SATURDAY MAILBOX

The Baltimore Sun

Let 'One Maryland' guide government

Gov. Martin O'Malley's clarion call for "One Maryland" should not be limited to just broad public policy vision, but instead should become O'Malley's March(ing) orders for the way that state agencies operate ("An inaugural with family, faith and stars," Jan. 18).

This mantra needs to percolate across all levels of state government to maximize leveraged resources in the face of expected budget shortfalls ("O'Malley to slow spending," Jan. 19).

A One Maryland approach encourages state agencies to collaborate aggressively on issues that cut across their various functions.

Some recent pieces in The Sun have offered a glimpse of that promising future.

The editorial "Turning the tide" (Jan. 15) exhorted state leaders to get serious about preserving the bay and alluded to creative collaboration.

The column "Governor O'Malley's chance to reshape PSC" (Opinion

Commentary, Jan. 18) offered a credible, simple approach to address the restructuring of the Public Service Commission and future electricity rate increases by employing unimpeachable experts.

Mr. O'Malley has made some strong early choices for his Cabinet. His nominee to be secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, John D. Porcari, and his choice to lead the Department of the Environment, Shari T. Wilson, both appear to be unifiers capable of promoting a One Maryland vision within their agencies and across other agencies.

Let's hope that the governor's future nominees for state government leadership are cut from the same cloth.

Thomas C. Snyder

Ellicott City

The writer is a former director of the air and radiation management administration of the Maryland Department of the Environment.

O'Malley should push an alternative vision

Bravo to Dan Rodricks for calling on Gov. Martin O'Malley to be bold in laying out his vision for Maryland ("O'Malley's first speech was too ordinary," Jan. 18).

He is right that now is the time for Democrats to counter the prevailing anti-tax, anti-government ideology with a message of their own - a new vision that presents an alternative to conservatism, an answer to America's challenges and a basis for restoring our nation's greatness at a time when we have been brought low by a generation of Republican rule.

Congratulations to Mr. O'Malley for giving an inaugural address that laid the foundations for just such a new vision ("An inaugural with family, faith and stars," Jan. 18).

The new governor set forth themes that will serve him well in the months and years to come:

"One Maryland" - opportunity for all, responsibility from all and a unified community of all.

The imperative of advancing the common good - a fundamental concept utterly neglected by Republicans, who have chosen to bow down instead at the altar of individual wealth and power.

Leadership that has the will to call for sacrifice and make difficult choices.

I hope the O'Malley administration and the Democratic Party will demonstrate the confidence and vision that the times demand.

Matthew Weinstein

Baltimore

The writer is a former member of the Democratic State Central Committee.

All have a chance to know God

I was very surprised when I read The Sun's article "Teaching the unknowable" (Jan. 18). I believe God is very knowable, and indeed is an entity with which we can all have a very positive personal relationship.

In the article, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner was quoted as saying that "Judaism does not require adherence to specific doctrines," and also that "you don't have to believe anything to be a Jew." But doesn't the word "Torah" mean "the law" - a series of principles God intends for mankind to believe in and follow? Doesn't the book of Exodus contain the Ten Commandments?

Rabbi Kushner was also quoted as saying, "Christianity is a tradition of creed. Judaism is a tradition of deed." I would direct the rabbi's attention to the book of James in the New Testament, where it is written, "Faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead." I would also present the saintly life of Mother Teresa as an example.

Rabbi Kushner also says that God is "ultimately, utterly unknowable." I would mention to the rabbi many instances when God has revealed Himself to mankind, such as to Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph and so on.

The article included the following quote: "God is responsible for all that happens in the world." But most of the bad things that occur in this world are the result of the poor choices of humankind.

I believe that God is a God of love whom we can all approach with humility and in prayer.

James S. Moss Sr.

Baltimore

Disaster in Iraq is now inevitable

When President Bush spoke to the nation on Jan. 10, he said, "Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States" ("Iraq situation 'unacceptable,'" Jan. 11).

What he forgot to say was that success - or victory, or whatever you want to call it - would also be a disaster for the United States.

The disaster was going into Iraq in the first place. Once that move was made, we were in for it - there just could be no good way out.

In his speech, President Bush also said, "Victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world - a functioning democracy."

