The forfeiting managers were correct in their decision not to compete, especially those who arrived at their designated game with no prior warning that males would be competing.
Consider the legal liability where absent parents permit their daughters to compete in a girls' tournament, only to have them injured in a coed game.
It's unfortunate that racism is used as such a convenient excuse whenever there is disagreement that is obviously not race-related.
As a role model for her young players, Ms. Evans leaves much to be desired and is certainly sending them the wrong message, i.e. "Grab a competitive advantage, then cry racism when challenged!"
Don Imwold.
Lutherville.
Zeros, Zeros, a Trillion Zeros
Editor: In his article, "Galloping Zeros" (Opinion * Commentary, July 31), Harry London listed every dollar figure mentioned in the The Sun, July 18, beginning with 12 figures (a billion).
While most people have a vague concept of how much a billion dollars is (the price of a modern-day bomber), did you ever wonder how to relate to the next level, a trillion? Better yet, how can one imagine what $3.5 trillion, the national debt, really represents?
Well, 10 one-dollar bills are one-sixteenth of an inch high, 160 one-dollar bills are 1 inch high, 1,920 one-dollar bills are 1 foot high, and 10 million one-dollar bills are 1 mile high. Because the moon is 225,000 miles from the earth, a pile of $3.5 trillion one-dollar bills would reach to the moon and half-way back again.
To paraphrase the late Sen. Everett Dirksen, ''A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you get into some real money.''
eon Reinstein. Baltimore.
Another Crime
Editor: Ted Wolf died instantly. He never had a chance. By all accounts, he was a decent, gentle man.
His killer was given two trials -- one to determine guilt, the other to determine the appropriate sentence. At the sentencing phase, the killer was allowed to have his family give a heart-wrenching plea for his life. Ted Wolf's widow did not get a chance to speak. She was allowed to have a victim impact statement read to the jury; however, she would not have been allowed this, had it not been for a very active Supreme Court which had reversed a previous decision. The killer's life was spared. By all accounts he had made an obscene gesture to Mrs. Wolf during the guilt phase of the trial. The jury did not learn of this.
To death penalty opponents, this is justice. To me, it is absurd. Equally absurd is the fact that a death sentence would have meant an endless series of appeals. Mrs. Wolf would have walked her grandchildren to kindergarten before her husband's murderer walked to a gas chamber.
A few years ago, we saw a circus-like atmosphere in Florida when a brutal murderer was finally executed. At that time, I was wavering on the issue of the death penalty after many years of staunch opposition. I found the circus atmosphere repulsive. I still do. However, equally repulsive is the gross imbalance that exists in death penalty law.
The death penalty is an extreme remedy. It deserves extreme safeguards. The safeguards that exist, however, must also balance the interest of the victims. Corporal Wolf had as much chance in the circuit court as he did that day on I-95. It was another crime.
#Dennis George Olver. Baltimore.
A Senator's Constituency
Editor: This is in response to a recent letter criticizing Sen. Barbara Mikulski for accepting out-of-state campaign contributions in preparation for her 1992 re-election campaign. Senator Mikulski has said that as one of only two women in the U.S. Senate, and the only Democratic woman, she has a nationwide constituency.
I agree with this point of view completely. Most voters do not realize the detrimental impact of the substantial gender gap that exists in the Senate, a legislative body implementing laws affecting women nationwide.
It was only recently, and due largely to Senator Mikulski's outstanding leadership, that equity in federal funding for research into women's health issues has gained national attention. Until Senator Mikulski introduced several bills that comprise what is known as the Women's Health Equity Act, few Americans realized that the majority of medical studies are conducted using entirely male subjects with little justification for excluding women. In addition, little federal money had been spent on research into illnesses affecting women, for instance breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Now, Congress is beginning to insist that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spend more money on research into women's health. Senator Mikulski has been an effective voice for women's health issues and gender equity in research in the Senate.
A senate that has more women members advancing issues of importance to women, including women's health issues, legislation to prevent acts of violence against women and to fund battered women's shelters and rape crisis centers, defend and expand reproductive rights, work for pay equity and comparable worth, and address the need for decent child care and elderly care to name a few, is crucial if women are to continue to progress as we have in the past twenty years.
Senators represent women in all 50 states. Senator Mikulski represents not only Maryland women but, ultimately, women in Pennsylvania, Utah, Louisiana and other states and territories.
I do not believe that Maryland voters, particularly Maryland women, realize what a valuable asset we have in Senator Mikulski. Voters who are concerned with the advancement of women must work to elect more women to all levels of government, especially the U.S. Senate.
% Tammy S. Nevaker. Millersville.
