Back-Scratch

Editor: I can't tell you how distressed I was to read that Gov. William Donald Schaefer is upset at having his "lottery lovefest" exposed by The Sun.

While I'm not surprised it happened, the sheer brazenness of it is remarkable even by Maryland standards. What a cast of characters:

William L. "Little Willie" Adams, a former numbers runner and a good friend of the governor. He gets to print the tickets.

Beverly Wyatt, wife of Maurice Wyatt. Mr. Wyatt was in charge of patronage for former Gov. Marvin Mandel. Mrs. Wyatt owns a computer company and she's getting -- you guessed it -- the computer contract.

Marvin Mandel, himself, just happens to be a lobbyist for GTECH (the firm that's getting the lottery contract).

Last, but not least, Otis Warren Jr., a real estate executive, will provide a choice site for GTECH's installation.

It's all one great, big political back-scratch. They make a lot of money and we're not supposed to notice.

Michael Carlton. Baltimore.

Killer Trees

Editor: Louis Blank's letter May 23 said that trees should not be planted adjacent to Lake Montebello because in 10 years they will be a haven for drug addicts. He has registered his complaint with the Parks Department and suggested that it dig them up and replant them in some space less appealing to drug addicts.

Maybe if we move all trees out to the surrounding counties, the drug problems will go with them.

Maybe we should consider the dangers of having any forested areas in our city. Who knows what illegal activities could take place in those remote groves of trees.

That's probably the answer to the drug problem, and here it was all the time. Just get rid of the trees.

' Georgia Corso. Baltimore.

Bad Deal

Editor: Sometimes I feel that the media in this country overzealously exercises its constitutional rights in reporting the news, but I must congratulate The Sun on its recent expose of the GTech lottery situation for what it truly is. This deal reeked from the bidding process on, and the continuing saga plays out to be nothing short of sheer effrontery by the characters involved. Keep up the pressure. This deal has the distinct odor of decaying meat.

!Charles R. Morris. Baltimore.

Newark Rising

Editor: I was extremely disappointed and dismayed by the disparaging comment made about Newark, N.J., in an article by urbanists Neal Peirce and Curtis W. Johnson, May 5, "Baltimore and Beyond, A Special Report: Looking at the Future."

Messrs. Peirce and Johnson use Newark as an example of where Baltimore does not want to be in the future. The statement that appears in the article, "Baltimore is in danger of becoming America's next Detroit or Newark, N.J.," to put it bluntly, was not only a cheap shot but an uninformed one at that.

I contend that Baltimore should be so lucky to become more like Newark.

Obviously, you are not aware that Newark is in the midst of a Renaissance. Not only is the downtown district and waterfront property prospering, but our neighborhoods are booming as well.

K. Hovnanian, noted New Jersey developer, has entered its fourth phase of 1,300 units of affordable luxury housing in the area where the 1967 riots occurred and many other housing projects have either been completed or are under construction.

Newark is the headquarters for many nationwide companies such as Prudential, Mutual Benefit and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Newark is also the site for the multi-million dollar New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Newark is a microcosm of urban America, but it is also an urban American city that, in spite of diminishing federal resources and nationwide budget deficits, has continued to provide and strengthen basic municipal services while developing powerful public-private partnerships to keep this historical metropolis in top shape.

While cities nationally and internationally are looking to Newark as a model city, the urbanists' heads are still buried in Newark's past downfalls, many of which the city has overcome. Messrs. Peirce and Johnson should have instead encouraged Baltimore to gain insight from Newark.

We are currently celebrating Newark's 325th Birthday with the theme, "Newark: 325 Years and Still Growing Stronger," which is completely fitting, and we certainly deserve to be acknowledged in a positive way.

I am a supporter of the First Amendment in the Constitution, which calls for freedom of speech, but where do we draw the line when this freedom allows publishers to continue puncturing the same urban cities? The Sun has made a huge oversight and most definitely owes the city of Newark an apology.

! Sharpe James.

Newark, N.J.

The writer is the mayor of Newark.

Yellow Journalism

Editor: I believe the comments in the May 18 Sun as regards William Adams' company's involvement as a minority contractor under the lottery contract is an example of "yellow journalism."

There was no reason whatsoever to make mention of Mr. Adams' alleged involvement in the so-called "numbers business" in 1953. In the second incident cited, Mr. Adams was found innocent.

Rather than criticize Mr. Adams, we in the black community believe he ought to be given credit for succeeding in his many business ventures. This success came in spite of the fact that he has been constantly reminded by the media of past allegations. Why aren't the contributions of Mr. Adams mentioned?

When black folks couldn't get a loan for a home or business from the white banks, Mr. Adams was there. When black parents needed money to send their children to college and they couldn't get a scholarship or loan from the white institutions, Mr. Adams was there. When blacks wanted to run for political office to better represent the black community and the white political parties wouldn't give them a campaign dime, Mr. Adams was there.

Historians have proven that black folks started the lottery/numbers in Harlem in the 1920s, only to lose control of it to the white gangsters/mobsters of the era. Little did they realize then that the states would later take the "digits" from the "back yard of society to the front yard" and make millions. Although blacks started the lottery game, in later years they have become players only. Thus it is surprising to some that when a black company gets only $1.2 million of a contract worth $60 million, one of the company's officers is highlighted as a bad guy and past allegations brought forth to cast doubts on the lottery game. I believe The Sun ought to be asking the question as to why there aren't more blacks receiving sizable contracts for lottery operations.

While Mr. Adams may not be a saint, we in the black community believe that he ought to be commended for finally being in a position to get a piece of the "lottery pie," a pie that has heretofore only been divided up in the white community.

Henry J. Turner. Baltimore.

Plural Distinctions

Editor: Jacob Neusner's "Pluralistic Religious Heritage" letter of May 13 gave the impression that hostility and isolation still characterize the relationship between the Jewish and Christian communities. There is a growing awareness that the myth of the Judeo-Christian heritage threatens to compromise the distinctiveness of both.

Yet, by insisting upon the irreducible singularity of their own tradition, many are tempted to retreat into the temple of the familiar and ignore the creative tensions of encountering those who are different.

Baltimore has distinguished itself as a community where the Jewish-Christian conversation is breaking new ground. A transformation has led some to recognize that Jews and Christians cannot join hands in mending the world unless they also dispel ignorance in their own communities, confront age-old distortions and generate a climate of mutual respect which would overcome a historical legacy of fear and hostility.

If we seek refuge in the caves of isolation, we will surely be blinded by the light of the pluralistic world within which we live.

. Rev. Christopher Leighton. Rabbi Shira Lander. Baltimore

The writers are, respectively, director and staff member of the Institute for Christian-Jewish Studies.