Family Issues

SINCE HIS election in 1981, Republican Sen. F. Vernon Boozer has been a voice of reason, a leader and a conscientious representative of the 9th Legislative District -- a largely rural area of central Baltimore County. Unfortunately, his moderation has made him the target of Republican ideologues who often influence primary elections.They have an aggressive, intelligent candidate in Andrew P. Harris, a Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist running on a hard-right, social issues platform. Dr. Harris charges that the senator is too liberal, but Mr. Boozer has supported many conservative causes, such as stiff penalties for child pornography and registration of convicted child molesters upon release.

Family issues: Helping employees balance the demands of work and family is a bigger concern for small-business owners than it is for top executives of the nation's largest companies, reports KeyCorp, the banking company. In a recent survey, 58 percent of small business owners said work-family issues were a major part of the culture in their companies. That compares with 28 percent of executives at Fortune 1000 firms in 1995 who said these issues were a major part of their business culture.

Selective execs:Quality of life has become a key issue in job negotiations with executives, reports A. T. Kearney Executive Search.The search firm reports that executives more frequently are asking in job negotiations these days about taking their families on business trips with them, being more selective about the communities into which they will move and seeking more freedom to take three- and four-day weekends.And, Kearney says, 25 percent of executive job candidates decline placement at a corporation because of lack of attention to family issues.

The human side: While companies are making great strides when it comes to financially compensating employees who are relocated, they aren't giving enough consideration to the transferees' personal needs, according to Ken Groh of William M. Mercer Inc. in Chicago. Groh says family issues and not money are the biggest problems facing relocating employees. Among them: finding a new job for the worker's spouse, overcoming resistance from the worker's children, moving elderly parents and baby-sitting for younger children.

Family CourtThank you for your March 25 editorial in support of a family court for Maryland.I chaired the subcommittee of the Governor's Task Force on Family Law investigating the need for such a court.I, together with other members of the task force, traveled throughout the state listening to citizens' concerns regarding family law and the process available to them for resolving their issues.We heard repeatedly, and without solicitation, their unhappiness with our present system.The only opposition we heard then, and have ever heard since, has been from judges.

They skipped the ghost stories and old camp songs around the campfire. Instead, the 8-year-old Girl Scouts told tales about their own families as they sat in the deepening twilight."

Seven gubernatorial candidates squared off last night on a host of family issues that ranged from welfare reform to spanking school children, but offered few specific remedies.The candidates, Democrats and Republicans, wrestled with the complex issues of government's role in protecting and providing for children and families, and spurring the state economy with the hope of more and better-paying jobs.The two-hour forum at the University of Maryland Baltimore County was sponsored by the MarylandCommittee for Children Inc., a private, nonprofit advocacy group.

As millions of American parents know by now, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton has a comforting explanation for those moments when a well-adjusted young child suddenly reverts and everything falls apart.Rather than allowing the tantrums and tears to send an entire household into trauma, Dr. Brazelton urges parents to tune in to the child's physical, emotional and mental development. He points to these crises not as failures on the part of a parent or child, but rather as ''touchpoints,'' predictable times in the long journey from utter dependence to self-sufficiency when parents can actually watch a growth spurt begin.

Q. My older sister and I each inherited a half-interest in my mother's house. Because I had lived in the house with my mom, her will allowed me the option to buy out my sister's half-interest. I took the option and reached a compromise price with my sister -- except for one issue.My advisers said the price should be reduced by 6 percent, the cost of a real estate sales commission. It makes sense to me, but my sister has balked. Can you help settle this?A. Sorry, but our advisers side with your sister.