Free Tickets

THIS YEAR'S passage of a new ethics law covering General Assembly members has sparked something of a philosophical question in Annapolis: Is the Preakness Stakes a "sporting" or "cultural" event?For the jockeys and trainers, the third Saturday in May is all about sports and betting. For the sunburned beer-guzzlers running amok in the infield, the Preakness is, well, a cultural experience of a sort.But for legislators, it's a tougher question and, as is so often the case, money is riding on the answer.

About 1,300 Baltimore high school students signed up yesterday to watch an exhibition game between the Orioles and a Cuban all-star team at Camden Yards May 3 after Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos offered tickets to schools.One hundred tickets were made available to each of the city's 20 high schools. School officials decided that members of athletic teams would be given the first chance to sign up for the tickets, then students with good attendance.Bernard Barnes, principal of Lake Clifton High School, said he quickly had a list of 100 students, including athletes, class officers and those with good attendance.

Lisa Zipfel had big plans to take a 12-day European vacation with her boyfriend this summer. Even better, she had enough frequent-flier miles on Trans World Airlines to take care of the tickets.So in January, she called to make her reservations for July. She preferred to fly into Rome, but if seats were not available, Paris would be fine.No, the reservations agent told her, frequent-flier tickets to both cities were booked in July.How about June? Ms. Zipfel asked. Booked. Both cities? Yes.What was available?

Girls athletic teams of all ages are invited to take advantage of free tickets to a Women's Sports Day at the Bowie Baysox game Sunday.Several area sponsors have donated tickets to girls who participate in organized sports -- from T-ball to high school field hockey to community swim teams. Girls wearing team uniforms or jerseys will be invited to join celebrities on the field for a pre-game ceremony at 1: 30 p.m., followed by the Baysox-New Haven Ravens game at 2: 15 p.m.Fans can purchase tickets ($5 for adults, $3 for ages 6-12)

The official in charge of enforcing workplace safety laws in Maryland accepted free tickets to a Towson contractor's luxury skybox at Camden Yards when he was negotiating a deal for more "cooperative" inspections at the company's stadium work site.Such an action is an apparent violation of Maryland's ethics laws.Craig D. Lowry, chief of compliance at the Maryland Occupational Health and Safety agency (MOSH) for 13 years, said he and his son were guests in the box owned by Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. when the Orioles played the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 22. The veteran regulator was seen at the game by an individual who recognized him and telephoned The Sun.In an interview last week, Lowry defended his actions, saying he was meeting with Whiting-Turner officials to discuss a "cooperative compliance program" for the contractor at the site of the planned Ravens football stadium.

It will be the hottest ticket in town, and it will be literally priceless.If you're not a cardinal, a bishop or a practicing Roman Catholic who wins a parish lottery, you're likely to be shut out of the 47,000 tickets to Pope John Paul II's Oct. 8 Mass at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.You can probably forget those old standbys, ticket brokers and scalpers. Broker services, which have no problem accepting many times the face value of tickets for sporting events or concerts, say they will not be selling tickets for the papal Mass.

Ah, the crocodile tears! Pity the poor state senators (sob!). ''What will we do without our free tickets to concerts, ball games and sold-out events?''What a quandary for these solons of American democracy. Heck, it's almost not worth running for office if they take away all the goodies!Such was the bizarre situation late in the General Assembly session when members of the state Senate finally came face to face with lobbying reform. In case you missed it, they blinked.Let's face it. Many of these elected officials love the perks of the job. They like the attention lavished on them by lobbyists.

The Rosa Ponselle Foundation will present a free concert tonight in Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College. It will showcase the winners of its fourth annual "All-Marylanders" Competition, in which 100 young Maryland singers between the ages of 13 and 21 competed last spring.Veteran Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone, Jerome Hines, will introduce the singers and do some vocalizing himself.Nine of last year's winners will sing selections from Mozart's "Die Zauberflote," Charpentier's "Louise," Johann Strauss' "Die Fleder maus" and other operatic works.

Free tickets to super musicAlmost two years ago, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its music director, David Zinman, introduced a fascinating new work by the young American composer Michael Daugherty. The work was called "Metropolis Symphony," and it was based on the exploits of DC Comics' Superman. On July 9-10, Zinman and the BSO will record the work for the Sony Classical label. The public is not -- of course -- admitted to recording sessions. But in order to re-familiarize themselves with the work, Zinman -- in his first appearance with the BSO since December -- and the orchestra will perform the "Metropolis Symphony" in a free concert at 7:30 p.m. July 8 in Meyerhoff Hall.

