs.” In the prepared remarks, Obama tells young people that all the work of parents, educators and others won’t matter “unless you show up to those schools, pay attention to those teachers.” Obama made no reference in his prepared remarks to the uproar surrounding his speech. Nor did he make an appeal for support of tough causes like health care reform. He used the talk to tell kids about his at-times clumsy ways as a child and to urge them to identify an area of interest, set goals and work hard to achieve them. The president also

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as the audience broke into more chants. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis accompanied Obama to Ohio, and the pair appeared in front of a large American flag, nine smaller ones and red, white and blue bunting. Local union organizers handed out 10,000 tickets for access to the area where Obama was to speak. The event was

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Obama closed with a story about how that phrase became one of his campaign slogans, and appealed to the assembled union rank and file to for help. “Your voice can change the world. Your voice can get health care passed. Your voice will make sure the American worker is protected. You can build America. I need your help,” Obama said

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ployed Americans is nearing 15 million and prospects for the job market remain gloomy. Retailers just reported their 12th straight month of declining sales and many people are buying only what they must. Power consumption by the industrial and manufacturing companies that make everything from cars to cotton swabs has fallen faster than anywhere else — 10 percent this year by government estimates. Industrial consumption fell about 20 percent in parts of the Midwest, Carolinas and the South during the second quarter, utilities say.

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fall in consecutive years. Given the broad apprehension over the economy, any money consumers can keep in their pockets may help. “You might see a decrease in your bill or, at the very least, less of an increase. And these days that’s not bad,” said Charlie Acquard, executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. You can trace the shift from major industrial power users all the way back to individual consumers to see what has happened. The number of unem-

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Consumers and businesses may finally be seeing some relief from rising utility bills, thanks to the biggest decline in U.S. electricity demand in decades. Prices on wholesale markets are expected to decline for the rest of 2009, according to the Energy Information Agency. While rates will probably begin edging up again in 2010, it will likely be less than half the 6.2 percent jump recorded last year. For decades as Americans bought more electronics,

more appliances, air conditioners and other gizmos, energy demand has only moved in one direction and prices have followed suit. The decline in power usage over the past year is a rarity and also an indication of how badly the recession has jolted the economy and changed the way Americans spend. The shift began last year, when power consumption fell 1.6 percent. Government forecasters see consumption falling another 2.7 percent this year. That would mark the first time since 1949 that the nation has seen energy demand

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The Daily Dispatch

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Deaths

HOSPITALS, from page one What worries Woolhandler and others are proposals to finance national reform that would reduce payments gradually to hospitals handling more than their share of uninsured patients. One proposal would reduce these funds — called DSH payments for “disproportionate share hospital” — by $20 billion, in three large annual chunks starting in 2017. About 2,700 U.S. hospitals receive DSH payments. That’s about half the nation’s hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association. A small segment of those hospitals provides most of the nation’s charity care to the poor. These institutions, largely supported by reimbursements from Medicaid and other government insurance programs, receive 12 percent of their revenues from DSH payments. Lawmakers reason that when more Americans have insurance, there will be less need for the payments. Instead, hospitals would get paid by their newly covered patients’ insurance plans. A trigger in the House health care legislation would start the cuts only after the nation achieved a significant increase in insurance coverage. But critics say illegal immigrants, the mentally ill and drug addicts will keep arriving at safety net hospitals without insurance. Illegal immigrants will be ineligible for the expanded coverage proposed by Congress. The mentally ill and addicted

will be unlikely to sign up. “If they start cutting, I’m scared,” said Dr. Simon Piller, who cares for patients at a county clinic that’s part of the same health system as Stroger Hospital. He describes patients who’ve lost jobs, are living with friends and ran out of medications for chronic conditions months, or years, ago. Safety net hospitals will continue to have unusual expenses, such as translation services and security, to deal with. And some newly insured patients won’t be able to afford the out-of-pocket copays and deductibles. “Copays for us are nopays,” said Dr. Steven Safyer, president and CEO of Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. “Health care reform to me is an issue of humanity. How you can have 47 million uninsured in this country is shocking. But you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” DSH cuts are part of a deal the White House reached with the American Hospital Association and two other hospital groups. When the hospitals agreed to cuts totaling $155 billion over 10 years, a group of public hospitals wasn’t at the table. “We were never part of the negotiations and did not sign onto the agreement,” said Larry Gage, president of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. The group contends DSH payments also help maintain trauma centers, burn units and other community assets that could

