Failed Holidays

German-Americans and Irish-Americans will go another yearwithout official recognition fromMaryland, as bills proposing dedi-cation of October as German-American Month and March asIrish-American Month both failedduring this year's General Assemblysession.Community, Page A3

Gas Prices

Millions of American families arefeeling the burden of ever increas-ing gas prices. Sen. Cardin and agroup of Senators are sponsoring abill which will give federal regula-tors immediate authority to invokeemergency powers to rein in thoseresponsible for rising gasolineprices.Opinion, Page A4

First U.S. Bank of China

The Maryland Department ofBusiness and EconomicDevelopment and the Export-ImportBank of China signed a cooperativeagreement that establishes theBank’s first U.S. location inMaryland. Under the agreement, thebank will open an office at theWorld Trade Center Baltimore.Business, Page A5

Movie Review

From a movie buff's perspective,"The Cabin in the Woods" repre-sents the most exciting shake-up inthe slasher genre since "Scream," 16years ago. But where "Scream" wentone direction, introducing self-awareness to a formula that desper-ately needed it, "Cabin in theWoods" takes another route.Out on the Town, Page A6

Earth Talk

Dear EarthTalk:

How is it that dams actually hurt

rivers? —Missy Davenport,

Boulder, CO

Dams are a symbol of human inge-nuity and engineering prowess. Butpeople are questioning whether gen-erating hydroelectric power is worthdestroying riparian ecosystems.Features, Page A7

INSIDE

PHOTO COURTESY BY WERTHMEDIA, FLICKR

There was a huge turnout for the Trayvon Martin Protest Student Rally at the Criminal Justice Building in

Sanford.

Move Over Satchel Paige, Hello Jehosie Heard

Black Pioneers in Md. Sports

ANNAPOLIS - April 15 marks the 65th

anniversary of Jackie Robinson integrat-

ing Major League Baseball by taking the

field as a Brooklyn Dodger in 1947.

Sunday, every major leaguer will honor

Robinson by wearing his No. 42 jersey.

Throughout Maryland history, black

athletes have shattered other significant

racial barriers, some during Robinson's

era, some still struggling today. From the

first black Baltimore Orioles player, to

the first black winner of the Preakness,

we look at a few Maryland firsts. We also

talk with a current black jockey who

dreams of one day riding in the

Preakness.

ANNAPOLIS - In 1953, before the St.Louis Browns crossed the mightyMississippi River headed for Baltimore,their roster contained future Hall of

Famer Satchel Paige, a pitcher for theages.

"Like Joe Louis, only one arm like this

comes along in 50 years," legendarysports writer Red Smith is quoted by theBaseball Almanac as having written.

In 1954, when the Browns landed inBaltimore and became the Orioles, thatarm could have been attached to the fran-chise's first black player. Instead, theOrioles let Paige walk, paving the way forJehosie Heard.

"It's an interesting story," said Mid-Atlantic Sports Network contributor andWashington Examiner columnist PhilWood. "Because the first African-American for the Orioles should havebeen Satchel Paige."

Wood explained that Paige had beenan All-Star with the Browns in 1953 andwhen the franchise moved to Baltimore in1954, Paige could have become theOrioles' first black player.

Except, Wood said, some in the orga-nization believed Paige to be, in Wood'swords, "too high profile."

By AARON CARTER

Capital News Service

Maryland Metal Scrap

Law Has Gaping Holes

WASHINGTON - They'verobbed graves and constructionsites, churches and schools.They've taken statues frombases and ordinary pipes rightout of the walls -- but even anew law designed to curb thesescrap metal thieves seems tobarely slow them down.

Brian Sclar, the president ofthe metal recycling businessFrederick Reliable, has hisworkers follow the law --viewing and recording fullidentification of sellers andphotographing all the scrapthey're selling -- but said itdoesn't seem to have put a dentin the problem.

"I don't think it has been ahuge deterrent," he said, refer-

ring to the number of copperthefts in Maryland. "But I dothink it has been very effectivein solving a number of coppertheft crimes."

In February, six men werearrested for the theft of about$31,500 worth of copper wirebelonging to Verizon in AspenHill, the most recent in a longstring of copper thefts inMaryland. The suspects werecaught in the act, using a buck-et truck to take more than1,800 feet of copper wire fromtelephone poles.

Copper theft -- strikingmany utilities and other busi-nesses -- has been common inMaryland since sharp priceincreases took the price of cop-

By SARAH HOGUE

Capital News Service

See METAL, Page A5

CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE

The Orioles let Satchel Paige go,

paving the way for Jehosie Heard.

Maryland Schools in the

Path of the Purple Line

COLLEGE PARK - Proposedconstruction on the Purple Line willnot begin for at least another threeyears, but some local school leadersare concerned as state and countyplanners work to finalize a route.

Under the current plan, the 16-mile light rail line will impact fourmiddle and elementary schools inPrince George's and MontgomeryCounty.

While the Purple Line is welcomenews to many drivers who commutealong the heavily congested east-west corridor daily, parents and prin-cipals worry about student safety andschool property space.

Sligo Creek Elementary Schoolprincipal Diantha Swift said thePurple Line may help reduce trafficbut will likely affect school cross-ings, traffic flow and parking.

"Logistically, we have 19 schoolbuses, numerous car drop-offs and

pick-ups and walkers coming toschool each day," Swift said. "Wehope the Purple Line will ease traf-fic, but safety is obviously a concerntoo."

Sligo Creek shares a school build-ing and parking lot with SilverSpring International Middle School.The Purple Line and a proposed railstation, which is currently underreview, would be built on the south-ern end of the campus.

Construction would reconfigurecar and bus parking for the schoolsand build a new traffic entranceintersecting with the rail line.

"We have heard the concerns ofsafety," said Maryland TransitAdministration Purple Line projectmanager Mike Madden. "The stationin-front of the Silver SpringInternational is still under study, andin the end we will work to addressconcerns by building safe cross-

Maryland Photo Campaign Focuses on

Trayvon Martin Hoodie Controversy

COLLEGE PARK - In the days fol-lowing the initial publicity surroundingthe shooting of Trayvon Martin, peoplefound various ways to express theirgrief, outrage and fear.

One Bowie resident turned to her cre-ative outlet: photography.

Eunique Jones Gibson, owner ofEunique Jones Photography, said shewas driving home March 21 when shedecided to photograph people in hoodedsweatshirts like the one Martin wore thenight he was killed.

"This was my way to contribute todoing something and trying to refute thestereotype that everyone in a hoodie," isup to no good, Jones Gibson said. "Iknow that pictures are relatable, and Ifelt like the best way to get that messageacross, that it could be anybody, was pic-torially."

George Zimmerman, a neighborhoodwatch captain, shot and killed Martin, anunarmed African American teenager, inFebruary.

Geraldo Rivera, a Fox news com-mentator, later suggested Martin's hood-ie was "as much responsible for TrayvonMartin's death" as the neighborhoodwatch captain.

His comment inspired thousands ofpeople across the nation to wear hoodiesduring protests and marches in a show ofsolidarity with Martin's family.

A special prosecutor chargedZimmerman with second-degree murderin Martin's death Wednesday. His attor-ney said he will plead not guilty.

When she got home on March 21,Jones Gibson got on Facebook andadvertised a free photo shoot from 8p.m. to 10 p.m. at her studio in Lanhamthat evening.

With less than two hours' notice, 40people showed up.

Jones Gibson gave each of her mod-els the same dark-gray, hooded sweat-shirt and asked them to sign in with theirname, occupation and email address.

Some participants, like KrystleMcLaughlin, brought their children tothe photo shoot.

"When I learned about the photo

shoot, I grabbed my two daughters,Kamiah and Maliah, and took them tothe studio with me," McLaughlin, a pro-gram specialist for the federal govern-ment, said.

"I wanted my children to be a part (ofthis) because this will be a historicalevent and I also want them to know thatthis could have happened to any of us,"McLaughlin said.

Many of Jones Gibson's subjectsstressed the connection they felt toMartin when they donned the hoodie.

"I felt like I was a part of the move-ment, and this is something I can tell mychildren and grandchildren about," saidEvelyn Lewis, a statistician. "I wasthankful to be a part of (Jones Gibson's)campaign, and to be a part of the greaterJustice for Trayvon Martin Movement. Ialso thought about how much life thisyoung man still had to live."

Designer Christina Thomas alsothought about Martin during the shoot.

"I don't think people really realize

See SCHOOLS, Page A3

By TIM EBNERCapital News Service

Cardin Pushes for Transportation

Bill to Gain Metro Funding

HYATTSVILLE - Metro's fund-ing for safety improvements could bein jeopardy without passage of thefederal transportation bill stranded inthe House of Representatives, saidSen. Ben Cardin.

Cardin, along with WashingtonMetropolitan Area Transit Authorityofficials, on Tuesday urged theHouse to pass the transportation billthat would bring funding to Metro toreplace cars, buses, modernize facili-ties and improve safety.

"I know they're taking steps to putthe public safety first, but it'd be a loteasier if they had the predicable fed-

eral funding partnership," saidCardin, who took a tour of WMATA'straining facility.

WMATA would use the $1.5 bil-lion disbursed over 10 years to makeimprovements recommended by theNational Transportation Safety Boardafter the Red Line crash between theTakoma and Fort Totten stations inJune 2009 that killed nine people andinjured 80.

"We cannot make these imple-mentations without our relationshipwith Congress," said Dave Kubicek,deputy general manager of opera-tions.

See METRO, Page A8

By MADELINE MARSHALLCapital News Service

See HOODIE, Page A3

By MARIKO HEWERCapital News Service

See PIONEERS, Page A3

Vol. 80, No. 17 April 26 — May 2, 2012 Prince George’s County, Maryland Newspaper of Record Phone: 301-627-0900 25 cents

A CommuniTy newsPAPer for PrinCe GeorGe’s CounTy Since 1932

The Prince George’s PostPRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY TAX SALE LISTING INSIDE

A2 — April 26 — May 2, 2012 — The Prince George’s Post

NeighborSTowns and

In and Around Morningside-Skylineby Mary McHale 301 735 3451

Brandywine-Aquascoby Ruth Turner 301 888 2153

Rep. Edwards Highlights

Equal Pay Day,

More Needs To Be Done

On Equal Pay Day, here are

several facts regarding the

gender pay gap.

Women still only earn 77 cents

for every dollar earned by

men.

In typical married households,women’s incomes accountedfor 36 percent of total familyincome in 2008, up from 29percent in 1983.$10,784: Amount the genderpay gap cost women & theirfamilies this year. Although the Lilly Ledbetter

Act has been enacted, more

needs to be done. As a cospon-sor, Rep. Edwards is fightingfor the enactment of thePaycheck Fairness Act, whichwould provide a much-neededupdate to the 49-year-oldEqual Pay Act by providingeffective remedies to womenwho are not being paid equalwages for doing equal work.

Rep. Edwards Highlights

Impact of Speculation on

Rising Gas Prices During

Hearing

Rep. Edwards highlightsimpact of speculation on therise of gas prices during theDemocratic Steering andPolicy Committee Hearing on

"Protecting America'sConsumers from ExcessiveSpeculation: American Energyfor American Jobs". Mr.Guilford, President and CEOof the IndependentConnecticut PetroleumMarketers Association,responded to Rep. Edwards'question that speculation raisesthe cost of gas approximately$1 per gallon.

Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards’ Legislative Update

Three running for two

Morningsider Council seats

The Town of Morningsidewill hold an election for twoTown Council seats on May 7.Three candidates are in the run-ning:

Regina Foster has lived inMorningside since 2004. Shehas previously served on theCouncil, and has experiencewith the County School Board,the Maryland MunicipalLeague, the County andMorningside Police depart-ments, and has been an activemember of the MorningsideRecreation Council. Hervision for the Town is a “rea-sonable tax rate,” street lightupgrade, road repairs andincreased citizen involvement.

Elizabeth Long has lived inMorningside since 1986 and isretired as administrative assis-tant, bookkeeper and officemanager for a law firm for 34years. She will use these skillsto help Morningside continue tobe a great place to live, workand play. She will be a strongvoice for the Town’s senior cit-izens and will bring a freshviewpoint to the Town Council.

Sheila V. Scott is currentlyserving on the Council. Asoverseer of the MunicipalBuilding, she is helping tomake major upgrading andrepairs—new stove andmicrowave, new exhaust sys-tem, new paint, repairs to thebreezeway, new display sign forthe Mayor and Council. She isalso fighting hard to keep theMetro Bus Maintenance GarageFacility (for 276 buses!) frommoving next door to the Town.

On May 7, the polls will beopen at the Town Hall from 8a.m. to 8 p.m.Blue Angels will fly at

Andrews’ Air Show

Joint Base Andrews will cel-ebrate Armed Forces WeekMay 19-20 with an OpenHouse weekend of aerialmaneuvers and military dis-plays. Among the performerswill be the Navy’s Blue Angels,

noted for their fast-paced aero-batic maneuvers of two, fourand six planes flying in forma-tion.

Andrews’ gates will openfor buses at 8 a.m. and close at5 p.m. Admission is free.Attendees are allowed to bringtheir own lawn chairs.Backpacks are prohibited andno outside food or beveragesare permitted. The Air ShowInformation Line is 301-981-4600.Neighbors

The Morningside VolunteerFire Department is eagerlyawaiting delivery of its newRescue Engine. The Town ofMorningside will be helping tofund the new engine throughspeed-camera revenue.

On Good Friday, St. Philip’sTeens presented a beautiful andtouching Living Stations of theCross, directed by Emily Rose.Andrew Boone portrayed Jesusand Ayana Taylor was hismother, Mary. Other actorswere: Ryan Thomas, JoseValderrama, Angela Hay, EllenFerguson, John Smith, HodariRobinson, Vincent D’Haiti,Kaila Etienne-Best, Ja’NelleWilliamson, Jordan Bobo andRadwa Saleem. Lindsey andMariah Taylor were Readers.

I enjoyed an afternoon visitfrom Luke Fulton and hisdaughter Lisa Gaylor. TheFultons lived for years onSwann Road in Suitland andwere my good friends. Hiswife Bella died several yearsago and Luke now lives in hisnative Biloxi, Mississippi. Heused to be a barber at thePentagon. But he also repairedTVs in an age when TVs werenew. The MorningsideDirectories back in the 1950sand ‘60s advertise Luke’s TV— “Service for all makesincluding Muntz.”Mulch Giveaway

The County Department ofEnvironmental Resources’Waste Management Division issponsoring a free MulchGiveaway on Saturday, April

21. The one-day event willtake place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.at the County’s Yard WasteComposting Facility (WesternBranch) located at 6601 S.E.Crain Highway in UpperMarlboro (from CrainHighway, proceed on MaudeSavoy Brown Road and followthe Visitors’ Center signs to thefacility). For information, call301-883-5045. May they rest in peace

Thelma Virginia McCawley,93, member of the OakcrestTowers Funsters SeniorCitizens Club, died March 10.She lived in Forestville. Shewas born in Washington andwas a retail clerk with SafewayStores for 20 years. She wasthe widow of John TobiasMcCawley; mother of William“Butch” Quigley and CarolineCochran; sister of ErnestMoore, Evelyn Mattingly andMildred Fowler; grandmotherof two and great-grandmotherof two. Burial is at Cedar Hill.

Charles Edwin Bean, 63,died March 10 at his home inUpper Marlboro. He was alifetime member and past pres-ident of the Marlboro VolunteerFire Department. He was thehusband of Debbie; father ofKatie Lakie, Kevin Bean,Kristen Bean and the late KarlaBean; grandfather of Patrick;brother to five sisters. Burial isat Resurrection Cemetery.Milestones

Happy birthday to MaryLou Wise, April 20; Jill(Gilmartin) Booth, TiffanyJackson and Taylor Foster,April 22; Jim Reilly, DavidTitus and Barbara Sparks, April23; Edna Lucas, April 24; SueStine McConkey-Mason, DaisyYoung and my grandson DavidMcHale, April 25; and G.A.DeFelice, April 26. Happyanniversary to Jim and PatConlon, their 38th on April 20:John and Ruth Anthony, Jr.,their 34th on April 22; Lewisand Trisha (Pitts) Woods, their23rd on April 22; and Janet andBrian Spivey, on April 23.

Rabies Vaccinations--Important Protection

for Your Pet(s) and Your Family

Neighborhood Events

Rabies Vaccinations--Important Protection

for Your Pet(s) and Your Family

LARGO, MD – The Prince George’sCounty Health Department is encouraging allresidents to review their dog, cat and ferretvaccination records to ensure their rabiesimmunizations are up-to-date!

Rabies is a fatal disease. The state lawrequires that all cats, dogs and ferrets be vacci-nated against rabies by four (4) months of age,and be kept current.

“The best way to protect your family andyour pet is to keep your pet’s rabies vaccina-tion up-to-date. Therefore, the Prince George’sCounty Health Department is pleased to offerlow cost rabies vaccinations to all PrinceGeorge’s County residents,” said ActingHealth Officer Pamela B Creekmur. “Rabiescontinues to be a real threat in our communityand the Health Department wants every dog,cat, and ferret to have their required rabiesvaccinations.”

Low-cost rabies vaccination clinics will beheld on April 28, 2012, May 12, 2012 and June2, 2012. The cost for each vaccination will be$10.00 (Please bring exact change).

The clinics will be held:April 28, 2012

Fort WashingtonIsaac J. Gourdine Middle School8700 Allentown RoadMay 12, 2012

GreenbeltGreenbelt Community Center15 Crescent Road

June 2, 2012

BowieBowie High School15200 Annapolis RoadIf more information is needed, please call

301-583-3782 (TTY/STS Dial 711).To prevent people from being exposed to

rabies, be sure to follow these tips:· Make sure your pet always has an up-to-

date rabies vaccination.· Confine your cats, dogs, and ferrets to

your home or yard and always walk them on aleash.

· Avoid contact with any wild or stray ani-mals. Warn your children not to play with orapproach any unfamiliar animals, even if theyappear friendly.

· Make your house and yard unattractive towild animals. Keep garbage in tightly closed

trash cans. Feed your pets inside. Seal off anyopenings around your house.

· If you are bitten or scratched by an animal,wash the wound immediately with plenty ofsoap and water and contact your doctor.

· Report all animal to human exposures toyour local Police Department.

For more information about rabies, go to:Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention

http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/

Maryland Department of Health and

Mental Hygiene

http://ideha.dhmh.md.gov/OIDEOR/CZVB

D/SitePages/rabies.aspx

Prince George’s County Health

Department, Division of Epidemiology,

Communicable and Vector-Borne Disease

Control Program

http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/Go

vernment/AgencyIndex/Health/animal_bites.a

sp?nivel=foldmenu(4)

Statement from Governor Martin O’Malley on

Public Service Commission’s Action to Construct

New Natural Gas Plant in Charles County

ANNAPOLIS, MD (April, 2012) – GovernorMartin O’Malley issued the following statement onthe Public Service Commission’s action to con-struct a new natural gas plant in Charles County:

“The Public Service Commission is required toensure an adequate supply of electricity so thatMaryland families and businesses can live andprosper. In light of the fact that 70 percent ofMaryland’s existing power plants are more than 30years old, I applaud the decision by the PublicService Commission that will lead to the construc-tion of a new natural gas plant in Charles County.

“Expected to be operational by June 2015, thisplant will be the first of this size to be built inMaryland since June 2003. This new facility willbring a new energy supply to a significantly con-gested area of Maryland, create at least 350 jobsduring construction and an estimated 30 jobs whenfully operational, and directly save Marylandersover $170 million throughout the life of the con-tract. Analysis by state agencies indicate that newgeneration in central Maryland can also bring hun-dreds of millions of dollars of savings in loweredenergy, capacity, and congestion prices in the State.The PSC’s action helps diversify Maryland’s powersupply.

“With this new addition, natural gas willaccount for over nine percent of Maryland’s energygeneration.”

APRIL BIRTHDAY OBSER-

VANCES

Birthday observances formembers of Christ UnitedMethodist Church in Aquasco,Maryland are Janet Barber,Catherine Brooks, William L.Brooks, Taniya Cole, LouiseContee, Audrey Davis, LulaHawkins, Helen B. Holland,DeLarenta Lee, Lillian Makle,Wendell Pinkney, Doris Slaterand Delonte Young.Congratulations to anotherBirthday Celebration.

ANNIVERSARY

CELEBRATIONS

Congratulations to Mr. andMrs. Thomas Cooper and Mr.and Mrs. Elson Johnson as youcelebrate another WeddingAnniversary.

2012 SUMMER YOUTH

MUSIC CAMP

Band will be offered July22-27, 2012, Strings and VocalJuly 29-August 3, 2012. Visitwww.music.umd.edu/symc@umd.edu or call 301-314-2490for additional information. Toensure that you reserve a spacein the Camp, please registerearly.

HARLEM RENAISSANCE

FESTIVAL

Come out and enjoy the 13thAnnual Harlem RenaissanceFestival of Prince George’sCounty on Saturday May 5,

2012 from 10:00 AM 7:00 PM.The Festival will featureCelebrity Artists, Mother’sFinest, Dick Gregory andChuck Brown.

Bring your lawn chair orblanket and enjoy a spectacularday. There will be healthscreenings, music, dance dis-cussions, school exhibits, teenactivities, spoken word, dis-plays, food, vendors, kid gamesand more. Admission is free.The Harlem RenaissanceFestival is presented by FestivalChairwoman the Hon. AndreaC. Harrison CountyCouncilwoman 5th District, theHarlem RemembranceFoundation of Prince George’sCounty.

The location for the Festivalis 2411 Pinebrook AvenueLandover, Maryland 20785.Telephone number is 301-386-2278. There is free parking offof Columbia Park Road. Visitwww.pghrf.org/festival

.RACE FOR THE CURE

Save the date Saturday June2, 2012 for the Susan G.Komen Global Race for theCure in Washington, DC. Visitwww.Komen.org or call 703-416-7223 for additional infor-mation.

