Academy Officials

The U.S. Naval Academy is facing a severe shortage of military faculty that some Navy officials say could threaten its ability to train students for life at sea. Post-Cold War cuts in the armed services and a Navy promotions system that fails to reward officers who teach at the academy have thinned the supply of active-duty teachers to worrisome levels, says William C. Miller, a retired rear admiral who is the academy's provost and academic dean....

The Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium would be transformed from a concrete slab surrounded by parking lots into a parklike area with hundreds of trees and a walking trail under a landscaping plan released yesterday by Naval Academy, city and state officials. "It's going to take an area that's probably not as attractive as it should be and make it attractive," said Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton, superintendent of the Naval Academy. The improvements will be the latest stage in a $40 million overhaul of the 43-year-old stadium, which is about a mile from downtown and is home to Navy's football team.

In just nine weeks at the helm of the Naval Academy, Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler has already made waves, vastly cutting back on the free time of midshipmen and insisting that they study three hours a night, attend meals on campus and muster for early-morning formations. A former submarine commander, Fowler has also canceled pep rallies, scaled back incentives for attending football away games and cut extracurricular activities. He has dispensed with the singing of old Navy songs and has hinted that the academy could move away from one of the more beloved programs developed by his predecessor: sailing instruction that was designed as a leadership laboratory.

For almost a century, the most advanced technology in a midshipman's room at the Naval Academy was a clock. No stereos, no televisions. The school's 4,000 dorm rooms are still not wired for phones -- a testament to the institution's desire to minimize distractions. This year, however, more students than ever arrived at the Naval Academy gates with cell phones. And their school-issued personal computers, equipped with the most advanced scholastic technology on the market, offer movies on digital video display (DVD)

Looking out on the future site of a massive field house to be named in his honor, Wesley Brown, the first African-American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, marveled at how much times have changed since he entered the school in 1945. "I couldn't have ever conceived of anything like this," he said yesterday after a groundbreaking ceremony in his honor. "There's a certain euphoria I'm feeling now, and I haven't come back down yet. I guess I haven't had much sleep all week, just thinking about it."

GORDON LOETZ has been named chairman of the Chesapeake Academy Board of Trustees for the 1996-1997 school year.Other officers are Jane Pehlke, president; Anne Schellie, first vice chairman; Pennington Hopkins, second vice chairman, and Patricia McManus, treasurer.General board members include Pamela Anderson, Richard Barnard, Eleanor Davidov, John Dunbar, Fred Graul, Richard Martin, Carl Salbold, Virginia Skiest, Patricia Troy, Fred Bednark, Frances Counihan, Julianne Deger, George Goreyab, Sheila Kendall, George Moran, Ethel Rew, Louise Sivy and Jerry Smith.

As part of the academic aspect of the annual Basketball Academy two major scholarships are awarded to girls and boys participating in the event held last month, the $1,000 James Thomas Hubbard Memorial Scholarship and the $500 Downtown Locker Room Scholarship. Digital Harbor's Kirsten Gaither-McDonald and Lake Clifton's Aaron Parks received the Hubbard scholarships while Aberdeen's Nia Alleyne and St. Frances's Miles Code received the Downtown Locker Room awards. The Hubbard scholarships were created by his family to honor the a senior girl and boy “making the greatest contribution to his or her team in terms of overall excellence in participation, performance and leadership while maintaining a minimum 2.5 GPA.” The Downtownn Locker Room scholarship honors the players with the highest cumulative GPAs one each team in the tournament.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski yesterday questioned top U.S. Naval Academy leaders about why problems with sexual harassment have persisted at their institution despite numerous investigations and recommendations over the past 15 years. "This seems like deja vu all over again," Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said at a meeting of the academy's Board of Visitors, a supervisory group made up of members of Congress and presidential appointees. Citing a 1990 incident in which a woman midshipman was handcuffed to a urinal and photographed by male mids, Mikulski asked the academy to review how past recommendations have been implemented, and which attempts to make the academy a more hospitable place for women have worked better than others.

A fire last night damaged the on-campus house of the U.S. Naval Academy's chief public affairs officer, who discovered the smoldering blaze after returning with his family from a fireworks display.Capt. Thomas J. Jurkowsky, his wife, Sally, and their two daughters arrived at the home on Upshur Road on the academy grounds just after 10 p.m. Jurkowsky, 49, walked into the house and smelled smoke, according to neighbors. He warned others not to go inside."No one was hurt," said Jean Martini, who lives next door to the house on the north end of the Annapolis campus.

A federal grand jury in Baltimore indicted a former public works officer with the U.S. Naval Academy yesterday on charges that he used his position to ensure favorable treatment of an Annapolis-area contractor in return for more than $20,000 in cash and merchandise.James E. Weston, 47, a retired Navy captain who lives in Henderson, Nev., was charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and five counts of bribery in the 14-page indictment. The seven charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.