But almost nobody in the world believes that will happen. There is not one "functioning democracy" in the Arab world, and there never has been.

The reasons for this are deep-seated. Perhaps foremost is that the dominant position of Islam in all Arab countries militates naturally toward a theocracy. The alternative to that is generally a dictatorship.

How do you get a "functioning democracy" out of that mix?

Julian S. Stein Jr.

Baltimore

War leaves us open to attack at home

The Sun often publishes letters from readers who support the war in Iraq and who echo the White House line that "we have to fight them over there so that we don't have to fight them here" ("A surge to victory is key to security," letters, Jan. 16).

Is this some kind of mantra designed to make us feel safe, as if by saying it we are preventing the unthinkable from happening again?

If we had spent the money we are using for this war to bolster our defenses at home - our borders, our ports, our stadiums, our buildings - we wouldn't have to worry about "them" coming over here.

We are told that our intelligence agencies regularly uncover and thwart new plots; the law of averages surely informs us that sooner or later we're going to miss one and have another terrorist attack.

The odds are now increased because the U.S. has turned Iraq into a breeding ground for terrorists.

With Iran now having access to insurgent groups in Iraq, I feel less safe now than I did following the events of 9/11.

Suzanne Walker

Timonium

People of all races can solve city's ills

I hope that Warren A. Brown's recent letter to the black mayoral candidates - which stated, "When you have looked to the white establishment to take care of the problems and they have not, then you need to turn to somebody who really, really feels the pain" - is not misinterpreted as the rank racism that it appears to be ("Lawyer urges black unity in mayor's race," Jan. 20).

Mr. Brown's suggestion that "a black mayor would be more sensitive to issues such as failing schools, poverty and crime" because "they disproportionately affect black residents" is totally misguided and insulting to all citizens of Baltimore.

Commencing in 1971 after the election of Milton B. Allen, the office of state's attorney for Baltimore, with one exception, has been occupied by an African-American. In that same year, Roland Patterson was named school superintendent, followed by Alice G. Pinderhughes and then a succession of distinguished African-American individuals.

George L. Russell Jr. was appointed city solicitor in 1971, followed by Benjamin L. Brown, Neil M. Janey, Otho M. Thompson, and Thurman W. Zollicoffer Jr.

Starting with Bishop L. Robinson in the early 1980s, six of the last eight police commissioners have been African-Americans.

Mr. Brown also ignored Mayors Clarence H. Du Burns and Kurt L. Schmoke, who governed City Hall for a total of 14 years before the election of Martin O'Malley.

And what about Jacqueline F. McLean and Joan M. Pratt in the comptroller's office?

The "white establishment" can no longer be blamed for all the city's problems. Let's not continue to dehumanize each other by asserting that in our modern society, any particular ethnic group lacks the capacity to care about or understand society's problems or suggest solutions, or that any race owns any particular office.

Anton J. S. Keating

Baltimore

The writer is a former candidate for Baltimore mayor and state's attorney.

Double standard on racial remarks

I was very surprised to read about the letter sent by attorney Warren A. Brown to black candidates who are running for mayor of Baltimore ("Lawyer urges black unity in mayor's race," Jan. 20).

Can you imagine if the tables were turned and a prominent white leader told a group of white candidates to unite around one candidate so a black candidate could not come in and win by splitting the white vote?

How long do you think it would take the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton to show up and scream racism?

G. Stuart Lacher

Baltimore

Voters carry burden of nation's future

American politics is interesting. It's like watching the ball at a tennis match: left, right, left, right. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's warning of impending fiscal crisis is now "urgent"("Bernanke warns of fiscal straits," Jan. 19).

Without "meaningful action" with regard to funding promised Social Security and Medicare benefits, he says, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened. Republicans offered a possible solution with partially "privatized" accounts that the Democrats rejected.

Mr. Bernanke now places the ball squarely in the Democrats' court. Let's see what they come up with. I'm betting we will like it less.

What really caught my eye in the article was the part about the "major reform" enacted in 1983 and the subsequent "borrowing" by Congress, replacing cash with IOUs. When the future obligations of Medicare and Social Security come due, the article said, "government will have to cut benefits or pay them out of general revenues." That sounds more like deform than reform.

It doesn't seem to matter whether you are retired or expecting to retire. This affects all of us.