LEARN HOW TO EXPAND

YOUR

MINORITY BUSINESS

Residents are invited to

attend a 1- day seminar, enti-tled, “Learn how to expandyour Minority Business.”Come and learn about upcom-ing business opportunities atthe MBE Procurement andBusiness DevelopmentConference: Opening Doors toNew Opportunities. The semi-nar will be held on April 26,2012, at the Camelot byMartin’s in Upper Marlboro,Maryland from 8:15 AM until5:00 PM. You must registeronline at www.cmbd.biz.

DARNALL’S CHANCE

HOUSE MUSEUM

Come to Pirate Fest onSaturday on May 5, 1212 11:00AM to 4:00 PM at Darnall’sChance House Museum. TheFest will feature hands-on chil-dren activities, concessions stand,a pirate costume contest, swash-buckling reenactors, live music, atreasure hunt and a Children’sprogram. The Fest is for all ages.Cost is $5 person. Darnall’sChance House Museum is locat-ed at 14800 Governor OdenBowie Drive Upper Marlboro,Maryland 20772.

SUBSCRIBE

TODAY!

Call

310-627-0900

Now that tax day haspassed, chances are you'reeither waiting patiently foryour 2011 tax refund toarrive, it's already beenspent, or you just wrote theU.S. Treasury a check andare in budget-cutting mode.

It's difficult to calculateexactly how much you'll owein taxes unless your incomeand family situation are identical from year to year. But goingmore than a few hundred dollars above or below your final taxbill is not a good idea: A big refund means you've been givingthe government an interest-free loan, while significantlyunderpaying means you may have to pay costly penalties andinterest on the amount.

Your goal should be to receive little or no tax refund. Betterto use that money throughout the year to pay down credit cardbalances or other debt, build emergency savings, beef up yourretirement plan contributions or invest it where you can earninterest or dividends.

Unless you're self-employed, retired or had unexpectedsources of income, the driving factor for how much tax youowe or have refunded is probably your W-4 form. That's oneof the many forms you filled out your first day on the job andprobably never thought about again.

To refresh your memory: IRS Form W-4 determines howmuch federal income tax is withheld from your paychecks.The more allowances you claim on the W-4, the less incometax is withheld each pay period. When you file your yearly taxreturn, the government basically settles accounts with you: Ifthey took out too much during the year, you get a refund; notenough and you pay additional taxes with your final return.

It's a good idea to review your W-4 each year in case yourfinancial or family situation has changed. For example, if youor your spouse:

Experience a significant increase or decrease in income.Add a second job, start or stop working (including retire-

ment).Have a child (including adoptions).Reduce or increase how many dependents you're claiming.Get married or divorced.Buy or sell a house.File for bankruptcy.Increase or decrease income adjustments for IRA/401(k)

deductions, student loan interest payments or alimony.Significantly change your itemized deductions or tax cred-

its.If you have a sizeable change in taxable income not subject

to withholding (e.g., self-employment income, interest, divi-dends, capital gains, retirement distributions), you may wantto either increase the amount withheld from your paychecks ormake quarterly estimated tax payments. Otherwise, the IRSmay charge you an underpayment penalty come next April.Estimated tax rules are fairly complicated, so refer to IRSPublication 505 for details.

Ask your HR department for a new W-4, or download theIRS version that lets you enter your information electronicallyand print out a copy (search www.irs.gov.) The form containsworksheets for calculating personal withholding allowancesand estimating income adjustments if you plan to itemizedeductions.

Generally, you'll claim one allowance for yourself and onefor each of your dependents. However, you can adjust thenumber to avoid having too much or too little tax withheldfrom your pay.

If you need additional help with the calculations, see IRSPublication 919, use the IRS's Withholding Calculator or usethe calculator found in most tax preparation software pack-ages.

Jason Alderman directs Visa's financial education pro-

grams. To participate in a free, online Financial Literacy and

Education Summit on April 23, 2012, go to:

www.practicalmoneyskills.com/summit2012

April 26 — May 2, 2012 — The Prince George’s Post —A3

CommuNiTyPractical Money Skills

By Jason Alderman

Should you adjust your

tax withholding?ANNAPOLIS - German-

Americans and Irish-Americanswill go another year withoutofficial recognition fromMaryland, as bills proposingdedication of October asGerman-American Month andMarch as Irish-American Monthboth failed during this year'sGeneral Assembly session.

May was not named LymeDisease Awareness Month,either.

These are just some of thebills that would have mandatednew holidays or commemora-tions but failed to get throughthe House and Senate, leavingthe people they honor to gounrecognized yet another year.

Marylanders also missed thechance to officially celebrateMaryland Centenarians Day onthe second Thursday in May,and Young Heroes Day the firstMonday of October. And June19 will not be proclaimedJuneteenth National FreedomDay by the governor as a day tocommemorate the end of slav-ery.

While some of these holidaysare recognized by individualgroups, they are not recognizedas such in state law.

Another potential celebrationthat came to the attention of theGeneral Assembly in severalforms was in honor of HarrietTubman. Six different pieces of

legislation were introducedbetween the House and theSenate this session that wouldhave created a Harriet TubmanDay in some form, but nonepassed in both chambers.

While the holiday will notbecome official this year,Tubman did not go entirelywithout recognition, as theGeneral Assembly passed a billauthorizing the gift of a HarrietTubman statue to the U.S. gov-ernment.

"She's a Marylander, it's his-torical," said Sen. CatherinePugh, D-Baltimore, and chair-woman of the Legislative BlackCaucus. "We want something inthe state of Maryland that wouldhonor her contribution."

The state also rejected St.David's Day, which would havetaken place on March 1 to honorthe patron saint of Wales on hisfeast day.

However, not every proposedholiday or commemoration wasa failure.

A bill proposing April 3 asCrime Victim and AdvocateCommemorative Day passed inboth houses, officially dedicat-ing the day to crime victims andthose who serve them. While theday will be proclaimed as such,no particular methods of recog-nition were named in the bill.

"The state recognizes the daythen different organizations fig-ure out how to recognize it," saidSen. Jim Rosapepe, D-PrinceGeorge's, who sponsored the

bill. "I think it's important to notforget about the victims of crime

and draw attention to those whoadvocate for them."

Some Holidays Did Not Make Maryland Calendars

how it could have been any-body," she said. "That's whatmakes it so real to me... Puttingthe hoodie on and looking up atthe lens took my breath away."

Tiajuana Tyler-Health, amother and graphic design stu-dent, said she hoped if it wereone of her two sons who hadbeen shot she would get the same

support."This could have been my

baby," she said.The response was so over-

whelming that Jones Gibson andher assistant scheduled a secondsession three days after the firstone.

"I saw the initial set of pic-tures on Facebook and foundthem so arresting and strikingand compelling," said epidemiol-

ogist Jacqueline Wilson Lucas."When Eunique put out a call foranother set of people ... I imme-diately asked her if I could par-ticipate."

Jones Gibson said theresponse was mostly positivebut, "I read something onlinewhere someone said this is con-tributing to the problem and thephotos are kind of making it thisblack against white kind of

thing," adding only one whiteperson came to the photo shoot.

She said anyone who wantedto attend was "definitely wel-come," emphasizing she and herassistant felt the message wasrelevant to all ethnicities.

"A lot of people from otherraces are looking for ways toshow their support and solidari-ty," Jones Gibson said.

Hoodie from A1

"Which is probably a way ofsaying, we don't think heknows his place," Wood said.

Paige was released beforespring training started.

And so Jehosie "Jay" Heardbecame the first African-American player for the

Baltimore Orioles.Not much is known of

Heard. His time with theOrioles was brief, appearing injust two games, completing just3 1/3 innings.

"They signed Jehosie Heardwho had played in the Negroleagues," Wood said. "This wasnot a guy who had really been

on anybody's radar."A five-foot-seven-inch lefty,

Heard had some success in theminor leagues with Portland inthe Pacific Coast League.

"The Orioles bought hiscontract in 1954," Wood said."But they didn't give him muchof a look. He only got in twogames."

Heard was traded back toPortland at the end of the sea-son and never made it back tothe major leagues. He died in1999 in Birmingham, Ala.according to an Oriolesspokesperson.

In 1971 Paige was inductedinto the National Baseball Hallof Fame.

Pioneers from A1

walks, traffic signals, fences andbarriers."

Silver Spring International islikely to see the greatest impactfrom Purple Line construction,Madden said.

At Rosemary HillsElementary School in SilverSpring, the Purple Line will bebuilt alongside an existing CSXtrack, located behind the school.

The addition of the PurpleLine will require the reconfigu-ration of a roadway bridge, theTalbot Avenue bridge, as well asthe addition of a pedestrianbridge to link a popular runningand biking route, the CapitalCrescent Trail.

The addition of the light railline will not impact the schoolsignificantly, but the construc-

tion and reconfiguration of thebridges will require the con-struction of a large retainingwall, creating a "GrandCanyon" effect, said Mary PatWilson, a real estate manage-ment specialist withMontgomery County PublicSchools.

"We asked planning officialsto relocate the pedestrian bridgeto accommodate for morespace, but now it looks like theywill build a significant retainingwall next to the school, limitinga buffer space," she said.

And school space is one ofthe primary concerns atRosemary Hills, said RafePetersen, a school PTA boardmember. He said parents arewatching the Purple Line pro-ject closely.

The school enrolled 710 stu-

dents this year, and he said otherlocal schools, like RosemaryHills, are struggling to keep up.

"Simultaneously, our schoolsare getting hammered. The(area) is crowded, there are landconstraints and our ability toexpand is limited," Petersensaid.

The MTA said they haveworked with each individualschool to minimize the impactof future development.

In Riverdale, the MTA held ameeting at St. Bernard ofClairvaux Catholic Church tohear from parish leaders abouthow the Purple Line wouldaffect the school facilities.

Plans call for a rail station tobe built a block from the school,and a rail line that would runalong the same side of the streetas the school's property.

Currently, the Archdiocese ofWashington leases the schoolfacilities to a public charterschool, the EXCEL Academy.Both the Archdiocese andEXCEL Academy did notrespond to interview requests.

While some school proper-ties are likely to be affected,Wayne Phyillaier, an advocatefor the Purple Line and a retiredengineer, said the designprocess is evolving to meetboth commuter and residentneeds.

"Schools have a right to beconcerned. If you push con-struction too close to buildings,it will likely have an impact.But, I don't understand some ofthe concerns of safety. Lightrail will obey the speed limit,follow street signs and will helpto reduce traffic."

Schools from A1

BY LIZZY MCLELLANCapital News Service

COURTESY WIKIPEDIA, THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA

German-American Day - October 6

The first German-American Day was proclaimed by President

Ronald Reagan in 1983 for the 300th anniversary of the arrival

of 13 German families on board a sailing vessel named

"Concord" (the "German Mayflower"). The Germans from

Krefeld landed in Philadelphia on October 6, 1683 and found-

ed Germantown, Pennsylvania (now part of Philadelphia). In

1987, after a campaign by German-American organizations,

Congress made October 6 an official day of commemoration

and President Reagan signed the proclamation. German

Americans have been influential in almost every field in

American society such as: Dwight Eisenhower, Norman

Schwarzkopf, Babe Ruth, Louise "Meryl" Streep.

