October 2010 Baltimore Beacon by The Beacon Newspapers

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Druid Hill Park’s 150th birthday

October celebration This year, the park that was an oasis for many Baltimore childhoods will celebrate its 150th year. From Oct. 12 to 16, the Friends of Druid Hill Park will host an anniversary celebration to reconnect those who once loved the park and introduce a new generation to its 745 acres, which include the 15-acre Baltimore City Zoo, 135 acres of woodland, miles of carriage and bridle paths, a lake and picnic groves. Druid Hill is the third-oldest public park in the country, behind New York’s Central Park and Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. And its zoo is the third-oldest in the country. The Baltimore Park Commission purchased what had once been the privately owned Druid Hill estate in 1860. Designed

OCTOBER 2010

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PHOTO BY FRANK KLEIN

By Carol Sorgen For many Baltimoreans, Druid Hill Park was virtually their own backyard. In the summer of 1948 when Leona Holly was 15 years old, she would leave her house almost every day for her “second home,” Druid Hill Park. “It was my favorite destination,” the now 76-year-old Baltimore City resident recalled. “When you didn’t have a lot of money, you could always go to the park.” Holly — sometimes accompanied by her brother — would stroll beneath the large gray archway that is the entrance to Druid Hill Park at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Cloverdale Road. Following the red brick path, she would walk toward the reservoir, pass the white marble statue of Christopher Columbus, continue walking past what was then called the “Colored People’s Pavilion,” past the “Colored People’s Tennis Courts,” to her destination, the “Colored People’s Swimming Pool.” Though Holly and her friends were not allowed in the “White Only Swimming Pool,” they enjoyed the swimming, the water pageants and the competitions. “It never bothered me that there were segregated pools,” she said. “It felt as though I had my own private pool.” Today, fortunately, the segregated facilities are gone and the old “colored pool” is used to house Baltimore City police horses. The “white only pool” is now open to everyone, as are the tennis courts and park pavilions.

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LEISURE & TRAVEL

New Orleans endures and entices; plus, Easton’s lively arts scene near the Maryland shore page 25

ARTS & STYLE

Harriet Lynn (left) and Leona Holly, pictured in front of the Druid Hill Park conservatory, both fondly recall spending childhood days roaming the park and enjoying its natural and man-made wonders. Druid Hill is celebrating its 150th anniversary this October, with a week-long schedule of activities.

to replicate an English garden, the highlight of the estate was the mansion house, built in 1801. A number of structures date to the 18th century, when the estate was still in private hands, and other now-historic buildings that were added when the grounds were converted to a public park. Some of the more notable examples are Orem’s Way Station, built in 1864; the main entrance gates at Madison Avenue, built in 1867-68; the Chinese pagoda, built in 1865; and the conservatory, built in 1888.

Baltimore,” said Anne Draddy, co-author with Eden Unger Bowditch of the book, Druid Hill Park, published by History Press in 2008. Draddy, who works for Baltimore City, says she intimately knows the park, which she calls a “gem.” Whether because of its land traceable back to the Susquehannock Indians, or the park’s involvement in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, or the landmark integrated tennis match held there in 1948 despite its segregated facilities, the park is important not just to the history of Baltimore but to the country as well, Draddy said.

Steeped in history “Druid Hill Park is the heart of historic

See DRUID HILL, page 32

Whimsy and magic from the innovative author of the children’s I Spy book series; plus, a late bloomer considered a short story genius page 30

LAW & MONEY k Decent returns with less risk k Social Security’s politics

FITNESS & HEALTH k Too many tests in the ER? k Diabetes myths and facts

VOLUNTEERS & CAREERS k Advocating for children

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Are you a tech-savvy Internet lover, or don’t need much help (other than glasses computer-phobic, or something in be- or contacts, perhaps) to read it. tween? Well, you’ve got to be But you could be reading in that description somethis online, in the digital verwhere! sion of the Beacon that’s found I know I’m an in-betweener, on our website, www.theBeamyself. As with the old saw conNewspapers.com. about how some people live to There are a few benefits to eat and others eat to live, I use the online version: when you a computer, smartphone and come across a web address, the Internet to live. like in the sentence above, you But I know plenty of peocan just click on it to go to the ple who live to use technol- FROM THE website. Can’t do that with PUBLISHER ogy. newsprint. Not yet, anyway. It’s not only how they get By Stuart P. Rosenthal You can also print our artitheir work done, how they recles with the click of a mouse, search, how they communicate with their search present or past issues for particular co-workers and business associates and topics, visit the websites referenced in ads children. with a click, and copy passages and paste It’s also how they have fun, how they them into e-mails or word processing documeet new people, how they engage with ments. Even all that’s pretty old hat, as far as people they know, express themselves, lis- the web goes. ten to music, view art, pursue romance — But we’re entering the 21st century, in short, do almost everything other than even here at the Beacon. In a month or so, travel and physically interact with others. we hope to be unveiling an all-new website Technology is also changing how peo- that offers many more benefits. ple read newspapers. Of course, you are And in preparation for that, we would like most likely seeing these words on old-fash- to ask you a few questions that will help us ioned newsprint, and while lots of technol- tailor the site to your needs. This is a comogy goes into producing the Beacon, you pletely confidential questionnaire. We will

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The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of the Greater Baltimore area, and is privately owned. Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. MD residents add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below. Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement. Signed columns represent the opinions of the writers, and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. • Publisher/Editor ....................Stuart P. Rosenthal • Associate Publisher..............Judith K. Rosenthal • Vice President, Operations........Gordon Hasenei • Director of Sales ................................Alan Spiegel • Assistant Operations Manager ..........Roger King • Managing Editor............................Barbara Ruben • Contributing Editor ..........................Carol Sorgen • Graphic Designer ..............................Kyle Gregory • Advertising Representatives ............Ron Manno, ........................................................................Steve Levin • Staff Writer ..................................................Delia Sava

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The Beacon welcomes reader contributions. Deadline for editorial is the 1st of the month preceding the month of publication. Deadline for ads is the 1st of the month preceding the month of publication. See page 35 for classified advertising details. Please mail or e-mail all submissions.

e-mail or just call us on the phone. As an incentive for you to reply in one way or another, we will be giving away a $50 CVS gift card to two respondents at random. Please be sure to provide your name and phone number or email address when you reply. Thank you for your participation!

1. Do you have access to a computer with Internet? ❒ Yes ❒ No 2. Do you use a smartphone (iPhone, Blackberry, Centro, Treo, etc.)? ❒ Yes ❒ No If yes, do you access the Internet on your phone? ❒ Yes ❒ No 3. How often do you go online? ❒ daily ❒ a few times a week ❒ once a week or less ❒ never (If never, skip to the last question.) 4. On days you go online, how much time in total do you spend? ❒ More than 4 hours ❒ 2 to 4 hours ❒ 1 to 2 hours ❒ less than an hour 5. What are your favorite websites to visit? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 6. How often do you engage in the following activities when online? Nearly always Sometimes Seldom or never Send e-mails ❒ ❒ ❒ Use search engines ❒ ❒ ❒ Participate in forums ❒ ❒ ❒ Post comments ❒ ❒ ❒ Read blogs ❒ ❒ ❒ Play games ❒ ❒ ❒ Chat ❒ ❒ ❒ Instant message ❒ ❒ ❒ Look for jokes ❒ ❒ ❒ Click on banner ads ❒ ❒ ❒ Make online purchases ❒ ❒ ❒ Read news ❒ ❒ ❒ Visit YouTube ❒ ❒ ❒ Listen to podcasts ❒ ❒ ❒ Listen to music ❒ ❒ ❒ Use Twitter ❒ ❒ ❒ Use Facebook or MySpace ❒ ❒ ❒ Host/view photos online ❒ ❒ ❒ Use LinkedIn ❒ ❒ ❒ 7. If you read blogs, which do you like the most? ____________________________________________________________ 8. If you use Twitter, whom do you follow most? ____________________________________________________________ 9. In what ways do you use Facebook? ❒ to locate old friends ❒ to stay in touch with friends ❒ to communicate with grandchildren ❒ to post and view photos ❒ to “like” businesses 10. If you participate in forums, what topics interest you most? ❒ health ❒ money ❒ politics ❒ shopping tips ❒ hobbies ❒ celebrities ❒ fashion 11. Do you like to use puzzles online? ❒ Yes ❒ No If yes, what types of puzzles? ❒ crosswords ❒ word games ❒ Sudoku ❒ numbers games ❒ visual games 12. Would you be interested in participating in a focus group about our new website? ❒ Yes ❒ No

Please provide the following information so we may contact you if you win a $50 gift card or express an interest in helping us further with our website. Prize drawing will be held Oct. 15, 2010. Name: ______________________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________________ Telephone: __________________________________________________ Complete and mail to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227.

