College Center

Three biotech start-ups have started moving into Baltimore City Community College's Bard Life Science Center in an agreement with the State of Maryland and Baltimore City.The companies, Lion Pharmaceuticals Inc., AuRx, Inc., and ProBiotix Inc., will use most of the 28,000-square-foot fifth floor, which has physics and biology laboratories.At the end of their 18-month agreements, each company has agreed to work with the Baltimore Development Corp. to find a permanent location in Baltimore.

President Robert H. Chambers announced recently that Western Maryland College received official notification of a $600,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., toward the $13.4 million projected cost of the college's new science center.To meet the challenge, the college must raise $1,889,661 in new gifts and pledges for the project before Dec. 1, 1998.Groundbreaking for the new biology and chemistry laboratory building was held in April, with construction expected to begin in August and be completed by spring 1999.

Western Maryland College will sponsor activities throughout next month in recognition of Women's History Month, including a presentation by a young woman whose HIV infection has progressed to acquired immune deficiency syndrome."

Carmen Whittaker needed to update her computer skills. Pat Sikorski was familiar with keyboarding, but needed to develop HTC computer skills.And both women needed jobs.Ms. Whittaker and Ms. Sikorski were prime candidates for a new course offered by Catonsville Community College's Occupational Training Center. Computer Applications for Business, a noncredit course, provides nine weeks of intensive computer training for displaced workers -- aimed at improving their marketability in the work force.

Women's History Month will be celebrated at Western Maryland College throughout March.Highlighting the month's activities will be a film screening and panel discussion March 27 with Canadian filmmaker Donna Read; Dr. Ellen Reeder, curator of ancient art at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore; Sheila Barth, director of the Temenos Center for the Healing Arts in Mount Airy; and moderator Dr. Julie Badiee, professor of art history at Western Maryland."

In Monday's Carroll County section, the wrong date was published for the Western Maryland College Black History Month lecture "Who Freed the Slaves? Emancipation and the Civil War." Dr. Leslie S. Rowland will present the lecture at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21.+ The Sun regrets the errors.The New Jack Scholars, a trio of educators and entertainers who blend African-American history and music, will perform at Western Maryland College Feb. 22 during the college's celebration of Black History Month."African-American History: From Marcus Garvey to the Present" will feature dialogue, music and sketches geared to young people.

Western Maryland College will hold the annual statewide conference of the American Council for Higher Education/National Identification Program for women administrators in higher education on Thursday and Friday.The conference's theme, "Paradigms for the Future," will examine how colleges and universities can embrace new management and leadership techniques to keep pace with business, and how professional women who work on these campuses can play key roles in affecting change.Judy Sorum Brown, former vice president and senior fellow at the Aspen Institute and former dean of the School of Business at the University of Maryland College Park, will deliver the keynote address at 1 p.m. Thursday in the Decker College Center Forum.

Women's History Month will be celebrated at Western Maryland College throughout March, with a number of events focusing on issues pertaining to women.All the campus events are free.The Women's History Month "kickoff" will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today in the Decker College Center Pub. Participants will receive ribbons to show solidarity and support of the monthlong celebration.An art exhibition by WMC junior Sara Lundberg will open tomorrow with a reception at 7 p.m. in Gallery One in the Hoover Library.

Benjamin Karim, a longtime associate of Malcolm X during the years of his greatest popularity and the author of a new biography and memoir of the outspoken Nation of Islam leader, will speak at Western Maryland College on Feb. 16 as part of the college's observance of African-American History Month.Mr. Karim, who spent eight years working with Malcolm X in the Black Muslim movement, will discuss his experiences in a lecture at 7:30 p.m. in McDaniel Lounge. The event, like all others scheduled for the monthlong celebration, is free and open to the public.

A $35,000 Cottrell College science award from Research Corporation of Tucson has been awarded to Dr. Carol A. Rouzer, assistant professor of chemistry at Western Maryland College, for a two-year research program on a potential series of anti-cancer compounds.The program will involve the study of 1,3-dialkyl-3-acyltriazenes, substances that react with human DNA. Dr. Rouzer, principal investigator for the project, said the research will involve in-vitro biochemical experiments with the substance to determine how it is metabolized.