Maryland Board

Coppin State University should enroll higher-caliber freshmen, focus more on transfer and returning students, and reorganize its academics and administration, a committee plans to report Wednesday to the University System of Maryland Board of Regents. The recommendations, from a panel convened in December to study Coppin State, are meant to turn around the stressed institution, one of Maryland's four historically black colleges and universities. The school has one of the lowest six-year graduation rates for first-time, full-time students in the country at 15 percent as of fiscal year 2012 and is underenrolled by more than 2,000 students, the committee said.

Coppin State University should enroll higher-caliber freshmen, focus more on transfer and returning students, and reorganize its academics and administration, a committee plans to report Wednesday to the University System of Maryland Board of Regents. The recommendations, from a panel convened in December to study Coppin State, are meant to turn around the stressed institution, one of Maryland's four historically black colleges and universities. The school has one of the lowest six-year graduation rates for first-time, full-time students in the country at 15 percent as of fiscal year 2012 and is underenrolled by more than 2,000 students, the committee said.

Christopher T. Cross, an assistant education secretary in the Bush administration, was elected president of the Maryland Board of Education yesterday.Mr. Cross, of Chevy Chase, was elected unanimously, replacing Robert C. Embry Jr. of Baltimore, who could not succeed himself as head of the 12-member board.Next Monday, Mr. Cross becomes president of the Council for Basic Education, a national organization that promotes the teaching of the basic subjects -- English, history, geography, mathematics, sciences, foreign languages and the arts -- and resists frills in education.

Richard E. "Dick" Hug, a prominent businessman and prolific fundraiser for Republican candidates, died Saturday. He was 78. Mr. Hug was the finance chairman for three Maryland gubernatorial campaigns - Ellen R. Sauerbrey in 1998 and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in 2002 and 2006 - becoming known as the $6 million man after he raised that amount for Mrs. Sauerbrey's unsuccessful attempt to unseat Gov. Parris N. Glendening. He belonged to numerous civic boards and associations, including the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, and he served a stint as chairman of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

The Maryland Board of Physicians is expected to get some advice Wednesday on how to reform itself, eight months after a legislative review found the panel was not working fast or efficiently enough to protect the public from bad doctors. Dr. Jay Perman, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, was expected to offer his recommendations for overhauling the system of reviewing complaints, which auditors said took far too long to be resolved. The board was also criticized for not having a uniform system of review and lacking transparency, sometimes in violation of open meetings laws.

Maryland is moving to toughen regulations on the fast-growing medspa industry - a move designed to narrow a "loophole" and prevent deaths such as one last year following a liposuction treatment at a Timonium facility. Regulations being discussed by state officials would bar plastic surgeons from performing liposuction and other procedures in medspas and medical offices unless the facilities are inspected by the government or third-party accrediting bodies, Maryland Secretary of Health Joshua Sharfstein said.

Richard E. "Dick" Hug, a prominent businessman and prolific fundraiser for Republican candidates, died Saturday. He was 78. Mr. Hug was the finance chairman for three Maryland gubernatorial campaigns - Ellen R. Sauerbrey in 1998 and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in 2002 and 2006 - becoming known as the $6 million man after he raised that amount for Mrs. Sauerbrey's unsuccessful attempt to unseat Gov. Parris N. Glendening. He belonged to numerous civic boards and associations, including the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, and he served a stint as chairman of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot called on Towson University President Maravene Loeschke to resign, saying her actions in attempting to cut the baseball and men's soccer teams represented "a lack of leadership that has done great damage to the school's reputation. " Franchot, who originally made the statement Wednesday morning at a Board of Public Works meeting in Annapolis, reiterated his feelings in a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun. Loeschke was scheduled to appear at the meeting but did not. Franchot said she had given a "phony excuse" for why she could not make the trip.

The state board that regulates Maryland pharmacies like the Massachusetts firm under investigation in a national fungal meningitis outbreak said it can adequately oversee so-called compounding pharmacies, despite cries from critics that the federal government should have more authority. The Maryland Board of Pharmacy said last week that in the last four years it has beefed up oversight of compounding pharmacies, which make drugs not sold commercially. New safeguards including random, annual inspections would make it hard for a Maryland facility to reach the level of contamination problems found at the New England Compounding Center, said Laverne Naesea, the board's executive director.

