Running Men
Doesn't it seem strange that men were running in the 5K Walk/Run for Women Only, a part of the Race for the Cure for breast cancer activities on Saturday, Oct. 1?
After last year's protests by men that men also be "allowed" to participate, race officials organized a second, separate 5K Walk/Run for women and men. And, a number of men and women did participate in that event.
So, who were those men running in what was clearly marked as a 5K Walk/Run for Women Only?
arcy R. Boroff
Baltimore
Feminism
It's interesting to observe men commenting on feminism. I suppose, after all these years, I should feel relieved to see men taking women's equality seriously.
Andy Rooney on "60 Minutes" was outraged by his trip to a magazine store where, confronted by a wall of Mademoiselle, Glamour, Self, etc., he warned women sharply that we need to take ourselves more seriously. He wasn't sure he wanted to work for a woman who read such things. Really? I suppose he's not bothered by the likelihood that for years he's worked for men who read Muscle, Car and Driver, Sports Illustrated, Hustler, Playboy . . . need I go on?
Tim Baker (Opinion * Commentary, Sept. 5) wants women to stop taking bras seriously or we don't deserve "feminism."
Usha Nellore (letter, Sept. 24) says we can go ahead and keep the bras because (she implies) men and women alike are victims of such corrupted views of ourselves, and I guess both genders are to be forgiven.
Gentlemen and ladies, get a grip. Feminism has nothing to do with bras. Never did. I was there; I guess I was a feminist although I didn't use that word. I never burned a bra . . . was too busy raising three kids, working full-time, going to graduate school.
In my free time I read what I could. The Wall Street Journal, Ladies Home Journal, Gourmet, Glamour. I still do read them, all of them. I want the tips on make-up, the advice on how to make my skin look younger, on where to buy roller blades, on what's new in shoes for fall, to see if I'm getting enough iron, to find the best recipe for chocolate mousse.
I like this stuff. It's never occurred to me that I should keep this fact from men or women. I'm proud of my hobbies, and I'm proud of my children, my grandson, my husband, my Ph.D., my consulting firm, my cats, my garden and my shoe collection, not necessarily in that order.
We all need to let ourselves express our personalities, our femininity or masculinity, without worrying that our small and harmless personal preferences and hobbies will qualify us to be taken seriously in or out of the workplace.
Mary H. Fox
Baltimore
Third World's Here
Thank you for the Sept. 27 article by Walter Truett Anderson, "The Population Missile." He concluded that our nation should "get serious about narrowing the gap of wealth and opportunity that separates us from so much of the world."
That morning, your paper had a front-page article about the labor dispute at London Fog Corporation. It seems the workers will now undergo layoffs, reduced wages and other harsh necessities.
I doubt if this is what Mr. Anderson meant by narrowing gaps of wealth and opportunity between the United States and poor countries. But the Third World may already be in our midst, whether in Baltimore, Eldersburg, Hancock or Williamsport.
Frank Kasper
Baltimore
Solvent Sea
Kal's cartoon Sept. 22 depicting Maryland as a boat sinking because of Ellen Sauerbrey's "cost cutting" was excellent.
The only thing he failed to identify was the body of water the boat was sinking into.
It should have been labeled "The Solvent Sea," a far cry from the "Red Sea" her opponent has in mind.
Robert J. Krehnbrink
Lutherville
Columbus Parade
It was with great interest I read James Bock's article Sept. 27 on Hispanics and the Columbus Day Parade.
Much of what is happening in America today is reflected in this short piece and I feel compelled to express my dismay that the significance of the discovery of a new world is lost in a debate that would have us revert to a 500-year-old mentality.
Victor Marino says that the Hispanic community was invited as guests to this country prior to 1492 and several other Europeans followed since 1492.
For him to arrogantly dismiss this as an Hispanic squabble fails to recognize that Hispanics are as much a part of this country as he and his family are and that a partnership exists not by invitation but by Americanization.
Having discovered America for Spain, Columbus proclaimed the continent as belonging to Spain; thus, for Mr. Marino to view Hispanics as guests to his party is ludicrous.
Lillian Laszlo completely misses the point in claiming that the hosts have a 104-year tradition and that Hispanics are simply guests who should behave as such and abide by the host's rules. This is tantamount to Native Americans celebrating the Fourth of July and proclaiming everyone else as simply guests.
Her subservient mentality is not shared by 67 percent of Hispanics born in this country, who do not view themselves as "guests," nor by immigrants who have adopted the U.S. as their country. Mr. Marino's "good coordinator" should be well aware of what the Hispanic community wants and not simply echo the sentiments of her host.
Mr. Marino should reflect on what he is celebrating and reconsider whether his parade will go on for another 100 years without the Hispanic community. Partnership is here, and your guests are not going away.
Rogelio Gomez
Owings Mills
Dunham's Rank
I am writing in response to the letter from Richard G. Ballard in the Sept. 27 Sun about the return of the remains of Capt. John Robertson Dunham.
Captain Dunham was a member of the United States Air Force. He chose the air force after graduating from the United States Naval Academy in June 1952. One-fourth of the class of the Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy went into the air force so it would have academy trained officers, until establishment of the Air Force Academy.
It would have been quite a feat for him to have achieved flag rank in the U.S. Navy at age 24, two years out of the Naval Academy.
I hope this corrects the facts and clears up any misunderstanding.
ary D. Nichols
Baltimore
Safe Driving is Best Protection
An air bag isn't always the way a driver can receive severe and crippling injuries to the lower extremities. I know -- I'm handicapped for life because I was hit head-on by a reckless fool.
I was wearing a seat-belt, both lap and shoulder, yet the impact alone shattered my left leg, broke and tore up my right leg, both ankles, my ribs and teeth, and injured my pelvis and caused a nasty back injury.
My chest crushed the steering wheel due to seat belt failure. And the floor of my auto remained intact, meaning the impact, seat belt failure and momentum forces, along with the pedals, caused these brutal, disabling injuries. It is very violent, and can cause mental and physical damage that's permanent.
These types of injuries render a person unable to walk, run, jump and, in my case, even sit without major, unremitting pain.
I have a metal rod and screws holding my left leg together, and some of the bones still haven't healed after 13 months. I was in a wheelchair for months after being bedridden for five months.
I will be disabled and in pain the rest of my days. I was 34 years old at the time, and my life has been destroyed. No air bag could have prevented the injuries.
The point of this nasty reminder is for folks to slow down, drive defensively and obey traffic signals. The life you save may be your own.
No job is worth hurrying to, no appointment worth rushing to, when your health and life can be changed irreparably in the blink of an eye, literally, by a foolish decision or wrong move in a moving vehicle. Drunks aren't the only ones who can kill.
I wasn't part of the study at Shock Trauma; I went to Frances Scott Key Medical Center, where a couple of fantastic doctors rebuilt my leg in an 8 1/2 -hour surgery. Unfortunately, physical therapy and more treatment simply can't put back together what a 2,500-pound vehicle tore up.
This is a cautionary tale, and one each and every driver should recall when he or she decides to speed or disobey a traffic signal or marking.
Too many corpses fill cemeteries. Air bags and seat belts still can't protect us from severe physical injuries. Slow down and think, folks.
eri L. Hagberg
Perry Hall