Identity

Stedman Graham is one self-help author who practices what he preaches almost every day of his life. If he didn't, he would likely be lost in one of the largest and most overwhelming shadows in American life. Graham, known to millions as "Oprah Winfrey's boyfriend," was in town last week promoting his 11th book, "Identity: Your Passport to Success," a guide to creating your own identity rather than letting others define and limit who and what you can imagine yourself being.

A Salisbury man was arrested Wednesday as part of a nationwide, coordinated seizure of 50 individuals prosecutors say are involved in a Puerto Rico-based identity-trafficking ring, according to the federal immigration agency. Darcia Ramirez-Segura, 43, has been charged with conspiracy to commit identification fraud, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, relating to the alleged trafficking of the identities of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens and their identity documents.

Barbara Kruger's "Untitled" in UMBC's show "Ciphers of Identity" plays with identity in several ways. She used an existing photograph of a woman's hands pulling a photograph out of a file drawer filled with folders bearing numbers -- 2400, 3150, etc.The photo the hand holds is blurred; you can't tell what it shows, so the subject doesn't have an identity. The numbers indicate that whatever or whoever the photo shows has been reduced to something nameless for the purposes of this file. On the photo Kruger has superimposed the written legend "Who do you think you are?"

A Prince George's County man who used a former soldier's identity to obtain credit cards and take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans received a two-year prison sentence in federal court in Baltimore yesterday. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett also gave Tosin Okunbanjo, 33, of Mount Rainier, who had pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, a year of supervised release after the prison term. According to his plea agreement, Okunbanjo entered the United States using a false passport bearing the victim's name and date of birth.

Baltimore police were seeking clues yesterday to the identity of a newborn boy whose body was found Saturday -- the umbilical cord still attached -- floating in the harbor at Canton.Detective Terry McLarney of the homicide squad said passers-by saw the dead infant -- so decomposed its race could not be determined -- in the water near Boston and O'Donnell streets about 6 p.m. Police were waiting for autopsy results."A big issue for us is whether the child was alive prior to being placed in the water or if there were complications at birth -- whether it's a murder," Detective McLarney said.

"Identity: A Novel," by Milan Kundera. HarperFlamingo. 160 pages. $22. Of all the dissident writers to go into exile from the formerly communist regimes of Eastern Europe, Milan Kundera has been among the most celebrated. In popular American recognition, he is probably the most famous Czech writer living (after Vaclav Havel, more famous for his role in politics). His virtuosic novels "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" were justly praised both for the wit of their political commentary and their irreverence about politics in general.

Baltimore Football Club owner Jim Speros said his sudden decision to give his team a nickname is based primarily on the need to boost the franchise's identity.Speros, who hinted earlier this month that he would come up with a nickname after the 1995 season, announced during Saturday's 37-0 exhibition victory over Birmingham that he would christen Baltimore with an official moniker the day before its July 8 home opener against San Antonio."I've been working behind the scenes with legal people and trademark people on some different names.

For three years after he died, Frederick A. Kessler Jr. continued to pay his bills. His mortgage was caught up, his utilities covered and his taxes dutifully paid. His mail, too, was regularly collected. It turns out that was the problem. Yesterday, a 45-year-old Baltimore man pleaded guilty to stealing Kessler's identity, in part by stealing his mail. David Anthony Johnson faces 30 years in federal prison and a fine of $1 million, according to the Maryland U.S. attorney's office. The government did not name Kessler in court documents; The Baltimore Sun identified him through public records.

THE TWO REQUIREMENTS for the Ravens' next offensive coordinator should be: don't be a yes man, and define an identity and stick with it. In 2004, the Ravens didn't have an identity. On some days they were a running team. On some days, they were a passing team. On other days, they didn't know who the heck they were. But there were constant adjectives to describe them: inept, ugly, boring, conservative, illogical. Actually, this went on for six years under coach Brian Billick, but even he had had enough.

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that an earlier report of a "suspicious person" who tried to get a 14-year-old male student to get in his vehicle in the Lineboro-Manchester area was most likely a case of mistaken identity. On Nov. 2, at about 3:30 p.m., Carroll County Sheriff's Deputies were called to the 4700 block of Schalk Road No. 1 for the report of suspicious activity. Deputies determined that, moments prior, a 14-year-old male was exiting a school bus when he was approached by a man in a pickup truck.