be threatened. Nancy-Ann DeParle, who directs the White House health reform office, said there’s adequate protection for safety net hospitals in the House bill. The payments would be reduced — gradually and starting only after the rate of uninsured Americans declines — in a way that differs greatly from what happened in Massachusetts, DeParle said. President Barack Obama supports phasing in DSH reductions over 10 years. “As people get insurance, there will be less of a need for hospitals to get additional funds,” DeParle said. She acknowledged it may be “scary” for hospital administrators to shift from getting these additional payments to a reality where more of their patients have insurance cards. But hospitals can and must adapt, DeParle said. “We will always need safety net hospitals.” It’s unclear how much would be cut. The House legislation calls for cuts of $20 billion, representing 8 percent of what the Congressional Budget Office projects in federal outlays to DSH over 10 years. The White House supports larger cuts. Many urban hospitals already operate on small margins or at a loss. Chicago’s Mount Sinai Hospital had only 1.42 days of cash on hand in August. Its bad debt, the bills left unpaid by patients, was $62.3 million last year. It received $10 million in DSH money last year.

Stroger is a public hospital, subject to cuts from Cook County government. The county’s health system is considering laying off nearly 500 workers. Chicago’s Stroger Hospital received $42 million last year in DSH. “This is definitely going to be a change. It’s not health care as usual,” said Stephen Zuckerman, a health economist in the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center in Washington. Safety net hospitals may need help raising money to spruce up and modernize to become more competitive with private hospitals, Zuckerman said. But they won’t disappear. “The capacity they provide to the system is going to be needed,” Zuckerman said. “I don’t think the rest of the system is ready to absorb the patient population the public hospitals now serve.” Lawmakers have wanted to cut DSH payments for years, said Wendy Parmet, health law professor at Boston’s Northeastern University School of Law. With rising Medicare and Medicaid costs driving up national debt, the payments will continue to be a juicy target, she said. “Hospitals are going to cry that it hurts,” Parmet said. “But it’s going to happen, whether or not there’s health insurance reform.”

good a chance that the scores would have increased even more than the chance they would have decreased,” Hedrick wrote in response to an e-mailed question from the Dispatch. Hedrick did state that Vance County is working hard on improving test scores and increasing the number of students willing to take the SAT. The district has developed Freshman Academies for NVHS, SVHS and the new Early College High (which has not yet had a senior class). No students took the test at Western Vance High School. In the counties neighboring Vance, school administrators were able to tout improved SAT scores in Granville, but reported minor setbacks in Warren. The overall Granville SAT score improved from 1,391 to 1,424 from 200708 to 2008-09. At J.F. Webb High School, 46 percent of seniors took the SAT (down slightly from 50 percent a year prior) and scored a combined 1,411 on the exam with reading, math and writing scores of 469, 499 and 443. The critical reading score rose slightly from 465 a year prior, the math score was slightly improved from 482 in 2007-08, and the reading score dipped one point from 444 to 443. The net gain in the three-part test was 20 points, up from 1,391. At the J.F. Webb High School of Health and Life

Sciences, the net score rose 33 points, from 1,422 in 2007-08 to 1,455 last year. The critical reading score rose one point from 470 to 471, the math score at the school rose from 487 to 502, and the writing score improved from 465 to 482. Some 60.5 students of the school took the test, down slightly from 64.4 in 2007-08. In Warren County, scores declined slightly overall. Warren County High School seniors garnered a net 1,224 in 200809 (407 reading, 409 math and 408 writing), down 18 points from 1,242 (that’s 413, 423 and 406 by section). Warren County actually saw a very slightly higher segment of seniors taking the test, 55 percent in 2008-09 vs. 54.3 percent the prior year. At the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School in Warren County, five seniors took the SAT, scoring a combined 1,302, up from the 1,263 that six seniors achieved a year prior. The math score (466 vs. 382) accounted for all of the rise and overcame declines in critical reading (428, down from 438) and in writing (408, down from 443).