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Talking technology

not be sharing your individual responses with anyone or selling any data to others. We simply want to know what your technology interests are and how we can best incorporate them into our new website. Please look over the survey below and answer as many questions as pertain to you. Then return your survey by mail or fax. Or, if you find the survey isn’t relevant to you, or have other thoughts about our website, feel free to send us your comments via

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Money Law &

FINANCIAL REFORM FIXES The new financial reform overhaul is expected to strengthen regulation of banks, credit rating agencies, hedge funds, debit cards and derivatives SMALL CAPS IN SMALL DOSES Small cap stocks may have lost some of their sizzle in recent months, but they still offer good returns and should be part of your portfolio

Where to find decent returns with less risk Even in the best of times, most older against the very real risk of rising interest adults couldn’t care less about whether the rates and inflation in the coming years, I recommend the following stock funds they own top the performance charts or beat four lower-risk funds. All the funds own stocks the stock market. What most of us — and a and bonds. I’ve arranged them in order from least risky growing number of younger to most risky. But even the investors — want are mutual most risky fund here qualifies funds that produce decent as “low risk” compared to the profits in good markets, and, overall stock market. most important, limit losses in Va n g u a r d We l l e s l e y bad markets. Income (1-800-635-1511, That’s doubly true now, beSAVVY SAVER www.vanguard.com) is one of cause these are hardly the By Steven T. Goldberg the most conservative stockbest of times. The U.S. ecoowning funds you can buy nomic recovery is anemic, and Europe may well fall into a double-dip re- from Vanguard — which specializes in conservative, low-cost investing. Expenses cession. Federal, state and local governments, as are a mere 0.31 percent annually, and the well as many consumers, are up to their fund yields an annualized 4.1 percent. Wellington Management has run this eyeballs in debt, and many of us think the stock market will continue to provide a fund since inception in 1970. The managers keep roughly 60 percent of assets in bumpy ride for the next several years. My best guess is that well-chosen mainly high-quality corporate bonds. stocks will rise despite those bumps, but at Stock manager Michael Reckmeyer incloser to 5 or 7 percent annually than their vests the rest in primarily high-yielding, blue-chip stocks. The fund has returned an historical average of about 9.5 percent. annualized 7 percent over the past 19 Lower-risk funds to consider years, through mid-August. So, for those investors dissatisfied with By comparison, Standard & Poor’s 500the currently microscopic yields on bank stock index has lost an annualized 1 percertificates of deposit, and aware that bond cent over the same period. Wellesley is funds provide little or no protection less than half as volatile as the S&P 500. It

lost just 9.9 percent in 2008 when the S&P 500 plunged 37 percent. Vanguard Wellington is Wellesley’s slightly feistier twin. Wellington Management has run this classic balanced fund since — get this — July 1, 1929. The fund has returned an annualized 6 percent over the past 10 years and tumbled 22.4 percent in 2008’s collapse. It usually holds two-third of assets in stocks and one-third in bonds. Expenses are 0.34 percent, and the fund’s annualized yield is 3.2 percent. Like Wellesley it sticks to high-quality bonds. Stock Manager Ed Bousa focuses on stocks of large companies that pay dividends. The fund is onethird less volatile than the S&P. FPA Crescent (800-982-4372, www.fpafunds.com) is my favorite of these four funds. It’s more eclectic than the others, and much more flexible. Steven Romick, who has managed the fund since 1993, adjusts its holdings based on his views on the economy and individual securities. Currently, he’s quite worried about global economic weakness and debt levels. Accordingly, he has 38 percent of the fund in cash and 17 percent in mostly AAArated corporate bonds. The rest is in mostly defensive stocks, such as healthcare and consumer staples. The fund has returned an annualized 11

percent over the past 10 years — tops among these four funds. It lost 21 percent in 2008. Crescent is just a smidgen more volatile than Wellington. Its expense ratio is 1.17 percent, and the fund’s annualized yield is a puny 1.3 percent. T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation (1-800-638-5660, www.troweprice.com) is misnamed, but it’s a fine fund. This is Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price’s most conservative stock fund, typically with about 60 to 70 percent of assets in stocks. Unlike Wellesley and Wellington, in this fund, manger David Giroux buys a wide variety of high-yielding securities, including “junk” bonds, convertible securities and leveraged bank loans. With the stock portion of the fund, he favors dividendpaying stocks that are otherwise out of favor. The fund, which plummeted 27.2 percent in 2008, is about 15 percent less volatile than the S&P. It has returned an annualized 9 percent over the past 10 years. Capital Appreciation yields an annualized 2.2 percent, and expenses are 0.74 percent annually. Steven T. Goldberg (steve@tginvesting.com; 301-650-6567) is a freelance writer and investment advisor in Silver Spring, Md. He welcomes reader questions. Send them to: Steven Goldberg, c/o The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227.

Politics block Social Security solutions By Stephen Ohlemacher Prospects appear bleak for fixing Social Security’s financial problems as the government retirement insurance program celebrates its 75th anniversary. Many Democrats adamantly oppose any cut in benefits to reduce cost, and some won’t accept a gradual increase in the retirement age — something that was done in the last overhaul in 1983. Meanwhile, Republicans say an increase in Social Security taxes is out of the question, even for the wealthy. Unless Congress acts, Social Security’s combined retirement and disability trust funds are expected to run out of money in 2037. At that point, Social Security will collect enough in payroll taxes to cover about

three-fourths of the benefits it is obligated to pay out. The rhetoric is creating a tough environment for President Barack Obama’s bipartisan fiscal commission to come up with recommendations to improve the government’s troubled finances. Obama says everything should be on the table, and the commission’s co-chairmen — a Republican and a Democrat — have asked for civil discourse. The commission’s proposals are due in December, after congressional elections in November.

Compromise likely Despite the rhetoric, many experts think policymakers will eventually settle

on a compromise: small cuts in future benefits coupled with small tax increases. “You could put 10 moderates in a room, and they could come up with a package in a day that solved the long-term problem and combined tax increases and spending cuts,” said William Gale, an adviser to President George H. W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers and now co-director of the Tax Policy Center. “It’s not that hard to do.” Social Security’s short-term finances are being hurt by a recession that shed more than 8 million jobs, reducing revenue from the payroll taxes that support the program. Social Security’s long-term finances will be strained as the 78 million baby boomers reach retirement age — and live longer as life expectancy increases.

For the first time since the 1980s, this year Social Security is paying out more money in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes. The program is expected to post surpluses again in 2012 through 2014, but will return to permanent deficits in 2015, its trustees said in their annual report last month. The Social Security disability program — for those under 65 but unable to work due to disability — is in even worse shape. The disability trust fund is projected to be exhausted by 2018, meaning Congress will have to act soon to address it.

Trust fund mirage The combined programs have built up a See SOCIAL SECURITY, page 6

Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

What the new financial reform law does

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Credit rating agencies will be held more accountable. Before the recent financial crisis, they gave high ratings to investments that turned out to be worthless. Under existing case law, the agencies can’t be successfully sued for ignoring an investment’s risks — only for fraud. The overhaul ends that protection; investors can sue agencies for recklessly ignoring risks. Also, the agencies must explain more fully how they assign ratings. If an agency performs poorly over time, the Securities and Exchange Commission could cancel its registration.

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A council of regulators led by the Treasury secretary will identify threats to the overall financial system. One potential threat: Big, interconnected financial companies. The council will have authority to review both banks and nonbank companies — such as insurers and credit unions, which haven’t faced bank-style regulation — to see if they could threaten the system. All such companies must meet tougher standards. For example, their use of borrowed money will be limited. Fuller disclosures, onsite supervision by Federal Reserve regulators, and stiffer accounting rules will apply, too. The law provides an orderly way to close big companies. Companies the council feels could eventually pose a threat must write a “funeral plan.” If regulators decide a company is endangering the system, they could dismantle it and sell off the pieces. The idea is to prevent panic from spreading. The Treasury would pay the bank’s obligations. Treasury would be repaid with industry fees and money raised from the failed company’s shareholders, bondholders and asset sales.

Banks must keep a sturdier financial base — what’s known as capital. Capital is the stable money banks sit on. It includes money not at risk, such as shareholder equity. Think of it as an expanded rainy day fund. Regulators decide how much capital banks must have to cover unexpected big losses. The law instructs regulators to raise these standards. But they’ll have broad discretion. The bill also bans “proprietary trading.” That’s when banks place bets for their own profit, rather than for their clients. It’s unclear how strictly the ban will be enforced. It can be hard to tell, for example, whether an investment is intended to benefit a bank or its clients, and whether federally insured deposits could be put at risk by these trades. Regulators will draft rules after doing a study.

will be held at least once every three years. But shareholders won’t be able to block pay packages they see as excessive. Their votes will be nonbinding.