Yes, these are difficult issues, but they are our issues. The responsibility must rest on the shoulders of American voters. Will we continue to support those who abrogate their obligations and give away our wealth and futures, or choose those with honor, principle and insight who will act in the interests of voters first?

The choice is ours.

Warren W. Updike

Towson

Suburbs have stake in housing solution

We applaud advocates on all sides of the Maryland inclusionary zoning debate for recognizing the need for a regional approach to affordable housing ("Affordable housing issue requires regional strategy," Jan. 25).

Such broad-based tactics are needed not only to help the Baltimore region's workforce find homes, but also for the region to compete in a global marketplace. Suburbs can't thrive when urban neighborhoods are crumbling and more than one in five residents of the center city live in poverty, as is the case in Baltimore. The relationship between suburbs and cities is complementary, not competitive. They are interdependent with a shared stake and responsibility in making the region as strong as possible.

The only solution is a housing policy that recognizes the need for all workers - nurses and teachers, waitresses and janitors, firefighters and factory workers - to be able to afford a home throughout the Baltimore region.

Radhika Fox

San Francisco

The writer works to promote economic revitalization in older industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest.

Women too struggle after leaving prison

The Sun has done an outstanding job, particularly through the efforts of columnist Dan Rodricks and reporter Greg Garland, of consistently raising the issue of what happens to people returning to their communities from prison. However, nearly all the coverage has been about men.

Even though the majority of prisoners are men, women today make up the fastest-growing part of the prison population. The number of women held in the nation's jails has more than doubled since 1995.

Women typically face even greater obstacles than men do after they have been arrested and convicted.

Most women who are arrested and convicted are mothers who had custody of their children prior to their arrest. When they get out of prison, they encounter barriers to leading lives as responsible citizens that are unique to their circumstances as mothers and heads of households.

They are likely to be seeking to regain custody of their children. So their plight involves not only putting their own lives back together but also re-establishing a safe and secure home for their children.

Employment is also an even greater problem for women with a felony conviction. Many of the jobs they are most likely to be qualified to fill (in health care, beauty shops and child care) are closed to them.

Without help, women in these circumstances often turn back to the ways they know to survive - prostitution, shoplifting, returning to an abusive relationship, often on the condition that they participate in the drug trade.

But with help, these women can beat the odds.

The public needs to be far more aware that women as well as men are coming out of prison. And that what happens to them has a very direct impact on the children who depend on them.

Mary Joel Davis

Baltimore

The writer is executive director of a nonprofit group that helps ex-prisoners transition back to life in society.

Don't overlook option to ride bus

I was explaining to my kids one day that we should be using public transportation, but that in America it is impractical because we all live in sprawling suburbs spread out over hundreds of miles. My family lives, works and goes to school along Route 2 between Glen Burnie and Annapolis. We have been happy driving back and forth, especially with the convenience of services along the route.

But with two teenagers now driving, much of our lives revolves around scheduling the logistics of sharing the family's two cars among four drivers.

About two weeks ago, I was lamenting to my son about how he was going to have to get up an hour early and take me to work the next morning. Then it slowly dawned on me, as I sat behind the No. 14 bus, that when I leave in the morning, I am behind the bus, when I drop the kids off at school, I am behind the bus, and when I pull into work, I pass the bus in Annapolis.

I am now kicking myself around the block in my blindness to the No. 14 bus, which, over the last 16 years, could have saved me untold headaches.

For $1.60 a ride, I now get a professional driver and a warm, comfortable ride that takes only 10 minutes longer than the 25-minute drive. However, that is not time lost but time gained, because I get to use that entire 35 minutes reading The Sun or grading papers instead of cowering in my coupe between monster SUVs.

I just wish I had thought of this 16 years ago.

Bob Bruninga

Glen Burnie

Learn the language of cosmos: algebra

For us poor, oft-berated math teachers, it was edifying to read an opinion piece about why learning algebra is important, especially from a former English professor ("Learn algebra and you might use it every day," Opinion

Commentary, Jan. 8).

Unfortunately, the professor made some assertions about algebra and mathematics that are difficult to accept and badly mischaracterized the nature of algebra.

While the development of formal algebraic thinking and its highly symbolic language are relatively new, algebraic thinking, in its essence, is as old as our history.

