Watergate reporter brought perspective to Monicagate affair

Carl Berstein's Opinion Commentary article finally has brought realism to all sides in this sordid affair ("Current scandal no match for Watergate's gravity" Oct. 1).

His final words that Bill Clinton's "ultimate crime is that he has enabled a bitterly partisan house to vote impeachment, thus lowering the bar for every future president and suggesting that presidential elections are subject to congressional review and the campaigns of political enemies" resounds with truth.

This has been a war of character assassination from the beginning. It is not necessary, however, that it be the undermining of our institutions.

For perspective, Alexander Hamilton was accused of infidelity and then admitted it in a full-page ad.

The charges of infidelity were sadly true, but despite this personal failure, his public virtue as a government official had never been compromised.

Mr. Bernstein also points out the failure of the independent counsel to report on Filegate, Whitewater, and numerous other investigated material as Mr. Clinton has been hounded by his enemies.

What is truly egregious is that the people have shown their wisdom in their support of Clinton and not of the Congress or the press.

The people will uphold the institutions while the House and the press undermine them.

Franklin T. Clark

Baltimore

I just finished Carl Bernstein's comparison of Watergate to the current presidential difficulties. I found his arguments fairly logical until he posited that Mr. Clinton's poll numbers "testify to the sophistication and discrimination of most of the population. . . ."

Sorry. "Most of the population" is what kept "Married with Children," "Three's Company" and "Jerry Springer" on the air for a mystifying number of years. Mr. Clinton needs better references.

Milt Szimanski

Baltimore

Follow money to find root of investigation

Your editorial "Panel forges ahead despite people's will" asks three very pertinent questions. So put your best investigative reporters on them and get the answers.

I believe the saying "Follow the money" is most applicable here. Is there any real doubt that Kenneth Starr is a paid hitman? The whole mess has reeked of entrapment and collusion from the beginning. The Republicans loathe Mr. Clinton, and they will do anything to stop him.

This impeachment is not about sex but rather right-wing conservatives. I don't want to live in a country that is controlled by the "mores police."

As a lapsed Catholic who supports pro-choice, I'm sure to be on somebody's hit list one day if these people gain control.

I also would like to know where I can apply for a refund of my portion of tax dollars spent by Mr. Starr and the Republicans on this fiasco.

Maria Jackson

Pasadena

Implying that a federal prosecutor could be responsible for infecting a juror during the grand jury proceedings is the ultimate in "right wing conspiracy" theories and is truly despicable.

Your Clinton bias has warped your judgment.

Donna L. Topper

Owings Mills

Congress should lead, not watch the polls

I was dismayed that House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde is quoted as saying that there "is not enough public support to convict Clinton in an impeachment trial."

Isn't the outcome of a trial supposed to be based on evidence rather than popular sentiment? If the facts indicate that the president perjured himself or obstructed justice, he should be found guilty and removed. Otherwise, he should be vindicated.

The issue should not be decided by polling a public that has been bombarded by tons of information, some of which is misleading or inaccurate.

The question in these cases is: Do we live by the rules that we lay down for ourselves?

Will our leaders examine the facts to reach objective conlusions?

If so, we should applaud and re-elect them. Or, will they be motivated purely by popular whim? If so, they are not "leaders" in any sense and should be replaced.

Bob Heaton

Cockeysville

He's not King Clinton, and we're not serfs

The president is not a king, editors are not aristocrats and the public is not a herd of serfs, as much as you might wish that they were.

Bill Clinton himself has said that a president who lies to his nation should resign. He has forgotten this and changed his mind again. Why have you not called to him to have the strength of his own convictions, and to adhere to his own stated position?

Robert A. Rudolph

Reisterstown

Promote the basics, not unprepared pupils

It is often reported in the newspapers that the people in charge of education in Maryland are aware that the students who graduate from the schools do not possess the required skills in English and mathematics.

However, they do not know, they say, why they are not able to make the students learn better.

