The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 49

THE SUN SECTION Weather Obituaries Classified THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1985 Baltimore feels arctic wind chill Firm fined $125,000 for violating Md. la on hazardous waste By Albert Sehlstedt Jr. 7 "A very fast-moving shot of cold arctic air" swept into the East yesterday, accompanied by gusts as high A' I'M A' It By Ellen Uzelac Anne Arundel Bureau of The Sun ANNAPOLIS Matlack the largest bulk hauler in the country, pleaded guilty yesterday to violating Maryland's hazardous-waste laws as part of a broad settlement that concludes a nine-month investigation of the company's Anne Arundel County operation. Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Martin A. Wolff imposed the maximum fine of $125,000.

the second-highest ever Imposed for a criminal violation of the state's hazardous-waste laws. He also placed the company on a year's probation. The company, based In Lans-downe, was convicted of storing hazardous wastes without a permit: discharging allyl alcohol Into its waste-water treatment plant; and failing to determine whether wastes generated by its Brooklyn Park terminal were hazardous. Altogether, Matlack pleaded guilty to five charges. In one Instance, a Matlack shipment was characterized on shipping papers as a non-hazardous waste when the company had not actually made such a determination.

The violations occurred at Matlack's truck terminal at 4801 Belle Grove Road between Dec. 1, 1983, and Aug. 5, 1985. Company officials maintained yesterday that none of the violations harmed the environment. One of the incidents occurred In March, the same month that a chemical leak at the terminal forced the evacuation of 1 ,500 nearby residents.

Although the charges weren't directly related to the March 22 spill, they Illustrate the "underlying conditions" that cause such incidents, said Assistant Attorney General James J. Lyko. As part of the settlement, the attorney general's office filed the charges against Matlack yesterday, the same day the company pleaded guilty. The procedure, used before In similar cases, spares the company protracted publicity. Defense attorney David B.

Irwin characterized Matlack as "forward-looking" and "environmentally aware." Mr. Irwin and J. Carlisle Peet III. Matlack's assistant secretary and general counsel, said the company had cooperated fully with the state and that the violations had been substantially corrected. "With any company, there's always the possibility that things may See MATLACK.

16C, Col. 6 Steinberg paid to drop quest for WYST license TX SUWNLUAM Q. HOTZ SR. Baltimore's master blacksmith Rudi Bethke Sr. cools a reshaped jackhammer point in a water trough.

When needed part or tool doesn't exist, city calls on master blacksmith Bethke r-rv 1 i 1 1 'M 1 His shop is adorned with the special wrenches, Industrial hooks, levers and other implements that he has made. With the help of an electrician, he even made a special motorized tool that turns large metal pipes and permits welders and machinists to work on them without having to twist and turn to get to other areas of the pipe. "You have to have a love for the Job you do," said Mr. Bethke. 45.

"That and the pride you take in your work make it all worthwhile. That's satisfaction." 1 City officials are also quite satis-fled with Mr. Bethke's work, especially when they come to him with a task requiring specialized tools that perhaps no one has manufactured before. "He's really amazing," said Edward L. Schelner, superintendent of So 1 3 to Trie SfiHS a i i i 1 rm ByEricSiegel State Senate President Melvln A.

Steinberg and his business partner have given up their four-year battle to wrest away the federal broadcast license of Baltimore radio station WYST-FM in exchange for $400,000 from the station's license-holder. After legal fees and other expenses. Mr. Steinberg said, he and his partner, Baltimore businessman Richard Rynd, stand to realize a profit "in excess of $150,000" from the settlement with United Broadcasting of Bethesda. which operates the station, also known as 92 Star.

The settlement, approved In October by the Federal Communications Commission, paved the way for the FCC's decision last month to grant United a renewal of WYST's license. Mr. Steinberg, who won an initial victory in January when an FCC administrative law Judge ruled that WYST's license should go to his firm. SRW said in an interview that he agreed to the settlement as a "pure business decision" based on the high costs of pursuing the case By Ron Davis Imagine the frustration of trying to repair something when you don't have the right tool or part and don't know where to get it. It happens to everyone sooner or later, even big businesses and municipal governments.

