Inclusion

The report on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball tempts me to cynically say that given the inclusion of 19 present or former Orioles among the 87 players named, you would think that we would have witnessed a better on-field performance than we have had to endure for the last 10 seasons. But the findings of former Sen. George J. Mitchell strike me in a way that leads my mind back to Game Four of the 1970 World Series, when the trees visible beyond Memorial Stadium's open end were full of glorious fall color.

Taking a giant step in getting a proposed East Baltimore biotech park off the drawing board, the city has chosen a well-known banker to head a new nonprofit organization to oversee the project and has agreed to provide displaced homeowners up to $70,000 each to relocate. Also set is a plan to ensure minority participation in the multimillion-dollar project that includes provisions for job training, development and community reinvestment. Joseph Haskins Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Harbor Bank of Maryland, will head an 11-member board made up of representatives named by the city, state, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and community leaders.

For the past 18 months I have had the privilege and pleasure of sharing with you, the citizens of Carroll County, my opinions and thoughts on a variety of subjects. I appreciate those of you who have contacted me to share your thoughts and opinions, whether you agreed with me or not.There is one thought that I have not shared, and that is why I belong to the Republican Party.I became a Republican because I believe that the proper function of government is to do for the people those things that have to be done, but cannot be done by individuals.

DEFINITION OF A DEMOCRAT, circa. 1996: Disciplined, flexible, inclusive, confident, centrist and subservient to a president riding serenely and adroitly on a huge lead.DEFINITION OF A REPUBLICAN, circa. 1996: Undisciplined, inflexible, exclusive, fearful, ideological and chafing under a presidential candidate who blunders daily as his election prospects sink.In a week when egocentric Ross Perot's entry into the race threatened to split the anti-incumbent vote, one would think Bob Dole had enough to worry about without adding to his own troubles.

COLLEGE PARK - Midway through the NCAA's televised show for revealing selections for its women's basketball tournament, the letter "M" was playing havoc with Maryland's team, which was hoping for a chance to play on the college sport's biggest stage. Marquette, Montana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Marist and Michigan State all popped up on the screen watched by roughly 120 in a banquet hall inside Comcast Center. But the anxiety was finally relieved when it was announced that Maryland (17-12)

A push by Mayor Martin O'Malley to recruit more minority businesses comes as courts across the country have struck down government programs that are favorable to a specific race, gender or ethnic group - including Baltimore's minority contracting policies. But city officials say the outreach plan introduced by the mayor this week should escape legal challenges because it offers no preferential treatment to minority-owned businesses, which still must compete against other businesses for public dollars.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The last time the Reform Party held a national convention here, in early 2000, members were shouting and shoving, with maybe a blow or two struck, and the police were called in to restore order, or some semblance of it. So when the party, or what is left of it after its minuscule showing in Election 2000, convened here this weekend for another national convention, the big question was: Will they shout and shove again? There was some shouting, but almost all in the form of cheers or exuberant debate.

Reading Time: Two Minutes.While the have-nots of the NBA are waiting for the draft lottery and the playoffs are raging into July, why doesn't the league have them square off in a National Invitation Tournament-type finale? Look at this dynamite field of division trailers: Bullets (18-40), 76ers (20-39), Pistons (13-44), Bucks (17-40), Timberwolves (16-41), Mavericks (8-50), Clippers (19-38) and Kings (19-38).* Perhaps it's time someone informed Gary Williams that the Baltimore and Washington newspapers don't have a say on which teams get into the NCAA tournament.

After years of equivocation, Iran's President Hashemi Rafsanjani has declared his willingness to establish official contacts with the United States. This decision will have a domestic import in Iran at least as stunning as Richard Nixon's historic 1971 opening to China was for U.S. politics. The revolution begun by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini will never again be the same.All the pieces have not fallen into place, however. Mr. Rafsanjani cautioned that direct talks with the United States would have to be approved by Iran's supreme religious leader and national security council.

THOSE YEARS: Recollections of a Baltimore Newspaperman. By R.H. Gardner. Sunspot Books, Galileo Press. 233 pages. $14.95.THOSE WERE the days, my friend," the singer laments in "Cabaret."