Ratcliffe

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It isn't a mainstream life but it's the right life, the compassionate life. Animals are worth going to prison for, worth risking death for. A life for a life. All lives are equal, Dawn Ratcliffe says.A roach on the kitchen counter? Go, be free. Huge spider in the bathroom? Live long and prosper. Even a gnat feels pain. Oysters, clams, they can't scream, but that doesn't mean they can't feel. Who knows whether clams feel pain? You'd have to be a clam.Ratcliffe sighs. She is a young woman, 24. When she's not working in the recycling center at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, she travels all over to demonstrate for animal rights.

Jeff Ratcliffe's 3,000-mile trip from British Columbia to UMBC two years ago was a journey that will go down as one of the most productive recruiting ventures in the history of the university's lacrosse program.Once Ratcliffe arrived on campus from the small island of Coquitlam, near Vancouver, a quick connection took place between the 20-year-old box lacrosse specialist and Retrievers coach Don Zimmerman."Five minutes was all it took for me to know I wanted this guy to play for me," Zimmerman said.

EMMITSBURG -- Growing up playing the fast-paced sport of Canadian box lacrosse, UMBC's Jeff Ratcliffe is no stranger to scoring goals in bunches. Recently, however, the sophomore has begun to make a habit of it.Entering yesterday's game against host Mount St. Mary's ranked second in the nation in goals per game, Ratcliffe scored a career-high seven, all in the first 42 minutes, in leading the Retrievers to a 14-8 win over the Mountaineers.For the Coquitlam, British Columbia native, who has now scored at least three goals in seven of his team's nine games, this season has seemed just like old times.

Kathleen Ratcliffe, who has led the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association's far-flung convention marketing efforts for 6 1/2 years, is resigning to become president of the Jacksonville, Fla., convention bureau.Ratcliffe, the Baltimore agency's vice president since her failed bid to become its president 15 months ago, will leave June 30 to take the helm at the Jacksonville and the Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau.Working with a budget far below that of competitors for most of her tenure in the effort to lure conventions to Baltimore, Ratcliffe nonetheless won accolades here and throughout the convention industry for a work ethic and a knack for selling and for delivering on what she promised from the city.

Katherine C. N. Mead, 92, active in Episcopal affairsKatherine Corning Norris Mead, a volunteer who was active in Episcopal church affairs, died of heart failure Saturday at her winter home in Naples, Fla. She was 92 and also lived at Roland Park Place.She was a member of the Women's Guild of St. John's Episcopal Church and later Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, both in Baltimore. During the 1960s, she was president of the Bishops Guild of Maryland.In Naples, she was a member of Trinity-by-the-Cove Episcopal Church.

CHICAGO -- On a flawless Tuesday afternoon made for playing hooky and taking the El directly to the ballpark, the rowhouse by Wrigley Field beckons with some of the hottest seats in town.Perched just beyond right-center on a carpeted rooftop, the blue box seats glisten in the sunshine. Drinks flow freely at outdoor bars and inside the converted rowhouse where power-brokers within shouting distance of bleacher bums come to play and to schmooze. Cool breezes off Lake Michigan carry the tantalizing aroma of sausage, beef, shrimp and vegetables sizzling nonstop on rooftop grills.

STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- UMBC rallied from an early three-goal deficit and survived four fourth-quarter goals by Stony Brook to win, 12-11, yesterday in a men's lacrosse game.The Retrievers (8-2), who have won four games in a row, ended a three-game win streak by Stony Brook (8-3).Trailing 3-0, UMBC scored six unanswered goals in the first quarter and led 9-6 at halftime. But the Seawolves cut the lead to one on Chris Kollmer's goal with 9: 34 left.UMBC's Andrew Hampson (24 saves) denied Stony Brook the equalizer despite facing 24 shots.

STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- UMBC rallied from an early three-goal deficit and survived four fourth-quarter goals by Stony Brook to win, 12-11, yesterday in a men's lacrosse game.The Retrievers (8-2), who have won four games in a row, ended a three-game win streak by Stony Brook (8-3).Trailing 3-0, UMBC scored six unanswered goals in the first quarter and led 9-6 at halftime. But the Seawolves cut the lead to one on Chris Kollmer's goal with 9: 34 left.UMBC's Andrew Hampson (24 saves) denied Stony Brook the equalizer despite facing 24 shots.

Michael Ratcliffe never thought his career as a geographer would help him with his tax returns.But when he got a letter in May notifying him that his state income tax refund was being reduced from $294.12 to $59.72, he was fairly certain there had been a geographical mistake.Mr. Ratcliffe, a geographer with the Census Bureau in Suitland, lives in the Howard County portion of Laurel, known unofficially as North Laurel.But in the eyes of the state comptroller's office, he's a Prince George's County resident because of his Laurel mailing address.

North Laurel resident Michael Ratcliffe has been short-changed on his 15 minutes of fame.Howard County is $75,486 richer because of his efforts, yet he was not mentioned Friday at a news conference celebrating the event.A news release noting that the county will be receiving revenue "erroneously credited to other counties," refers to Mr. Ratcliffe only as"a Howard County citizen," and not by name.For the record, Mr. Ratcliffe discovered a coding error on his state income tax return -- an error that led to his having a higher tax bill.

