Math

I'm part of the new "get lost" generation of folks over 65 that many are complaining will financially destroy our fragile economy ("Aging out of health care?" Jan. 19). I know that I'm old and that math has never been my strength, but writer Lisa Pevtzow used the figure $49 billion a year to describe the cost of Medicare coverage for the 45 million old folks of my generation. Forty-nine billion dollars divided by 45 million people equals a little more than $1,080 per person.

Towson University will receive $2 million in state and private grant funds to start a new program designed to increase production of math and science teachers. The initiative will be based on the 15-year-old UTeach program, which more than doubled the output of math and science teachers at the University of Texas in Austin and is widely regarded as a model for training teachers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. UTeach offers financial incentives for math, science and computer science majors to train and enter the workforce as teachers.

"It's not 10 cents a drink" screams the red bordered headline of a page-wide ad on the front page of Wednesday's sports section. The ad, placed by opponents of a proposed increase in alcohol taxes, illustrates its point by stating that the price of a 24 bottles of beer would increase $2.41. Assuming that the math-challenged copywriter graduated from a Maryland school, he or she made a clear-cut case for increased education funding. And 10 cents a drink is fine by me. Charles C. Yoder, Baltimore

One hundred Baltimore city teachers have been labeled "model teachers" under the new Baltimore Teachers Union contract, the city school system announced last week, marking a milestone in the slow-paced implementation of the pact ratified in fall 2010. The teachers, who have undergone a grueling application process since last year, will receive a hefty pay increase of between $15,000 and $20,000 under the new contract, which is designed around pay-for-performance and a new career ladder.  The pinnacle of the career ladder is to become a "lead" teacher, and the contract stipulates that there will be only one in every school.

We have more roads and more cars since the gas tax was last raised 20 years ago when cars were getting 15 to 20 miles per gallon but now are getting 30 to 40. Thus, more cars, more roads, and only half the tax coming in. And what revenue is coming in is worth less than what the same 23 cents was worth 20 years ago because of inflation. Although it's popular to be against taxes, an educated public understands that we need government to provide for the common good. And that includes good roads.

Students applying to the state university system will have to have four math courses and will be required to take math their last year in high school under new admissions requirements passed Friday by regents. The requirements, which will take effect for those starting ninth grade in 2011, passed unanimously after a spirited debate in which several regents and university presidents questioned whether the standards would be the best fit for all students. Skeptics expressed particular concern about students who reach a high level of math early in high school and want to try other subjects as seniors.

If “The Voice” was the NCAA Final Four, my bracket would be looking pretty clutch right about now. If we didn't have enough numbers, during the season finale of “The Biggest Loser,” what with pounds lost, body weight percentage lost, etc., etc., NBC producers must have thought their audience simply wasn't getting enough math in their lives , because, oh Lordy, there was math Tuesday night. After Monday's show, coaches were asked to split 100 points between their two semi-finalists.

Regarding your editorial "Expanding access to care" (Aug. 16), I will be anxiously watching for your future editorials giving us some of the details of how 350,000 Maryland residents will be added to the roles of the medically insured, at apparently little or no cost to them, while the state realizes cost savings of $850 million. A. J. Colyer, Bel Air

I don't have a problem with paying for The Sun's online version, but the way the paper is going about charging for online access does not make sense. It's going to be $49.99 for 26 weeks, or $99.98 per year. But for any level print subscriber it's just $29.99 a year. You can get a weekend print subscription for just 99 cents a week or $51.48 per year. $51.48 plus $29.99 equals $81.47. So its almost 20 bucks cheaper to get just the weekend paper and the online daily. What a waste!

Pointers Run Elementary first-grader Nicholas Taber logged onto the First In Math online program recently and demonstrated his prowess for problem-solving, quickly accumulating electronic award stickers for correct answers. Then his math teacher, Patty Jannetti, stopped him long enough to get a printout of where he ranked among elementary school students across the country who collect stickers on the program. As it turned out, Nicholas, who has been playing the game since October, was first at First in Math, ranking at the top of the list with 32,132 stickers, nearly 11,000 points ahead of a second-place player from California.

