Letters
‘Storyville’ library project in Rosedale gathering steam
To: Editor, Times-Herald
From: Jeffrey Smith,
Board Member
Foundation for Baltimore County Public Library
As your Feb. 9 article titled “Rosedale Library ‘Storyville’ becoming less of a fairy tale” notes, thanks to a number of Baltimore County legislators in Annapolis, a wonderful new library project is moving closer to becoming reality.
Legislation has been introduced in both the State Senate and the House of Delegates which, if passed, will grant $250,000 to the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Baltimore County Public Library Inc. for the construction of the Storyville Children’s Learning Center at the Rosedale Public Library.
The Storyville project is a hands-on learning opportunity for young children in the Baltimore County Public Library service area.
This free, museum-like service will encourage children and caregivers in the greater Baltimore area to explore the interactive exhibits featured in a unique townscape. The townscape will feature a variety of innovative activity areas such as: a baby garden consisting of manipulative toys, mobiles, and board books, a fully stocked children’s library, a theatre, complete with changeable marquee, costumes, and props, and other unique play and learning areas. Appropriate reading materials will be placed at each learning area for children at different reading levels.
Funds from this bond bill will be added to money that has been raised by the Foundation for the Baltimore County Public Library from private sources and individuals to cover the construction costs. We need strong support from the public at-large for these state funds to be dedicated to the Storyville project.
Please contact your state elected officials, and tell them you fully support SB 264/HB 360, which would dedicated $250,000 to help complete Storyville. For additional details, please look at the “Legislative Alert” on the front page of the BCPL website www.bcpl.info.
Together, we can all help Storyville become more than just a great idea!!
Death penalty is a deterrent
To: Editor, Times-Herald
From: Delegate Joe Boteler
Eighth Legislative District
Maryland House of Delegates
My office has received dozens of phone calls and email messages about the effort to repeal Maryland’s death penalty.
The two most prominent bills are sponsored by Sen. Lisa Gladden and Delegate Sandy Rosenberg, both Baltimore City Democrats. Their legislation would replace Maryland’s death penalty with life without parole. Gov. Martin O’Malley recently said he supports ending the death penalty, giving the legislation a strong likelihood to pass.
I want the citizens of the Eighth Legislative District to know that I will strongly fight this legislation. I do not agree with those who say the death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crime.
In fact, where the death penalty has been applied, there has been a significant drop in violent crime. According to one analysis from Texas, which executes more murderers than any other state, the murder rate dropped by 60 percent between 1991 and 1999 when the death penalty was applied.
I hear a lot of legislators speak about how criminals deserve rehabilitation. But who speaks for the victims?
For people who value public safety, there is no substitute for capital punishment. It not only forever bars the murderer from killing again, but it also prevents parole boards from giving him the chance to repeat his crime.
What do developers have against trees?
To: Editor, Times-Herald
From: Michael A. Trush
Kingsville
Have you noticed when a development goes in the mature trees come out?
This past Tuesday, Feb. 13, as I was driving on Forge Road where the Forge Reserve development is starting, I noticed a front loader pawing at the branches of a magnificent tree at the edge of the property.
On Thursday, I noticed not only this tree, but all mature trees on this property had been bulldozed over and lying on the ground.
Why?
Can’t developers work around these magnificent specimens instead of removing them indiscriminately? Don’t they think that maybe, just maybe, that the individuals buying a house here might appreciate a mature tree on their lot.
I know the developer will plant some trees to replace the ones they ripped out, but they are not the same as those removed. Besides, in this time when we hear some much about global warming, don’t we realize that it is the plants that remove the carbon dioxide which contributes to this problem?
Indiscriminate tree removal is going on around the world, which is one of the reasons we’ve gotten into the fix we’re in. Remember the old adage: think globally, but act locally. So come on developers, show some respect.
Popular vote not popular
To: Editor, Times-Herald
From: Chuck Marks
Perry Hall
H.L. Mencken once commented, “Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.”
Those eight members of the Maryland House of Delegates who have sponsored House Bill 148 would do well to examine the fierce debate that preceded the compromise, which lead to the enactment of the electoral college in article II of the federal constitution.
If they had their way, regardless of how Marylanders voted by popular vote in presidential elections, our 10 electoral votes would be cast for the candidate who won the nationwide popular vote - not always consistent with the voters of “the free state.”
In essence, a candidate for the highest office in the land would only need to concentrate on several large populated states that, by themselves, could elect the next president. That was a great concern of the founding fathers.
To balance the situation, they opted for a representative electoral college that would be balanced in the same manner as the two branches of Congress … a house of representatives based on population and a senate where the smaller states would be equal to their brethren. The theme of American government is that we are a republic, and not a pure democracy.
Mencken was correct in that “giving every man a vote does not make them wise.” The election of a president can be no less the election of an individual who is concerned with all its citizens, and not only those who rule by numerical might.
The founding fathers devised a method of electing presidents that has seen us safely through the years. The general assembly “8” should not tamper with something that is not broken.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:37 am
Dear Sir,
Defenders of the Electoral College never point out its true origins or purpose. They argue that the Electoral College exists 1) because “we are a republic and not a democracy.” Actually the Electoral College is not a device of a democracy or a republic, but of an elective monarchy. In 1257, seven “Electors” sat together as a “Kurfursten” to elect the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. But six centuries earlier, the entire people of Saxony elected their King. The Kurfursten marked the end of Teutonic democracy, not its beginning.
2) The true purpose of the Electoral College in America was to protect slavery as an institution. While the population of Northern and Southern States was equal, the South had 90% of the slaves, sometimes amounting to 50% of the population of some states. Since slaves were legally considered to have no will of their own, they could not vote. Given their proportion and concentration in the South, the Slave States would have lost considerable representation in the house of representatives and in direct votes by the people of the United States for America. A system of “virtual representation” based upon total population (discounted by a ratio of 3 votes for 5 slaves) protected the institution of slavery.
Yours truly,
Gary Michael Coutin, Esquire