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Commentary
Commentary Ocean City Today Mar. 4, 2022 Page 44 School info bill incredibly dumb
Legislation that would require public school teachers to post their lesson plans online is exactly what Worcester and other counties in the State of Maryland need.
Here’s hoping that the Maryland General Assembly, lopsidedly Democratic though it is, will see the wisdom of this Republican-sponsored measure and push it through.
After all, nothing could be better for the thousands upon thousands of students who fell behind when classroom instruction was shut down because of covid-19 than to have teachers spend more time posting their lesson plans online and less time actually developing, refining and using them.
As Worcester County Public Schools officials observed in this week’s story on the legislation, which is inspired by several conservative think tanks that argue racism wouldn’t exist if we just stopped talking about it so much, it would obligate this county’s 700 teachers to post seven lesson plans a day or thereabouts.
Forget the philosophical and political arguments over critical race theory, the practical aspect of this bill is ... just stupid. When, exactly, are teachers supposed to map out their daily lesson plans and upload them to the school system web?
This assumes, of course, that Worcester’s teachers are actually working during class hours and not short-changing the kids by sneaking out to conspire with each other about what else they might do to disrupt the course of civilization.
Here’s the other problem: there is no precise definition of critical race theory and no specific curriculum. In that respect, it’s as the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said in 1964 when, during a case before the court, he was asked to define pornography: “I know it when I see it.”
Because actual coursework for critical race theory doesn’t exist, at least at this level, the parents and guardians of roughly 7,000 students, along with “concerned citizens,” would be invited to scour lesson plans for evidence of critical race theory teaching based on their “I know it when I see it” individual opinions and interpretations.
Great. Put that on a state level, and anyone can see how that’s going to work out. Incidentally, so much for school boards’ local control.
Ocean City Today
11934 Ocean Gateway, Suite 6, Ocean City, Md. 21842 Phone: 410-723-6397 / Fax: 410-723-6511.
EDITOR ............................................ Stewart Dobson MANAGING EDITOR................................ Lisa Capitelli STAFF WRITERS .................. Greg Ellison, Greg Wehner, ..........................................Jack Chavez, Mallory Panuska ACCOUNT MANAGERS.......... Mary Cooper, Vicki Shrier ..............................................................Amanda Shick CLASSIFIEDS/LEGALS MANAGER .... Nancy MacCubbin SENIOR DESIGNER ................................ Susan Parks GRAPHIC ARTIST .................................... Kelly Brown PUBLISHER........................................ Christine Brown ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ...................... Gini Tufts
REPRINT FROM 2016
PUBLIC EYE The old sleeper pitch
Will major league baseball ever be played again? Does anyone care?
I care, because it looks like I might have to find something else on TV to fall asleep to on a Sunday afternoon. Even though I like baseball, I never make it past the third inning when I’m watching it. Here’s what it sounds like on summer Sundays in our family room, sunroom, or whatever you would call a space occupied by people not put off by the room’s secondary job as a travel destination for dog hair. “It’s the bottom of the third, two outs and no one on, Tampa leads by one ... Mullins digs in at the plate.”
“ZZzzzzzzzzzz, snort, zzzzzzz.”
With any luck, I’ll wake up by the bottom of the ninth so I’ll know who won without having to watch the post-game wrap-up, which is about as exciting to me as a documentary on clothespin art.
This is just an aside, but if my luck holds, I’ll awake without a layer of Cheeto dust or some other essential food’s remains all over my shirt, which is where the metaphorical cookie generally crumbles.
It’s tough to deny that you slept through most of the game when you’re covered with edible evidence pointing to yet another episode of nodding off mid-nibble.
“You slept through that entire game again, didn’t you?” she’ll ask.
“Actually, I did not,” I’ll reply. “I was watching with relaxed eyelids.”
“Oh really? Well, I guess you know why the dog is making that ‘clack, clack’ sound with her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Might it be because she ate half a peanut butter sandwich out of your dangling hand? Could that be it, Mr. Wide-Awake-the-Whole-Time?” That’s a true story, by the way, having occurred several years ago during the pre-Crazy Eddie days (he’s still here, although I’m not sure he knows it). This was the same dog that once lapped up a quart of fried chicken oil and ended up spending the day outside engaged in some truly remarkable activities. You don’t want to know more, although the
By term “crop circles” does come to mind. Stewart Anyway, with the exception of the chicken oil incident, all the other inadvertent feedings Dobson and crumb dustings were baseball’s fault. It is a game of hours interrupted by seconds of brilliance, the infrequency of which put me to sleep somewhere between “low and outside for ball one” and “the wind is swirling in the left field corner.” And yet, here we are facing the prospect of a severely shortened baseball season or no season at all, as greedy owners and greedy players fight over who gets what share of this $10 billion burrito, while the game’s popularity is dropping like a fly ball in a downdraft. Many one-time fans, it turns out, no longer care. Well, I do care. It’s important to my weekend well-being that I have something on TV to fall asleep to, and not much else seems to work as well as baseball. Besides, you can only watch so many Hallmark Channel movies — “Sparks fly when a store clerk discovers the produce manager is a prince” — before even the dogs leave the room and the sandwich is still in your hand when you wake up.
