Bears

The Wall Street Journal over the weekend used Baltimore and the world-renowned Maryland Shock Trauma Center as the setting for a story saying hospital statistics show gun violence nationwide was “soaring,” and that a continuing national decline in homicides in spite of this trend was improved trauma care. The article doesn't go into city-specific data. But at least in Baltimore, those findings go against most every measure of crime available, and indeed Shock Trauma's own statistics.

Morgan State football coach Donald Hill-Eley said he might soon be out of a job after he accidentally received an e-mail earlier this week outlining the university's plans to seek his replacement. Hill-Eley, who has led the Bears to a 54-69 record in 11 seasons, said he hadn't heard anything official from the university as of Friday despite receiving the e-mail on Tuesday evening. "I don't know what's going on," Hill-Eley said when reached on his cell phone. A university spokesman said he had no immediate comment about Hill-Eley's status.

The national debate over legalizing marijuana should be guided as much as possible by facts ("Stirring the pot," Nov. 12). Although marijuana is listed by the DEA as a "Schedule 1" drug - the same category as heroin - the notion that cannabis is as dangerous as heroin is false. There is no scientific or medical evidence that supports lumping together marijuana and heroin. The 1972 decision to label marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug was heavily influenced by political considerations and was opposed by the American Medical Association.

Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley stood outside his team's locker room late Saturday afternoon wearing the look of a frustrated coach, and it was easy to understand why. The Bears moved the ball well and often played good defense in their season finale, but a bunch of poorly timed mistakes helped Hampton escape, 27-17, in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference matchup at Hughes Stadium.The game originally was scheduled to be played at Yankee Stadium but...

Morgan State vs. Hampton At Yankee Stadium, New York Saturday, 3p.m. Radio: 88.9FM Norfolk State wasted little time taking advantage of Morgan State turnovers Saturday. The Spartans needed just seven plays and less than two minutes in the first half to score their first 27 points off four turnovers, including an interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Deon King, on their way to a 30-0 win at Dick Price Stadium. On the opening possession, defensive lineman Cameron Jude sacked Bears quarterback Robert Council and caused him to fumble.

Morgan State watched Bethune-Cookman start to unravel early in the second quarter of Saturday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference matchup even though the Wildcats had a three-point lead at the time. After defensive back Dion Hanks was ejected for striking a Morgan State player, Wildcats coach Brian Jenkins was also kicked out of the game seconds later for berating the officials. The NCAA does not officially track ejections, but at least three NCAA representatives said Jenkins could be the first head football coach ever ejected from a game.

With an increase in the number of permits given out and a record number of bears killed during last month's five-day Maryland black bear hunt came another high mark - arrests made for illegal baiting and other violations. According to the Natural Resources Police, 22 hunters were arrested. While it represented more than five times the number of hunters arrested last year (four) and double the number from 2010, it is only 2.5 percent of the number of hunters who were either issued permits or had sub-permits.

Why did Thomas Schaller leave out John F. Kennedy as one of the rich and politically privileged presidents in his recent column on President Obama's humble origins ("The virtues of a president with humble origins," Oct. 31)? First, we know nothing about Mr. Obama's early life. Who paid for his education and financed his early political career? Second, most of our early presidents were well off and served out of a sense of duty as statesmen, not as professional politicians whose only job is to be re-elected.

Before WWII, a large number of people were against America's involvement in the wars in Europe and Asia. After Pearl Harbor, however, that argument disappeared, and virtually everyone got involved. Sons of rich families enlisted. The Kennedys, for example, lost a son and a daughter and of course, Jack Kennedy was seriously injured. Movie stars like Jimmy Stewart and sports figures all joined ordinary people in the fight. Those at home sacrificed by needing coupons to buy meat, sugar, flour and many other things.

After 14 hours of watching Sandy storm coverage, I am convinced that no one deserves more praise than the reporters and camerapersons on the ground in places like Ocean City. I know in these snarky, all-you-need-is-irony, postmodern times, lots of folks, including some journalists who should know better, like to make fun of TV reporters standing in high winds and driving rain or snow to report on a storm. I could not disagree more. The image of a correspondent being pounded by the elements is as crystal-clear an objective correlative for the core role of journalism as I can imagine.