Police welcomed to Howard Street
I must take exception with your recent editorial against moving the Baltimore City Police Department to a new home on Howard Street.
As a downtown retailer and property owner for many years and as the current president of the Market Center Association, representing more than 400 downtown merchants, I am dismayed that you would take a stand against an initiative that could have such a significant and positive impact on the area.
The benefits of bringing the police department to Howard Street are immeasurable. To the retailers and patrons of the area, the addition of the police department would be a "shining light" at the end of the tunnel.
For years we have been blighted by construction. Through no fault of our own, what used to be a very viable area has almost been shut down.
Now we have the opportunity to welcome increased activity on Howard Street with the addition of 3,000 more employees contributing life to the streets and, at the same time, their blue uniforms generating a sense of well-being.
This move would perfectly complement other new initiatives in the area, such as light rail, the new stadium, the City Crescent project, the VA Hospital and expansion of University Center -- all projects that are helping to revitalize downtown's west side.
We cannot wait to welcome the Baltimore city police to their new home.
Milt Rosenbaum
Baltimore
Food for thought
Kevin Cowherd's column "A rose by any other name" (Feb. 28) completely misses the point.
No one except Mr. Cowherd takes the Denny's commercial seriously.
Actually, the two elderly Corlick sisters in the commercial are spunky. They are still able to get around on their own. They're optimistic, independent and active. And if they're a tad confused, well, haven't you ever been confused by menus that offer a house burger along with multiple fry, pickle and cole slaw combinations with names like "The Green Knight" and "The Brandywine Bulldog"? Except for the waitress, who else could possibly remember which combination had the cheese, the mustard and the dill pickle, and whether it was the tossed salad, the potato salad or cole slaw on the side?
Precious few TV commercials today feature old-timers the way they really are. Like most people, I have elderly relatives who I see relatively infrequently. They do tend to get mixed up and sometimes I am mistakenly called by my father's or my uncle's name. As I get older, I understand that such confusion is natural and probably inevitable.
I am neither with the company nor do I own stock in it.
Because its name is similar to mine, I've followed Denny's for about 15 years out of curiosity.
Lighten up, Mr. Cowherd!
Jim Denny
Baltimore
Kids with guns
Imagine this comforting thought: Our two sons were not shot by a fellow student at Roland Park School the other day, but they might have been.
Struggling against the notion that this is urban life as usual (ie, something we can do nothing about), we think several lessons emerge.
First, all our children are at risk. Because they are so close geographically, we are sure the Gilman and Roland Park Country School parents are as concerned as we are about the shooting in our neighborhood.
But if any parents think they can somehow buy their way out of this violence, let us point out that since that shooting, students have been killed by fellow students in such disparate neighborhoods as Brooklyn, N.Y., and Archdale, N.C.
The reasons violence exists range from the unprecedented availability of guns to more subtle challenges to our social fabric. All our children are at risk in a society that quite easily absorbs the reality of eighth graders toting guns to neighborhood schools.
The second reality is that Roland Park School is an excellent school.
As participants in both private and public education at all levels, we know that Evelyn Beasley is a remarkable, committed principal and her faculty is as talented a group of teachers as any we have seen. Against great odds, they are giving our boys and and hundreds of other kids an excellent education.
Sadly, the people in the best position to help this team are doing the opposite. The school should be a model to build on, a way to lift up, school by school, the whole city system. At the very least, North Avenue ought to get out of their way.
As parents, we wish the shooting did not happen. But simple fear and a sigh of relief that the incident is thankfully someone else's problem is a luxury beyond the pocketbooks of everyone.
Jed Dietz
Julia McMillan
Baltimore
What if ...
Do you think that when the economy improves, our Governor Schaefer, who has an unquestionable thirst for our tax dollars, would ever recommend that taxes be reduced? I don't think he would because in the past he has been a huge spender of our tax money!
Cole Riddle
Randallstown
Awaken voters
Steven Schwalm's article "Congressional Cola: Pause that enriches" (The Evening Sun, Feb. 6) should prove very interesting to all voters. Congress has raised its pay 70 percent since 1987 by a plethora of devious methods while the national debt has risen from $150 billion to over $350 billion. Do these buffoons really think the voters will not recognize them for what they really are? Do we really need these money grubbers returning to power to reach deeper into our pockets to fill theirs? Wake up voters before it is too late.
William Cox
Bel Air
Booze is a drug
On Aug. 9, 1991, and for weeks after, the drinking-related death of 15-year-old Brian Ball was a major topic of conversation across Maryland and in the media. Yet seven months later, nothing has changed.
Thousands of Maryland youth still spend every Friday and Saturday night getting drunk. With warm spring weather and graduation on the way, the problem can only get worse.
In the fall of 1991, the Governor's Youth Commission held a statewide meeting of teens to discuss drinking in schools. One clear message that was supported by all in attendance was that if we want kids to be serious about not drinking, adults must be serious about enforcing the consequences.
Currently, an under-age drinking violation carries little or no significance.
To this end, our justice system deserves the full support of parents and the community. In Wicomico County, the combined efforts of the Maryland State Police and State's Attorney Davis R. Ruark will result in charges being filed against as many 100 juveniles who attended the party where Brian Ball consumed a lethal 26 shots of liquor.
Law enforcement is learning that positive action, including juvenile charges against the drinkers and civil charges against those adults who supply the alcohol can make a positive impact on the problem. Yet, many adults still believe the issue should be dropped.
We have seen that the most common parental response upon learning of a child's drinking is relief that at least their child is not involved with drugs. The irony of this is that alcohol is indeed a drug, and alcohol is Maryland's number one drug of abuse.
It is time for us all to get very serious. Parents must teach their children about the real hazards of drinking. Our schools must reinforce the message.
Community leaders must set a positive example through their actions and policies. Police must enforce existing laws. Elected officials must enact stronger legislation. Private citizens must support anti-alcohol programs in their communities.
And finally, we must provide adequate counseling and treatment to teens using alcohol. In short, everyone has a role to play.
Neil Solomon, M.D.
Towson
The writer is chairman of the Governor's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission.