Undue Influence

"Undue Influence," by Anita Brookner. Random House. 240 pages. $24. Ah, to be one of Anita Brook- ner's characters -- tightly wrapped, analytical and completely incognizant of their own misery. Reading about such rigid souls can be annoying, even infuriating. But the quiet delight in this Booker-Prize-winning author's latest novel, "Undue Influence," is the way she turns this theme inside-out. Her protagonist, Claire, is full of judgments when it comes to other people. She's quick to pinpoint why they're inferior or unhappy, even if the reason is of her own invention.

In citing his objection to same sex marriage ("Redefining marriage in Md?" March 2), CardinalEdwin F. O'Brienfails to acknowledge that our laws are not based upon religious dogma but upon the precepts of our Constitution. Indeed our founding document not only offers specific protection from the undue influence of religious authority but likewise guarantees the equal protection of individual rights. From that perspective, marriage between two loving same-sex adults is hardly a "radical" notion as the cardinal has so characterized but one that is consistent with the exercise of long standing ideals that underlie our democracy.

Citing anonymous allegations of undue influence, a visibly angry circuit judge recused himself yesterday from hearing a key pretrial motion in the case of a former Baltimore liquor license board inspector who says she was fired for political reasons.Judge David B. Mitchell withdrew from hearing a dismissal motion in the case of Marion P. Turner after Turner's attorney, Edward Smith Jr., asked that the case be turned over to another judge.The case against the city liquor license board is scheduled to go to trial this month.

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, who have run for president as economic populists, are benefiting handsomely from Wall Street donations, easily surpassing Republican John McCain in campaign contributions from the troubled financial services sector. It is part of a broader fundraising shift toward Democrats, compared to past campaigns when Republicans were the favorites of Wall Street. But some Democrats worry that the influx of money will make their candidates less willing to call for reforms to increase regulation of financial markets, which have been in turmoil following a wave of foreclosures on subprime mortgages.

In citing his objection to same sex marriage ("Redefining marriage in Md?" March 2), CardinalEdwin F. O'Brienfails to acknowledge that our laws are not based upon religious dogma but upon the precepts of our Constitution. Indeed our founding document not only offers specific protection from the undue influence of religious authority but likewise guarantees the equal protection of individual rights. From that perspective, marriage between two loving same-sex adults is hardly a "radical" notion as the cardinal has so characterized but one that is consistent with the exercise of long standing ideals that underlie our democracy.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court appeared torn yesterday between a desire not to interfere with cost-cutting by HMOs and a curiosity about ways to let patients sue if medical decisions are made just to save money -- especially when doctors pocket some of the savings. At a hearing on the first managed care lawsuit to reach the court, the justices engaged in a lively exploration but gave no clear hints of how they are leaning on patients' rights to sue HMOs or their medical staffs over flawed treatment.

ROBERT R. NEALL, former Anne Arundel County executive and current lobbyist, has the easy access to all levels of county government that others in his trade envy. Not only does he have intimate knowledge of the government, he has the ear of his successor and ideological standard-bearer, County Executive John G. Gary. Mr. Gary still owes Mr. Neall's political action committee $7,500 from the last campaign. It is fair to ask whether that outstanding loan grants Mr. Neall undue influence.But Mr. Gary has made no secret of the fact he admires Mr. Neall.

After a two-year legal battle over the estate of a wealthy Baltimore County alumnus, Dickinson College - a small, private liberal arts college in central Pennsylvania - will receive the largest charitable gift in its 220-year history, college President William G. Durden announced this week. Durden said the college will receive a multimillion-dollar gift as a result of the settlement of a lawsuit it filed in 2001 in Florida. The suit accused two Baltimore lawyers of persuading alumnus Robert A. Waidner to alter his will to benefit them and nonprofit institutions they were associated with, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

WASHINGTON -- The Naval Academy superintendent's hard line against sexual abuse will play a role in next month's trial of a former Navy football player, after a military judge's ruling yesterday. Marine Col. Steven F. Day will give attorneys for Kenny Ray Morrison, 24, more leeway in choosing a jury, going along with a previous judge who questioned e-mails and a training video distributed by Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt. But Day, chief judge of the Navy Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, did not agree with the finding by Lt. Col. Paul McConnell that Rempt might have had undue influence over possible jurors.

Carroll County Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown's proposal to add two members to the county Planning Commission drew fire from all sides yesterday.Residents said they don't want government to get any bigger, builders wanted to know who the new members would be and the commission chairman said the panel works fine as it is."I feel we've done a good job in the past with five members," Chairman Dennis P. Bowman said at an afternoon public hearing. "I don't understand how adding two more [members]

WASHINGTON -- The Naval Academy superintendent's hard line against sexual abuse will play a role in next month's trial of a former Navy football player, after a military judge's ruling yesterday. Marine Col. Steven F. Day will give attorneys for Kenny Ray Morrison, 24, more leeway in choosing a jury, going along with a previous judge who questioned e-mails and a training video distributed by Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt. But Day, chief judge of the Navy Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, did not agree with the finding by Lt. Col. Paul McConnell that Rempt might have had undue influence over possible jurors.

