Columbus

WHEN NIKKI Nolen was taught as a child about the 1492 voyages of Christopher Columbus, she learned the romantic tale of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, words that still easily roll off her lips.The first-year teacher at David Starr Jordan Middle School in Burbank, Calif., also learned that Columbus "discovered" America and found an "uncivilized" people -- notions that she now challenges in her classroom."Most of the history books fail to stress more of the negative consequences of colonialism and the diseases explorers brought with them," said Nolen, who is Cherokee and Sioux.

7/8 TC For 25 years, undeterred by low-hanging electric wires, egg-throwing protesters and skittish politicians, Don Castronova has struggled to portray a dignified Admiral of the Ocean Sea in Baltimore's annual Columbus Day parade.Struggled, but not always succeeded. It's hard, he admits, to look dignified during a pratfall."I feel like I have an obligation to represent Columbus in the best possible light," says Mr. Castronova, 50, who works for Bethlehem Steel when not standing-in for Genoa's favorite son. "I don't clown around.

Howard County officials took delivery yesterday of three replacement buses that will be used to upgrade the Columbia Association's aging ColumBus shuttle fleet.The three buses -- which cost a total of $496,000 -- were paid for mostly through a Federal Transit Administration grant. The remaining 20 percent was split between the state Mass Transit Administration and the county government.The ColumBus system has eight buses to operate its existing four routes. Three of the routes serve Columbia, and one route reaches the county government complex in Ellicott City.

Ridley Scott's "1492: Conquest of Paradise" portrays Christopher Columbus less as the admiral of the ocean seas than as the world's first James Rouse. He wanted to build the new town of Columbia on Santo Domingo, rather than in a Howard County cow pasture. He just couldn't get the zoning changed for a mall, or the brotherhood of man.The movie is so much better than the recent "Columbus: The Discovery" that it's almost sacrilegious to mention them in the same breath and anyone who does should be burned at the stake.

Faced with a $253,000 shortfall, Columbia's bus system wants to increase fares, eliminate some routes and streamline others to reduce travel times.The proposal, which the Columbia Association presented to a standing-room-only crowd at the Hawthorne neighborhood center Feb. 7, would eliminate service to 5 percent of ColumBus riders, but would provide "faster, more efficient service" to the other 95 percent,supporters say.The system would be scaled down to...

Hero or villain? Discoverer or exploiter? Or was Christopher Columbus just a normal guy?Yesterday a group of students from Broadneck High School debated just where to place the alleged founder of the Americas in this time of political correctness."

PBS wants viewers to believe that "Columbus and the Age of Discovery" is a big, big television event.It isn't.The four-part series is one of those public television projects that's more interesting to talk about than to watch.In fact, the seven-hour documentary has more in common with those head-on-the-desk soporific films students must sit through high school history classes than, say, Ken Burns' "The Civil War." Burns' work not only spoke the language of television with great eloquence but actually enriched it. "Columbus" speaks the language of the lecture hall and textbook.

WASHINGTON -- Think of it as the 15th century in three acts, playing in 30 rooms.The National Gallery of Art's new exhibit "Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration" depicts the state of artistic achievement at -- the time of Columbus through paintings, sculpture, scientific instruments, decorative objects and more.But, shhhh, don't use the C-word too often. This elegant exhibit is about much more than an explorer with good navigating skills.Instead, it reveals the sweep of history through the art of three regions: Europe and the Mediterranean from which Columbus hailed, the Far East that he expected to find, and the Americas that he actually encountered.

Forget the fact it's the hapless Columbus Invaders out there. Avoid complacency. Concentrate on simply playing well.That was Spirit player-coach Mike Stankovic's message to the ++ team before last night's game against the Invaders, one of the National Professional Soccer League's two worst teams."

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Spirit's NPSL game here last night started oddly, as play was halted seconds into the contest because of a faulty scoreboard.When the game resumed, Baltimore proceeded to make the Columbus Invaders wish the scoreboard at the Columbus Convention Center had never been fixed as the Spirit scored a season-high 22 points in a 22-16 victory."