Letters To The Editor

Blackwater project a menace to the bay

I am glad to see some organizational opposition to the Blackwater Resort project from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation ("Building plan stirs opposition," Jan. 27).

Although I agree with Cambridge Mayor Cleveland Rippons that a better time for its opposition would have been earlier in the process, I say: Better late than never.

And I can't imagine why Mr. Rippons sees "no rationale why the governor should intervene" to stop the plan.

While proponents of the development do not think the governor should ignore nearly three years of county and city zoning decisions, they should not ignore the inherent value of our state's dwindling natural heritage and Chesapeake Bay water quality.

Changing the official designation of the area from a "resource conservation area" to an "intensely developed area" does not diminish the importance of existing wetlands, critical wildlife habitat and open space that has been there for the area for longer than Maryland has been a state.

The county and city's approval of this mega-development will affect resources treasured not just at a local level but by people across the state.

That is why the governor should intervene.

Leslie Adler-Ivanbrook

Lutherville

No excuse for hiring dirty campaigner

I was shocked, dismayed and disappointed to read "Giantslayer on the way to Md." (Jan. 27).

What could Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his crew have been thinking when they hired Bo Harmon as political director of the governor's re-election campaign?

And, oh, the excuses they offered to explain that choice.

When my children were younger and offered similar excuses for bad behavior, I dismissed them out of hand.

Susan Shankroff

Towson

Israel's occupation prompted attacks

The Sun's chart on the "History of Hamas" (Jan. 27) might make one think that all those Hamas suicide attacks came out of nowhere - i.e., that they were random acts of violence perpetrated against Israelis for no reason at all.

What the chart does not reflect are the many attacks by Israelis against Palestinians during the same period. It mentions only the few in which Hamas leaders were killed, as if those were the only Palestinians killed by Israelis during this period (1987 to the present).

However, during the period covered by the chart, at least three times as many Palestinians have been killed by Israelis as vice versa.

Why is this significant fact often overlooked in the U.S. mainstream media?

One cannot comprehend Palestinian suicide bombings unless they are put in the context of the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and the overwhelming violence perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.

Joanne Heisel

Columbia

Cut off all U.S. aid until Hamas recants

The president has come out very clearly in calling Hamas a terrorist organization, and he gave us hope when he stated that this country will not recognize or help terrorist states or groups ("Bush noncommittal on U.S. cooperation," Jan. 27).

Let us hope he now will follow up by holding back any further money earmarked for the Palestine Authority until Hamas puts away all its weapons and recognizes Israel as a permanent state.

Donald Sussman

Owings Mills

Alito poses threat to checks, balances

America cannot afford to have Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the Supreme Court ("As vote nears, Democrats split on Alito filibuster," Jan. 28).

Judge Alito's history of endorsing unchecked power for the executive branch sends the clear signal that he would support the administration's illegal wiretapping actions.

If he is confirmed, our system of checks and balances and our constitutional liberties will be endangered for decades.

Robert Wirtz

Baltimore

Drug firms' gifts mar objectivity

We applaud the new recommendations to ban drug company gifts in academic medical centers ("Doctors call for reforms," Jan. 25).

As future physicians, we believe it is our duty to uphold the highest standards of our chosen profession.

A ban on all gifts from drug companies is sorely needed to maintain our objectivity and foster trust in the doctor-patient relationship.

The American Medical Student Association, the nation's largest and oldest organization of physicians-in-training, has called for a comprehensive ban on such gifts since 2002, a pledge we have upheld in our nascent careers.

We call on all physicians to join the medical students, in forgoing gifts from the drug companies.

There simply is no role for marketing masquerading as education when our patients' lives are at stake.

Leana S. Wen

Dr. Chris McCoy Reston, Va.

The writers are, respectively, the president and the legislative affairs director of the American Medical Student Association.

Teaching hospitals should set example

The Sun's article "Doctors call for reforms" (Jan. 25) exemplifies the problems medical professionals face when academic medical centers do not have strict guidelines for dealing with the pharmaceutical industry.