"To the Clear Spring person who opinioned that the public education system needs to reassess the need to continue teaching outdated courses such as algebra, physics and history. May I offer the following comments. I did not have the opportunity to attend college in the early '50s. I did have to take these courses back then while attending high school and in retrospect I was glad that I had the opportunity to do so. I subsequently enlisted in the Navy and was thankful to have had a basic understanding and proficiency in both algebra, trig and physics. These proved to be very useful in my Navy career first as an electronics technician, then into subsequent management level positions within the Navy Department during a 40-plus- year career."
- Waynesboro, Pa
"In response to the person who said moving out of Boonsboro would not help matters any, that I would be back in a few years after moving, that is false. My neighbor moved out five years ago when development started coming in, and they moved to Sandy Hook, overlooking a river, and they're sure that there won't be any developments around their house. They are so happy that they would never move back into Boonsboro again."
- Boonsboro
"I just saw in the paper where Waynesboro just got an Applebee's restaurant in their town. It would be really nice if Boonsboro would get one also."
- Boonsboro
"This goes out to the caller on Monday, Jan. 8, complaining about the cow man articles. Take a look around and look at all the farmers that are disappearing. Those articles are important to be put in the paper. They're our food."
- Hagerstown
"This concerns the speeders on I-81 through Maryland. My suggestion is: Raise the speed limit to 70 from the Pennsylvania line to the Virginia line."
- Hagerstown
"This is to the person from Sharpsburg who was hollering about us old people getting Social Security raises should pay a little bit on our light bill. We pay our light bill - all of it. We got a little raise, yes, but they took it out of Medicare and our medical care prescriptions, so we really lost. We didn't get anything. If you're a young person, you're gonna get old one of these days just like us if you live long enough. There's no sense in downing us older people. We lived our life, paid our taxes. It's time for us to live a little bit of life that we got left."
- Hagerstown
"I think President Bush is doing a fine job, and he's doing the right thing by sending more troops to Iraq. He should have done this a long time ago. He needs to take out the terrorists that's in Iran, because that's where most of them is coming from to begin with. We also need for the mainstream media to be a little more responsible and not so much of a defeatist, as they'd like to see the U.S. lose this war."
- Boonsboro
"I'm reading in tonight's paper that Sharpsburg Little League will hold registration, and that it costs $20 for the first player, $15 for the second player, and so forth; the third player is free. Someone please explain to me why parents of these children have to pay for these children to play. They have sponsors, they have concession stands. There's no way these children should have to pay to play ball, whether they can afford it or not."
- Williamsport
"Thirty or 40 years ago, I voted on the city power plant, and I would like to know why it was never enacted."
- Hagerstown
"I've been reading Mail Call for a long time, and I think you should change the name to 'Stupid Comments Made with Little Information.'"
- Hagerstown
"Regarding the caller from Clear Spring who wants to reduce the requirements for graduation, that is called 'dumbing down,'"
- Hagerstown
"Dear Miss Clear Spring: I want to inform you that Washington County doesn't need to lower its education requirements for students, but to rise their requirements, since Washington County is lagging behind. What we need to do instead is to provide a better educational system so students are better prepared for a four year university and college."
- Hagerstown
