Academy Superintendent

An Annapolis alderwoman and the Anne Arundel chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stepped forward yesterday in support of Lamar Owens Jr., the Navy midshipman recommended for expulsion after being acquitted of rape charges but convicted of two lesser counts. Classie G. Hoyle introduced a non-binding resolution asking that the Naval Academy grant Owens his degree and commission. The alderwoman said she hopes that Navy Assistant Secretary William Navas will take it under consideration as he decides the fate of Owens, whose trial ended in July.

The Navy says it will not punish the Naval Academy's former lawyer, who was accused last year by the Pentagon of interfering with criminal investigations at the academy.Capt. Joseph D. Scranton was the staff judge advocate at the Naval Academy in 1995 and 1996 when the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigated a number of misdeeds by midshipmen, including drug use, car theft, child molestation and homicide.In response to complaints from Navy investigators and Sen. Strom Thurmond, a South Carolina Republican, the Pentagon inspector general launched an investigation into Scranton's role in the investigations.

Six months after his arrival at the helm of the U.S. Naval Academy, Vice Adm. John R. Ryan announced yesterday an ambitious plan to begin seeking private donations for new athletic facilities and other improvements.The money would pay for a new soccer field, a tennis center, upgrades at the sailing center, and possibly a parking garage and some academic improvements. The donations would free up federal funds for more than $300 million in needed repairs and modernizations, especially at academic buildings.

CREATION OF AN outside panel to conduct a broad assessment of the U.S. Naval Academy is a welcome development. Buffeted by a number of scandals -- including drug use, sexual misconduct and car thefts -- the academy's reputation is in need of rehabilitation. A thorough review is an excellent start.As envisioned by the academy's Board of Visitors, military and civilian experts will explore all aspects of academy life, from admissions policies to the treatment of female midshipmen. The assessment should be able to pinpoint problems that need addressing, as well as put to rest misconceptions that the officers' training school has been overrun with irresponsible youth.

The admiral who was in charge of the Naval Academy during the largest cheating scandal in the school's history will retire in November, without a promotion or the command of a fleet."

Bringing Adm. Charles R. Larson back to the U.S. Naval Academy is turning out to be the smartest decision the Navy has made regarding this hallowed but recently troubled institution.Admiral Larson, academy superintendent from 1983 to 1986, was sent back one year ago to clean up a cheating scandal and address the moral deficiencies that caused it -- to make the Naval Academy as truly honorable as it has always purported to be. He quickly put his finger on the problem -- a too lenient atmosphere and lack of emphasis on character development -- and unhesitatingly began cracking down.

James Hill, 75, a British film director whose movies included "Born Free" and a remake of "Black Beauty," died yesterday. The cause was not immediately known. Mr. Hill's best-known film was "Born Free," the story of a game warden in Kenya, George Adamson, and his wife, Joy, who reared three lion cubs. Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers starred in the 1966 release. Other films included "A Study in Terror" in 1965 and the 1971 version of "Black Beauty."William Renwick Smedberg III, 92, a retired vice admiral and former Naval Academy superintendent, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday in Falls Church, Va. Admiral Smedberg, who retired in 1964, was academy superintendent from 1956 to 1958.

A cheating scandal that has harmed the reputation of the U.S. Naval Academy now appears to be threatening the career of its superintendent, Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch.The two-star admiral -- who admitted "failure" in not aggressively pursuing the largest scandal in academy history -- is now being offered two-star assignments rather than the three-star promotion he had hoped to achieve, Navy and Pentagon sources said.Admiral Lynch, 52, a 1964 academy graduate and former Navy football captain, was yearning for a fleet command and is now deciding whether to accept a deputy post or retire from the Navy, sources said.

Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, whose fast rise in the Navy stalled when he presided over the Naval Academy during its largest cheating scandal, has been assigned to a new Pentagon post that will chart the future of the Navy and Marine Corps.The 52-year-old academy superintendent yesterday received his orders to become director of the Navy's roles and missions study group, under the chief of naval operations.The admiral will oversee a staff of 10 that will study will review the types of military operations that may be required in the post Cold War era."

A Navy panel recommended yesterday that 29 senior midshipmen be expelled for their part in the largest cheating scandal in the 149-year history of the U.S. Naval Academy.Forty-two others were recommended for punishments short of expulsion, while another 35 were exonerated of violating the academy's strict honor concept, which states: "Midshipmen are persons of integrity: They do not lie, cheat or steal."In a related move, the Pentagon will recommend today that the White House appoint Adm. Charles R. Larson, commander in chief of U.S. Pacific Forces and a former academy superintendent, as the next superintendent, replacing Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, who is to complete his tour of duty this summer, a Defense Department source said.

