Longevity

The odds are pretty good that, at some point in the past five years, you've changed jobs, cars, radio stations, house paint and, maybe, even your spouse. Yes, change is a constant seemingly everywhere but on Baltimore sports television, where all of the weeknight sportscasters and two of the four weekend sportscasters are the same men who manned their posts five years ago. One would think that the nation's 24th-largest market would be a springboard for up-and-coming sportscasters coming in from even smaller markets.

They came to Maryland as young men, perhaps on the cusp of middle age, taking their first job in what was becoming a highly volatile profession -- college presidencies. Though once the province of pipe-smoking intellectuals given to pontificating on weighty issues, the top job at universities and colleges was becoming a hot seat as these men took their jobs. If it's not highly politicized students taking over your office, it's a meddlesome board of trustees looking over your shoulder and incessant pressure to raise more money.

David De Silva is known as "Father Fame," but he might have been called "Father Hot Lunch" or "Father Neon Dreams.""Hot Lunch" and "Neon Dreams" were preliminary titles for the 1980 movie "Fame," which De Silva conceived and produced."

The day Sandra A. O'Connor was sworn in for her seventh term as Baltimore County state's attorney, her staff surprised her with a slide show displaying an artifact from her political past -- a campaign bumper sticker from the last time she actually had a political opponent.That bumper sticker is 12 years old. O'Connor, entering her 25th year as the county's top prosecutor, is Maryland's senior state's attorney, seemingly immune to political challenge at a time when prosecutors nationally are at the mercy of the electoral winds.

REPORT CARD DAY for the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) is becoming the social event of the year among state educators.Last year -- or was it the year before? -- it was harps and flowers. This year, more than 200 spectators showed up yesterday to share pastry, bagels and orange juice and hear the Peabody Preparatory Violin Choir (they don't actually sing, but they play beautifully). They also heard from grand old parties -- state education board President Walter Sondheim Jr. and William Donald Schaefer, among others.

To be inducted into the Silver Circle, a hall of fame established by the Washington chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a person needs to have spent a quarter-century in the business of entertaining local TV audiences.Around these parts, few fit that bill better than Rhea Feikin, who's spent nearly four decades on Baltimore television, first as a kids' show host and weatherperson on WBAL, Channel 11, then as a frequent on-air presence on MPT.Only thing is, she's a little uneasy about acknowledging that this brands her as a sort of elder statesman.

LOOKING toward the 21st century, the World Health Organization projects significant gains in health benefits. But troubling gaps remain between affluent and developing countries.In the industrialized world, the support and care of an aging population will be an increasingly urgent concern. Consider that France, which in 1950 had about 200 people who reached the age of 100, is projected to have 150,000 centenarians by 2050.In poor countries, fewer people will live to see old age. But the longevity gap is closing, as more children are vaccinated against common childhood diseases and more people have access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities.

Chappie Manning does the math on 47 years of working as a Baltimore cabbie and comes up with nearly 3 million miles, more than 100,000 gallons of gas and countless cabs.Not to mention the naked passenger who wanted to go to York Road (but got there only after putting his pants on), a smash-up with a drunken driver and the two armed men who carjacked the 79-year-old Golden Gloves middleweight boxer.His bosses at Yellow Transportation Inc. -- astonished to discover that Manning had been driving for them nearly a half-century -- insisted on throwing a surprise thank you party yesterday to honor his dependability and character over such a long fare.

Baltimore is a city rich in choral music. Every church, it seems, has a choir. There are community choirs and college choirs. And there are four professional choirs: Concert Artists of Baltimore, Choral Arts Society, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Handel Choir of Baltimore.Of these, the Handel Choir is the most venerable and its repertory the most specific. Though it performs many kinds of music, from Renaissance motets to contemporary works, it is best known for the big oratorios associated with its namesake.

The Baltimore Bays will play their 92nd professional outdoor ++ soccer game -- a record for this area -- when they meet the New York Alleycats tonight at 8 at UMBC.The Bays, who are in third place in the D3 Pro League, are in their fifth season in Baltimore and will surpass the record for longevity set by the old Maryland Bays, who played 91 games from 1987 to 1991.Tickets for tonight's game are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and children under 15. For ticket information, call 410-574-5555.