Towson State University

Stephen Mason Meginniss II, a retired Air Force colonel, engineer and college instructor, died Thursday of heart and kidney failure at his home in Southland Hills in Towson. He was 84. Family members described him as a humanist, avid reader and a man who possessed a delicious appreciation of the absurd. "Every Thanksgiving he would carve our family turkey with a captured German bayonet from the war," said his daughter, Margaret Meginniss Secor of Monkton. "We kids in the family loved that but mom didn't care for it."

Jane Gregorek Kihn, 75, hospital volunteer Jane Gregorek Kihn, a longtime volunteer at Good Samaritan Hospital, died of a heart attack Monday at her home in Joppatowne. She was 75. Born Jane Gregorek, she graduated from Eastern High School in Baltimore in 1942 and attended Cornell University for two years. Her husband, Stanley Kihn, was an Army lieutenant colonel who was injured in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. They met shortly after the war, when his sister arranged a date for them at a Duke University football game, said their daughter, Laura S. Otremba of Bel Air. The couple loved ballroom dancing and had two children.

Denis Shapovalov, 21, the first-place winner of the cello contest in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition, received a special prize from Towson State University. Shapovalov was invited to perform and participate in the World Cello Congress III, which the university will sponsor May 29 through June 4, 2000.The World Cello Congress, which is held every three years, is the most prestigious gathering of cellists, cello aficionados and music lovers of its kind. World Cello Congress II, which Towson also sponsored and which took place last summer in St. Petersburg, honored Mstislav Rostropovich.

IF THE UNIVERSITY System of Maryland can't raise $700 million in five years -- the goal of the campaign it announced last week -- it should be taken to the woodshed and spanked.True, the university doesn't get a "The" with a capital "T" in front of its name, as in The Johns Hopkins University, which is in the middle of its own $900-million fund drive.But consider the university system's impact in sheer numbers: One of every 17 Marylanders -- more than 300,000 in all -- attends, works for or holds a degree from one of USM's 11 campuses or two research centers.

Maybe this time Towson University will get it right.After 131 years and four other names -- beginning with the forgettable State Normal School -- officials formally introduced the latest name yesterday amid showers of confetti, cascades of balloons and the dramatic unfurling of a new logo.But some, like former Gov. William Donald Schaefer, addressed the fuss sardonically."Why you want to change your name I don't know," he said in videotaped remarks, drawing out the new name, "Tooowwwsonnnn Uuuuniversity."

DAN ROSEN, the 33-year-old Pikesville native who's making it in Hollywood, is about to shoot another movie, and this one's on the education beat.Rosen is the writer and director of "Dead Man's Curve." The title is a double entendre referring to a bend in the road as well as a school grading practice. Being "graded on the curve" has saved many a student in a difficult math or science course.In Rosen's film, which he will begin shooting at Towson University next month, a couple of students put to the test one of higher education's bizarre myths -- that when a student commits suicide, his or her surviving roommates receive A's in all their courses for the semester.

Tribute on wheelsLook forward to a night of rock and a little more roll when Red Hot and Rollin', a skating dance troupe, presents "City Lights, a Celebration of American Cities" Saturday evening. The show incorporates hip-hop, comedy, juggling, music and, of course, skating in a tribute to American cities. As a highlight of the show, recording artist Lloyd Marcus will perform his original piece, "Red Hot and Rollin'," written for the show."City Lights" will be performed at Towson State University's Stephens Hall at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and children under 12. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Towson State University Dance Team.

Charlotte A. Danaher, 90, bridge player, secretaryCharlotte A. Danaher, an avid bridge player and former secretary, died of cancer Thursday at Stella Maris Hospice in Towson. She was 90.Born Charlotte Zinkand in Baltimore, she graduated from high school in 1923 and was a secretary for Standard Oil Co. until her marriage four years later to Jere J. Danaher, an Air Force major who died in 1991.During World War II, she lived in Rome, N.Y., where her husband was stationed. There, she learned to play bridge and joined several card groups.

As Towson State University looks for ways to expand, a hidden campus oasis called the Glen is proving to be a tempting site.University president Hoke L. Smith calls it a classic battle of American interests -- growth vs. nature. But Rachel J. Burks, university geologist, says the historic 1930s glade off York Road should be protected as a matter of social conscience.Both have the same concern: How to save the 6-acre, oft-forgotten preserve amid an ambitious expansion program that university officials presented to community leaders yesterday.

New positionsDodson named estimator for Wagman ConstructionWagman Construction Inc. announced the selection of William R. Dodson Jr. as a senior estimator for the York-based industrial and commercial builder.An experienced estimator and contract administrator, he is a graduate of McNeese State University and also attended the University of Louisiana.The Baltimore resident is a consultant to the Hunting Ridge Homeowners Association and is also a member of the Associated Builders & Contractors and the Building Congress & Exchange.