Nancy Smith to blame for Blandair's problems As has...

Nancy Smith to blame for Blandair's problems

As has been told to supporters of Al Gore, I'd like to say to the people so upset that Nancy Smith's vision for Blandair Farm won't be realized, "You lost, get over it."

It's not pleasant to speak ill of the dead, but Nancy Smith was not some youngster cut down before she could take the necessary legal steps to ensure her vision for her property became a reality. She had decades to do the legal paperwork that would have ensured that what she wanted is what would have happened. Decades.

She never did the paperwork.

If one tries to deduce motives based on actions, you could say her action (or better, inaction) to take the steps to preserve her "vision" may indeed prove that what people claim to be her vision wasn't. Maybe what we see now happening with Blandair Farm is what she wanted to happen, given she never did what was necessary to prevent it from happening.

I'm getting tired of out-of-state carpetbaggers and local hangers-on telling us (and wasting county funds) about Nancy Smith's vision and how we are despoiling the land. She had decades to act and she didn't.

The courts agreed. If the people opposed to public use of Blandair Farm want someone to blame, they need look no farther than Nancy Smith.

John McGing

Columbia

CA leaders unworthy of planning for city

Nine of the CA Council members have been elected for one- or two-year terms, and they commonly believe their primary responsibility is to their constituents in their villages.

One member has recently been overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate in his village. His successful opponent resigned in frustration at the lack of openness and cooperation from the staff. After this resignation, the disowned candidate was appointed to the vacancy by a constituency of two; a village board without a quorum.

Therefore, despite any legal quibbling, none have the moral authority to prescribe for the foreseeable future for approximately 90,000 Columbians. The presumption and inanity of this Council's proposing to write a strategic plan is obvious in the recent history and false starts of the majority of the Council as it presently functions.

This week, Chairman Morrison is quoted as explaining that since CA is a "non-profit" organization, we should not get excited that the RV park is losing $100,000 a year. This is a strange comment from a man who has supported the staff's anguished calls for more income as Columbia is "built out." In the name of more income, the staff has proposed, and the Council has approved, the money-losing horse center, the money-losing golf courses, the money-losing sports park, the money-losing gym with the embarrassing and infantile "towelgate", and the members of the present majority of the council pressed hard for the Key property annexation.

Just when you might think that you had heard the ultimate in wild schemes, the papers now report that Vice President Goldman is proposing that Columbia build a swimming pool in Clarksville. He's as sure that the staff's expertise and experience will see to it that such a project will make money for the "non-profit" CA as he was in the case of all the other white elephants which have increased our budgets, kept the cost of swimming pools high for residents, threatened to increase the rate of our liens and prevented our paying down our approximately $90 million debt.

A council doing its job of oversight should have either kept the staff from such egregious missteps or found more competent staff.

Henry D. Shapiro

Wilde Lake

Article on iPAQs had the facts wrong

I was very displeased with your article "High-tech tool leads to school concerns" (Nov. 11), concerning River Hill and their use of iPAQs.[Generically known as hand-held personal computers, iPAQ is product of Compaq, a computer manufacturer.]

I believe that you were poorly informed and your article was not well-researched. Your article portrays the students at River Hill as using their devices to try to cheat. However, you don't have any proof that students actually are cheating; you were just using information from third-hand sources.

The teachers at River Hill are aware that students are able to cheat with their iPAQs and therefore keep a close eye on their students when they are using them. Many teachers use the iPAQs for class discussions as opposed to using them for tests and graded assignments.

Another issue you discussed in your article was the use of games during class. Once again you were poorly informed and your accusations are incorrect. Although downloading games is not forbidden, teachers do not tolerate students playing games in class. If a teacher finds out that a student is playing games, they have severe punishments for that student. Some teachers take away the student's iPAQ for an entire week, while others give their students a lunch or after-school detention.