Mayor blows smoke at failed murder cases
Mayor Martin O'Malley's response to The Sun's recent revelations ("Justice Undone," Sept. 29-Oct. 1) concerning the failed investigation and prosecution of more than 1,000 murder cases in the past five years in Baltimore was alarming ("Murder case woes are in the past, mayor says," Oct. 3).
His condescending assertion that the entire three-part series amounted to a "handful of tragically unsuccessful prosecutions" is insulting to all Baltimore citizens.
Perhaps this is the next installment to the "Believe" campaign -- more smoke and mirrors so we may all "whistle past the graveyard."
The mayor was elected because he offered hope that conditions in our city would improve. That, however, can never happen if the facts are concealed and distorted.
And this posturing must be particularly hurtful to the 1,000 families who have lost loved ones to violence without any consequence to the killers. This callousness no doubt adds to their sorrow, sense of injustice, and outrage.
Baltimoreans must not be like the citizens of another place, who were afraid to tell the emperor about his new clothes.
Anton J.S. Keating
Baltimore
The writer lost in the Democratic Party's primary for Baltimore City state's attorney in September.
O'Malley confronts crime's challenge
I'm quite sure Mayor Martin O'Malley understands the problems in our city's criminal justice system ("Reality check," editorial, Oct. 4). I'm sure Mr. O'Malley knows that far too many of Baltimore's most violent criminals go unpunished.
However, I'm also sure that Mr. O'Malley doesn't accept failure. He has been and will continue to be one of our most vigilant public officials in fighting crime.
And it seems that The Sun may need a reality check. Does it remember when there were more than 300 homicides a year, for a decade? Does it remember who ended a decade of accepted failure, unaccountability and hopelessness?
As for "charging authority," I feel more comfortable leaving it in the hands of someone such as police Commissioner Edward T. Norris, who has a record of reducing crime, rather than giving it to the state's attorney, who has a record of failure.
Ryan C. O'Doherty
Baltimore
More gun control won't stop violence
I was astounded to read of the exchange between Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Bethesda attorney Abbe Jolles concerning gun control and the shootings in Montgomery County ("Ehrlich defends gun stance," Oct. 6).
As reported, Mr. Jolles demanded Mr. Ehrlich "keep people from getting rifles" and argued there are "too many guns out there." People who think this way need to stop and put this issue in perspective.
Firearms ownership is an integral part of American culture and society and always has been. There are 60 million to 65 million gun owners in the United States, and they collectively own more than 200 million firearms. About 14 million Americans hunt, and firearms can be found in almost half of American households.
Lawful firearms ownership is limited to adults with no criminal background. Every aspect of gun ownership -- from design to distribution to sale and use -- is heavily regulated by the federal and state governments, with a myriad of laws already in place. Anything that one can do with a gun to harm others, either deliberately or accidentally, is illegal.
And firearms accidents are relatively rare. In 1999, there were 824 accidental firearms deaths in the United States, compared with 46,000 deaths in vehicle accidents, 13,000 deaths from falls, 3,500 drownings and 2,800 fatal chokings.
The criminal misuse of firearms is also relatively rare, and there is no correlation between gun control laws in a state and its crime rate.
Maryland, with strict gun laws, has a much higher crime rate than most other states, many of which have few such laws. Vermont, for example with a population of 609,000 -- a little less than Baltimore's -- and virtually no gun laws, had nine murders in 2000.
When one examines this issue logically, it is impossible to make the case for more gun control laws.
Yes, criminals do misuse guns, just as they misuse automobiles, computers, cell phones and other common items. But the criminal misuse of any device does not justify assaulting the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Giffen B. Nickol
Bel Air
Racial rhetoric mars Townsend campaign
I was truly hoping that Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend would refrain from invoking the race card. But it showed up in her prepared opening remarks at the Sept. 26 gubernatorial debate, when she linked opposition to race-based affirmative action to slavery, lynching and Jim Crow ("Ehrlich and Townsend exchange jabs," Sept. 27).
One can have legitimate differences about how affirmative action should be applied, but to introduce the race card is sick. The desire to hold on to power makes people do desperate things and, unfortunately, Ms. Townsend has chosen to be racially divisive to buoy her campaign.
This George Wallace brand of politics has no place in Maryland.
Education, beyond everything else, should be the focus of equal opportunity.
Unfortunately, for four decades (with Republicans locked out of Maryland and Baltimore City government), African-American children, who constitute 90 percent of Baltimore's 100,000 public school children, have been relegated to virtual academic slavery by the physical and academic condition of the city's schools.
As Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist and Maryland native, said: "Education ... means emancipation; it means light and liberty."
We need a governor who will focus on results, not divisive rhetoric.
David F. Tufaro
Baltimore
The writer was the 1999 Republican nominee for mayor of Baltimore.
Townsend gimmicks won't balance budget
Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's budget proposal is a perfect example of the current attitude of "spend now, find the money later (we hope)" ("Townsend details budget proposal," Sept. 27).
Her proposal assumes that if we borrow enough money this year, things will be better next. The one thing Ms. Townsend does not address is what happens if revenues don't increase next year. You can only borrow so much from the rainy-day fund.
Then there is selling 10 percent (and possibly an additional 30 percent) of the tobacco settlement. At the 72 cents on the dollar she proposes, we would have to sell off $190 million of the settlement to generate $137 million.
In other words, Ms. Townsend would give away $53 million ($215 million if we sell off the extra 30 percent). That's like borrowing money at a 28 percent interest rate.
