Older Brother

Poles Apart: Why Penguins and Polar Bears Will Never Be Neighbors By Elaine Scott. Viking, $17.99. Ages 9-14 years. One might expect the histories of exploration and of animal populations here, but what Elaine Scott does so well is convey the basic differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic themselves. Why is the Arctic not a continent, when Antarctica is? Because the Arctic "is a frozen sea, surrounded by the frozen edges of many different lands. ... Antarctica ... is a continent -- a mass of land surrounded by icy seas."

COLLEGE PARK - The pain was nothing. He could deal with the pain. The knife-stabbing, mind-numbing, oh-so-familiar pain barely even registered with him anymore. But the disappointment? The mental anguish? The sinking feeling of knowing the game he loved had just been snatched away, yet again? That was devastating. When Chris Kelley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees for the third time in 2002, that pain, the kind that runs much deeper than the physical kind, was almost too much to bear.

A 33-year-old Columbia man was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday in the beating death of his 2-year-old stepson, a crime that the prosecutor said amounted to "sheer, unadulterated violence." A jury in Howard County Circuit Court deliberated four hours before returning verdicts in which they also found Marcus D. Owens guilty of child abuse and assault. Owens was the only adult at home with Kevonte Davis last summer during the time medical experts said the child's fatal injuries would have been inflicted.

A 16-year-old Pasadena boy was hospitalized last week after he was accidentally shot by his older brother, Anne Arundel police said. Police said the shooting took place Wednesday afternoon in the 7800 block of Mayford Road. Authorities said the older brother, 23, said the two were trying to move a firearm from a table to the gun cabinet when it accidentally discharged. The teen was struck in the arm. Although his injuries were not considered life-threatening, he was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, and treated at University of Maryland Medical Center.

Joey Case tried to prepare as if it were just another college lacrosse game, but there were reminders everywhere that suggested differently. Hanging in his locker was a never-worn Loyola home jersey, adorned with the No. 9, not his usual No. 8. Then there was the pre-game phone call to his mother, a gesture that Effie Case expected out of her two sons, but this one was different. Joey, usually a substitute attackman or midfielder, learned earlier that morning that he was going to start against Brown.

Tuesday was Marco Filipponi's mother's birthday. He gave her a unique present. The Wilde Lake senior striker scored a goal to beat visiting Hammond, 1-0. "After I scored I ran by the stands and yelled, `Happy Birthday, mom.' " His mother, Linda, normally misses his games because of work, but took time off to attend Tuesday's contest, which was made more special because Marco's older brother, Giordano, had flown in from Georgia for her birthday....

A 12-year-old Crofton boy was killed in a bizarre accident yesterday afternoon when his toy cart, being towed by his brother in a pickup truck, struck a curb at 30 mph, sending the boy head-first into a tree. Killed in the accident was Andrew Thomas Gawthrop of the 2600 block of Waltham Court. The driver of the pickup, his older brother, Mitchell Bennett Gawthrop, 16, was not harmed, according to Anne Arundel County police. About 3:30 p.m. yesterday, the brothers and two friends were playing a game in which Mitchell, who was driving his father's 2001 Ford truck, used a 15-foot rope to tow Andrew, seated on a toy called "The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile," along the street.

LIKE MANY dads, I often find myself sparring with my offspring. We have ongoing disputes over what constitutes loud music, about whether rolling out of the sack at 11:30 on a Saturday morning constitutes "getting up early." But this week a new question has dominated the family debates. Namely, which team to root for during tonight's Maryland-Kansas NCAA Final Four basketball game. We are a house divided. On the Kansas side stands a kind, loving, considerate father - a KU alum. That would be me. On the Maryland side stands the offspring, an independent, or some might say rebellious, teen-ager.

Q. When presented with the issue of a child harming other children or siblings by biting, hitting or pushing, you usually recommend that the parents "leave it to the children" so they can "learn about each other." You add the caveat "while still ensuring their safety." Yet I don't believe I've ever seen you give an example of how one allows the children to work it out and at the same time ensures their safety. Specifically, if an older brother (9 years old) continues to hit a younger sibling (5 years old)