Wrong Direction
Editor: Regarding to your article, "Howard County executive asks builder impact fees," (Oct. 24): It's about time Charles I. Ecker, Howard County executive, did something right! On Oct. 22 Mr. Ecker said he planned to charge commercial and residential developers $6 million in impact fees to raise money for roads. After destroying public confidence when he did not grant pay raises to the teachers, this act might give him the vote of confidence he needs.
Charles Ecker has done nothing good for the county since he was elected. He punished thousands of innocent children when he would not grant the teachers pay raises. Now he plans to continue the development of Waverly Woods. Waverly Woods would take away some of the already small amount of undeveloped land the county has left. Although this would raise revenue for the county it would cause more overcrowding in already crowded schools. Even though Mr. Ecker is trying to do the right thing, he seems to be headed in the wrong direction.
Margaret Muench.
Ellicott City.
Arundel Gains
Editor: I know that most of the politicians in Anne Arundel County think that it is a travesty to have our county split among four congressional districts. But as a citizen of the county I disagree.
Before redistricting we had one congressman. Now on issues affecting the entire county we can attract the personal interest of four congressmen. Fully half of the state's delegation now has a personal interest in what goes on in Anne Arundel County.
It seems to me that that increases rather than reduces the influence of county residents. Clearly, with our four congressmen we will be better represented in Congress than will the western counties whose vastly divergent interests will be championed by a sole representative.
I think we residents of Anne Arundel will fare better under the redistricting plan than most any other area in Maryland. It's our politicians, looking out for their careers like always, who do worse.
Anita M. Heygster.
Severn.
Don't Raze History
Editor: Concerning Dennis O'Brien's article of Oct. 9, "Arts foundation weighs razing Pikes Theater," that theater is history. It is part of Pikesville's heritage. And, despite what Shari Coale of Columbia Design Collective says, it is old and definitely unique.
The Pikes Theater, built in 1937, embodies the distinct characteristics of the Art Deco period. Popular from the 1920s through the 1940s, the Art Deco style manifested America's obsession with the modern. Streamlined designs were applied to everything from toasters, furniture and automobiles to movie theaters. Almost every Main Street in America contained one example of the century's new style.
Driving through Pikesville, one can easily recognize the Pikes Theater as one such example. It provides a visual link to the community's past. Crucial to the fabric of Pikesville's downtown, the theater stands as a monument to its evolution.
It seems odd that the Pikes Theater may soon be razed in order to make room for a new art center. Perhaps the theater could better be called a diamond in the rough, for the local community has failed to realize the value of this historic structure. As Pikesville commences its downtown revitalization project, it should carefully examine the preservation efforts undertaken by communities across the country, resulting in the rebirth and prospering of small downtowns.
The Pikes Theater must play a role in linking the past with the future. Let it not be forgotten, but rather serve as the focus of Pikesville's redevelopment.
Kari Nel Lang.
Columbia.
Short-Sighted
Editor: In his letter of Oct. 23, Robert C. Embry was absolutely correct to assert that those who oppose higher taxes are being short-sighted.
What else is it but short-sighted to think that by no longer funding early childhood education, dropout prevention and school lunch programs, we will save on taxes, when we will end up paying a lot more for the illiteracy, poverty and crime that neglect is sure to spawn?
This is the same mentality which believes we will save by no longer providing Medicaid coverage for the poor, when what we save in taxes we will spend on higher insurance premiums. Hospitals have already made it clear they will pass on unreimbursed costs of treating the poor to you and me.
And just wait until you see your home-owner's insurance premium after your company finds out there are fewer fire companies operating in town. In effect, what goes into your right pocket in tax savings comes out of your left in higher private costs. To refuse to see this is indeed short-sighted.
Mr. Embry is also correct to note that harping about government waste -- as if its elimination could actually offset the harm done by current budget cuts -- is really a distraction from the real issues.
Yes, there is waste in government, just as there is in the private sector. Let's not forget that the multi-billion dollar taxpayer bailout for the S&L; fiasco is a result of private sector waste.
Indeed, had government spent more tax dollars on its regulatory apparatus, we might now have billions more to invest in our decaying infrastructure rather than be forced to apply it to a mountain of bad debt.
For all its inefficiencies, government remains the only institution with a mandate to address the public good. And, as Mr. Embry noted, if it is denied the necessary resources we are sure to witness continuing decline in our standard of living.
Howard Bluth.
Baltimore.
Dr. Cowley's Gone, but His Mission Remains
Editor: As director of the state's Emergency Medical Services system, I join many who are saddened by the death of Dr. R Adams Cowley. As the recent editorial in The Sun so aptly stated, Dr. Cowley was a rare individual, brave enough to challenge medical orthodoxy and create new methods of trauma care. His vision and guidance established the finest Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system in the country.
It is no accident that the survival rate for emergency patients, including those with severe injuries, has improved dramatically as a result of his life-long work. Dr. Cowley's vision and guidance created a statewide, coordinated process of EMS/trauma care that is a model for the rest of the world. This system responds to more than 400,000 EMS calls for help each year.
As a national review team said this year, "Maryland was one of the first states to make a significant public policy commitment to the delivery of emergency medical services with the creation of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems during the 1970s. In subsequent years, a significant amount of progress was made as a result of the dedicated efforts of many involved and concerned Maryland citizens."
While we mourn Dr. Cowley's death, we are also saddened by the apparent dismantling of this exemplary EMS/trauma care system.
It may surprise many readers that the University of Maryland at Baltimore, which has budgetary authority over the EMS system, has planned a 63-percent budget cut in the state's EMS system. The EMS program has already sustained an 8-percent budget reduction to $6.8 million this year and is scheduled for an additional $1 million cutback for this same year. The university has proposed a budget cut to $2.5 million for fiscal year 1993. This two-thirds budget reduction will eliminate Maryland's emergency care system as we know it today.
For example:
* Coordinated intensive-care transport services for critically ill newborns will be eliminated. (More than 600 babies are transported each year.)
* The statewide system of designated trauma centers for severely injured patients will cease. (More than 9,000 patients are treated each year.)
* Coordinated transport services for women in high-risk labor will stop. (Last year, 556 mothers-to-be in need of special care during delivery were taken to perinatal centers.)
* The statewide EMS communications system will shut down as current equipment ages, fails and cannot be repaired or replaced. (Doctors will not be able to have radio communication with medical technicians at the scene of injury or illness.)
* The current high level of pre-hospital medical care available to all citizens in all counties will not be assured because statewide certification programs will be disbanded.
* Educational programs that enable emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency nurses and others to learn and apply new medical information will be discontinued.
To the many tributes to Dr. Cowley that have already been offered, I add my own. UMAB officials, the governor, and the General Assembly can make the greatest tribute yet: by supporting the EMS system that Dr. Cowley began and thus ensuring that all citizens of Maryland receive the best medical care when they face life-threatening illness or injury.
Ameen I. Ramzy, M.D.
Baltimore.