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This is the conclusion of last month’s article on some of the elements of the massive new financial reform law. See “New financial reform law means changes,” on page 14 of the September Beacon, for information about the new consumer watchdog agency and the law’s effect on mortgages. By Daniel Wagner The massive new financial system reform law will have an effect on both businesses and consumers. Here are some of the changes to look for as the new law is implemented.

Law & Money

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Social Security From page 4 $2.5 trillion “trust fund” over the past 25 years, brought about by collecting more revenue over that period than payouts required. However, the trust funds, which exist in paper form in a filing cabinet in Parkersburg, W.Va., are simply bonds backed by the government’s “full faith and credit” — in effect, IOUs from one part of the government to another. The actual cash surplus has been spent by Congress over the years to fund other government programs.

The government must now start borrowing money from public debt markets — adding to the federal budget deficit — or raise taxes to redeem the bonds held by the trust funds and repay that money to Social Security. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law on Aug. 14, 1935. This year, more than 53 million people will receive a total of $700 billion in benefits. Retirement benefits average $1,100 a month and disabled workers get an average of $1,065. In 75 years, 122 million people — onefourth of the U.S. population — will be

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drawing benefits. Social Security is financed by a 6.2 percent payroll tax on wages below $106,800. The tax is paid by workers and matched by employers. Older Americans can apply for early retirement benefits, starting at age 62. They qualify for full benefits if they wait until they turn 66, a threshold that is gradually increasing to 67 for people born in 1960 or later.

Some quick fixes Social Security would be made solvent for another 75 years if payroll taxes were increased by about 1 percentage point for both workers and employers. It would also be fixed if Congress started taxing all wages, not just those below $106,800. About 23 percent of the shortfall would be gone if Congress gradually increased the full retirement age from 67 to 68, according to the Senate Special Committee on Aging. Nearly a third of the shortfall would disappear if it was gradually increased to 70. House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio recently suggested increasing

the full retirement age to 70. Democrats slammed Boehner, even though House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., made a similar suggestion in a speech the week before. “It’s an important program for millions of Americans, tens of millions of Americans, and if we don’t fix it, it will not be there,” Boehner said later. “I understand that these subjects get to be rather sensitive, and especially in an election year. I was not at all surprised by the attacks that came my way.” Among the first to attack Boehner was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. She was asked later if she was hamstringing Obama’s fiscal commission by publicly opposing an increase in the retirement age. “That would be my goal, but I don’t think I have that much influence in what they do,” Pelosi said. “They are an independent commission appointed by the president. They have to do what they have to do.” To read the report of the Senate Special Committee on Aging visit http://aging.senate.gov/ss/ssreport2010.pdf. —AP

Medicare savings are another mirage By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Martin Crutsinger The double counting of Social Security trust fund “surpluses” has been so successful that Medicare — the government-run healthcare plan for those over 65 or with disabilities — is soon to try a similar tactic. The recently passed healthcare reform legislation has been touted for saving $575 billion in Medicare costs over 10 years, thus extending the program’s solvency for 12 years. But Richard Foster, Medicare’s chief actuary, said in a statement included in the Medicare and Social Security trustees’ recent report that the Medicare savings were unlikely to be realistic. He said the projections were based on current law, which calls for payments to doctors to be cut by 23 percent this December and by a combined 30 percent over the next three years — an outcome that Foster called “an implausible result.” Congress has for years voted to put more money in the Medicare program to keep such sharp cuts in doctor’s payments from occurring. Foster said that the report also makes overly optimistic assumptions about the amount of savings that hospitals and other major providers will be able to achieve by

operating more efficiently. “For these reasons, the financial projections shown in the report for Medicare do not represent a reasonable expectation for actual program operations in either the short range ... or the long range,” Foster wrote. In addition, the savings appear to be counted twice in many government reports touting the beneficial effects of the healthcare reform legislation. An April 22 analysis by the nonpartisan professionals at the Office of the Actuary — an obscure economic unit in the Health and Human Services Department that has a reputation for independence — pointed out that the projected gain of 12 years of additional solvency for Medicare was largely an “appearance,” stemming from how Medicare cuts are handled under federal accounting rules. Under the healthcare reform law, savings from those cuts will actually be used to finance coverage for the uninsured. So, much like the Social Security trust funds, they will have already been spent when it comes time for those “savings” to fund additional Medicare coverage. Stuart Rosenthal contributed to this report. — AP

Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Are small cap stocks losing their edge? By Dave Carpenter Could David be losing his historical edge over Goliath in the stock market? Investors are starting to wonder. Small-cap stocks have lost their sizzle in recent months, falling 12 percent and underperforming blue chips since the market’s powerful 13-month rally ended in April. Such price swings are hardly unusual, but that’s only part of the evidence that suggests their latest run of dominance over large-company stocks is ending. Some experts contend they are as overpriced as they’ve been in three decades. A new study by BNY Mellon Beta Management highlights small caps’ vulnerability. Investors, the study found, are no longer compensated for the extra risks they take buying small stocks.

Financial reform From page 5 ment advice must act in clients’ best interests. The rules will hold brokers to the same standard that investment advisers already must meet. The change won’t occur until regulators have studied the issue.

Examining hedge funds Hedge funds must register as investment advisers. Retirement funds, money managers and wealthy individuals often invest in hedge funds, which use complex trades to seek big returns. Once hedge funds have registered with the SEC, they’ll undergo periodic examinations and be required to disclose more information about their trades. This is a big change for hedge funds.

Insurance companies Insurance companies escaped with few

“Right now there’s no benefit to investing in small caps versus large caps,” said Mark Keleher, CEO of the San Francisco-based investment firm. “The optimum time to invest in small caps may have passed.” Investors apparently are reaching the same conclusion. U.S. small-cap funds saw outflows of $822 million for the week that ended August 11, according to EPFR Global, a Boston-based firm that tracks global fund flow data. That tipped fund flows into negative territory for 2010. Less than four months after the year-to-date total reached $6.3 billion in inflows, it is now at $689.8 million in outflows.

The rationale for preferring small But the notion of small caps as laggards changes. A new office at Treasury will monitor the industry and help decide if an insurer is big enough to warrant tighter oversight. Today, insurers are regulated by the insurance commissions of each state in which they operate.

Debit card fees Regulators can limit the fees retailers pay when shoppers use debit cards. Merchants argue that the fees — often up to 2 percent of the transaction cost — are too high. Still, the fees help card issuers defray losses on credit card loans. Debit cards carry no such risk for the issuer.

Regulation of derivatives Many financial derivatives will be regulated for the first time. Derivatives are investments whose value depends on the future price of some other investment. Stock options and corn futures are examples. Many companies use derivatives to reduce

runs counter to what every student of investing learns early on. Small stocks as a group have outperformed large ones for at least three-quarters of a century. Small-cap stocks — defined as those with market capitalizations between $160 million and $2 billion — have netted annualized returns that are an average 2 percent higher than those of large caps since 1927, according to Ibbotson Associates. The performance gap widened dramatically after 2000. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies has beaten the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a common yardstick for large caps, in every year of the past decade except 2007. It’s up 29 percent from 10 years ago, compared with a 23 percent drop for the S&P. A $10,000 investment in the Russell

2000 at the start of 2000 would have grown to $14,802 as of July 31, assuming all distributions reinvested, according to Morningstar Inc. The same amount put into the S&P would have shrunk to $9,080. Small has proven better than big over the long run for several reasons: Small companies can react faster to changes in the business environment and grow faster. They thrive when interest rates are low and financing their growth doesn’t cost as much. The comparative lack of information about smaller companies also means there are more opportunities for small stocks to be mispriced. More recently, they have benefited by having limited exposure to Europe. And

risk. A company might hold a derivative whose profit would allow it to recoup part of the cost if a raw material’s price soared. Before the crisis, some investors used derivatives purely for speculation: They arranged side bets on the housing market. Once the market crashed, their bad bets magnified the crisis. Under existing rules, many derivatives are traded outside the view of regulators. The new law will require that most derivatives trade openly on exchanges.

Derivatives for the first time will also trade through clearinghouses, which will require derivatives sellers to set aside money for each contract in case their bets go bad. Banks won’t be able to trade derivatives that are thought to pose the most risk. These include those based on energy and most metals. But banks can still trade most derivatives. Examples include those based on gold, interest rates and foreign currencies. — AP

See SMALL CAPS, page 9

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OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Small caps From page 7 small caps tend to lead the way during economic recoveries; they’ve outperformed large caps in the first year following each of the last nine recessions.

