Apprenticeship

FOR STEVE JACKSON, hard work and dedication have provided a great down payment on his future. Jackson, a senior at Carroll County Career and Technology Center in Westminster, is one of the youngest students enrolled in a Maryland apprentice program. The 17-year-old, who began his apprenticeship last June as part of the school's Career Connections program, finished his final English credit last semester and is working full time at Fairlawn Tool and Die in Greenmount. "He's earning a good wage and is in a registered apprenticeship program leading to certification," said William R. Hill, coordinator of the Career Connections program.

AT THE conclusion of his acceptance speech Tuesday evening, Democratic mayoral nominee Martin O'Malley extolled the virtues of that person who "makes his own event, not time or chance."While luck surely has played a role in his political life, the 36-year-old candidate was remarkably ready when good fortune arrived.He was accused of taking advantage of the fact that the African-American vote might be divided, allowing a white contender to win.He asserted the right of anyone to run -- and neutralized the complaint by winning more votes than his two top opponents combined.

The three soldiers, surrounded by a low chain-link fence, stand well back from the black granite wall on the Washington Mall.They seem to have just emerged from the small grove of trees behind them, their eyes open wide in the wild stare of stunned survivors astonished to be alive.Alive! Their gaze arcs across the grassy knoll toward the sad archipelago of names engraved in stone on the distant memorial. Alive, when so many already have perished! Alive, when so many are yet to perish!The artist who sculpted these soldiers, Frederick Hart, knew how to make mute stone and bronze speak.

SILVER SPRING -- Just 100 yards outside the Capital Beltway, they train Joe College to be Joe Hill.Students at the National Labor College learn about union organizing, from the work of Hill, whose 1915 execution inspired a legendary song, to the 55-year career of George Meany.The college is the only school in the United States to offer bachelor's degrees exclusively in labor studies. Its first class, numbering 100, will graduate in July."To be a responsible labor leader, the seat of your pants isn't enough anymore," says college President Susan Schurman, a hard-charging former bus driver and union organizer with a doctorate in education.

NEW YORK -- A nonunion construction company that is the target of a union protest campaign, including the raucous rally in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, faces possible disqualification from many future state contracts, officials said yesterday.Based on evidence provided by several unions, the state Labor Department has charged the company, Roy Kay Inc., with misleading state officials about safety violations and its failure to pay the prevailing wage to its workers.The accusations concern the Freehold, N.J., company's application for certification for an apprenticeship training program.

The nation will need 150,000 more electricians by the turn of the century, and welfare recipients need jobs.That makes for a perfect combination of supply and demand, according to Independent Electrical Contractors, a national trade association with a chapter in Odenton.I.E.C. Chesapeake is opening a training building in Odenton and wants to fill it with area welfare recipients willing to become electrician apprentices."Each week in the Sunday employment section, there's about 10 to 20 companies that are hiring electricians," said Grant Shmelzer, executive director of I.E.C.

Some toddlers run before they walk. Alicia Graf danced.After performances in Mississippi and Russia, the Centennial High School senior will soon join the world-renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem."

Michelle Branch cried last summer when low-paying jobs and high rent forced her to accept an apartment in Lafayette Courts public housing. But what started out as a nightmare is now a dream come true for the 25-year-old mother of three.The 2 1/2 months she spent in a crumbling building -- torn down last year in the demolition of Lafayette Courts -- helped put her on a path free of public assistance and into a rowhouse in Patterson Park.Today, Ms. Branch is part of the Youth Apprenticeship Program, an initiative to train young former Lafayette Court residents for careers in building maintenance.

Milliners have a mission. That is to restore hats to the status they had 40 years ago when women were defined by their hats. Today, however, milliners place emphasis on well-being rather than fancy. They want to bring us to the belief that wearing the right topper goes a long way toward building positive thinking. They may have something there. Like many other old remedies that prove to be effective, a hat regimen could be the answer to lingering winter glums.So here we are in the middle of Straw Hat Week, which the millinery industry has designated as the time to put away wool caps and felt fedoras, and the cold hangs on. Undaunted, two hatmakers new to the Baltimore scene look to the salutary side.

When Cary Conklin was being recruited in high school, he even dazzled the college coaches on the basketball floor.Gary Pinkel, who was the University of Washington's offensive coordinator in 1986 and is now the University of Toledo's head coach, remembers seeing him play basketball in his hometown of Yakima, Wash., on a recruiting trip."The game was tied with three seconds to go and he took down a rebound and swished a shot the length of the court from his own foul line," Pinkel said.Pinkel said Conklin did that twice in high school, although Conklin said the first time was at halftime.