On April 16, 2007, our nationsuffered its deadliest shootingincident ever by a single gun-man when a student killed 32people and wounded 25 othersat Virginia Tech before commit-ting suicide. Five years later,have we learned anything aboutcontrolling our national gun andgun violence epidemic? A lookat just a few of the sad headlinesacross the country so far thisyear suggests we haven’tlearned much or anything at all.

In February 2012, a 17-year-old high school senior, whoother students described as anoutcast who’d been bullied, shotand killed three fellow studentsand injured two more atChardon High School in subur-ban Ohio. Would this have hap-pened without a gun?

In Washington state, threechildren were victims of gunviolence during a three-weekperiod in February and March2012. A three-year-old died aftershooting himself in the headwith a gun left under the frontseat of the car while his familystopped for gas. The seven-year-old daughter of a police officerwas shot and killed by heryounger brother after he foundone of their father’s guns in theglove compartment of the fami-ly van. And an eight-year-oldgirl was critically wounded atschool when her nine-year-oldclassmate brought in a gun hefound at home that accidentallywent off in his backpack. Wouldthis have happened without agun?

In Chicago there already hasbeen a rash of shootings thisyear including the especiallyviolent weekend in mid-Marchwhen 49 people were shot and10 were killed. One of the vic-tims was a six-year-old girl whowas sitting on her front porchwith her mother getting her hairbrushed before a birthday partywhen she was killed by shotsfired from a passing pickuptruck. Would this have happenedwithout a gun?

And in Florida, unarmedteenager Trayvon Martin wasshot and killed walking homefrom the store in February afterbeing followed by self-appoint-ed “neighborhood watch cap-tain” George Zimmerman, whocontrary to all generally accept-ed Neighborhood Watch ruleswas patrolling his gated commu-nity while armed with a gun.

Would Trayvon’s death havehappened without a gun? Nowthat George Zimmerman hasbeen arrested and charged withsecond-degree murder, TrayvonMartin’s family is finally mov-ing forward in their quest forjustice.

As a nation we can’t afford tokeep waiting for common-sensegun control laws that would pro-tect our children and all of usfrom indefensible gun violence.It’s time to repeal senseless gunlaws like the “Stand YourGround” laws enacted by 21states that have grabbed somuch attention in Trayvon’scase and allow people in Floridato defend themselves with dead-ly force anytime and anywhereif they feel threatened. Morethan two million people havesigned online petitions sayingthey want to repeal these laws.It’s time to require consumersafety standards and childproofsafety features for all guns andstrengthen child access preven-tion laws that ensure guns arestored safely and securely toprevent unnecessary tragedieslike those in Washington state.And in a political environmentwhere the too secretive andpowerful advocacy groupAmerican Legislative ExchangeCouncil (ALEC) pushed “StandYour Ground” laws in otherstates along with other “model

bills” that benefit some corpo-rate bottom lines or specialinterests like the NRA, it’s timefor all of ALEC’s corporatesponsors to walk away fromenabling or acquiescing destruc-tive laws that protect guns, notchildren.

It’s a tragedy that five yearsafter Virginia Tech so little haschanged. How many years mustwe wait until tragic headlinesabout school shootings, childrendying, and people using the“shoot first and ask questionslater” defense to take the lawinto their own hands go away?When will we finally get thecourage to stand up as a nationand say enough to the deadlyproliferation of guns and gunviolence that endanger chil-dren’s and public safety?

Marian Wright Edelman is

President of the Children's

Defense Fund whose Leave No

Child Behind® mission is to

ensure every child a Healthy

Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start,

a Safe Start and a Moral Start in

life and successful passage to

adulthood with the help of car-

ing families and communities.

For more information go to

www.childrensdefense.org.

Mrs. Edelman's Child Watch

Column also appears each week

on The Huffington Post.

Child Watchby Marion Wright Edelman

A4 — April 26 — May 2, 2012 — The Prince George’s Post

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and the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Press Association.

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Contents © 2012, The Prince George’s Post

The Prince george’s Post

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EditorLegusta Floyd

Web ManagerKyler Quesenberry

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What a Difference a Gun Makes

To Be Equal

Marc Morial, President and CEO

National Urban League

We Need Decisive Action to Stop Oil

Speculation That Drives Up Gas Prices

Black Producers Bring Revival of “A

Streetcar Named Desire” to Broadway“The landscape of any Tennessee Williams

play is the human heart, and I have a cast of peo-

ple with heart.”

Emily Mann, Director of the new Broadway revivalof “A Streetcar Named Desire” with an all-black cast.

Like Hollywood, Broadway has historicallybeen reluctant to cast African Americans in main-stream classics, especially those originally creat-ed for white thespians. But, unlike “Tinseltown,”the “Great White Way” has moved much moreforcefully in recent years to open up new avenuesfor black actors. The latest example is a new all-black revival of Tennessee Williams’ PulitzerPrize winning play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,”set to open April 22nd at Broadway’s BroadhurstTheatre. Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalskifirst screamed the immortal line, “Hey Stella” in1947 when “Streetcar” originally premiered onBroadway. The other leading members of thatoriginal cast included Kim Hunter, as Stanley’swife, Stella; Jessica Tandy as Stella’s delusionalsister, Blanche DuBois; and Karl Malden asBlanche’s scorned suitor, Mitch. The story cen-ters around the emotional unravelling ofBlanche, a Southern belle hiding a tawdry past,who moves into Stanley and Stella’s NewOrleans apartment causing all manner of conflictand tragedy.

In this first all-black Broadway revival, BlairUnderwood is cast as the brutish Stanley;Daphne Rubin-Vega plays his wife, Stella;Nicole Ari Parker is Blanche; and Wood Harris iscast as Mitch. Five-time Grammy winning jazztrumpeter, Terrence Blanchard has composedoriginal music for the play.

The revival is being co-produced by StephenByrd, founder of Front Row Productions and hisbusiness partner, Alia Jones. Byrd and Jones arethe African American producers who brought the

all-black revival of another Tennessee Williamsmasterpiece, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” toBroadway in 2008. That play, which won theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Revival of aPlay, starred Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose,Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones.

From 1890 to 1910, most of the blacks onBroadway were featured in African Americanminstrel shows, playing to all-white audiences.In the 1920’s composers like Eubie Blake andNoble Sissle popularized the black Broadwaymusical. But it wasn’t until the 1935 productionof George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess thatAfrican Americans really hit it big on Broadway.The momentum has continued to build.

In the 1970’s we saw Broadway plays likePurlie, Raisin, Ain’t Misbehaven, and The Wiz.With the 80s came shows like Dreamgirls and anumber of plays by the great August Wilson,including Fences and Jitney. And since the 90sproductions like Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘daFunk, The Color Purple, Fela and Sister Act haveattracted mainstream audiences.

While these productions have resulted in morework for black actors, Stephen Byrd and AliaJones are still a rarity as full-time AfricanAmerican Broadway producers. Black superstarentertainers like Alicia Keys (Stick Fly), WillSmith, Jay-Z and Jada Pinkett (Fela),

Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act) and OprahWinfrey (The Color Purple) are making inroadsas Broadway producers, but there is obviouslyroom for many more.

We want to congratulate Stephen Byrd andAlia Jones and their award-winning director,Emily Mann, for bringing this new all-blackrevival of “A Streetcar Named Desire” toBroadway. We can’t wait to see the usuallydebonair Blair Underwood in a t-shirt screaming,“Hey Stella.”

The PriNCe george’S PoST

A Community Newspaper for Prince George’s County

Benjamin L. CardinUnited States Senator for Maryland

Millions of American families are feeling theburden of ever increasing gas prices. I join themin their anger and frustration over the risingprice of gas, and I want to do something about it.I recently joined a group of my Senate col-leagues in sponsoring a bill, S. 2222, which willgive federal regulators immediate authority toinvoke emergency powers to rein in speculatorswho are responsible for rapidly rising gasolineprices.

There is broad agreement among energyexperts and economists that speculators are oneof the causes for the rapidly rising price of gas.Domestic oil production has risen to its highestlevel in a decade, oil supplies are greater todaythan they were three years ago and demand foroil in the United States is lower today than it wasin 1997. Yet gas prices continue to soar.

There is something wrong with this equation.There is no logical reason why gas prices shouldcontinue to rise if oil supplies are up and demandis down.

The American Trucking Association, DeltaAirlines, the Petroleum Marketers Associationof America, the Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis, and other experts all say excessive oilspeculation in the futures markets significantly

increases crude oil and gasoline prices. A Feb.27, 2012 article in Forbes Magazine cited arecent report by the investment bank GoldmanSachs pointing out that excessive oil speculationadds 56 cents to the price of a gallon of gas.

This “speculators” bill would set a 14-daydeadline for the Commodity Futures TradingCommission (CFTC) to take emergency steps tostop excessive speculation by Wall Street tradersin the crude oil, gasoline and other energyfutures markets. Also co-sponsoring the measureare: U.S. Senators Bernard Sanders (I-VT),Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown(D-OH), Al Franken (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar(D-MN) and Bill Nelson (D-FL).

Today, speculators control more than 80 per-cent of the energy futures market, a figure thathas more than doubled over the past decade. Asgasoline prices near or surpass $4 a gallon, theCFTC still has not complied with a provision inthe Wall Street reform law that required theagency to establish trading limits by Jan. 17,2011.

It is time to take decisive action now to stopfinancial speculators who are helping drive upprices for all of us at a time we can least affordit.

Open to the Public

The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705Mission: The Beltsville Area consists of ARS programs at the Beltsville Agricultural ResearchCenter in Beltsville, MD; the US National Arboretum in Washington D.C.; and worksites inChatsworth, NJ; Presque Isle, ME; and McMinnville, TN. BARC is the largest and most diversifiedagricultural research complex in the world. Beltsville's record of accomplishments and ongoing pro-grams has made it a world leader in agriculture research. It's international reputation attracts thou-sands of visitors each year from the United States and abroad. ARS conducts research to developand transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and provide informationaccess and dissemination in order to: Ensure high-quality safe food and other agricultural products,Assess the nutritional needs of Americans, Sustain a competitive agricultural economy, Enhance thenatural resource base and the environment, Provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, com-munities, and society as a whole.

buSiNeSS

April 26 — May 2, 2012 — The Prince George’s Post —A5

Marion Barry has been at theforefront of American race andpolitics for four decades. Thelatest firestorm for Washington,D.C.’s “Mayor for Life” is hiscampaign victory party com-ment that Asian business ownersin his ward "ought to go." At apolitical celebration the venera-ble Barry caused widespreadcondemnation among theDistrict of ColumbiaDemocratic Party faithful whenhe said: “We’ve got to do some-thing about these Asians comingin and opening up businessesand dirty shops. ... They ought togo. But we need African-American businesspeople to beable to take their places.”

The question is one of rele-vancy; whether Barry has anyclout now that the AfricanAmericans Mayor Barry maderich have left town. Barry cameto national prominence as thefirst civil-rights activist tobecome chief executive of amajor American city. At the endof the 1960s, urban politicalcampaigns took over from civilrights protests and over the next30 years, voters elected African-American mayors in more than300 cities, including New York,Los Angeles, Chicago,Philadelphia, Atlanta,Birmingham, Dallas andWashington, D.C.