So why the downbeat forecast? What’s changed about their outlook is partly a question of timing. If the recession ended just over a year

ago, as most economists think, that means small companies’ post-recession resurgence could be largely over. Some analysts also say the nearly unprecedented 118 percent run-up small-cap stocks enjoyed from March 2009 to late April 2010 pumped their valuations too much. The BNY Mellon study forecast approximately equal returns for small and large caps over the next three years — a period during which interest rates are expected

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Oct. 18

UNDERSTANDING YOUR CREDIT

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said. Even doubters aren’t saying small stocks are a terrible investment. It’s just that they’re no longer the near-automatic winner over large caps that they’ve long been. Dirk Van Dijk, senior equity strategist for Zacks Investment Research in Chicago, is among those who now lean toward large caps that are now loaded with cash, strong balance sheets and strong credit. “There are really good investment opportunities in good, stable, safe companies,” he said, citing Microsoft Corp. as a prominent example. “Why take the risk in companies that you have less information about, that have less access to capital and are probably dependent on one or two major customers?” — AP

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to rise. This is the first time since 1983, it said, that investors get no premium for sinking money into companies that have less liquidity and higher transaction costs. But small cap boosters say concerns about the short term are overstated. Bill McVail, a small-cap growth portfolio manager, said smaller companies are poised to expand as soon as employment and consumer sentiment turn around. “Yes, they’re a little more expensive than the S&P, but their earnings growth is seemingly higher” than large caps’, he said. Chris Retzler, portfolio manager for the Needham Small Cap Growth Fund, said long-term investors still can find bargains. Small-cap healthcare stocks, for instance, have been avoided because of ongoing uncertainty over healthcare reforms. So they’re a great buying opportunity, he

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Health Fitness &

DISPELLING DIABETES MYTHS Get the facts on sugar, insulin, diet and complications from the disease FLU SHOT PATCH A patch is being developed to provide flu vaccine painlessly SLEEP MED SIDE EFFECTS Drugs like Tylenol PM can help you sleep, but watch out for side effects HEALTH ADVICE CHUTZPAH Don’t take e-mailed claims at face value; check a legitimate source

Ten minutes’ exercise = hour-long effects By Lauran Neergaard Ten minutes of brisk exercise triggers metabolic changes that last at least an hour. The unfair news for panting newbies: The more fit you are, the more benefits you just might be getting. We all know that exercise and a good diet are important for health, protecting against heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions. But what exactly causes the health improvement from working up a sweat or from eating, say, more olive oil than saturated fat? And are some people biologically predisposed to get more benefit than others? These are among the questions that metabolic profiling, a new field called metabolomics, aims to answer in hopes of one day optimizing those benefits — or finding patterns that may signal risk for disease and new ways to treat it.

Exercise causes chemical changes “We’re only beginning to catalog the metabolic variability between people,” said Dr. Robert Gerszten of Massachusetts General Hospital, whose team (which includes researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard) just took a step

toward that goal. The researchers measured biochemical changes in the blood of a variety of people: the healthy middle-aged, some who became short of breath with exertion, and marathon runners. First, in 70 healthy people put on a treadmill, the team found more than 20 metabolites that change during exercise. These are naturally produced compounds involved in burning calories and fat and improving blood-sugar control. Some weren’t known until now to be affected by exercise. Some revved up during exercise, like those involved in processing fat. Others involved with cellular stress decreased with exercise. Those are pretty wonky findings, a first step in a complex field. But they back today’s health advice that even brief bouts of activity are good. “Ten minutes of exercise has at least an hour of effects on your body,” said Gerszten, who found some of the metabolic changes that began after 10 minutes on the treadmill still were measurable 60 minutes after people cooled down. Your heart rate rapidly drops back to normal when you quit moving, usually in

10 minutes or so. So finding lingering biochemical changes offers what Gerszten calls “tantalizing evidence” of how exercise may be building up longer-term benefits. Back to the blood. Thinner people had greater increases in a metabolite named niacinamide, a nutrient byproduct that’s involved in blood-sugar control, the team reported recently in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Checking a metabolite of fat breakdown, the team found people who were more fit — as measured by oxygen intake during exercise — appeared to be burning more fat than the less fit or than people with shortness of breath, a possible symptom of heart disease. The extremely fit — 25 Boston Marathon runners — had 10-fold increases in that metabolite after the race. Still other differences in metabolites allowed the researchers to tell which runners had finished in under four hours and which weren’t as speedy. “We have a chemical snapshot of what the more fit person looks like. Now we have to see if making someone’s metabolism look like that snapshot, whether or not that’s going to improve their perform-

ance,” said Gerszten, whose ultimate goal is better cardiac care.

A workout pill? Don’t expect a pill ever to substitute for a workout — the new work shows how complicated the body‘s response to exercise is, said metabolomics researcher Dr. Debbie Muoio of Duke University Medical Center. But scientists are hunting nutritional compounds that might help tweak metabolic processes in specific ways. For example, Muoio discovered the muscles of diabetic animals lack enough of a metabolite named carnitine, and that feeding them more of it improved their control of blood sugar. Now, Muoio is beginning a pilot study in 25 older adults with pre-diabetes to see if carnitine supplements might work similarly in people who lack enough. Next up: With University of Vermont researchers, she’s testing how metabolic changes correlate with health measures in a study of people who alternate between a carefully controlled Mediterranean diet and higher-fat diets. “The long term hope is we could use this in making our way toward personalized medicine,” Muoio said. — AP

Baltimore City moves senior programs By Carol Sorgen Earlier this summer, Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake proposed moving responsibility for the city’s older adult services from a cabinet-level agency operated by the Commission on Aging & Retirement Education (CARE) to a program of the Baltimore City Health Department’s Division of School Health and Older Adult Programs. CARE, a city-chartered advocacy organization and service provider for older Baltimoreans, has also long served as the city’s Area Agency on Aging (AAA) — a federally-mandated agency responsible for coordinating and providing many federallyfunded services for older adults, including nutrition programs, transportation and community-based services. More than 118,000 seniors live in Baltimore City, and they include more than half of the state’s low-income minority elders.

Modest cost savings expected The Mayor cited general fund savings as the reason for moving senior services and the Area Agency functions into the health department. At a City Council hearing on the proposed move in June, testimony indicated that consolidation of office space and staff was expected to save approximately $200,000 a year. Other officials indicated savings could be as high as $500,000 a year. A number of senior advocacy groups, including AARP, Maryland Senior Citizens Action Network and United Seniors of Maryland, spoke against the move at the hearing. Most expressed concern that the loss of an independent agency with cabinet-level status would lead to reduced ser vices for seniors in a time of tight budgets. Health department officials, including representatives of Baltimore Health Care Access (BHCA), countered that cost sav-

ings would result from greater efficiencies, not reduced services. Furthermore, BHCA — a quasi-public agency of the health department charged with assuming CARE’s former responsibilities — indicated it would seek grant funding from outside sources to increase services.

A fait accompli The consolidation went forward in July, and at a community forum at the Waxter Senior Center in late August, representatives from the health department addressed an audience of representatives from Baltimore City senior centers, city and state agencies and interested citizens about the change. Now an organizational unit in the health department called CARE Services will manage all programs and service contracts previously administered by CARE. Guest speakers at the forum, including newly appointed Commissioner for the Bal-

timore City Health Department Dr. Oxiris Barbot, assured the audience members that the change in organization is strictly administrative and that all programs and services will continue without disruption. “This makes strategic sense,” said Barbot, remarking that streamlining administrative functions offers greater opportunity for grant funding, more collaboration among agencies, and improved services to Baltimore City residents. Interim Director of CARE Services Francine J. Childs noted that most staff members will not be changing, saying “The phone numbers you called yesterday are the ones you’ll call today. The people you spoke to yesterday are the people you’ll speak to today.” According to Childs, integration of all senior services in the health department will enable a closer working relationship, resulting in consolidation and enhanceSee SENIOR PROGRAMS, page 11

Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Headed to the ER? Some post wait times By Lauran Neergaard Need an X-ray or stitches? Online, via text message or flashing on a billboard, some emergency rooms are advertising how long the dreaded wait for care will be, with estimates updated every few minutes. It’s a marketing move aimed at less urgent patients, not the true emergencies that automatically go to the front of the line anyway — and who shouldn’t waste precious minutes checking the wait. “If you’re in a car accident, you’re not going to flip open your iPhone and see what the wait times are,” cautioned Dr. Sandra Schneider, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Despite that fledgling trend, ERs are getting busier, forcing them to try innovative tactics to cut delays — such as stationing doctors at the front door to get a jumpstart on certain patients. And in 2012, hospitals are supposed to begin reporting to Medicare how fast their

ERs move certain patients through — a first step at increasing quality of care across the board. “The longer people stay in the emergency department, the more likely they’re going to have complications, deaths. If they’re elderly, they’re more likely to end up in a nursing home,” said Dr. Nick Jouriles, emergency medicine chief at Akron General Hospital in Ohio, among the hospitals that post estimated wait times. ER visits hit a new high of more than 123 million in 2008, up from 117 million a year earlier, according to preliminary data released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A disturbing report last year from Congress’ investigative arm found that patients who should have been seen immediately too often waited nearly a half hour. Add in tests and treatment, and a trip to the ER can easily last three or four hours.

