Symposium

The Severn River chapter of the American Business Women's Association will sponsor a symposium Saturday called "Soar with Your Strengths II."Speakers will include clinical social worker Judith Lazarus and psychotherapist Bernadette Zorio. The symposium is from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Florestano building, Room 101, at Anne Arundel Community College. Information: 541-2625.

Saddled with student loan debt, Dr. Laura Herrera joined the Army Reserve to help pay off medical school bills and perhaps get a chance to see the world. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks hit shortly after she enlisted, and her military career took an unanticipated turn. Long deployments away from her kids in places like Wisconsin, Texas and Iraq replaced visions of trips to more exotic locales. Still, Herrera said, she began to feel a kinship with the other soldiers and a strong desire to serve her country and do more with her military career.

The Columbia Council will sponsor its second symposium on Columbia's governance at 8 o'clock tonight at Slayton House in the Wilde Lake Village Green.Three panelists are expected to attend the symposium, which will focus on budgetary, financial and legal issues associated with alternative forms of governance for Columbia. The panelists include Judson P. Garrett Jr., an attorney with expertise in special taxing districts; Edward Clarke, a public finance expert; and Peter Kristian, an officer with the Montgomery Village Foundation homeowners association.

The Harford County Department of Community Services, Office of Drug Control Policy, will hold its annual Symposium on Drug Prevention, Intervention and Treatment at Patterson Mill High School on Wednesday, June 27 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each year the symposium focuses on issues taking place not only in Harford County, but nationwide, according to the Office of Drug Control Policy. This year's seminar theme, "Extremely Close but Incredibly Silent," will provide an opportunity to learn about current issues such as addiction, co-occurring disorders, bullying, abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, Internet safety and sexting, the impact of addiction on the family, and the science of addition.

A two-day literary symposium honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Peter Taylor, master of the short story form, is this weekend at the Stouffer Harborplace Hotel in the Inner Harbor.Tomorrow's program features a presentation of one-act plays from Taylor's "Presences: Seven Dramatic Pieces" at 8:30 p.m. On Saturday, writer Elizabeth Hardwick delivers the keynote address at 9:30 a.m. A panel of writers including Madison Smartt Bell, Steve Goodwin, Geatano Prampolini, Susan Shreve and Robert Wilson will discuss Taylor's work from 1:45 to 3:15 p.m. Peter Taylor will read from his work from 3:45 to 5 p.m.The event is sponsored by Essex Community College and partly funded by the Maryland Humanities Council.

Carroll Community College will present the Careers in Healthcare Symposium from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Great Hall. The free event will feature question-and-answer sessions and exhibits. Topics will include anatomy and physiology courses, nursing programs, health and exercise programs, and health care informational technology. Information: 410-386-8198.

About 75 college-bound juniors from 19 Baltimore City high schools participated in a four-hour "Training Camp for Life" symposium at the Ravens' practice facility in Owings Mills yesterday. The pilot program is sponsored by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, the NFL Players Association and the Ravens. The student athletes, selected by their coaches for both academic and athletic skills, heard nine featured speakers address a variety of topics related to the transition from high school to college life.

The first-ever National Urban Symposium begins at noon today and continues through Thursday at the Crimea Mansion in Leakin Park, headquarters of the Baltimore-Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound Program, which is sponsoring the event.The symposium will focus on challenges and opportunities facing urban Outward Bound programs in Baltimore, New York, Atlanta, Boston and San Antonio.Programs of the nonprofit Outward Bound are aimed at urban youths and seek to develop self-reliance, self-esteem and concern for others and the environment.

Drug symposium planned June 29 at Fallston High "Drug Prevention, Intervention and Treatment," a free Harford County symposium, will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. June 29 at Fallston High School, 2301 Carrs Mill Road. The symposium is geared toward school nurses, guidance counselors, United Way agencies, members of the faith community and others. The day will begin with keynote speaker Gerry Weinholt, president of PEP Inc., who will discuss substance prevention, use and abuse. Workshops will be held throughout the day. Registration is required by June 15. For more information, contact the Harford County Office of Drug Control Policy at 410-638-3333 or odcp@co.

Taylor Manor Hospital will hold its 25th annual psychiatric symposium today, featuring a lecture by an internationally known author on the topic of shame and pride, and an award to Del. Virginia M. Thomas, D-13A, for her contributions to the mental health field.More than 125 mental health practitioners from around the mid-Atlantic area are expected to attend the half-day seminar at the private Ellicott City psychiatric center.The hours are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.Delegate Thomas will receive the Taylor Manor Humanitarian Award.

