Pay Attention

It was long, it was loud, and it was very hot, but this year's HFStival, at the Raven's PSINet Stadium yesterday, was worth it. Not only was the music generally marvelous, but the sound and staging were superb.With a total of 29 acts on the bill, the HFStival (which was sponsored by the modern rock radio station WHFS) offered more music than any one listener could absorb. Even so, the festival's high points were clearly the two headliners, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Offspring.For the Chili Peppers, HFStival worked almost as a reintroduction.

Why is it a surprise that audience is small for impeachment?You reported ("Rather scolds blase viewers" Jan. 22) Dan Rather's chiding viewers for their apathetic avoidance of TV coverage of the impeachment.Perhaps the venerable news anchor is more preoccupied with rating points than we are with the media's celebration of inanity.Or, perhaps more than he is, we are aware that this is no less a politically motivated event than the first impeachment.We have a history of leaders who lied to us about serious issues that affected health, financial welfare, civil rights and even life itself.

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK, the witching hour for mothers. Do you know where your corkscrew is?If a woman is at home, she is about to start dinner and the kids choose exactly that moment to press all her buttons. If she is walking in the door from work, she must make the transition to home life without taking a breath.A drink can be the elevator down. It is a way to relieve the pressure, to quiet the anxieties, to take the edge off. A way to not mind so much.A woman may have only one drink. And she may have it only at that one chaotic time of day. But she probably fears it, because she fears that it might mean she is an alcoholic, and all of us have been touched in some way by alcoholism.

THE U.S. Senate has put on temporary hold one of the most momentous foreign-policy decisions since the end of the Cold War -- the expansion of NATO to include three former Soviet satellites: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.Yet Americans seem largely unaware of or indifferent to the issue, which the Senate briefly considered last week. Chalk up yet another casualty to the never-ending Clinton scandals. What could allegations of presidential sexual misconduct and obstruction of justice possibly have to do with the debate over NATO expansion?

We would like to hear any solutions your readers may have regarding our 1-year-old grandchild. She now has five teeth. When frustrated, she tries to bite and has sometimes succeeded.Joann QuinnWest Covina, Calif.Try to figure out what's behind the frustration that causes this baby to bite and see if you can eliminate it, Child Life readers and the experts suggest.Although some children this young simply bite on impulse, another frequent cause is an environment that's too rigid."I frequently see adults in power plays telling babies 'no' when it really isn't necessary," says Lorraine Smith, a reader from Raleigh, N.C.Saying "no" often to a young child who needs to touch and explore can indeed cause pent-up frustration, agrees Robin Goldstein, author of "Everyday Parenting, The First Five Years" (Penguin, $7.95)

Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove responded emphatically yesterday to remarks made by Orioles first base coach John Stearns about a play made by Indians right fielder Manny Ramirez on Tuesday.Stearns said after Game 1 that he did not think Ramirez knew Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles was tagging up at third base when Ramirez caught Roberto Alomar's shallow fly ball to right field in the sixth inning of a tie game, but did not throw home to challenge the slow-running catcher."I think John Stearns would do well probably to pay attention to his own club," Hargrove told ESPN before yesterday's game.

Some years ago, when I taught journalism at one of our local universities -- I won't say which one, except that it was located on York Road in the heart of Towson -- I would hand out a questionnaire on the first day of class, asking my future Joseph Pulitzers and Barbara Walterses what they wanted to do for a living when they graduated.Almost none wished to be a newspaper reporter. They hadn't read a newspaper, so why would they want to write for one? What they mostly wanted, at this grand moment of youthful idealism and energy in their lives, was to carve out a career:a)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- ''Do you see any good news about jobs out there? I'd love to hear it!'' said Bill Posey, a member of the Florida House of Representatives, after I had spoken to legislators here about leadership and power and all that. Asked about the greatest domestic problem for future political leaders, I had said: ''Finding a moral equivalent of work.''What do we do if there is not enough work to go around in a country and a democracy built on the work ethic, where self-esteem is rooted in what you do and how much you make?

"It's hard to believe that after 28 years we'd be talking about divorce," says Maureen, 48, a tiny, soft-spoken woman. For most of those years, Maureen devoted herself to her family: She and Nat have eight biological children and four adopted, though only the youngest two are at home now. "I've always had tremendous energy, I don't need a lot of sleep and, more than anything, I love -- and am very good at -- being a mother."Maureen can't put her finger on when the problems first started: Over the years, she got more and more engrossed in the children, Nat got engrossed in his job as vice president of a large metallurgy company, and they grew further apart.