The author states that algebra is the language of physics. That's true. But what a limited conception of algebra.

More enlightened definitions of algebra address the human encounter with a patterned and orderly universe.

Modern algebra seems to be a long laundry list of rules instructing us how to compute abstract equations.

At its best, though, algebra is the language of the cosmos, of relationships, of a sense of how we are connected to each and every thing across the great span of time.

David Kandel

Baltimore

The writer serves on the board of the Algebra Project.

The right solution for Annapolis High School?

A meeting was called with every staff member at Annapolis High School, right down to the cafeteria and custodial staff, by Anne Arundel County schools Superintendent Kevin Maxwell. He told the Annapolis High School staff flat out that they needed to reapply for the jobs they hold ("School staff told to reapply for jobs," Jan. 25). This bold move comes after four years of the school not meeting testing standards. Was it a good move?

It was a great move.

Some teachers didn't think it was right. But if you have done everything right as a teacher or staff member, you have nothing to worry about. If you have done some things wrong, you have some things to worry about.

The test scores aren't always the teacher's fault. Students need to apply themselves. Parents who aren't watching over their kids' education need to. It's as simple as that.

I don't think everything Mr. Maxwell has done has been for the best, but this move will keep teachers on their toes, doing their jobs. We still must always remember, however, that teachers can't do it all themselves.

Victor Henderson

Glen Burnie

In my 33 years of teaching in Annapolis, we have always had the same problem. No one has ever addressed it until the No Child Left Behind law helped to expose it.

More than any other school in our county, Annapolis High has had a hard-core group of disenfranchised children who have refused to "buy into the system" no matter what we have attempted. They have absolutely no regard for the educational setting, either inside the classroom or out in the halls, and they are chronically absent or suspended.

The school system has wasted thousands of dollars and precious hours of manpower chasing them down and documenting their destructive, self-centered behavior on stacks of office referrals. It appears the school board's solution to the problem was to hire twice the number of administrators at Annapolis to relieve the stress level of our original staff.

As a horticulturist, Mr. Maxwell should know better than anyone that in order to maintain a healthy garden, you have to pull out the weeds and add the correct amounts of fertilizer. His predecessors have added all the needed ingredients for a healthy school, but have lacked the courage needed to remove the destructive weeds. By Mr. Maxwell's recent actions, he not only left the weeds intact, he also removed the very gardeners who have dedicated their lives to serving the children of Annapolis High School.

My solution is simple: Keep our wonderful principal and his hard-working staff. Keep our dedicated faculty. Remove the disruptive individuals from our school right now, and I promise that Annapolis High School will make the grade this year, and will do it with flying colors.

Neill G. Russell

Queenstown

The writer is a science teacher at Annapolis High School.

If the answer as to why students at Annapolis High School are not achieving at levels required is that the staff is not competent, the solution is simple: Take the best school in the county and transfer the staff, principal, assistant principals, teachers, counselors, etc., to Annapolis High School. Would that make any difference? No, it wouldn't. The students' problems would be the same.

It's not as though students would flock to Annapolis High from feeder schools with higher test scores, or parents of Annapolis students would begin caring about their children's education (not to say that many don't care). The need for proper nutrition wouldn't be solved, nor would all of the community issues leading to the disturbances in the school.

Does anyone think that there will be a long line of people waiting to work at Annapolis High School, with kids who have numerous issues and difficult problems? Who will apply for these jobs?

The Annapolis High School teachers are working their hearts out, doing the best they can. Give them the resources to succeed instead of making threats to their livelihood.

Maybe the superintendent could reapply for his job.

Jonathan L. Jacobson

Ruxton

The writer is a retired teacher and administrator in the Baltimore school system.

Instead of the staff at Annapolis High School being forced to reapply, why don't the parents and children have to reapply for the chance to receive a free public education?

When we have people risking their lives to travel to America so that their kids can get an education to better themselves, and people who grow up here spurn that chance, something is terribly wrong.

We are so quick to blame the staff at the schools instead of the culture and the families. As the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Let's attack the problem where it really lies - in the home.

Susan O'Connell

Baltimore

Copyright © 2021, The Baltimore Sun, a Baltimore Sun Media Group publication | Place an Ad
72°