New Hope

With a career like his, Dr. Leon Rosenberg never had to worry much about how people perceived him until he battled a near-fatal episode of mental illness five years ago. A physician and genetics professor at Princeton University, Rosenberg previously served as dean of the Yale University School of Medicine and as vice president for scientific affairs of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an elite group...

Baltimore police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts announced Friday the creation of a new unit to oversee internal affairs, audits and the writing of police procedures, a move he hopes will strengthen public confidence in his agency. Jeronimo "Jerry" Rodriguez, a 26-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran, was named deputy commissioner in charge of the new Bureau of Professional Standards. Rodriguez will report directly to Batts and joins Deputy Commissioner John Skinner at the top level of Batts' staff.

BOSTON — Reinvention, thy name is Celtics. Everything old is new again. New Perk (Kendrick Perkins) new KG (Kevin Garnett), new Big Baby (Glen Davis) and new Sheed (Rasheed Wallace). OK, not so fast. Let's scratch that last one — that would be getting a little carried away on the so-called rapid road to maturity. First came KG, who seemingly has reversed the clock after a miserable showing in Game 1, abruptly, turning his fortunes around by Game 2. The Finals are tied 2-2 with Game 5 Sunday in Boston.

E ach year, as many people are released from Maryland's prisons as are employed at the Johns Hopkins medical complex in East Baltimore. And each year, the Johns Hopkins Hospital helps provide meaningful futures for some of these ex-prisoners by offering them new hope in the form of jobs. Studies have shown that former prisoners' ability to find and maintain gainful employment is crucial to their successful return to their families, communities and society. Without good, steady jobs, many return to illegal activities, fueling an unacceptable recidivism rate and eroding public safety.

She thought it was just a cold. Her throat was sore, and she felt tired all over. But as JoAnn Barr got her son ready for school that morning in March, she started gasping for breath. Within a few hours, Barr was on a ventilator in intensive care, her blood pressure bottoming out, her kidneys failing. For a month, the 41-year-old Westminster woman hovered near death, a victim of the fast-moving, often-lethal condition known as sepsis. It's an illness that rages through the victim's bloodstream, unleashing a fury of reactions that kill tissues and shut down organs.

CLASSIC STATUES of women, reminiscent of ancient Greece, exude beauty, grace and strength. Ripples of water from a small fountain soothe ears often troubled by harsh noises. The scent from aromatic healing plants perfumes the air. A cloistered courtyard - an oasis of serenity - embraces the residents of Marian House, a transitional housing and self-development program for homeless women and their Waverly neighbors. Caryatids - four black marble sculptures of female figures - symbolically hold up the main portion of the new addition to Marian House.

Boston -- THE CONFLICT between Israelis and Palestinians has been going on for so long that even in its pain there has been, for many, a kind of security. The established pattern of force and bitter words seemed safer than actually negotiating with the other side and lowering the barriers of hate.One achievement of the talks in Madrid -- a singular achievement -- has been to make the idea of negotiation more attractive to both sides. Suddenly they were talking, and living with the other in peace seemed possible.

A gene blamed for many human cancers may someday guide surgeons who want to make sure they have rid their patients of disease and haven't left any malignant cells behind, doctors from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said today.Until now, the fast-growing science of cancer genetics has provided scientists with hope of identifying people who are predisposed to deadly cancers -- such as those of the breast and colon -- so doctors and patients can watch for the first suspicious signs.An article published in today's New England Journal of Medicine presents an additional possibility: that genetic "probes" can do a better job than microscopes of finding residual cancer cells in tissues bordering visible tumors.

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The brute facts of soaring population in the burgeoning metropolises of Africa, Asia and Latin America permeated every session of Habitat II, the U.N.-sponsored ''City Summit'' just concluded here.While 40 to 50 percent of the world's population already lives in urban slums, people of the developing world still pour into the cities in hope of some chance for a better life. By 2015, only one of the globe's 10 largest cities -- Tokyo, with 28.7 million people -- will be in the developed world.

Jerome Allen already has altered some dour attitudes at Penn. Turning the Quakers into winners could take much longer. The Quakers' interim coach writes an inspirational quote of the day on the practice sheet. He dives on the Palestra court at practice to show how he wants his team to fight for a loose ball. And when the Quakers boarded a plane for North Carolina, they ditched the sweats for suits and ties. Allen offers no more excuses why Pennsylvania has gone from Ivy League dominance to doormat.