The primary reason for this debacle is clear to all but those who refuse to see. Many of the students are promoted to the next higher grade before they are ready for it. Consequently they lose interest in what is being taught at the higher level. Those ill-prepared students have only two options: either to doze off in the class or drop out of the school.

Moreover, the pernicious practice results in lowering of the standards of even the better prepared students. It is a disservice to one and all.

Mathematics is the language of the sciences. If one does not have the competence to solve simple problems in the subject, half the opportunities in life are denied to the person.

Yet we find some teachers and counselors, reflecting perhaps their own lack of confidence, advising the students to avoid taking mathematics and the science courses as far as possible because it is hard.

A myth prevailing in schools is that the study of mathematics and the sciences is beyond the ability of most students.

We have a long way to go. However, where there is a will, there is a way.

Bail L. Rao

Baltimore

Sauerbrey has failed to support women

Throughout this gubernatorial campaign, I have remained silent, believing it not quite cricket for a former colleague to criticize another, but the article headed "Sauerbrey hones appeal to women" (Oct. 1) was the last straw.

During her service in the House of Delegates, Ellen R. Sauerbrey did not offer support for a single issue of concern to women.

She did not speak out for fairer property-division laws, for curbs on domestic violence, for protection against harassment. She did not support an increase in the minimum wage or an effort to reduce teen-age pregnancy. She supported legislation that promoted employers' interests over those of employees.

Further, although it is true that she was a biology teacher at one time, she has not taught for 30 or more years and has no direct contact with students of this generation.

There are some outstanding women she admires, as we all do. The trouble is, it is at that level that her admiration begins.

She has no empathy for the single mother who is struggling to make ends meet, to keep her kids on the right path and to watch over an aging parent. She has no understanding of the very real problems women face daily.

She has embraced a number of reactionary organizations and ideas, including teaching creationism in schools.

In short, she is not the sympathetic, caring person she professes to be this year.

Bert Booth

Lutherville

The writer served in the House of Delegates from 1975 to 1982.

Sun and Marylanders see Sauerbrey's vision

I quote from your editorial ("Disloyal Democrats turn to Sauerbrey," Sept. 30): "Ms. Sauerbrey has a clear, crisp vision. So far, we haven't seen that from Mr. Glendening."

Notable Maryland Democrats have either: come out in support of Ellen R. Sauerbrey, such as former Lt. Gov. Melvin A. "Mickey" Steinberg; met privately with her, such as Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke; or given her a tour of Maryland assets, such as Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann.

One look around at the disproportionate large number of yard signs for Sauerbrey/Bennett also reveals what the general public thinks.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening's vision is backward, as illustrated by the current negative television ad campaign in a feeble attempt to portray Ms. Sauerbrey as out of touch with the citizens of this state.

Au contraire. Mr. Glendening demonstrates that he is out of touch. He has clearly shown his willingness to spend taxpayers' money with reckless abandon when it suits his purposes.

The citizens of this state can see the writing on the wall as clearly as The Sun does. Maryland's next governor will get the chance to implement her vision for all Marylanders.

James J. Wyman

Towson

Mass transit should drive voters' choice for governor

Hats off to Gov. Parris N. Glendening for having the vision to realize that mass transit systems will be the key to our transportation future in Maryland and everywhere.

Ellen R. Sauerbrey is against mass transit. She seems to be afraid that some poor person's life might be made a little easier or that some motorist might save a few dollars and a few hours instead of wasting time and money in a traffic jam.

These are the clear differences between the two candidates. One has a clear and economical plan for the future that will benefit everyone.

The other has an elitist, selfish, nowhere attitude that will ultimately put us way behind the rest of the world. Mr. Glendening needs only to tell the voters about himself and about his opponent, and this election wouldn't even be close.

Walter T. Kuebler

Baltimore

Arresting handguns that aren't child proof

It is good news that gun manufacturers are finally taking responsibility to produce guns that will protect against unintended use ("Fatal bullet sets up court showdown," Oct. 4).

Unfortunately, it has taken the deaths of innocents, especially children, legislation and the courts to force this issue.