On the Net: • National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems: www.naph.org/ • American Hospital Association: www.aha.org/

SAT, from page one categories: 432 in critical reading, up from 391; 455 in math vs. 418; and 426 in writing, improved from 393. That made Southern’s 2008-09 average total SAT score a 1,313, up significantly from 1,202 a year before. At Northern Vance, the improvement was smaller. Students at Northern averaged 1,287 total on the SAT in 2008-09, up from 1,270 the year prior. Northern students’ performance was steady in critical reading (422 points each year), improved to 446 points from 428 in math, and declined one point in writing, 419 vs. 420, for a modest net gain of 17 points. But those improved scores were achieved by a smaller number of testtakers in Vance County. While 54 percent of SVHS students took the test in 2006-07 and 49.4 percent of Southern students were tested in 2007-08, only 66 students — just 33.5 percent of the Southern Vance senior class — took the SAT last year. Northern Vance’s participation numbers also are falling, with 60.2 percent of the senior class taking the test in 2006-07, declining to 53.5 percent of seniors in 2007-08, and just 41.4 percent of Northern seniors taking the test last year. The reductions in test participation resulted in just 37.2 percent of Northern and Southern Vance seniors taking the SAT last year, down from essentially half of all seniors, 49.4 percent, taking the test a year prior. And, while Vance County scores were up, they still lagged behind the statewide average for North Carolina, which likewise continues to trail the national average SAT score. About 63 percent of North Carolina high school seniors took the SAT last year, scoring 495 on critical reading, 511 in

math and 480 in writing for a grand total of 1,486. Nationally, about 46 percent of all high school seniors took the SAT last year (in some regions, the ACT test is more commonly accepted) and the score totals were 501 in critical reading, 515 math and 493 writing for a total average score of 1,509. “Local school officials are pleased with the overall increases, especially for those high school seniors at Southern Vance High School, but acknowledge there is room for improvement in the average scores and in the number of students participating in SAT testing,” said a press release from Vance County Schools. Terri Hedrick, public information officer for Vance County Schools, said the school district didn’t know why such a smaller group of Vance County students took the SAT last year compared to prior years. She speculated that during hard economic times, money could have been a factor, as it costs about $50 to take the test. Though observers often believe that a larger testtaking group results in lower SAT scores — since the students most interested in and prepared for college are also considered most likely to take the test — Hedrick said she did not believe that Vance County’s improved scores should be attributed to a smaller number of students taking the test. “If more students took the test, there is just as

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Joseph K. Bowen KITTRELL — Joseph K. Bowen, 79, of 6333 Raleigh Road, died Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, at his home. Arrangements are pending with the J.M. White Funeral Home.

Agnes Brown Harris Carroll WARRENTON — Agnes Brown Harris Carroll, 83, of Warrenton, died Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, at Warren Hills Nursing Center. Mrs. Carroll was a Vance County native, born to the late James M. and Maggie Evans Harris. She was a homemaker and a member of the West End Baptist Church of Henderson. Survivors include: her husband, Richard D. Carroll; two sons, Richard M. Carroll of Pulaski, Tenn., and William B. Carroll of Amelia, Va.; five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and two greatgreat-grandchildren. Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Greenwood Cemetery of Macon, under direction of the Rev. Gary Bateman. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today at the Blaylock Funeral Home of Warrenton.

Lorraine Fields HENDERSON — Lorraine Fields, 55, of 215 Fawn Drive, died Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, in Maria Parham Healthcare. The family will receive friends at the residence. Arrangements are pending with the Davis-Royster Funeral Service.

Frank Hill SOUL CITY — Frank Hill, 57, of 324 Duke Drive, Scott Mitchell Apt. 103, Soul City, died Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, at his home. The family will receive friends at the residence. Arrangements are pending with the Davis-Royster Funeral Service.

