Synergy

It is time once again for Ask Mister Language Person, the column that provides you with the grammar, punctuation and vocabulary skills you need to verbally crush your opponents like seedless grapes under a hammer. Today's first language question comes from author Joyce Carol Oates, who writes to ask: Q. At restaurants, I often order the soup du jour. My question is, what is "jour?" A. It is a French word meaning "bat spleens." Q. Speaking of restaurants, can you give an example of pretentious menu language?

"Synergy" is a term often over-used today in business and marketing-speak. Yet, in planning for cash-strapped cities, it is a concept that must always be kept in mind. We are frustrated when we cannot afford the amenities we wish we had to make cities like Baltimore as truly lively and engaging as we wish them to be. Yet, by spending money on things that create no synergy - no positive spillover or greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts effect - we are wasting precious resources and overlooking opportunities to make magical things happen.

And so, Tina Brown has abandoned the editorial helm of the New Yorker, indisputably the premier vehicle of serious journalism and literary fiction in the United States for two and more generations.Should real people care? Only if the event and its consequences are perceived to affect their lives. It's difficult to see how they will.This has not stilled the cacophony. Brown jilted S.I. Newhouse - owner, with his family, of the New Yorker - to run away with Mickey Mouse. A wailing sigh emanated from earnest souls and throats:"Will the Synergy Monster swallow up the exalted journalism we'd like to believe exists?

The actor Paul Morella has been on stage for his whole life, though in the early years, his platforms rarely came with the traditional proscenium arch and wings. As the eldest child of former Rep. Constance A. Morella, young Paul made frequent campaign appearances that included a script of sorts. ("Elect my mother," he would tell potential voters, "and get her off the streets. ") In theater and politics, private lives are exposed for a public viewing. Performers in both arenas are taught to look natural while hitting their marks.

Though tonight is the first night of Hanukkah and we're just four days shy of Christmas, it's not too late for you to order some "NutMallow" to ring in the recession properly. After all, nothing says "Let's forget about the nightmare of 2008" like a decadent candy treat that comes in a full-fledged loaf that you can slice and serve to your guests. Its very appearance on your table will impart hope because it will be a visual reminder of American ingenuity and greatness. And excess. Frankly, only Americans could dream up this sort of candy-delivery system.

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow acknowledged late this week that her relationship with football coach Ralph Friedgen became strained this season because of losses and economic pressures but said "the air was cleared" during a recent round of talks about his job status. Yow said the talks - which ended with Tuesday's announcement that Friedgen would return for his 10th season at his alma mater - restored "synergy" in their relationship that had eroded as the team slipped to 10 defeats for the first time and season-ticket sales slumped.

Amerix vice president organizes book drive at Columbia company Michael Croxson, executive vice president of Amerix Corp. of Columbia, organized a company book drive to benefit Baltimore Reads. The drive generated $351. More than 600 unsold books were sent to the literacy group. Croxson is a member of the board of Baltimore Reads. Synergy remains top Heart Walk fund-raiser Charmaine Gordon, owner of Synergy - The Future of Fitness for Women, has announced that the Columbia health club has won top honors for its participation in the Howard County American Heart Association Annual Heart Walk.

Institute awards certification to founder of firm Eileen Levitt, founder and president of Columbia-based The HR Team, has been awarded certification as a senior professional in human resources by the Human Resource Certification Institute. The institute promotes the establishment of professional standards and recognizes those who meet them. College invites Price to serve on commission Carolyn West Price, president of Ellicott City-based IMPACTMarketing, has been invited to serve on the Howard Community College Commission on the Future.

Medical education company appoints managing editor Henry L. Mortimer Jr. has been appointed managing editor at Columbia-based Medicalliance Inc., a medical education company. He will be responsible for providing editorial direction and oversight for a variety of projects, including continuing medical education programs, product monographs and symposia. The Baltimore resident was editor in chief with Physicians Practice Inc., publisher of a bimonthly practice management magazine and a Web site.

