If Clintons can heal damaged marriage, others will have 0) hope
The president is right that there is some aspect of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky that is a private matter between him and his wife.
The loss of trust in a marriage creates a gigantic emotional rift that requires great effort to heal.
With counseling, couples that have experienced infidelity can frequently be helped to rebuild trust and thus go on with more than a sham marriage. With the divorce rate so high, an example from the highest level could give hope to other troubled couples.
It would be a remarkable signal to all couples if the Clintons were to accept counseling and let the country know they were doing so. Getting over the stigma of seeking help is often the first step. It would also raise the importance of having available and affordable family counseling services to all.
Regardless of the future of the Clinton presidency, I hope that some good can come out of this terrible situation. There is an opportunity to aid the struggling couples in our country who shun help because of the need to keep it private or because the hurt is so deep that some of the best available routes for healing are dismissed.
yn Book Starr
Reisterstown
KAL's Sauerbrey cartoons are demeaning, misleading
Having drawn a gratuitous and unprovoked vicious caricature of Ellen Sauerbrey on Aug. 19, KAL has once again demeaned your paper. His twisted perspective of Ms. Sauerbrey runs counter to what your own reporters have apparently discovered for themselves on the campaign trail: that she is an outgoing energetic, straightforward, positive candidate who genuinely cares about people and what they have to say.
It is misleading to continually perpetuate the false notion that she is trying to change her spots and fool the electorate, and it's particularly unacceptable because it meshes so neatly with the lowbrow tactics of a desperate Glendening propaganda machine willing to win at any cost.
Mr. Sauerbrey's personal history has been characterized by rigor, intelligence and the pursuit of excellence. How else could she have graduated summa cum laude from Western Maryland College in both biology and math even as she worked part time?
I predict that most of the electorate will come to appreciate what a special person and candidate Ellen Sauerbrey really is before this campaign is over, notwithstanding KAL's efforts to demonize her.
ick Fairbanks
Baltimore
The writer is first vice chairman of the Baltimore City RepublicaParty.
Mainstream conservative defines Ellen Sauerbrey
Recently, some supporters of Gov. Parris N. Glendening have renewed their laughable attempt to portray Ellen Sauerbrey as a right-wing extremist.
Such labels betray an absolute contempt for the intelligence of the Maryland voters.
Perhaps they forget that Ms. Sauerbrey ran neck-and-neck with the governor in the last election in one of the most heavily Democratic states in the country, a state represented by two of the nation's most liberal senators.
Yet, I have yet to see our senators labeled left-wing extremists.
The fact is that Ms. Sauerbrey is a mainstream conservative who supports accountability in government. She also happens to be a woman of character, integrity and unquestioned rectitude. Maryland would simply be a better place to live with her as governor.
Jeffrey S. Gulin
Baltimore
Cure for Russia problems: sell its arms, rent its army
The Clinton administration and the recent presidential visit to Russia continues to make the same mistake fostered on this country's policy and therefore the world's view by ex-Secretary of State James Baker.
Three simple steps can make the world a safer place and secure a sound economic baseline for Russia.
First, the United States could buy from Russia and the former Soviet states nuclear missiles and technology. This transfers money to their economies without having the International Monetary Fund and other countries take a bath from bad loans and repudiated business deals. It also allows the threats to be eliminated and the Russian military to pay back wages and release the excess troops into the economy.
Second, permit Russia to "hire" out its armed forces to the United Nations to use as professional peace keepers. This puts this standing army to work on a useful cause and makes the U.N. a steady and convincing policeman. Of course, Russian armed forces would submit to U.N. military leadership.
Third, the economic benefit Russia would receive from these acts should then be turned to realizing the enormous potential wealth in its natural mineral resources.
The economic gains would very soon wipe out any stigma from its reduction as a world power and raise it to world economic power with respect for its military prowess as an arm of the U.N. peace mission.
oseph Amoroso
Baltimore
Peanut allergies on flights are not a laughing matter
As an allergist in Baltimore and Howard County, I feel obligated to respond to Clarence Page's facetious article on peanut allergies and airline flights.
Life-threatening food allergies are no laughing matter. It is estimated that 0.5 percent of the population has a life-threatening food allergy, and several hundred deaths occur each year as a result.
In school-aged children and adults, the most common foods to produce these reactions are peanuts, followed by other nuts, shellfish and fish.
In severely peanut-allergic individuals, accidental ingestion of a fraction of a peanut can produce an allergic reaction. Such a reaction can involve hives, itching or swelling of the mouth, tightening of the throat, shortness of breath, vomiting, drop in blood pressure, loss of conscience and death.
While I do not think that every flight needs to have a peanut-free section, reasonable accommodations can be made on flights with peanut-allergic passengers. For young children with peanut allergies, it may be reasonable to have a peanut-free "buffer zone" to decrease the likelihood of a child eating or playing with a peanut that has rolled his or her way. Peanuts for these kids are poison and like poison should be kept out of their reach.
No cure exists for these life-threatening food allergies, and treatment involves careful avoidance. Over the past several years, awareness of life-threatening food allergies in the general population has increased in part because of national outreach organizations such as the Food Allergy Network and media coverage such as an article last year in The Sun.
I think it is unfortunate now to see food allergies become the brunt of a not-so-funny joke.
'Dr. Michael H. Goldman
Ellicott City
Postal Service's calendar grammatical, educational
The employees of the Baltimore District of the U.S. Postal Service would like to respond to the letter "Post office poster needs grammar check" (Aug. 24).
Earlier this year the Postal Service launched the largest stamp program ever,"Celebrate the Century."
To mark turn of the century, the Postal Service will recognize events, people, places and historic achievements through stamps that have helped make this nation what it is.
The Celebrate the Century (CTC) stamp program includes posters depicting many of the exciting stamp subjects representing each decade of the 20th century. The wording on these posters say, "Buy Your 1900s And 1910s Special Edition Stamp Sheets. Start Your Celebrate The Century Collection Today!" These posters are grammatically correct.
Baltimore postal employees are proud to be part of a program that helps educate our customers about important events of the 20th century.
We invite the public to help our country "Celebrate the Century" by voting for their favorite stamp subjects. Customers can find out more about this exciting stamp program by visiting their local post office.
Anthony Vegliante
Baltimore
The writer is Baltimore district manager at the United States Postal Service.
Pub Date: 9/12/98