The First Lady
Editor: Barbara Bush has brought back dignity and warmth to the White House from whence they have been too long absent.
Arthur W. Kralick.
Severna Park.
Punctu-What?
Editor: With reference to the samples quoted of the new state report card tests accompanying the story in The Sun of Nov. 17 on changes in Maryland school testing, it was interesting to note under the reading test that students would be asked to "check carefully for correct grammar, spelling, punctualization and capitalization."
My dictionaries do not show such a word as "punctualization," but since they are several years old, maybe this is a neologism for the old word "punctuation," or maybe it refers to being on time.
Let's hope it's a typographical error, otherwise it's a dire warning of what we really have to overcome to improve our schools.
I. L. Garfinkle.
Baltimore.
Schaefer's Best
Editor: I am writing in defense of Gov. William Donald Schaefer.
For many years he was known as the best mayor in the country. I was in a position to meet officials from cities all over who came to meet the then-Mayor Schaefer.
He was mostly responsible for the progress of the Inner Harbor and he more than anyone else is responsible for the Orioles remaining in Baltimore. If it weren't for Governor Schaefer, Edward Bennett Williams would have moved the franchise to Denver.
Mr. Schaefer pushed the new stadium to please Williams and achieved it, thereby keeping the Orioles here.
He worked relentlessly to make Baltimore a huge success. Governor Schaefer also deserves praise for the light rail, which will be a great boon for the area and the Orioles. Let's not blame him wholly for the deficit, as Maryland is not in the difficulty most states are in.
We have been blessed by having him first as mayor and then as governor. When he retires, the citizens of Maryland will miss him and they will be ashamed of their criticism of him.
% Daniel David Dickman.
Baltimore.
Gamma-Rays and Goose Bumps
Editor: "Broadcast Space Travel," a Nov. 26 Opinion * Commentary article by Robert Burruss, gave me the goose bumps. Imagine what might be thrust upon aliens in strange galaxies -- the human genome. Carried on the wings of gamma-rays, Mr. Burruss says, the human genome could cross death-defying distances and be reconstituted in receiving civilizations.
The arrogance of science is baffling. Human genes can map out a Martin Luther King or a David Duke, a Mahatma Gandhi or a Hitler.
Disconnected from philosophical questions, spurred on only by curiosity, scientists race through a maze of findings in laboratories.
How far have we come as human beings?
We haven't yet discovered that we are linked to one another, no matter what color, creed or race. We haven't learned respect for nature, whose children we are. We still have an irresistible urge to wage wars. Why should we propagate ourselves into space?
Unless we develop our higher selves at the speed of light, we have no right to foist ourselves on intergalactic civilizations at the speed of light.
The purpose of science is not only to do, but to consider the impact of what is done and to exercise restraint when it is due.
Usha Nellore.
Bel Air.
Where He Was
Editor: The 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor will be observed on Dec. 7, as America celebrates this momentous occasion. On the day of infamy, I was leaving the Stanley Theatre, after watching my celluloid hero, Errol Flynn, starring in "They Died With Their Boots On," when confronted by a crowd of excited people discussing the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. I headed for the exit with flagging spirits.
America's Tin Pan Alley, in flag-waving response, cranked out such gems as, "Goodbye Mama, I'm Off To Yokohama," ad nauseam.
One year later, I was having lunch with Dame Judith Anderson on the Galapagos Islands, seated opposite the great Lady Macbeth courtesy of the USO.
I met MGM's reigning king, Clark Gable, in the Post Exchange at Pueblo, Colo., where a young female employee, recognizing the matinee idol, fluttered her eyes and melted to the floor in a dead faint.
On Aug. 6, 1945 at 9:15 a.m., the Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Col. Paul W. Tibbetts, leveled Hiroshima with a kiss of death, dropping an atomic bomb of unprecedented destruction and victory was near.
I returned to the United States on Dec. 8, 1945 and as a keepsake, purloined a Mae West life preserver, since voluptuous Mae and I were now inseparable.
& Kelton Carl Ostrander.
Woodlawn.
Historic Cutter
Editor: Many Baltimoreans probably don't realize that a vessel which survived unscathed that pivotal attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, lies just beyond the southeastern corner of the Inner Harbor promenade. I refer to the Coast Guard cutter Taney.
Years ago, city officials announced that the Taney would be permanently moored near other historic ships once reconstruction of Piers 5 and 6 was completed. That work has long been done, yet the Taney still floats hidden away from the thousands of tourists visiting other Inner Harbor attractions.
To commemorate Pearl Harbor, wouldn't it be fitting for the city finally to bring the Taney out of hiding and berth it near the Torsk, Chesapeake and Constellation? For students and tourists alike, this handsome cutter might serve as a prominent reminder of one of the seminal events of this century.
Charles E. Walker.
Baltimore.
Art, Not Eyesore
Editor: As a member of Baltimore's artistic community, I feel I must come forward to address the controversy concerning Lane Berk and the placement of a piece of sculpture on her roof at her Montgomery Street property.
Ms. Berk has been an activist, an advocate and a founder for many of Baltimore's arts institutions for many years. The original Maryland Ballet, Center Stage, Theatre Project, Baltimore Chamber Society and others have all enjoyed the largess of one of our only true patrons of the arts. She has no agenda other than promotion, education and service to the organizations and the community she loves. Why is this same city, to which she has dedicated her time, treasure and talent now engaging in tactics that would be expected of a Jesse Helms?
Why is an object in one area cause for celebration and in another area considered an eyesore? Far from detracting from the area, this addition to the skyline is a tasteful identification for anyone who takes photos, paints or views the Inner Harbor. Much as Los Angeles' "Hollywood" sign has become a landmark, this sculpture has become a "welcome" to our world-wide visitors and our own landmark greeting at the dazzling Inner Harbor area.
Those homes in the area with contemporary decks, large TV antennas, giant air-conditioning units, garishly painted trim and barbecue grills should be the focus of all of this attention, not an approved piece of sculpture announcing the pride a citizen has in her home town.
Our current economic climate of cutbacks in all areas makes this expense for prosecuting this case particularly offensive. Some of our rights and freedoms are being legislated away from us by those who can only be labeled dilettantes. Artists must be allowed the right to decide what is and what is not art. This is not a public decision.
Part of the result of art is the education of those who don't know by those who know. Our artistic organizations are at risk of being destroyed by businessmen who mean well, but have virtually no knowledge of art; the art suffers first, quickly followed by the artists.
Let Lane Berk's roof proudly proclaim that this is Baltimore today through the future, not Salem in the dark days of the witch hunts. Let us make our "City that Reads" an open, creative place that embraces our artists, as Lane Berk has done all her life, not a place that legalizes and denigrates its artists and patrons.
Philip Carman.
Baltimore.
The writer is director of the Maryland Ballet.