Go Tar Heels (off campus to smoke, please)

My alma mater has gone too far. Normally I love everything Carolina Blue. I love the crisp autumn nights in Polk Place and Kenan Stadium. I love watching a Carolina victory in the Dean Dome. Heck, I even loved going to class, at least the times I went, when I was there.
I especially loved buying a pack of cigarettes at the Campus Y and smoking between classes when I knew my girlfriend at the time would not catch me, and taking a smoke break on long nights at the Daily Tar Heel.
I read last night in Carolina Alumni Review about the school's new smoking ban, and I have to say I am offended, not only as a smoker but as a North Carolinian and former student.
If you haven't heard, the school essentially banned smoking on campus by saying there is no smoking within 100 feet of a public building. Every building on campus is a "public building," meaning there is just a small strip down Polk and McCorkle that where you can light up.
Here are three reasons why this is a bad policy:
1. Universities are supposed to be the last bastian of free thought. Why not let students make their own minds up about smoking. Sure, smoking is bad for you. It causes Cancer. It stinks and litters up the campus. But kids are always going to be kids unless you allow them to make their own minds up about what is good and bad.
2. That campus was built on tobacco (well, at least the parts that weren't built by slave labor.) This is the tobacco state, and since the 1970s, it has been turning its back on the very farmers and industrialists who paid for most of the state buildings here.
3. There are always going to be exams and drinking on campus. Therefore, there is always going to be smoking. Does the school need to invest its money into enforcing a ban that essentially meant to keep people from killing themselves? Why not save that money to build another building and name it for some rich person that no one knows?

More on SiCKO, Wal-Mart, etc.

You ever type a word and it not look right? That is what I just did with the word "nugget." Just looks funny to me. It probably is misspelled, but anyways...
So I watched SiCKO again last night, and though it makes me madder and madder about our current system with each viewing, I also found a few more holes...
First off, the clinics and hospitals Moore visited in other countries were always in major cities. It would be interesting to see if the same quality care was available in the country towns like Sanford...
Secondy, the reason countries like Canada, the UK and France can afford to have such a sophisticated system is that for the last 60 or so years, they have not had to have a strong military. We have one. They are our friends.
I think Moore's broader point still stands, though I don't think a nationalized health care system would work here. People get mad when you try to raise taxes for the slightest thing...
Instead, how about a nationalized insurance system. Let doctor's and pharmaceutical companies charge what they want, but the government will pay for it...At least that way there would be an incentive for doctors to work hard and drug companies to innovate.
Another nugget - I went to the new Wal-Mart last night to beat the holiday rush with a little shopping, and was disappointed to learn that there are no self checkout aisles. What's up with that? Ain't that the wave of the future?

Farm City Banquet

I find terms like "salt of the earth" condescending and offensive. Because usually, those terms are meant for people like myself - small town people whom most others think are simple-minded.
So I am not going to use that term to describe the group of good people whom I had the pleasure of eating eggs and country ham with last night at the annual Lee County Farm City Banquet.
Let me just say, for the record, that I love interviewing farmers more than anyone else in this town. I usually jump at every farming story we run.
The reason? Simple. Farmers are always straight shooters. Whether you ask them about migrant workers or the tobaccco buyout or the drought, they'll tell you the truth. At least with all the ones I have ever dealt with - from Gary Thomas in Broadway to Tim Thomas and Duane Jackson, I always get the truth.
I am the first to admit that while I technically grew up on a farm (my dad leased most of his land to hay growers), I know very little about it. But every farmer I have ever spoken with, once you set aside some time in the evening, has been very helpful in teaching me what I need to know to write a story.
The major thing I have learned is that farming is not nearly as easy as it looks. Sure, it takes a lot of manual labor, but it also takes a wealth of knowledge on issues as diverse as legislation, finance, chemistry, biology, geograpy and about a million other topics. Farming has to be one of the most well-rounded, sophisticated professions out there these days. I spent nearly a whole Saturday with Tim Thomas in the Spring learning the ins and outs of how tobacco legislation will effect his income - not exactly your average plant-and-grow, Farmer Brown topic, and one they taught me nothing about as a Political Science major at UNC.
In this business, we deal a lot with PR people and leaders who have been coached to say scripted answers to whatever you ask them. It is so frustrating sometimes. Working with farmers helps you appreciate them a lot more than you already should every time you sit down to a meal.
And, by the way, the eggs, grits and ham were great, but the highlight for me was the red-eye gravy! Growing up that was the one thing my dad was good at making. Last night took me back.

