Imprecision
George Weigel's Sept. 7 article, "False Precision and Population Science," was disingenuous in attempting to relate numerical precision to scientific validation.
In so doing, he demeaned a number of scientific disciplines while delivering an egregious and oversimplified view of this planet's population problems.
In point of fact, not all sciences are created equally in either their predictive power or in their practitioners' ability to pin down the .. numbers.
Examples of these abound and include: climatology, meteorology and ecology -- all of which must accommodate a diverse array of (sometimes conflicting) variables.
One would be foolish to dismiss the meteorologist because he is "wrong" in predicting temperatures in the high 70s, when they actually get to the 90s.
Likewise it would be foolish to dismiss population scientists because some of their indicators are a bit off in a particular region or for a particular interval.
Mr. Weigel seems content to put population science in the same pseudo-scientific camp as alchemy and astrology.
However, what would he have us do with the hundreds of climatologists, meteorologists, environmental scientists and others who are in the same boat of "imprecision?"
Do we dismiss the cumulative store of qualitative evidence these disciplines provide because their numbers are off by some percentage points?
The stark truth is that the Earth is a finite world, with finite resources -- and a global population growing at the rate of nearly 2 million a week. Humans do not live outside the same physical laws which govern other animals, irrespective of the precision with which the laws can be accessed.
This means that our species is just as susceptible to extinction as any other, especially if our choices compromise the degree to which we can adapted to a changing environment.
In this context, it is surely preferable to err on the side of caution and implement as effective a family planning infrastructure as possible. We do not have the luxury to await "precision."
hilip A. Stahl
Columbia
Black and White
In a Sept. 7 letter, Patricia Spaulding Taylor wrote that Dominique Dawes, a black female gymnast, who won five gold medals was mentioned in a short article on the third page of the sports section because of her color.
Funny. In that same newspaper on the front page of the sports section was a large color picture of Muggsy Bogues, a black Charlotte Hornets basketball player. Below him was a picture of Morgan running back Rickey Dangerfield.
On page 6 were two small black and white photos and articles about Pete Sampras and Gabriela Sabatini. So you see it's not the color of the athlete, it's the sport in which they play.
Basketball, baseball and football are much more popular than tennis and gymnastics. Everything does not have to be racial.
Christopher Prugh
Glen Burnie
School Choice
Anne Haddad's Perspective article Sept. 4 regarding Christian groups' opposition to outcome based education begs the question of whether accommodating all interest group needs in schools is realistic.
Public school policies must reflect the views on education of a large number of interests, some of which are stronger politically than others.
Predictably, the product of this situation must be policies which fail to meet the needs of some families and their children.
In this regard, outcome based education, in attempting to set goals and expectations, isn't a bad idea but is nevertheless likely to do a poor job of reflecting the diverse views that exist among parents regarding values and, as importantly, the relative roles of educators and families in teaching children.
The answer is not to simply require parents to endure practices for their children with which they disagree, or to create so-called compromises which satisfy neither side of an issue. It is rather to grant parents the freedom to find an educational environment which suits their particular beliefs and aspirations.
We need to abandon the folly that public support for education can only occur if children are educated in public schools. Monopoly in education, whether public or private, is bad public policy. Conditions which create tension between teachers and families is bad public policy. Both conditions exist today.
In Maryland, we are being "educated" to support an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars for new and expanded public schools.
Rather than simply build more public schools, let's support a greater role for parents by allowing them to decide where and how to educate their children.
The benefits would be reduced tension between teachers and parents because of shared values and standards, savings of hundreds of millions of dollars in public spending, and a strong probability that we will produce better educated, more responsible citizens.
Most importantly, we will give parents a right they should never have been denied in the first place.
Herm Schmidt
Bradshaw
Baltimore Slobs
I commend Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke for finally noticing the trash that litters our neighborhoods. It probably hasn't occurred TTC to him, however, that much of this rubbish can be attributed to the mayor's decision to remove the trash receptacles from our city streets as the initial cost-cutting measure of his administration.
Yes, there are inconsiderate slobs living in Baltimore. I pick up after them every day.
The mayor could eliminate one excuse for their behavior and could also encourage others to dispose of their trash properly by restoring the trash receptacles and insuring that they are emptied on a regular basis.
oseph J. Jaffa
Baltimore
Going, Going, Gone
The baseball strike of the 1994 season will have far more
detrimental effects than the greedy players and avaricious owners can imagine.
As financial losses continue to mount on both sides, the real loss is felt by the fans, the loss of the baseball experience.
Baseball is a part of our American culture, and through the years it has become a way for us to share a common bond.
Every community that has a professional team feels that the team is its own, even if only in spirit. This is the greatest fallout from the strike.
For someone like myself who believes that life begins on Opening Day and that there is no life after baseball season, the strike is taking its toll.
No longer can I scan the radio dial in the late evening to catch games from the Midwest. Even the sports talk shows have turned their attention to football.
We're into September. We should be talking about pennant races, Tony Gwynn's quest to hit .400 or Matt Williams ability to break Roger Maris' single season home run record.
Even the minor league season is just about over. Yes, the strike has taken its toll, as I find myself listening to rebroadcasts of World Series past and watching "Major League II" over and over.
I honestly do not believe that the new breed of player plays for the love of the game; he just tries to see who can get the largest contract.
Where is it said that a ballplayer has to earn a lifetime's worth of salary in only three to five years? Children play for the love of the game, professional ballplayers are strictly mercenary.
The argument that ballplayers are entertainers and deserve to be paid as such just doesn't hold water.
Name one baseball player who you would pay to see hit, throw or catch a baseball as he stands alone on a field. Only when a player becomes part of a team and that team becomes part of a league does the player have any value . . .
The bottom line is this -- no group of players or owners are bigger than the game itself. Nor will they ever be.
Baseball is the one sport that is passed down from father to son. I remember playing ball with my own son as soon as he was able to walk. I remember taking him to his first professional game.
Every morning during the season, we would usually discuss the previous night's game or who was leading the league in hitting or pitching. Baseball has always given fathers and sons a chance to bond and share common ground.
I need baseball. My son needs baseball, and so do millions of others. Herbert Hoover once said, "Next to religion, baseball had a greater impact on the American people than any other institution."
I believe the players and owners are inflicting a wound that may take a very long time to heal.
Brian J. Spector
Easton