Magnet

Isn't it a bit disingenuous for the University of Maryland School of Medicine to use its own research to justify locating a methadone treatment center in the 1100 block of West Pratt Street ("Study: Methadone clinics don't draw crime," May 1)? It's interesting that the school found that convenience stores bring crime to a neighborhood because of the foot traffic they generate. How else would the university describe bringing 600 or so drug addicts a day to a methadone treatment center except as generating foot traffic through the neighborhood?

Isn't it a bit disingenuous for the University of Maryland School of Medicine to use its own research to justify locating a methadone treatment center in the 1100 block of West Pratt Street ("Study: Methadone clinics don't draw crime," May 1)? It's interesting that the school found that convenience stores bring crime to a neighborhood because of the foot traffic they generate. How else would the university describe bringing 600 or so drug addicts a day to a methadone treatment center except as generating foot traffic through the neighborhood?

I am a student in the Literary Arts prime at Carver Center for Arts and Technology. I wanted to thank you for your article "Baltimore County to leave magnet school teachers in place" (Feb. 9). My fellow students and I were very concerned when we were informed of the proposed magnet position cuts stated in the district's budget proposal. While I'm relieved to read that the administration has put its plans on hold, I am still concerned about the lack of transparency about this matter.

Red Tomato Pizza in Dubai is readying a new device that will let customers order a pizza delivery with one push of a button attached to their refrigerator by a magnet. It's called the VIP Fridge Magnet. And it will change everything. How does it work? It's magic. Seen on Eater    

The Baltimore County school board did the right thing last Tuesday when it dismissed a proposed moratorium on expansion of the county's magnet school program.A magnet moratorium is the last thing the school board should be dreaming up. Since its inception 18 months ago, the magnet program has managed the considerable feat of making students and their families more enthusiastic about the public school system. Parents who might have placed their children in private schools, or moved to a neighboring jurisdiction for its public education system, have been lining up to get their children into one of the county's 16 magnet programs.

Nathan Holloway, 14, has spent his boyhood on the family farm in Darlington and plans to spend his high school years laying the groundwork for a future in agriculture. "I want to live my life in an agricultural business," said Nathan. "My grandparents and my parents grew up on the farm. I want to get a solid background and stay on the farm. " As a member of the first class in Harford County's Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences magnet program, he soon will apply all the practical experience from life on 100-acre livestock farm and orchard to course work.

When the technology magnet program was put in place at the county's two newest high schools, athletic coaches around the county cringed.Under the program, students on the west side of U.S. 29 may enroll at River Hill, or on the east side at Long Reach, under educational auspices; in reality, they may be enrolling merely to join a better athletic program, or to get away from a coach or program they do not like.Coaches see in this program a wide opportunity for recruitment of athletes, or for the creation of super teams.

When sexual harassment charges get brought against President Clinton, some folks are more inclined to believe them because the president's image on that score is poor. Similarly, when Baltimore County Superintendent Stuart Berger stumbles in the ways of public relations, the muff gets magnified because of his contentious history.A superintendent trying to effect the change that Dr. Berger is undertaking in Baltimore County schools can't afford carelessness in community communications. Dr. Berger contends a recent flap over whether to place a "magnet" program in Parkville Middle School was overblown -- just more convenient ammunition for his opponents.

It's back to square one at Parkville Middle School.After being told they would have a magnet program for the 1995-1996 school year and then being told they would not, parents, teachers, students and school administrators are studying the possibility of a magnet program for 1995-1996."

Baltimore County's burgeoning crop of magnet schools could sprout another -- a law and public policy program at Towson High School for the 1995-96 school year.Still weeks away from school board approval, the proposed program would blend required social studies courses with electives, such as forensic science, juvenile justice, environmental law and the basics of state and local government. It also would capitalize on the proximity to the Towson courthouse and county government offices.A 30-member committee that has been looking at magnet possibilities for Towson will present its proposal to the community Sept.

My laptop was my most devoted companion during two months in a wheelchair with a broken ankle, so of course I took the opportunity to buy a new refrigerator. Online. It was actually easier than buying a bathing suit online. I know, because I did that, too. Anyway, I researched the most popular refrigerator styles, the best manufacturers and the best prices. I clicked on all the pictures and all the consumer reviews. I watched for the February appliance sales, and I read about the Presidents' Weekend tax holiday, and I printed out the form for the energy-efficiency rebate.

Merriweather Post Pavilion has announced its first summer concert of 2012. It'll be the indie band Foster the People. The band, out with debut album "Torches," will play June 10. The album has already been certified Gold by the RIAA, which is probably why they're getting to play a stage as big as this one with only one album to their name. Tickets, at $45, are already on sale. O.A.R., which played Merriweather in August, is playing it low key with its first pair of shows next year.

As a ninth-grader, Michelle Blair of Crofton has plenty of time to figure out what career to pursue. Yet, while taking classes in Anne Arundel County's BioMedical Allied Health magnet program at Glen Burnie High School, she's already considering a possible career in medicine. And though she might not follow in the footsteps of her mother, Diane, who is a nurse, Michelle says, "I am hoping this program will help me narrow [my choices] down. It's given me the experience to see what I like and what I do not like.

As Anne Arundel school officials outlined the system's planned Performing Visual Arts program for high schools, they stressed to parents the kind of students they're looking to enroll: those with an unbridled energy and passion for their art. Many parents who listened to the information session Tuesday night could relate. "If you have one of these kids in your house, you'll know it. And hopefully, people will take away that this is an elite program for that particular child, and they will encourage those children to participate, "said Nicole Dunn of Millersville, whose ninth-grade daughter Bria has a recording studio at home.

The rows of wooden benches were filled with seven families for adoption day in Baltimore City Circuit Court last month. A pair of gay men seeking to adopt a baby. Three lesbian couples, two with twins. Two single moms with two kids between them. And one heterosexual couple - the only nuclear family with a mother and father - who had filed to adopt a young boy. Most adoption days in Baltimore look like this. The city is the favored jurisdiction among Maryland's 24 circuit courts for same-sex adoption petitioners because of a legal precedent written 15 years ago and because of local procedures that allow all Maryland residents - regardless of which county they call home - to file adoption paperwork in the city.

When the strongest vibrations of Tuesday's earthquake struck during the first day of school in Anne Arundel County, students at Wiley Bates Middle School in Annapolis heeded evacuation instructions blared over the public address system and filed out of the building without much commotion. When the students were outside, about a dozen approached Principal Diane Bragdon, asking whether it was a drill. "I guess they thought I could simulate shaking the building or something," said Bragdon.

Tom DeGraziano is ecstatic.After 28 years in the classrooms of Baltimore County, he's working longer hours than ever. He has forgotten about retiring, and he can barely sit still as he describes the adventure on which he and 100 gutsy students are about to embark."

The Baltimore County school board is looking at three million-dollar magnets.Proposals from Parkville and Deer Park Middle Schools and Patapsco High for new magnet programs all carried budgets of more than $1 million over three years when officials presented them at Tuesday's board meeting. The board also heard a magnet proposal for a finance program at Overlea High -- for less than $80,000.Superintendent Stuart Berger said that while the special programs could become a reality, the size of their budgets could be wishful thinking.

Ronald Etue, an Ellicott City resident and retired educator, has had many jobs in education since graduating from college in 1967. The 67-year-old continues to keep busy by volunteering throughout the area and has an admirable philosophy of life. Etue elaborates on these topics in his Five Questions. You've had a long career in education both in Maryland and across the country. How did your career progress after college? I am a retired elementary school principal and have spent almost my entire career (35 years)