Having Your Say -- baltimoresun.com

June 18, 2008

When fear of commitment is applied to rear bumper

I never put bumper stickers on my car. Except when I do.

June 17, 2008

This summer, let's try to save the endangered bookworm

Last summer, I flew from Salt Lake City to BWI Marshall Airport and found myself sitting next to two kids from a small town in Utah. Ten-year-old James occupied the seat by the window while his sister Andrea, 8, sat in the middle. The siblings were flying out to visit their father before the coming start of the school year.

June 10, 2008

Time to ban stores from giving away plastic bags

Recently, I took part in a cleanup of Western Run stream in Mount Washington. Dozens of volunteers in boots and gloves waded into and around our local waterway, picking up whatever garbage we could find. While we came upon many interesting objects - including almost enough car parts to build an entire car - the vast majority of the trash we collected consisted of plastic bags and plastic bottles.

May 28, 2008

City should reinstate anonymous-tip gun bounty

If Mayor Sheila Dixon's goal is to get guns off the streets of Baltimore, she should look to the past and reintroduce a gun bounty program similar to the one initiated by Police Commissioner Donald D. Pomerleau in 1974.

May 22, 2008

Why UMBC should welcome ROTC

As an alumnus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, I hope that UMBC will accept an ROTC department on its campus.

May 19, 2008

Baltimore needs help -- not reinvention

Does Baltimore need to be "remade," as some have recently suggested? The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health is on board, insisting that the basic social organization in the city is out of date, that human capital has been stripped away, and that we need to reinvent something (again).

May 15, 2008

Time for moratorium on harvest, sale of female crabs

The harvesting of female crabs is something I could never understand. When I was growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, it was considered taboo to eat a female crab.

May 9, 2008

To the man who called me N-word

You remember? It was a week ago Wednesday, about 7:35 a.m., in Hampden. I was southbound on Falls Road. My car was the fourth vehicle in the left-hand lane, waiting for the light to change at 41st Street. I was a little late meeting my friend Doug at Café Hon for a quick breakfast. The light changed, and the large SUV immediately in front of me (and blocking my view of everything) slowly began to turn onto 41st Street. As I began to accelerate through the intersection, there you were, about 75 feet from the corner - not in the crosswalk - helping three little ones across the street.

May 6, 2008

Light rail becomes heavy burden

Public transportation can and should be a great thing in any city; it just takes a little marketing, a little money and a sincere interest and commitment to customer service.

April 29, 2008

Now it's your turn to boost city

William P. Carey's decision to leave the bulk of his estate to a foundation dedicated to reinvigorating Baltimore's economy represents a unique opportunity for Baltimore to move forward. All who love Baltimore should respond by asking themselves how they can contribute to the tasks necessary to realize Mr. Carey's visionary and generous dream.

April 24, 2008

End brutality behind bars

While awaiting trial nearly three years ago, Raymond Smoot was beaten to death by correctional officers at Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Facility. His death prompted an FBI investigation, City Council hearings and a bill to create a prison violence task force.

April 21, 2008

City students who run amok have many victims

During my tenure as an art teacher at Waverly Middle School, I was assaulted by students twice. The first time I was assaulted, the student was back in my classroom within two days. I taught in Baltimore for a little over a year, and in that time I received multiple death threats, got injured breaking up fights between students, witnessed numerous riots in the hallways, and never was able to completely teach a full lesson. It became obvious to me that I had no choice but to leave - for my safety, and for my physical and mental health.

April 16, 2008

Red Line summit must focus on the future

On May 10, Baltimore is sponsoring a "summit" to discuss the Red Line - a rail transit project proposed to connect Bayview, Fells Point, downtown, Edmondson Village and Security/Woodlawn. One thinks of a summit as an exclusive affair attended by heads of state and other top officials, but this particular summit is open to everyone - even you and me - so we must wonder whether issues crucial to the city's future will really be addressed.

April 11, 2008

Law requires separate school for students at Ridge Ruxton

Throughout the debate on a proposed addition to the Ridge Ruxton School to relieve overcrowding at Towson-area elementary schools, parents of special-needs children at Ridge Ruxton and the school staff have taken a relatively quiet stand. Many of our opinions have gone unheeded until recently and now need to be aired.

April 7, 2008

Shortchanging teachers has long-term consequences

Baltimore County teachers recently completed a one-day "work to rule" response to the fact that the county is not increasing their salaries to keep pace with inflation. County officials are trying to control spending. They are confronted with a familiar balancing act: how to attract and retain quality teachers, maintain fiscal responsibility and avoid significantly raising taxes in a time of economic uncertainty.