Mcdaniel College

Inside a cabin at Camp McDaniel, a handful of kids sat on sleeping bags around a fire of red and yellow paper and empty paper-towel rolls. A few doors down, others zipped themselves inside tents, reading quietly. And under a string of fairy lights, their peers next door took turns reading part of a story aloud. The campsite - 10 classrooms at Mechanicsville Elementary School in Carroll County - was noticeably devoid of insects and blazing summer heat, but abounded in books of every shape, size and subject.

A Carroll County judge has dropped charges of racial or religious harassment against a McDaniel College student who is accused of being involved in a campus brawl with racial overtones. Nicholaos G. Alevrogiannis, 23, of Westminster, a fifth-year student and a former standout football player at McDaniel, still faces two counts of second-degree assault. He is scheduled for trial Monday. In a decision Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. wrote that the word "harass" was unconstitutionally vague in that the state did not spell out the defendant's alleged intent in the charging documents.

A little more than two decades ago in Westminster, three professors at what was then called Western Maryland College decided to start a summer theater in residence. They didn't come up with this idea until May, so they had very little time to turn their vision into reality. But not only did they pull it off, the theater they founded is still going strong. "Our goal was to try to put a new spin on a Broadway musical. The first year we did Man of La Mancha and Godspell, and even though we had no right to succeed, it was wildly successful," says Ira Domser, the only one of the founding three still involved with Theatre on the Hill.

As many as 450 cyclists will bring their mountain bikes and environmental issues to Carroll County in June. The International Mountain Bicycling Association, which has 32,000 members worldwide, has chosen McDaniel College in Westminster for its 2004 IMBA Mountain Bike Advocacy Summit. "This was a real coup to get this group here," said Barbara Beverungen, county director of tourism. "They are international and will be bringing people from all over the country and the world." The conference is set for June 4 to 8 at McDaniel College, with many participants staying in college housing and nearby hotels.

A different kind of music echoed through the vast hall of pews and white walls in McDaniel College's Baker Memorial Chapel. Sure, the traditional spiritual soared to the high ceiling every now and then. But there were also hip-hop beats and syncopated stomps on the floor. Guitar melodies punctuated with taps on a gourd and a fair amount of hands slapping the wooden benches. Flowing rivers of recited words about war, about relationships, about life. And between each number, plenty of claps and cheers.

Ending months of speculation and secrecy worthy of the Pentagon, Western Maryland College unveiled its new name -- McDaniel College -- at a festive campus ceremony attended last night by alumni, students, faculty and neighbors of the Westminster school. "We name this college for a person who personifies our mission. And our essence. A person who, in turn, changed lives," said college President Joan Develin Coley, whose words were sometimes hard to hear over the rumble of student dissenters chanting "WMC!"

They're diminutive, grinning rubber turtles, clad in sweaters and sunglasses - stylish and available for adoption. And on April 28, a host of them will be racing 25 yards through McDaniel College's Harlow Pool at a fundraiser benefiting Carroll County's Meals on Wheels program. Event organizers expect at least 2,000 contestants floating turtleneck to turtleneck toward the finish. The turtle adoptions, at $5 each, are expected to raise more than $10,000 that will go toward providing meals to homebound residents.

A McDaniel College dean is promising that the school's judicial system will consider disciplinary action for a "disturbing incident" that began with racial slurs and ended with one student hospitalized. Campus officials and Westminster police are investigating a fight that broke out at the Westminster school after a charter bus trip to a Baltimore nightclub. Westminster police say they are investigating the matter as a hate crime. "I don't think any student should be subjected to verbal abuse," Philip Sayre, the college's dean of student affairs, said yesterday.

The vibrant black, red and tan harlequin beetle somersaults chaotically in one painting. Nearby is a double self-portrait of artist Faith Gillum - with the big bug resting on her cheek in one image. The unusual art exhibit also includes a pen-and-ink pointillism piece showing a harpy eagle's head, with skull partially exposed, that reflects 50 hours of work by artist Natalie Sigwart. The exhibit at McDaniel College, Uncovering Biology Through Art, features the work of these artists and Katherine Yi, who focused on face-painting in cultures throughout the world.

Among the many flea market vendors on the parking lot at Shepherd's Staff in Westminster tomorrow will be several McDaniel College students with nothing to sell but their labor. About a dozen students have organized Chores for Charity and are offering their time and housekeeping talents for an hourly fee of $5. They plan to turn the fruits of their labor over to the ministry that serves the needy in Carroll County. "We will be hiring ourselves out for a good cause," said Tiffany Mack, a junior from Baltimore.