Most classes have one -- the student who won't pay attention to the teacher, and who wants everyone else to pay attention to him.Now imagine a whole school of those students, mixed in with troublemakers who have been kicked out of their schools for fighting, vandalism, truancy or even carrying a weapon.Welcome to the Alternative Program of Carroll County public schools, a stopover where students spend anywhere from a few weeks to the rest of the year, until they are ready to try again in their own schools.

Attention, elected officials: In case you haven't been paying attention for the past 35 years - you know, since Agnew's time - here's a little refresher course on avoiding scandal and ruin. It's a public service - a list of dos and don'ts, but mostly don'ts, that will help you avoid needless stress, embarrassment, astronomical legal bills and concerns about indictment as you enjoy healthy and rewarding careers in service to your constituents. Most of you already know this stuff, but it has become obvious in recent days that some need a remedial course.

CASTINE, Maine -- Being a good citizen these days, we're told, means striving to reduce our carbon footprint - to walk in a way that reduces our detrimental effect on the planet's biosphere. A "footprint" is a good metaphor for our individual impact on the social or natural environment. It's personal, tactile, organic, and immediately comprehensible. It's elementary. We're bipeds; we all walk and leave tracks. At my school, the students in sixth-grade science class can calculate the size of their carbon footprint with an online tool - based on heating fuel, car type and annual mileage, electricity use, and other factors.

The NFL wants you to pay attention to a lot of things - its regular season and playoffs, the free agency soap opera and every aspect of the draft, to name a few. But there are also things the league would prefer you not pay attention to, and high on that list right now is a swelling chorus of dismay being voiced by some retired players. They're unhappy with many aspects of their treatment by both the league and the NFL Players Association, citing such issues as a relatively poor pension plan and inadequate health care for needy retired players whose ailments trace to their playing days.

The Orioles signed reliever Scott Williamson to a one-year contract Nov. 30, hoping he could primarily work the middle innings and provide insurance for later because of his experience as a closer. He split last season between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres and underwent another surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow. Williamson was named the National League's Rookie of the Year in 1999 with the Cincinnati Reds after going 12-7 with 19 saves, and made 10 starts the following year.

Before the members of the House of Representatives had even begun their three days' worth of soliloquies on Iraq, President Bush declared that he didn't plan to pay attention. That's his right, no doubt, and it's certainly not unprecedented. There's plenty that he's chosen not to pay attention to since he moved into the Oval Office - as the perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in its own peculiar way, helps to illustrate, because it gets back to the way the White House reacted to evidence that there might not be weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

On the Ravens' Jamal Lewis Anyone who thinks that Jamal isn't getting it done needs to pay attention and watch [Sunday's] game again. He was gouging that defense. Not great, but he has been effective enough to keep the hounds off McNair and to sustain some clock-eating drives when we needed them. He is adequate. He is no longer dominant or a beast or shredding or any superlative that you would like to use to describe him.

Lost amid last week's political deluge in Washington was a ray of actual good news coming out of the White House -- and a storm warning for Maryland's leadership. President Bush decided to lift his Sept. 8 order that had allowed federal contractors repairing the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina to pay their workers lower-than-average wages. Under the Davis-Bacon Act, such contractors are normally required to pay the prevailing local wage. But Mr. Bush chose to suspend that requirement for the storm-damaged sections of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi to help the region.

NEW YORK - Inside Half King, a bar in Chelsea that fancies itself an after-hours hangout for literary scenesters, Dan Peres listens like a guy in search of the next story idea. The editor in chief of Details magazine turns from the Australian actress he's dating and listens to a co-worker who is saying that men always used to grope her when she worked in a bar. Is it true, the editor of the trendy men's magazine wants to know, do men really still grab cocktail waitresses? Over their drinks, someone else describes parachuting from an airplane, and Peres interjects again, asking if skydiving can cure a fear of heights.

It's the British Open, part two, this week. This year, the majors, in reality, are the Masters and three British opens. The U.S. Open was played at Shinnecock Hills and the PGA Championship is set for August at Whistling Straits - both links-style courses, reminiscent of the kind of layouts made famous in the "auld country." In the middle is the actual British Open, which will begin Thursday at Royal Troon in Scotland. This is the real deal, as the game makes its annual return to its roots.

CHICAGO -- In March 2002, the American Civil Liberties Union wanted the House of Representatives to pass a bill banning employment discrimination against gays. So it ran radio ads in the Illinois district of Speaker Dennis Hastert, who was running for re-election, urging him to bring it up for a vote. Addressing the speaker, the ads asked, "What will it be? Protecting workers from discrimination or more delays?" The ads got the ACLU nothing: Mr. Hastert ignored the demand. But if the law in effect today had been around then, the ad would have gotten the ACLU worse than nothing.