Midshipmen are again dipping the American flag before the altar cross at Sunday services at the Naval Academy chapel, restoring a tradition that supporters say shows reverence but that critics say violates the separation of church and state. Chaplains at the academy suspended the practice in October after questions were raised by Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler, who became the superintendent in June. After some congregants and alumni criticized the move, academy officials relented - a move that one critic called "an amazing act of cowardice."

An Annapolis alderwoman and the Anne Arundel chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stepped forward yesterday in support of Lamar Owens Jr., the Navy midshipman recommended for expulsion after being acquitted of rape charges but convicted of two lesser counts. Classie G. Hoyle introduced a non-binding resolution asking that the Naval Academy grant Owens his degree and commission. The alderwoman said she hopes that Navy Assistant Secretary William Navas will take it under consideration as he decides the fate of Owens, whose trial ended in July.

Vice. Adm. Rodney P. Rempt Occupation Naval Academy superintendent In the news In a memo to Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter, Rempt recommended last week the expulsion of Lamar S. Owens Jr., a former standout quarterback who was acquitted in July of raping a female classmate but found guilty on two lesser charges. Career highlights After his 1966 graduation from the academy, Rempt served aboard several ships before commanding the USS Callaghan, a destroyer, and the USS Bunker Hill, a cruiser.

The Anti-Defamation League, arguing that the lunchtime prayer at the U.S. Naval Academy violates the separation of church and state, says it will ask Congress and the secretary of the Navy to stop the practice. The group sent a letter last month to the academy in Annapolis but has received no formal reply, said Myrna Shinbaum, a spokeswoman for the organization devoted to fighting anti-Semitism and other discrimination. "We will continue to make our concerns known through the Armed Services Committee of the Senate and House, as well as with the secretary of the Navy, and continue to raise the issue in the public arena," she said, declining to be more specific.

NEWPORT, R.I. -- As recently as a few weeks ago, Rear Adm. Rodney P. Rempt was telling subordinates at the Naval War College here that he planned to retire this summer. He and his wife, Pam, were building a house in Montana -- far from saltwater. He told colleagues that he would celebrate the end of a 37-year Navy career with a big retirement party in August. But the abrupt resignation two weeks ago of the Naval Academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton, sent senior Navy officials scrambling for a replacement who could restore stability to a school whipsawed by Naughton's leadership style.

When two Naval Academy midshipmen handed in identical naval history term papers, instructor Jessica Huckabey turned the pair in to the academy's honor board and expected both would be expelled. Two years later, the students, both starting football players, have not been expelled, even though the academy's faculty handbook states that cheating will "normally result in separation" from the school. And neither was suspended from the team, despite the academy's history of suspending other athletes for similar offenses.

The Navy says it will not punish the Naval Academy's former lawyer, who was accused last year by the Pentagon of interfering with criminal investigations at the academy.Capt. Joseph D. Scranton was the staff judge advocate at the Naval Academy in 1995 and 1996 when the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigated a number of misdeeds by midshipmen, including drug use, car theft, child molestation and homicide.In response to complaints from Navy investigators and Sen. Strom Thurmond, a South Carolina Republican, the Pentagon inspector general launched an investigation into Scranton's role in the investigations.

Six months after his arrival at the helm of the U.S. Naval Academy, Vice Adm. John R. Ryan announced yesterday an ambitious plan to begin seeking private donations for new athletic facilities and other improvements.The money would pay for a new soccer field, a tennis center, upgrades at the sailing center, and possibly a parking garage and some academic improvements. The donations would free up federal funds for more than $300 million in needed repairs and modernizations, especially at academic buildings.

CREATION OF AN outside panel to conduct a broad assessment of the U.S. Naval Academy is a welcome development. Buffeted by a number of scandals -- including drug use, sexual misconduct and car thefts -- the academy's reputation is in need of rehabilitation. A thorough review is an excellent start.As envisioned by the academy's Board of Visitors, military and civilian experts will explore all aspects of academy life, from admissions policies to the treatment of female midshipmen. The assessment should be able to pinpoint problems that need addressing, as well as put to rest misconceptions that the officers' training school has been overrun with irresponsible youth.

The admiral who was in charge of the Naval Academy during the largest cheating scandal in the school's history will retire in November, without a promotion or the command of a fleet."