Graduate School

NEW YORK -- His introduction to the big leagues hasn't been quite the way Tommy Shields dreamed it would be, but it has postponed his retirement."I had pretty much decided if I didn't come up this year, I was going to retire," Shields said. That decision had been reached despite the urging of several people, including Jerry Narron, manager of the Rochester Red Wings, the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate, that he give himself at least another year."Jerry and a few other Triple-A managers told me to hang in there," Shields said.

When Secret Mountains released its long-awaited first album, "Rainer," in February, the band seemed poised to make a leap to higher prominince in the indie music world. The shoegazed-inspired Baltimore sextet had already garnered positive write-ups from online tastemakers Stereogum and Pitchfork. Even the New York Times joined in the praise with a concert review in 2011. The band achieved all of this without a full-length album to its name. But lately, things have been relatively quiet with the band, and last week, singer Kelly Laughlin announced to The Baltimore Sun why: She had left Secret Mountains right before "Rainer" was released.

Robert Seager II, an award-winning historian who established the University of Baltimore's graduate school, died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 79 and lived in Reston, Va. A specialist in American military and diplomatic history, Dr. Seager held several teaching and administrative posts at Maryland schools during his career. He taught history at the Naval Academy in Annapolis from 1961 to 1967 and was dean of Washington College in Chestertown from 1970 to 1972. Dr. Seager then became president for academic affairs at the University of Baltimore.

I grew up in the 1950s in a sports-deprived area of southeast Georgia. Except for a not-so-close and generally unnoticed Georgia Florida league baseball farm team, there was no major league baseball, football or basketball. Sports meant cow pasture baseball, share the ball, bat and glove and not much of a distraction. The 1960s came with some participation in the voting rights and integration struggles, along with the new arrival of professional baseball, an interesting but not an embedded passion.

My daughter will graduate with a bachelor's degree in May and might go to graduate school. What type of financial aid is available for grad school? Does she fill out a FAFSA or something else? - R.S.F., via the Internet Financial aid for graduate school is different from what you've experienced so far. For graduate programs, the student must apply for financial aid and fill out the complex Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the same form used to determine a family's ability to pay for undergraduate programs.

Peter Lorenzi remembers when a blackboard and dusty nub of chalk where the only tools a teacher needed. Those days are quickly fading.When the dean of Loyola College's graduate school of business steps into his classroom these days, he can brush a small touch-screen panel with his finger and dim the lights, jolt the videocassette recorder to life, call up a Web page on a giant projection screen or cut to a television show.When Lorenzi lectures, he no longer has to turn around to read from the blackboard.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A group of entrepreneurs with a lofty idea for a graduate school that emphasizes personal growth, not career training, has won a license to start a college from scratch.Connecticut officials have authorized the group to proceed with plans for an unusual institution that will operate in real classrooms and through computer hookups.The Graduate Institute -- offering master's degrees in areas such as "holistic thinking," "conscious evolution" and "experiential health and healing" -- is believed to be the only school of its kind in the nation.

Maren Hassinger points to a pile of flimsy pink plastic shopping bags in one corner of her office/studio at the Maryland Institute, College of Art. "Those bags are from one of the happiest days I've spent here," she says.On a lovely afternoon last spring, Hassinger decided that students in her performance workshop at the Rinehart School of Sculpture would tie the pink bags together and weave them in and out of the trees outside.People ended up chasing the bags in the breeze, and, as Hassinger describes it, the day unfolded like an idyllic scene out of an 18th-century painting - except that chasing the bags involved dodging cars.

Op-ed contributor Carlene Buccino's argument against the objectivity of SAT scores is compelling but flawed ("The best test scores money can buy," Dec. 13). There is a robust literature that supports the use of SAT scores in the admissions process. Generally, institutions of higher learning are well-versed regarding literature that suggests the cultural, socio-economic and gender biases of the SAT and other standardized exams. In fact, some institutions tier the SAT bottom-line in adherence to the literature.

Eric Hayes spent the first two years after graduating Marylandin 2010 playing basketball in three different countries and moving closer to his ultimate goal - becoming a coach like his father, Kendall, who had coached for years in Northern Virginia and stopped to watch his son play for the Terps. Hayes split the fall of 2010 and the winter of 2011 between professional teams in Spain and Lithuania, then played last season in the NBA's Developmental League in the birthplace of professional football - Canton, Ohio.

