I am a fifth grade student at Davis Drive Elementary School. About one month ago I found out that my neighborhood, MacArthur Park, is being reassigned to a new school. When I heard this I was shocked and mad.

I completely disagree with this because you shouldn’t reassign children who can easily walk to school. Also, the school I go to, Davis Drive Elementary, is a great school, and kids love going there. It’s unfair to the students because they are being forced to leave Davis Drive and go to a different school without their option.

I also heard that the school they have to go to is year-round. That means that the kids might not be on the same track as friends, people who live on your street or even siblings. Although you get to be tracked out for three weeks, and your other family members in school, where’s the time to spend with family, like taking a vacation?

This decision is changing everyone’s lives. A lot of people. including me are not OK with this change and want it to end. This reassigning will continue if someone doesn’t do anything about it.

I appreciate your help and time. Thank you for listening to my concern.

Danielle Lawson, Cary

Prescription for happiness?

In “Names & Faces” (Jan. 23), Rev. Thomas Becker describes his conversion efforts in Russia over the past 14 years. Becker’s attitude toward Russians is extremely offensive. The arrogance with which Becker assumes all sorts of things about Russians comes from the same superiority which assumes they need Becker’s version of Christianity. To state that “evangelical Christians tend to seem happier than your average Russian, lighter of spirit” is an absurd claim. Becker judges cultural differences by his own kind who “seem happier”? Why does he judge a culture on seeming happiness? Becker was born and raised in the U.S. (Cary), which emphasizes a “c’mon, get happy!” attitude and is sharply critical of “negative” emotions, particularly normal sadness.

What would Becker say if he walked the streets of Stockholm or Helsinki? How about Copenhagen? No doubt he would feel that yes, he is right to impose his world views upon those cultures as well because the lack of “level of joy, a more ready smile” would confirm for him that he has the better way. Swedes, Finns, etc. do not walk around with fake smiles, and “Have a great day!” is not something forced into their culture. But these countries have consistently the happiest people in the world, something the U.S. cannot boast. They also do not rely on drugs and material goods to bring “happiness.”

Rev. Becker presumes to know what Russians need, and that they need “transformation of their everyday lives” in the specific form of Becker’s prescribed spirituality. It is frightening to think of the stereotypes Becker and his evangelical minion are perpetuating in Russia as they try to convert Russians to their way of thinking.

Please do not feature such residents of Cary again without a much greater sensitivity to the Russian community here, and those we cannot see in Russia. The tone of the entire article is extremely offensive and continues the perception that the U.S., specifically the South, continues to try to convert everyone to their way of thinking, feeling superior in their beliefs. Enough of people claiming their way is the one true way (or invoking their holy book to state this claim).

Stephanie Summerville, Cary