Maryland Center

Five companies with operations in Maryland received awards yesterday at a conference sponsored by the Maryland Center for Quality & Productivity and the American Society for Quality Control.The companies that received the awards were Bausch & Lomb Eyeware Division in Oakland, IBM Corp. -- Federal Systems Co. in Gaithersburg, Maryland Plastics Inc. of Federalsburg, Perdue Edible Oil Refinery in Salisbury and McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. of Seabrook.The Bausch & Lomb division, received the Senate Productivity Award for Manufacturing.

Editor: A recent Aegis editorial about the health of the Chesapeake Bay ("Stormwater fee set low in Harford the best of a bad situation," April 23) is [off base]. Certainly the job of restoring the Bay is far from finished, but the Aegis is incorrect in asserting: "the degree to which the overall health of the bay has improved is hard to gauge. " Numerous recent reports from government agencies, and academic and non-profit researchers show significant improvements in the Bay. Most recently, the Chesapeake Bay Program (an arm of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

The number 814 Career assists by UM's Steve Blake, who is 21st all-time and fifth in ACC history. He said it "If you try to rush the game, it won't come to you. Let the game come to you." Ryan Randle, Maryland center

In an interview with Capitol Hoops, Maryland center signee Shaquille Cleare talked about playing with his future Terps teammates at the Capital Classic on Saturday.

Five companies with operations in Maryland received awards yesterday at a conference sponsored by the Maryland Center for Quality & Productivity and the American Society for Quality Control.The companies that received the awards were Bausch & Lomb Eyeware Division in Oakland, IBM Corp. -- Federal Systems Co. in Gaithersburg, Maryland Plastics Inc. of Federalsburg, Perdue Edible Oil Refinery in Salisbury and McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. of Seabrook.The Bausch & Lomb division, received the Senate Productivity Award for Manufacturing.

The Maryland Center for the Book has named Sun staff writer Rafael Alvarez the winner of its first Rising Star Award. The award, which honors a Maryland writer showing exceptional literary promise, will be presented May 12 at the Maryland Library Association's annual conference in Towson. Alvarez, a lifelong resident of Baltimore, is the author of "The Fountain of Highlandtown," a collection of short stories, and "Hometown Boy," a collection of his articles for The Sun. His latest book, "Orlo and Leini," is the six-story saga of a Baltimore junkman and his tormented Greek lover.

The Maryland Small Business Technology and Development Center, Central Region is sponsoring Lunch and Learn, Ten Easy Tips for Better Sales and Marketing, Wednesday, April 24, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, 9250 Bendix Road, North, in Columbia. Business coach Deborah Gallant, of Bold Business Works, will present ideas and techniques to boost the bottom line. Bring your own lunch. There is no cost but registration is required by Monday, April 22. To register, go to http://www.centralmdsbdc.org/trainings . For more information, call 410-837-4928

Anna Whetstone, 23, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 17. She was a high school junior in Hershey, Pa., playing on her school's field hockey team when she got hit in the head with a ball. "I was feeling fine at the time," she said, but over the next few days she had trouble with balance and "wasn't feeling well overall. " Computed tomography scans and an MRI discovered the telltale lesions that are signs of the degenerative disease. After the diagnosis, Whetstone switched from playing to coaching field hockey, but she continued dancing and she earned a neuroscience degree, with honors, at Moravian College in Pennsylvania.

Baltimore is among six finalists competing for a grant to help push the city into the digital age. Under Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Digital Village program, a total of up to $15 million in money and equipment will be awarded to underprivileged neighborhoods in three cities. The program will help students in school, and adults and children who use the Internet in neighborhood centers and at home. The Maryland Center for Arts and Technology Inc., an economic development organization in Baltimore, applied for the Hewlett-Packard grant for the East Baltimore empowerment zone.

Dwindling public dollars and charitable contributions have led to the demise of the Center for Poverty Solutions and the Maryland Center for Community Development, according to officials of both groups. Trudy P. McFall, former board chairwoman of the Maryland Center for Community Development, said the organization is working with local foundations to try to cover some of its outstanding debt. Officials of the Maryland Food Bank and Health Care for the Homeless said those groups will take on some of the services that the Center for Poverty Solutions performed, including feeding the poor and doing advocacy work.