Scientists from the National Aquarium and the Johns Hopkins University say they've found low but potentially harmful levels of toxic oil contaminants in the Gulf of Mexico months after the Deepwater Horizon well blowout was capped. Erik Rifkin, interim executive director of the aquarium's conservation center, and Yongseok Hong, a post-doctoral fellow at Hopkins, say that using devices that mimic the way fish absorb contaminants in their environment, they've detected oil-related chemical compounds on the Louisiana coast that traditional water sampling methods mostly missed.

More than 500 people participated in the Choose Civility Symposium on Oct. 5. The symposium consisted of a morning session with student representatives from every middle school in the county, an afternoon session for Howard Community College students and faculty, and an evening event for the entire community. Two hundred middle school students attended the keynote address given by Hammond High School Principal Marcy Leonard . Breakout sessions focused on leadership and positive role models, and Courtney Macavinta , from The Respect Institute, led a closing activity.

Colleges No. 3 Terps fall to No. 2 UNC in field hockey Second-ranked North Carolina (16-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) held No. 3 Maryland (13-3, 4-1) scoreless until Jemma Buckley 's goal at the final horn and emerged with a 2-1 field hockey victory Saturday in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels got goals from Jaclyn Gaudioso Radvany in the eighth minute and Kelsey Kolojejchick with 20:30 left to play. The Terps were held without a shot or a corner by the nation's top-ranked defense in the first half but took four penalty corners in the final seven minutes of the game.

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail wanted to make a larger point about risk and about baseball's financial imbalance Thursday during a question-and-answer session with a group of Baltimore School of Law students. So at one point, after taking questions for more than 40 minutes, MacPhail decided to throw out a query of his own. "Who is the worst free agent signing in baseball history?" MacPhail asked. "I invite all of you to think about this for two minutes. " The answers shouted back at MacPhail were varied.

A Supreme Court free speech case over a protest at a Marine's funeral and a college student's suicide were among the topics at the third annual civility symposium in Columbia. More than 220 people turned out to hear the panel discussion on civility in democracy lead by P.M. Forni, the author of "Choosing Civility," the 2003 book of 25 rules that inspired the county libraries' "Choose Civility in Howard County" campaign. Forni, a Johns Hopkins University professor of Romance languages and literature, told the audience Wednesday at the Bain Center in Harper's Choice that he happened to be at Rutgers University to launch "the most ambitious civility project in the U.S. " at the time police discovered the body of Tyler Clementi.

At the corner of Conkling Street and Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown, a head looks over the neighborhood like a bodiless sentinel. The olive-toned, mustachioed bust takes in a colorful panorama: a pizzeria to the north and a pawnbroker to the west. Starting this weekend, when you hock that gold watch or grab a quick slice of pizza, Frank Zappa will be watching. Two years after Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, donated a $50,000 bust of the Baltimore-born rocker to Charm City, it will be installed Sunday at the Southeast Anchor Library in a daylong celebration.

Direct from Berlin, where the troupe performed in the international Samuel Beckett festival and symposium earlier this month, the Maryland Stage Company will present three short Beckett plays - "Play," "That Time" and "Ohio Impromptu" - at its home base, the University of Maryland Baltimore County Theatre, for seven performances beginning tonight. Xerxes Mehta, the company's artistic director and president- elect of the Samuel Beckett Society, directs a cast of four - Sam McCready, Wendy Salkind, Bill Largess and Peggy Yates - in these works from Beckett's late period, the 1970s and 1980s.

SYMPOSIUM.Muriel Spark.Houghton Mifflin.192 pages. $18.95. It's always rewarding to any audience when an artist reveals not only a brilliant style but also a comfortableness in executing this style. The audience of Muriel Spark is thus rewarded upon reading her latest novel of black comedy, "Symposium."It is clear from the beginning where Ms. Spark is heading: In the midst of apparent civilization lurks the evil of a violent crime, and the perpetrators as well as the victims are to be found among those who bear their perfected and controlled civilization most painstakingly.

A weekend-long celebration featuring live music, a symposium and art exhibit will celebrate the dedication of the Frank Zappa statue in Baltimore, organizers said. Zappa Plays Zappa, a tribute act fronted by Zappa's son Dweezil, will perform; Zappa's widow, Gail, will give a symposium; and the Southeast Anchor Library will launch an exhibit in conjunction with the Sept. 19 statue dedication, according to producer Sean Brescia. "It's going to make it what it should be," Brescia said.

On Monday morning, my alarm rang at 5:40 and I pushed the snooze button twice, just like the day before. I got out of bed at 6 and went downstairs to make coffee, just like the day before. I let the dog out, just like the day before. And I opened the dishwasher to unload the dishes, just like the day before. But on this day, I discovered it had been emptied by someone else. Oh joy! Rapture! Oh unexpected bliss! During these decidedly less-than-happy-go-lucky economic times, we ought to be on the lookout for silly little happy spots in our lives and celebrate them.