Metal Detectors

ANNAPOLIS - Aesthetically, it's a little like putting a Pizza Hut in the Coliseum at Rome. The Maryland State House is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use in the United States, and until now visitors have come and gone pretty much unhampered by undue worries about security. The Continental Congress assembled here without frisking its constituents on Dec. 23, 1783, the day George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the victorious Colonial army.

Baltimore County parents and teachers are understandably uneasy about the safety of their children in the wake of recent back-to-back incidents involving students bringing guns to school. Last week an eighth-grader at Stemmers Run Middle School in Essex allegedly threatened his teacher and classmates with a handgun, and in August a shotgun-wielding Perry Hall High School student seriously injured another student on the first day of school. Several more threats - all, thankfully, false alarms - were made this week.

State leaders, workers in the Annapolis legislative complex and the general public will find tougher security in and around the State House when the General Assembly convenes next month, including metal detectors and electronic identification cards. The new security plan follows recommendations proposed a year ago but deemed unnecessary until the terrorist attacks Sept. 11. The security upgrades around Maryland's top-level government offices are adding $2.8 million to the state budget and will remain in effect year-round.

New security measures for Montana include metal detectors on the Idaho border, wolves trained to sniff out explosives and mandatory checking of guns at the coffee houses.Unabomber alone caused this country more grief than all Libya.Cheer up. Shortnose sturgeon have returned to the upper bay.Q. Where is the watchdog? A. In the doghouse, watching.Pub Date: 4/08/96

Thanks for Susan Reimer 's excellent column on the Perry Hall High School shooter's background ("Failing Bobby," Aug. 30). This was such a tragedy. The greater tragedy is that this young boy has been charged as an adult. Our society lacks humanity when it comes to our children. Rather than more metal detectors, let's provide resources to nurture and foster all our children on their path to adulthood. Lissa Abrams

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has fined Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. $12,500 for violating security procedures at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant near Lusby.The Sept. 13 violation involved a security supervisor who allowed dozens of employees into the plant without a proper search after the supervisor had ordered the alarms on metal detectors turned down because they were malfunctioning.NRC security regulations call for a hands-on search of all people whenever the metal detectors are out of service or not operating properly.

The Baltimore school system is preparing to install metal detectors in any middle and high schools where the community supports use of the devices, officials said yesterday. System officials are surveying principals, staff and parents to see whether any communities want to require students either to pass through a metal detector or to undergo a scan with a hand-held wand. No schools will be forced to install detectors, but schools chief Andres Alonso says he supports giving principals the option if there is community support.

Perhaps the incidents of school violence elsewhere in the past month triggered the spate of violence in and around Baltimore schools last week. Whatever the cause, city school officials are right to examine a number of possible solutions, including metal detectors. Students cannot learn in an atmosphere of fear and unrest. But metal detectors may not be the best answer - and the larger question is how to keep kids safe both inside and outside of school. Many students and parents were concerned at the start of the school year when more than 4,000 students were transferred as some schools were closed or reorganized as a result of underutilization.

Do not be disappointed over the fact that when city school Superintendent Walter G. Amprey talks about the problem of violence among young people today, his prescription is for a searching discussion "values" instead of calls for metal detectors at the schoolyard gate. The violence is already endemic because of what has happened to our values; at least Amprey doesn't pretend that what we need is merely a technical quick fix.The truth is, school violence is not confined to city schools, or schools in poor communities with large minority populations.

Firetruck, SUV collide; 3 dead A city fire ladder truck, responding to a call, collided with a sport utility vehicle, killing three people in the SUV. Giant club might be coming to Block A new club may be coming to The Block, the city's adult entertainment zone, if a proposed deal is approved by the city. Young attacker sentenced A 16-year-old boy was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the attack that left a Patterson Park man in a coma. Schools may get metal detectors The Baltimore school system is considering the installation of metal detectors in middle and high schools.