Hosting foreign-exchange students

I have been involved with foreign exchange students now for several years and I've learned that the world can be made better through this experience. Until a family has had the experience, they cannot imagine how rewarding it is to bring the world into your own home and to see the bond being created between a host family and a teenager from another part of the world. Having these students in our homes does help us gain understanding, acquire knowledge, and learn skills needed to live in our culturally diverse world.

By having these students live with our families, we break down the barriers that divide people, not only across international borders, but also within our own community. It's a great opportunity to experience another country without leaving your own home. The rewards a family will reap are unlimited.

I urge everyone to consider the possibility of volunteering to host an exchange student. The non-profit company I work with is CIEE (Council on International Education Exchange). I would be happy to help anyone that's interested.

Laura VandenHeuvel, Fuquay-Varina

MorrisvilleAction.org gets results

Thanks are owed to a new grassroots citizens' group in Morrisville whose timely action saved homeowners more than 7 cents on their tax rate and called attention to a budget process that needs fixing.

Morrisville advertised its budget hearings with limited notice but some involved residents spent their own time and money to get the word out that one of the smallest towns in Wake County had the biggest tax increase. More than 200 concerned townspeople attended an added meeting to learn some surprising details.

The 19 percent tax increase, necessary to fund a year over year spending increase of 17 percent that came to light only with further analysis by citizens and some board members, would have slipped through if it were not for Morrisville Action.org and many residents who rightly questioned these numbers. Their efforts to make Morrisville's budget process more transparent and to support responsible growth for the surrounding residential communities were timely, intelligent, and thoughtful.

Many Cary neighbors will be negatively impacted by Morrisville's controversial approval of an outsized mall at Park West and road plans including the extension of Crabtree Crossing Parkway to I-540. We are grateful that an astute group of residents is now closely watching important regional issues through the next election.

Janet Young, Cary

Fowl situation

I live, work and play near Symphony Lake. I have enjoyed this area of Cary for a long time and have always been proud of the job that the city of Cary does in keeping the area so pristine. Lately, however I have noticed that the walking/jogging trail around Symphony Lake have not been properly maintained, in that the waste from the overly populated Canadian Geese has not been cleaned off.

I was under the impression that the drought may have had something to do with the path not being maintained. Now that the drought restrictions have been lifted, I would have assumed that the path would be taken care of once again. Does the town plan on hiring a contractor to do this job any time soon? It is very unsanitary for us walkers and joggers to have to try and avoid the mine fields as we try to get in some of our daily exercise.

Amanda Anderson, Cary