William L. ‘Bill’ Tunstall BUTNER — William L. “Bill” Tunstall, 75, of 607 19th St., died Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, at Durham Regional Hospital. A native of Granville County, he was born the son of the late John Allen and Flora Bridges Tunstall, later adopted and reared by Frank and Bettie Hicks. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Butner, where he served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher. Mr. Tunstall was a veteran of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force, serving in the Korean conflict and receiving a Purple Heart and one Bronze Star. He retired from the accounting department of Duke Hospital. Survivors include: his wife, Wilma Blackwell Tunstall, of the home; one daughter, Cathy T. Corn, of Kittrell; a son, William “Troy” Tunstall, of Kittrell; two sisters, Joy C. Harrigan and Eula Hughes, both of Florida; a half-sister, Judy Horton of Wake Forest; two half-brothers, Dennis Tunstall of Florida and Edward Tunstall of New York; and four grandchildren. Services will be at 2 p.m. today in the First Baptist Church of Butner, under direction of the Rev. Lenny Rogers and the Rev. Jim Shelly. Burial will follow in Peace’s Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. today at the church, prior to the service, and at other times at the home. Flowers are acceptable or memorials may be made to: The First Baptist Church Bus Fund; P.O. Box 44; Butner, NC, 27509. Eakes Funeral Home of Creedmoor is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences can be made through eakesfuneralhome.com, select “obits.”

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The Daily Dispatch

U.K. court convicts trio of airline bombing suspects By DAVID STRINGER Associated Press Writer

LONDON — Thousands die as airliners explode over the Atlantic Ocean and North American cities. The global economy reels. Relations between London and Washington lie in tatters. Authorities sketched out what would have been dramatic consequences of a thwarted plot led by three British Muslims to bomb at least seven trans-Atlantic jetliners with explosives hidden inside soda bottles. The attack would have killed at least 2,000 jetliner passengers and hundreds more on the ground if bombs had been detonated over U.S. and Canadian cities. The political repercussions could have been massive.

Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, Assad Sarwar, 29, and Tanvir Hussain, 28, were convicted Monday of attempting to bomb airliners bound for the U.S. and Canada in midflight in what was planned as the deadliest terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. The case has already changed airline travel for passengers across the globe, leading to tight new limits on carryon luggage. British and U.S. officials said the audacious plot was organized and guided by senior al-Qaida militants in Pakistan. If successful, it would have brought “murder and mayhem on an unimaginable scale,” Britain’s Home Secretary Alan Johnson said. Other officials said the political repercussions of

British Muslims murdering thousands of tourists, likely including several hundred Americans, would have been immense — threatening to destroy ties between London and Washington. The case is likely to spur new concerns over the U.S. visa waiver program, which allows citizens of many European Union countries, including Britain, to fly to the States without visas. Prosecutors said the men had identified seven specific flights from London’s Heathrow airport to New York, Washington, San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal and two to Chicago as their targets. Ali, Sarwar and Hussain were convicted more than three years after police rounded up dozens of suspects in a series of

dramatic dawn raids in August 2006. The arrests led to travel chaos as hundreds of airplanes were grounded across Europe, and resulted in new restrictions on the amount of liquids and gels passengers take onto flights. Four other men pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, but were acquitted of conspiring to blow up planes. An eighth man was cleared of all charges. Ex-Deputy U.S. Secretary of State John Negroponte told the Senate in 2007 that the jetliner plot “would have been on a par, or something similar to 9/11.” Plotters planned to assemble bombs in airplane toilets using hydrogen peroxide-based explosives injected into soda bottles. Video footage of tests by

scientists who replicated the bombs in a lab showed the devices shattering thick glass with powerful blasts. Britain’s MI5 spy agency believes the group had ambitious plans to strike as many as 18 jetliners in two waves of bombings, and to provoke further panic with attacks on U.K. power stations. Police say some would-be second wave suicide bombers have likely evaded arrest. Investigations into the secondary plots — and hopes of gathering evidence to link the cell to specific terrorists in Pakistan — were curtailed as U.S. officials became nervous at the prospect of an attack on U.S.-bound jetliners and ordered the arrest of one of the group’s key accomplices in Pakistan.