Barry became famous asmayor of the nation’s capital.Currently he serves as a memberof the D.C. Council, represent-ing the District’s Ward 8, whichis 93.5 percent Black and 0.4percent Asian. Barry served asthe second elected mayor of theDistrict of Columbia from 1979to 1991, and again as the fourthmayor from 1995 to 1999. Inaddition to his current term,Barry also served two othertenures on the D.C. Council, asan at-large member from1975–79, and as Ward 8 repre-sentative from 1992–95.

After winning theDemocratic primary for hisWard 8 council seat with 73 per-cent of the vote, Barry told sup-porters "We’ve got to do some-thing about these Asians." Heposted photos of Asian-ownedstores with Plexiglas barriersand indicated that these busi-nesses "lowered standards" inhis constituents' communities.

Barry and Washington, D.C.are symbolic of a majorAmerican social problem.Tensions have existed between

urban Blacks and Asian mer-chants since the 1992 LosAngeles riots. In this latest spatbetween Blacks and Asians,Councilmember Barry said thathe was referring to merchants“who don’t sell healthy food anddon’t engage with the communi-ty or hire local residents.” “Weneed businesspeople that’ll be apart of the community, notexploit the community” Barrysaid. He claimed that someAsian-owned conveniencestores and restaurants don’t“respect” the Ward 8 residents.“These are the only stores in theimmediate neighborhood. It isto these less-than-stellar Asian-American businessmen … thatmy remarks were directed”Barry said. He made note thatduring his time as mayor, he cre-ated the city’s Office of Asian-Pacific Islander Affairs andestablished a sister-city relation-ship with Beijing.

Is Barry an icon for the Blackbusiness and professional class,or are they guilty of exploitingthe city too? Where Barry’s lif-long efforts for naught? There islittle question that the formermayor is directly responsible forthe success of many affluentAfrican Americans. He was thecatalyst for the expansion of thecity’s Black middle-class. Heinsisted that professional posi-tions in the District governmentbe filled by minorities; and, hespearheaded the movement torequire that all contracts consid-ered by the D.C. government forservices, supplies and develop-ment include a mandatory 35percent participation for minori-ty-owned businesses. Barry’ssupport in awarding theDistrict’s cable franchise led toBET founder Robert Johnsonbecoming one of America’s firstBlack billionaires.

These days, Black wealth andinfluence are on the decline inD.C. Most African Americansof means have left town.“Chocolate City” is just under50 percent Black. In the 2010Census, the city was 34.8 per-cent White. Don’t expect thatthe Blacks Barry made wealthyto help him rid the city of Asianmerchants. The Blacks Barrymade wealthy have left D.C.,taken their tax bases, and valu-able property payments, toPrince Georges County, Md.,gaining prominence as the mostaffluent majority-Black countyin America.

Business Exchangeby William Reed

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Call 310-627-0900

Long Live D.C.’s “Mayor-for-Life” BALTIMORE, MD (April2012) – The MarylandDepartment of Business andEconomic Development(DBED) and the Export-ImportBank of China signed a cooper-ative agreement that establishesthe Bank’s first U.S. location inMaryland. Under the agree-ment, the bank will open anoffice at the World Trade CenterBaltimore – which also housesDBED and its Office ofInternational Investment andTrade – for business develop-ment, project evaluation andrelationship building with theU.S. market. The Bank will alsoconsider providing funding forChinese companies looking toinvest in the United States.

“This is a unique opportunityfor Maryland to further build onour already strong ties withChina and serve as the gatewayfor Chinese companies lookingto establish a U.S. presence,”said Governor MartinO’Malley. “With China havingone of the world’s fastest grow-ing economies, it is critical thatwe move forward now toexplore new opportunities fortrade and investment, particular-ly in our shared strengths of sci-ence and technology.”

Discussions between theState and China’s Ex-Im Bankto set up a U.S. operation inMaryland have been ongoingsince Fall 2011, when GovernorO’Malley reached out to bankChairman Li Ruogu to support acooperative agreement. Earlierthis year, the bank and DBEDsigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding to promote bilat-eral trade, investment financingand science and technologyexchange.

“Today’s cooperation agree-

ment enhances Maryland andChina’s bilateral partnership,”said Mr. Zhu Xinqiang, ChinaEx-Im Bank Vice President.“Establishing a presence inMaryland will yield mutual ben-efit for both parties, and willhelp to create jobs and increasetrade and investment.”

Maryland has long main-tained a strong presence inChina, becoming the first U.S.state in 1996 to open a trade andinvestment office in China – theMaryland China Center. In2011, China was Maryland’ssecond largest export marketwith $666 million in goods andservices. Currently, there are 16Chinese headquartered compa-nies in Maryland, includingU.S. Orchids, an orchid propa-gation company in SomersetCounty; Electrical SystemsIntegrator, an electric toolsdeveloper and supplier toStanley Black and Decker inBaltimore County; and YishengU.S. BIOPHARMA, a biophar-maceutical company inMontgomery County. In addi-tion, there are eight Chinesecompanies in Maryland’sInternational Incubator atUniversity of Maryland,College Park. Maryland is alsohome to several Chinese organi-zations, including the ChineseBiopharmaceutical Associationand the Maryland ChinaBusiness Council.

Last year, GovernorO’Malley led a 10-day econom-ic development mission toChina, South Korea andVietnam to boost two-way tradeand investment and promoteMaryland as an ideal locationfor foreign-owned companieslooking to establish U.S. opera-tions, particularly in life sci-ences and technology. The mis-sion resulted in more than $85million in direct foreign invest-ments in Maryland, includingthe largest investment by a

Chinese company in State histo-ry. Tasly Group, one of China’sleading biopharmaceutical com-panies, is investing $40 millionin a new 443,000 square footproduction facility and trainingcenter at Shady Grove LifeSciences Center in MontgomeryCounty and will create dozensof jobs as they prepare for PhaseIII clinical trials of their tradi-tional Chinese medicine productCompound Danshen DrippingPills (CDDP) developed to treatand prevent coronary disease.

China’s Ex-Im Bank isowned by the Chinese govern-ment and its rating is compati-ble with China’s sovereign rat-ing. At the end of 2011, theBank had 21 domestic businessbranches and three overseasrepresentative offices. At pre-sent, it has relationships withmore than 500 banks world-

wide. About DBED:The Maryland Department of

Business and EconomicDevelopment’s mission is toattract new businesses, stimu-late private investment and cre-ate jobs, encourage the expan-sion and retention of existingcompanies and provide busi-nesses in Maryland with work-force training and financialassistance. The department pro-motes the State’s many econom-ic advantages and markets localproducts and services at homeand abroad to spur economicdevelopment, internationaltrade and tourism. As a majoreconomic generator, the depart-ment also supports the arts, filmproduction, sports and otherspecial events. For more infor-mation, visit

www.ChooseMaryland.org.

Bank of China Plans First U.S. Office in Md.

PHOTO COURTESY DBED

Baltimore’s World Trade Center is the tallest pentagonal

building in the world. You will have a breathtaking view of

Baltimore from an elevation of 423 feet.

By PRESS OFFICER

Maryland Department of Businessand Economic Development

per from about $1.25 per poundin January 2009 to about $4.50per pound in May 2011.

"Copper theft is an issue thatis very important and some-thing that is very dangerous forthe public at large," saidThomas Dennison, the publicaffairs officer at the SouthernMaryland Electric Cooperative.

"It's a dangerous issue, it'sillegal and it could really dis-rupt service for a large numberof people," said Dennison, whosaid he's seen an uptick inthefts starting two years ago,coinciding with skyrocketingcopper prices.

"It's always disheartening,"said Connie Stommel, a realestate agent for Exit 1 StopRealty in Dunkirk, explaininghow "frustrating" it is forhomeowners trying to get theirvacant homes sold, only to findout that the copper pipes havebeen stolen.

The Maryland GeneralAssembly took note of theproblem and passed in May2011 more stringent restric-tions on scrap metal sales andcreated the RegionalAutomated PropertyInformation Database, called"RAPID," to collect data aboutsales and sellers.

The law requires scrap buy-ers to:

Note a description, includ-ing the weight and grade, of thescrap.

Take a picture of the scrap.Record the date and time of

the transaction and the moneypaid to the seller.

Record the name, date ofbirth, address, driver's license

number, license plate numberof the vehicle used to transportthe metal, and the physicaldescription of the seller as seenon their ID.

Send the information tolocal and state police.

Some scrap buyers say it hashelped, but not enough.

"It's stopping them now,"said James Gotman, anemployee at Metro-Re-Uz-ItScrap Recycling Center inHyattsville, explaining thatwhile they don't ask where thescrap came from, the detailedinformation taken from theclients keeps less-truthful sell-ers away.

"In general, accountabilityis a deterrent. If people knowthey can be traced, they're lesslikely to try to steal some-thing," said Bill Toohey, thecommunications director forthe Maryland Governor'sOffice of Crime Control andPrevention.

But for the president ofMetro-Re-Uz-It, R. Lee Nantz,the effect isn't so obvious.

"The bad economy has a lotmore to do with it rather thanthe law," he said, explainingthat the law may not havedecreased the scrap coming inas much as the diminishingconstruction business. "There'snot as much constructionaround," said Nantz, who nor-mally sees most of his regularcustomers coming from con-struction sites.

Documenting the scrap thatcomes into recycling business-es is not a foolproof way totrack stolen copper. Once themetal is removed, it's rarelyidentifiable and usually mixedwith other scrap.

"There's no way to tellwhere any of the copper camefrom," said Robert Chapman, aMaryland plumbing contractor."Unless they're caught in theact, there's not a way for peopleto get caught recycling."

In his business, Chapmanends up with a lot of used metalearmarked for recycling.

"We'll stockpile it 'til wehave a full truckload," saidChapman, adding that it isn'tworth the gas to sell scrap eachtime he collects it from a client.

The Regional AutomatedProperty Information DatabaseFact Sheet for 2011 mentionsmajor scrap metal thefts in sixcounties in Maryland as well asBaltimore City and includes acase where about $2.5 millionin total of scrap metal wasstolen. Police jurisdictions in asfar away as Australia aided inthe recovery of the metal.

RAPID had these successesthrough ideal cooperation withscrap recyclers. But not allscrap dealers are as cooperativeas his crews, said Sclar.

"So if the criminal only hadlegitimate, law-abiding scrapdealers to go to, that would bea bigger deterrent," he said."But based on the fact thatthere are some scrap dealersout there that don't play by therules, that allows the criminalwith an outlet for the material."

When the stolen copper hap-pens to be unique, like a familyheirloom, Detective Sgt. AlPaton of the Frederick Policesaid the likelihood of bustingthe thief is much higher.

"A lot of cases we close arebecause the copper is identifiedby the victim," said Paton, butthis is very rare because most

of the stolen copper comesfrom "construction sites orvacant houses owned by thebank."

The only way to see if thelaw's restrictions are cuttingdown theft is to talk to Lt.Dalaine Brady of the MarylandState Police, who is in chargeof producing RAPID's FactSheet that shows the year'saccomplishments.

"When a law enforcementagency makes a case usingRAPID, they call and tell me,"she said. "They're using it moreand they're making many morecases."

