Infractions

The Naval Academy has recently seen what a high-ranking midshipman called an "unacceptable" increase in alcohol rules infractions, despite the launch last fall of a strict policy that put the school at the forefront of efforts at colleges nationwide to curb binge drinking. In a memo sent yesterday to all 4,400 midshipmen and obtained by The Sun, senior Rachel Barton, the drug and alcohol education student officer, said that in the past six weeks, midshipmen had violated the new rules as much as they did in the previous six months.

BALTIMORE -- Driver education classes do not appear to be producing safer drivers, said researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.The researchers, who reviewed data from several studies, said they could find no evidence that teen-agers who took classes had fewer accidents or committed fewer infractions than those who did not. The classes might actually be contributing to accident rates by putting more younger drivers on the road, researchers said.About...

BALTIMORE -- Driver education classes do not appear to be producing safer drivers, said researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.The researchers, who reviewed data from several studies, said they could find no evidence that teen-agers who took classes had fewer accidents or committed fewer infractions than those who did not. The classes might actually be contributing to accident rates by putting more younger drivers on the road, researchers said.About...

EVERY YEAR a few midshipmen are "separated" from the Naval Academy for sexual misconduct. For some of these individuals who are close to completing four mentally and physically demanding years, the process may seem incredibly unfair and arbitrary.It is true that academy rules prohibit romantic and sexual relations between midshipmen that are commonplace at other institutions of higher learning. But the academy's policy is no different from what the Navy demands of its officers once they join the fleet -- a work environment much different from the corporate, government or academic world most college graduates enter.

NEW YORK -- With the deadline looming for a transit strike in New York City, labor and management negotiators said yesterday that they were divided over not only wage demands but also two important noneconomic issues: disciplinary procedures and work rule changes.The city's 33,000 subway and bus workers, who are threatening to walk out Wednesday, are demanding changes in disciplinary procedures, complaining that New York City Transit takes a guilty-until-proved-innocent approach and often suspends workers for minor infractions.

WITH EACH passing day, the Maryland General Assembly looks more like Muhammad Ali in decline.Battered and helpless against younger foes, the champ covered up and leaned against the ropes, absorbing the blows and hoping for the bell. Ever the wordsmith, he called his strategy the "rope-a-dope."In similar fashion, Maryland senators and delegates have watched three of their colleagues be brought before an ethics tribunal to face a range of alleged ethical infractions.In Round One, to be sure, they landed a near knockout blow, flooring popular predictions that they would do nothing: The Senate expelled Baltimore's Larry Young for a series of alleged infractions.

MANY FEARED that the Army would respond with a ''bunker mentality'' after reports of widespread sexual harassment in its ranks surfaced last year. This week, the bunker blew up.A report by senior military officials on the sexual climate in the Army, released by the Pentagon, was unflattering, unflinching and unequivocal. It concluded that sexual harassment, ranging from inappropriate comments to job discrimination to assault, is pervasive and must be stopped. Most important, the Army seems to recognize that the problem is not some sociological sidelight which it must address solely to mollify politicians and the public, but a deep, operational ill that hampers the performance of its men and women.

Frank J. Remington, 75, a University of Wisconsin law professor who made his classroom the pivot point of a far-reaching legal career that ranged from revising the nation's criminal laws to keeping college athletic programs honest, died of cancer Friday at his home in Madison.He often was summoned to Washington to run or serve on high-level government and professional committees.He spent 23 years as a member of the Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Federal Rules and Procedures, directed a landmark 1961 study of criminal justice administration for the American Bar Foundation and ran an American Bar Association project to develop standards for the police.

Mount Hebron officials have admitted that the school's girls basketball team -- currently in first place in Howard County and ranked 10th in the area -- violated state and local practice rules and likely will be told today it will have to forfeit two league victories.The Rules and Infractions Committee -- Wilde Lake principal Bonnie Daniel, Atholton athletic director Don Van Deusen and Glenelg's girls basketball coach Randy Wallenhorst -- will meet today at 11 a.m. to decide Mount Hebron's fate.

In addition to the obvious, which, of course, is talent, hockey is a game of reaction, experience and repetition. To have an effective power play, you have to work on it . . . and work on it some more."

A little past 3 on a sunny afternoon, Natural Resources Police Officer Chris Morris steered his 19-foot Boston whaler around Baltimore's Inner Harbor and then worked his way to the outer edges of his patrol area. He sped by the cans stacked at the Dundalk Marine Terminal and over the Fort McHenry and Harbor tunnels, checked under the Key Bridge, looped around Sparrows Point and Fort Howard, skirted the choppy waters off Hart-Miller Island and ended up in the middle of Middle River. Without stops, the one-way trip took 31 minutes, cruising along at up to 36 knots, or 41 mph. Usually, Morris' "police post" is not so expansive.

