Bike Rack

It's the thrill. It's the speed. It's even the fear. Lyndon Wesson experienced all three the first time he careened down a hill on a mountain bike, and he was sold."

Augustine Pounds, an Anne Arundel Community College vice president, has received the Iowa State University Virgil S. Lagomarcino Laureate Award for prestigious service, educational leadership and commitment to teaching.The college vice president for student services, college development and intercollegiate athletics received her doctorate from Iowa State in 1980 and worked as an administrator and instructor from 1976 to 1989.She joined AACC in 1991.POLICE LOG* Candlewood: Someone stole a $300 Motor Cross bike Tuesday morning from a bike rack at Severna Park Middle School.

POLICE* Westminster: A resident of Stacey Lee Drive in the Greens of Westminster reported that someone broke into the swimming pool office and stole about $300 Sunday.A South Church Street resident told police that someone spray-painted the side of his garage Sunday. He estimated the damage at $50.A Sheetz convenience store employee reported that someone stole items valued at $11.25 from the East Main Street store Sunday.Two bicycles were stolen Friday from the bike rack at the city swimming pool in the Greens of Westminster.

POLICE LOG* Oakland Mills: 6000 block of Stevens Forest Road: Two bikes chained to a bike rack behind Stevens Forest Elementary School were stolen Tuesday. A silver and black, five-speed, 20-inch mountain bike worth $125 and a boy's black, 12-speed, 24-inch mountain bike worth $170 were stolen.* Long Reach: 6100 block of Foreland Garth: Someone tried to steal a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Saturday.

POLICE LOG* Wilde Lake: 10300 block of Green Mountain Circle: The window of a green Oldsmobile Royale was shot out by a BB gun Tuesday or Wednesday.5400 block of Trumpeter Road: A green and black 21-speed boy's mountain bike was stolen from a bike rack at the Wilde Lake High School Wednesday afternoon.5900 block of Stevens Forest Road: Someone broke the windshield of an Acura Integra parked at the Columbia Exxon station Friday or Saturday.

When Bonnie Smelkinson asked the security guards at Oriole Park why they were carting away her bicycle, they told her it was illegally parked.The guards, who work for the Maryland Stadium Authority, had cut the lock from Ms. Smelkinson's bike, which was chained to a wrought-iron fence outside the stadium's Russell Street entrance. Her boyfriend's bike was locked to hers. Both were hauled to the security office on a recent Sunday afternoon."I was furious," recalls Ms. Smelkinson, 22, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University.

If I had been paying more attention in sophomore geometr class I'm sure finding the perfect position for the bike rack on the car would be easier. But I wasn't. Instead of studying the triangles on the blackboard, I spent much of the class staring out the classroom window, watching a cop who parked in front of our high school and caught speeders.Now every time I try to adjust the angles of the rack so that no bike part scratches the car trunk, pieces of old geometry equations flash through my mind, and my palms start to sweat.

Is there something about unattended bicycles that inspires security guards to cut their locks and carry them off, whether they're in the way or not?Earlier this month it happened to a couple who chained their bikes to a fence at Oriole Park when they couldn't find a bike rack. Then Sunday it happened to a Towson man who chained his 18-speed mountain bike to a rail in the new Towsontown Center garage while he went into the mall for a haircut.When John Palumbi came out, "there was no trace, no tag, no card, nothing."

When Bonnie Smelkinson asked the security guards at Oriole Park why they were carting away her bicycle, they told her it was illegally parked.The guards, who work for the Maryland Stadium Authority, had cut the lock from Ms. Smelkinson's bike, which was chained to a wrought-iron fence outside the stadium's Russell Street entrance. Her boyfriend's bike was locked to hers. Both were hauled to the security office on a recent Sunday afternoon."I was furious," recalls Ms. Smelkinson, 22, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University.

Over the years, I have developed two ways of coping with family car trips.The first is to slip out of them. The second is to muffle major annoyances, sometimes sticking them in the trunk. I tried both recently.I wiggled out of traveling with my family by attending a "business meeting" in Salisbury, a town that was close -- but not too close -- to the Atlantic Ocean spot where we were going to spend a few days.The business meeting meant I had to leave town early, a day before my howling family would hit the road.

