Inner Harbor needs more protection
No matter how many ads you see saying "See ya 'round downtown!" or hyping the "Downtown Baltimore Show," don't go downtown. The risk is not worth the reward.
I've lived in Fells Point for a few months and it's not bad, except for the drunks and panhandlers.
I work at a restaurant only a few blocks away at the Inner Harbor, but it's worlds away from the relative safety of Fells Point.
While working one night in August, I was a first-hand witness to the lunacy that pervades the harbor area. Two teen-agers exchanged gunshots near the amphitheater between the Harborplace pavilions, starting a panic.
A wall of people fearing for their lives crashed through the outdoor patio of the restaurants, and our frightened patrons ran, too.
Most people ran into the Light Street pavilion, where more shots rang out shortly after, sending everyone right back outside again.
Afterward, some small groups of teens amused themselves by yelling, "He's got a gun!" and watching people scatter believingly. The police finally linked arms and swept nearly everyone out of the harbor area.
Restaurants closed, but allowed customers to stay around until it appeared safe to leave. I thought it might be an isolated incident and vowed not to let it scare me out of a good job.
A few weeks ago, the back tire of my bicycle was stolen while my bike was locked securely on a pole one foot outside the glass wall that separates the restaurant from the promenade, one foot away from a dining room full of patrons and employees.
Someone brought tools, and took at at least three minutes. No one in the restaurant noticed.
I'd heard co-workers' stories about thieves waiting to mug restaurant employees, people they knew would be carrying cash, but somehow thought I'd never be the victim.
I took a date to the Harbor Park movie theater to see "Dumb and Dumber." I was warned in advance not to go there, but like an idiot, I thought, "What could happen there?"
A large group of teens sauntered in and sat near the front of the theater. Ten minutes into the movie, they were still yelling and walking in and out.
They were not there to see the movie. When many started to smoke, a woman walked out to complain to the management.
Shortly afterward, three beefy security guards walked in, pointed flashlights at the members of the group who hadn't already scattered, and escorted them out.
The remaining teens, presumably incensed by this affront to their rights, threw things at the security guards as they walked out. Then they decided to leave and join their friends outside.
One of the brave souls punched the woman who had complained. When the man with her tried to stop them, six of them punched and kicked him up the aisle.
The rest of us stood, thinking a riot might start, afraid someone would pull out a gun.
After the youths crowded out, many shaken patrons did the same. Not wanting the actions of worthless scum to dictate where we could or could not go, my date and I stayed in the theater.
What should have been an evening of harmless entertainment turned into an affair of tense, over-the-shoulder glancing.
Before and after the melee, security guards were nowhere to be seen. Even during the scuffling, the movie was not stopped and the lights were not turned on, which might have dissuaded the teens from hitting the woman.
My heart went out to that lady as she left the theater crying. As bad as my night had turned out, hers was a hundred times worse . . .
When I lived in Pennsylvania, many theaters wouldn't let a group of more than four or five teen-agers in together, although the worst thing we ever did was throw popcorn at each other.
I hope my boss doesn't see my letter telling people not to come downtown. Baltimore's got great things going for it, but people shouldn't come unless they feel safe doing so.
Martin Carr
Baltimore
Cardinal's words -- and real life
I recently had the distinct privilege of listening to Cardinal William Keeler speak before an audience of several hundred people.
The cardinal spoke without a prepared script. Afterward, he stood while people in the receiving line stopped briefly to shake his hand and to say a few words.
All of us were deeply impressed with the warmth and sincerity of his words and the kindness of his facial expression.
It was a moving experience.
His message was, in part, that deep, divisive problems are not easily solved but often require years of effort, even among people of good will.
How different is the attitude in this country today, especially in the political arena.
Representatives of both major parties act as if they are the only true Americans. They stop at nothing to destroy the character and reputations of their opponents without concern to the wounds this inflicts on all of us.
I listened to President Clinton's speech about reorganizing government. I thought it was an outstanding presentation -- clear to the point and sincere.
I thought the Republican response by a former TV actor was totally without substance, which was not surprising because this guy knows absolutely nothing about government operation.
Contrary to some opinion, government operation is a very complex science which requires a good deal of knowledge and experience.
All the Republican party has to offer is simplistic cure-alls which will solve nothing and make the rich richer at the expense of the rest of the citizens.
Try reading the "Contract With America" carefully and think about it. A lot of it is warmed-over baloney which ignores the real problems this country faces.
Too many Americans see little hope for a better future for their families. They are blaming President Clinton for problems he inherited from his predecessors, and they expect quick cures. There is no free lunch.
As Cardinal Keeler emphasized there are no easy solutions. We must learn to face our problems with a unity of purpose and pull in the same direction or there can be hell to pay for all of us.
Ernest M. Stolberg
Baltimore
Speed limits
Does Gov.-elect Parris Glendening have his head in the smog? Word is he wants to raise the state's speed limit to 65 mph on some highways.
In light of Maryland's extremely strict and unfair new emissions program, I'd say Mr. Glendening's ignorance is risk.
Fact is, doing just 10 mph more on the highway wastes huge amounts or gas all the while increasing toxic emissions, thereby negating any productive efforts our expensive test program supposedly will yield.
Also, an auto dangerously neglected at 55 mph becomes extremely dangerous at 60-plus, and he says law abiding drivers are a burden.
No one wants their hard-earned cars mangled by careless drivers who won't spend their money to keep their cars safe, much worse have your loved one injured or killed.
Maybe Mr. Glendening has different motives. Perhaps he wants us to buy even more heavily-taxed gasoline, which during the winter months is reformulated to reduce hydrocarbon emissions but yields substantially less miles per gallon, and we pay even more at the pumps.
Maybe he wants us all to pay higher car insurance premiums. After all, a speed limit increase would guarantee a state-wide insurance increase. Raising the limit would not produce safer highways, but likely the contrary.
Drivers who now exceed the limit would undoubtedly feel entitled to drive 75-plus mph without fear of citation, furthering unsafe driving habits and conditions.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a sarcastic prude afraid to venture on the highways, just a 20-year-old male fed up with ignorant bureaucratic ideas that end up costing everyone in the end.
Carl Bauer
Glen Burnie
Gerrymander
The gerrymandered district shown in the article, "Supreme Court to hear La. case involving majority-black election district" (Dec. 10), reminds one of the district constructed for Ben Cardin, running in a long narrow line from Pikesville through the city into ,, Howard County.
If the courts uphold striking down such a "tortured" district in Louisiana, will this ruling also apply in Maryland?
Doris Rausch
Columbia