Obama ‘green jobs’ adviser quits amid controversy Past including vulgar comments about Republicans and signing 9/11 petition come back to haunt Van Jones By WILL LESTER Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday. Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly “green jobs” with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans. The resignation comes as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate. Jones issued an apology on Thursday for his past statements. When asked the next day whether Obama still had confidence in him, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Jones “continues to work in the administration.” The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones’ name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror

attacks. That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether Jones high-level government officials had allowed the attacks to occur. “On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones said in his resignation statement. “They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.” Jones said he has been “inundated with calls from across the political spectrum urging me to stay and fight.” But he said he cannot in good conscience ask his colleagues to spend time and energy defending or

explaining his past. Jones flatly said in an earlier statement that he did not agree with the petition’s stand on the 9/11 attacks and that “it certainly does not reflect my views, now or ever.” As for his other comments he made before joining Obama’s team, Jones said, “If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize.” Despite his apologies, Republicans demanded Jones quit. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana said in a statement, “His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration or the public debate.” Missouri Sen. Christopher Bonds said Congress should investigate Jones’s fitness the job. Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck repeatedly denounced Jones after a

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group the adviser co-founded, ColorofChange.org, led an advertising boycott against Beck’s show to protest his claim that Obama is a racist. James Rucker, the organization’s executive director, has said Jones had nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn’t even know about the campaign before it started. Jones, well-known in the environmental movement, was a civil-rights activist in California before shifting his attention to environmental and energy issues. He is known for laying out a broad vision of a green economy. Nancy Sutley chair of the council, said in a statement released early Sunday that she accepts Jones resignation and thanked him for his service.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

“Over the last six months, he had been a strong voice for creating jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources,” she said. “We appreciate his hard work and wish him the best moving forward.” Associated Press writer Philip Elliott contributed to this report.

Japan’s trade deficit rises as nation’s exports slide TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s current account surplus in July fell 19.4 percent from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The current account surplus, Japan’s broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world, was 1.27 trillion yen ($13.6 billion). Exports in July tumbled 37.6 percent to 4.55 trillion yen, marking the 10th consecutive year-onyear decline. Japan’s exports to the United States dropped 39.5 percent, while Asiabound shipments fell 29.9 percent. Exports to the European Union nose-dived 45.8 percent in the month. Among key products, auto exports were down by 52.3 percent. Steel exports also plunged 42.1 percent. Imports plunged 41.2 percent to 4.11 trillion yen in the month.

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Opinion

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II III

VIII VII VI

IV V

X IX

XII

Hopes and fears of ‘Obama Effect’ II III

VIII

VII

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Editorial Board: James Edwards, Publisher Glenn Craven, Editor

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Daily Meditation Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. Proverbs 4:25-27

Our Opinion

Speech disorder

President Obama’s simulcasted speech to American schoolchildren today has resulted in much gnashing of conservative teeth for days on end. Republicans and other Obama opponents accused the president of trying to indoctrinate children or of using the speech to sell his elusive, ill-defined health care plan. Critics say there’s a degree of paranoia in the Republicans’ opposition to the speech, not to mention hypocrisy, considering both presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan delivered similar talks to U.S. schoolkids. Reagan’s speech, in fact, spoke of the evils of taxes and was quite politically charged. But Obama bears some blame for the outcry, as well, for seeking the platform of a nationwide speech to students without giving folks any real idea of what he was going to say until the last minute. The White House on Monday posted the full text of the speech Obama intends to deliver today. Politically, it could hardly be more benign. Obama in effect intends to tell students that the sky is the limit, but it’s up to them if they are going to be successful in life. Parents can do their best, teachers can do their best, government can endeavor to provide the most and finest resources, and if the student fritters away his time in school, he will likely grow up to be a failure. It’s a difficult message for conservatives to quarrel with. So the smart route for the White House would have been to release the text — at least to representatives of his opponents in D.C. — well in advance, so that they could see there was little or nothing to fear from the speech. Unless, of course, Obama really did have a different idea of what he was going to say today, and only recently decided to go with a speech that was safe. But that sort of thinking would be, likewise, a little paranoid.

Quotable “If there were civilian casualties or injuries, of course we deeply regret that. At the same time, it was clear that our soldiers were in danger. Consequently, I stand clearly behind our commander’s decision to order the airstrike.” — German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, in comments to German broadcasters as tension between Germany and the U.S. rise over Germany’s role in ordering an airstrike that was carried out by U.S. fighter jets that appears to have killed Afghan civilians. “We just want her to know that we love her and support her. I think Tahoe lost its innocence with the kidnapping, and hopefully her return restores a little faith here.” — Jillian Broadfoot, who attended Meyers Elementary School with kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard, in comments during a parade to celebrate Dugard’s astounding reappearance after 18 years.