Senior programs

ganizations: Action in Maturity, Allen Center, Cherry Hill Senior Life Center, Forest Park Senior Center, Greenmount Senior Center, Harford Senior Center, Myerberg Senior Center, Senior Network of North Baltimore and Southwest Senior Center. Additional services for seniors that will now be provided by the health department include nutrition programs, adult day care, transportation, senior information and assistance, senior health insurance, longterm care ombudsman, public guardianship, community-based long-term care, and family caregiver programs. For more information on Baltimore City services for seniors, visit online at www.baltimorehealth.org/seniors.html, or call (410) 396-4398.

Knowledge is power So why post wait times that might encourage people who otherwise could have tried an urgent-care center?

There are no statistics on how many hospitals advertise wait times, although See ER WAIT TIMES, page 12

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From page 10 ment of services for seniors. “This is a one-stop shop for seniors,” said Childs. CARE will continue to exist as a chartered organization, with 24 commissioners, 18 of whom are mayoral appointments, with the remaining 6 being ex-officio members. The Commission will continue to report to the mayor and advise her about Baltimore City’s senior programs. CARE Services will take over support of the city’s 15 senior centers. It directly oversees the Waxter, Sandtown/Winchester, Oliver, Hatton, John Booth and Zeta center. It also supports the following centers, which are managed by private, nonprofit or-

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Greater Baltimore Area Free electronic hearing tests will be given from Monday, September 27 through Friday, October 8 at select locations in Greater Baltimore. Tests have been arranged for anyone who suspects they are losing their hearing. Such persons generally say they can hear but cannot understand words. Testing with the latest computerized equipment will indicate if you can be helped. Everyone, especially adults over 55, should have an electronic hearing test at least once a year. If there is a hearing problem, hearing tests may reveal that newly developed methods of correction will help, even for those who have been told in the past that a hearing aid would not help them. If you suspect you have hearing loss, call for a free hearing test appointment. Our Licensed Professionals are trained to determine if you have a simple problem like wax impaction or a more serious condition. We will be the first ones to tell you if you don’t need a hearing aid. If you do have a hearing loss, we will explain your test results and provide you with a list of options.

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Fitness & Health

ER wait times From page 11 they tend to have multiple ERs in a region, usually the suburbs. The idea: People with less urgent conditions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; maybe they need stitches for a cut â&#x20AC;&#x201D; might drive a bit farther for a shorter wait, possibly helping a hospital chain spread the load without losing easier cases to competitors. Akron General, for instance, has four medical centers about a half-hour apart. One afternoon last week, the posted wait from check-in to seeing a physician at the main downtown campus was 53 minutes, while suburban locations were less than 20. Jouriles is beginning a study to see if the postings make a difference in patient volume, the total time spent in the ER, and patient satisfaction. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on their Blackberries in the

OCTOBER 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; BALTIMORE BEACON

waiting room,â&#x20AC;? matching the posted wait to the clock, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not a single patient today, I bet, is going to be 53 minutesâ&#x20AC;? exactly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; because thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an average of some who got in after 5 minutes and others who cooled their heels over an hour.

Other innovations in the ER Perhaps more common than posting wait times are other attempts at easing the traffic jams: â&#x20AC;&#x201D;In Nashville, Vanderbilt University Medical Center does â&#x20AC;&#x153;team triage,â&#x20AC;? with a doctor, nurse and paramedics manning the ERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s front door. They work the waiting room, ordering blood work or X-rays so that less urgent cases â&#x20AC;&#x201D; like a sprained ankle â&#x20AC;&#x201D; may be diagnosed without ever tying up an ER bed, and more complicated ones get a head start on diagnosis that can save 40 minutes a person.

Emergency medicine chief Dr. Corey Slovis said the ER averages a 20 minute wait to see the doctor that he hopes to cut to 10 minutes. Team triage allows discharging about 15 patients a day directly from the waiting room. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;The main cause of ER crowding isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an influx of sprained ankles but a lack of hospital beds for patients so sick they need to be admitted, leaving them â&#x20AC;&#x153;boardingâ&#x20AC;? in the ER so thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no room to bring in new patients, said Dr. Peter Viccellio of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Mondays, when most hospitals fill inpatient beds with elective surgeries, are especially bad. Viccellio pioneered â&#x20AC;&#x153;hallway medicineâ&#x20AC;? to ease boarding, where patients are divided on gurneys among the hospitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wings to await available beds. Distributing the load shortened total hospital stays by a day, possibly as patients benefited from

more nursing attention, he said. That jam is where Medicare is focusing first, as hospitals are to begin reporting in 2012 how quickly they move patients from the ER to inpatient beds. Still to come is a final decision on reporting additional wait times, such as how long it takes to see a doctor. Paradoxically, in the last year some ERs have deliberately started keeping certain patients longer: About 10 or 15 patients a day at Stony Brook have chest pain but a normal EKG, and need to be observed to separate out the 10 percent who really need heart care. Rather than admitting them all to the hospital, some ERs now keep them for up to 16 hours to do repeat testing that shows who can safely go home, Viccellio said â&#x20AC;&#x201D; making it all the more important to avoid other logjams. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;AP

BEACON BITS

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Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Common misconceptions about diabetes By January W. Payne Every day, more than 4,000 adults are diagnosed with diabetes and about 200 people die from the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to figures released last year, nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes. It’s one of the major causes of heart disease, stroke, new cases of adult blindness, and leg and foot amputations not caused by injury. Those are facts. Yet there are many mistaken beliefs about diabetes. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recently surveyed more than 2,000 Americans about the most common ones. Sue McLaughlin, president of healthcare and education at the ADA, offered her opinion of what she said are the six most common myths and misconceptions about diabetes: 1. Diabetes is not that serious. In fact, diabetes causes more deaths than breast cancer and HIV/AIDS combined, McLaughlin said. Still, people with type 2 diabetes — the most common form of the disease — may go a long while, even years, before being diagnosed because they may downplay their symptoms or write them off to other causes. So if you’re making frequent trips to the bathroom at night; experience extreme

thirst, overwhelming fatigue, or blurry vision; or notice that you keep getting infections, ask your doctor to test you for diabetes. An early diagnosis can help ward off complications. 2. Eating too much sugar causes diabetes. “Certainly, anybody will benefit from eating less sugar because it is not a nutrient-dense ingredient,” McLaughlin said. That said, simply eating too much sugar does not cause diabetes. 3. Being over weight causes diabetes. Just because a person gains weight doesn’t mean she’s going to get type 2 diabetes. Having a body mass index over 25 is just one of several risk factors for diabetes, but there are many overweight people who don’t get the disease, McLaughlin said. Still, being obese — having a body mass index of 35 or more — is considered to be a major risk factor, and the increase seen in diabetes diagnoses has coincided with a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States, according to the CDC. Other risk factors for diabetes include being older than 45, a lack of regular physical activity, or a family history of diabetes. You’re also at risk if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, polycystic ovarian syndrome, metabolic syndrome, or acanthosis nigricans (a condition that

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Fitness & Health

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Diabetes From page 13 Americans, Hispanic Americans, AsianAmericans, and American Indians are at higher risk than are Caucasians.

4. Having diabetes means you must eat foods that are different from everyone else’s. People with diabetes don’t need to follow a restricted diet, but instead should try to follow the same healthful eating guidelines as everyone else, including

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

AFTER CANCER

St. Joseph Medical Center offers an end of treatment class for patients who have completed or are soon to complete their cancer treatment. Learn what to expect after treatment ends, including the “new normal,” physical changes, emotional/spiritual changes, lifestyle changes, followup plans and support services. Family and friends are welcome. The ongoing classes are held on Mondays from 9 to 10 a.m. and Wednesdays from 2 to 3 p.m., in the Multi-Disciplinary Conference Room, First Floor, Cancer Institute, at the St. Joseph Medical Center Campus, 7501 Osler Dr. in Towson. Call Ellen Gaither at (410) 427-5585 to schedule.

choosing foods that are lower in fat, higher in nutrients, and contain an appropriate amount of calories, McLaughlin said. “Everyone needs to be eating healthier. And if you haven’t followed healthy eating habits before now, [a diagnosis] is a good wake-up call to make positive changes,” McLaughlin noted. 5. A diabetes diagnosis means you automatically need insulin. That’s the case with type 1 diabetes but not with type 2 diabetes. In some cases, proper diet, exercise and oral medications, if needed, can keep type 2 diabetes under control for some time before insulin becomes necessary, McLaughlin said. The key is to make a lifestyle change.