RAPID's 2011 Fact Sheettouts 642 arrests, 882 casesclosed and $5.2 million recov-ered in stolen property. It doesnot show figures for coppercrime prior to 2011.

According to Maryland lawenforcement, copper theft isnot a specifically classifiedkind of crime. It falls underproperty crime, which makes itdifficult to compile statisticsabout copper theft.

"So the law doesn't sayRAPID at all, it just says thatthese dealers will report elec-tronically in a format that'sacceptable to the primary juris-diction," said Brady.

"Other states don't have theuniform program like RAPID,"she said.

With all this informationgoing to either the local lawenforcement jurisdiction or theMaryland State Police, RAPIDincreases the chances of return-ing stolen property and theauthorities have help appre-hending copper thieves andhave the evidence available tothem to prosecute them.

Metal from A1

TOWNA6 — April 26 — May 2, 2012 — The Prince George’s Post

OUT ON THE

ERIC D. SNIDER'S

IN THE DARK

Movie Review “The Cabin in the Woods”

"THE CABIN IN THE

WOODS"

A

Rated R for a lot of harsh

profanity, some nudity, a lot of

bloody violence.

1 hr., 45 min.

From a movie buff's perspec-tive, "The Cabin in the Woods"represents the most excitingshake-up in the slasher genresince "Scream," 16 years ago.But where "Scream" went onedirection, introducing self-awareness to a formula that des-perately needed it, "Cabin in theWoods" takes another route.Instead of characters who haveseen slasher movies before andknow what the "rules" are, weget a whole new configurationaltogether.

If that analysis sounds toogeeky, don't worry: anyonewho's even vaguely familiarwith the genre of movies wheregood-looking teenagers arekilled one at a time by anunstoppable menace will findplenty to enjoy in this ingeniousdeconstruction of it. The reallyhardcore devotees will just geekout a little harder, that's all.

The scenario is standard,quite intentionally so. (You'llsee why.) Five college kids areheading to a lake house for aweekend of revelry: demureDana (Kristen Connolly), dumbblonde Jules (Anna Hutchison),her jock boyfriend Curt (ChrisHemsworth), handsome niceguy Holden (Jesse Williams),and comical stoner Marty (FranKranz). As part of our culturalDNA, we are programmed tounderstand that not all of themwill survive, due to some as-yet-

unknown person or thing in thewoods.

But before we meet them --in the movie's very first scene --we meet Steve Hadley (RichardJenkins) and Richard Sitterson(Bradley Whitford), engineersat some kind of research facilityor secret laboratory or some-thing. What, if anything, do theyhave to do with the kids at thelake house? WHAT INDEED??

That's all you're getting fromme in terms of plot summary.Parceling out informationstrategically (but not frustrating-ly!) is one of the movie's strongsuits, keeping us so regularlyentertained by new twists in thestory that we forget how muchthere is that we don't know yet.The writers are Drew Goddard(who also directed) and JossWhedon, both veterans of seri-alized, slightly sarcastic genretelevision programs like "Buffythe Vampire Slayer," "Alias,"and "Lost," all of which fre-quently excelled at masterfulstorytelling, especially whenthey had a clear endgame inmind. Fans will recognize thetone, which can switch effort-lessly from self-aware irony(We're like the Scooby-Doogang, huntin' monsters!) to dis-arming sincerity (My best friendwas killed by a monster, and I'mgenuinely sad).

When it's all over, it's easy toappreciate how "The Cabin inthe Woods" could have beennothing more than a lifelessexercise in cleverness.Centering a story on five char-acters who are intentionallyarchetypal is risky: there's a fineline between archetypal andgeneric. But these five are

endearing and funny, comingacross as interesting figureseven as they fill their prescribedroles -- a rare example of slash-er-movie characters who weDON'T want to see killed.

It's worth noting that whilethe film is about horror, and has

many terrific horror elements,it's not particularly scary -- noris it meant to be. The idea is toset up a movie we've seen a hun-dred times before, and then torearrange it into something newand deliriously satisfying. Whata fun, brilliant movie this is.

ROTTENTOMATOES

Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things hap-

pen. If you think you know this story, think again. From fan

favorites Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard comes The Cabin in

the Woods, a mind blowing horror film that turns the genre

inside out. -- (C) Lionsgate

The Edge of Sportsby DAVE ZIRIN

COLLEGE PARK - In lateAugust, only a minute or twohad passed since a 295-pounddefensive tackle strutted downa runway in an attention-grab-bing, form-fitting white-on-white uniform when his coachgrabbed a microphone insidethe University of Maryland'sClarice Smith Performing ArtsCenter.

This was a big night for theTerps football program, achance to unveil more than adozen new glitzy uniformcombinations before a crowdof high-level boosters, univer-sity officials and reporters onthe eve of new head coachRandy Edsall's debut seasonin College Park.

But it might as well havebeen a corporate showcase fora company - and its founder inattendance - that the Terpshave come to develop an inti-mate and complex relation-ship with in recent years.

"We must protect thishouse!" Edsall hollered intothe mike, parroting the sloganof Under Armour, the school'sofficial athletic apparel outfit-ter.

Edsall smiled before turn-ing his attention to the line ofstylishly dressed playersstanding behind him and theseason-opening game againstMiami looming in front ofthem. Intentionally or not,

though, the message had beenreceived: This was UnderArmour's show, and founderKevin Plank, a Marylandalumnus, was running it.

The 39-year-old's role inthe internal affairs of theschool and its athletics depart-ment has long been a sourceof wonder and sometimesintrigue. All at once, he helmsan internationally recognizedsportswear company, holds aseat on the university's Boardof Trustees and serves as aninformal advisor to AthleticDirector Kevin Anderson.

Even in the often-messysphere of college athletics andcollege boosters, the relation-ship between Plank and hisalma mater - a mutually bene-ficial association steeped insignificant financial commit-ments and considerations forboth sides - is unique, accord-ing to a review of publicrecords and interviews withofficials and experts.

While Under Armour out-fits schools as prominent asAuburn and South Carolina,Plank has structured the com-pany's relationship withMaryland so that their suc-cesses might dovetail, withone's progress elevating theother as both search for aposition of prominence in'-such'' competitive fields.

"The birthplace of the com-pany is basically the school,so that affinity and that her-itage is something that theywant to give back for what theuniversity did for them," said

Paul Swangard of the WarsawSports Marketing Center ofthe University of Oregon."The giveback here is almost adifferent way that these peo-ple have said, 'Here's a wayyou can benefit from theinvestment you made in me.'And the best way they thinkthey can help is to provide theathletics department theseresources that they wouldn'totherwise have access to."

CLOSE TO HOMEThe roots of Plank's

involvement with Marylandathletics are well document-ed.' A walk-on special-teamsmember of the Terps footballteam in the early 1990s, Plankfigured he'd play faster andlighter if he eschewed regularcotton T-shirts for an alterna-tive that would wick awaysweat.

Already endowed with akeen business sense, Planksearched for a mircofiber thatwould work, created a proto-type when he found one thatdid, and launched his compa-ny with a mere 500 shirtsstowed away.

Merchandise in hand,Plank reached out to equip-ment managers across theACC and premier athletesnationwide. Using Plank'sconnections from prep schooland college to market the newbrand, Under Armour soondeveloped a foothold in thepreviously untapped market ofperformance apparel. Beforelong, the company's revenuebegan to balloon ? $17,000 in

1996, $100,000 in 1997, $1.3million in 1999.

In a 2003 interview withMark Hyman for Inc. maga-zine, Plank said: "One of myclearest memories of collegeis my strength coach atMaryland saying, 'Plank, stopworrying about all this other(business) crap and just com-mit yourself to playing foot-ball. You have the rest of yourlife to do these other things.'But I could never stop. Iremember thinking how muchfun it would be just to sit at adesk and think, 'All right, howare we going to make abuck?'"

"I probably had about 20grand in the bank when UnderArmour started. A lot ofmoney for a college kid. Iended up going to just under$40,000 in credit card debtspread across five cards.' Inthe summer of 1997, I wastotally broke - so broke Ineeded to go to my mom'shouse to ask if she mindedcooking for me. Then all of asudden I started getting myfirst round of orders," he toldthe magazine.

From there, Plank andUnder Armour took off. And itquickly became obvious that arelationship between Plankand his alma mater would helpboth. Plank featured RasheedSimmons, a former collegeteammate, in one of the com-

Maryland - Under Armour Relationship

Beneficial for School and Company

On April 6th 1987, all eyes in the world of sports were sup-posed to be on the fight to end all fights: Marvelous Marvin Haglervs. “Sugar” Ray Leonard. In this pre-internet era, ABC's award-winning news program Nightline with Ted Koppel was devotingtheir broadcast to that epic long-awaited encounter but first theyneeded to kill some time. It was the 40th anniversary of the dateJackie Robinson broke baseball's color line and desegregated thesport so they decided to produce what host Ted Koppel called a"sweet kiss" to Robinson and his memory: something gauzy, soft-focused and without edges. But their first guest, Jackie Robinson'swidow Rachel, was someone who hadn’t lived a gauzy, soft-focused life. A woman who never feared telling inconvenienttruths, she told Koppel that Jackie, if alive, would feel a great dis-appointment at how little progress baseball has made over the last40 years in breaking the still existing color barriers that preventedAfrican American advancement toward management and frontoffice positions.

Koppel decided on the spot to keep that line of thought alive inhis next segment with the Los Angeles Dodgers General ManagerAl Campanis, who was also a former roommate and close friendof Robinson. After the next several minutes, Hagler-Leonardwould officially be the second most memorable sports story fromthat evening.

Koppel asked Campanis “to peel it away a little bit. Just tell me,why do you think it is? Is there still that much prejudice in base-ball today?”

Campanis answered, “No, I don’t believe it’s prejudice. I trulybelieve that [African-Americans] may not have some of the neces-sities to be a field manager or perhaps a general manager.” Helater tried to prove his point by arguing that the reason thereweren’t more African American catchers, pitchers, or quarterbacksin football was that these were thinking positions. He then addedwith a big smile on his face, for reasons that still aren’t clear, “Whyare black men, or black people, not good swimmers? Because theydon’t have the buoyancy.”

In the aftermath, Frank Robinson, baseball Hall of Famer andits first African-American manager, summed up the feelings ofmany when he said, "Baseball has been hiding this ugly prejudicefor years-that black aren't smart enough to be managers or third-base coaches or part of the front office. There's a belief that they'refine when it comes to the physical part of the game, but if itinvolves brains they just can't handle it. Al Campanis made peo-ple finally understand what goes on behind closed doors: that thereis racism in baseball."

The furor that erupted resulted in Campanis's immediate firingand a bounty of promises about change coming to the NationalPastime. But the promises were miles wide and an inch deep.Since 1987, baseball has hired five African American GeneralManagers but only two, Kenny Williams of the Chicago WhiteSox and Michael Hill of the Miami Marlins, have lasted longerthan one season. There have been several prominent AfricanAmerican field managers from two time World Series winner CitoGaston to multiple-time Manager of the Year winner Dusty Baker,and the man who has guided the Texas Rangers to the last twoWorld Series, Ron Washington. But the number of hires have beenfew and far between since Campanis “peeled it back a little bit”and Frank Robinson said that “there is racism in baseball.” Today,Washington and Baker are the sports only African American man-agers. The most lasting change is that people in Campanis’s exec-utive position are now far more polished, far more careful, andhave become, like a 21st century politician, experts on being inter-viewed and saying absolutely nothing of substance. The Campanislesson for Major League Baseball hasn’t been to take on racism inthe sport, but find executives who can smile for the camera andtalk a cat out of a tree.

