Changing name of street won’t inspire students
For 130 years, Livingstone College, located in Historic Salisbury, has been a “shining star” to many young people who came seeking a good education.
It was founded for the express purpose of educating men and women to be our future leaders. The name of the college during its founding years was Zion Wesley Institute, where 701 W. Monroe St. was and is the main thoroughfare to the entrance of the now-named Livingstone College.
There are a few newcomers in Salisbury who are in favor of changing the name of a street that has historic significance, thinking a name change will enhance the beautification leading to the college.
Let me also emphasize, one never changes history because it leads to the future.
Residents on Institute Street have been successful in having street lights installed to brighten the blighted area and for safety reasons.
To propose changing Institute Street to Livingstone College Way will not give inspiration to future generations, as Institute Street has throughout its existence. Furthermore, the entrance to the campus has absolutely nothing to do with what is “happening on campus.”
No so long ago, many streets leading to the campus were unpaved dirt roads, which did not hinder students from reaching the highest levels of academic achievement, so changing a street name doesn’t accomplish very much, other than for selfish reasons.
I am definitely opposed to changing the historically named street to Livingstone College Way.
ó Blanche B. Sherrill
Salisbury
Editor’s note: The writer is a member of the founding family of Livingstone College.
Courthouse needs more parking
Here we go with another good example of how Salisbury treats its own citizens. I received a summons to appear in court. I arrived at the courthouse around 8:30 a.m. I then rode around for 20 minutes looking for a parking space. I finally found one a block away from the courthouse. After walking this block in 30-degree weather, I waited outside for another 10 minutes to get into the courthouse because we use one method of screening each person going in (and by the way, it took five officers to operate one machine).
After getting to the courtroom just in time for roll call, I sat there till around 1 p.m. After my case was done and I walked back to my car parked a block away ó in 40-degree weather now ó I noticed every car on the block had a parking ticket. I counted eight tickets just on my side of the road. At $5 dollars a ticket, that is $40 dollars the city made off our eight vehicles in only half a day. I wonder how many tickets are written on a daily basis for people who have to park longer than two hours at a time?
There must be a better way to treat the citizens of Salisbury. We need a parking lot near the courthouse. It is no problem to park downtown if you work at the courthouse or any government office. They get to park right across the street. Could they not walk the block to work and help out the parking situation?
ó Cary Gordy
Salisbury
‘Big Brother’ in driver’s seat
I just read an article that the government is planning a tax on the number of miles you drive each year. This is outrageous, communist and Big Brother at his worst. Also stated is that North Carolina already has a bill to do just that ó charge you 1/4 cent for every mile driven. There are plans to install GPS devices to track mileage.
Gasoline prices are so high, we have cut back on usage. This has been recommended for years. Now that we have cut back on consumption, they are going to gouge us a different way. I guess our state gasoline tax isn’t high enough. How can the economy recover with the government adding new taxes?
Remember how you voted, for that is giving you this tax. Once a plan is adopted, none of us can change it. The superior politicians will probably use this money to vote themselves a raise for a job well done.
ó Thomas Talbert
Rockwell
Those big laws are a big problem
When a legislator gets a bill that is hundreds, or thousands of pages long, he doesn’t read it. When an executive gets a bill that is thousands of pages long, he doesn’t read the whole thing before he signs it.
Those are facts.
I think that all bills should be read aloud before a congressman votes on it, and before a president signs it. It should be illegal for a legislator to vote on a bill that he hasn’t read, or for an executive to sign a bill that he hasn’t read.There should be a better way for the government to create taxes and laws.
ó Chuck Mann
Greensboro
Buy American’ hurts America
At first glance, a law that mandates government contractors purchase only American made goods seems to make sense in this faltering economy. After all, more manufacturing jobs will be created and the economy will be stimulated, right? Wrong. Any short-term gain to our country because of these restrictions is offset by the loss that results.
In the short term, low-end manufacturing jobs will probably result. But as a result, our overall output suffers (increased output is what drives the economy forward). Instead of manufacturing the parts for high-end electronics, construction equipment, or jumbo jets, producers make low-end goods, and they pay their employees low-end wages. The economic gain of the low-paying manufacturing jobs and the profits that result is offset by the loss of potential high-end manufacturing jobs and profits that would have resulted. By focusing on low-end, the manufacturer gives up the opportunity to produce a high-end good with increased profits. Which do you think generates more in economic gain: a bed sheet or a bulldozer?
Furthermore, as applied to the current “Buy American” act, the result is that the government will spend more money than it would have. This would usually result in higher taxes, but in its infinite wisdom, the government has decided against that and instead will sacrifice what really drives the economy forward: innovation and technological advancement. To cut costs, the government will cut funding to educational programs that train workers to adapt to changing times and give them the ability to move from a low-paying textile factory to a higher paying bio-technology factory. Teach a man to fish, remember?
The less a worker’s pay, the less he puts back into the economy. The economy is still growing but at a much slower rate than it is capable.
ó Kenneth Stutts
Salisbury
People control spending, saving
We operate a business, and we constantly hear people speak of unemployment being at 8 percent or higher, depending on the month.
Our reply to them: We call normal unemployment to be 4-5 percent, so the rate is up 3-5 percent during to economic adjustments that are beyond anyone’s control. Besides, that means that 90-plus people out of 100 are employed and receiving a paycheck. Compared to other countries, that is excellent.
Stop spending and you will lose more jobs. That “Catch 22” seems to be the stumbling block. So adjust your lifestyles to save money and see what happens. Things will continue to go down hill, and we guess that’s where the “Catch 22” becomes involved.
People control things, not the government. Don’t call on government to solve these problems; call on people.
United we stand; split we fall.
The Bible states that any country that is not united will not stand. You are looking at the U.S.A. in this statement.
ó Ron Sweet
Faith
Headlines miss the real crisis
Today, a young man from the local high school came to my house trying to raise money for his sports team. His visit got me thinking about the economic crisis the country is in. I started looking at this stimulus package and all of the recent articles in the paper about economic shortfalls. Nowhere was there any mention of the school system. Teachers are having to buy their own supplies and now if a kid wants to play a sport he has to go out and raise money for it.
Are our schools really in this bad of shape? Why is this not a front-page headline? Instead, those headlines are about the need money for better roads, marriage amendments or negative stories about the people these kids look up to.
I have an idea: Let us get the county commissioners to start worrying about the kids in these marriages, stop worrying about fixing roads, and put positive stories about the people these kids look up to. Without much improvement in our school system, paying back the money from this stimulus package will not be the only thing this generation of students will have to worry about.
ó Joseph Pope
Salisbury