And what about steering $47 million from property transfer taxes into the general fund, while borrowing an equivalent amount so land purchases can continue? That sounds like borrowing $47 million to put it into the General Fund.
It's just a gimmick to take advantage of the fact that borrowing money for land preservation sounds better.
Davis Maloy
Baltimore
Recession prompts the state's red ink
Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s spin machine is amazing.
His campaign is quick to blame Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for the $1.7 billion state deficit but refuses to admit that President Bush squandered a $260 billion surplus and turned it into a $170 billion deficit in less than two years.
The president's ill-timed and needless tax cut, the shrinking job base because of the Bush recession and the fall in capital gains revenue caused by the stock market's free-fall have all contributed to the budget problems we face today.
Yes, Sept. 11 was a factor, but poor decision-making on priorities was the main culprit. And the incalculable amount we will likely spend on a war with Iraq will only put us further in the hole.
It was not, as Mr. Ehrlich and his followers claim, runaway spending by the current leadership in Annapolis that led to the state deficit.
Rather, Maryland, like all states, had to cope with less revenue, brought on in part by the aftermath of Sept. 11 but, more to the point, by the mismanagement of our economy by our federal leaders.
Steve Charing
Clarksville
Change the regime ruling Washington
Do we really need a regime change? George W. Bush, our first appointed president, inherited a booming economy (with predicted budget surpluses projected at $5.7 trillion over 10 years), low unemployment, high worker productivity and excellent prospects for the future of America.
Now, less than two years later, we have a president obsessed by a two-bit Arab dictator, while the nation crumbles.
The budget surplus is now a deficit; unemployment and the trade deficit are rising; civil rights are eroding; our Middle East policies have yielded only more chaos; we've made new enemies around the globe with our isolationist policies on environmental and population issues; we have impoverished millions of Third World farmers with our budget-busting agricultural subsidies; our equity markets have lost trillions of dollars in value; and a climate-related (via global warming) drought threatens the lifestyles of people across the country.
This is a remarkable record of inept and unimaginative leadership.
So the answer is, yes: We desperately need a regime change -- in Washington.
Kirk S. Nevin
White Hall
Send young girl back to Nigeria
It is outrageous that 7-year-old Aishat of Nigeria has been held for 15 months in an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) juvenile detention center ("Take care of children who reach our shores," Opinion
Commentary, Oct. 3).
Why, oh why, wasn't this child returned to her father in Nigeria after it became clear her mother was not going to claim her at the John F. Kennedy Airport?
It makes no sense to subject a youngster to such abuse and intimidation when a solution was so readily available.
Furthermore, the airline on which Aishat traveled should be heavily fined for transporting anyone without proper documents, especially a child. To allow children to fly to America without confirming the name, address and telephone number of the person picking them up is a scandal.
This problem goes far beyond the INS. It must be addressed by international carriers, the United States Department of Transportation, the United Nations and the International Red Cross.
And little Aishat needs to be returned home at once.
Rosalind Ellis
Baltimore
Allfirst employees still work with pride
Contrary to the dark mood depicted by The Sun's article "Allfirst beset by sagging morale" (Sept. 28), many employees at Allfirst have risen to the recent challenges and remain as committed as ever to their jobs and their communities.
For example, on the same Saturday the article was published, more than 160 Allfirst employees participated in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk and raised more than $43,000.
And during September, more than 1,000 Allfirst employees (nearly 20 percent of our work force) participated in United Way's "Days of Caring," volunteering for community service projects with nonprofit organizations throughout the region.
The Sun's article ignored the level of professional pride, morale and community involvement displayed by large numbers of Allfirst employees.
Indeed, Allfirst employees have a long heritage of caring about and supporting the communities in which we live and work -- a heritage that will continue during and after the proposed merger with M&T; Bank.
Philip Hosmer
Baltimore
The writer is vice president for corporate communications for Allfirst Financial Inc.
State tests hamper math teachers
The Sept. 15 Sun contained a front-page article on the decline of math skills seen by educators at the college level, even among students who come with high SAT scores and GPAs ("College students brush up on the ABCs of x, y and z," Sept. 15).
As a public school math teacher in my 28th year in the classroom, I'd like to add my perspective.
Not long after the high-stakes MSPAP testing program was introduced in Maryland, we were forced to alter the content of our introductory algebra course.
The basis for rating the success or failure of a particular middle school comes from testing the many eighth-grade students who study Algebra I.
We couldn't rely on students remembering from the seventh grade all that had been taught them in branches of math not traditionally thought of as "algebra." So the already-packed algebra curriculum now had to include the study of probability, statistics and geometry (subjects worthy of their own courses) because those areas were on the test.
After adding a few weeks of study in probability statistics and some review of geometry, we could not, try as we might, get in all that we had previously taught in Algebra I.
It became necessary to redefine what algebra should be, and also to make kids move through the course faster.
Now the MSPAP is gone, and another test will replace it. But the same pressures will exist.
Additionally, the High School Assessments -- a series of tests that must be passed to graduate from a public high school -- are now a part of public school life.
We're being forced to teach to the tests, both by state and county authorities.
Real world applications also are in vogue, which isn't a bad thing. However, one needs to learn the skills of algebra before beginning to apply them.
Another problem is the shortage of qualified math teachers. You get what you pay for. We've allowed teacher pay to stagnate, and our teacher pension plan ranks among the worst in the nation.
Students with good abilities in mathematics aren't going into teaching. And who can blame them?
Tony DiStefano
Towson
The writer teaches math at Dumbarton Middle School.