Limits

Twenty years after officials in Maryland and the rest of the Chesapeake Bay region launched a campaign to sharply limit pollution that is choking life out of the giant estuary, those curbs are starting to have an impact. Voluntary goals to reduce chemical nutrients washing into the bay from a variety of sources are now federal mandates to reach those limits and maintain them. As a result, fast-growing Cecil County fears a resulting cap on its sewage treatment capacity will mean the county can't accommodate as much new development as it expects in designated growth areas and can't stop sprawl from heading into the rural countryside.

The Lima (Ohio) News said in an editorial Wednesday:ASUPREME Court decision last week is being hailed as a victory for people who are infected by the HIV virus that causes AIDS. But the 5-4 decision, stating that HIV is a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, is another in an endless string of federal "civil rights" expansions that undermine our individual freedoms and personal choices.When the ADA was being debated in Congress, supporters emphasized it was limited in scope, and was needed mainly to assure access to public facilities by handicapped people.

Your recent article about the difficulty college students have at campus mental health centers should be mailed to Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association ("Students struggle for mental health services," March 8). Mr. LaPierre contends that all gun-control laws are ineffective and that the problem of gun violence can be solved simply by helping those with mental health problems. Yet the young woman in your article who tried to get help at the counseling center at the University of Maryland were turned away because the center, like so many others across the country, is understaffed and underfunded.

John Cena put away Brock Lesnar at Sunday's Extreme Rules pay-per-view, but now he must fight the hired gun's boss himself next month. In the closing scene of Raw, General Manager John Laurinaitis threw Cena a curveball. Laurinaitis told Cena his opponent for Over the Limit would be announced at the end of the show. But while Lord Tensai and his henchman surrounded Cena, Laurinaitis clubbed Cena from behind and announced that he would face the WWE's top superstar at the pay-per-view himself.

CAPITALISM is a great tool for human progress, but Germany is proving the free market is too free.German companies have been prime contributors to Iraq's military complex, including its abilities to manufacture chemical weapons and its progress toward building nuclear weapons.But we can't be smug or self-righteous about this. The U.S. supported Iraq in its long war against Iran, overlooked its use of chemical weapons and urged other Arab nations to help finance Iraq. And our nation has supported terrorism that suits our national purposes and profited by weapons sales that aid our balance-of-trade deficit problem.

New restrictions on recreational and commercial crabbing take effect today, the first day of crabbing season.The most important change limits recreational crabbing for personal consumption to the hours between 5:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Chesapeake Bay and from 5:30 a.m. until sunset in rivers and creeks, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Crabbing from docks, piers, bridges and the shoreline is allowed around the clock, as before.The daily catch limit for recreational crabbing is now limited to one bushel per person or two bushels per boat, regardless of how many people are aboard.

Don't roll out the bandwagon just yet, but they are talking again of putting a limit on the terms of members of Congress. As The Sun's Paul West reported last week, if the anti-government lust falters and they can't throw all the rascals out in next fall's election, there appears to be increasing sentiment for at least putting a cap on how long they can do their rascality. The idea has of course come up before, and each time the Washington legislative establishment has flicked it off its shoulder.

WASHINGTON -- One of the obvious evils in today's politics is the ability of wealthy individuals to buy elections, or at least make a serious try. We have seen the attempt on the national level with presidential candidates Ross Perot and Steve Forbes and on the state level with folks like Al Checchi and Michael Huffington in California. They all failed, but in the process they raised the bar so high in what it takes to run a competitive race that some very qualified candidates have been forced to the sidelines.

A fixed income and unsteady stride can't take the shopper out of Annina Lang.Ms. Lang, who has epilepsy and lives at Keswick Multi-Care Center, has loved clothes all her life. Now, though, she has more time and less money to spend looking for them. That means she sets strict limits -- no more than 50 cents for a secondhand sweater -- and devotes as long as a year hunting for, say, the perfect pair of blue jeans.The only fashion concession she's made to her illness is often forgoing her beloved high heels in favor of more sensible shoes.

The Manchester Planning and Zoning Commission is considering whether to place time limits on its approvals of developments, to reduce the number of developments that have been approved but languish, unbuilt, for months or years.If time limits were enacted, commission approvals would expire after a set period, perhaps 12 months or 18 months.Miriam DePalmer, Manchester's assistant zoning administrator, suggested the limits to the commission.The town already places a one-year limit on approvals of site plansfor commercial developments, she said.