Donald Burns Ratcliffe, a prolific architect who designed Mays Chapel Village, as well as homes and academic structures in Baltimore, died Friday from complications of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Ruxton resident was 83. Born in Baltimore and raised on Mount Royal Avenue, he was a 1944 Calvert Hall College High School graduate and attended Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg. He enlisted in the Naval Air Corps in 1944 and served until 1946. He then earned a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

Last Sunday, UMBC seniors Andy Gallagher and Drew Westervelt were hoping, and praying, that the lords of lacrosse would allow them to play at least one more game together in the NCAA Division I tournament. "It was not a good time, not a good time at all," said Gallagher, still shaking his head in disbelief. "I was just hoping that the committee saw we were playing well, 6-1 in the last seven games. We took Albany, a very good team, to a one-goal game. I was hoping they knew we were playing very good lacrosse, and we could continue to play that way in the tournament."

Senior Drew Westervelt scored five goals and freshman Cayle Ratcliffe added four as second-seeded UMBC beat third-seeded Binghamton, 11-7, in Albany, N.Y., yesterday in an America East tournament semifinal. The Retrievers (10-4) won for the sixth straight time to register their second consecutive 10-plus-win season. They advanced to take on top seed and host Albany in the championship game tomorrow at 1 p.m. Albany (13-2) routed fourth-seeded Stony Brook, 17-5, as Merrick Thomson scored a season-high seven goals and had two assists.

Johns Hopkins junior midfielder Paul Rabil does not rank high among the nation's Division I scoring leaders, but where would the sixth-ranked Blue Jays be without the reigning first-team All-American? Rabil has scored game-winning goals against three top 10 teams. He became the first player in school history to produce two overtime goals in the same season. Those goals beat Princeton on March 3 and Maryland on April 14. Then, Saturday against visiting Navy, Rabil again was the difference.

UMBC goalie Jeremy Blevins needs no motivation when he plays Towson University. His twin brother, Phil, is a reserve midfielder for the Tigers. "I definitely circled this one," Blevins said. "It's always good to go against your brother and come out on top." Blevins, all 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds of him, came up huge in the Retrievers' 11-9 victory last night at UMBC Stadium. The Tigers pumped out five goals in the first 20 minutes, but scored just two over the next 30 and got their only scores in the final 10 when Blevins was working a man down.

On March 19, 2007 MILDRED RATCLIFFE of Bel Air, MD. Devoted mother of Raye M. Alford. Loving sister of Henry Debelius, Jr. and Frieda Hopkins. Also survived by four grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Services will be held at the family owned McComas Funeral Home, P.A., Bel Air, MD on Friday, March 23, 2007 at 12 P.M. Interment will be in Darlington Cemetery, Darlington, MD. Friends may call at the funeral home in Bel Air on Thursday, March 22, 2007 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. and again on Friday, March 23, 2007 from 10 to 12 P.M. prior to the service.

Top-ranked Duke suffered its first loss, falling to No. 20 Loyola, 8-7, last night at The First 4 Lacrosse Invitational before 5,132 at the University of San Diego. Duke (4-1) came back from an early deficit to take the lead with less than five minutes remaining in regulation before Loyola (2-2) scored two unanswered goals in the final minutes. Ned Crotty of Duke led all scorers with three goals. "It was a tough game. The trip out west had too many distractions for us," Duke coach John Danowski said.

Kurtis M. Hargett is just 19, but the Linthicum Heights resident has been in the retail business since he was 12 and dreams of running his own chain of stores. Parkville resident Shawn Ryce hopes to parlay her love of cooking and her informal catering experience into a professional culinary career. And Iranian immigrant Hessam Dahi is looking to sharpen skills he and his friend need to keep their small computer repair business competitive. All three Anne Arundel Community College students are among a class of 23 this spring in the Philip E. Ratcliffe Foundation Entrepreneurial Studies Scholarship program.

Kurtis M. Hargett is just 19, but the Linthicum Heights resident has been in the retail business since he was 12 and dreams of running his own chain of stores. Parkville resident Shawn Ryce hopes to parlay her love of cooking and her informal catering experience into a professional culinary career. Both Anne Arundel Community College students are among a class of 23 this spring in the Philip E. Ratcliffe Foundation Entrepreneurial Studies Scholarship program. The program, which awarded scholarships to an initial group of 24 in the fall term, was established to help those who want to start businesses or need guidance with existing ones.

Michael Ratcliffe grew up in Laurel. He and his wife, Kathy, who met when she was in seventh grade and he in eighth at Laurel Junior High School, chose southern Howard County as a place to settle down about 12 years ago, when their first child was born. "It just seemed kind of natural to come back to Laurel," said Ratcliffe, a geographer who charts the changing boundaries of urban settlement. As chief of the Population Distribution Branch of the U.S. Census Bureau, Ratcliffe reports on where people live or don't live, and what accounts for the different distributions of settlement patterns, he said.