Family services advisory board elects Lori Fuchs Lori Fuchs of Columbia, a former vice president of Human Resources for BGE Home, has been elected chair of the Howard County Advisory Board to Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland. The nonprofit organization provides mental health services to children, adolescents, adults and families, as well as in-home services for the elderly and training for caregivers. Sanchez joins Synergy as boot camp instructor Antonio Sanchez has joined Synergy - The Future of Fitness for Women as a boot camp instructor.

When the Archdiocese of Baltimore recently agreed to lease the building that housed the Shrine of the Sacred Heart School to the Baltimore City Public Schools, it opened the door for a long-awaited K-8 school in Mount Washington. But it is also worth celebrating as an exciting example of a larger movement in greater Baltimore. Three groups of schools — public, parochial and independent — are striving for excellence on their own, but they are also reaching out in new ways to help the others move forward.

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow acknowledged late this week that her relationship with football coach Ralph Friedgen became strained this season because of losses and economic pressures but said "the air was cleared" during a recent round of talks about his job status. Yow said the talks - which ended with Tuesday's announcement that Friedgen would return for his 10th season at his alma mater - restored "synergy" in their relationship that had eroded as the team slipped to 10 defeats for the first time and season-ticket sales slumped.

Though tonight is the first night of Hanukkah and we're just four days shy of Christmas, it's not too late for you to order some "NutMallow" to ring in the recession properly. After all, nothing says "Let's forget about the nightmare of 2008" like a decadent candy treat that comes in a full-fledged loaf that you can slice and serve to your guests. Its very appearance on your table will impart hope because it will be a visual reminder of American ingenuity and greatness. And excess. Frankly, only Americans could dream up this sort of candy-delivery system.

Comptroller Peter Franchot defended yesterday the high salaries of two top deputies in response to legislative analysts' calling for additional scrutiny of the tax collector's executive ranks. The hearing in the House of Delegates came a week after Franchot accused Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller of plotting to eliminate the two deputies as "political payback" for the comptroller's vocal opposition to slot machine gambling and a new tax on computer services. Miller has dismissed Franchot's claims as "outrageous" and said the Senate - which takes up the comptroller's budget today - will adhere to recommendations by the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services.

A day after losing to North Carroll on Oct. 25, the captains of the Winters Mill volleyball team called an emergency team meeting. As the players filed into their locker room at the school, they came face to face with a large SpongeBob SquarePants pinata designed to look like an Owl, the mascot of their opponent that evening, Westminster. "We just beat it and beat it until it was destroyed," said senior Megan Reed, an outside hitter and one of the team captains who came up with the idea for the piM-qata.

THE APPEAL OF baseball, for those who fall for it in any meaningful fashion, is its traditions. For example: What a nice sight at Camden Yards before last night's game. The grounds crew out there raking the infield, manicuring the pitching mound, chalking the batter's box and those thick, plush foul lines. Then came the finale of that hallowed ritual: the installation of those fresh, white bases. The key phrase here is "fresh, white bases." It's not "colorful bases adorned with logos from Columbia Pictures to promote a movie about an action hero whose plot has absolutely nothing to do with the national pastime."

HAVING DOMESTICATED the Lion King and the Beast and successfully annexed a piece of 42nd Street in New York City, the Walt Disney Co. lacked only a big TV network to secure its empire.Acquiring Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was a deal at a mere $19 billion.After all, back in 1986 when the media merger frenzy first got under way, General Electric paid $6.5 billion for the RCA Corp. -- which owns NBC -- and just two years ago Bell Atlantic offered $33 billion in a failed bid for Tele-Communications Inc., the largest cable company in the world.

Three federal agencies plan to build adjoining high-security laboratories at Fort Detrick for a total cost of more than $1 billion, creating a "national biodefense campus" where scientists will collaborate in the battle against bioterrorism. The plan would create three new labs in Frederick operated by the Army, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Institutes of Health - and possibly a fourth lab for the U.S. Department of Agriculture - all equipped to handle the most dangerous pathogens in existence.