Furman

On many weeknights, when most of their peers are settled in for a restful night of Must See TV, these students are out at board or committee meetings in stuffy conference rooms, swimming in paperwork. And when the biggest topic in school is which of the in-crowd will be voted "Best Dressed" or "Cutest Smile," these students are lobbying for policies that will make it more likely for them to succeed. It's subtle differences like those in these enterprising teen-agers that some say are making this year's Howard County Association of Student Councils one of the most active and successful groups in recent history.

Every two weeks, five adult Howard County residents and one teen-ager sit down to wrestle with the problems of managing a school system with 45,700 students, 67 schools and 3,883 teachers and administrators. When the discussion ends, the adult members of the Howard County Board of Education vote on issues ranging from placement of new schools to graduation standards, while the teen-ager sits and watches. But that soon could change in a small but symbolically meaningful way. Starting in November, the board's student associate might gain the right to record his vote on every issue taken up by the board.

FURMAN YORK was just out of high school and about to start his freshman year at Mercer College in Macon, Ga., when he decided to invite his friend, Richard Scott, an African-American, to a cookout at the summer house Furman rented with his older brother, Cliff York. Silly Furman. The year was 1954. The date was June 22. Just one month and six days earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had handed down one of its most famous decisions when it declared separate schools for blacks and whites illegal.

Seven prekindergartners are making their way into Miss G.'s classroom when one of them offers an unprompted greeting. "Buenas tardes," Janay says. Even the teacher, Diana Gutierrez, seems surprised by the Spanish "good afternoon." The girl is only 4 years old. "The younger, the better," Gutierrez says. Every pupil at Furman L. Templeton Elementary is taking Spanish this year, the first of at least five years that the troubled West Baltimore school will be managed by a private, for-profit company, Edison Schools.

Antwan Wright has been in the school suspension room more than once. The third-grader has disrupted class, fought with other kids, run in the cafeteria and, this time, shown disrespect to a teacher. Now he's with his mother in the office of Assistant Principal Mary Torian-Dunnock, who's considering suspending him. His eyes are wet from crying. Torian-Dunnock is speaking gently but firmly, enforcing the all-important rules at Furman L. Templeton: Be respectful and considerate. Be responsible.

It's supposed to be math time in Mr. Demeritte's third-grade class, but an altogether unplanned lesson needs to be taught first. The kids at Furman L. Templeton Elementary had pushed and shoved and nearly trampled each other to get to some Juicy Twists that their new teacher has brought in. So Edmund Demeritte asks them to describe on paper what they did wrong and contrast it with a situation in which they behaved better. Some struggle with the exercise. David, 8, writes a single word - "jump" - and seems satisfied.

The Rev. Pope Furman Brock Jr., former assistant rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity who was known for his ministry with the sick, elderly and shut-ins, died Sunday of a pulmonary embolism at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. He was 77. Father Brock, a gentle man with an easygoing demeanor, retired in 1994 from the Cedarcroft church, where he had been assistant rector for 14 years. The nephew of a Southern Railway locomotive engineer and a lifelong train buff, Father Brock was seldom without his trademark blue-and-white-striped denim B&O engineer's hat, which he wore daily and on visits to communicants and at church events.

Carroll Community College will graduate 247 students during commencement exercises at 7: 30 p.m. Wednesday in the physical education learning center at Western Maryland College.Robert R. Furman, a civil engineer and owner of Furman Builders Inc., will be the keynote speaker. He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Princeton University.Furman was his company's president from 1946 to 1986. He was executive officer for the construction of the Pentagon and staff officer for the Manhattan District, the organization in charge of developing the atomic bomb in World War II.Ralph Vaughn, president of the Student Government Organization, will give the student greeting.

Each year, Ron "Max" Furman ups the ante of his April Fools pranks and exceeded even his own expectations yesterday when he took out a newspaper ad announcing his candidacy for mayor of Baltimore.The Fells Point bar and cigar store owner's stunt was an effort to draw attention to a new Max's restaurant across the street from Camden Yards at 300 W. Pratt St., which Furman listed as his "campaign headquarters."Furman received about 30 calls from city residents interested in helping his candidacy, drawn by his slogan: "A Citizen, Not A Politician."

During the regular season, the Friends Quakers dominated Park, beating the Bruins twice by a total of 25 goals.So, leading by just two at halftime of yesterday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference semifinal at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field, the 10th-ranked Quakers did what they could to pinch themselves back to reality."