I Agree

They're the million-dollar properties with the 10-cent price tags.Look at 'em, up there on Druid Park Lake Drive: these poor, dumb, deserted, cancerous buildings, with ghosts clanking through their dusty interiors and windows smashed and trash lying in the weeds out front and, surrounding much of it, iron fences with barbed wire across the top.Somebody ought to be ashamed - but who?Try standing there, at Druid Park Lake Drive on either side of Linden Avenue, and imagine living on some of this property.

A Howard County teen-ager who boycotted classes over her right to wear an African-style head-wrap returned to her Columbia school this week without the head covering -- but offered no explanation for her change of heart.Shermia Isaacs, 14, unexpectedly arrived at Harper's Choice Middle School on Monday and attended classes that day and yesterday without incident, the principal said yesterday. Shermia's attendance ends county-funded home instruction she received -- at the request of Howard's school superintendent -- that, if continued through year's end, would have cost about $1,000.

SAN DIEGO -- Ravens owner Art Modell had it right Thursday, telling the Rocky Mountain News that the NFL's new $17.6 billion TV deal might have "slammed the door" on publicly financed stadiums.Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen probably didn't want to hear it, but Modell was in a unique position to lock the gates, seeing as how his own publicly financed PSL palace is nearing completion at Camden Yards."I agree with what [Dallas Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones said. This TV contract makes teams a lot less reliant on other forms of revenue," Modell said.

Some way to celebrate the city's 200thTo honor the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Baltimore, our mayor has closed the Baltimore City Life Museums, two Pratt Library branches and several recreation centers.What an innovative way to celebrate!We might even make it into the Guinness Book of Records.And all of this is happening in a year when, according to a Sun editorial Sept. 19, city tax collections are ''way up.'' It boggles the mind.Margaret H. YaffeBaltimoreSome 'precedent' for public employeesPeter Jay, in his column of Sept.

Gun laws do more harm than goodI agree with Fred David (Forum, Feb. 28) that lenient sentencing guidelines set by Maryland Sentencing Guidelines Advisory Board send wrong messages to criminals. We need tougher guidelines.I differ with him when it comes to forcing honest citizens to submit to illegal and prohibitive gun ownership regulations.Mr. Davis implies certain recently banned firearms ''have little sporting use . . .'' The Second Amendment is not about ''sporting." It was written so people would have the means to protect their rights.

Important IssuesI agree that "it is ridiculous that with all our problems we have a controversy raging over the Confederate flag" (letter, Walton Windsor, Nov. 21). Let's first remember that we live in the United States of America.In America, we are all free to do what we please as long as we do not cause harm in others. I can understand where some Americans of African descent may be offended by the Confederate battle flag.Those same people must understand why some Caucasian Americans might be offended by the movie "Malcolm X," or by allegations that the Black Panthers were honorable and patriotic.

Olesker NeighborsMichael Olesker and The Baltimore Sun staff have written several articles about Louis DePazzo which imply that he is racist because he objects to the Moving to Opportunity program.I know Lou DePazzo as a person who cares about his constituents, and there is nothing racist about him or his opinions.The liberal mentality of Mr. Olesker suggests that if you oppose a government giveaway program, then you must be a racist.This is common among liberals who live to use the "R" word against anyone who opposes their ideas about social engineering.

WASHINGTON -- In this age of political correctness and ever-present television cameras, most politicians are vanilla. But Edwin W. Edwards has always been Tabasco sauce.In four terms as governor of Louisiana, the Cajun Democrat demonstrated that a politician could be often unconventional and sometimes outrageous and still survive. When he announced his retirement the other day, politics suddenly became a less interesting business.The stories about Edwards the gambler are legion -- the governor flying to Las Vegas with $100,000 in cash in a suitcase to pay off a casino where he had been through a bad run of luck; the governor presiding over high-stakes poker games in the executive mansion in Baton Rouge and, just this year, the governor paying taxes on more than $300,000 of gambling winnings last year.

In a legal settlement with a twist, Rhode Island Gov. Bruce Sundlun has acknowledged that he is the father of a Michigan teen-ager, agreed to pay her college costs and invited her to spend July at his Newport, R.I., estate.Mr. Sundlun announced the out-of-court settlement of the paternity suit that was filed against him last week with his daughter, Kara Hewes, standing beaming at his side during a televised news conference yesterday in Providence."I think the important thing is not to look back," the 73-year-old chief executive told reporters.

Philadelphia -- It should not surprise anyone that though Malcolm X has been dead for more than a quarter-century, his impact on black life in American continues to pulsate. The latest source of controversy surrounding Malcolm is the battle being waged between the film director Spike Lee and a legion of critics.Chief among those concerned about Mr. Lee's film is the poet, author and playwright Amiri Baraka.Mr. Baraka is being a bit unfair when he argues that the African-American community is not going to allow Mr. Lee to ''trash'' the image and memory of Malcolm X ''to make middle-class Negroes sleep easier.