Four Years

Like many college freshmen, James Bond expected to graduate from University of Maryland in four years. But then he decided to take on a double major, studying government and journalism. To do it in four years, he would have needed 17 or 18 credits a semester instead of the typical 12 to 15. He worried his grades would suffer, hurting his chances when he applies to law schools. Now he is in his fifth year. And Bond - whose less-frantic schedule gives him time to serve as president of the student body, work at Student Legal Aid and take upper-level Spanish classes, among other activities - doesn't mind at all. "I'm getting so much more out of the college experience," said Bond, 22, of Silver Spring, who is among the growing number of college students nationwide who, out of choice or necessity, are extending their stay on campuses beyond the traditional four years.

Four years ago, Kurt L. Schmoke ran for mayor of Baltimore as That Nice Young Man. Kurt, Kurt, you wanted to say. Loosen up! Undo your necktie! Call somebody a bad name!Instead, he campaigned on a platform of self-conscious politeness. And it nearly cost him his future.Everybody says it's going to be different this time around. They say he fought with his hands tied four years ago. The newspaper polls showed him running far ahead of Du Burns, but private polls showed him in trouble with elderly black voters who wanted reassurance.

USF&G Corp. has signed a $10 million contract to hand over some of its internal computing work to a minority-owned Maryland computer firm.As part of the four-year agreement, 130 information-systems employees at USF&G are being offered full-time jobs with the contractor, Rockville-based Maxima Corp.After four years of layoffs, many of them hitting information systems, the Baltimore-based insurer said it wants to make this staff reduction as painless as possible.Those who take the offer are being guaranteed a comparable salary structure and a minimum of 90 days' work at Maxima, as well as four weeks of pay in cash, plus severance of two weeks' salary for each year of employment, according to Thomas K. Lewis Jr., senior vice president and chief information officer at USF&G.

The Washington Redskins signed wide receiver Tim McGee yesterday, but could be on the verge of losing defensive lineman Reggie White.After White, with the strong urging of his wife, Sara, virtually had decided to go to Washington, the talks between Redskins general manager Charley Casserly and White's agent, Jimmy Sexton, hit a major snag yesterday.Neither Casserly nor Sexton would comment, but a source close to White said, "It's Washington's game to lose and they may be losing it."The problem is something of a misunderstanding between the two sides.

Here are excerpts of a speech prepared for delivery to the Republican National Convention yesterday by Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin:. . . Is America better off today than she was four years ago?Remember President Bush standing in the Rose Garden with Boris Yeltsin and mak- ing the most sweeping nuclear arms cuts in history. Our children can now go to bed in peace and not wake to the fear of nuclear war.Are we better off than four years ago?Of course we are.We have moved from an age of building bomb shelters and missiles that could end our future in a moment, to a chance to restore our precious land and to rejuvenate this entire planet.

WASHINGTON -- Now that Vice President Dan Quayle has declared his presence on the Republican ticket is "a closed issue," the next question is: Will he really hurt President Bush's chances of re-election or, like most past running mates, will he have little impact on the November result?The history of presidential elections indicates strongly that running mates seldom make any difference, and Exhibit A is Quayle himself four years ago. Surveys during and after the 1988 election found that voters preferred the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, over Quayle by a wide margin, but that didn't keep Bush from winning impressively over Democrat Michael Dukakis.

A Baltimore County man was sentenced yesterday to four years in jail under a work-release program for the Dec. 23 deaths of a man and his sister on the Liberty Dam bridge on Route 26 in Eldersburg.Ronald Henry Fajkowski, 38, of Mount Carmel Road in Uppercopleaded guilty yesterday to two counts of automobile manslaughter and one count of driving while intoxicated, with a 0.16 blood-alcohol reading.Zelia A. Eckhart, 63, and her brother, Earl J. Landry, 67, both of Reisterstown, died at the scene when their 1985 Toyota Camry was hit head-on by an eastbound 1994 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Fajkowski.

CHICAGO - As I groaned at the news of Ralph Nader's presidential candidacy, I could feel my 2000 self staring at me with some disapproval. I was an idealistic college student then, loath to play by the rules of an uninspiring, ideologically straitjacketed two-party system, in which voters' decisions seemed to hinge on who had the better sound bites. "To vote for Gore even though I prefer Nader is to play a game in which someone else has stated the rules and someone else (the media, the parties, the debate commission)

SEATTLE -- Mike Flanagan couldn't help but recall the night four years ago when he became an ex-Oriole."I've been through this once before, so I don't take anything for granted," said the 39-year-old lefthander. "That time it shocked me."Last night, less than two hours after the official trading deadline passed, Flanagan gave yet another reason why he should figure more prominently in the Orioles' plans now than he did four years ago. He gave up two hits and no runs in 3 2/3 innings of relief and was credited with the win as the Orioles broke a five-game losing streak with a 4-2, 11-inning win over the Seattle Mariners.

A former Dundalk high school teacher who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet on New Year's Day was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison for a crime a Howard County judge called "every suburban parent's worst nightmare." As a teacher, Charles Levi Maxwell, an admitted sex addict, must have recognized that he was dealing with a minor, said Howard Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney. But instead of calling off their meeting in Ellicott City, Maxwell decided to "proceed ahead and charge ahead," even making plans to meet her again a few days later, Sweeney said.