Search Committee

As turmoil gripped Towson University yesterday over its president's sudden resignation, faculty and staff at a campus halfway across the nation expressed little surprise. Mark L. Perkins resigned Monday under pressure from the state university system's Board of Regents over Towson's spending on its new presidential mansion, which totaled nearly $2 million. Yesterday, regents were still searching for an interim president, as Towson faculty, alumni and students assailed the handling of Perkins' exit.

Top officials of the United States Olympic Committee are scheduled to meet in Chicago tomorrow to select a new chief executive, and there is strong support for former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke - although the voting could get messy. Schmoke, now in private law practice, declined to comment, but several sources familiar with the search say it appears to have come down to him and two others: Scott Blackmun, the acting chief executive, and Lloyd Ward, a former chairman of appliance maker Maytag Corp.

The joy in the air was palpable, as Christ Episcopal Church launched the pastorate of Richard Ginnever as its new rector - culminating a two-year self-examination and nationwide search. "In the Episcopal Church, each congregation chooses its own rector, in a deliberate process, with certain approvals from the bishop," search committee member Ann Barnes said. "First, a parish committee demographically representing the church meets to describe ourselves and to find out, 'What kind of rector are we looking for?

MARYLAND'S university system is approaching a critical juncture. A wrong move by the group looking for the next chancellor of the University System of Maryland could prove disastrous. Members' goal must be to find the best academic leader and avoid entangling the university in political controversy. The group's task is complicated by the unusual nature of the chancellor's job. Under reforms instituted two years ago, the chancellor no longer is the all-powerful force within the university system.

GOP leaders chose the best-qualified candidate as chaplain The Sun's article "Speaker rejects panel's choice for chaplain, stirring tempest" (March 8) incorrectly accused House Speaker Dennis Hastert of nominating a Protestant minister as House chaplain instead of a Catholic priest who was the top candidate of a bipartisan search committee. I served on the chaplain search committee. It recommended three candidates to the speaker for his consideration. The candidates were not ranked. The Sun ignored the chaplain search committee's report, written by the committee's Republican and Democratic co-chairmen, which states, "The committee understood that it was not asked to rank the final candidates.

So much for the notion that no quality candidates would be seriously interested in the Orioles' managerial opening. Former Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove could sit home and collect $600,000 for doing nothing next year, but he was interviewing in Baltimore before the ink was dry on his severance deal.The guy put up with Albert Belle's strange antics for years, and he's willing to do it again. Maybe they should let him.The Orioles franchise has taken a huge public relations hit the past few weeks, and deservedly so. The team handled its recent front-office purge in such an amateur fashion that there was legitimate concern no one of any stature would be interested in joining the organization.

Years ago, Edward Polochick felt in his bones that Baltimore was the place to be.And he still feels that way. So when he recently accepted the job as musical director of the Lincoln (Neb.) Symphony Orchestra, he was very clear on this: He wasn't about to move anywhere.Polochick, who, like many conductors of big-city orchestras, will juggle an out-of-state post with other jobs, still has things to accomplish here. And nothing, he says, will stand in the way of that. "In a way, I would like to be thought of as Baltimore's maestro," Polochick says.

The field of candidates to replace Padraic M. Kennedy as president of the Columbia Association has been narrowed to seven people who are being interviewed by a six-member search committee.Though members of the committee refuse to identify the candidates, two are known to be Rob Goldman, head of membership services for the association, and Buddy W. Roogow, the state lottery director, who lives in Ellicott City.Goldman said he was to be interviewed today by the search committee, which comprises three members of the Columbia Council and three other Columbia residents.

COLLEGE PARK -- The search for a new president of theUniversity of Maryland, College Park began in earnest yesterday, with the university system chancellor saying that a pool of "several hundred potential candidates" would be narrowed to a single "best of the very best" within six months.Chancellor Donald N. Langenberg appeared at a joint news conference on the campus with William E. "Brit" Kirwan, who accepted the presidency of Ohio State University on Monday.Langenberg said he would appoint a search committee of 12 to '' 15 members within three weeks, after he meets with "focus groups" of students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The search for a replacement for William E. Kirwan, president of the University of Maryland, College Park, will kick into high gear this week with student and faculty forums, the first step in a process that is expected to culminate by July 1.Kirwan is scheduled to be named president of Ohio State University today, replacing E. Gordon Gee, officials at both universities said yesterday."