Ben

So, the big story this episode is Leslie and Ben's engagement party, to which Leslie has invited both of Ben's very estranged parents. Things seem to be going ok after Ben's mom arrives (and is promptly given a glass of wine) but then Ben's dad shows up with his much younger girlfriend, Ulani. Leslie still thinks she can repair everything by revealing the "unity quilt" she's made, with squares to represent friends and family of both her and Ben. But once the quilt is revealed, it only causes more problems as she didn't make a square for Ulani.

When your team knocks off a third seed and a sixth seed by a combined margin of victory of 18 goals in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, you should no longer be considered an underdog, right? That is not how Cornell coach Ben DeLuca, however, sees it. Despite the Big Red (14-3) evicting Ohio State (the third seed) and Maryland (the sixth) by a combined score of 32-14, DeLuca thinks that his team is the underdog as it prepares to face seventh-seeded Duke (14-5) in Saturday's first of two national semifinals.

On March 28, 2008, CASSIE M. BEN, beloved wife of Wesley Ben. On Saturday, the family will receive friends at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL CHAPEL (RANDALLSTOWN), 8728 Liberty Road from 10:00 to 11:00 A.M., with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 655-0015.

I have to disagree with Diane Brown ("Only closed minds stifle opposing viewpoints, May 16) on both her key points about Ben Carson's remarks on marriage equality and the opposition to him giving the commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University this year. At best, Ben Carson's remarks showed a breathtaking lack of understanding, and at worst, bigotry. When opponents of gay marriage mention pedophilia and bestiality in the same sentence as homosexuality, they know exactly what they are doing: they are illegitimizing and belittling homosexual love as being as perverted and deviant as the other practices.

On August 16, 2004, BEN. Friends may call at the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME EAST, 1101 East North Avenue on Thursday after 8:30 A.M. where the family will receive friends on Friday at 11:30 A.M. Services will follow at 12 noon. See www.marchfh.com

Pimlico Race Course Ben's Cat wins Mister Diz for 4th year in row Make that four years in a row for Ben's Cat in the $75,000 Mister Diz Stakes. The Jim Stable star from the King Leatherbury barn carried Julian Pimentel to an easy 13/4-length victory over the firm turf at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday. "Four years in a row, that's quite rare," said Leatherbury, who owns, trains and bred Ben's Cat. "He is amazing. " Sent to post at odds of 2-5, Ben's Cat broke with the leaders, patiently sat off a two-horse duel, moved up and swept by without urging and spurted away.

"Ben in the World," by Doris Lessing. HarperCollins. 178 pages. $23. 'Ben in the World" is a sequel to "The Fifth Child," published in 1988. Neither the years nor the copiousness of the intervening books by the same author have loosened the linkage between these two brief novels. But it is not their protagonist, Ben Lovatt, nor any idiosyncratic authorial style that binds these works. "The Fifth Child" is a somewhat old-fashioned realistic novel, while "Ben in the World" is a fantastic, picaresque parable.

JERUSALEM - Israel's hawkish defense minister, former army Gen. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, took over leadership of the Labor Party yesterday, giving the fractured left-of-center group a decidedly conservative tilt. The 65-year-old Ben-Eliezer, who was born in Iraq and smuggled into Israel at age 13, spent three decades in the military and is the first person born in the Arab world to hold the top position of the Labor Party, historically dominated by leaders of European origin. He takes over a party seriously weakened by Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak's election defeat last year by Likud leader Ariel Sharon, and by internal disputes over Labor's platform and direction.

"Can you take me back?" Florence Oliver is belted tight in the back seat of the car, studying her husband's head, wondering why he can't drive facing her. The cocoon of Leisure World, the senior-citizens community where the couple lives, disappears in the rearview mirror. Florence squirms. She hates these rides. She fiddles with her seatbelt. Weeks ago, Ben Oliver predicted the hardest part of this trip would be the hour's drive from Leisure World in Silver Spring to the port in Baltimore, where they'll board a cruise ship for an 11-day voyage.

River Hill quarterback Ben Hostetler, who has broken several records while leading his team to a 9-0 season and a share of its second straight Howard County football championship, grinned sheepishly when asked about his remarkably athletic family. One of four children who have three aunts and four uncles on their father's side, he knows that being born into such a family was something he had no control over, and he seems almost embarrassed by his good fortune. Ben's older brother, Matt, played quarterback for River Hill and now plays for Brown.

