Zip Code

THE FUTURE of Baltimore will not be decided in fashionable and pricey residential areas along the harbor, but in such blue-collar Northeast neighborhoods as Hamilton, Waltherson and Gardenvlle. For decades, these unpretentious communities of bungalows, cottages, Victorians and rowhouses have been among the city's bedrock neighborhoods. They have been high-voting areas of civic-minded people who have provided a dependable real estate and income tax base. Sadly, all this could change unless those communities are rejuvenated and can attract new residents, particularly homeowners.

Robert Aurand Moon, 83,inventor of the ZIP code, died Wednesday at a nursing center at Leesburg, Fla., after a long illness. Moon started his postal career in the 1940s as a postal inspector in Philadelphia and Chicago. It was about that time that he began working on his idea for a Zoning Improvement Plan. ZIP code numbers first appeared in postal directories July 1, 1963. Harvey R. Ball, 79,inventor of the Smiley Face, died Thursday after a short illness. Ball, who co-owned an advertising and public relations firm in Worcester, Mass.

The ZIP code ties of Brooklyn Park and Orchard Beach to Baltimore will not be dissolved, the U.S. Postal Service has decreed -- but Del. John R. Leopold vows to continue a 15-year quest for a change in their numeric identities. Residents of the Anne Arundel County areas have complained for years about delivery confusion and higher auto insurance rates that they believe result from having a city ZIP. "For some people, it's a petty thing," said Woody Bowen, vice president of the Olde Brooklyn Park Improvement Association, "but try to battle your insurance company ... or direct someone to find your community."

The ZIP code ties of Brooklyn Park and Orchard Beach to Baltimore will not be dissolved, the U.S. Postal Service has decreed - but Del. John R. Leopold vows to continue a 15-year quest for a change in their numeric identities. Residents of the Anne Arundel County areas have complained for years about postally muddled community identity, delivery confusion and higher auto insurance rates that they believe result from having a city ZIP. "For some people, it's a petty thing," said Woody Bowen, vice president of the Olde Brooklyn Park Improvement Association, "but try to battle your insurance company ... or direct someone to find your community."

BROOKLYN PARK and Baltimore, Orchard Beach and Curtis Bay - odd couples, some believe, in sharing cross-border city ZIP codes of 21225 and 21226, respectively. Elected officials from south of the border are continuing efforts to get new ZIP codes for their constituents. The four-member District 31 legislative delegation and County Councilwomen Pamela G. Beidle and Shirley Murphy met recently to discuss the issue with William Neal, manager of customer service programs for the U.S. Postal Service's Baltimore District.

My friend Kelly has been through a lot. In the 10 years I've known her, she's overdosed on diet pills, been badly burned in a house fire, joined a cult, landed in drug rehab, been stalked by a fellow addict, suffered a miscarriage, been shot in the belly, overcome amnesia, called off a marriage to her friend Brandon at the altar, been raped and then shot and killed her attacker. And all by the age of 25. Now I worry that she will make the mistake of marrying the wrong man. In a few days, she must choose between her fiance, Matt, a boring attorney, and her lifelong friend, Dylan, a tortured soul who has been through equal amounts of life trauma.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York Health Department recently published breast cancer rates by ZIP code for the entire state, the first time such widespread mapping of a cancer has been produced in such detail. Not surprisingly, the data show that the highest rates of breast cancer occurred on Long Island, where the disease has become a potent political and public health issue and local survivors' groups have, on their own, pioneered the creation of cancer maps. The department will produce ZIP code maps for other common cancers over the next several months.

A study of Baltimore cancer rates shows that the inner-city neighborhood near Lexington Market has the highest rate in the city, followed by an industrial stretch south of the harbor that includes Wagner's Point and Curtis Bay. The area with the lowest cancer rate was Howard Park in far West Baltimore. Other areas that fared well were Lauraville in East Baltimore, Frankford in Northeast Baltimore and the adjoining neighborhoods of Hampden and Remington in North Baltimore. At first glance, experts who conducted the study said, there is no clear pattern of environmental factors or lifestyle -- such as smoking or diet -- that would explain why some neighborhoods are hit hard and others are not. While many health problems are linked to economic levels, the cancer study did not find a pattern of high rates in the poorer neighborhoods and low rates in wealthier areas.

THE disconcerting thing about shopping on the Internet is the realization that they've got my number. It's not the credit card number I'm so worried about, or the ZIP code. It's that big number that tries to sum up the big me.When you buy anything over the Internet, the computers record information about your consumer habits. Say you purchase books online and order a lot of mystery novels by English authors; the computers grinding at the other end know that you like mysteries. They will tell their boss, and their boss may sell your name to someone else who wants to merchandise mystery board games or mystery weekends at resorts.

AN OLD FRIEND of mine lives in San Francisco, which is a great place to live if you don't mind the Earth splitting open occasionally and buildings collapsing around you.Anyway, Steve called the other day to say that the Bay Area had been hit by another earthquake just before dawn. Apparently, it was a pretty good jolt, too -- 4.1 on the Richter scale.Me, I'm the type of person who gets jittery watching Jell-O quiver in a bowl.If the walls started shaking and I got flung out of bed by an earthquake at 4 in the morning, I'd be knocking back fistfuls of Valium like they were Tic-Tacs.