BEACON BITS

Oct. 19

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FREE KIDNEY SCREENINGS OFFERED

The National Kidney Foundation of Maryland (NKF-MD) will hold free KEY (Kidneys: Evaluate Yours) health screenings to identify early markers for high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disease. The next screening will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 21, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Reisterstown Senior Center Health Fair, 12035 Reisterstown Rd. Additional screenings are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 25, at the Church of the Redeemed Lord, 4321 Old York Rd., and Saturday, Oct. 23, at St. Patrick’s Latino Health Fair, 1728 Bank St. Pre-registration is not necessary, and anyone can participate. For more information, call NKF-MD at (410) 494-8545 or visit www.kidneymd.org.

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HEALTH INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET

The Baltimore County Department of Aging, with medical librarians from Johns Hopkins Bayview, will offer sessions on the best ways to find reliable health information on the Internet. Resources and services that are offered at Johns Hopkins Bayview will also be discussed. The next scheduled session will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 12:45 p.m., at the Essex Senior Center, 600 Dorsey Ave. For more information, call (410) 887-0267.

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GETTING THE BEST HEALTHCARE

Dr. John R. Burton, director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Education Center, and author of Taking Charge of Your Health, will address such questions as: Do I need to go to a general physician, a specialist, or both? What does a geriatrician do? This lecture is part of the Kaleidoscope program at Roland Park Country School. Cost is $20. For more information, call (410) 323-5500, or visit www.rpcs.org.

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That means no smoking, more healthful eating habits, and regular exercise. 6. Only older people get diabetes. These days, children as young as age 5 are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, McLaughlin said. “It used to be that kids just got type 1 diabetes,” which is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes, she said. But now the split between type 1 and type 2 in people under 18 is about 60-40. To help prevent diabetes in children, parents should try to encourage good habits for the entire family. That means less video game and TV time, more physical activity, less junk food, and smaller portions. © 2010 U.S. News and World Report

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Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Health Shorts Flu vaccine patch in development One day your annual flu shot could come in the mail. At least that’s the hope of researchers developing a new method of vaccine delivery that people could even use at home: a patch with microneedles. Microneedles are so small you don’t even feel them. Attached to a patch like a Band-Aid, they barely penetrate the skin before they dissolve and release their vaccine. The business side of the patch feels like fine sandpaper. In tests of microneedles without vaccine, people rated the discomfort at one-tenth to one-twentieth that of getting a standard injection. Nearly everyone said it was painless. Some medications are already delivered by patches, such as nicotine patches for people trying to quit smoking. That’s simply absorbed through the skin. But attempts to develop patches with the flu vaccine absorbed through the skin have not been successful so far. In this patch, the vaccine is still, technically, injected. But the needles are so small that they don’t hurt, and it doesn’t take any special training to administer. So two problems are solved right away — fear of needles, and disposal of leftover hypodermic needles. The patch is placed on the skin and left for five to 15 minutes. The little needles are 650 microns (threehundredths of an inch) in length. “The goal has been a means to administer the vaccine that is patient friendly,” said Mark R. Prausnitz of Georgia Tech, who is leading the research. That means “not only not hurting or looking scary, but that patients could self-administer,” he said, and people would be more likely to get the flu vaccine. The patch, which has been tested on mice, was developed in collaboration by researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University, Prausnitz said. The researchers are now seeking funds to begin tests in people and, if all goes well, the patch could be in use in five years, he said. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Implantable telescope helps restore vision U.S. health officials at the FDA have approved a first-of-its-kind technology to counter a leading cause of blindness in older adults — a tiny telescope implanted inside the eye. The Implantable Miniature Telescope aims to help in the end stages of incurable age-related macular degeneration, a creep-

ing loss of central vision that blocks reading, watching TV, eventually even recognizing faces. The idea: Surgically insert the Implantable Miniature Telescope into one eye for better central vision, while leaving the other eye alone to provide peripheral vision. The brain must fuse two views into a single image, and the FDA warned that patients need post-surgery rehabilitation to make it work. There’s little to help such advanced patients today aside from difficult-to-use handheld or glasses-mounted telescopes, while the new implanted telescope — smaller than a pea — can improve quality of life for the right candidate, said Dr. Malvina Eydelman, FDA’s ophthalmic devices chief. But it’s only for a subset of the nearly 2 million Americans with advanced macular degeneration, Eydelman warned: Those 75 and older, with a certain degree of vision loss, who also need a cataract removed.

In fact, the FDA took the highly unusual step of requiring that patients and their surgeons sign a detailed “acceptance of

risk agreement” before surgery, acknowlSee HEALTH SHORTS, page 16

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Fitness & Health

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Health shorts From page 15 edging potential side effects — including corneal damage and worsened vision — and the need for lots of testing to determine who’s a candidate. In a 219-patient study, the FDA said 90 percent of telescope recipients had their vision improve by at least two lines on an eye chart, and three-quarters went from severe to moderate vision impairment. Concern about damage to the inside lining of the cornea, the eye’s clear front covering that helps focus light, held up FDA approval for several years. In that study, 10 eyes had serious corneal swelling, five that required corneal transplants. The telescope’s developer, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, of Saratoga, Calif., is seeking Medicare coverage for

the surgery and rehab costs, a package that it calls CentraSight. The company wouldn’t estimate total costs, but said the device itself costs $15,000. For more information from VisionCare about the device, go to www.centrasight.com.

New bonestrengthening drug for women The FDA has approved Amgen’s new bone strengthening drug, Prolia, for postmenopausal women at risk for fractures. It’s a potential blockbuster market. The injectable drug is given once every six months to increase bone mass and strength. Pill-based osteoporosis drugs, such as

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Fosamax and Zometa, have been available for more than a decade. But Amgen Executive Vice President Dr. Roger Perlmutter said many women can’t tolerate those drugs or have trouble remembering to take a daily medication. Amgen said in a statement that Prolia is the first drug to target a cellular pathway that breaks down bones. One out of every two women over age 50 will break a bone in their lifetime due to osteoporosis, which causes bones to become brittle, according to an FDA statement. FDA approved the drug based on a 7,000 patient study conducted by Amgen that showed reduced vertebrae and hip fractures in postmenopausal women. In pre-approval studies, more than 5 percent of the those taking Prolia experi-

enced such side effects as back pain, high cholesterol and urinary bladder infections. Like some other osteoporosis drugs that suppress bone turnover, Prolia can also lead to osteonecrosis of the jaw, a severe bone disease Amgen will be required to distribute patient guides explaining the drug’s risks. Global sales of osteoporosis treatments topped $8 billion last year, including hundreds of vitamin brands and drugs like GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Boniva and Merck & Co. Inc.’s Fosamax. With eight other pills and injectable medicines on the market, analysts say Prolia’s success likely will hinge on its price. Prolia will cost $825 per injection, which Amgen says is competitive with existing treatments. — AP

BEACON BITS

Oct. 15

50+ EXPO

The Howard County Office on Aging will present the 12th annual 50+Expo at Wilde Lake High School, 5460 Trumpeter Lane in Columbia, Md., on Friday, Oct. 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The annual event features more than 140 exhibitors of goods and services of interest to adults age 50+, educational seminars, health screenings, a green fair, all-day entertainment, as well as two free shows by the Capitol Steps. Admission is free. For more information, call (410) 313-6410 or visit www.howardcountyaging.org.

Oct. 24+

RESPITE CARE CONFERENCE

The Maryland Respite Care Coalition will host a free conference for caregivers to raise awareness of and share information on respite care. The 2010 National Lifespan Respite Conference will be held from Oct. 24 to 27 at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel, 101 West Fayette St. Keynote speaker, Judith Fox, author of I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer’s, speaks at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 25. Other speakers include Dr. Earl E. Shelp, speaking on “Faith Communities: An Underutilized Partner in Creating Respite;” and Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Citizen’s Health Initiative on “Transforming Public Will into Political Power.” Workshops include such topics as “Creative Respite and the Resilient Caregiver” and “Substance Abuse: the Anti-Respite.” For more information and to register, call (240) 4539585 or see www.respitecoalition.org.

