: Clinton Spineless, Elders Courageous
I am deeply disappointed by President Clinton's firing Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, another example of his spinelessness. I admire Ms. Elders for her courage not to duck the masturbation questions. Indeed, masturbation is part of human sexuality. I like to refer to it as an "erotic safety valve," and it should be discussed in schools because parents sometimes do a lousy job of it.
A case in point is my very own. The only fault I could ever attribute to my father happened some 50 years ago when I had reached puberty. He told me that "playing with myself" would have disastrous results: stunting my physical and mental growth. I was totally shattered -- especially since at that time my twin sister was a few inches taller than I was and . . . well, she acted zTC as if she was a lot smarter too. . . . My dear father never knew what needless anxieties his misinformation had caused me. . . .
Let's be realistic and not cater to the religious right, to puritans or Newt Gingrich types. Let us have qualified teachers enlighten our students.
Gunther Bienes
Havre de Grace
Save the Bay Shore
I'm responding to William Thompson's Nov. 27 article on new efforts to save Rhodes Point. This small village on Smith Island is continuously being eroded and damaged by Chesapeake Bay. I want to congratulate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for finally following through with a program to preserve the threatened shoreline of Rhodes Point. Requests and attempts have been made before and especially during the 1970s and 1980s to attack this problem, but not until now has there been an effective solution.
I strongly support the use of the experimental geo-textile tube in dredging material from the bay to use in rebuilding the coast land. This is an effective and economically sound procedure that may save what is left of the Rhodes Point coast. Whatever efforts that need to be taken should as this is a pertinent and dire issue in the preservation of Maryland's bay and shoreline. Without these efforts and programs, Rhodes Point, as well as the rest of Smith Island, would be destroyed by the very thing that created it.
Having been a Maryland resident my entire life, I do not want to see one of the only areas of precious land and shoreline we have being destroyed. My applause and support goes to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their efforts and time.
Melissa D. Logan
Bel Air
Harford Glen Thanks
On behalf of the Harford Glen Foundation and the entire staff at the Harford Glen Environmental Education Center, it is my pleasure to extend our thanks to the many individuals and groups involved in making our Dec. 4 holiday open house a successful and delightful day. Several hundred guests visited and enjoyed the day's activities.
Again, the 19th century mansion was beautifully and tastefully -- decorated in holiday greenery by the County Garden Club of Bel Air. Delicious cookies were baked by the food students of C. Milton Wright and Bel Air high schools.
Many tireless volunteers directed the activities planned for both children and adults. Live music was provided by the Aberdeen Chamber Orchestra (complete with a sing-along), a woodwind quintet from C. Milton Wright High School and tone chime players from Deerfield Elementary School. Canned food items and teddy bears stuffed with recycled plastics were donated for distribution. Mr. William Hunter and Dennis Kirkwood conducted tour of the grounds and several Edgewood High School students interviewed and recorded an oral history of our "living treasures."
We would also like to acknowledge our "living treasures" -- seniors who attended and contributed their personal history to the mansion and the surrounding area and to extend an invitation to those "treasures" we did not contact, or who couldn't attend, to call us (638-3903) and visit another day.
Lastly, we'd like to thank The Sun for the timely publicity of our annual holiday open house. We already look forward to next year's.
Carol Kehring
Bel Air
The writer is a member of the Harford Glen staff.