Your Vote Counts?
Each election year, voters are encouraged to "make a difference." We are reminded of our constitutional right to cast a ballot, by pundits who proclaim "your vote counts." Or does it?
As a concerned American citizen, I recognized the importance of the 1994 elections. Therefore, I took it upon myself to write to the Baltimore County Board of Elections to request an absentee ballot.
As I am currently living and working in Japan, it was impossible for me to vote in person on election day.
After receiving the necessary materials to vote, I filled out my ballot, folded it exactly as I received it, sealed it in the balloting envelope, placed it in the mailing envelope and mailed it back to the county board. In short, I voted.
Now I am informed that my vote may be invalidated because I did not send in an affidavit. Although I followed the directions given to me with my ballot, checking and rechecking everything twice, my vote may not count. Why? No one sent me an affidavit.
Nowhere was it written that I had to send in an affidavit. I did what I was told, yet someone, somewhere, apparently neglected to tell me or other absentee voters that affidavits must accompany our ballots.
So, does my vote count? It better!
Just as Americans made a call for change in the just-completed elections, I would make another "call for change": We must change the absentee voting system so there is no confusion in future elections.
Peter Taylor
Azuma, Japan
School Numbers
For some reason, I keep returning to the Mark Twain quote: "There are lies, damn lies and statistics."
This certainly seems appropriate in light of the recent fiasco surrounding School Superintendent Walter Amprey's admission that there were "discrepancies" in previously reported statistics that inflated the reading and math gains in schools run by Education Alternatives, Inc.
However, the classic statement was made by the newly appointed "chief of educational accountability," L'tanya Sloan, who told the media, "I think you were given incorrect data in the spring."
Think? The bottom line is this: Scores have noticeably declined in EAI-run schools while rising district wide.
Specifically, the district reading test average for Baltimore's 121 elementary schools rose from 42.3 in 1992 to 44.8 last spring. Math scores rose from 44.4 in 1992 to 47.7.
At EAI-run schools the reading scores fell from 39.8 to 37 and math scores fell from 41.7 to 40. That's significant.
As if these "discrepancies" weren't bad enough, Dr. Amprey and the powers-that-be at North Avenue have replaced three schools in the control group with three others -- a process regarded as unconventional to say the least.
This is a blatant attempt to rig the scores more in favor of EAI, since the old control schools, Cecil, Margaret Brent and Madison Square, scored significantly higher than the new control schools, Furman L. Templeton, Rosemont and Alexander Hamilton.
The result of this action will certainly reduce the difference in scores between EAI-run schools and the control group. It would seem more logical to examine why the old control schools are doing so well in comparison to other schools.
Putting a favorable spin on data is one thing; throwing a curve ball is something else.
The statistics may be "damning" now, but reports in the future will be more in keeping with the "vision" of North Avenue.
Mark Twain, eat your heart out.
Arthur L. Laupus
Columbia
Books and Readers
Your Oct. 26 article about Harold Bloom and his book suggests that Bloom himself doesn't know why anyone should read the "dead white men" of literature.
If your writer quotes Bloom correctly, he has said that we should read these works for their enduring influence, but not to find values. Other than values, what other influence would the Great Canon possess?
Spelling, writing style and subject matter are far from standardized among these works. It appears then that the reason Bloom advocates the traditional literary canon is that his sense of academic control is threatened by the inclusion of other works.
Every book-lover derives a personal canon. There is hardly an avid reader who doesn't say, "surely you've read . . ." whether speaking of Aristotle or Anne Rice.
What's disturbing is that avid readers are so few and far between. Observe people in a book shop for a few hours. You'll see a few fanatics, but the majority is simply killing time.
Not coincidentally, this is reflected in the current predeliction of the public library system for non-printed materials.
Our problems are that people generally do not appreciate books, not in the list of books that the reading minority values. If Dr. Bloom "take[s] aim at those he considers mediocre writers," he should also take aim at mediocre teachers.
Dullness is the enemy of passion. If readers have no patience with great ideas expressed in leaden prose, they are not to be faulted for that.
Academia has failed to excite students about the written word for more than a generation. Worrying about what people read is a luxury: We need to worry about whether they read at all.
