Chancellor's letter sought to inspire, not split faculty, staff

I am writing in response to the article ("Chancellor's letter divisive, critics say," Sept. 10) concerning the personal letter Irving P. McPhail, chancellor of the Community Colleges of Baltimore County, sent to African-American faculty and staff of the three-campus system.

The letter [urging recipients to "watch each others' backs"] was well-received by those of us in attendance at the reception. It was directed to us, thanking us for hosting such a warm and gracious reception for Dr. McPhail and his new wife, Dr. Christine McPhail, who recently relocated to join her husband.

Therefore, the choice of language and inclusion of a familiar African proverb and motto were specifically chosen for us. What we find most unfortunate, distracting and irritating is that a wonderful, uplifting experience -- an opportunity to express our support and congratulations to Dr. McPhail and his wife -- was twisted into something that totally misrepresented our intentions, as well as the intentions of Dr. McPhail.

The language in question was not divisive to those he was addressing. However, those who somehow got a copy of the letter might be confused by a message not directed to them.

Let's get down to the real issue. The number of African-Americans on all three campuses is small. The numbers are dismal in upper-level administration and faculty. So, as in many environments where African Americans are a minority, we have learned to try to support one another as much as we can, personally and professionally.

The truly sad part of this situation is that controversy has come over a letter to encourage African-American faculty and staff to become knowledgeable of and participate in the college environment, an initiative Dr. McPhail is enthusiastically spearheading.

Until more people of color are in positions of leadership, situations like this will continue, for the majority seems to have a low tolerance for difference, most likely based on lack of exposure and familiarity with African Americans.

Adrienne Phillips Koram

Essex

The writer is a professor at the Community Colleges of Baltimore County's Essex campus and a member of the college's African-American Caucus.

I am mortified by the undue publicity of a private communication from the chancellor of the Community Colleges of Baltimore County's to some of my African-American colleagues.

It is hard for me to understand what the fuss is about. As an African-American chief executive officer, Dr. Irving P. McPhail has been "caught" attempting to inspire and energize the disproportionately small minority of some 40 African-American faculty and staff members who work along with 1,600 other employees on the college's three campuses.

If this is a crime, the chancellor certainly is by no means the first to have committed it.

Three years ago, when I was chairman of the system's Tri-College Faculty Forum, Dr. Daniel J. LaVista, the EuropeanAmerican who was the first chancellor of the CCBC, routinely referred to me as his "compadre." He told me on one occasion that "we Mediterraneans ought to look out for one another" -- all to nobody else's offense, so far as I could tell at the time. Should my non-Mediterranean colleagues have issued a press release?

It is unfortunate that this incident has been created at this time, casting a shadow over our three formerly independent colleges' consolidation and the new chancellor's impending inauguration. It is about time for all of us, who have followed an array of white-skinned chancellors and presidents in 40 years of community college education, to demonstrate that we can take leadership from a dark-skinned man in the same spirit of professionalism and critical cooperation that we have accorded to his predecessors.

Kostis Papadantonakis

Essex

The writer is a professor of economics at the Community Colleges of Baltimore County, Essex campus.

Wallace recanted views; how about his followers?

It is reassuring to know that former Alabama Gov. George Wallace recanted his racist views before he died.

How many of the 10 million people who voted for Wallace in his 1968 presidential bid did the same?

Mel Tansill

Catonsville

Helping to spruce up city and support a good cause

A Sept. 8 article ("A call for painted ladies") offered the best idea for transforming Charles Village and blocks of rowhouses throughout the city.

Row homes pretty much look the same, mostly red brick with white trim. One's home should be seen individually. Imagine the breathtaking beauty of row upon row of beautiful combinations of colors turning each home into its own work of art and turning the city into a joyful rainbow of colors.

This would create a tourist attraction. And this is done with a wonderful organization -- the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is dedicated to helping disadvantaged children.

Esther Yaker

Baltimore

Sauerbrey has worked well with Democrats

In an Aug. 23 editorial, Ellen R. Sauerbrey was not endorsed. One of the reasons stated was "her demonstrated inability to work with Democrats." Her record speaks otherwise.

I represented the same legislative district in northern Baltimore County with Ms. Sauerbrey for 12 years, from 1979 to 1991. I was the Democratic state senator, and Ms. Sauerbrey was one of three Republican delegates.

We co-sponsored Maryland's successful and widely respected spending affordability law, which has saved Maryland taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 15 years.

We did not agree on all issues, but we never allowed our few disagreements to interfere with our ability to work together for the best interests of our district.

Not only did she work closely with me, but she also worked with the two Democratic council members, Jim Smith and Dutch Ruppersberger.

Ms. Sauerbrey and I became very close friends. Her word is her bond, and you can sleep on it. She has the highest integrity, and her record shows that she can work successfully with Democrats.

Francis X. Kelly

Hunt Valley

The writer is a former state senator from Baltimore County.

Can Social Security take stock market swings?

I feel sorry for those who invested in the stock market during this year, especially those with actual or paper loss, but where is the talk now from those who are pushing to put some of the Social Security Trust Fund into the stock market?

Joseph K. Rosenblatt Jr.

Baltimore

U.S. government protects nature from development

A Sun reader, incensed by Tom Horton's column "Private rights, public resources" (Aug. 28), asserted that federal regulation of our natural resources is harmful to the environment and destructive of the rights envisioned by our Founding Fathers.

While I concede the federal government doesn't have a perfect environmental track record, I passionately believe that some types of federal regulation have not only protected the environment but preserved freedom as well.

Having grown up in Arizona, where millions of acres of the landscape are under federal control, I have seen what has happened to areas not set aside for federal protection as opposed to areas that were open to private development. It has curtailed many of the freedoms once enjoyed by longtime residents.

In our youth, my brother and I were free to roam deserts and mountains near Phoenix, where we backpacked, camped, hunted for small game and communed with nature. Some of our favorite natural retreats are now covered by cookie-cutter housing tracts and freeways.

Phoenix once enjoyed some of the cleanest air in the United States, but is well on the way to becoming as smoggy and gridlocked by traffic as the California coastal cities.

The U.S. Forest Service controls parcels of land that some developers would love to "improve" with roads, housing developments and commercial enterprises.

I am extremely grateful that Theodore Roosevelt and other farsighted Americans saw fit to protect our precious natural landscape by setting some of it aside for the enjoyment of future generations.

Mike Cast

Edgewood

Pub Date: 9/19/98