College Students

After downing a shot at a new upscale bar in Charles Village, David Yaron explained his decision to return to his native Philadelphia when he completes his bachelor's degree in neuroscience next year. Baltimore has "too many scary parts," said Yaron, a 21-year-old rising senior at the Johns Hopkins University. "Baltimore is a good in-between city, but I think people are just passing through here." If he follows through on his plans, Yaron will join thousands of students who come to Baltimore for an education and then take their newly acquired knowledge and skills elsewhere.

The newest classrooms at Howard Community College feature 2-foot-tall tables and chairs, toy kitchens and a sand table. Eight years after the Children's Learning Center was constructed on the Columbia campus, HCC has completed a 4,400-square-foot section of the roughly 12,000-square-foot building, adding four classrooms and increasing capacity from 63 children to 104. Many of those who use the center are young, often single, parents who work outside the...

Twas a time not long ago when college students would arrive on campus like newborn fawns - nervous and wide-eyed, looking 'round desperately for someone or something familiar. To make friends, they'd actually have to get out and about, say hello to strangers on the Yard, join clubs, talk to people. No more. These days, the computer-savvy just hop on TheFacebook.com, an Internet meet-and-greet site that has become a surprise hit across the nation, growing from a couple hundred thousand users at its inception last year to 3.2 million today.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Campus resistance to the war in Iraq is growing. President Bush's approval rating among students is sliding. And the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is about as popular as an 8 a.m. class. The tide of student political opinion that only six months ago was solidly behind Bush is shifting, and interest in the coming election among young adults is sharply higher than it was four years ago at this time. But trying to figure out what all this may mean in November is tricky because the nation's 13 million college students are an unpredictable and civically lethargic bloc of voters whose allegiances trend away from the partisan labels of conservative and liberal, Republican and Democrat.

IN THE NEXT 10 years, Maryland's four-year colleges will see a sharp rise in part-time students, while community colleges confront a boom in full-time students. Meanwhile, enrollments for online "distance learning" courses will soar. Those changes will require a dramatic shift in focus. Maryland's education infrastructure can't handle all the students graduating from high school between now and 2010 - 61,000 more than forecast a year ago. Four-year institutions will see an increase in part-timers of 69 percent over 10 years.

Brian Pluim spent three months teaching a class of restless elementary school children in North Baltimore this summer, but it's hard to tell who learned more - the young readers or the University of Maryland, Baltimore County graduate who will enter the real world of teaching this school year. Pluim, 24, is one of more than 200 college students who, during the past decade, have taken part in Teach Baltimore, a summer program created at the Johns Hopkins University to improve the quality of reading for youngsters in the city.

Here are some of the words used by Dr. Vivian Rakoff when he talks about the mental health -- or lack thereof -- of today's college students:"Bewilderment." "Increasing rate of suicide." "Desperate yearning." "Rejection of society and culture."And before you dismiss these somewhat less than reassuring observations with a blithe, "Oh, that's what college kids have always been like," consider Dr. Rakoff's summation of the subject:, "It seems to be getting worse and worse."Dr. Rakoff, chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, will present some of his conclusions about the psyches of college students this week when he opens the Sixth National Conference on Student Mental Health, to be held Thursday through Saturday at Johns Hopkins University.

The 13th annual Youth Job Fair for Baltimore County-area high school and college students will be held on May 7 at Milford Mill Academy, officials announced today. The fair, sponsored by the Baltimore County Office of Employment and Training and Baltimore County Workforce Development Council, will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the academy at 3800 Washington Ave. Students are advised to bring along their resumes, as employers will be on hand to interview and accept applications.

Morgan State University senior Tavon Pope is used to standing in lines at semester's start - to sign up for classes, to buy books. But this is the first year that the history major from West Baltimore has had to line up for money and a job. His mother was laid off from her computer programming job this spring because of the slow economy. That means she can't help with tuition, and so, for the first time at Morgan, Pope will have to take out loans and get a campus work-study job, probably for 25 hours a week.

Months from graduation, John Ryan was uncertain of his future living arrangements until he saw an item in the York College senior bulletin. York was offering recent alumni $6,000 to help buy a home near the Pennsylvania college. Ryan signed up for the program, graduated in December and moved into his two-bedroom house last month. With the grant and $4,000 from a city program, Ryan was able to afford his $45,000 home. "I'm making out like a bandit right now," said Ryan, 22, a security guard at York Hospital.