After a two-year legal battle over the estate of a wealthy Baltimore County alumnus, Dickinson College - a small, private liberal arts college in central Pennsylvania - will receive the largest charitable gift in its 220-year history, college President William G. Durden announced this week. Durden said the college will receive a multimillion-dollar gift as a result of the settlement of a lawsuit it filed in 2001 in Florida. The suit accused two Baltimore lawyers of persuading alumnus Robert A. Waidner to alter his will to benefit them and nonprofit institutions they were associated with, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

JERUSALEM - Amid a flaring crisis in Palestinian leadership, Israel renewed its demands yesterday for a diplomatic freeze - and the possible removal - of Yasser Arafat. Traveling to Britain to meet with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon described himself as a supporter of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - and renewed his familiar calls for Arafat's isolation. In Jerusalem, a senior Israeli administration source said that Israel has complained to the United States that Arafat has tampered with peace negotiations and that his "role and status" must be re-examined.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court appeared torn yesterday between a desire not to interfere with cost-cutting by HMOs and a curiosity about ways to let patients sue if medical decisions are made just to save money -- especially when doctors pocket some of the savings. At a hearing on the first managed care lawsuit to reach the court, the justices engaged in a lively exploration but gave no clear hints of how they are leaning on patients' rights to sue HMOs or their medical staffs over flawed treatment.

"Undue Influence," by Anita Brookner. Random House. 240 pages. $24. Ah, to be one of Anita Brook- ner's characters -- tightly wrapped, analytical and completely incognizant of their own misery. Reading about such rigid souls can be annoying, even infuriating. But the quiet delight in this Booker-Prize-winning author's latest novel, "Undue Influence," is the way she turns this theme inside-out. Her protagonist, Claire, is full of judgments when it comes to other people. She's quick to pinpoint why they're inferior or unhappy, even if the reason is of her own invention.

Ted Turner is incredibly rich - for most of us, unfathomably so. Recently, he showed that he's also incredibly generous, and to many in Washington, that must have been unfathomable, too.Turner's plan to donate about a billion dollars to various United Nations programs over the next decade will accomplish a great deal. It will enable the often beleaguered and constantly underfunded world organization to carry out much more of its challenging mandates in key humanitarian areas such as children, health, refugees, and land-mine removal.

ROME -- In one of the most hotly debated acts of his papacy, Pope John Paul II beatified the Spanish founder of the conservative Opus Dei religious movement yesterday, elevating Monsignor Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer to a status just short of sainthood, 17 years after his death.The crowd overflowing St. Peter's Square numbered more than 200,000 and was one of the biggest ever seen at the Vatican -- testimony to the reach and influence that inspire many liberal Catholics to label Opus Dei a sinister and powerful force for conservatism in the church and elsewhere.

County Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray said yesterday he will not participate in a zoning case involving the Laurel Racing Association because of questions raised by his political rival about a campaign debt dating from 1989.Kathryn Mann, Mr. Gray's Democratic opponent for the council seat for East Columbia in the Sept. 13 primary, questioned Mr. Gray's $8,000 debt to Laurel Race Course Tuesday and called on Mr. Gray to excuse himself from participation in the July 13 zoning decision.The council sitting as the Zoning Board is scheduled to hear the racing association's request for a special exception that would allow parking on a 70-acre tract adjacent to the site of a proposed $160 million stadium for the Washington Redskins football team.

Citing anonymous allegations of undue influence, a visibly angry circuit judge recused himself yesterday from hearing a key pretrial motion in the case of a former Baltimore liquor license board inspector who says she was fired for political reasons.Judge David B. Mitchell withdrew from hearing a dismissal motion in the case of Marion P. Turner after Turner's attorney, Edward Smith Jr., asked that the case be turned over to another judge.The case against the city liquor license board is scheduled to go to trial this month.

ROBERT R. NEALL, former Anne Arundel County executive and current lobbyist, has the easy access to all levels of county government that others in his trade envy. Not only does he have intimate knowledge of the government, he has the ear of his successor and ideological standard-bearer, County Executive John G. Gary. Mr. Gary still owes Mr. Neall's political action committee $7,500 from the last campaign. It is fair to ask whether that outstanding loan grants Mr. Neall undue influence.But Mr. Gary has made no secret of the fact he admires Mr. Neall.