Typically, a singer is excited to discuss the ins and outs of her band's debut album, especially a well-received, highly anticipated one like Secret Mountains' "Rainer. " But today, singer Kelly Laughlin announced she left the Baltimore sextet earlier this year, right before "Rainer" was released in late February. The 21-year-old Laughlin, who graduates from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a degree in printmaking next month, says there were many factors that led to her decision (including the possibility of enrolling in graduate school and the fact that two band members live in New York)

Helen B. Wolfe, an outspoken advocate of women's rights who also had been a member of the faculty of McDaniel College for more than a decade, died March 5 from cancer at Carroll Hospice Center's Dove House in Westminster. She was 79. With a head of thick white hair, flashing porcelain-blue eyes and an outsized personality, Dr. Wolfe made an instant and lasting impression on those she met, friends said. "When she came to the college, she had already had a distinguished career and in that sense showed a lot of the younger women the variety of roles she had undertaken," said Joan Develin Coley, who retired as president of McDaniel College in 2010.

Anne Arundel Community College students Marcelle Lee of Severna Park and Dustin Shirley of Odenton had never taken a digital forensics course at the school until this past summer, but they are fast learners. The duo recently won the community college division of the U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) Digital Forensic Challenge, a competition that challenges students to analyze digital clues related to cybersecurity and counterterrorism. The win marked the second consecutive academic year that a team from Anne Arundel Community College has won the international competition.

Op-ed contributor Carlene Buccino's argument against the objectivity of SAT scores is compelling but flawed ("The best test scores money can buy," Dec. 13). There is a robust literature that supports the use of SAT scores in the admissions process. Generally, institutions of higher learning are well-versed regarding literature that suggests the cultural, socio-economic and gender biases of the SAT and other standardized exams. In fact, some institutions tier the SAT bottom-line in adherence to the literature.

NCAA grant Coppin to get $300K each of next 3 years Coppin State is one of six institutions to receive an NCAA pilot program grant designed to assist limited-resource schools in developing and enhancing systems to increase student-athlete academic performance. Coppin State will receive $300,000 in grant money each year for the next three years beginning in January and is one of four institutions to receive the maximum grant amount. Institutions were able to request a maximum of $300,000 per year for three years.

In the 75th year of its discussion-based curriculum centered on great books from the Western tradition, St. John's College in Annapolis has been ranked as the top school in the nation whose undergraduates go on to earn doctorates in the humanities. The top ranking, according to a survey of all Ph.D. earners conducted by the National Science Foundation, places St. John's College ahead of more than 1,200 institutions. The school is also among the nation's top 20 liberal arts and research universities whose undergraduates completed doctorates, according to the survey.

In the 75th year of its discussion-based curriculum centered on great books from the Western tradition, St. John's College in Annapolis has been ranked as the top school in the nation whose undergraduates go on to earn doctorates in the humanities. The top ranking, according to a survey of all Ph.D. earners conducted by the National Science Foundation, places St. John's College ahead of more than 1,200 institutions. The school is also among the nation's top 20 liberal arts and research universities whose undergraduates completed doctorates, according to the survey.

Typically, a singer is excited to discuss the ins and outs of her band's debut album, especially a well-received, highly anticipated one like Secret Mountains' "Rainer. " But today, singer Kelly Laughlin announced she left the Baltimore sextet earlier this year, right before "Rainer" was released in late February. The 21-year-old Laughlin, who graduates from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a degree in printmaking next month, says there were many factors that led to her decision (including the possibility of enrolling in graduate school and the fact that two band members live in New York)

A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak to a group of students at a youth arts program in West Baltimore. I was given carte blanche to hold forth on the topic of my choice, so I chose personal narratives - specifically, the benefits of effectively communicating who you are, where you come from and where you'd like to go. It's a skill that's useful during a range of interactions, from first dates to job interviews, enlisting others to help you reach...

Eric Hayes spent the first two years after graduating Marylandin 2010 playing basketball in three different countries and moving closer to his ultimate goal - becoming a coach like his father, Kendall, who had coached for years in Northern Virginia and stopped to watch his son play for the Terps. Hayes split the fall of 2010 and the winter of 2011 between professional teams in Spain and Lithuania, then played last season in the NBA's Developmental League in the birthplace of professional football - Canton, Ohio.