With the child-proof "personalized" handgun movement, which seeks handguns that can be fired only by the authorized user, at least eventually there could be fewer accidental gun deaths and fewer crimes committed by criminals who steal handguns.

The greatest benefit would be that children would not be able to shoot themselves or others if they come upon a handgun in the home.

It is encouraging that Gov. Parris N. Glendening has proposed legislation to ban the sale of any handguns that are not personalized. Every day there are shooting deaths.

Some are drive-by shootings, some are accidental, some are intentional. All are tragic.

Because banning handguns doesn't seem a possibility in the near future, I will vote in November for those who support legislation to ban the sale of all but child-proofed handguns.

Jeanne M. Ruddock

Baldwin

Shooting statistics story based on old news

In the article by Gerard Shields "Lieutenant says he told Frazier of faulty statistics" (Oct. 1) regarding "faulty" shooting statistics, a conversation I had with Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier was used to mislead The Sun's readership, and I must protest.

I object to the The Sun using a comment I made to Mr. Shields nearly six months ago as the linchpin of a new story on this very old topic. That the police department's anticipated data systems have problems is not news any more than is my six-month-old comment.

I also object to the story's headline, which is clearly not supported by the facts or by the text of the story. I did not tell the police commissioner of faulty statistics, as the headline sensationally announces. Instead, in the course of a rather routine and unrelated discussion with the commissioner, I gave a candid response to a non-specific question. I stated that I had "reservations" about some numbers from the Police Department's Management Information System.

I gave no specific indication that any data were questionable. It is not surprising that the commissioner does not remember my comment, since neither the question nor the answer had anything to do with any specific crime statistics.

Finally, I object to Mr. Shields' essentially removing the context of that conversation. I told him that my reservations comment was general, that it did not concern shooting statistics, and that it was not even about 1993 data. Although Mr. Shields accurately alluded to that explanation at one point in the story, elsewhere in the story he reported that I was "questioning the 1993 shooting data."

Considering that this entire eight-month-old shooting statistics story line involves the issue of making intentionally misleading statements to the public, I hope that The Sun and Mr. Shields are carefully guarding their glass house as they carelessly throw rhetorical stones at others.

Wesley R. Wise

Baltimore

The writer is manager of the Baltimore Police Department's Management Information Services. In the article "Test scores not affected by teaching method" (Oct. 3), The Sun reported that method doesn't matter in improving reading achievement. Both theDirect Instruction phonics approach and the quasi-whole language approach yielded similar results on standardized test scores. This was quite predictable.

While The Sun's Reading by 9 series has biased the public toward accepting phonics as a panacea, the Republican Party has incredulously put phonics at the center of its platform.

This has ignored the simple truths that knowledgeable teachers and teacher educators have always known: Success in reading can only be achieved when teachers understand the complexities of the reading process and can assess individual students to provide instruction to meet their needs.

Teachers need to draw on a range of approaches to accomplish this, rather than be confined to any one-size-fits-all, profit-driven program.

If a group of students needs to better use phonics information in reading, teachers should use strategies and materials to develop that.

Students who simply sound out without regard to meaning and comprehension need an entirely different set of materials and instruction.

In either case, phonics should be taught, not as some abstract, isolated skill that students practice on workbook pages, but as dTC one of a number of essential clues to the identification of words. Children must learn that phonics, sentence structure and meaning must be used together to read successfully.

Maryland must stop jumping on political and corporate bandwagons in regard to reading instruction. We must stop trusting extremist phonics advocates such as those The Sun invited to evaluate the balanced Maryland State Task Force report, especially when these "experts" have commercial interests in phonics programs.

We must put our resources into professional development for teachers and into a wide range of materials to meet the diverse needs of students.

We must achieve equity in school funding so that every school can attract the capable young teachers our universities produce, and all students receive the stimulating environment they deserve.

Bess Altwerger

Columbia

The writer is professor of elementary education at Towson University.

Pub Date: 10/10/98