Hagen

It's easy to tell that actress Uta Hagen is an excellent teacher.She fervently imparts information and opinions on subjects ranging from theater as a religious vocation to blacklisting in the McCarthy era to psychoanalysis.Described in People magazine earlier this year as "arguably America's greatest living stage actress" and listed in a recent issue of Theater Week as one of the top 10 female stars of the year, Hagen, 77, has never become a household name, probably because she has shunned movies and favored the stage.

Conrail elects LeVan as CEOConrail Inc. elected President David M. LeVan as its chief executive officer, completing a management succession plan begun in September.Mr. LeVan, 49, fills the post left by James A. Hagen, who will retire as chief executive but remain chairman. Mr. Hagen, 62, has held the two positions since 1989 and has no specific plans to leave the chairman's seat, a spokesman said.Mr. LeVan joined the company in 1978 as assistant controller and has since held various positions with the Philadelphia-based rail company.

COLLEGE PARK -- Despite sitting out a couple of practices last week because of it, Maryland center Joe Smith doesn't seem to be bothered too much by the jammed big toe on his right foot.Smith, a consensus preseason All-American going into his sophomore year, dominated the team's intrasquad scrimmage yesterday. Though he didn't put up 40 points on 16-for-17 shooting as he did two weeks ago, the rest of the Terrapins couldn't stop him.Playing against Smith might help prepare junior Mario Lucas or freshman Rodney Elliott, but does it help get Smith ready for the season?

He's a gem so farCaught with their finances down, the Toronto Argonauts asked veteran quarterback John Congemi to take a significant pay cut a year ago. Rather than accept less than he made as a rookie, Congemi asked for his release, then sat out the 1993 season.Now he's in Baltimore trying to win the backup job to another ex-Argo, Tracy Ham. Congemi hasn't lost his touch. He's thrown exceptionally well through four days of camp.Because of an injury and his size (5 feet 11, 190), Congemi went to the Canadian Football League from Pitt in 1987.

LOCAL FILMMAKER John Waters, rumored to be working on his hush-hush new film project, is slated to host the first Hair Ball, a hair-raising event for Baltimore's art community, on April 27 at the Maryland Art Place at 218 W. Saratoga St.Tickets are $10 for MAP members and $15 for the public, which should guarantee a sellout. Make checks payable to MAP and send by April 12; a guest list will be held at the door.Meanwhile, Waters fans might want to mark April 4 on their calendars, when the filmmaker and noted raconteur returns to the Comedy Factory Outlet to reveal more of his "obsessions."

Television is neither good nor bad in some strict aesthetic sense. Good television is programming that connects with the currents of our lives and helps us see ourselves as part of a larger whole.By that definition, Danny Thomas, who died yesterday of a heart attack, made good television -- very good television.It started in 1953 with "Make Room for Daddy," the weekly sitcom starring Thomas as Danny Williams, a nightclub performer. The show's focus was the Williams' household, which included his wife (Jean Hagen)

DESPITE THE RECENT reunification of Germany, a revolution of taste marches on.Dinner tables in what used to be East Germany are slowly becoming laden with the rich foods West Germans enjoyed for years. Due to government regulations, East Germans went without luxury foods since World War II. Items such as butter, cream, beef, chocolate and coffee were always scarce. The small amount of dairy products and livestock East German farmers produced were mostly exported to other Iron Curtain countries.