Pros And Cons

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- You know you've thumbed through one of those dog-eared, pink paperbacks searching for your moniker's derivation and deep meaning.Jennifer: Celtic, "white wave."But a new baby-name book has been born, this one lime green and with an attitude: "Puffy, Xena, Quentin, Uma and 10,000 Other Names for Your New Millennium Baby."Jennifer's out. So's Kimberly, Ashley, Matthew and Robert. Also passe: Otherwise sane names spelled weird "that will create a lifetime of headaches for the DMV."

CAMBRIDGE -- With a casino company already interested in this Eastern Shore city, the mayor convened a task force yesterday to study the pros and cons of legalized gambling.Mayor David J. Wooten Jr. said he is "adamantly opposed" to casinos, but wants to hear from a broad cross-section of city residents. "I see [casinos] as something that could alter the landscape of the city and county for a generation," he said. "I want to have as many facts as we can."Officials of Harveys Casino Resorts have told Cambridge officials they want to build a dockside casino and hotel on the Choptank River off U.S. 50.

London. -- "Hell No, We Won't Go" was what the Vietnam war protesters, including the young Bill Clinton, used to chant. Powerful elements of both moral argument and self-preservation were what made it such an effective, and affecting, slogan.Today the same sentiment rules again in President Clinton's America, but without either of those justifications. Those who voice it have no moral arguments with which to sustain their distaste for foreign commitments, nor is their own personal safety or that of their sons at risk, since the country now has a professional, not a conscript-based, military establishment.

Beware, gentlemen. Something is happening to the women in this town. From a distance you may not even notice, but examine that little photo dangling from her key chain and you may discover that someone you love has been . . . glamorized!For the uninitiated, an entire industry has been built to enable women to find that fantasy vixen lurking beneath the Glen Burnie Gopher sweat shirt.It's now possible to find a whole new you, and it only takes several pounds of cosmetics, some fabulous feather accessories and a friend to help pry apart your mascara-coated eyelashes each time you blink.

It never should have come to this. John S. Arnick never should have been put in a position in which he was publicly humiliated. His bid for a District Court judgeship never should have gotten off the ground. But the Schaefer administration fell down badly in the job. So did the state Senate. And the Judicial Nominating Commission.No one apparently had looked into Mr. Arnick's background thoroughly enough to notice the former delegate's occasional denigration of women. No one scrutinized his candidacy for a judgeship carefully enough to realize his appointment would trigger a vociferous public dispute.

Burning trash in Carroll instead of burying it could be a smart decision or a mistake."It's got good points, and it's got bad. You've got to listen to the facts and make your own decision," Westminster Planning and Public Works Director Thomas B. Beyard told 28 people at a League of Women Voters meeting.The Carroll County league invited Mr. Beyard to speak Tuesday night at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center about the pros and cons of using incinerators to dispose of refuse."What's the best way to deal with trash?

Edward G. "Nipper" Schafer, a 63-year-old Rosedale trash hauler, was unanimously chosen last night to fill a seat in the House of Delegates' 7th District left vacant last week by John S. Arnick's elevation to a District Court judgeship.Mr. Schafer's name now will be submitted to Gov. William Donald Schaefer, who has 15 days to appoint him to replace Mr. Arnick. Mr. Schafer was the only person nominated for the seat out of eight candidates presented last night to the county Democratic State Central Committee meeting at the Towson library.

The Columbia Council has acted prudently in its cautious approach toward building a new golf course, especially in light of a private developer's sudden proposal to do the same. This go-slow stance indicates council members may be gaining clarity about their role in the community.That has been a difficult role for the council to decipher given the unusual structure of the Columbia Association, which the council oversees. Part government, part business, the association's split personality has at times alienated it from residents, who are constituents and shareholders by virtue of the lien they pay to the organization.

Chuck Lightening put it this way: "There's a lot of stuff going on." This was after his jump shot gave Towson State a win over Lehigh the other night, and everyone was talking about the collision of pros and cons that the Tigers have become.Talking about their best player, Devin Boyd, injuring his elbow and maybe missing the season. Talking about losing their shot at the NCAA tournament. Talking about an impossible schedule with 10 straight road games.But also talking about the longer view, how far the team has come, winning close to 20 games a year now, attracting layers of talent now, developing this improbable pipeline from the Baltimore city schools.

SAN ANTONIO -- David Wingate formally returned to the San && Antonio Spurs yesterday, saying at a morning news conference that he plans to perform extensive community service in the wake of his recent legal problems.A Howard County rape charge against Wingate, a former Dunbar star, was placed on a "stet" docket last week, meaning the case will be dropped if he has no other trouble with the law in the next year. That allows him to resume his professional career.Another rape charge, in San Antonio, also has been dropped, and a civil suit filed by the alleged victim has been settled out of court.

