Towson University

The folks at "House of Cards" sure love the Baltimore area. Not only is the majority of the political thriller filmed in and around the city (and, full disclosure, in The Baltimore Sun newsroom), now the show's head honcho, Beau Willimon, is slated to come to Towson University on Wednesday (April 24) to discuss how he developed the addictive series. According to a Towson University press release, Willimon will speak at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in Van Bokkelen Hall, Room 204. The event is free and open to the public.

In my 42 years of teaching in the music department at Towson University, I have had the opportunity observe President Maravene Loeschke's leadership from the time she became chairwoman of the theater department many years ago. During those years, I have worked with many administrators at Towson and elsewhere. Having observed the leadership styles and accomplishments of five presidents and at least two acting presidents, I can say that without question Ms. Loeschke is the best administrator, the best leader I have ever seen.

Towson University President Maravene Loeschke is in a pickle ("Franchot calls on president of Towson University to resign," April 18). To avert further damage to my alma mater she has no choice but to step down. It's never a good thing when state comptroller Peter Franchot's feathers are ruffled. Yet Ms. Loeschke did just that and the resulting angst is not going to dissipate. If Mr. Franchot truly wants to play hardball he could withhold funds requested by Towson University to expand the campus to Harford County.

Baltimore County police say two men have been charged in connection with a stabbing that occurred at the Charles Village Pub in Towson on Saturday. Police said Nicholas Jarrad Jones, 22, of the 700 block of Richwood Avenue, Baltimore, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and first degree assault. On Sunday he was being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center. Robert Lee Blackshire II, 21, of the 6800 block of Barnett Road, in the Glendale area, was charged with second-degree assault and is currently being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $7,500 bail.

A man was stabbed and two other people were injured in an early-morning fight in the second floor of Charles Village Pub in Towson, Baltimore County Police said Saturday.   According to police, a man was stabbed, a second man received minor cuts to his hand, and a woman was injured when she fell.   All three were taken to area hospitals, and police said their injuries were not life threatening. Charles Village Pub Owner Melony Wagner said the bar manager, Jason Jankiewicz, reported that the fight took “less than 45 seconds.”   According to Wagner, a large man shoved a smaller man, and the smaller man allegedly pulled a knife and cut the large man in his shoulder.

In case no one has noticed it yet, two-thirds of Towson University's past and current student body is and remains white. The current and past regime's mantra of "inclusion" and "diversity" is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to disenfranchise the whites. This includes the recent Title 9 female over male baseball mess that the current TU president botched. TU is fine with all new ideas, just as long as they are theirs. During 1970-72 as an elected Student Government Association senator, I stood behind the effort to form a Black Student Union.

For those who may have lost count, the public drama surrounding Towson University's desire to disband its baseball and men's soccer programs has stretched 199 days. ( Here's our original story about the proposal. ) Improbably, the governor got involved . As did the state comptroller . Then, the entire legislature . Despite a temporary stay of execution for the baseball program created by lawmakers , Comptroller Peter Franchot wanted to hear from Towson University president Maravene Loeschke at the Board of Public Works Wednesday.

The positions The Sun's writers have taken recently with regard to free expression have not fulfilled its higher calling to support these paramount values. First, the essential theme of the Sun's April 3 article about Towson University and the white student union ("Towson U. fights back against negative attention") was that the university needed to apologize for not interfering with the attempts of certain students to form a white student union. But the university should have been commended, not condemned, for taking a principled stand in allowing unpopular speech, weak-kneed though its support may have been.

Soccer United looking at Md. again for stadium - but not at Baltimore Although D.C. United remains optimistic about reaching an agreement to build a stadium at Buzzard Point in Washington, the Major League Soccer club has taken renewed interest in Maryland, sources close to the situation said. United executives are "going to play it out with D.C. first, but patience is thinner than it was six months ago," said one person, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

For full disclosure's sake, I am a 1968 graduate of what is now Towson University (and a 1974 graduate of Morgan State University). I taught high school for 14 years and founded an advertising agency that has a sports specialty. Our company has done sports ticket sales campaigns for 43 university programs in 24 states over a 30 year period - including Towson - as well as several pro teams, including all of the local franchises. To say that specializing in college athletics is not a way to build a big media billing agency is an understatement.