Too Many People?
Columnist Ben Wattenberg writes that there is no population problem because birth rates are falling and that environmentalists and others concerned about the earth's resources are merely seeking more funds for their programs (Opinion * Commentary, Aug. 24).
Wattenberg and Julian Simon were sent to the U.N. population conference in Mexico City by President Reagan in 1984.
They declared that population is a "neutral phenomenon." They were incapable of recognizing the consequences of a trend, and President Reagan made things worse by cutting off U.S. contributions to the U.N. Fund for Population Activities.
Birthrates in many countries have dropped. However, in most Arab countries and much of Africa, Asia and Latin America, population growth is overwhelming the ability of governments to provide jobs, housing, education and even food.
Wattenberg calls this problem of "minor-to-moderate dimensions." Tell that to people who are unlucky enough to live in the wrong place.
When dreadful scenes of suffering come through our television screens, the causes are attributed to war, bad governments, the consequences of colonialism -- everything except population pressures.
I wonder if Ben Wattenberg has been back to Mexico City since 1984. If he had he would have seen what a decade of ignoring the population problem there has brought.
Carleton W. Brown
Elkton
Unfair Coverage
The Sun's coverage of a National Labor Relations Board case involving our client, Harbor Cruise, Ltd., demonstrates a
distorted sense of proportion.
The main event in this case occurred back on March 26, when the cruise-line employees voted to reject union representation in a secret ballot election. The Sun's coverage of that event was limited to three sentences, buried on the third page of the Maryland section March 28.
Inexplicably, on Aug. 27, The Sun devoted 61 square inches of text and photo to routine post-election challenges and charges filed by the unsuccessful union, obviously still disappointed that it failed to prevail in the election.
In addition to your disproportionate coverage, your article would lead the reader to believe that the federal government has determined that the company engaged in some improper conduct.
That is not so, as the NLRB's action only sets the stage for a hearing where all allegations, charges and defenses will be aired and ruled upon by a federal administrative law judge.
Balanced coverage would demand greater attention to sentiments of the workers as expressed in the federally-conducted secret ballot election and less exaggerated rehash of the proforma, post-election cries of foul by the union.
Earle K. Shawe
Baltimore
Whose Rights?
In rejecting the Baltimore panhandling law, U.S. District Judge Frederic N. Smalkin has shown how he and other irrational judges can ruin every effort to bring peace and order to our society.
The American Civil Liberties Union and its sympathizers have helped create a society in which the rights of the law-abiding citizens are of little concern. Judge Smalkin decrees that those who disturb the peace must have their rights protected.
It is this kind of muddled legal rationalization which is sending us into an abyss of crime.
William G. Sturm Sr.
Baltimore
Iron Horses
Regarding U.S. House of Representative approval for studying high-speed rail networks, . . .why not give attention to the matter of keeping the present iron horses running safely on the track before wasting more money on useless train topics?
Herr Bear
St. Michaels
Seizures
The Epilepsy Association of Maryland would like to congratulate Sgt. George Douglass of the Maryland State Police for helping to save the life of one-year-old Crystal, as described in a news article Aug. 24 in The Sun.
Sergeant Douglass responded correctly with CPR to the description of a person who is "lifeless, limp, didn't have a pulse and was not breathing."
However, according to the article, Crystal had a seizure.
A person can look as if he is not breathing during a seizure and can look lifeless and limp after the seizure.
CPR is not the proper procedure to use when a person is having a seizure.
When a person is having a seizure, the person watching the seizure should keep calm, clear the area around the person, turn the person to his side and place something soft under the head, never restrain the person's movement or force anything into the mouth, and let the person rest after the seizure.
Calling an ambulance is not usually necessary, unless it is the person's first seizure, the seizure lasts more than five minutes or is followed by another seizure, or if the person is pregnant or has diabetes.
EAM offers educational programs that teach seizure recognition and first aid.
We also have a Family and Children's Service program that offers support services to children with epilepsy and their
parents.
For more information on these programs, call EAM at (410) 828-7700.
For the past year, EAM has been training Maryland state troopers and officers from other police departments on seizure recognition and first aid.
EAM wants people who work with the public to know how to help someone with epilepsy in any situation.
ee Ann Kingham
Towson
The writer is executive director, Epilepsy Association of Maryland, Inc.
Farmers Value the Environment
As a farmer and secretary of the Maryland Department of Agriculture, I would challenge your recent article in which the Federal Environmental Protection Agency questioned the ability of farmers to curb agricultural pollution through voluntary efforts.
Maryland has a very effective and successful voluntary program already in place. Since its inception in 1989, the Maryland Nutrient Management Program has implemented plans on over 384,000 acres, which is 25 percent of Maryland cropland.
William Matuszeski, EPA's bay program director, stated that 60 percent of the cropland must be under nutrient management for Maryland to reach its goal by 2000. We are nearly half way there after only five years, utilizing only 20 nutrient management specialists.
Farmers can only implement plans if they have the technological support to accomplish the task. In 1993, legislation was passed to allow certification of the private sector as nutrient management planners.
There are now over 200 qualified planners certified to assist the farmers. Their efforts will greatlyaccelerate the number of acres covered under plans annually, and will make the goal achievable in the next six years voluntarily.
Other states have passed a mandatory nutrient management law, forcing their resources into enforcement instead of providing more technical assistance. Their acreage numbers fall well behind Maryland's.
Through the voluntary effort of farmers, Maryland is above the national average, or leads the nation, in nutrient management, conservation tillage and the adoption of soil and water conservation plans. Regulation clearly does not mean success.
EPA questions if farmers will pay to apply pollution prevention measures. Agricultural practices installed on farms under the Maryland Agricultural Cost Share program represent approximately 12 percent of those completed statewide.
Farmers participating in the program matched cost share funds with approximately $4.8 million of their own money. This does not even touch the financial commitment made voluntarily by farmers to install the other 88 percent of practices that have not received cost share support.
In the article, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation questioned the commitment of Maryland farmers to the goals established in the tributary strategies. Farmers have been a full partner in this effort since its inception. Local agricultural teams were formed in each tributary to develop the resulting plans.
Farmers are committed to the goals because they helped author them. They know what is important to their business, environment and community.
The bottom line that everyone seems to forget is that farmers want a healthy environment. Not only do they live in the environment that they would otherwise be polluting, they make their livelihood from it. If they don't have healthy soil and water, they don't have a business.
In Maryland, we are proving every day that working together, and not as adversaries, we can make great strides in protecting our valuable land and water resources. I believe the proof is in these actions, which speak louder than words.
Lewis R. Riley
Annapolis