Day of infamy
Pearl Harbor Day was supposed to be the "day that will live in infamy," yet there was not a word about it on the editorial pages of The Evening Sun on Dec. 7.
Not to worry -- the same could be said for the Washington Post and the New York Times.
It's not like Pearl Harbor was an event from an earlier century; the Japanese attack took place only 54 years ago.
The trouble seems to be that few editorial writers are that old, and those who might object to the omission appear to be outvoted. How sad.
Howard K. Ottenstein
Baltimore
Elders and values
Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders may have misspoken at times, and ultimately she was served up as cannon fodder for political opponents of the Clinton administration.
However, I believe that on many issues she was on the right track, and that regarding masturbation specifically it is a mistake for the administration to feel this subject is not appropriate for discussion in the schools.
Subjects such as sex, drugs and alcohol abuse and even masturbation ought to be discussed -- in schools, homes and other community institutions.
It is clear that the influence of the family, the school and religious or community institutions by themselves are not nearly as strong as they once were in shaping adolescent behavior.
The erosion of the positive influence of these institutions is at the heart of many of our problems today.
In order to have more positive influence on children, it is necessary to begin forming strong partnerships with community institutions.
Such partnerships would help reinforce good values and build better relationships with our children.
They would require parents to get more involved in school activities and in their children's school work.
And they would give adolescents a variety of settings in which to discuss and explore their personal behaviors, attitudes and feelings.
The end result would be a community where information and ideas are shared, the generations are connected and the institutions linked for the good of all.
Jerry Zelinger
Ellicott City
Invisible schools
I'm a Baltimore resident with two daughters in the city public schools, but I am writing primarily as a fifth grade teacher in that same system. I feel overwhelmingly ignored.
Ever since Superintendent Walter Amprey became convinced of the virtues of privatization and Education Alternatives, Inc., the rest of us -- the vast majority of teachers and students who aren't connected with EAI -- seem to have become much less important from North Avenue's perspective.
I've read about Dr. Amprey traveling across the country on a regular basis to speak on the benefits of EAI. In not one of the articles have I read anything about the rest of the school system and what teachers and students there are achieving.
The distinct impression that is left is that my classroom, my school and all the others that are not contracted out to EAI have an aura of failure about them. We're not part of Dr. Amprey's "solution," so we must be part of the problem.
I know this has an effect on my morale, and I would wager it affects other teachers as well.
Yet test scores show we should be encouraged by the improvement we've made. There is still a long road to go, but many schools are proving their ability to educate.
At my school, I and my fellow fifth grade teachers put in an overwhelming effort each day. Yet with all the attention focused just on EAI, we seem invisible. The schools that are not connected with EAI simply are not getting the respect they deserve.
Baltimore can't exist with two distinct philosophies of education and one superintendent of schools. We need to be united in order to walk down the same road together.
Peter French
Baltimore
Role model
It was a pleasure to read about the 52-year-old Towson woman who is trying to earn her high school equivalency diploma while working two jobs ("Quest to earn GED runs from dawn to darkness," Dec. 6). It was nice to see a positive story for a change.
What a role model Sylvia Maxwell woman is for us all! I hope your newspaper will continue to feature positive stories such as this one.
Your newspaper has a great influence on the public and a great responsibility as well to show all aspects of society, not just the dysfunctional ones.
Television news stations have begun to recognize the public outcry against violence and negative reporting. I hope the print media is getting the message that we are fed up and turned off by constantly reading about society's degenerates and misfits.
I look forward to reading many more stories about role models.
Barbara Boone
Cockeysville
Good Samaritans?
I read that the new president of Mexico was upset because of the law California passed concerning medical and other free services for illegal immigrants.
But he was not upset enough to tell them to come back to Mexico, where he would take care of them.
I hope Florida does the same thing California did.
Last week I read about the little girl from South America who was brought here for facial surgery. I was very happy that we would help her; all her living expenses were free and her medical care will cost as much as $100,000.
Then I rode up to Pennsylvania and saw a sign asking people to come to a bake sale and supper to raise money for a local woman who needed a kidney transplant.
She probably was born, raised and has been paying taxes here, but she had to go begging for things illegal immigrants feel are owed to them.
What is wrong with our government when we go to other countries looking for people to give money to and turn our backs on our own?
Shame on us. If the government is trying to impress the rest of the world, forget it. The rest of the world uses and abuses us, and if the tables were turned it would forget us.
Clementine Constantine
Baltimore
Spousal abuse is an issue for both sexes
There is a disquieting and potentially dangerous trend under way in society that began in the 1970s and was exacerbated several months ago with the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and the arrest of O. J. Simpson, charged with her death.
I label this trend "male bashing," and it has been brought about and is being perpetuated by women.
An example of this hit close to home here in Maryland recently. The Evening Sun reported that 30 of the 54 females in the Maryland General Assembly recently gathered in support of removing a Baltimore County judge from office ("Ouster of judge sought," Dec. 8).
The female lawmakers felt that the 18-month sentence meted out by Judge Robert E. Cahill Sr. to a man convicted of murdering his wife was too lenient, and that comments made by Judge Cahill during the sentencing were biased against women.
The underlying issue here is spousal abuse. Once again, the myth of the big, bad, evil male perpetrator and the innocent female victim is being broadcast as gospel truth.
I feel that Judge Cahill did not in any way consider the gender of the person who committed the crime, or that of his victim, in determining the sentence. Had the circumstances been reversed, I believe the sentence would have been the same.
Judge Cahill's decision was based on facts and had nothing to do with gender. Neither did his pre-sentencing statements. This was not a matter of gender bias.
Domestic violence is not a clear cut phenomenon. It is not either the man or the woman's fault. Both are at fault.
To focus only on the male as the perpetrator and on the female as the victim is terribly wrong.
The statistics prove the fallacy of this mind set:
* Half of spousal murders are committed by wives -- a proportion that has remained stable over time.
* Fifty-four percent of all violence that was termed "severe" was inflicted by women on their spouses or boyfriends.
* Mothers abuse their children at a rate approaching twice that of fathers.
But because men are ridiculed if they reveal that they have been "battered" and abused by women, women are nine times more likely to report abuse to authorities.
Why are we loath to speak the truth? Women are part and parcel to a very large degree of domestic violence.
When this fact is acknowledged, ridiculous attempts at "male bashing" such as that demonstrated by our female legislators against a circuit court judge who was merely doing his job might stop.
Louis P. Boeri
Baltimore