Tens of thousands of students are being suspended in Maryland for relatively minor infractions each year, the result of zero-tolerance discipline policies that critics say are harming some of the most vulnerable children. One in 11 students in the state was suspended last year - enough to fill every seat in Anne Arundel County's public schools. The rates were much higher for African-Americans, special-education students and boys - who were twice as likely as girls to be sent home. "What we see is that suspension and expulsion are overused and actually push kids who need education the most out of school," said Jane Sundius at the Open Society Institute, a nonprofit that has studied suspensions and expulsions in Baltimore schools . The rate of suspensions in Maryland has risen over the past 15 years, as school systems responded with stricter discipline codes to rising violence in their communities and the fear fanned by the shooting deaths at Columbine High School in 1999.

End racing mayhem What more incentive do Maryland State Police and local law enforcement need to step up efforts to stop illegal road races than the deaths of eight spectators last weekend on a rural stretch of a Prince George's County road? More patrols, speed cameras and other deterring tactics should be implemented. But police also need more information and cooperation from the public. The crowd of 50 or 60 at the race must have known that it was an illegal activity. And anyone hearing loud racing noises could have called the police.

College Basketball Michigan State @Indiana 9 P.M. [ESPN] Both teams are in the top 15, but each is trying to bounce back from a loss. The Spartans (20-4, 8-3) are coming off a defeat at Purdue, and the Hoosiers (20-4, 9-2) lost by two points to Wisconsin. But the overriding story is the developing scandal involving Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson. The allegations against Sampson revolve around recruiting infractions and statements to Indiana and NCAA officials.

WASHINGTON -- With swelling prison populations cutting into state budgets, lawmakers are exploring ways to ease overcrowding beyond building expensive new correctional facilities. Though the construction of prisons continues as states struggle to provide enough beds for those behind bars, legislators increasingly are looking at other ways to free up space and save money, including expanded programs to help prevent offenders from being incarcerated again, earlier release dates for low-risk inmates and sentencing revisions.

Annapolis Academy has rise in alcohol infractions The Naval Academy has recently seen what a high-ranking midshipman called an "unacceptable" increase in alcohol rules infractions, despite the launch last fall of a strict policy that put the school at the forefront of efforts at colleges nationwide to curb binge drinking. In a memo sent Wednesday to all 4,400 midshipmen and obtained by The Sun, senior Rachel Barton, the drug and alcohol education student officer, said that in the past six weeks, midshipmen had violated the new rules as much as they did in the previous six months.

The Naval Academy has recently seen what a high-ranking midshipman called an "unacceptable" increase in alcohol rules infractions, despite the launch last fall of a strict policy that put the school at the forefront of efforts at colleges nationwide to curb binge drinking. In a memo sent yesterday to all 4,400 midshipmen and obtained by The Sun, senior Rachel Barton, the drug and alcohol education student officer, said that in the past six weeks, midshipmen had violated the new rules as much as they did in the previous six months.

City prosecutors scrambled yesterday to get their hands on a list of 80 poker players charged with illegal gambling after a recent police raid at a South Baltimore club, and continued to review the charges in an effort to determine whether they are legally sufficient. Officials with the city state's attorney's office questioned police officers' use of citations to issue criminal charges at the Owl's Nest club in the 1800 block of Worcester St., but confirmed yesterday that police had acted properly.

The teams on which he played will not be forced to forfeit any games, but a three-sport Glenelg athlete living in Baltimore County and falsely claiming a Howard County address has been barred from participating in any extracurricular activities for the remainder of the 2004-2005 school year. That was the precedent-setting decision of the three-member Howard County Rules and Infractions Committee delivered yesterday. The committee said in a news release: "While the parents and student were aware that they did not occupy the [Howard County]

After learning that assistant football coach Rod Sharpless had given Gilman star Victor Abiamiri $335 to pay for a video game machine last winter, the University of Maryland informed the NCAA of the rules infraction as athletic department officials were taking steps to show they were serious about rectifying the situation. Abiamiri repaid the money, Maryland brought in an outside legal firm to investigate, and Sharpless was forced to resign. Labeling the infraction secondary rather than major in nature, athletic director Debbie Yow tried to ensure that Ralph Friedgen's rising program would not be hit with a significant penalty.