Category: OPINION

I am approaching another City College class reunion. It has been 50 years since I along with all the other young men of the Class of 1963 graduated from the 33rd and Alameda “Castle on the Hill.” It will be my second class reunion; the first one I attended was the 30th reunion in 1993. […]

When bombs went off at the Boston Marathon on April 15, three people, one an 8-year-old boy, were tragically killed and over 160 were wounded. As a result, there was an urgent need for a national emergency response of the federal government, Massachusetts state government, and local officials in Boston and surrounding cities. Almost immediately, […]

I am a certified news junkie, but even I had to step away from the oversaturated media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings. Anyone who has covered crimes on a smaller scale than the twin explosions in Boston knows that investigators don’t have instant answers for everything and it’s ridiculous to think that in a […]

The other day, I listened to a professor’s class discussion about the phenomenon of African Americans acting or talking “White.” “Moving topic,” I thought. To her credit, the professor deftly engaged the students, ensuring that each cultural perspective represented had its say. I listened intently as students relayed their experiences regarding this issue. A series […]

There has been much discussion about the big picture items in President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal 2014. If the devil is in the details, as politicians like to say, some parts of Obama’s budget will mean hell for some needy citizens. Before getting into the details, let’s talk approach. As I have often said, […]

High-quality public education is critically important to America’s future, and we are falling behind globally. On the standardized tests administered every three years by the Program for International Student Assessment, American school students finished 25th in math, 17th in science and 12th in reading among all industrialized countries. This worrying discrepancy, as well as national […]

I Need Help! My dilemma lies in understanding the interpretation and reaction of our lawmakers and some citizens to the First and Second Amendments of the Bill of Rights. In the 18th century, freedom of speech was limited to word of mouth and the written word which took a long time to reach its destination. Now we […]

In our national conversations about equality and justice in America, we have too often avoided the conversation about the realities of women and mothers in the workforce. This is particularly odd given that women comprise half of the entire paid labor force, three-quarters of moms are now in the labor force, and most families now […]

In the Baltimore region, and across America, job growth remains the most important issue on people’s minds. That is why job creation continues to be my number one priority in the Congress. We have evidence that our economy is improving. It also remains painfully clear, however, that we have many more good jobs to create, […]