DVD of the Week: SiCKO

Before I launch into my review of Michael Moore's latest documentary, SiCKO, I must first give you a little background on my watching Moore films.
I first saw Roger and Me as a teenager, before I even knew who Michael Moore was or what left and right really meant. This forced me to take the documentary on its on merits. So I watched it with no preconceived notions of what it would be about or where it came from, and what I saw made a huge impact on me. It was a great, inspiring movie, and actually caused me to take a deeper look at the world around me.
I watched Bowling for Columbine in college, and left the theater with an expanded mind as well. Although it did not have the same fire of Roger and Me, it was nonetheless well worth my $8.
Fahrenheit 9/11, though it had some good points, was more or less a "don't vote for Bush" diatribe, which was very disappointing. I could have done without it, and so could Moore's career.
In SiCKO, Moore's study of the flaws of the American healthcare system (or lack thereof), he returned to his roots as a brash filmmaker. Of course there are several not-so-subtle jabs at the Bush Administration, but they are well overshadowed by an in-depth comparison between the socialized health systems in Canada, Europe and Cuba and the free-market Darwinism that is United States health care.
Moore does get a little liberal with his facts, though. Several Web sites have been created to debunk many of his assertions -- most notably that the socialized systems are just as efficient as the American system. That simply cannot be the case. It's simple economics 101 - of course a free-market system is more efficient. The market makes it that way. There are no outside forces on a socialized system (such as competition) to make it work efficiently.
Also, it is a fact that people in countries with socialized systems have a longer average life expectancy than us. But just how much of that can be attributed to their health care systems is debatable. You must also figure that more younger Americans die each year than their peers in other countries, mostly due to traffic and other accidents that are not preventable by health care.
Moore's broader argument, though, that the market often leaves out large sections of society - like the poor or uninsured - is much more salient. And this is the major reason why I agree that we need some sort of reform in this country.
The sad fact is, that big insurance companies do run this country's health care system, and they often dictate who gets care and who doesn't. I'll give you an example. My father, who has worked hard all his life as a self-employed businessman, has no insurance, and couldn't afford it if he wanted it. He had a heart attack last year, and, at nearly 60 years of age, will likely be paying for his stint insertion for the rest of his life.
Is that fair? Luckily, my dad can afford to pay the monthly payments. But there are millions of people in this country who can't. And most of those people, including my dad, often decide not to go to the doctor for check-ups because they can't afford it.
I'll give you another example. My friend had a kidney stone last year, so he goes to the doctor for treatment, and the doctor tells him he needs a CAT scan to determine if the stone is his only problem. His insurance was supposed to cover it, but this year when he went to buy a house, his application was turned down because of a medical lean on his credit report. It seems the insurance company turned him down, but he never got a letter about it. The hospital, not receiving any payment for a year, turned it over to a collection agency.
My friend will be renting a home for at least another seven years, until the $2000 lean is gone, although he has already paid it.
This is the richest country in the world. But we didn't get that way by being nice to our own people. There is a reason that 80 percent of this countries wealth is owned by one percent of its population.
It's because we don't really care. The insurance companies don't care about your illness. Businesses don't care about their employees, but rather the bottom line, and the people don't care enough to vote in ways that influence your leaders to change things.
Imagine if we invested all the money that is currently going to pay for an unnecessary war into our own infrastructure. Our own hospitals and health care systems. Our own schools and education systems. Our own police and fire departments, here at home. We could have the healthiest, smartest, safest population in the world -- not just the richest one percent in the world.
I think that is what Moore was saying, at least.

