Big-band tunes to serenade inept officials

When Carroll County school superintendent William H. Hyde made a statement to the press in reference to appointments to the audit committee, it should have been printed on the comics page.

I quote, "Absent from the committee is Assistant Superintendent Vernon Smith." Mr. Hyde said he decided it was more important to include a parent and a principal. Mr. Hyde also said that having a high-ranking administrator might have created "the perception of a conflict of interest."

I laughed so hard I fell out of my chair. Mr. Hyde has the temerity to mention Mr. Smith as an earlier candidate for directing the audit into performances by him and his group who now have more than $40 million in lawsuits and mistakes hanging over their heads?

Last month, I attended a school board meeting disguised as a peaceful taxpayer. The board (but not Susan Krebs, who is a breath of fresh air) should form a rap group and call themselves, "The Constipations." The simile is self-evident if you watch them operate at mind-clogging and boggling ennui. I can't remember a new or winning idea put forth by this group.

For my fellow senior citizens, I would like to play a game of nostalgia. The following big-band song titles and their very apparent application to the school system should bring a tear to your eye -- as they have put a hole in your pocketbook.

"I'm sorry" or "Two little words": Uttering these words to a construction firm would have saved a costly lawsuit.

"Is that all there is?": Haunting words from the school administration budget to the county commissioners.

"I'll never smile again": The taxpaying public.

"It's so easy": Building without permits and impinging on private land.

"I should care" or "Call me irresponsible": For the school construction staff. Also, perhaps the board and superintendent if they should be held accountable, too.

"It seems to me I've heard that song before" and "Release me": Thank you commissioners Julia Gouge and Robin Bartlett Frazier for cutting off the money train to the school board.

Jack E. Winder, Westminster

Sponsor a road, don't 'adopt' it

I read your article about the citizens in Columbia who were using the word adoption for groups who wanted to pick up trash along paths (Villages consider putting pathways up for 'adoption,'" Aug. 9).

I think they should only use the word adoption for adopting a person, not a road because adoption is a serious thing.

It is not to be made fun of. I feel a little mad because I was adopted, and it tooks lots of paperwork, money, time, patience, and love for me to get adopted. Adopting a path would not be as hard as that.

I will give you a suggestion for a word. You could maybe use "sponsoring" instead of "adopt" for a path or road.

I do think it is right that you are picking up trash and helping the earth. I think you should get all of the world to pick up the trash and help the planet.

Velizar Dell (age 9), Westminster

Artrain's visit inspires Taneytown

I want to thank the following for their support, which made it possible for Artrain to visit Taneytown: The Carroll County commissioners who assisted us with the site preparation; business and industry sponsors who contributed in-kind services as well as financial support; the media who wrote stories and provided public service announcements; greeters and tour guides who gave their time; the Arts Council and local artists; the Taneytown Fire Company that provided on site EMS services; and citizens of Taneytown and Carroll County who visited the exhibit.

Can we measure how successful Artrain was? Yes, about 4,500 people visited while it was in Taneytown. What we cannot measure is the effect that exposure to the exhibit will have on visitors. What child/adult may be inspired to become an artist or seek a career in the space program?

Again, thank you to all who made Artrain's visit to Taneytown possible.

Henry C. Heine, Jr., Taneytown

The writer is mayor of Taneytown.

Carroll Republicians' successful corn roast

On Aug. 8, the West Carroll Republican Club celebrated its eighth-annual corn roast at the Union Bridge Community Center. This event is our major fund-raiser for the year and is open to all members of the general public.

I would like to thank all of those people who came out to enjoy good food and fellowship, which made this event another success. I also want to thank club members and workers, who combined their talents and cooperated to again host a fun, roll-up-your-sleeves and eat event, while raising money for the club.

Our silent auction was again a success, owing to contributions and donated items from local businesses, club members and supporters. Our bake sale was also very popular and contributed its fair share to blown diets and the sweet tooth cravings of all.

As anyone who has ever worked on an event like this knows, absolutely nothing can be accomplished unless you have the help and dedication of a lot of individuals coming together for a common purpose.

See you all next year.

Joseph Burns Jr., Winfield

The writer is president of the West Carroll Republican Club.

Getting folks to grasp the plight of the farmer

Perhaps America should never have dissolved the military draft. It would teach most 18 and 19 year-olds some kind of discipline.

With the way the American public is losing touch with agriculture, it would also be beneficial to also have something similar to Israel's Kibbutz system, where young people work on large horticulture farms.

This nation needs something so Americans understand where their food comes from and how hard it is to keep them efficiently and cheaply fed. Maybe then they wouldn't blare their horns at the tractor and planter slowing them down as they speed to get home to eat affordable food and watch the television. Meanwhile, the farmer not only has his life at risk on the busy road, but also takes the gamble for the third or fourth straight year of drought and record low commodity prices.

Many people just keep getting raises to keep up with inflation and they don't think how both spouses in a family have time to both have good jobs because someone else is feeding them so cheaply and efficiently.

It is all well and good for the powerful environmental groups to say you shouldn't do this or that. They are the first people who should work on a farm for a season.

Maybe they would understand better what the farmer is up against. Maybe one reason they go after farmers is that their donations come more from urban suburban residents who don't think about how much damage they themselves are doing, buying bigger cars and trucks just for recreation. They want bigger homes with bigger yards to keep up with the Joneses. Then they have a lawn care company or attempt to fertilize their lawns without any certification or training, unlike the farmer who has to have even more training and certification even to run a manure spreader.

If things don't turn around soon for family farms, multi-national corporations will have even greater control of our food supplies and we will continue to buy more food from foreign nations. Eventually food prices will skyrocket and then the public will scream that it has less money to run to the ocean resorts or take that winter holiday in Florida.

Instead of so heavily regulating farmers, who cut back on chemicals and fertilizer years ago because of cost, we should be concerned about how many more family farms we are going to lose this year.

Every time we lose an acre of Maryland farmland, eventually another few acres of tropical rain forest or grassland in Brazil or elsewhere will be cut and turned into inferior farmland. Maybe our extreme weather in recent years is partly because man keeps cutting rain forests and we keep paving our best farmland.

The public should spend a summer or two with a couple of farm facilities. Maybe they would thank the farmer on the tractor, instead of cussing at him, as they swerve and almost kill him and themselves in their large Suburban or Expedition.

Tim Heckert, Westminster

Pub Date: 8/29/99