Campus

A Cuban Revolution has come to East Baltimore. The city's Middle East neighborhood is just a few blocks away from Johns Hopkins Hospital, but there was seldom any reason for outsiders to wander in. That has changed. Amid protests from some longtime residents and others, most homeowners in the area were relocated and their houses — along with many that were abandoned and dilapidated — were torn down. Now Middle East is being developed as a mixed-use life science campus. The anchor tenant is the Science & Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, but the 80-acre area will include other research facilities along with new housing, parking and a six-acre central park.

This week, as the Supreme Court took up two historic cases pertaining to same-sex marriage, it's been an exciting time to be a college student. Huge numbers of young people on Facebook and Twitter continue to post pictures and status updates in support of marriage equality. Kids proudly walk around campus sporting red clothing in support of the Human Rights Campaign, a national organization that seeks to promote equal rights for gays, lesbians, transgender people and bisexuals. The enthusiasm, from the quad to the blogosphere, is infectious and inspiring.

This is prettay, prettay, prettay cool. Larry David, the creator/star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and, of course, a co-creator/writer of "Seinfeld," was apparently seen on the University of Maryland-College Park campus on Tuesday, escorting one of his daughters on a campus tour, according to UMD's student newspaper, The Diamondback.  The Diamondback reports that college officials wouldn't comment on the alleged sightings, but David is...

Towson University is trying to reassure its student population and address the concerns of national civil rights groups after a pro-white race student group recently announced it would conduct crime-watching patrols at night. Matthew Heimbach, a Towson senior and founder of the White Student Union, made headlines across the country earlier this week for the patrols, which he said were in response to a spike in black-on-white crime. Heimbach said the patrol members would be unarmed except for flashlights and pepper spray, though he had previously told Towson's student newspaper his members have gotten firearms training.

Barely a week after the group made national news for advocating for racial segregation at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Towson University's White Student Union is again drawing attention for plans to conduct nighttime patrols to watch for crime. Matthew Heimbach, a 21-year-old senior and founder of the group, said his group plans to go out a few nights a week - the men armed with only Maglite flashlights, the women with pepper spray - and will attempt to make a citizen's arrest if they witness a "violent felony.

The long-planned Metro Centre in Owings Mills is set to finally stir to life this week with the opening of Baltimore County's largest library. Officials envision the library branch, to open in a building called the County Campus next to the Owings Mills subway station, as the anchor of a cluster of shops, restaurants and apartments that they have long hoped would form a new center in the northwestern suburb. Also planned for the County Campus are dozens of classrooms and offices for the Community College of Baltimore County.

To be strong, healthy and safe, Baltimore needs leaders who maintain their priorities in challenging circumstances. Last year, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake increased funding for coordinated Out-of-School-Time (OST) programming, which uses public schools as a hub to create "Community Schools" that offer a comprehensive range of services and opportunities to children, youth, families and communities. That was a good first step. As members of the Family League of Baltimore's Community and School Engagement Steering Committee, we now call on the mayor to show leadership by following through on her public commitment to double the funding for an OST and community school strategy, to $10 million.

Several more people fell ill at the Johns Hopkins at Keswick campus this week, following an incident last month in which nearly two dozen employees reported dizziness, nausea and headaches. Officials have tied the previous illnesses to a hot water heater that became contaminated with nitrites when a technician accidentally inserted the chemicals into the drinking water system instead of the heating system. Overexposure to nitrites can cause a range of symptoms that include difficulty breathing.

Within a week of arriving on campus this semester, University of Maryland junior Grace Freund felt the familiar symptoms of a depression creeping up - ones she knew to address quickly, lest they slip from her control. The 21-year-old psychology major called the counseling center on the College Park campus soon after to set up an appointment. However, she said, her request was rebuffed. "They said, 'Call back next week. We can't even schedule an intake appointment today,'" said Freund, a graduate of Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City.

Officials on Tuesday continued investigating the second round of illnesses in less than a week at a North Baltimore office building but did not quickly find a link between the two bouts. Still, officials overseeing the investigation are confident that the building is safe and have decided it will be open for business on Wednesday. The water heater that was identified as the source of last week's sicknesses — more than 20 people reported headaches, breathing problems and dizziness — was taken offline before the building, part of the Johns Hopkins at Keswick campus, was reopened.