Compete

When Kimmie Meissner filled out her first job application recently, she paused when she reached the line that asked for her employment history. She finally wrote: Team USA, 2002 to present. But the here and now is an unsettled place. Since last summer, the former world and national figure skating champion has been on the shelf, recovering from an injured right kneecap dislocated in a training mishap. She missed the Grand Prix season, the U.S. championships and, most importantly, a shot at competing at the Olympics next month - perhaps her last shot.

Seven students from the private GreenMount School in Charles Village will travel Tuesday to Knoxville, Tenn., to compete in an international problem-solving competition. The team – dubbed Soul Seven – participates in Destination Imagination, a program that presents challenges to students, from kindergarten through college, and judges their solutions on effectiveness and creativity. The competition has six categories: technical, scientific, fine arts, improvisational, structural and community service.

About 40 college students from four schools are trying to defend their networks from a team of hackers during the fifth annual Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. Saturday was the second day of competition. Participating are students from Asheville-Buncombe Technical College, Community College of Baltimore County, Millersville University and Towson University. - Associated Press

What if the cable guy was also your home security guy? Maryland consumers are about to find out. Comcast Corp. has launched a marketing blitz this month to sign up customers for its new "Xfinity Home" package, which features a residential alarm system, video monitoring, and temperature and lighting controls, among other features — all manipulated from a touchpad, mobile device or computer. It's not enough for major telecom and cable companies to sell you services for your television, computer and smartphone.

Nine Maryland high school students gathered Saturday at the Enoch Pratt Free Library to compete for the state championship in the national Poetry Out Loud competition. The students recited memorized selections by Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, Alfred, Lord Tennyson and other giants. They clenched their fists and clutched their hearts to accentuate dramatic passages. Competitors were judged on presence, articulation, understanding of the poem and the difficulty of their selections. The winner, Nora Sand- ler, a senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, received a $200 prize and advanced to the national finals in Washington at the end of April.

It appears that fans of the Olympic movement can be as fickle as some of the judges in the competition.When asked if some of the world's best professional figure skaters, such as Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt and Scott Hamilton, be allowed to compete in the 1994 Norway Games, 153 of 232 respondents (66 percent) said yes. However, when asked if the Games should return to amateur status, only 125 of 232 (54 percent) said yes."It's Your Call" represents a sampling of opinions from certain segments of the community, but it is not balanced demographically, as would be done in a scientific public opinion poll.

Julie Kole, 17, of Fallston, will compete at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia next month.Kole, who swims for the Foxcatcher Swim Team at Germantown Academy in Philadelphia, was chosen to replace another swimmer, who dropped off the team because of a virus. She will swim the 800-meter freestyle event and the freestyle relay.Originally, Kole had been chosen for the U.S. team to compete in Perth as a member of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay team. She had elected not to make the trip, so she could stay in class and prepare for exams at Germantown.

Two technology companies are seeking permission to compete with Comcast Corp. to offer television, Internet and telephone services to Baltimore County residents. Boston-based American Broadband and Starpower Communications of New Jersey filed applications for a franchise agreement by yesterday's deadline. Formed in September, American Broadband is not operating in any city or county, although it has applied to serve about 80 percent of the homes in Rhode Island, said Edward T. Holleran Jr., president of American Broadband.

Backed by a marching band, dozens of athletes and a cheering crowd, 7-year-old Monica Evans will carry the torch today to open the 1995 Howard County Special Olympics.Although she is a year too young to take part in the Games, Monica's spirits are not likely to be dampened. Nor will those of the 85 other participants in this year's Games."I'm ready, and I'm fast!" said 13-year-old Kyle Archard, who has trained for the 50- and 100-meter races and the standing and running broad jumps.Besides these events, the games will include a softball throw, shot-put, high jump and relay race.

MCI Metro, a subsidiary of MCI Communications Corp., applied to the Maryland Public Service Commission today for permission to compete with Bell Atlantic Corp. in the local telephone market.The Maryland filing was part of the first major offensive launched by the nation's second-largest long-distance company in its long-expected assault on the regional Bells' near-monopoly hold on the nation's local telephone business.MCI also applied today to provide local phone service in four other states: Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan and Washington.