The Maryland Board of Examiners in Optometry announced that the following people passed the Dec. 13, 1992, license exam for optometrists:Louis J. EspejoGeorge FlocosLynn HealeyLisa A. JohnsonGregory T. KommCarole LevinReeta Raina

Maryland is moving to toughen regulations on the fast-growing medspa industry - a move designed to narrow a "loophole" and prevent deaths such as one last year following a liposuction treatment at a Timonium facility. Regulations being discussed by state officials would bar plastic surgeons from performing liposuction and other procedures in medspas and medical offices unless the facilities are inspected by the government or third-party accrediting bodies, Maryland Secretary of Health Joshua Sharfstein said.

The Towson University Board of Visitors fully supports President Maravene Loeschke and her leadership of the University ("Franchot goes too far" April 20). President Loeschke has taken the responsible approach to ensure that Towson athletics are fiscally responsible, compliant with federal Title IX law and competitive in the NCAA Colonial Athletic Association, Division 1 athletic conference. The Board of Visitors is a service and advisory organization of Towson University established to provide advice to the president.

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to sign a law abolishing capital punishment in Maryland next week, though a referendum effort may be on the horizon. O'Malley's spokesman Raquel Guillory confirmed Thursday that the death penalty repeal law is scheduled to be signed on May 2. Maryland will become the sixth state in as many years to abandon state executions. Five men, all convicted of murders dating back to 1983, are on death row. O'Malley, who pushed for repeal, has said the men's fates will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  Maryland has had a de facto moratorium on executions since a 2006 court ruling overturned details in the process for carrying them out. The last execution in Maryland occurred by lethal injection in 2005.  After hours of impassioned debate in the General Assembly earlier this year, lawmakers voted 109-76 for repeal.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot called on Towson University President Maravene Loeschke to resign, saying her actions in attempting to cut the baseball and men's soccer teams represented "a lack of leadership that has done great damage to the school's reputation. " Franchot, who originally made the statement Wednesday morning at a Board of Public Works meeting in Annapolis, reiterated his feelings in a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun. Loeschke was scheduled to appear at the meeting but did not. Franchot said she had given a "phony excuse" for why she could not make the trip.

On behalf of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy, we are writing to commend Sun reporter Andrea Walker for a fair and honest reflection of information discussed during her interview with board executive director LaVerne Naesea and board commissioner David Chason about the board's monitoring of sterile compounding pharmacies and addressing potential gaps in oversight. The article's on-line headline, "Maryland pharmacy of board says it can adequately monitor compounding pharmacies - Board beefed up standards in recent years" (Nov.

The state board that regulates Maryland pharmacies like the Massachusetts firm under investigation in a national fungal meningitis outbreak said it can adequately oversee so-called compounding pharmacies, despite cries from critics that the federal government should have more authority. The Maryland Board of Pharmacy said last week that in the last four years it has beefed up oversight of compounding pharmacies, which make drugs not sold commercially. New safeguards including random, annual inspections would make it hard for a Maryland facility to reach the level of contamination problems found at the New England Compounding Center, said Laverne Naesea, the board's executive director.

On behalf of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy, we are writing to commend Sun reporter Andrea Walker for a fair and honest reflection of information discussed during her interview with board executive director LaVerne Naesea and board commissioner David Chason about the board's monitoring of sterile compounding pharmacies and addressing potential gaps in oversight. The article's on-line headline, "Maryland pharmacy of board says it can adequately monitor compounding pharmacies - Board beefed up standards in recent years" (Nov.

ANNAPOLIS - The Maryland Board of Public Works approved yesterday the state's purchase of land that will improve recreational access to a hard-to-reach stretch of the Potomac River. The state will pay landowner Carrie Dixon $16,200 for about an acre of riverside property.

The Maryland Board of Physicians is expected to get some advice Wednesday on how to reform itself, eight months after a legislative review found the panel was not working fast or efficiently enough to protect the public from bad doctors. Dr. Jay Perman, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, was expected to offer his recommendations for overhauling the system of reviewing complaints, which auditors said took far too long to be resolved. The board was also criticized for not having a uniform system of review and lacking transparency, sometimes in violation of open meetings laws.

The Maryland Board of Physicians, which has faced scrutiny in recent months because of its backlog of cases and other problems, is getting a new leader, state health officials said Wednesday. Carole J. Catalfo will begin work as the executive director Feb. 21, according to Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. "Carole Catalfo is the right person at the right time for the Board of Physicians," Sharfstein said. "She brings both deep experience in regulatory compliance and professional oversight and a fresh perspective on the challenges facing the board.