But when It happens to the city of Baltimore, it's usually no sweat. The folks in need Just turn to Rudi Bethke master blacksmith at the city's Central Garage. Mr. Bethke Is not the type of blacksmith that shoes horses. He's the kind who, after years of study and apprenticeship under German masters, can take a piece of metal, put It in his gas-powered forge and hammer, cut and shape it into a finished, customized tool for some very unusual Jobs.

Need to cut up a car wash and as miies an nour and a tempera ture plunge in Baltimore of 14 de grees between morning and mid- aiternoon, the National Weather Service reported. "It's pretty much Widespread over tne mia-Atiantic and northward. from South Carolina into said Don Marierv weather service meteorologist at Baltimore-Washing ton international Airport, in a chill preview of winter's official arrival Saturday. The combination bt falling tern peratures and high winds often made the temperature feel like subzero weather a feeling meteorologists call the wind chill factor, which can be dangerous to people not warmly dressed. "Wind chill causes the body to lose heat faster than cold alone and can have a devastating effect on the unwary," the weather service warned in a December advisory.

"Without proper clothing, a half- hour walk in a 25-mile wind with a minus 1 degree temperature could put you in Jeopardy." said Richard E. Hallgren. head of the National Weather Service. In Baltimore, several hundred homeless people sought refuge in shelters and missions as tempera tures dipped into the teens. A low of 12 was expected in the city, and 5 degrees In the coldest suburbs.

"We should have a large crowd tonight, said Russell Bevan, chaplain of the Helping Up Mission at lp29 E. Baltimore St. "We had over 100 last night Tuesday. "We have 126 beds, but if It goes over that we will be able to bed peo ple down in the chapel," Mr. Bevan See WIND, 8C, Col.

3 How cold will you feel if the temperature is 30 degrees and the wind is blowing at 1 5 mph? See table 8C State moves up its deadline for teachers exam ByKathyLally The Maryland State Board of Education, impatient with the pace of educational change, decided abruptly yesterday to require new teachers to pass the National Teachers Examination beginning in July 1987 instead of July 988. "1 don't think there's any state in the country that has taken as long as us" to Introduce such a requirement, said Frederick K. Schoen-brodt. president of the state board. "I cannot in good conscience support a time schedule; that is almost 2 years in the implementation." State education officials had argued for more time to allow historically black colleges, which have had higher failure rates nationally on the examination, to prepare their students for it.

Requiring the teachers exam has been In the planning stage in Maryland since October 1982. when such a test was recommended by the Maryland Commission on Quality Teaching. The discussion of a test dates to the appointment of the commission in 1981. But for the past year at least, staff members of the State Department of Education have been working under the assumption that it would not be a requirement for teacher certification until 1988. See BOARD, 12C.

Col. 6 MARYLAND The Johns Hopkins University sends two instruments into orbit on today's space shuttle flight to look for possible remnants of radiation from the big bang. 2C A reduction in the proposed budget for Baltimore's Department of Recreation and Parks could force the closing of some city recreation centers as well as some layoffs. 3C Louis Rukeyser, host of Maryland Public Broadcasting's "Wall Street Week," gets his annual salary boosted from $128,000 to $150,000. 30C Indox actuaries 2022C Weather 30C I -V, CITY LIFE ing? How about a few spare parts from scratch for the huge trash-loading trucks? Or maybe some steel Christmas trees to decorate the municipal markets, or a device to divert the flow of water In McKeldin Fountain? They're all Just part of the Job for Mr.

Bethke. He has his own shop at the huge 200.000-square-foot garage on Dick-man Street, complete with a forge and various specialized tools. A vlsl-: tor recently found Mr. Bethke wearing goggles as he stood In front of his forge heating dulled Jackhammer points until they glowed red-hot. Moving to his power hammer.

Mr. Bethke pounded them into sharp points and dipped them into a water trough, sending clouds of steam POKt SE A cone Steve 151 tUm. Sr. Sun V.X 4 reassemble it Inside another build- hissing upward. See CITY LIFE.

