People In Maryland

Early in his career, Dr. R Adams Cowley vowed to build something at the University of Maryland that was better than anything any place else. He succeeded. The university's R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center has become the world's pacesetter in treating traumatic injuries. Because the center exists -- and because it has pioneered strategic advancements in trauma medicine -- thousands of people in Maryland and elsewhere are alive who would otherwise have never survived their injuries. Cowley, who died Sunday at 74, wanted to make a difference in this world -- and those lives are abundant testimony that he did.

Maryland's real estate industry continued to get more competitive as the number of people holding real estate licenses grew 14 percent in the past fiscal year, according to the Maryland Real Estate Commission. A total of 44,418 people held active licenses in the fiscal year that ended June 30, up from 38,857 a year earlier. "It's one of the largest industries in the state," said Steven VanGrack, commission chairman. At the current rate, he said, the number could hit 50,000 in the next year or two. Nationwide, the number of real estate agents has grown to more than a million, a 10 percent increase from last year, said Walter Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors.

What's a mid-summer downpour when you've got people to meet, networking to do? Even a weather-related downtown traffic jam couldn't keep some 45 folks away from Harborview's South Harbor Tavern. They came for "Networking Happy Hour: The Sequel" -- a production of Women in Film and Video of Maryland, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to promoting women in the film, video and related industries. Those who braved the soggy streets were rewarded with good food, good company and good chances of meeting people in Maryland's film and video industry.

State officials announced yesterday that the number of Marylanders receiving welfare benefits continues to decline, down to 66,725 people last month. The number is the lowest since December 1963 and marks a steady decline since passage of the 1996 federal welfare reform law, according to the Maryland Department of Human Resources. In January 1995, more than 227,000 people in Maryland were receiving benefits. "The fact that we continue to reach record lows in the number of people receiving benefits demonstrates two things," said Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in a statement.

State officials announced yesterday that the number of Marylanders receiving welfare benefits continues to decline, down to 66,725 people last month. The number is the lowest since December 1963 and marks a steady decline since passage of the 1996 federal welfare reform law, according to the Maryland Department of Human Resources. In January 1995, more than 227,000 people in Maryland were receiving benefits. "The fact that we continue to reach record lows in the number of people receiving benefits demonstrates two things," said Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in a statement.

Maryland's foreign-born population tops 530,000 - more than one Maryland resident in 10 - according to the Census Bureau's best estimate since the 1990 census. The total is up 69 percent from the 313,000 foreign-born Marylanders counted in 1990, and it exceeds the Census Bureau's most recent estimate, reported last year, by about 80,000. Maryland's foreign-born are less likely to be Latino than those in the nation as a whole and more likely to be Asian or African. Nearly half of them - about 250,000 - arrived in the United States during the 1990s.

Now that the state AIDS administration has lowered its estimate of the number of HIV-infected people in Maryland, it appears that between 16,000 and 28,000 state residents are carrying the HIV virus. That's substantially down from earlier estimates that suggested as many as 60,000 people could be infected.Unless a cure or vaccine is discovered, virtually everyone carrying the virus eventually will come down with full-blown AIDS, according to our present understanding of the disease. So the reduced figures are welcome news indeed.

The merry month of May is many things to many people in Maryland. It's the Preakness, the beginning of summer on Atlantic Ocean beaches, trekking in Western Maryland mountains. It's also Maryland Preservation Month, which is as wonderful an excuse as any to examine the enormous variety of Maryland communities.Throughout May, dozens of exhibits, tours and workshops are being held to "make the connection" between preservation and livable communities, which is the official slogan of the month.

New-car sales, a barometer of Maryland's economic health, jumped 16.3 percent last month, according to figures released yesterday by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.It was the fifth consecutive month in which sales were higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales have been up in nine of the past 11 months.Showroom business was stronger last month than in any March since the MVA resumed releasing title registration figures, which equate to sales, in 1991."Business is good, there's no doubt about it," said Chuck Boyle, president of Boyle Buick Inc. in Abingdon and chairman of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association.