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Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Ways to sleep better; reduce cholesterol By Dr. Nancy Keating and Dr. Thomas H. Lee Q. I take ibuprofen p.m. on occasion — maybe once a month or so — to help me get to sleep. It seems to work. Is that OK? A: Ibuprofen p.m. is a combination medication that contains ibuprofen and diphenhydramine. Diphenhydramine is the active ingredient in Benadryl, an antihistamine taken for allergies. The ibuprofen will help easy any aches or pains. The diphenhydramine makes most people drowsy. That’s why ibuprofen p.m. is probably helping you get to sleep. In general, it’s OK for most people to use diphenhydramine to help them fall asleep. Small, infrequent doses are not likely to cause any harm, although diphenhydramine is not without its problems. The sedating effect may last, so you may be drowsy the next day, even if you did sleep well. And the list of possible side effects from diphenhydramine (blurred vision, constipation, dry mouth) would give anyone pause. Side effects are more common and pronounced in older people. If you don’t have any pain and sleep alone is the problem, I’d recommend taking just diphenhydramine. Although a low dose of ibuprofen is generally safe, why take an extra drug if you don’t need it?

For people who have not tried diphenhydramine for sleep, start with a low dose, 25 milligrams before bed. If that doesn’t seem to help and you don’t feel groggy the next day, you can try 50 milligrams. Don’t plan on driving or operating machinery the day after you take your first dose, or if you have increased the dose. You want to be certain that you’re not one of the people with lasting drowsiness from the drug. If you find you need to take diphenhydramine often, you may be experiencing insomnia, which is defined as complaints of disturbed sleep in the presence of adequate opportunity and circumstance to get it. Patients who have insomnia for 30 days or more are considered to have chronic insomnia, and experts recommend against treating chronic insomnia with diphenhydramine. So, if you find yourself reaching for ibuprofen p.m. on a regular basis, talk with your doctor about your sleep and what can be done to improve it. Q: I’ve tried all of the statin drugs to lower my cholesterol, but each one has caused severe muscle pain. Are there any non-statin medications I could try using to lower my cholesterol? A: Have you tried niacin yet? It’s an excellent drug for reducing cardiac risk in al-

most every way — it lowers harmful LDL cholesterol, raises beneficial HDL, and reduces cardiac complications. One reason it plays second fiddle to statins is that it causes side effects like itching and flushing in many people. These side effects can often be minimized or even eliminated by taking an aspirin before niacin, by gradually building up the dose, or by taking the intermediate-release type called Niaspan, which is available by prescription only.

Two other drugs that may be used in place of a statin are ezetimibe (Zetia) and colesevelam (Welchol). Both of these medications work in the intestines rather than the bloodstream, and so are less likely than statins to cause side effects. Ezetimibe blocks cholesterol in food from crossing the intestinal wall and getting into the bloodstream. Colesevelam grabs cholesterol-rich bile acids in the inSee CHOLESTEROL, page 18

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Fitness & Health

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Health Studies Page

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Can a diabetes drug prevent Alzheimer’s? By Carol Sorgen Alzheimer’s disease destroys brain cells, causing memory loss and problems with thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. It is a progressive and ultimately fatal disease that already affects more than 5 million Americans and is expected to affect millions more unless a cure is found. Early warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease include memory changes, difficulty completing familiar tasks, disorientation and losing things.

New drug may help Several drugs have been found to delay

the progression of the disease, at least temporarily. The National Institute of Aging (NIA) Clinical Research Branch at Harbor Hospital in Baltimore is conducting a clinical study to test a new drug treatment for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The drug being studied, Exendin-4 (also called Exenatide) has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of diabetes. Researchers have found that the medication is able to protect from damage the brain’s neurons — cells that process and transmit information. Exendin-4 is delivered by a daily injection under the skin. The medication has

BEACON BITS

Sept. 24+

BOOKWORMS REJOICE

The Baltimore Book Festival returns to town Friday to Sunday, Sept. 24 to 26. More than 100 local and national authors will take part in a variety of lectures, readings, signings and workshops. The festival takes place at Mount Vernon Place, in the 600 block of N. Charles St. Hours are Friday to Saturday, noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 1-(877) BALTIMORE or visit www.baltimorebookfestival.com.

Knee arthritis pain?

Volunteers are needed for a research study conducted at Johns Hopkins Bayview

Who is eligible? Participants may be eligible for this three-year study if they have been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. They must be 65 or older and have a caregiver who is able to accompany them on every visit. They cannot have additional neurological or psychiatric disease, or a history of stroke or diabetes. Two hundred and thirty patients are being sought for an initial evaluation and screening, which will include a two-day visit to the NIA Clinical Research Branch

Cholesterol From page 17 testine and locks them into a watery goo that is excreted in the stool. Ezetimibe has been controversial since trials showed it adds little to cardiac protection. Colesevelam might be a good choice if you have diabetes because it lowers blood sugar as well as cholesterol. What you eat can help lower cholesterol. Switching from an average American diet to a Mediterranean-type diet can lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Researchers at the University of Toronto created what they called a “dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods” that included margarine enriched with plant sterols; oats, barley, psyllium, okra, and eggplant, all rich in soluble fiber; soy protein and whole almonds. A diet emphasizing these foods substantially lowered LDL, triglycerides and blood

at Harbor Hospital. Of that group, approximately half will be selected for the study, which is not being conducted anywhere else in the country. All medication and all tests, including brain MRIs, blood work and other evaluations, will be provided at no cost to the patient. While no financial compensation is offered to participants, researchers will share clinically significant findings with each patient’s personal physician. Once accepted into the study, patients will visit the NIA Clinical Research Branch at regular intervals throughout the three years of the study. The NIA Clinical Research Branch is located on the 5th floor of Harbor Hospital, 3001 South Hanover Street, in South Baltimore. Parking is free. For more information, or to volunteer for the initial evaluation, call (410) 3503941 or (410) 350-7395, or e-mail NIAStudiesRecruitment@mail.nih.gov.

pressure, and did not harm HDL. Eating nuts can modestly lower cholesterol. Fish oil and garlic have long been touted as cholesterol reducers, but meta-analyses of clinical trials show they have little effect on cholesterol. Substances that do lower cholesterol are plant sterols and stanols. They have been added to margarine (Benecol, Promise, others), orange juice, granola bars, chocolate and other foods. They are also available as plain, no-calorie pills. Dr. Nancy L. Keating is an associate professor of medicine and healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School and an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass.. Dr. Thomas H. Lee is the chief executive officer for Partners Community HealthCare, Inc., and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. © 2010 President and fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Seeking Men and Women

To study sleep in pa ents with osteoarthri s of the knee. To par cipate, you must be 50 years or older. Both good and poor sleepers are needed. Parking, and tests are provided at no cost. Compensa on is provided.

Call 410-550-7906 and/or visit the website at

www.SleeplessInBaltimore.com Principal Inves gator: Michael T. Smith, Ph.D. Protocol NA_000118021

been found to be safe and effective in treating patients with diabetes, and this study will assess its safety and efficacy in Alzheimer’s patients, according to Dr. Dimitrios Kapogiannis, who is overseeing the study. Patients and their caregivers will be taught how to administer the injections.

The University of Maryland & Veterans Aﬀairs of Baltimore are conducting a research study to better understand FALLS in aging individuals. With your participation you will receive:

• Health evaluation • CT scans of waist, hip, and leg • Balance and strength testing

410-605-7179 Mention code: FALLS Approved 08/24/2009

You must be at least 65 years old and in good health. You will be compensated for your time.

Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Nutrition misunderstandings and hoaxes Q: I heard that a new report shows frozen vegetables generally contain no grains and vegetables to be some of more than 10 mg. per half-cup serving. the top sources of sodium. The problem here isn’t that Does that change the recwe’re eating large amounts of ommendation to make vegetables! It’s that when we these foods major parts of do eat vegetables, it’s largely our diet? in high-sodium sauces and A: No. The federal report soups. you refer to, which is from the Furthermore, the category Centers for Disease Control includes potato chips and and Prevention (CDC), identiFrench fries — unfortunately fies the top sources of sodium some of our most frequent in the U.S. diet, most of which vegetable choices. are processed foods, not fresh NUTRITION What the report shows is vegetables or basic whole WISE that even in choosing the grains such as brown rice and By Karen Collins, mostly plant-based diet that MS, RD, CDM rolled oats. we know can lower risk of canThe report shows where cer and heart disease, it’s immost Americans are getting their sodium. portant to make healthful choices within That means it reflects both how concen- these food categories. trated in sodium a food is and how much of If we choose unsalted vegetables and it we eat. grains and flavor them with herbs, spices, For example, the report shows that the lemon juice, flavored vinegar, garlic, olive food category that supplies the most sodium oil and other low-sodium options, sodium in the average American diet — 37 percent consumption will be low. — is grains. This reflects our high consumpQ: My friend got an e-mail from a fation of frozen pasta meals, convenience grain mous hospital that said by avoiding mixtures, crackers, cookies and breads. meat, we can free up more enzymes to If most Americans chose moderate attack and destroy cancer cells. Is that amounts of whole-grain bread and cereal, true? along with pasta (without the high-sodium A: No. What you are describing is part sauce) and unprocessed whole grains like of a hoax email supposedly coming from brown rice, bulgur, quinoa and others, the cancer treatment center at Johns Hopsodium consumption would be drastically kins Hospital — but it does not. lower. Excess consumption of red meat (beef, Vegetables were ranked as the third pork and lamb) is linked to increased risk leading source of sodium in our diet, sup- of colon cancer, but the potential reasons plying an average of 430 milligrams of scientists have identified for the link have sodium daily. But fresh and unsalted nothing to do with body enzymes, and that

