3 of a kind

I believe the June 6 Other Voices piece written by Barry Steel entitled, "Clinton's unprincipled opposition to war," should have been expanded to say, "Oh, and also Phil Gramm's and Dan Quayle's."

Cindy McKenna

Baltimore

Amprey letter

As one of the recipients of the May 26 letter from Baltimore School Superintendent Walter Amprey, I would like to comment on the emotional impact the letter had on me.

My reactions were fear, then anger.

My tenure as a school psychologist in elementary and middle schools has convinced me that unless we stop the downward spiral in urban education, our city will become a giant homeless shelter, refuge for a tribe of illiterate,hopeless people.

Although education continues to happen in city schools among students who are motivated and capable, increasingly schools are becoming warehouses for huge throngs of troubled youth.

Underpaid,under-trained teachers are held accountable for the academic and behavioral problems of children, many of whom suffer post traumatic stress disorder from witnessing violence in the streets and in their homes.

The system's answer typically is another banner across another ZTC street or a program like "Efficacy," which pays a few people a lot of money to tell teachers things they already know -- and does little or nothing to help alleviate the real problems in our classrooms.

My anger came in response to the portion of Dr. Amprey's letter that told us potential pink slip recipients this was being done to "ensure the empowerment of schools and greatly enhance the potential of our many students."

People lose their jobs, it's a fact of life. But please, when you are getting ready to take my living away from me, don't insult my intelligence and wound my sense of professional pride by telling me that the children will be helped by it.

If "enhancing the potential" of city schoolchildren is the objective, perhaps Dr. Amprey's time would be better spent in Annapolis than in Hartford.

Perhaps it would be more appropriate for the superintendent to convince the surrounding counties and the state that their investment in the education of inner-city children need be only a fraction of the contribution necessary to prosecute, jail, feed, clothe, house and protect themselves from these same children as adults.

David F. McFadden

Towson

Honest Bea Gaddy

I was very upset by reports of Bea Gaddy's so-called "shoddy" book keeping methods.

I have had the honor of working with her for six years as a volunteer.

As a member of the Knights of Columbus in Parkville, we have had many fund-raisers for her to assist in taking care of Baltimore's needy.

I have been in her company when she used this money to purchase food and other necessities for her center. As recently as six weeks ago I spent the entire day helping her sort out receipts for her bookkeeper.

This kind of stuff is usually found in tabloids, not newspapers.

Michael Wilson

Parkville

Preak-mess

After viewing the pictures of the condition of the infield at Pimlico after the running of the Preakness, if I had been there I would be ashamed to admit it.

Those people (people?) who left such a disgusting mess of trash and debris must have been the greatest collection of uncaring irresponsible slobs ever to gather in one place.

Henry E. Phipps

Timonium

Blacks can't let others pick their leaders

The NAACP's two-day leadership conference is designed to promote black unity.

Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. has received abundant criticism for reaching out to Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

But if the NAACP truly believes in unity, there should be no question of whether Mr. Farrakhan should be there. Dr. Chavis is to be commended for defying those who are against black unity.

It bothers me very much that the Jewish community would protest a black unity meeting.

I have never heard any words from the mouth of Minister Farrakhan that were hateful, racist or anti-Semitic.

If uplifting, loving and helping your own people is racist, then we are all racists.

I wonder if those who label Mr. Farrakhan a racist have ever listened to anything except sound bites. There must be other problems in the Jewish community that need attention other than protesting black people uniting for their common good.

We do not protest or interfere when Jewish leaders gather. It is time for Jewish groups and others who are against black unity to get out of the way. Black people must not allow others to dictate who our leaders should be.

The black community is very diverse in this country; we all have different beliefs, thoughts and outlooks on life.

The one thing that we have in common is that we are all black. As Elijah Muhammad once said, "Whoever has a problem with this is not a friend of black people."

Carl M. Highsmith

Baltimore

Jackie McLean and fairness issue

Granted, an abuse of public trust is abhorrent. But isn't murder by a drunken driver equally or more abhorrent? Isn't child sex abuse equally or more horrible?

Yet many of these offenders are sent to rehabilitation programs for their illnesses. Why doesn't Jackie McLean deserve the same opportunity? Depression is as debilitating a disease as alcoholism, drug addiction or pedophilia.

For other personality-altering illnesses, society accepts and even applauds a public personality's effort to get help. But Mrs. McLean is harassed and criticized for doing the same thing.

Mrs. McLean, like all of us, deserves to be punished by the courts for any crimes she may have committed. But she does not deserve to be punished by your paper's unrelenting scrutiny and public exposure of her private struggle with the illness from which she suffers.

Lucy Skeen

Baltimore

In response to the June 7 letter by Jackie McLean's attorney, M. Christina Gutierrez, I must say that I'm getting depressed also. It seems like every time I open the newspaper I'm reading stories about Jackie McLean.

Had Ms. McLean been a lower-middle-class citizen, she would had been charged, booked and placed in a jail cell overnight until she saw a court commissioner, just like every other citizen in Baltimore who does not carry any clout.

Ms. McLean also would have had to be present at her arraignment. But for some reason, this defendant did not have to be present at her arraignment. So she already has been shown favorable treatment.

Ms. Gutierrez's statement that Ms. McLean is "a government worker utilizing her insurance benefits" should remind us that Ms. McLean is no longer a city employee, and her benefits ran out a long time ago.

I am a city employee and I wonder whether, if I were removed from my job and needed medical attention after my insurance had run out, the city would be willing to pay for my stay at Sheppard Pratt Hospital.

I don't mean to sound cold hearted, but fair is fair. I sympathize with Ms. McLean's family, even with Ms. McLean herself.

But I don't think she should be treated any differently than anyone else.

Roslyn Wilson

Baltimore