In times of war, arm the ladies
Editor,
As a child of the Cold War who learned about WWII listening to family members who lived through it, this whole invasion reeks of the 1930s.
After Afghanistan, it is heartening, and heartbreaking, to see the citizens of Ukraine stand and fight, as well as the call for an International Brigade.
The lesson I am taking from post WWII history is that women must be militarized. If allied aid to Afghanistan had been tied to training women for combat, as is done in countries like Israel, outcomes would have been much different.
Despots such as Putin would think twice if the majority of any population were prepared for battle.
I was educated in the best traditions of the Liberal Arts by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Their founder, believed that the education of women would transform the world, and it has to a point.
We see in Afghanistan that academic education of women is not enough. We women need to be prepared to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with men to protect ourselves, our children, and the homeland.
Men like Hitler, Putin, Kim Jongun, Xi Jinping, put us all at risk and each and every single one of us needs to be prepared to resist.
It appears that there will never be “peace in our time” unless we the people can stand firm against any oppressor. Women and children are not hostages for appeasement.
God Bless America. God Bless Ukraine.
Ellen Willinghan Ocean Pines
Commissioners ignoring bad sportsplex evidence
Editor,
I continue to be puzzled why the majority of Worcester County Commissioners continue to pursue a sports complex.
Their 2017 study pointed out that even after a period of stabilization of three to five years, a taxpayer subsidy of 25 percent would be required to operate the facility. This does not include the cost of land, nor construction costs.
Furthermore, some tournament promoters indicated concerns about the over-saturation of these facilities in the mid-Atlantic region.
The county officials decided to forgo the project, perhaps after their own staff believed the projected economic impact was overly optimistic.
Two years later, the mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Ocean City wanted to push the concept. They paid $49,400 to have a new study conducted. The same consultants were used to provide an update, of sorts.
The latest 2020 study, which the M&CC sat on for nearly two years before it was released, did not refute the concerns of the 2017 study.
In fact, the 2020 study continues to caution about the challenges and threats of competition from regional and national indoor and outdoor sports facilities.
The 2020 study makes it clear that the increase of outdoor sports venues in our region needs to be monitored to prevent market saturation. In the 2020 study, there is no mention that Hagerstown is studying the possibility of a multi-use sports & events facility; nor is there any mention that St. Mary’s County, Maryland is also considering a youth sports tournament complex.
We should note the growth of sports complexes in southern Delaware, particularly the one in Frederica and the two near Georgetown.
A glaring flaw in the 2020 study is that they have put Maryland in the South Atlantic geographic region, when we are in the Middle Atlantic region. The significance of this is that sports participation rates in the south are significantly higher in the south than in our region.
For example, outdoor lacrosse is shown as almost four times as active in the south as in the mid-Atlantic. Outdoor soccer is shown as almost three times as active in the south as in our region.
Another interesting fact is that in the 2020 study, indoor sports participation rates drop noticeably between 2014 and 2018. The only increase shown is cheerleading.
All other sports listed including basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, martial arts and wrestling show a decrease in participation rates. The same occurs in outdoor sports.
From 2014 to 2018, every sport reported including soccer, baseball, softball, football and lacrosse showed a drop in participation rates. Note, these drops occurred before covid.
Regarding proposed outdoor activities, total event days, number of participants and spectators, and total attendee days all drop in 2020 from the 2017 study. It begs the question, Continued on Page 46
Burmese capital falls to Japan 80 years ago
By Peter Ayers Wimbrow III Contributing Writer (March 4, 20222) This week, 80 years ago, the Burmese capital of Rangoon (now Yangon) was captured by the Japanese Fifteenth Army, commanded by Sh jir Iida, after the British had evacuated. At the time, its population was 500,000. Today, it is 10 times that!
Over 50 percent of the city’s population was Indian or South Asian, with only about a third Burmese. The rest were Chinese or English. The British made Rangoon the Burmese capital after their victory in the Third AngloBurmese War, in 1885, and made Burma a province of India until 1937, when the two were separated.
Gen. Iida’s 35,000-man Fifteenth Army had been created on Nov. 9, 1941, specifically to invade and conquer Burma. The Japanese felt it necessary to conquer Burma in order to stop the flow of Lend-Lease material to China through the port of Rangoon and then via the Burma Road.
