Gentrification ruins resort in Western Md.
Amid all the bad news The Sun published over the Memorial Day weekend, one of the most depressing articles reported the travesty committed on the Deep Creek Lake area ("Deep Creek Lake now requires deep pockets," May 26).
What a shame this formerly beautiful, rustic, natural, mountain area is being covered by the same McMansions that are paving over our suburbs and farmland.
Tearing down the original homes that had character and replacing them with generic, megabucks ticky-tacks such as "Million Dollar View" showcases the abominable waste of one of the most lovely places in the world.
If yuppies want to enjoy the wilderness, why don't they build homes that fit into the area, leaving in place some semblance of the natural wonders around them and keeping their garish, sprawling horrors near the cities and suburbs they've already ruined?
I'll bet the natives of the area are horrified at the way the developers are defiling this precious land.
Cooky McClung
Chestertown
The article "Deep Creek Lake now requires deep pockets" really disgusted me.
My family has been going to the lake for many a year. We did a lot of camping and in later years rented houses. It was always an inexpensive vacation that gave a family a chance to enjoy the outdoors.
We had thought it would be a good place to retire. But it's now out of the question for anyone but the rich to enjoy this wonderful area.
This type of excess is also causing many old neighborhoods to become too expensive for many people whose families have lived in them for generations.
Our society is quickly becoming one of "the haves and the have-nots." And the American dream is becoming a nightmare for many hard-working people.
Joan Lease
Baltimore
Smart Growth stops waste of resources
It is very ironic to me that new developments are choking off older developments and we, as taxpayers, are paying twice ("Fast-growing areas burdened by their booms," May 26):
Once for attempting to revitalize older neighborhoods and keep an older tax base from collapsing. And again to build new schools and infrastructure in new development areas -- an expense that competes with money needed to restore older areas.
As the article notes, many growing counties have excess school seats. Yet many of these open seats are in older, developed areas, while many of the needed seats are in the emerging growth areas.
We should continue to push for policies that encourage the redevelopment of older areas. This policy of Smart Growth is good for local tax bases, good for education planning, good for our environment.
Without such policies, I can only expect that the communities will rot from the inside out as the baby boomers continue to get older and move out of their older homes to retirement communities.
Catonsville
A whiff of corruption from calls to judges
Any lawyer who contacts a judge about a pending case is either dumb as a skunk or a skunk ("Lawmakers called court about redistricting suit," May 22).
And, after the recent actions of some legislators, I'm holding my nose (and apologizing to skunks).
Kenneth F. Davies
Baltimore
Why should Kirwan get pay and pension?
A May 25 article told us that "William E. Kirwan, the state's new universities chancellor, will earn $100,000 per year in addition to his $375,000 salary to make up for his not being able to collect a Maryland pension while chancellor" ("Kirwan to get $100,000 a year beyond salary as chancellor").
I doubt he'll earn $100,000 a year more than his $375,000 salary and the other perks that go with the job ("the use of the chancellor's residence, the Hidden Waters mansion in Baltimore County, and use of an official car and driver"). He'll just be paid $100,000 more than his predecessor.
Nobody gets paid a pension from a company while he's still working for that company.
So why should Mr. Kirwan get the equivalent of his pension from the state while he's still working for the state and being paid handsomely for that work?
Bill Scanlon
Ellicott City
Police can't ignore the burden of proof
I'm as anxious as any city resident to have the gun- crime rate lowered, but if police make arrests, neglecting the burden of proof of guilt ("Punishment falling in city gun crimes," June 3), then something's wrong -- and judges and juries will respond accordingly.
McNair Taylor
Baltimore
Let business leaders decide about Cuba
I start with the assumption that Jerry Haar believes in a free market ("Castro's Cuba bad for business," Opinion * Commentary, May 29).
If so, why is he so concerned about the welfare of Archer Daniels Midland, John Deere and Radisson? Are not these companies headed by competent people aware of the difficulties of doing business with Fidel Castro's Cuba?
Do we require the paternalism of Big Brother to direct the activities of these people, in contravention of free market principles?
Wayne Schafer
Nottingham
How is it we can always afford war?
A May 25 Sun headline read, "U.S. forces not insufficient for Iraq fight, Rumsfeld says." Isn't that just wonderful?
No matter how many problems we may have at home -- poverty; homelessness; low wages; unemployment; filthy air, water and food; rotten schools and health insurance; murders; alcohol; and drug addiction -- we can still afford to start another war with an impoverished nation.
Is this a great country or what?
A. Robert Kaufman
Baltimore
City school honors civil rights legend
I was pleased to see the article about reviving interest in Dr. Lillie Mae Jackson ("Reviving a name in civil rights legend," May 26).
She is certainly a person whose life and actions should be remembered and emulated. However, she is not as forgotten as the article implied. Each school day, the students of the Dr. Lillie Mae Jackson Elementary and Middle School on Ashburton Street sing the praises of the school and its namesake and proudly represent the Dr. Jackson school at various events.
This is a public school for intellectually limited students in Baltimore. The students participate in small, structured classes and work diligently, learning at their individual levels and being challenged daily to do their best.
The school, and its students' efforts to overcome boundaries and limitations, are a fitting memorial to Dr. Jackson.
Avi Frydman
Baltimore