Grateful Reader
Editor: My husband and I are long-time readers of The Sun. I would like to thank you for your up-to-date news of the war and for your support of the Desert Storm.
The yellow bags in which I received my newspapers have made the bows that are now hanging on the hedges in my yard and the flag inserts from the paper are hanging in my windows.
Everywhere I look, I see the love and support for our troops in Desert Storm. People show it in their windows, on their trees and hedges.
The Baltimore Sun is great!
Linda Reynolds.
Baltimore.
New Order
Editor: "Novus Ordo Seclorum" is the Latin phrase beneath the pyramid and eye in the triangle found on the reverse of Great Seal of the United States. In English it translates to "The New Order of the Ages," and it was put there by our Founding Fathers to describe how they felt about democracy. President Bush knows this, and he has said so. Recently, however, he has changed its meaning to "The New World Order."
On Feb. 25 The Sun carried an article by Henry Kissinger headlined "Novus Ordo Seclorum," referring again to the New World Order. Mr. Kissinger also knows better. Why are President Bush and Henry Kissinger changing the meaning of our seal's motto? Why are so many people in the media repeating their error?
Much of America's history has already been re-written. We look better that way. Now our president and Henry Kissinger are re-writing our mottoes. If we rewrite history and the meanings of our mottoes then the articles in our Constitution may be next. The last 10 years indicate that we're moving in that direction. "Novus Ordo Seclorum" means that the New Order is democracy -- not a world government or a New World Order.
Will America be asked to relinquish any of its constitutional rights in exchange for a New World Order?
Robert R. Heironimus.
Owings Mills.
Punitive Damages
Editor: On March 4, the Supreme Court, in a 7-1 decision, made a ruling on "punitive damages." Unfortunately, the justices did not deal with the core issue.
As noted by Lyle Denniston, punitive damages "are not intended to compensate the winner for actual losses or harms but rather are imposed, additionally, to make an example of the wrongdoer." The amount of punitive damage award is usually related to the "ability to pay" of the wrongdoer. In other words, a large corporation in the wrongdoer role will more than likely be hit with a significantly higher punitive damage payment than would a middle class individual in a similar role. Also, in most cases, the amounts awarded for punitive damages far exceed what a winner deserves. On the other hand, the legal profession will claim its usual significant portion of the winner's take.
Punitive damage awards are a good thing! Wrongdoers need to be discouraged from taking actions that harm society and the damage awards be made! I propose that such awards should be paid to society, not to individual winners. Depending on the case, the award check could be made out to either the local, state or federal government. Also, punitive damage award amounts should be exempt from legal fees. (This might upset a few in the legal profession.) If this process is instituted, punitive damage awards will take on new meaning and will be better understood and accepted by the general public.
Larry Guess.
Havre de Grace.
Who Pays for Paid Holidays?
Editor: I am a working mother due to financial necessity. I use a licensed day-care mother to watch my child. She has informed me that her state caseworker told her that even though I don't receive such holidays as Martin Luther King's Birthday and Presidents' Day, I should give them to my day-care mother by using one of my "personal" or "sick" leave days.
Obviously this state worker does not know much about the reality of the private sector workplace. Out in the real working world most companies don't want you to tell them you are using "sick time" for an ill child, much less a day-care mother's holiday.
If you are like my husband and me, you get only the big six holidays off, have nothing remotely like a paid personal leave day, and actually are not paid for sick time taken off, although we won't get fired unless it is deemed excessive.
Someone should remind these state employees that it is us middle-class private sector working slobs that generate the lion's share of the tax revenue that pays for all of their paid holidays. If they get enough of us fired by forcing us to lie to our employers or force us to quit jobs because we are unable to bring home a reasonable profit (say $100 a week) due to excessive day care costs, then what?
Then there won't be enough tax revenue to pay for their 35-hour work week with every conceivable holiday off. Then where are a lot of them going to be? They will be in the private sector without any excessive holidays, "personal" leave or "sick" time freebies.
Mary Kwiatkowski
Baltimore.
Put It Out Now
Editor: If that stump fire is not put out before the hot humid weather gets here, a big part of living in Maryland will be downright miserable. Not to mention the health danger to those with lung trouble. And if there ever was a time for Gov. William Donald Schaefer to use his "do it now" policy -- it is now.
Lorry Quackenbush.
Baltimore.
Polling Bias
Editor: Letter writer Henry H. Franz was on target when he warned of unreliability in television call-in polls. In Opinion * Commentary, Susan Sullam extended the criticism to newspaper call-ins as well.
Lest anyone doubt that such polls can be distorted by "teams of callers (who) make multiple calls in their interest," as Mr. Franz alleges, USA Today revealed last summer that analysis of one of its own Hot Line queries showed that 5,640 calls came from two telephone numbers at a single insurance company. This resulted in an apparent landslide vote of confidence for Donald Trump, who was the subject of this particular call-in.
Audiences should understand that similar stacking may occur whenever callers volunteer and are not being sought in systematically sampled opinion surveys.
Sidney Hollander Jr.
Baltimore.
Lida Lee Tall
Editor: Gwinn Owens' article (Feb. 1), "Discovering the World at Lida Lee Tall School," brought back a flood of pleasant memories of this remarkable 125-year-old elementary school which has been associated with Towson State University from its very beginning. The high quality of public elementary schools in the Baltimore area can very definitely be traced to the influence of Dr. Lida Lee Tall during her years as president of Towson State. The students teachers trained at the "normal school" supplied the local school system with teachers who turned on lights in the brains of many of us.
On March 2, Lida Lee Tall School held an open house for the grateful old grads. We had one remarkable lady who was a first grade student in 1914 when the college moved to Towson. Old friendships were renewed; some going back over 50 years. Because of the short time allowed, many old grads couldn't be reached.
Lida Lee Tall School is fighting for its life. This independent, fully integrated school has a student body ranging from professional to welfare families. It's the only elementary school in Maryland providing a laboratory for educational research and teacher training. It is routinely used as a "think tank" and resource by Maryland educators and citizens in generating new ideas for school programs in the state. Parents pay tuition which generates 25 percent of the school's funds. About 13 percent of the students are on a full scholarships. It costs the taxpayers of Maryland $2,800 to educate a child at Lida Lee Tall; about half of the cost of educating city and county public school students. What are the results? Because of the dedicated teaching staff, these students, picked at random, far exceed academic expectations. The taxpayers of Maryland receive a tremendous return on their investment, well educated future citizens who learn in an an environment where they overcome racial and class differences.
What is this great country made out of? Can we turn the tide against the educational and moral decline in our society? If our representatives and Gov. William Donald Schaefer can find the funds in our tight state budget, the "light" at Lida Lee Tall School will continue to shine brightly in the lives of these 160 future good citizens and we will all reap the benefits.
LeRoy Y. Haile Jr.
Towson.