In order for Gen. Iida’s Fifteenth Army to invade Burma, it would have to cross Thailand. After a brief little war with the Kingdom of Thailand — five hours on Dec. 8 — an agreement was reached on Dec. 14, whereby the Japanese crossed Thailand and, in return, Thailand was allowed a free hand in the Shan States of Burma, and allied itself with Japan and the other Axis countries, going so far as to declare war on the U.S. on Jan. 25, 1942. The assault on Rangoon began in December with bombing attacks, which were defended by the RAF and the American-manned Flying Tigers. Japanese air superiority increased when Japanese forces captured Tavoy (now Dawei) and its airfield. It is a city located in south-eastern Burma, 383 miles southeast of Rangoon, on the northern bank of the Dawei River, about 19 miles from the Andaman Sea.
Gen. Iida’s Fifteenth Army consisted, primarily, of the 33rd and 55th Infantry Divisions, commanded by Shozo Sakurai and Hiroshi Takeuchi. Later, the 18th and 56th Divisions joined Gen. Iida’s Fifteenth Army, bringing the total of Japanese soldiers to 85,000.
On Jan. 15, 1942, lead elements of Gen. Iida’s Fifteenth Army crossed the Thai border into Burma. Four days later, the Japanese captured Tavoy and its airfields. Gen. Takeuchi’s 55th Infantry Division assaulted the city of Moulmein on Jan. 26, 1942, which currently has a population of 250,000 and is the fourth largest in the country. It is located 190 miles southeast of Rangoon.
The 17th Indian Division, commanded by Brig. Gen. Sir John George Smyth, was unable to hold, and after two days withdrew across the Gulf of Martaban by ferry to the Bilin River. After another two days, Gen. Smyth’s Indian Division retreated 30 miles to the Sittang Bridge, which crossed the Sittang River.
Commander-in-Chief Archibald Wavell was taken out of the picture when on the evening of Feb. 10, 1942, he stepped out of his staff car, which had parked near the edge of a pier,
Brigadier General Sir John George Smyth
Continued on Page 47
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Library offers expungement clinic
(March 4, 2022) The Worcester County Library is offering a free expungement clinic in partnership with Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Services, March 8, from 4-6 p.m. at the Ocean City Library, 10003 Coastal Highway.
The event will give those who qualify the opportunity to expunge their criminal record in the state of Maryland with the assistance of an attorney. Clients must qualify for services by meeting income, case type and geographic guidelines.
Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and to bring with them the following: income information for all members of the household; the value of house and car (if own either); and the amounts in checking, savings, and/or investment accounts. Once the required forms are complete, a paralegal and an attorney will guide attendees through the expungement process.
“The library is pleased to offer an event that removes a barrier to employment and job advancement while opening opportunities for a greater array of work choices,” said Adult Program Manager Elena Coelho. “People who have participated tell us that this event relieved stress about work and they feel more confident when applying for jobs.”
Space is limited to 12 individuals. Register at WorcesterLibrary.org under “Events,” or call for assistance.
For more information on this event, contact Coelho at 443-7836164 or ecoelho@worcesterlibrary.org, or call the Ocean City branch at 410-5241818.
The mission of the Worcester County Library is to promote reading, thinking, learning, and the enjoyment of the arts. falling over a seawall and breaking two bones in his back, hospitalizing him in Java for four days.
On Feb. 23, 1942, the Sittang Bridge was blown on orders of Gen. Smyth, after being told by Brig. Gen. Noel Hugh-Jones that his Gurkhas could no longer hold. When the bridge was blown, at 5:30 a.m., twothirds of the division were trapped on the other side and had to cross the river without their equipment.
Within two days, anyone who could was leaving Rangoon. On March 1, 1942, Gen. Smyth was replaced by Maj. Gen. David Cowan.
With the Japanese closing in on Rangoon, the decision was made on March 6, 1942 to abandon the city.
Two days earlier, Sir Harold Alexander had arrived to take control of the situation. He canceled the withdrawal and ordered all available armor to head for the city.
Allied forces destroyed the port, the oil terminal, and £11,000,000 of the Burmah Oil Company’s assets on March 7.
Continued from Page 45 have the majority of county commissioners even read the latest study?
In conclusion, the M&CC had a survey conducted in 2021 to determine tourist interests and feedback. When asked what attractions and activities did one partake in their most recent trip, the combined category of “Trade show or sports tournament” scored lowest in answers.
Only 7 percent of the respondents took part in that combined category out of 11 categories listed. That statistic may forecast volumes!
I look forward to a public hearing on the sports complex so that county residents can weigh in on this important project. Vincent dePaul Gisriel Jr. Ocean City
