Tenure

NEW YORK -- Mark Goldsmith does not create males and females in his own image -- he uses models -- but create them he does, starting from a lump of clay. His creations are shaped far from Eden, in a Long Island City factory. They go forth naked into the world, some to be clothed by Donna Karan or Thierry Mugler, some to wear more humble garments. Goldsmith owns Goldsmith Mannequins, the company his grandfather founded about 70 years ago. "The sign outside says 1938, but that's when the corporation was formed," Goldsmith says.

Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso tearfully announced his resignation Monday, ending a six-year tenure marked by bold yet often divisive reforms and casting uncertainty on the future of the long-troubled school system. Under Alonso's leadership, city schools saw growth in test scores, graduation rates and enrollment, but his administration was dogged by fiscal problems and cheating scandals. "I have enjoyed being the superintendent of the school system in ways that are so astonishing," Alonso said, choking back tears.

In response to the Sun's editorial "Not No. 1 in reform" (Dec. 22), why not make the National Board Certification for teachers the litmus for teacher tenure in Maryland? Teachers cannot sit for the National Board Certification until they have completed three full years of teaching in the same school district and must submit a portfolio, which should include video recordings, examples of student work and documentation of accomplishments outside the classroom that impact student learning.

As President Fred Lazarus IV expanded the Maryland Institute College of Art over the past 35 years and helped turn it into one of the nation's leading arts colleges, supporters say, he has also focused on Baltimore - to the betterment of his college and his city. Lazarus, 71, announced Monday that he would retire in May 2014. Upon hearing the news, the city's cultural and civic leaders praised his foresight, saying he realized early on that improving life both in Baltimore and at the 187-year-old school went hand-in-hand.

T. Rowe Price portfolio manager David R. Giroux has spent more than a quarter of his life working at the Baltimore company and plans to spend many more years there. Giroux joined Price as an associate analyst after graduating from college in 1998. Now 35, he still doesn't see himself anywhere else. "Everyone says the grass is greener on the other side, but I don't think that's true here," said Giroux, who manages the company's $11 billion Capital Appreciation Fund, a mutual fund known for its conservative approach.

A proposal to make Maryland's teachers wait longer before receiving job protection - a change that officials say might help the state gain federal funding - is sparking a debate over how to elevate the quality of the teaching profession. Some educators say that tenure should be reserved only for those teachers a school system is willing to invest in for decades and that new teachers should be given far more training and mentoring. The legislation to change teacher tenure was introduced last week by Gov. Martin O'Malley after being proposed by schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, who believes it will help the state's chances of getting federal Race to the Top funding.

In response to state Sen. Paul Pinsky's opinion piece ("A flawed '50% formula,'" May 4). I agree with his concern for an honest discussion about fairly evaluating Maryland teachers' performance. However, the telling point in his piece was about the tenure threshold being raised from two to three years. In a high stakes performance based career such as teaching I see absolutely no rationale for "tenure" being given. Period. As a parent in Montgomery County I've seen the difficulty of principals' being unable to fire or demote longstanding low performing teachers.

Some education leaders and advocates say they are concerned a proposal that would change the tenure law for teachers in Maryland might backfire and make it more difficult to get rid of ineffective teachers early in their careers. Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso said this week that he is worried that "a bill that was intended to make tenure more meaningful is actually making tenure meaningless." The proposal would extend from two years to three the time Maryland teachers must put in before receiving tenure and is part of a larger education reform act introduced by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

When Johannes Brahms set about composing a requiem to commemorate his mother, he aimed for something that was more about comforting than crying, more about coming to terms than fretting about whatever judgment might await the dead. The result, "Ein Deutsches Requiem" ("A German Requiem"), is one of the glories of the choral repertoire, one of Brahms' most personal and affecting pieces. Melinda O'Neal, in her final concert as artistic director of the Handel Choir of Baltimore, conducted an impressive performance of the Requiem Sunday afternoon that communicated its bittersweet lyricism and the ingenious cohesion of its architectural shape.

JERUSALEM -- Ariel Sharon's outsized brown leather chair sat empty at his Cabinet's table for the last time yesterday as government ministers formally ended the stricken Israeli leader's tenure as prime minister. By a unanimous vote, the Cabinet declared Sharon, who has been in a coma since suffering a devastating stroke Jan. 4, to be permanently incapacitated. The vote was a formality, spurred by legal necessity. Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, assumed the duties of office the night the 78-year-old leader suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke.