After decades of criticizing public schools as places where hardly anybody learns anything, suddenly conservatives are upset that a 15- to 20-minute webcast in schools might teach too much. That’s because the webcast is by President Barack Obama. His critics fear he might teach something that they’d rather not have our schoolchildren hear. Seldom has so much power been imagined for a short video presentation that does not carry an X-rating. The quarrel began after Education Secretary Arne Duncan e-mailed principals that the president would speak on Tuesday over the Internet, on CSPAN and via satellite “directly to the nation’s schoolchildren about persisting and succeeding in school.” Somehow that useful message, coming amid the heat of an unrelated health care debate, was immediately interpreted by Obama’s conservative critics as a sneaky way to enlist children into promoting his political agenda. Or, as Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, put it, “As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology.” Mercy. It takes a different planet from the one on which I live to find “persisting and succeeding in school” to be socialist ideology. But conservative pun-

dits were just getting warmed up to the biggest political panic since former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accused the House health care bill of mandating “death panels.” Blogger Michelle Malkin, accusing schools and teachers unions as using students as “little lobClarence byists.” David Boaz, Page executive Tribune Media vice presiServices dent of the libertarian Cato Institute, blogged that the Obama administration is “trying to push its presidentworship onto 50 million captive schoolchildren.” American Values President Gary Bauer declared, “Tuesday may be a good day to sit in on your child’s classes.” The Education Department didn’t help matters with the darkly suggestive wording that someone, dare I say, stupidly included in a set of classroom activities posted on the department’s Web site to accompany the speech. It suggested that students “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” A White House spokesman acknowledged that the original was “inart-

fully worded.” Translation from government-ese: Somebody messed up. Out went the old wording. The updated version asks students to “write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.” Good. Ask not what you can do for the president, children. Ask what you can do to help your own futures. Despite the rewrite, the panic took on a life of its own, fanned like a California forest fire in the hot winds of bloggers and talk show commentators. Some schools pulled the plug on the speech. They cited parents’ complaints about what the speech might say. Some parents said they would pull their kids out of school, as if the speech were a swine flu virus. Yet, as much as some observers suspect bias in this backlash against the nation’s first black president, I don’t think race has much to do with it. Presidents Ronald Reagan in 1988 and George H.W. Bush in 1991 gave similar televised addresses, amid some criticism from Democrats about propagandizing on the taxpayers’ dime. That’s politics. Besides, values do matter. If conservatives heard that Bill Cosby, for example, were delivering the address, I think the right would be delighted. I cannot guarantee that all of his political views would please conservative stalwarts. But

his five-year-old crusade for self-help and personal responsibility has given voice to values on which the Obama left and the Malkin right can find rare agreement: the importance of good parenting. Here I speak from hardlearned experience. Politics may come and go, but the day-to-day job of raising kids brings out the conservatism in us all. That’s why a lot of parents welcome Obama’s messages to kids. Many hope for what some educators have called an “Obama effect,” the role modeling that might help our offspring to expand their definition of “cool” to include academic excellence, family obligations, parental responsibilities and, heaven help us, pulling their pants up to full mast. And for African American children, in particular, there’s another important message in Obama’s famous unflappability: Don’t let racism or suspicions of racism dim your determination to succeed. Obama received a huge political boost last year when he espoused such Cosby-esque values that Americans tend to share across racial and party lines. Maybe that’s what his conservative rivals are really worried about. E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@ tribune.com, or write to him c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.

Letters to the Editor ACTS fund-raiser on a forthcoming Friday To the editor:

Origins of incivility It’s no wonder so many people are being less civil of late. I think it has to do with technology. Civility in America dates back to George Washington’s time. Washington authored a pamphlet, “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation,” to define and strongly advocate civil society in early America. For years, American children were taught good manners by their parents, and adults defined themselves as ladies or gentlemen based on how well they practiced good etiquette. But technology has chipped away at such efforts. It has provided multiple opportunities for people to be rude. Consider the invention of the telephone. Communicating on the telephone is less personal than talking face to face. People are more prone to say nasty things — particularly to telemarketers who have a knack for calling just as you sit down for dinner. The answering machine introduced additional opportunities for rudeness. Some felt it was rude to use the device to screen calls. Others felt it was rude not to leave a message when the machine picked up. Telephone rudeness kicked into high gear when *69 was invented. By dialing *69, you could quickly identify the number of the person who had last phoned you. I got home once to find someone had hung up on my answering machine. Agitated, I dialed *69 and phoned it back. “Hello, this is Victoria. Bill and I aren’t in right now,” said the answering machine. I didn’t recognize the person and hung up. A few moments later, my phone rang. I picked it up. “Hello,” I said. “Who is this?” said a woman. “Who is this?” “You called me and hung up!”