Providing bounty to those in need Kudos to the Swirnow family for continuing their practice of donating turkey dinners to some of Baltimore's most needy families ("Providing dinner for 21,000," Nov. 23). In an economy that begs business owners (and individuals) to hold onto their shrinking resources, the Swirnows understand that our economic distress is all the more reason to contribute to help meet the needs of those who live the reality of limited resources each day. In 20 years of nonprofit work, I have never met someone who has consciously chosen to be poor, hungry or live in poverty because he or she was lazy, felt entitled or just wanted to kick back and let someone else provide for him. If you are grateful that your plate will be full this Thanksgiving, please step up to the plate and help provide bounty for those who struggle to survive each day. Let's feed people, fight disease, foster hope.

Like most cities, Baltimore offers urban cyclists a fairly limited range of parking options - a lonely metal stanchion outside a coffee shop, perhaps, or an innocuous group rack outside an office building. If it offers anything at all. But starting next spring, cyclists will have more choices in at least one part of town, the Station North arts and entertainment district. And Baltimore will have a new kind of sidewalk art, part of a national trend that is changing the landscape of cities large and small: the bike rack as public sculpture.

It's the thrill. It's the speed. It's even the fear. Lyndon Wesson experienced all three the first time he careened down a hill on a mountain bike, and he was sold."

Augustine Pounds, an Anne Arundel Community College vice president, has received the Iowa State University Virgil S. Lagomarcino Laureate Award for prestigious service, educational leadership and commitment to teaching.The college vice president for student services, college development and intercollegiate athletics received her doctorate from Iowa State in 1980 and worked as an administrator and instructor from 1976 to 1989.She joined AACC in 1991.POLICE LOG* Candlewood: Someone stole a $300 Motor Cross bike Tuesday morning from a bike rack at Severna Park Middle School.

POLICE* Westminster: A resident of Stacey Lee Drive in the Greens of Westminster reported that someone broke into the swimming pool office and stole about $300 Sunday.A South Church Street resident told police that someone spray-painted the side of his garage Sunday. He estimated the damage at $50.A Sheetz convenience store employee reported that someone stole items valued at $11.25 from the East Main Street store Sunday.Two bicycles were stolen Friday from the bike rack at the city swimming pool in the Greens of Westminster.

POLICE LOG* Oakland Mills: 6000 block of Stevens Forest Road: Two bikes chained to a bike rack behind Stevens Forest Elementary School were stolen Tuesday. A silver and black, five-speed, 20-inch mountain bike worth $125 and a boy's black, 12-speed, 24-inch mountain bike worth $170 were stolen.* Long Reach: 6100 block of Foreland Garth: Someone tried to steal a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Saturday.

POLICE LOG* Wilde Lake: 10300 block of Green Mountain Circle: The window of a green Oldsmobile Royale was shot out by a BB gun Tuesday or Wednesday.5400 block of Trumpeter Road: A green and black 21-speed boy's mountain bike was stolen from a bike rack at the Wilde Lake High School Wednesday afternoon.5900 block of Stevens Forest Road: Someone broke the windshield of an Acura Integra parked at the Columbia Exxon station Friday or Saturday.

If I had been paying more attention in sophomore geometr class I'm sure finding the perfect position for the bike rack on the car would be easier. But I wasn't. Instead of studying the triangles on the blackboard, I spent much of the class staring out the classroom window, watching a cop who parked in front of our high school and caught speeders.Now every time I try to adjust the angles of the rack so that no bike part scratches the car trunk, pieces of old geometry equations flash through my mind, and my palms start to sweat.

Over the years, I have developed two ways of coping with family car trips.The first is to slip out of them. The second is to muffle major annoyances, sometimes sticking them in the trunk. I tried both recently.I wiggled out of traveling with my family by attending a "business meeting" in Salisbury, a town that was close -- but not too close -- to the Atlantic Ocean spot where we were going to spend a few days.The business meeting meant I had to leave town early, a day before my howling family would hit the road.

Is there something about unattended bicycles that inspires security guards to cut their locks and carry them off, whether they're in the way or not?Earlier this month it happened to a couple who chained their bikes to a fence at Oriole Park when they couldn't find a bike rack. Then Sunday it happened to a Towson man who chained his 18-speed mountain bike to a rail in the new Towsontown Center garage while he went into the mall for a haircut.When John Palumbi came out, "there was no trace, no tag, no card, nothing."