Rating System

Insurance bias: city driving at suburban ratesI must take issue with the letters submitted by Messrs. Bishop and Kelly ("It depends on where you live", Forum, Dec. 27) defending the territorial-rating system for setting auto insurance rates, which in its current form discriminates against those of us who live in cities such as Baltimore.This rating system, based solely on the location of the owner's residence, fails to take into account the primary use of almost all privately owned cars, which is commuting to work.

PRESIDENT CLINTON has signed sweeping, new telecommunications law that requires manufacturers to include in any new televisions a computer chip that will allow parents automatically to block out programs that have been rated for violence, sex or bad language.The four major networks, CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, have begun talks and are rushing to establish that rating system before the government does it for them.And entertainment industry representatives will travel to the White House next week to be scolded by the president for their collective assault on our sensibilities.

A few weeks ago, a friend had a cable jack installed in his bedroom, then slowly went bananas trying to get his TV to work properly. No matter what he tried, it would always skip some channels. Naturally, he blamed the cable company, which responded by dispatching a young technician to check out the signal and the new wall jack. Nothing wrong with either one. Then the lad had an inspiration: He pressed the setup button on the remote control, inspected an on-screen menu and pronounced the problem solved.

NEW YORK -- After years of resisting as censorship any attempt to regulate the content of television programs, the four broadcast networks are seeking to establish their own ratings system, similar to the Motion Picture Association of America's code for movies.In meetings this week in New York and Los Angeles, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox have been discussing a system that would allow them to assuage growing public objections to the violence and sexual content of some television programs and hold onto advertisers without jeopardizing the networks' long-standing argument that ratings constitute censorship.

One month down, and five to go. April is about to be a memory, and that gives baseball fans just five short months left to enjoy the season. A lot of things can happen between now and the end of September. Albert Pujols could go in a slump; the Orioles could find a stable stable of middle relievers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays prospect Delmon Young could play again in 2006. Or not. Plenty of surprising story lines have emerged in the first month, as they always do. Whether teams and players will keep the momentum going, however, is what makes baseball fun all season long.

In what will surely be a continuing shake-up of the news department at WMAR, Channel 2, Drew Berry, assistant news director at Dallas' ABC affiliate, has been named the station's news director.Berry replaces Jack Cahalan, who announced his resignation last month.A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Berry is a former news director for WCAU in Philadelphia. He has also worked at stations in New York, Atlanta, New Orleans and San Antonio."Drew is a seasoned journalist and a leader in news," WMAR vice president and general manager Steven Gigliotti said in a prepared statement.

Commissioner still has say in insurance ratesYour Oct. 6 article, ''Law change leads to rise in premiums,'' on competitive rating in the insurance industry, contained a few misperceptions that begged for clarification.The headline is incorrect. Premiums change in response to changes in the cost and/or frequency of losses, not, as the article incorrectly implies, because the role of the insurance commissioner has been reduced to a ''formality.''In fact, the commissioner maintains absolute oversight on the competitive rating system.

Meteorologists have invented a mathematical system for scoring Northeast snowstorms on a five-step scale -- like hurricanes. The system threatens to end generations of barstool debates over which half-remembered storms really were the worst. Someday, it might even give forecasters a way to telegraph the severity of storms before the snow flies. The new rankings -- Categories 1 through 5 -- could appear in post-storm assessments as early as this winter, according to Tom Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. That's the nation's repository for weather statistics.

A new information box will accompany this Sunday's review of Family Meal, Bryan Volaggio's new Frederick restaurant. At a glance, you'll be able to see, along with the information we've always provided about hours of operation, prices and location, some additional context that readers have been encouraging us to provide. We are now including notes about parking and reservations as well as, when applicable, about dietary considerations and accommodations for children. We'll also let you know about the noise level.

For 35 years, Maryland has enjoyed a unique exemption from the federal government that allowed it to regulate hospital rates so that patients are charged the same no matter where they seek care. But the system that state health officials say has created an egalitarian way of charging for health care now faces an unprecedented challenge. The state has come dangerously close to failing a test it must meet every three months to keep the exemption, under which the federal government gives Maryland larger Medicare payments than other states.