Trust

We are worried, here in the newspaper business (motto: "What, YOU never make mistakes?"). We're hearing that you readers have lost your faith in us. Polls show that, in terms of public trust, the news media now rank lower than used-car salespeople, kidnappers, tapeworms, Hitler, and airline flight announcements. (We are still slightly ahead of lawyers.) Of course, these poll results were reported by the news media, so they could be wrong. In fact, there might not actually have been any polls; it's possible that some reporter made the whole "media credibility" story up. But I don't think so. I think the public is genuinely unhappy with us. Lately, when I tell people I work for a newspaper, I've detected the subtle signs of disapproval - the dirty looks; the snide remarks; the severed animal heads in my bed. How did we get into this situation?

Benita Gold, a classical saxophone player, has had 7 or 8 recitals in the past year because of it.Five young singers are soloing this season with The Baltimore Choral Arts Society because of it.Scores of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in Baltimore schools are learning "Adventures with the Violin and Piano" because of it.At a time when funding for the arts is generally declining, Baltimore's 10-year-old Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust, somewhat protected from...

Iredell W. "Idy" Iglehart, a retired vice president of Morgan Guarantee Trust Co., died Monday of heart failure at the Blakehurst retirement community in Towson. He was 83. Mr. Iglehart, the son of a banker and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. After graduating in 1945 from the Kent School in Kent, Conn., he served in the Army for a year, and then enrolled at Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1949.

David Luke Hopkins Jr., first president and CEO of Brown Investment Advisory and Trust Co., died May 23 of heart failure at the Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. He was 84. The son of D. Luke Hopkins Sr., who was president and chairman of Maryland National Bank, and a homemaker, he was born in Baltimore and raised in Ruxton. After graduating in 1946 from St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., he earned a bachelor's degree in 1950 from Princeton University, where he played varsity football and was a member of the Ivy Club.

Do you generally trust other people? How do you react when you're frightened? Are you faithful to your spouse? The answer to these loaded questions may be tied to a natural chemical known mainly for helping mothers give birth. It's called oxytocin, and it's released by the brain during labor and to stimulate milk during breast feeding. Doctors have used a synthetic version for decades to induce contractions in pregnant women. Researchers also have linked increased levels of the so-called "attachment hormone" to sexual activity and the reaction to a good massage.

The leaders of a popular state college savings plan have alerted the University System of Maryland that a supplemental tuition increase approved in May has cost the plan at least $3.4 million at a time when it is already struggling in a dismal investment climate. And they warn that because the university system intends to impose a similar secondary tuition increase next year, new families enrolling in the savings plan might end up paying more than their fair share. In a June 28 letter to the system's Board of Regents, the chairman of the Maryland Higher Education Investment Board said the regents' approval of an additional 1.5 percent increase in in-state tuition had delivered an unexpected blow to the Maryland Prepaid College Trust, which oversees more than 14,200 college savings accounts for state families.

NEW YORK -- In further broadening of its business, Legg Mason Inc. has opened a trust company for wealthy individuals and institutional funds.The final approval for the Baltimore-based firm, known as Legg Mason Trust Co., came yesterday when Maryland Banking Commissioner Margie H. Muller gave the company its certificate of authority. "Their financing was sound and they met all our requirements," Ms. Muller said.Art Sims, who heads the new unit, said Legg Mason had known for several years that it wanted to open a trust company but was unsure exactly how to enter the trust business.

WASHINGTON -- Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund lost $4.2 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year, according to new government data, which suggest that the financial condition of the program is worse than administration officials projected last year.The trust fund, which pays hospital bills for the elderly and disabled, lost money last year for the first time since 1972. But the loss for all of last year was only $35.7 million.In the first half of the current fiscal year, from October 1995 through March of this year, the trust fund spent $60.5 billion and took in $56.3 billion, the Treasury said.

My husband and I have children from prior marriages. We are wondering how we should title our home so the children inherit our respective shares. Currently it is titled joint tenancy with right of survivorship. How do we change the way our home is titled? What fees could we expect to pay if we were to make these changes? What might the tax consequences be? - F.B. DeBary, Fla. If it's safe to assume your financial life is simple, here's a simple solution: Put your home into a trust, with you and your husband listed as trustees.

I am 44 years old, recently divorced, with two daughters ages 5 and 9. Should I create a trust for my daughters? M-y S.O., Hartford, Conn. Before you decide how to proceed with your estate plans, consult the court order that governs the terms of your divorce. This court order might prohibit you from fully disinheriting your former spouse. The court order might also require you M-y if you were the familyM-Fs principal breadwinner M-y to name your former spouse as a beneficiary on a life insurance policy, until your youngest child reaches majority age. These and other possible provisions within the court order might tie your hands M-y or set you free to do as you please with your revised estate plans, said Barbara Kahn Stark, a family law attorney in New Haven, Conn.