They Did It

Editor: Yes! Let's always remember Pearl Harbor. People like columnist Richard Reeves will someday have us believe that the Japanese never did it, as some would have us believe there never was a Holocaust. I, for one, wish Mr. Reeves could have been at Ground Zero.

Gene Kuhn.

Brooklyn Park.

Pentagon Waste

Editor: I am writing in response to the letter from Dave Reich (Oct. 22), who suggests that military spending "works" better than social spending.

He ignores the part that economic disorder and courageous citizens played in the collapse of communism.

He ignores the suffering wielded by our military machine.

He ignores the fact that the military could defend our shores by spending much less. Pentagon waste is legendary. Obsolete weapons systems persist, and nuclear weapons continue to be overstocked to the point of overkill.

also ignores the fact that defense spending protects more than our shores. It protects the interests of mega-corporations, weapons contractors, Third World weapons purchases, etc.

I would rather spend my money on drug treatment centers, health care, shelters, schools, parks, teen and community centers, medical research, etc.

Laszlo R. Trazkowski.

Baltimore.

No Means No

Editor: There has been a lot of controversy concerning the issue of rape. In the news recently, points have been brought up that if a woman dresses provocatively, that means she's asking for it.

I don't believe this is at all true. A woman has the right to dress any way she wants; it's a freedom she is granted. If she wears a short skirt or a low-cut top, that doesn't mean she's inviting a man to rape her.

If a woman spends time with a man and she says no to sex, she means no. It's her body, and she has control over it.

I know that rape is something we will probably never be able to get rid of entirely, but I feel that when someone is found guilty of rape, the consequences should be harsher. I think a convicted rapist should at the very least serve the maximum sentence and not be released early. This is only fair to the victim.

I don't know all of the answers, but I feel that more could be done to hopefully cut down on this painful violation of a woman's body.

ndrea Fairley.

Baltimore.

U.S. Autos

Editor: Fantastic. Just fantastic.

American auto companies build the best cars in the world. Right? Everybody should buy them, right?

So the companies insist they can't improve the miles-per-gallon figure.

So they import more foreign parts for their American cars so they can exempt these cars from the American fuel efficiency standards.

So they demand absolute limits on the number of Japanese cars to be sold in the U.S. -- a limit to include Japanese cars manufactured in America.

So when smaller cars actually did better than bigger cars in crash tests, the American auto industry developed a commercial with a Department of Transportation staged crash test presuming to show big cars are better.

So oil-man Bush's Department of Transportation admits to finding in two tests that smaller cars are safer, and then deliberately staged a later test and circulated that video.

So oil-man Bush opposes fuel efficiency and wants oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Preserve.

Fantastic! No, real.

Mary O. Styrt.

Baltimore.

Mikulski's Stand

Editor: It seems generally agreed by most commentators that the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee disported themselves in almost obtuse fashion incident to the Clarence Thomas hearings.

However, in my opinion, it was a non-committee member who engaged in the most fatuous, senseless and asinine behavior, in the form of your Sen. Barbara Mikulski in the course of final arguments on the floor.

Coincidentally, I served on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the late Seventies as a minority counsel, and so histrionics on the part of members are nothing new. But in the case of Ms. Mikulski, I was not aware that we had a neo-Goebbels in that body who delivers her rumble bumble even accompanied by Goebbelian gestures.

I listen in vain for some sparks of intelligent thought, but the best I could get out of her exhortatory vibrations was, "Down with everybody and everything."

Theodore L. Humes.

Paradise Valley, Ariz.

No Assaults Due

Editor: In a Nov. 4 letter, Gordon Shelton refers to legislation regarding the ban on assault weapons as "useless." He further maintains that the legislators who voted the bill down are courageous. Even more laughable is his assertion that assault weapons have "next to nothing to do with crime."

I would agree with his assertion that the problems of poverty, family disintegration, drugs and poor education contribute to this nation's crime rate. I also agree that these problems need to be addressed now. What I disagree with is the notion that if the ban of assault weapons will not single-handedly eliminate our crime epidemic, it be considered useless.

We must start somewhere. By discounting this legislation as useless, we are continuing our nation's demise. No one should have the right to own assault weapons. What possible place of value do they hold in a civilized society?

I am tired of watching the people we depend on to run our government be bullied by the National Rifle Association. They are the true cowards. Men who measure power and strength by the size of their weapons and the apparent right to bear them must wake up.

It won't be long before crimes involving guns, which are committed with frequency each night in our cities, escalate not only in number but in their level of violence. These assault weapons can become the weapons of choice. Unless we do what we can now to eliminate these barbaric weapons, no legislation aimed at improving our standard of life will be of much use.

Elizabeth B. Steele.

Glyndon.

The Whole Child

Editor: I have never read a more eloquent argument for the inclusion of art and music in our elementary and secondary school curriculum than Robert Pierce's "How Music Helps Children Grow" (Oct. 25). Mr. Pierce is an educator who truly sees the "whole picture" when it comes to educating our children.

Let all educational interests groups from A to Z join forces and lobby as a whole for the whole child!

Patricia M. Nothstein.

Baltimore.

Out of Control

Editor: Thomas Bromwell, chairman of the Baltimore County state Senate delegation, demonstrated in his letter to the editor (Oct. 28), that he is out of control. Mr. Bromwell's unfortunate tirade against Baltimore County School Superintendent Robert Dubel served only as an affront to every citizen in Baltimore County.

Let's look at Mr. Bromwell's credibility based on his letter. He states that Joppa View Elementary just opened in October. It opened in October 1990. He questions the number of "vice-principals" in high schools. "Vice-principals" have been called "assistant principals" for about 20 years. He accuses Dr. Dubel of siphoning education money to provide administrators and department chairmen with 12-month employment. EYE (Extended Year Employment) has been dramatically reducing 12-month employment in Baltimore County schools for about a decade.

Mr. Bromwell's charge that "administrators enjoy out-of-state travel, air-conditioned offices, cars with car phones and authority to take these vehicles home" describes privileges granted to very few policy-making staff.

Mr. Bromwell needs to know the day-to-day realities that our "privileged" staff experience. Just recently in an area administrative meeting, I was shocked to learn that principals could not claim mileage reimbursement when returning to supervise many student functions at night.

Leadership is a rare commodity today, especially in government. In a letter to the editor on Oct. 23, Robert C. Embry Jr., president of the Maryland State Board of Education, challenged a column by Peter Jay opposing new taxes for Maryland. Mr. Embry eloquently documented the need for higher taxes in our state, reaffirming the noble role of all government efforts to serve the greater good of its people. What a disturbing contrast is offered by Mr. Bromwell's distasteful and uninformed utterances.

William L. Reider.

Towson.

The writer is a specialist in instruction for the Baltimore County public schools.

____________

Editor: If Sen. Tom Bromwell's Oct. 28 letter is any indication of the careless leadership we have in our state Senate, it is no wonder Maryland is in such a financial mess.

Baltimore County schools do not have three assistant principals in every high school nor is every department chairman a 12-month employee. As with most school employees, the two summer months spent working on educational pursuits are done without pay.

At worst, Senator Bromwell is purposely misleading his constituents. At best, he is a careless leader who should spend more time researching the facts before shooting off his mouth.

Senator Bromwell questions when Superintendent Robert Dubel will make the first self-imposed cut. Dr. Dubel gave his pay raise to the breakfast program in Baltimore County. Can Senator Bromwell claim the same?

What the citizens of Maryland want to know is, when will Senator Bromwell cut the fat from his budget and turn it back to the people?

Catherine Walrod.

Towson.

The writer teaches mathematics at the Sparrows Point Middle School.