Stan Modjesky
Baltimore
The Contract
Of all the press stories emanating from Washington regarding the Republican takeover of the Congress, the most perceptive is that of Sun reporter Karen Hosler (Nov. 16).
The GOP hierarchy is trumpeting its "Contract with America" as the motivating force in its recent success at the polls. Yet, as Ms. Hosler observes, surveys show that only a minority of voters were even aware of its existence; and it follows that fewer still were knowledgeable about its contents.
As noted also, not all Republican lawmakers signed the contract, and some are even opposed to a few of the proposals.
Like a cure of the common cold, there is universal approval for welfare reform, anti-crime measures and bringing dead-beat parents to the bar of justice.
But, as Ms. Hosler's story points out, most votes were cast as rejection of the manner in which the government was being managed under Democratic auspices.
Still to be assessed is the reaction of the Republican governors, now in the majority, over the pending loss of federal funds that fuel a number of local, necessary services.
Rep. Newt Gingrich allows as how private charities can provide for the poor. How naive! He either forgets or is unaware of the fact that long ago these agencies were forced to turn to the government in the face of overwhelming needs, needs that still exist, because of inadequate resources.
Currently, these charities are more narrowly focused on programs on which government funds are either lacking or inadequate.
Unfortunately there are no simplistic solutions to present day complex socioeconomic problems.
Abner Kaplan
Baltimore
Smith Case
I was disappointed to see The Sun fall in with the politically correct line on the Susan Smith case and run the Nov. 5 front-page story headlined, "Scapegoating of blacks goes on because it works."
One of the salient features of the Smith case was that her use of a mythical black assailant did not work with anyone.
You belatedly recognized this in your Nov. 6 story -- hidden on page 21A where it would be less embarrassing to you -- which began, "From the beginning, investigators thought Susan Smith was lying." Scapegoating didn't work with them.
A look at the case notes that scapegoating didn't "work" with anyone else, either. There were no lynchings of blacks, no rampaging mobs of white bigots, no mass round-ups and beatings of black "suspects."
The news media immediately recognized the use of a black suspect as suspiciously stereotypical. I can't see that her story "worked" with anyone.
The main focus of the case was finding the children alive. The whites in Union didn't buy ropes for lynching, they bought ribbons to show hope and support for the two young boys.
Edward P. Wilson
Odenton
Gambling Facts
It is in every Marylander's best interest that the discussions and debates about legalizing casino gaming are based on fact and not fiction.
To declare that "gambling is a corrupt industry," as The Sun did in an editorial (Oct. 16) is to ignore the modern legal, regulatory and social environment in which the industry operates today.
As a former attorney general for Nevada, I know this situation first-hand.
The Sun and its readers should know that legalized gaming is among the most closely regulated industries in the United States.
The stereotypes of gaming -- unsavory characters running a mysterious and dangerous business -- exist in Hollywood today and are nowhere to be found in legal casino gaming.
The legal gaming industry is dominated by publicly traded corporations answerable to state and federal authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as individual stockholders.
Rather than the "mobster" stereotypes, these businesses are run by Wall Street chief executive officers and chief financial officers, marketing professionals, attorneys, accountants and human resources personnel.
Nevada and New Jersey, the states with the longest history of legalized gaming, have been recognized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and watchdog organizations for their success in eliminating organized crime from casino ownership.
This success comes largely from the strict regulatory and enforcement powers states have established to govern gaming.
The casino industry supports strict regulations and oversight, not just as a matter of integrity, but as a matter of fiscal survival.
The hint of organized crime involvement in a casino would bring in federal securities investigators overnight and send the company's stock into a tailspin, jeopardize their licenses and divert player patronage.
Today's casino industry is a legitimate part of the entertainment industry, catering to a broad public. That is why casino gaming is booming in 24 states, where it has generated thousands of jobs in the construction, manufacturing, service, travel and tourism industries.
Casino gaming may or may not be in Maryland's future. That's a question for its citizens and lawmakers to decide.
Today's casinos are managed by highly trained managers, operating under very strict regulations. Those colorful Hollywood stereotypes are history.
Brian McKay
Reno, Nev.
The writer is general counsel and corporate secretary to International Game Technology.