4C, Col. 5 Schaef er camp tries to give Sachs fits Blame writing test failure on system, not students TVC SUNROBERT K. HAMLTON MELVIN A. STEINBERG A "pure business decision" coupled with the likelihood that the Judge's ruling on the license would be overturned on appeal. See WYST.

10C. Col. 6 MICHAEL OLESKER Limit hlgh school diplomas. This is a failure rate of roughly 25 percent. In the city of Baltimore, where 5.500 llth-graders took the test.

4.400 failed 1L This is a failure rate of 80 percent And we now have the state superintendent of schools. David W. Hornbeck, seeking to convene a national panel of experts to determine If there are problems with the test. And I am wondering if there is a problem with the test or a problem with all of the tests which preceded the statewide writing test. The truth is.

teachers everywhere do not like to give essay tests. The problem Is not giving them, it is grading them. You have to sit there and pay attention to what some kid Is trying to say. You have to muddle through all of that indecipherable handwriting. Teachers come home at the end of exhausting workdays, during which they have made Just enough money to avoid going on alms, and 1 Who savs William Donald Schaefer doesn't fit? Those television ads Dald for hv the gubernatorial campaign of Attorney General Stephen H.

Sachs ads featuring a child trvlne to Dound a round peg into a square hole surely suggested that. The narrator said that Baltimore's mavor. eood at the -city Job. might not fit so well in me governor omce. Now suDDorters of Mavor Schaef- er's undeclared campaign for gover nor are gieeiuiiy using a wooden puzzle to turn that theme back on Mr.

Sachs. Their message: "Schaefer Fits." At a thank-vou luncheon for Schaefer backers last week, oeonle who sold large blocks of tickets to nis sepi. j.t "Ketiections testimonial received little wooden nuzzles con- sisting of a board with three holes punched through it a circle, a square and a triande. A small wood en piece shaped into a tapered cylinder comes with the puzzle. It is engraved D.

And guess what: The W. D. S. token, when turned different ways, fits through each of the three holes. Etched into the puzzle board Is the inscription: "Schaefer Fits." "It was Just a fun thing." said Robert S.

Hillman. who organized the "ReflecUons" tribute, which grossed nearly SI million. The puzzles cost S5 each, and Mr. Hillman ordered 100. Over in the Sachs camp, no offense was taken.

In fact. Blair Lee IV. Mr. Sachs campaign manager, said. "We couldn't be more pleased" to hear that Schaefer supporters liked the workbench Idea enough to spin off their own version.

"Great. Great." said Jim Dale, vice chairman of W. B. Doner Co. advertising, who created the workbench ad campaign.

Tm flattered. If It focused the opposition's attention. I don't remember writing tests. In all of the years I spent slogging through the Baltimore City public school system, in all of the years of English tests and history tests and all of the years of regurgitating Shakespeare and Mark Twain and J. D.

Salinger, I do not remember many teachers asking us to express ideas. I remember multiple choice tests on Shakespeare. The questions would say: Julius Caesar was stabbed In a) the Roman Colosseum The The Esophagus. In the process of studying for such piffle, all that was lost was a love of language. I remember true-false tests on the Civil War.

And flll-in-the-blank questions that asked you the dates of famous battles. I remember questions from "Silas Marner" and "Catcher in the Rye that asked: Who said this?" And then there would be a list of quotes, and you had to match them up with the char acter who uttered that line. Literature was reduced to filling in the blanks. The history of mankind was a true-false guessing game in which you took a stab and had a 50-50 shot of getting It right But meaning was lost In there somewhere. While looking for the obscure details and worrying how teachers would try to trip us up.

we missed the bigger picture. And something else was lost: the development of writing skill, which Is the ability to think on paper. And this Is bothering me now be cause of these statewide writing tests, which are something of a well-intentioned but misguided disaster. Across the state, we have 13.700 llth-graders who have failed the test, which they must pass by the end of the 12th grade to receive their A Sachs campaign filer and the Schaefer puzzle. that means it was effective.

I'm glad ence to the mayor's renowned tem- It got noticed." per. he asked slyly. "Schaefer fits? Is Mr. Lee listened to a description of the puzzle. Then.

In a clear refer- See PARTIES. 3C, Col. 1 I.