Let's map the world!

I stumbled upon this site last week during a bout with insomnia:

http://www.wikimapia.org/

It's similar to Wikipedia, an open encyclopedia that anyone can update. Only it is a satellite image of the entire world. You can pick any spot on earth, like your hometown, your elementary school or the Eiffel Tower, and write your own description of it that place, complete with links.

Imagine the possibilities...

It's pretty cool and a little addictive. I have already filled in Sanford proper, and someone else added the Herald, the Temple Theatre and Carolina Trace. Have at it.

Tooth filling

I went down to my dentist, Dr. Moretz, today to get two teeth filled. Just before I fell asleep in the chair she walked in with the needle. I hate needles, and I hate the sound of those drills even more. But it had to be done.

So I'm chatting with Dr. Moretz just before she started drilling, and she said she gets about two patients a day that won't let her numb them before she fills a tooth. She said they either don't like needles or they don't like walking around with a numb mouth all day.

Call me a pansy, but I would never do this. Oh my God. Just the sound of those drills alone is enough to make me cringe.

That would be worse than open heart surgery with no anesthetic. Which, apparently, I will have to do one day if my ticker ever gives out. When I was seven, I had an allergic reaction to anesthetic during a tonsilectomy, and my mom said I can never be put to sleep again.

Let me know, Sanford. Have you ever had dental work done without anesthetic? If so, why? What did it feel like? Are you crazy?

Oh hi Bob. Bob.

Sanford needs to change it's slogan from "Vision and values working together" to "the City of Bobs."
I went to the "Backstage Lee County" real estate agents tour Thursday. After a nice lunch from Sagebrush, Bob Bridwell from Lee County Community Development delivered an address to those assembled about the town's development future. Then an agent asked a question, directing it simply to "Bob."
Everyone stopped and laughed, because there were three Bobs standing before us — Bob Heuts, Bob Joyce and Bridwell. No one knew who should answer. Someone said there were two more in the small audience.
I told County Manager John Crumpton that he should change his name to Bob, to which he responded with a rather emphatic "no."
But it got me thinking. There are a lot of Bobs in Sanford government and politics. Along with Heuts, Joyce and Bridwell, there is Bob Stevens in Broadway, on the Lee County Commission there is Chairman Bob Brown and Robert (Bob) Reives Jr., although I doubt I'll ever call him that in person, and there's N.C. Senator Bob Atwater.
And who could forget the omnipresent Bob Etheridge, who seems to be everywhere in this county. We at the newsroom have always speculated that Etheridge found the keys to the Congressional cloning machine and there are at least four versions of him floating around the second district at all times.
"Robert" must have been a popular name back in the day. I'm guessing there will be a lot of "Jons" when my generation takes over, since there are at least a million Jonathans my age in this state alone.
If I've missed any Bobs, let me know. I'm on my way to the courthouse to officially change my name to Bob Owens. I have an uncle named that already, so I guess I'll be Bob Owens II.

Electionnightapalooza

So I'll take a cue from Billy and keep a running blog of my election night experiences, too...

7:51 p.m.
After several plates of Chinese food and several meager attempts at hitting on Chelsea with clever pick-up lines, I am getting ready to go to Broadway for the returns.
Clem Welch just called me to tell me that most of the candidates are assembled together down there at the polls. I guess if you are going to do a story on the election, that is the place to be.
R.V. just called with results from early voting. After early voting counts, Lora Wright, Charles Taylor are winning, and, the surprise of the night so far...Earl Barker is leading Linwood Mann by six votes.
I'm off to Broadway. For a running report, you'd probably be best served looking at Billy's blog.

8:59 p.m.
Just got back from Broadway, where I seemed to have just missed the party. No one was to be found at the community center, but when I walked back into my desk, Lynne West Green was calling me. I left a message for her earlier in the day to call me back with contact information for the night. Green, Woody Beale and Clem Welch won seats on the board, and Donald Andrews won the mayoral race.

Sanford races too close to call, though Mike Stone and Charles Taylor seem to be stretching out a lead...