Beneath the Jones Falls Expressway downtown, Wendell Daniels arched an eyebrow as he mulled over the pros and cons of tearing down a mile-long section of the elevated highway and replacing it with an "urban boulevard." "This is where people travel at," said Daniels, jabbing a finger up at the highway. Daniels, who said he is homeless part of the year, sat alone amid the debris across from the Our Daily Bread soup kitchen, listening to a small radio. "That would put more cars on this street if you tear that down."

The idea of a "war czar" is so peculiar that it's hard to take seriously, but the White House has tapped a decidedly serious officer for the role, a man who seems to have a clear-eyed view of the mess in Iraq. Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute appears to understand that the problems the United States faces there are essentially political ones - violent, but political - and won't be solved simply by the application of more ordnance. His job is to get the Defense and State departments working together, and to identify the chief daily problem every morning and have it solved by afternoon.

Live Better South of the Border in Mexico (Fulcrum; $17.95) You know how it is when you visit a place. You can't help asking yourself what it would be like to live there. Author "Mexico" Mike Nelson has anticipated all the questions. Charts compare costs of living in various regions of Mexico with those in the States and contrast things that cost less in Mexico (property taxes, fresh vegetables, medical care) with those that cost more (gas, cars, postage, electronics). He discusses renting vs. buying a home and describes the pros and cons of living in Mexico's regions.

"Dial-around" long-distance plans promise deep discounts, but with 10-10-this and 10-15-that, trying to figure out which provider is best for calling a particular area can make your head spin. Sorting out that mess is the perfect job for a Web site and, sure enough, someone has built one. It's called 10-10phonerates.com. The site offers information and comparison shopping on the wide range of dial-around providers. Features include consumer alerts when providers try to sneak through higher rates, advice on how to choose a plan and comparisons on intrastate, interstate and international long-distance.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - They still race thoroughbreds at the historic Charles Town horse track. But that isn't what draws thousands of visitors every day to this rural town in the West Virginia panhandle. They come to bet on slots in a facility that has been transformed into a glitzy, Las Vegas-style casino. People arrive by car and bus from Baltimore, the Washington suburbs and elsewhere in the region to try their luck. Last year, they lost $190 million playing slots here. That sum, called the "take," is the money left after players are paid any winnings.

I have an IBM PC with an AMD 333 processor. I installed a DVD-ROM drive that called for system requirements of a Pentium 350 or above. It worked fine for a while, but now when I put a CD in my computer, it locks up. How can I fix my problem? You clearly stepped over the line by purchasing a drive that requires the speed of a 350-megahertz Pentium chip to handle the required data transfers. Your solution is dangerous and requires you to step over another line. I don't know if it is worth it. In brief, you can force your AMD chip to move data faster than its design is supposed to permit by using a dangerous technique known as "overclocking."

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- You know you've thumbed through one of those dog-eared, pink paperbacks searching for your moniker's derivation and deep meaning.Jennifer: Celtic, "white wave."But a new baby-name book has been born, this one lime green and with an attitude: "Puffy, Xena, Quentin, Uma and 10,000 Other Names for Your New Millennium Baby."Jennifer's out. So's Kimberly, Ashley, Matthew and Robert. Also passe: Otherwise sane names spelled weird "that will create a lifetime of headaches for the DMV."

CAMBRIDGE -- With a casino company already interested in this Eastern Shore city, the mayor convened a task force yesterday to study the pros and cons of legalized gambling.Mayor David J. Wooten Jr. said he is "adamantly opposed" to casinos, but wants to hear from a broad cross-section of city residents. "I see [casinos] as something that could alter the landscape of the city and county for a generation," he said. "I want to have as many facts as we can."Officials of Harveys Casino Resorts have told Cambridge officials they want to build a dockside casino and hotel on the Choptank River off U.S. 50.

London. -- "Hell No, We Won't Go" was what the Vietnam war protesters, including the young Bill Clinton, used to chant. Powerful elements of both moral argument and self-preservation were what made it such an effective, and affecting, slogan.Today the same sentiment rules again in President Clinton's America, but without either of those justifications. Those who voice it have no moral arguments with which to sustain their distaste for foreign commitments, nor is their own personal safety or that of their sons at risk, since the country now has a professional, not a conscript-based, military establishment.

Burning trash in Carroll instead of burying it could be a smart decision or a mistake."It's got good points, and it's got bad. You've got to listen to the facts and make your own decision," Westminster Planning and Public Works Director Thomas B. Beyard told 28 people at a League of Women Voters meeting.The Carroll County league invited Mr. Beyard to speak Tuesday night at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center about the pros and cons of using incinerators to dispose of refuse."What's the best way to deal with trash?