LET THEM EAT regulations. With apologies to Marie Antoinette, regulatory purity has become a roadblock to feeding the hungry. Rather than run afoul of federal restrictions, the Glendening administration seems determined to defend a maze of obstacles that makes it difficult to get food stamps. Let's replace unnecessary frustration with common sense. There's no excuse for hunger in a state and nation with enormous budget surpluses. If human concerns were not enough, welfare reform's success depends on maintaining food assistance to new workers who are only marginally capable of sustaining themselves as they start low-wage jobs.

State can trim the toll taken by drunken drivers I was struck by the complacent tone of some in response to the rising number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes in Maryland ("Arundel fatal crashes involving alcohol rise," Sept. 19). It's true that increases over one year do not constitute a trend, but Maryland has made little progress in reducing highway deaths, alcohol-related or not, over the past decade. Those who are in a position to lead a winning war on drunken driving should know that shrugging off the problem will not solve it. And there are steps we can take now. Judges should stop giving first-time DUI offenders a slap on the wrist; they often drive drunk again.

Maryland's foreign-born population tops 530,000 - more than one Maryland resident in 10 - according to the Census Bureau's best estimate since the 1990 census. The total is up 69 percent from the 313,000 foreign-born Marylanders counted in 1990, and it exceeds the Census Bureau's most recent estimate, reported last year, by about 80,000. Maryland's foreign-born are less likely to be Latino than those in the nation as a whole and more likely to be Asian or African. Nearly half of them - about 250,000 - arrived in the United States during the 1990s.

LET THEM EAT regulations. With apologies to Marie Antoinette, regulatory purity has become a roadblock to feeding the hungry. Rather than run afoul of federal restrictions, the Glendening administration seems determined to defend a maze of obstacles that makes it difficult to get food stamps. Let's replace unnecessary frustration with common sense. There's no excuse for hunger in a state and nation with enormous budget surpluses. If human concerns were not enough, welfare reform's success depends on maintaining food assistance to new workers who are only marginally capable of sustaining themselves as they start low-wage jobs.

LOS ANGELES - As the 95 members of the Maryland delegation to the Democratic convention gathered for breakfast here yesterday, among the familiar faces at the buffet was Joseph A. De Francis, the majority owner of Pimlico and Laurel race courses. De Francis is not a delegate or a Democratic Party official. Rather, he is one of 260 "honored guests" of the Maryland delegation. The group includes spouses, staff, party donors, and political junkies - as well as a small but noticeable contingent of lobbyists and business people such as De Francis eager for a little West Coast time with dozens of Maryland's top elected officials.

What's a mid-summer downpour when you've got people to meet, networking to do? Even a weather-related downtown traffic jam couldn't keep some 45 folks away from Harborview's South Harbor Tavern. They came for "Networking Happy Hour: The Sequel" -- a production of Women in Film and Video of Maryland, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to promoting women in the film, video and related industries. Those who braved the soggy streets were rewarded with good food, good company and good chances of meeting people in Maryland's film and video industry.

New-car sales, a barometer of Maryland's economic health, jumped 16.3 percent last month, according to figures released yesterday by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.It was the fifth consecutive month in which sales were higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales have been up in nine of the past 11 months.Showroom business was stronger last month than in any March since the MVA resumed releasing title registration figures, which equate to sales, in 1991."Business is good, there's no doubt about it," said Chuck Boyle, president of Boyle Buick Inc. in Abingdon and chairman of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association.

Thinking back, Dottie Jacobs believes her son was brain dead before anyone found him on the road in Mount Airy, where his pickup truck had smashed into a tree. And when he was airlifted to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with his heart still beating on its own, she thinks it was God's way of making sure Jake could do one last good deed.She waited at the hospital three hours while doctors worked on him. "So when the doctor came out and told us there was no blood flow to the brain, that he was brain dead, of course it was a terrible shock," she says.

Starting today, everyone in Maryland can make a real life-and-death decision.A law goes into effect today allowing people to decide whether they should be kept alive by life-support systems or allowed to die if sickness or injury prevents them from making the decision themselves."