9:53 p.m.
Just interview Charles Taylor since polls have shown that he has won the Ward 2 seat on the Sanford City Council. He seemed pretty excited about joining the board, and said one of his priorities will be repealing the business privilege tax. More from this interview will be in The Herald Wednesday.
I must write now so I am not here until 3 a.m.

11:46 p.m.
Ah, after four stories and seven interviews, it is finally over, and I am at home getting ready for naptime! It was not as exciting as most election nights. R.V. even mailed it in on the newsroom jaunt he normally does.
Of course, what can you expect from a municipal election anyway? It seems to me, though, that Sanford voters sent a clear message tonight that they don't like the direction of the council, with two conservatives winning easily in what had been, up to now, a mostly democratic board, while the one Democrat running barely squeaked by.
Oh, wait. This is a nonpartisan board...
As I have stated before, next year will be a big one, although I'm not sure North Carolina will be as "in-play" for the Democrats as some pundits have projected, since most all the tax increases on the ballot tonight across the state failed. Only time will tell though.
Goodnight, and good luck.

Why I voted

With only two choices on my ballot — At-large and Ward 2 seats on the Sanford city council — I'm sure I would have been forgiven if I had just gone to the Dairy Bar for coffee before work instead of voting.
Let me back up for a second, though. Election day is the best day of the year to be a reporter. Not only can you come into work at noon, since you'll likely be up until 1 a.m. writing stories, but the air of excitement all day is palpable. Plus, you get free pizza! (although, this year, we are lobbying for Chinese food.) The highlight here at the Herald is always R.V. Hight storming through the newsroom with returns at around 8 p.m. It is a great but long night that I have looked forward to every year since working on the state and national desk at the Daily Tar Heel in college.
But this year, eh, well, the excitement level for a political junky like myself is somewhat subdued. There's no national, state or even countywide elections to create a buzz. So I would have been forgiven if I had opted to sleep in rather than voting.
But I didn't. Instead, I went to the Sanford Exchange Club, walked up and handed the pollworker my driver's license and waited. And waited. And waited, while she thumbed through the roll of names and didn't find a single "Owens, Jonathan Boyd" on them. She looked at me like I was a criminal, trying to sneak in to vote from Pittsboro or Carthage.
After the confusion settled, with a quick call to the Board of Elections, we figured out that I was at the wrong precinct. The only other time I have voted in Sanford, last year, I chose early voting since I figured I would be swamped all day in the newsroom. So I asked Gordon Anderson where we vote and he told me the Golf Course. He was wrong, and so was I.
I could have quit there, deemed the election of too little importance to drive across town to the Elk's Lodge, and simply went on in to work. But I didn't. I drove on down, picked up my ballot and voted. It took about a minute, and I felt like I had done my small part to make Sanford better.
After all of this, though, I was only the 148th person to cast a ballot at the Elk's Lodge in a precinct that must have at least 2,000 registered voters. That is sad.
So why did I go through all that trouble to vote, and why should do the same?
It's a topic that every newspaper editorializes each election day. I think we did it today. And it is always the same — if you don't vote, you can't complain. And while that is a good point, I can give you a better, more pragmatic reason.
Vote because, for most of us, it is the only power you have in this country or even this city. For one day a year, the poorest people in Sanford, if they have not been convicted of a felony and have registered, have the same amount of power in their hands as the prominent business owners, the school superintendents, the real estate developers, the newspaper publishers, the bank presidents, the mayor, the commissioners and councilmen.
Everyone likes to say that America is a government of the people — that government officials are mere representatives who serve at the pleasure of their constituents. But that is only true one day out of the two, four, or six years that they serve — and that day was today.
In truth, this country and even this town has a ruling class that for all the other days of the year make decisions based on both their vision for the future of their constituents' lives and their own self interests.
For one day, though, you get to tell them whether they are doing things right or not. So go vote, because today you rule this town.
I would suggest, though, that you read Chelsea's story in today's Herald first, so you are not driving all around town looking for your polling place. Obviously, I didn't.