If “The Voice” was the NCAA Final Four, my bracket would be looking pretty clutch right about now. If we didn't have enough numbers, during the season finale of “The Biggest Loser,” what with pounds lost, body weight percentage lost, etc., etc., NBC producers must have thought their audience simply wasn't getting enough math in their lives , because, oh Lordy, there was math Tuesday night. After Monday's show, coaches were asked to split 100 points between their two semi-finalists.

Harriett Ann Colder, a reading specialist who established a remedial education company that helped students with English, math and reading, died Tuesdayof multiple organ failure at Howard County General Hospital. The longtime Ellicott City resident was 74. The former Harriett Ann Orth, who went by Ann, was born in Baltimore and raised in Towson. After graduating from Towson High School in 1955, she earned her bachelor's degree from what is now Towson University in 1959. In the early 1960s, she earned a master's degree in remedial reading and diagnosis of learning disabilities from Loyola College of Maryland.

Baltimore MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blakeis asking the City Council to grant generous property tax breaks for the developers of the long-stalled Superblock project on the west side of downtown, calling it a linchpin of her long-term strategy to grow the city's revenue base and increase its population by 10,000 families over the next decade. That may be overstating the impact of any one project, and it is bound to revive a long-simmering debate about the value and wisdom of the city's practice of providing tax incentives to big developers.

A mathematics educator whose students have consistently scored among the highest in Baltimore and Maryland on state assessments was named the city's 2012 Teacher of the Year. Bradley Nornhold, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at the high-performing charter school KIPP Ujima Village Academy, was surprised with the honor Wednesday by a visit to his classroom — which immediately erupted in cheers — from city schools CEO Andrés Alonso. Alonso called Nornhold a "tremendous educator," saying that he was told that to watch Nornhold teach is "like magic.

We have more roads and more cars since the gas tax was last raised 20 years ago when cars were getting 15 to 20 miles per gallon but now are getting 30 to 40. Thus, more cars, more roads, and only half the tax coming in. And what revenue is coming in is worth less than what the same 23 cents was worth 20 years ago because of inflation. Although it's popular to be against taxes, an educated public understands that we need government to provide for the common good. And that includes good roads.

In D.C., Chief Cathy L. Lanier is getting some heat for what the Washington Post reports is a "statistical mishmash" regarding the Metropolitan Police Department's sparkling homicide clearance rate of 94 percent of its 108 killings. As it turns out, many of the closed cases are from previous years: In Baltimore, this revelation is not new or surprising, but it's worth reminding the public how the process works. First, here's some snippets from the Post article: A 94 percent closure rate would mean that detectives solved 102 of them.

David Gertler knows that sometimes you can inspire young people with just one word — especially when it's uttered three times. The Ellicott City resident and Howard County Board of Education candidate says that when it's his turn to take the youngsters in his parent carpool to school, he always drops them off with the words his mother uttered to him as a child: "Learn, learn, learn. " He has learned how infectious the word can be. "One of the kids switched out of the car pool because her mom and dad moved, but I ran into her the other day, and it had been at least three years since I saw her, but she said, 'Mr. Gertler, learn, learn, learn,' " he said.

Harford Community College was recently awarded a $46,690 Developmental Math Course Redesign Grant by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The state is partnering with Complete College America to support the redesign of developmental math courses to improve completion rates at state colleges and universities. Harford's project, Reshaping Classroom Instructional Delivery Mode to Shorten the Developmental Math Course Sequence, focuses on developmental (remedial) math, which can be a major roadblock to student persistence and advancement to college-level math courses.

Harry L. Rosenzweig, an influential mathematics professor who had been chairman of the math department at McDaniel College, died Friday of pancreatic cancer at his Westminster home. He was 72. "Harry was very popular with math majors and, in general, anyone who took a course with him and was willing to work hard had a very positive experience," said Robert P. Boner, a colleague who taught math at what is now McDaniel College for 37 years before retiring in 2007. "He was a demanding teacher but was also was very helpful outside of the classroom with both help and advice," said Dr. Boner.