Women

Freedom Green is a full-time mom with four young children and a husband whose job has him working 20-hour days. That is why she runs. "There are times when I need to get away, so that I don't flip out," says Green, 40, of Owings Mills. "I don't want to pour that negative energy on my kids. Running is mom's multivitamin, a way to alleviate stress. "Any day that I get to run, they [children] could be hanging from the chandelier in the front foyer, and I wouldn't care. " Of the 25,822 participants signed up for the Baltimore Running Festival's four prime races on Saturday, 61 percent are women, up from 44 percent in 2003.

It is hard for me to celebrate the news that women will now be permitted to serve in combat roles. I am pleased for the women in the military who will not have their paths to promotion blocked by artificial limits. Women are, in fact, in harm's way in Afghanistan and other hot spots, and they deserve whatever rewards come with that. And I agree with retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught, who told Gail Collins of The New York Times, "I think people have come to the sensible conclusion that you can't say a woman's life is more valuable than a man's life.

Women make up a smaller share of board directors at Maryland companies than they do at corporations nationally, although they continue to gain ground as directors in the state, a report out Thursday shows. The report from Network 2000, a statewide nonprofit advocacy group, shows that women held 9.2 percent of the 772 corporate board seats available at Maryland-based public companies in 2009. Nationally, women held 15.2 percent of board seats, according to the annual census of women on corporate boards.

It is one thing to hire a few women to work in your administration as a governor so that you look good when you run for president. That is called political correctness. It is quite another thing to foster legislation, policies and public opinion for equal pay, equal health care and equal career opportunity in the work place. That is called presidential leadership. I believe that President Obama has provided the leadership for our nation. Once again I believe that Mr. Romney has provided mostly for himself.

Letter writer John Rutkowski has a right to his views, but his comments on Gary Trudeau's comic strip were infuriating and disgusting ("Idiotic 'Doonesbury' strip on abortion insults readers," March 20). First, Mr. Trudeau's comic strips on the Texas abortion law were satirical, humorous and right on the mark. Would Mr. Rutkowski like a government-mandated, invasive "wanding" of his internal parts? I think not. Second, to compare Mr. Trudeau's wonderful artistic talent to Howard Stern's crude objectification and denigration of women is completely off the mark.

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulskiwill have a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention, aides said Wednesday. The Maryland Democrat, who this year became the longest-serving woman in congressional history, will lead a program highlighting the record 12 women running this year for Senate. “In this historic election, with more Democratic women running for Senate at one time than ever before, we have a tremendous opportunity to elect women and hold the Senate for Democrats,” Mikulski said in a statement.

In response ro Dana Ely's letter "Multiculturalism trumps feminism when the two clash," I want to stand up and be counted as a 67-years-young resident of Columbia who does not believe that Sharia has a place in the Columbia Association or any other public forum in the United States. Practicing one's faith and beliefs is personal. In this country we recognize women as equal to men and demand to be treated no differently. If someone feels they cannot conform to that standard that came to women after a century of working toward equality, they need to find an activity other than swimming.

The sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team saw its Northeast Conference tournament run come to an end with a 63-56 defeat at the hands of top-seeded Quinnipiac in the semifinals Wednesday night at the TD Bank Sports Center. Jacqueline Brewer hit a career-best six 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 20 points for the Mount.  The Mount (15-16), playing in the NEC semifinals for the first time since 2001, led 34-29 at halftime. Quinnipiac (29-2) increased its lead to six points with six minutes to go in the game before a layup by Rachel Mathews and Brewer's sixth 3-pointer cut the Mount's deficit to 53-52.

Kudos for Susan Reimer 's excellent commentary on the availability of contraceptives for women ("In birth control debate, where are the women's voices?" Feb. 16). It amazes me that those who would be least affected - or not affected at all - have raised the most objections. President Obama has demonstrated his support for women's rights and equality. It is time for the rest of us to support this very important health concern for all women. Ms. Reimer made that point quite clearly.

The first Women of the World-Baltimore Festival drew about 1,700 people to the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall during the three-day run that ended Sunday. An additional 1,000 patrons attended a concert Saturday night featuring singer Mary Chapin Carpenter and comedienne Rain Pryor. Modeled after the Women of the World-London festival held in 2011, WOW Baltimore was organized by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Marin Alsop, to celebrate achievements by women in a wide range of fields.