Cross

BOSTON -- In 1745, a horde of New Englanders, among them a number from Harvard College, laid siege to a fort in Nova Scotia with noble visions of vanquishing the French and ignoble visions of plundering the joint.But pickings at the ill-supplied Louisbourg Fortress were so scant that Harvard's only war trophy of record was a crude, wrought-iron cross. For most of this century, the Canadians have tried to get the cross back, while Harvard resisted -- until Wednesday.On the 250th anniversary of the raid and the opening at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Massachusetts of an exhibit on the little-known siege of Louisbourg, Harvard finally gave the cross back -- sort of."

The Supreme Court recently turned down an opportunity to assert that there is a constitutional right to burn a cross, a la the Ku Klux Klan. It had ruled in the past that symbolic speech -- burning a flag, burning a cross, etc. -- is an exercise of the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.But by its inaction last month the court left standing the convictions of two Illinois white men who burned a cross to intimidate white neighbors who had entertained black friends. They had been charged under an anti-arson law.Other similar cases are pending in the federal appellate system, and the Supreme Court may be planning to use one of them to make a fuller statement about this issue.

The story of Brian McConnell, the student at Anne Arundel County's Marley Middle School who wasn't allowed to complete a wooden cross in shop class, shows why some educators need a lesson in common sense.Brian wanted to make a cross for his grandmother's grave as an ungraded extra project. His teacher told him he could cut and prepare the wood in class, but couldn't assemble the pieces because crosses are religious symbols. Anne Arundel County school officials agreed; allowing a student to make a cross in class would violate the constitutional rule separating church and state.

Don't paint CBS pro football analyst Randy Cross as one of those guys who follows the line of least resistance. After doing a couple of Atlanta games this fall, the former 49ers center says the Falcons are going to beat the Redskins tomorrow.Cross says the 11-point underdogs have "the best combination of talent and emotion going in the playoffs." Which recalls what former Southern Cal and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McKay once said: "They say emotion wins football games. My wife Corky's emotional as they come and she can't play the game worth a damn."

An article in Tuesday's Anne Arundel edition should have reported that a Pasadena man pleaded guilty to filing a false report with police in a cross-burning on a neighbor's lawn.Robert C. Horn, 26, of the 300 block of Center St., charged with setting fire to the cross, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge, admitting he lied about his name and whereabouts at the time of the cross-burning.The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.A 26-year-old Pasadena man pleaded guilty yesterday to making a false report to police after he burned a cross on a neighbor's lawn, then lied to police about it.Robert C. Horn of the 300 block of Center St. admitted yesterday that he lied to a police officer investigating a cross-burning Aug. 6 in Pasadena.

A 37-year-old Glen Burnie man was ordered released from jail yesterday after serving nearly four months for burning a cross in September in a park near Marley Junior High School.Darrell James Miner of the 200 block of Poplar Avenue had faced up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine after pleading guilty May 29 to burning the cross.At Miner's sentencing hearing yesterday, county Circuit Judge Lawrence H. Rushworth handed down an 18-month suspended sentence, gave credit for Miner's time served since his arrest March 16 and placed him on three years' supervised probation.

Christmas is probably unconstitutional. I'm no lawyer, but the logic seems unassailable to me. Consider: Santa Claus aside, Christmas is an explicitly Christian holiday and the only holiday of any religion to be observed by the federal government. Which would seem to violate the First Amendment edict that Congress "shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Yet to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge, no one has ever sued Christmas before the Supreme Court. Not that I'm trying to give any ideas.

Towson State's men's cross-country team placed four runners among the top 10 finishers yesterday to win the Baltimore Metro Invitational at Patapsco State Park, McKeldin Area.The championship was the Tigers' second in the past three years.Loyola's Geoff Karabin claimed individual honors with a time of 29 minutes, 56 seconds over the eight-kilometer course.In the women's race, Loyola's Betsy Allen led her team to its second straight Metro crown, finishing in 21 minutes, just ahead of teammates Sarah MacSherry (21: 14)

A man thought to have been under the influence of alcohol was killed when a car hit him as he tried to cross Ritchie Highway on foot Monday evening, Anne Arundel County police said. Peter Stanley Schmitz, 48, of the 1500 block of Spruce St. in Baltimore was trying to cross the southbound lanes of the highway north of Bon Air Road at 6:15 p.m. when he was struck by a 2002 Nissan Xtara, police said. The driver of the Nissan, Vicki Lynn Shockey, 53, of Elkridge, was not injured. She told police she did not have time to avoid Schmitz.