St. Petersburg, Russia As the brash and noisy GoodwillGames unfold in this proud and hardened center of old Russian grandeur, nobody wants to be caught on the sidelines.Even the Museum of Printing, in a creaky, old imperial building overlooking the narrow Moyka River, is tying itself into the extravagant Goodwill machinery. An exhibit opens there today of 400 turn-of-the-century postcards depicting wrestlers, rowers, golfers and tennis players."Well," Galina Klarovskaya, a researcher at the museum, said yesterday, "this is the biggest excitement we've had in the city since the 250th anniversary celebration back in 1956 -- and anyway that came three years too late."

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon received $400 worth of tennis clothes, City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake attended nearly a dozen balls and Councilman James B. Kraft has some new tools. This peek into the tastes and habits of the city's elected officials comes from the annual financial disclosure forms that they had to submit at the end of last month. Disclosure (or nondisclosure) of gifts is at the heart of the corruption cases brought this year by the state prosecutor's office against Dixon and Councilwoman Helen Holton.

Mendelssohn -- Candlelight Concert Society Inc. will present a performance by the Mendelssohn String Quartet, with pianist Jonathan Bliss, at 8 p.m. Oct. 22 at Howard Community College's Smith Theatre, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The quartet appears frequently at New York's Mostly Mozart Festival and other venues. A pre-concert session, "Meet the Artists & the Music," is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $29; $26 for those age 60 and older; and $12 for full-time students up to age 24. Middle and high school students get free tickets, if available, when accompanied by a paying adult.

An item in yesterday's editions about Community Day at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore failed to explain how residents of neighborhoods around the zoo can attend Saturday's event. They must obtain the free tickets in advance from their community associations.

DALLAS - Members of Southwest Airlines Co.'s frequent flier program will have twice as long to earn and redeem free tickets and will no longer have to worry about blackout dates, under changes announced yesterday. But those free tickets may be harder to book. Starting Feb. 10, Southwest, the dominant carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, plans to limit the number of seats available for award travel on a given flight. "We want to keep the program lucrative for members, but at the same time, keep Southwest profitable," said Debra Benton, the airline's director of loyalty marketing.

FORT WORTH, Texas - For years, Southwest Airlines has richly rewarded Internet-hip travelers with extra frequent-flier awards for booking online, a bonus that was among the most generous in the industry. That opulent benefit quietly came to an end this month, when Southwest executives let their Internet bonus program expire. Airline spokeswoman Linda Rutherford explained yesterday that the program's goal had been achieved; today more than 60 percent of Southwest's revenues are booked through its Internet site.

The question came up one day recently as the attendance at Blast soccer games at 1st Mariner Arena has risen. How many free tickets does the Blast give away? If anyone wants to irritate team owner Ed Hale, that's the only question that has to be asked. The owner, who is a businessman first and a sports fan second, was irate. "When I took over this team, the tickets had no value," said Hale, who bought the franchise for a second time in 1998. "You'd try to sell your tickets and people would say, 'Why should I buy them?

There are more musical events than potholes in Baltimore these days (well, maybe not quite that many, but a lot). And, just like those potholes, they tend to come in bunches. Here are some performances vying for your attention just today: * The Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jed Gaylin, will play Bruch's rhapsodic Violin Concerto No. 1 (with 14-year-old Vitaly Briskin) and Berlioz's brilliant "Symphonie fantastique" at 2 p.m., Shriver Concert Hall, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St. Tickets are $6 and $7. Call 410-516-6542.

WASHINGTON - Dean Bonney had big plans this inaugural. He and his wife were going to leave their infant daughter with a babysitter and hit the Texas Black Tie and Boots ball, the big-ticket event feting George W. Bush and his high-powered friends. But before Bonney could squeeze into his tux, he ran into a little problem. "My wife felt like the election was stolen," he groused. "We had a pretty big argument. I sold the tickets - the hottest ticket in town." After putting an ad in the paper to sell off his tickets, Bonney found himself in the middle of a bidding war. Yesterday morning, friends of Bush were calling Bonney's home in Arlington, Va., desperate for tickets to the bash - sponsored by the Texas State Society and featuring Clint Black, Tanya Tucker and truckloads of barbecue.

An Anne Arundel County permitting clerk who asked for and received 100 free tickets to a festival regulated by her department has been fired, her boss announced yesterday. Janice L. Russell was issued a termination letter effective late Tuesday, said Walter Chitwood, director of the Department of Inspections and Permits. Chitwood declined to comment further. Russell, who had worked for the county for 17 years, could not be reached. Last month, Russell was reprimanded by the county ethics commission for seeking the complimentary tickets to last year's Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville.

The Anne Arundel County Ethics Commission has reprimanded a clerk in the county permit office for using her position to obtain 100 free tickets to last year's Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville. The employee, Janice Russell, signed a consent order with the commission last week agreeing to pay the festival $1,500 for the cost of the $14.95 tickets. The ticket exchange was brought to light after festival officials complained during the summer to the county that Russell approached them for tickets to this year's event.