America

The first half of the season has ended with UMBC compiling a 3-5 record. But the next five weeks may be more important -- and even more rewarding -- for the men's lacrosse team. Saturday's road contest at Hartford begins America East play for the Retrievers. They have won or shared four conference regular-season titles and three league tournaments, which include an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That's why Saturday's game has been likened to the start of a new season. “It's the most important part of the season because we want to compete for a conference championship and we want to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament,” coach Don Zimmerman said Wednesday afternoon.

Whether it's a war-zone deployment, a cargo ship in port for 18 hours or a passenger cruise ship on its regular stop, R.S. Stern Inc. has put groceries in larders and spare parts in engine rooms since 1870. From its brick warehouse in Canton, the company's 15 employees dispense uniforms and copier supplies, mops for swabbing and pork chops for dinner to about 1,000 ships calling on Baltimore and other nearby ports each year. Need a 4-by-6 Sri Lankan flag for the mast? Stern's got you covered.

The Sun and others have paid little attention to the importance of firearm size in the context of the current gun control debate. Due to the fact they are easily concealed and portable, handguns are more often accidentally discharged, used to commit suicide and, most importantly, employed by criminals. Rifles, on the other hand, are far less to be involved in such cases. That's why lumping rifle and handgun restrictions together is a mistake. People who purchase firearms less than 30 inches in length should receive the additional scrutiny the state wants, but the tougher scrutiny shouldn't apply to those who buy guns larger than that.

Colleges Towson's Fratantuono earns CAA honor Towson junior outfielder Dominic Fratantuono (Cardinal Gibbons) was named Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday. In five games, Fratantuono batted .545 while leading the Tigers to four victories. He went 12-for-22 with eight runs scored, three doubles, one home run and 11 RBIs. Other baseball honors: UMBC junior catcher Brandon Coluccio was named America East Player of the Week.

The "Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern" episode featuring Baltimore will air on Monday, March 25 at 9 p.m. on the Travel Channel. Here is the episode synopsis from the Travel Channel: " There's a long line of tradition on the menu when Andrew Zimmern visits Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay.  From learning how to skin a muskrat from a local champion, to hauling in pots of fresh eels, to selling produce from a horse-drawn carriage,...

Ashley Christie's contested layup with eight seconds left in overtime led sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary's to a 59-57 win over third-seeded Monmouth in the Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament quarterfinals on Sunday. The playoff win for the Mount is the program's first since the 2000-01 season. The Mountaineers (15-15, 10-8) trailed by five points at 54-49 with 3:42 left in the overtime period, but outscored the Hawks (15-5, 12-6) 10-3 the rest of the way to come away with the win. With the score tied at 57, Tara Lonergan stole a Monmouth inbound pass with 35 seconds to go to set up the final possession in overtime.

Women's college basketball Vermont's Lauren Wheeler made her only 3-pointer of the game with 26 seconds left to break a tie and lift sixth-seeded Vermont (10-20) to a 47-43 win over third-seeded UMBC (10-20) in an America East quarterfinal Friday in Albany, N.Y. Sophomore forward Annie Wheeler hit one of two free throws with five seconds left to seal the victory. The Retrievers shot their second-lowest field-goal percentage of the season (.246) and didn't hit a 3-pointer for the first time since Jan. 19, 2012.

When I was a Ph.D. student at Yale, I dreamed of working as a university professor, directing a research laboratory, and training students of my own. I have been a professor for a little over four years now. Of the lessons I have learned in this time, the one I have taken most to heart is that scientists at American universities spend far more time dreaming of research than actually carrying it out. By "dreaming," I mean that university scientists design...

Dennis Rodman is back from a rather foggy Asia visit, Google is remembering a civil rights advocate, and Mitt Romney wishes he were president. Welcome to your post-weekend online trends report for Monday, March 4. Romney appeared on Fox News Sunday with wife Ann, who said among other things that "I totally believe at this moment, if Mitt were there in the office, that we would not be facing sequestration right now. " The sequestration deadline was...

The Census Bureau announced last week that it is dropping the use of the term "Negro" to describe black Americans in its population surveys. I suspect few will mourn the word's passing. Today Americans of African descent, especially younger ones, almost universally prefer to be called African-American, people of color or simply black. The bureau reports that the number of blacks who self-identify as Negroes has dwindled to fewer than 50,000, most of them older people living in the South.