But the bigger problem today is less the old school prejudice,than something far more systemic. The number of AfricanAmerican ballplayers has dropped from more than one quarter ofMajor League players to 8%. In 2012, ten teams have one or zeroAfrican Americans on their rosters. That means the pipeline ofprospective managers has also plummeted. This coupled with thecollapse in urban infrastructure, the shuttering of Boys and GirlsClubs, as well as the increasing costs of Little League baseball,[and the chirping, unsubstantiated “conventional wisdom” thatinner-city kids just don’t like the game because of changing cul-tural norms] means that African Americans in positions of actualpower will only become more scarce.

Baseball could be investing more money into developing talentin the cities, but they’ve chosen a different path. Major LeagueBaseball invests billions of dollars in the Dominican Republicwhere 15-year-olds can be signed on the cheap and enlisted in“baseball academies”, where they can be developed full-time intoMajor League prospects. It’s globalization, but instead of bats andgloves being cheaply stitched together for Major League use, it’shuman beings. Latino players make up the spine of the sport atpresent, yet Bud Selig still feels such a casual disrespect for theircontributions, not to mention their families, that he thought noth-ing of holding last year’s All-Star Game in anti-immigrantArizona. Selig went ahead with the game despite the fact the sev-eral dozen players spoke out against rewarding the state that hadbecome ground-zero of ugly, racial profiling legislation.

After Al Campanis made his remarks, Frank Robinson com-mented about why more people didn’t call out the casual bigotryin the game. "Speaking up could be damaging," he said."Someone will get buried. The ownership might think, 'He'smouthing off. Who needs him?' I won't say that today they couldblackball a smart player. But they could make it tough for him. Atthe end of his career, he might not get to play those extra years ifthey feel he's a troublemaker." If there was ever a sport that need-ed troublemakers in 2012, it’s Major League Baseball.

25 years since Al Campanis

Shocked Baseball: what's changed

and what's stayed the same

By CHRIS ECKARD andJONAS SHAFFERCapital News Service

See ARMOUR, Page A7

Dear EarthTalk:

How is it that dams actually

hurt rivers?

—Missy Davenport,

Boulder, CO

Dams are a symbol ofhuman ingenuity and engineer-ing prowess—controlling theflow of a wild rushing river isno small feat. But in this dayand age of environmentalawareness, more and more peo-ple are questioning whethergenerating a little hydroelectricpower is worth destroyingriparian ecosystems from theirheadwaters in the mountains totheir mouths at the ocean andbeyond.

According to the non-profitAmerican Rivers, over 1,000dams across the U.S. have beenremoved to date. And thebiggest dam removal project inhistory in now well underwayin Olympic National Park inWashington State where twocentury-old dams along theElwha River are coming out.But why go to all the troubleand expense of removing dams,especially if they contributemuch-needed renewable, pollu-tion-free electricity to ourpower grids?

The decision usually comesdown to a cost/benefit analysistaking into account how muchpower a given dam generatesand how much harm its exis-tence is doing to its host river’senvironment. Removing thedams on the Elwha River was ano-brainer, given that they pro-duced very little usable electric-ity and blocked fish passage onone of the region’s premieresalmon rivers. Other casesaren’t so clear cut.

According to theHydropower Reform Coalition(HRC), a consortium of 150groups concerned about theim-pact of dams, degraded waterquality is one of the chief con-cerns. Organic materials from

within and outside the river thatwould normally wash down-stream get built up behind damsand start to consume a largeamount of oxygen as theydecompose. In some cases thistriggers algae blooms which, inturn, create oxygen-starved“dead zones” incapable of sup-porting river life of any kind.Also, water temperatures indam reservoirs can differ great-ly between the surface anddepths, further complicatingsurvival for marine life evolvedto handle natural temperaturecycling. And when dam opera-tors release oxygen-deprivedwater with unnatural tempera-tures into the river below, theyharm downstream environ-ments as well.

Dammed rivers also lack thenatural transport of sedimentcrucial to maintaining healthyorganic riparian channels.Rocks, wood, sand and other

natural materials build up at themouth of the reservoir insteadof dispersing through the river’smeandering channel.“Downstream of a dam, theriver is starved of its structuralmaterials and cannot providehabitat,” reports HRC.

Fish passage is also a con-cern. “Most dams don’t simplydraw a line in the water; theyeliminate habitat in their reser-voirs and in the river below,”says HRC. Migratory fish likesalmon, which are bornupstream and may or may notsurvive their downstream triparound, over or through a dam,stand an even poorer chance ofcompleting the round trip tospawn. Indeed, wild salmonnumbers in the PacificNorthwest’s Columbia Riverbasin are down some 85 percentsince the big dams went in therea half century ago.

While the U.S. government

has resisted taking down anymajor hydroelectric dam alongthe Columbia system, politicalpressure is mounting. No doubtall concerned parties will bepaying close attention to theecosystem and salmon recoveryon the Elwha as it unfolds overthe next few decades.

CONTACTS: AmericanRivers,

www.americanrivers.org;HRC, www.hydroreform.org.

EarthTalk® is written andedited by Roddy Scheer andDoug Moss and is a registeredtrademark of E - TheEnvironmental Magazine

(www.emagazine.com).Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com.

Subscribe:www.emagazine.com/sub-

scribe. Free Trial Issue:www.emagazine.com/trial.

Pennsylvania Amish Lands Trip

Date & Time: Thursday, April 26-Friday, April 27,Departs 8 am, Returns 7 pmDescription: Join us for a fun, 2-day, 1-night trip to thePennsylvania Amish lands. We'll attend 'Jonah' at Sight &Sound's Millennium Theatre; visit Turkey Hill for a tour; andenjoy a delicious smorgasbord dinner at Shady Maple. Wewill also visit Bird-in-Hand Farmer's Market, shop at theRockvale Square Outlets, and experience a guided tour of theAmish Lands. Fee includes transportation; 1-night lodging; 1breakfast, 1 dinner, admissions to 'Jonah' and Turkey Hill. Cost: Resident $233-$306; Non-Resident $279-$367 Ages: 18 & up Location: Departs from 2 locations, please call the

Southern Area Operations Office for more information.

Contact: 301-203-6000; TTY 301-203-6030 SMARTlink # 768167 9

Platinum Live: Dallas Black Dance Theatre

Date and Time: Wednesday, April 25, Thursday, April 26 &Friday, April 27, 11 am Event Description: The sensational modern, jazz, andspiritual dance troupe from Dallas returns with their 35thanniversary tour in a new, inspirational and high-flying one-hour presentation for seniors that features the work of nation-al and international choreographers performed by the 12-member professional dance ensemble. Ages: 60 & up Fee: $7/person, $6/person in groups of 15 or more Location: Publick Playhouse

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Folk & Blues Series: Al Petteway and Amy White

Date and Time: April 27, 8 pm Event Description: Award-winning, criticallyacclaimed, passionate and playful Al Petteway and AmyWhite offer an intoxicating blend of musical styles. Theirrepertoire includes original, traditional, contemporary Celticand Appalachian-influenced music with occasional nods torock and jazz. Their performances feature acoustic guitar,mandolin, Celtic harp, piano, banjo, lap dulcimer, world per-cussion, and a touch of vocals. http://alandamy.comAges: All ages Fee: $20 per ticket; call for information on purchasing aseries subscription. Location: Montpelier Arts Center

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Adult Dance Social

Date and Time: Friday, April 27, 7-11 pmDescription: Put a little "spring" in your step and join us!Enjoy a wonderful atmosphere with candlelit tables, greatmusic, friends and food! No partner required and all styles ofdancing available. This was a sold-out event last year; hurryand purchase your ticket early! Seating is limited.Cost: $13/person in advance; $18/person at the doorAges: 18 & upLocation: Baden Community Center

13601 Baden-Westwood Road, Brandywine 20613Contact: 301-888-1500; TTY 301-203-6030

16TH Annual Montpelier Festival of Herbs, Tea and the Arts

Date & Time: Saturday, April 28, 10 am-4 pm, rain or shine Description: Montpelier Mansion and Arts Center bringyou a day that will delight your senses. With over 30 vendorsselling original, handmade wares, you may just find the per-fect Mother’s Day gift! Enjoy musicians performing through-out the complex, or a delightful cup of tea—complete withscones, jam and cream—in the elegant South Wing. Strollthrough the flower and herb garden to giveyour nose a treat. Take a tour of the mansion, or visit the ArtsCenter’s galleries and studios. Kids can play old-fashionedgames, dress up in colonialcostume, see a live animal exhibit, and more!Cost: FREE admission Ages: All ages Location: Montpelier Mansion

9650 Muirkirk Road, Laurel 20708 Contact: 301-377-7817; TTY 301-699-2544

Folk & Blues Series: Deep River Rising: David Holt,

Bryan Sutton, and T. Michael Coleman

Date and Time: May 4, 8 pm Event Description: There is a deep river of traditionalmusic running through North Carolina. Grammy Award win-ners David Holt, Bryan Sutton, and T. Michael Colemanexplore the richness of that musical culture. Each musicianhas performed with Doc Watson over the years and honors hismusical genius. www.davidholt.comAges: All ages Fee: $25 per ticket; call for information on purchasing aseries subscription. Location: Montpelier Arts Center

9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708 Information: 301-377-7800, 410-792-0664; TTY 301-490-2329

Concert: The Altino Brothers, Piano Duo

Date and Time: Saturday, May 5, 8 pm Event Description: Nerva and Robenson Altino haveincredible talent, dazzling technique, and a unique sound.Their dynamic concerts have earned them rave reviews fortheir interpretations of classical masters including Beethoven,Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff, and for their own creativeand innovative renditions of well-known traditional favorites.Their multi-genre repertoire combines jazz idioms and classi-cal motifs with gospel and Caribbean rhythms which makestheir performance memorable, inspirational, and very enter-taining. Ages: All ages Fee: $30/general admission; $25/seniors & students Location: Arts/Harmony Hall Regional Center

10701 Livingston Road, Ft. Washington 20744 Information: 301-203-6070; TTY 301-203-3803

April 26 — May 2, 2012 — The Prince George’s Post —A7

Calendar of EventsApril 26 - May 2, 2012

EARTH TALK ... To Dam or Not to Dam?

CREDIT: iSTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK

Dams have a deleterious affect on water quality and on fish habitat and passage. Indeed, wild

salmon numbers in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia River basin are down some 85 percent

since the big dams went in there a half century ago. Pictured: the world famous Hoover dam,

built in 1936.

pany's first big advertisementsand later cast then-Marylanddefensive line coach DaveSollazzo in the company's"We Must Protect This House"TV campaign.