she said. Ah, it was Victoria. “You called me and hung up!” I said. “Star 69 took me to you!” she said. “Star 69 took me to you!” I said. Victoria uttered several profanities, then hung up. The cell phone soon made things worse. People, oblivious to their fellow human beTom ings, prattle Purcell on in movie theaters, Distributed by libraries and Cagle Cartoons other public places. The Internet, e-mail and blogging kicked rudeness into an even higher gear. A new era of anonymity was unleashed — a new era of nastiness and meanspiritedness, particularly where politics are concerned. Which brings us to this summer’s town hall debates. Many folks have been brimming with passion and discontent about President Obama’s health care reform ideas. They’ve gotten mighty heated at times. Proponents of Obama’s plan suspect Republican operatives are behind the protests — even though Republicans couldn’t organize their way out of a paper bag. Proponents suggest that the people standing in the way of “reform” are ill-informed and don’t know what is best for them. But I think the cause of the discontent is simpler than that: technology. Thanks to technology, average people have access to tremendous amounts of information. Anyone can download the Democrats’ 1,000-plus-page health care reform bill, as I did, and try to

comprehend paragraphs such as: “For purposes of this division, the term ‘affordable credit eligible individual’ means, subject to subsection (b), an individual who is lawfully present in a State in the United States (other than as a nonimmigrant described in a subparagraph though excluding subparagraphs (K), (T), (U) ...” What is more worrisome is that there isn’t really a health care reform plan — just a bunch of ideas, many of them unclear, packed into a massive document. Nonetheless, President Obama promised it would save money — but the Congressional Budget Office said, flat out, that isn’t so. He assured us he didn’t want the government to run health care. Then video footage surfaced in which he said he preferred a single-payer system. People began wondering what other Obama claims just aren’t so. The lack of clarity unleashed a torrent of information — truth, hyperbole and everything in between. People attempted to voice their concerns to their representatives but were largely ignored. That’s when they began shouting. Some say the town hall incivility shows that our republic is broken. Some believe it’s driven by special-interest groups that will gain if Obama fails. I think technology is the culprit. It allowed people to quickly conclude that Obama’s health care reform strategy is a stinker. Obama has been hoisted by his own petard. How rude to do such a thing in public. Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.

Please Mark Your Calendars! On behalf of ACTS (Area Christians Together in Service), we have met with several local church representatives who have committed to assisting us with our Chicken Plate Fund-raiser on Friday, Oct. 9. They will be contacting many of their fellow Church members about purchasing tickets, volunteering some time and enjoying some REALLY good food. We hope that you will be able to join in and help us to raise some much needed funds so that we can continue to assist some very needy people in our community as well as provide shelter and food for women/children who come to us due to domestic violence. We will be serving lunch, dinner and making deliveries for larger groups. Our goal is to make this an annual event. We thank you in advance for your support. Karen Stainback, Chairwoman

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Five years ago: CBS’ “60 Minutes II” aired a report raising questions about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service; however, CBS News later apologized for a “mistake in judgment” after memos featured in the report were challenged as forgeries. Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Sid Caesar is 87. Ventriloquist Willie Tyler (Willie Tyler & Lester) is 69. Actor Alan Feinstein is 68. Pop singer Sal Valentino (The Beau Brummels) is 67. Musician Will Lee (“Late Show with David Letterman”) is 57. Actress Heather Thomas is 52. Singer Aimee Mann is 49. Musician David Steele (Fine Young Cannibals) is 49. TV personality Brooke Burke is 38. Actor David Arquette is 38. Actor Nathan Corddry is 32. R&B singer Pink is 30. Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas is 28.

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