Horse racing's center stage, the place where the industry's best jockeys and trainers reside, is getting crowded. Ramon Dominguez, John Velazquez and current No. 1 jockey Javier Castellano may not be ready to exit stage left. Trainers Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen might not want to either. But evolution happens in every sport. Here's a look at a few prospects who are making waves in horse racing's next generation. For jockeys, ability and toughness count In the jockey world California-based Joel Rosario, New York-based Rosie Napravnik and Kentucky Derby winner Mario Gutierrez are muscling for space.

The Army's next-generation carbine may come out of a Highlandtown machine shop best known for making high-volume bottling equipment for major drink makers. Adcor Industries Inc. learned this month that it was among a handful of weapons makers selected to compete to build a possible replacement for the M4, a rifle descended from the well-known M16 and that some soldiers have criticized as unreliable in the dry, dusty conditions in Iraq. Adcor, which employs about 80 people in its block-sized building on South Haven Street, will face some of the biggest names in global gun-making in a race to be the Army's small-arms weapon of choice in the 21st century.

Faidley's storied crab cake will compete for the title of best sandwich in America on a new Travel Channel show debuting on June 6. In eleven episodes, "Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America" will introduce viewers to 30 iconic sandwiches in 27 cities. Faidley's crabcake will represent Baltimore in an episode in the Mid-Atlantic episode, which is tentatively schedule to air on June 27. Using his own BITE SCALE (B=Bread, I=Interior, T=Taste, E=Eating Experience), Richman samples and judges the three most mouthwatering masterpieces a region has to offer.

With Baltimore's selection of Alabama outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw with the 35th pick in the 2012 NFL draft, the offseason competition for the starting spot vacated by Jarret Johnson just became a lot fiercer. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that fourth-year player Paul Kruger still remains the frontrunner for Johnson's old gig, but he'll have to outperform Upshaw. “Obviously it bolsters our linebacker situation,” Harbaugh said as team officials regrouped after a busy second round on Friday.

At the age of 4, Sabina Foisor was in France, competing in her first chess tournament. By the age of 15, she was a Romanian and European junior champion, and three years later, in 2007, she finished in the top 20 in the European Chess Championship. Such was childhood for the daughter of professional chess players Ovidiu and Cristina Foisor. "They decided it would be a good idea to teach me how to play chess. … It's a nice way to be together," said Foisor, 22, now a senior at UMBC.

If the Ravens have a specific plan for filling the hole left by Ben Grubbs now that the draft has ended, they aren't divulging it. Not that anybody should be surprised. As is so often the case, coach John Harbaugh spoke fondly of the potential battle for playing time along the offensive line without giving any indication of how he thinks it may shake out. "I think it goes back to this: All things are possible," he said Saturday at the team's Owings Mills headquarters.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to see the many strategic errors that have transformed International Business Machines Corp. from America's most successful and admired company into a struggling behemoth that has lost $7.8 billion in the past two years.Far more difficult, however, is trying to determine what IBM's chairman, John F. Akers -- or his replacement, if IBM's whopping losses cost him his job -- should do next. The most obvious steps -- to cut tens of thousands of workers and close factories -- have already been taken.

BARCELONA, Spain -- To understand the 1992 Summer Olympics, you must meet Matjaz Kozelj. Born in Yugoslavia, educated at UCLA, he swims for the newly reborn nation of Slovenia.A year ago, bombs were dropped near his hometown of Maribor, and practice was canceled on account of war. But, now, he is in a village built for athletes, overlooking a sea, on the eve of the Summer Olympics.There is a smile on his face. With one hand, he rubs his spiked blond hair. With the other, he offers a pin identifying his new country.

As the man responsible for rebuilding Sagamore Farm shook hands with the son of the man who oversaw its halcyon days, Tiger Walk stood stoically in his stall. The other horses in the barn had long since poked their heads out in response to commotion created by television crews and a small gathering of reporters. Tiger Walk faced the other way, looking out his window. Kevin Plank, the Under Armour founder and CEO who bought Sagamore Farm in 2007, hopes Tiger Walk can remain unflappable.

Arnold Farmer and Charles Johnson have been teammates for seven years. The Poly alumni were both two-time All-City football selections and were among the first players to commit to Towson when Rob Ambrose was named the head coach. While both have game experience, they're among the Tigers who have been battling for starting jobs this spring. And at Saturday's Tiger Bowl intrasquad scrimmmage at Johnny Unitas Stadium, they'll be battling each other, with Farmer competing to be the starting nose guard and Johnson trying to keep his starting right guard spot.