Unlike last season, Towson will not have to wait until the final weekend of the regular season to find out if it has qualified for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Despite Saturday's 14-11 loss to No. 15 and league rival Drexel, the Tigers clinched the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. “Obviously, we're excited,” coach Shawn Nadelen said Monday afternoon. “We've played decently within the CAA this year, and we've earned enough wins to qualify us for postseason play.

When Johannes Brahms set about composing a requiem to commemorate his mother, he aimed for something that was more about comforting than crying, more about coming to terms than fretting about whatever judgment might await the dead. The result, "Ein Deutsches Requiem" ("A German Requiem"), is one of the glories of the choral repertoire, one of Brahms' most personal and affecting pieces. Melinda O'Neal, in her final concert as artistic director of the Handel Choir of Baltimore, conducted an impressive performance of the Requiem Sunday afternoon that communicated its bittersweet lyricism and the ingenious cohesion of its architectural shape.

Towson University baseball coach Mike Gottlieb got the call March 8 at 9:07 a.m. — a time he has committed to memory. We need you to meet with us at 9:45 a.m., athletic director Mike Waddell told him. Call your players and tell them to come, too, at 10. It wasn't good news, Waddell said. Disgusted, Gottlieb called no one. But soon team members, some in class and others still at home, saw messages flash on their cellphones from an unknown number. It said they'd be excused from class if they showed up soon for a meeting at the Johnny Unitas Stadium Field House on campus.

A memorial service for Steven Muller, president emeritus of the Johns Hopkins University, will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Peabody Institute's Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall, entrance at 17 E. Mount Vernon Place. Dr. Muller died Jan. 19 at his Washington home. He was 85. Dr. Muller oversaw the growth of both the university and the Hopkins medical complex during his 18-year tenure, which began in 1972. He increased the school's annual operating budget from $88 million to $770 million, took the Peabody Conservatory under Hopkins' wing, and reopened the nursing school.

As Henry Mouzon Sr. conjures memories of his tenure aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid during World War II, he serves notice that, at age 87, his mind is still as sturdy as the 41,000-ton ship that carried him to the shores of East Asia and brought him home again. "I saw many ships sink, destroyers and battleships, and we sank many of them," said the Jessup resident, who is to be honored for his service aboard the carrier next month by the Columbia-based Howard County Center of African American Culture.

Ending a tenure marked by the costly decline of the 'Today' show, the failure of the newsmagazine 'Rock Center'  and an erosion of journalistic values, Steve Capus Friday resigned as president of NBC News after almost eight years on the job. While NBC once had the number one morning and evening news shows on his watch, the last two years have been a story of failure for Capus and the network's news division. Morning shows are the engines that drive news division profits, and in the last 18 months, "Today" has managed to blow what seemed line an insurmountable lead to ABC's "Good Morning America" -- a development that has already cost the network hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue and promotional platforms.

IN SELECTING a mutual fund, investors have been known to look at almost everything, from past performance and star ratings to cost structure, tax-efficiency to turnover, quality of the parent company to background of the manager. That last category, the one where investors gauge the manager, may be the most subjective. Judging a manager may come down to an impression gleaned from a television interview or a snippet from a magazine article or a fund's promotional brochure. But a recent study completed by Morningstar.

A state appeals court reversed yesterday an $822,000 judgment awarded by a Baltimore Circuit Court jury to two professors who sued after they were fired by Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1994.The Court of Special Appeals ruled that Drs. Samuel B. Ritter and A. Rebecca Snider were never offered tenure when they were recruited in 1993 and were owed no explanations when they were fired.Dr. Frank Oski, the hospital's director of pediatrics, clearly was in no position to offer tenure when he recruited Ritter from Cornell and Snider from Duke University, the court ruled.

The Baltimore school system failed to follow its policies when hiring a temporary employee who allegedly misrepresented himself as a child therapist and is now charged with raping a teen. City school officials said Shawn Nowlin, a 27-year-old arrested Nov. 26 on charges that he impregnated a 15-year-old in Harford County, was hired in September 2011 to oversee "partnership coordination" and act as a community liaison at Hazelwood Elementary/Middle School under the title "Temporary Professional II. " Nowlin was employed for a year under that title, but the rules say temporary workers' employment cannot exceed 90 days.

William E. "Ned" Eakle, former Howard County executive and county administrator, died Tuesday of heart failure at Gilchrist Hospice in Columbia. The former West Friendship resident was 86. "We lost a part of our Howard County family — a great leader and a great friend," said County Executive Kenneth S. Ulman in a statement. "He was an outstanding public servant who believed in his county, his country and his employees. " The son of an electrician and a homemaker, William E. Eakle was born and raised in Elkridge.