At times, Ben DeLuca is like so many opposing defensemen who are caught watching Cornell fifth-year senior attackman Rob Pannell's wizardry. Unlike those defensemen, however, DeLuca, who is the head coach of the Big Red, is not tasked with guarding Pannell. “Sometimes I definitely catch myself watching in awe some of the things that he does and some of the plays that he makes,” DeLuca said after Pannell recorded a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists in the team's 16-8 upset of sixth-seeded Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament Sunday.

The six-goal explosion by redshirt freshman midfielder Ben McCarty that powered Towson's 11-8 upset of No. 15 Drexel in Wednesday's Colonial Athletic Association tournament semifinal must have shocked the Dragons, who probably did not expect McCarty to match his season total in goals in one contest. Even McCarty's coach, Shawn Nadelen, said he did not envision that performance. “I can't say I anticipated that,” Nadelen said with a chuckle Thursday morning. “I'm excited for him to do that.

As someone who came of age after the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, I was really struck and disturbed by some of the scenes in the Jackie Robinson movie, "42" ("'42' hits a homer at the box office," April 15). When you see the crowds in these scenes with their bigotry, anger, intolerance and narrow-mindedness, I am struck and confused, wondering if I am watching an African-American hero trying to integrate professional baseball in 1963, or watching an African-American hero, (Dr. Ben Carson or any other conservative speaker)

John Hopkins professor Jon Lorsch will replace neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson as commencement speaker at the institution's School of Medicine. Lorsch will become director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences this summer. He has spent the last 12 years studying how cells make proteins, a process that can help look at why people get cancer. Carson voluntarily stepped down this month as commencement speaker for Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Education after making controversial comments about same-sex marriage.

Alexander Hooke accuses the liberal media of being self-righteous and intolerant concerning their treatment of Dr. Ben Carson's comments on gay marriage ("Liberal Intolerance" April 9). As if one could logically argue the point to Dr. Carson that gay marriage does not equate with bestiality. Of course all is to be forgiven because Dr. Carson apologized simply for his poor choice of words in expressing his ideas. As if only he had spoken more eloquently, all would be understood. And we should just point out to Dr. Carson the error of his ways so that he might be convinced otherwise.

Many thanks to the Baltimore Sun for an eloquent editorial on the Ben Carson saga ("Ben Carson and the price of free speech," April 13). This is a work of art! The Sun's staff has captured the essence of free speech with professorial precision. And, have accepted free speech that may be controversial, as long as it stays in context. We also got a lesson in what happens when our so-called free speech becomes aberrant, degrading, and outside the limits of good taste. This piece should also send an alert to those who are steadfast in their defense of Dr. Ben. Loyalty and preconception must be tempered with common sense and reality.

ST. MARY'S - If a class here at St. Mary's College were to study Ben Thomassen, to learn how he did what no other student has done, the class would examine a few key scenes from Ben's college career. The first would serve as an introduction to Ben, and for that purpose, any glimpse would do. Take this one, from a recent day on campus. The 21-year-old is sitting at a Smith & Hawken table on the courtyard outside the student center. There's a Starbucks in the lounge behind him, a library nearby.

Brahms' "Lullaby" fills the living room. Ben Oliver has turned on the music box and tinny notes play in a loop, circling around like the miniature ballroom figures twirling inside it. Ben takes his wife's hands, lifts her off the couch. "You ready?" he asks. "Here we go." One step, then two, then three. A soft waltz on the carpet. Ben can see Florence is tired. Earlier tonight, he tried to boost his wife's spirits, but when he talked about all the things they have to look forward to - starting with this evening's dance in the Crystal Ballroom at Leisure World - she just went fuzzy.

Let me get this straight: Dr. Ben Carson is not an acceptable speaker for Johns Hopkins, but the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is OK? ("Hopkins looking for replacement for Carson," April 12.) Has anyone listened to the inflammatory rhetoric that spews from Jeremiah Wright? Obviously not. Apparently, Dr. Carson has far too much intelligence and common sense to compete with the terrible things that Jeremiah Wright espouses. Clay Seeley, Owings Mills Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Although a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Ben Carson must have realized he would also be judged by his views on gay marriage ("Hopkins chides Carson for gay-marriage remarks," April 6). If he had kept them to himself, his thoughts would have remained his personal opinion, which everyone has a right to. But when someone famous for his medical skills publicly shares an opinion as vicious as his, he has crossed a line. As someone who works with physicians and nurses whom Dr. Carson puts into the same category as criminals, I find his attitude cruel and unbecoming.