In 2004, the Terps becamethe first collegiate footballteam in the country to wearUnder Armour jerseys afterthe athletics department final-ized a five-year, $2.6 milliondeal with Plank. Four yearslater, the company became theexclusive outfitter for all ofthe school's 27 varsity sportsas part of a five-year pact inwhich Under Armour pays theschool $17.5 million.

That deal exceeds Oregon'sannual payout of $2.8 millionfrom Nike, which was found-ed by Oregon alumnus PhilKnight. Michigan's deal withAdidas is believed to be thenation's highest, netting theWolverines about $7.5 millionannually.

Chris Boyer, a formerMaryland athletics departmentofficial who was involved incontract negotiations withUnder Armour, declined tocomment on the contract andthe university's relationshipwith Plank. Plank alsodeclined through a spokesmanto be interviewed for thisstory.

Former Maryland AthleticDirector Debbie Yow, whonow holds the same positionat North Carolina StateUniversity, declined to beinterviewed, instead writing inan email, "In my interactionswith Mr. Plank, I found him tobe a highly competent andcreative professional."

HELPING OUTHe's also a very involved

one, especially as it pertainsto big-ticket Maryland sports.

In September 2010, Plankloaned a plane to university

officials for a men's basketballrecruiting trip, a review ofpublic records showed.

He offered the same helpduring the school's search fora new football coach afterRalph Friedgen's contract wasbought out in December 2010,and again when Anderson wascourting Arizona men's bas-ketball coach Sean Miller inMay for the vacant Marylandjob, according to reports.

While Plank's financialsupport, which also includesmore than $1 million in dona-tions to Maryland athletics,represents only a fraction ofKnight's largesse at Oregon -the Nike chairman was thechief financier of the $230-million Matthew KnightArena - it is still significant.

"He loves the state ofMaryland, he loves this uni-versity and he loves this ath-letics program," Andersonsaid in an interview. "He'sbeen very helpful. Anythingthat we need, he helps us finda way to get it and be success-ful."

Perhaps no episode betterillustrated the potential wind-fall from their relationshipthan the introduction of - andresponse to - the Terps'"Maryland Pride" footballuniforms this fall.

Before a national televisionaudience in their Labor Dayseason opener against Miami,the Terps strutted into ByrdStadium dressed in UnderArmour uniforms that imitat-ed the distinctive design of theMaryland state flag.Celebrities, college footballwriters and even some fansderided the garish getup, butthe program and its outfitterwere soon awash in publicity.

At one point during thegame, "Maryland," "Terps"and "Under Armor" were alltrending nationally on Twitter.ESPN's "Outside the Lines"

opened its show the next daywith coverage of the uni-forms. The following week,The Washington Post and TheNew York Times printedfront-page stories - on thesame day - highlighting theTerps' jerseys and UnderArmour's marketing tech-niques.

"This company has got theworld talking," Plank said atan Under Armour town hallevent shortly after.

What Under Armour wants- and what Maryland provides- is unencumbered exposure inCollege Park and beyond.According to a copy of thecompany's most recent outfit-ting contract with the univer-sity, no coaches, assistants orteam members are allowed todisplay any third-party prod-ucts in athletic competition orat public events.

That means soccer playerswith an affinity for Nike cleatsmust blot out the company'srecognizable "Swoosh" logo.It also means Under Armour isnow in the business oflacrosse equipment, outfittingthe school's men's team thisseason for the first time ever.

"It's a tremendous resourceand a tremendous opportunityfor us," Anderson said. "Notonly from a merchandisingpoint of view, but to be able tosit down with people and talkabout what we're looking atand what we're trying to doand having them as a resourceand pointing us in the rightdirection."

MORE AHEADThe relationship between

school and supporter hasn'talways been rosy, though.

Plank - and Under Armour- were heavily scrutinizedafter an investigation by TheWashington Post found that in2009, blue-chip shootingguard Lance Stephenson visit-ed Under Armour's Baltimore

headquarters during an offi-cial visit. Because Plank is auniversity booster, criticscharged Maryland with coor-dinating the visit unethically,suggesting that Under Armourmight offer inducements theTerps could not. Marylandinvestigated the claim butnever reported any findings ofwrongdoing. Nor did theNCAA, which also lookedinto the matter.

During the school's searchfor a football coach last year,Anderson also decided not tohire Mike Leach, the formerTexas Tech coach with whomPlank has a strong personalrelationship. The Terps ulti-mately opted for formerConnecticut's Randy Edsall,who endured a turbulent firstseason as coach with a 2-10record.

Still, Plank's devotion tothe Terps has endured. InNovember, he publicly voicedhis support of Edsall, callinghim "a competitor, a fighter,and somebody whose foxholeI would stand in any day ofthe week." According to twosources with knowledge of thesituation, Plank has also beeninstrumental in fundraisingfor an on-campus indoor prac-tice facility for the footballteam - an increasingly impor-tant resource in the arms raceamong Division I schools.

Plank, Anderson said,knows that to give the UnderArmour brand the cache ofNike, Maryland must growwith it. So it came as no sur-prise to him, then, that at thejerseys' unveiling last August,Plank promised he was justgetting started.

"There is no greater thrill,privilege or honor than havingUnder Armour be a part of thisprogram and all the Terrapinathletic programs," Planksaid. "Many, many goodthings are to come."

Armour from A6

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A8 — April 26 — May 2, 2012 — The Prince George’s Post

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Sixty miles of track will bebrought to a "state of goodrepair" -- meaning all switches,circuits, cross-ties and rail linesare functioning and well-main-tained, according to WMATAspokeswoman Caroline Lukas.

The NTSB said the cause ofthe 2009 crash was a failure inthe track circuits and WMATA'sfailure to institute throughoutthe system an enhanced trackcircuit verification test, whichwas developed after a near-colli-sion in 2005. The test wouldhave detected the faulty circuitbefore the crash. The system isin now in place and awaitingNTSB review, Lukas said.

WMATA's 35-year-old"1000 Series" cars were alsocited by the NTSB as a factor inthe severity of injuries becauseof "poor crashworthiness"shown in previous accidents.

The funding will replace the1000 Series cars with 300 mod-ern "7000 Series" cars that fea-ture vinyl padded seats, carpet-ing, security cameras and LCDand video screens to track thetrain's location.

WMATA will also rehabili-tate 100 buses each year for sixyears. The improvements willinclude hybrid buses and updat-ed mechanical and security sys-tems. The 90-year-old bus facil-ities will also be rehabilitated.WMATA said the plans willincrease safety and efficiency.

But WMATA won't see the

federal funding unless the billpasses the House.

The bill, Moving Ahead forProgress in the 21st Century, orMAP-21, passed the Senate 74-22 in March but HouseRepublicans have prevented thebill from going to a vote.

House Speaker John Boehnerrefuses to bring it up for a votebecause he knows there areenough supporters for the bill topass the House, said Cardin.

"Instead he's holding out fora partisan approach from theRepublicans only -- which won'tfly in the Senate ... We need towork together, Democrats andRepublicans," said Cardin. "Webroke through the gridlock -- wepassed by an overwhelmingmajority... The House needs tofollow suit."

Congress is in recess and noone could be reached inSpeaker Boehner's officeTuesday afternoon.

Maryland Republican Rep.Roscoe Bartlett of Fredericksupports a compromise, saidhis spokeswoman.

"The House and the Senateneed to resolve differences toproduce a single consensusresponsible transportation billthat will provide long-term cer-tainty, reduce the size of gov-ernment, eliminate earmarksand be fully paid for," said LisaWright, Bartlett's press secre-tary.

House Republicans wereable to pass a short-term fund-ing bill to prevent a shutdown

of federally funded transporta-tion projects in March, butCardin said the success of thetransportation programs lies inpredictable, long-term federalsupport.

Safety improvements willcontinue even if MAP-21 failsand WMATA does not get thefunding, said Lukas. TheWMATA board would have tofind another funding source,which could include additionalrevenue from jurisdictions aswell as fare increases.

Federal funding "is definite-ly something that we need tomaintain the pace and aggres-siveness of repair ... while thatwork would continue to bedone ... it just may affect thepace as which we do it," saidLukas.

MAP-21 funds transporta-tion programs nationally byreauthorizing the federal-aidhighway program. The majorhighway programs in WesternMaryland and the EasternShore along with those for themilitary base relocation in theWashington-Metro area couldalso be in jeopardy if the billdoes not pass, Cardin said.

"I've talked to the state andthey have so many more pro-jects on hold because we don'thave a transportation bill reau-thorized," said Cardin. "Itaffects major maintenance,major highway, major bridge --all of that is directly affectedby the failure of having a long-term reauthorization."

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UNITED METHODIST

WESTPHALIAUnited Methodist

Church

“A CHURCH ON THE REACH FOR GOD”

8511 Westphalia Rd.

Upper Marlboro, MD

Two Worship Services:

8 and 10:30 a.m.

Sunday School: 9:30

(301)735-9373

Fax: (301) 735-1844

Rev. Dr. Timothy West,

Pastor

ALL ARE WELCOME

Web Site:

www.westphaliaum.org

WORD OF GOD

COMMUNITY

CHURCH“The Church Where Everybody is Somebody and

Jesus is Lord

4109 Edmonston Road Bladensburg, MD

(301) 864-3437

Intercessory Prayer:Sundays - 8:30 a.m.

Church School: - 9:15 a.m.

Morning Worship Celebration- 10:30 a.m.

Wed. Night Bible Study - 7:45 p.m.

Elder Willie W. Duvall, Pastor

Union

United Methodist Church

14418 Old Marlboro Pike,

Upper Marlboro, MD

Church (301) 627-5088

Sunday School: (Children/Adults) - 8:30 a.m.

Sunday Worship: 10:00 a.m.

Rev. Kendrick D. Weaver, Pastor

‘A Bible Based, Christ Centered

& Spirit Led Congregation’

6801 Sheriff Road Landover, MD

20785 (301) 773-6655

Sunday Biblical Institute:

9:45 a.m.

Sunday Worship:

7:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 6:00 p.m.

‘WONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS

WITH JESUS’:

12 noon (The Power Hour) and 6:45 pm

“A Time of Prayer, Praise,

Worship, & The Word”

Dr. Henry P. Davis III, Pastor

www.fbhp.org

BAPTIST

First Baptist Church ofCollege Park

Welcomes You Where Jesus

Christ Is Lord and King

Stephen L. Wright, Sr., Pastor

5018 Lakeland Road

College Park, MD 20740

301-474-3995www.fbc-cp.org

Sunday School 9:30a.m.

Sunday Worship 11a.m.

Holy Communion 1st Sunday

Wednesday Bible Study 7-8p.m.

Wednesday Prayer Service 8p.m.

COMMUNITY CHURCHUNITED METHODIST

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

OF HIGHLAND PARK

Forest Heights Baptist Churh

We exist to strengthen your relationship with God.

6371 Oxon Hill Road

Oxon Hill, Maryland 20745

Sunday School (Adults & Children) - 9:30 A.M.

Worship Service - 11:00 A.M.

Wed. Prayer Service & Bible Study - 7:00 P.M.

Office (301) 839-1166

Fax (301) 839-1721

E-mail: Office FHBC@verizon.net

Pastor: Rev. Waymond B. Duke

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