Taking Risks

Before the eight-day meet at the Maryland State Fair began, jockey Travis Dunkelberger, 28 and a 10-year veteran, already had the reputation of a winner at the five-eighths-mile track that is known as a bullring because of its tight quarters. Yesterday, on the last day of the meet, he added to his reputation as the track's leading jockey with three wins, including victory in the $50,000 Taking Risks Stakes for Maryland-breds, that secured his fourth or fifth title at Timonium. Dunkelberger wasn't sure which, and track spokesman Rich Paul said no records from previous years were kept.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy -- Anne Tyler, author For all of my grownup life, I have re-read Anna Karenina every single summer. Or I used to. Then it seemed I started just saying I read it. Saying it now in print means that I will have to go back into my shelves and dig it out again. I'm looking forward to it. Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace -- Laura Lippman, author The summer I was 11, I took this classic to Bethany Beach, along with six books by Walter Farley, having forgotten that I wasn't particularly interested in horses.

BRIAN LE GETTE is working up a sweat. Crouched like a speed skater, he blasts down Pratt Street during the morning rush hour on a pair of in-line skates. Then this CEO - seven months away from turning 40 - launches himself off a curb near the World Trade Center, catching about three feet of air and snapping his knees into a mule kick. "That," the perfectionist in him says, "was a little sloppy." Watching all this, you wonder whether the head of 180s is fearless, unrealistic or just nuts.

When Kevin Mulroe, a gifted-and-talented resource teacher at Clemens Crossing Elementary School, imparts knowledge to his pupils, he hopes that they use the information to help themselves and others. "I want them to be able to go out and live the American dream, and to be able to give back to the community," he said. "I want them to share their gifts with others." Mulroe, 31, was a finalist this month for the Maryland Teacher of the Year award sponsored by the state Department of Education.

LANDOVER - He wasn't Chad Pennington, but 39-year-old quarterback Vinny Testaverde showed enough veteran's poise last night to give the New York Jets a measure of hope for a season that seemed lost. Testaverde didn't throw deep against the Washington Redskins, but he showed enough arm strength on sideline routes to be a threat. He didn't complete a pass for more than 17 yards, but he also didn't throw an interception. Testaverde, who will turn 40 in November, gave the Jets a workmanlike performance in a conservative game plan in Pennington's injury-forced absence.

Horse racing may be impressed with King T. Leatherbury's record, but the horses aren't. His 5,998 victories as a trainer haven't earned him the respect he deserves from his four-legged charges. "Horses aren't even that fond of King. They know they can bully him," said Linda Leatherbury, his wife. "If he's leading them around the shed row, the horses will start walking him into walls. They know they have the upper hand." But it's Leatherbury who has the magic touch. At 70, he is poised to pass a milepost at Laurel Park, which starts its summer meet today.

Those who like their humor tart and topical will have reason to laugh when two nationally known comedy acts take the stage at the Columbia Festival of the Arts this week and next. Subjects from divorce to the war in Iraq are fodder for The Second City, a comedy troupe that will perform improvisational scenes and comedy skits today and tomorrow. Current events also provide material for Reno, who will perform her show Rebel Without a Pause: Unrestrained Reflections on September 11 on June 26. "We want international and national high-quality artists," said Ronald Schimel, president of the festival's board of trustees.

County Executive James M. Harkins is betting money that the state will eventually fund a new middle and high school complex in the Bel Air area that he considers critical to relieving overcrowding at five schools. In his proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, Harkins has designated $2.1 million to be used for engineering and design work for a $30.6 million school complex that the state failed to give planning approval last month. "We're taking a risk," said John J. O'Neill Jr., director of administration, noting that the money will be wasted if the complex does not eventually receive construction funds from the state.

What's your comfort level with taking financial risk? If you're puzzled about how to honestly respond, you're not alone. Most people find out their comfort level with risk only after the fact - that is, after they've lost money. Then, and only then, do they know how much they can financially and emotionally afford to lose. Tolerance for risk is difficult to accurately gauge because taking risks (at least in the United States) is a socially desirable trait. Ever since our country's founding, entrepreneurial behavior has been highly regarded and amply rewarded.

In 1995, a small humanitarian aid group from Baltimore called International Orthodox Christian Charities had big plans - to build a self-sustaining economy for refugees in the war-torn region around Chechnya. Two years later, the group did a painful about-face. Reeling from the kidnapping of two staff members who were held captive months before being released, it pulled out of the region altogether, acknowledging the danger that other foreign agencies already had fled. Today, IOCC officials say they have grown stronger and smarter from that crisis, evolving from a fledgling group of concerned leaders in Orthodox Christian churches to a $35 million operation with programs in 11 countries.