link does not mean that cancer survivors need to avoid all red meat. The hoax email that includes this false statement includes other misinformation as well. Unfortunately, we have to remember that even when something on the Internet is attributed to a source you trust, it’s always best to go directly to the website of that trusted source to verify the information. In this case, the Johns Hopkins Hospital website encourages people to share with anyone who circulates the hoax email this link to a correction of the untrue statements: www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_c ancer_center/news_events/featured/can cer_update_email_it_is_a_hoax.html. When you receive information about re-

ducing cancer risk or helping cancer survivors, it’s always a good idea to doublecheck the advice with an authoritative expert source like the American Institute for Cancer Research (www.aicr.org) or the National Cancer Institute (www.nci.nih.gov). The American Institute for Cancer Research offers a Nutrition Hotline, 1-800843-8114, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This free service allows you to ask questions about diet, nutrition and cancer. A registered dietitian will return your call, usually within three business days. Courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research. Questions for this column may be sent to “Nutrition Wise,” 1759 R St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009. Collins cannot respond to questions personally.

Studies on Aging: Johns Hopkins University Are you 70 years or older? Investigators from the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Campus are looking for individuals aged 70 or older to participate in a research study that is looking at the aging process. Tests would include measurements of strength, walking speed and questions about your physical activities. We may also request a blood draw and urine sample. You will be paid $10 for participating depending on the study and we can conduct the study in your home. No travel required. If you choose to travel to Bayview, a parking pass will be given to you.

For more information, please call our study coordinators at Bayview:

410-550-9016 or 410-550-2113 We look forward to hearing from you!

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BEACON BITS

Oct. 3

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TAILGATE PARTY

Bring your friends to watch the Ravens vs. the Steelers game on a big screen TV on Sunday, Oct. 3 from noon to 5 p.m. The event includes free food and drinks, celebrity chefs and community art. It will be held at ThanksGiving Place, a park located at 1000 E. 33rd St., outside the Green House Residences at Stadium Place, a new long-term care senior community overlooking Memorial Stadium. It is slated to open next summer. The event is sponsored by Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation, which is developing the residences. For more information, contact Karen Miller at (443) 838-1518.

1 out of 2 people who live to 85 ǯ

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Fitness & Health

OCTOBER 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; BALTIMORE BEACON

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Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

A friend who won’t stop talking about sex Dear Solutions: you’ll be perfectly happy to hear about her A friend of mine who I sex life as long as it’s not too haven’t been in touch with for explicit. After all, you don’t some time called me. She’s want to be a lewd prude! now divorced, and I’m still Dear Solutions: married. I have two married sons She’s now seeing a man who live in two different and is excited about the relastates, and I get along well tionship. We’ve been having with each couple. lunch together, and now she I’m a widow now, and goes into details about her they each said I should sex life. Not only am I unmove near one of them so comfortable hearing it all, but they can help me as I get SOLUTIONS then she starts to ask me older. They want me to By Helen Oxenberg, questions about my sex life. which one I’ll move choose MSW, ACSW I won’t share this, but I near, and they say it won’t don’t know how to tell her make any difference which one I choose. it’s none of her business without alienDo you think it’s a good idea for me to ating her. Up to now I just sort of shrug do this — choosing I mean? I wouldn’t be and mumble something, and she moving in with them but just be living laughs at me and calls me a prude. nearby. How do I say nothing nicely? — Doris — Nan Dear Doris: Dear Nan: Agree with her. Tell her Moving near one of them is a good idea if she’s right — you are a prude. And since you’ve really thought it through and want to you don’t want to be a rude prude, you’d do that. Choosing between them is not. appreciate it if she’d stop asking you. Remember how we used to teach kids to Tell her, humorously, that your sex life be fair when they share? We had one of them has been X-rated by your husband, and if cut a piece of cake in two, and the other one you talk about it, your marriage might be- then gets to choose his piece. That was easy come “ex” also. — a “piece of cake” as the saying goes. Of course, if she insists, you can say This however, is no piece of cake. You’re

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right to be hesitant about making a choice between them. So, after assuring them you’ll be happy near either one, insist that they’ll have to choose which one you live near. That’s your insurance against the “Mom loves you best” sibling syndrome. Dear Solutions: My very independent daughter has moved back to my area after finishing her graduate degree in another state, where she also worked. She takes care of herself, and that’s fine with me. But an aunt of mine is making me crazy. She keeps insisting that I should tell my daughter exactly what to do in every situation, where to go, whom to meet and what to say. She would do the same thing with my son,

but he doesn’t live nearby. How can I stop her from bothering me about this? — Meg Dear Meg: Tell her your children are now older, so you’re not allowed to give them any advice unless they ask for it. Tell her, though, that if she insists, she can talk directly to your daughter. Give her the phone number, and repeat it whenever she starts giving you instructions. You can then contact me again when your daughter calls you desperately seeking a way to stop Aunt Busybody. © Helen Oxenberg, 2010. Questions may be sent to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915.

The Maryland Department of Aging cordially invites you to attend the

Planning, Prevention and Preparedness (3Ps) Kick Off! Experts in the Dields of health insurance, Medicare fraud and doctors in the community will be on hand to discuss:

Planning:

✓ Making informed choices for your health care and insurance ✓ Getting access to information and referrals about Dinancial security

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October 5th, 2010 at 6:00pm Annapolis Senior Activity Center 119 South Villa Ave. Annapolis, MD 21401

Please RSVP to Jamel Lewis at 410-767-1074 or via email Jlewis@ooa.state.md.us

For more information, please visit us at www.mdoa.state.md.us or call us at 410-767-1100

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Careers Volunteers &

Does your organization use senior volunteers or do you employ a number of seniors? If you do and you’d like to be considered for a story in our Volunteers & Careers section, please send an e-mail to info@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

Neglected children need court advocates has unlimited access to all records and each individual involved in the child’s case. Through extensive research, CASA volunteers gather information about the child’s situation, and every six months

One day while visiting the public library she picked up a bookmark for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Baltimore County and thought it sounded like the kind of volunteer effort she was searching for.

Speaking up in court For 10 years, CASA of Baltimore County has provided advocates for children who have been removed from their parents’ or guardians’ care due to abuse and neglect. CASA volunteers take an oath administered by a judge to represent the best interests of the child in court. The official court document guarantees that the volunteer

they report to the court, recommending whatever placement or services they feel the child may need. See CASA VOLUNTEERS, page 23

PHOTO COURTESY OF CASA

By Carol Sorgen As a single mother raising two children alone, Beverly Cain Egan was always focused on ensuring that her children were nurtured and encouraged to be the best they could be. “I always felt a great deal of sadness that many children did not have this environment in their lives, and hoped that one day I could find a way to help,” said Egan, who lives in Lutherville. When she retired after a 27-year career with PHH Fleet America, Egan tried several types of volunteer activities that involved helping children, but didn’t feel like she was doing something that could really “make a difference.”

Beverly Egan (left) and Joan McGill work with children in the foster care system as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers.

Are you online? So are we! Would you like to receive a monthly e-mail containing links to the online version of each month’s Beacon, as well as occasional special oﬀers and announcements? Just enter your e-mail address at TheBeaconNewspapers.com/signup Also – www.facebook.com/BeaconNewspaper

Volunteers & Careers

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

CASA volunteers From page 22 The organization has trained more than 300 volunteers, but there are still more than 600 Baltimore County children in foster care waiting for a CASA volunteer advocate. Ongoing economic problems, which are causing additional stress on families and increased reports of abuse, are giving rise to the need for even more CASA volunteers. After being accepted and attending the mandatory CASA training of 30 hours, Egan recalled that she “could not wait” to get her first assignment. “My first child was a teenager — with all the same problems and issues as any other teenager — only magnified by the fact that she had a history of sexual abuse and many foster homes and group homes,” Egan remembered. Unfortunately, that story did not have a happy ending. “We lost her to the streets,” said Egan. “Despite the fact that I felt like a total failure, I was determined to try again, and I have never regretted that decision.” Egan has worked with numerous other children over the past eight years with more successful results. One of the highlights of her volunteer efforts was attending one CASA child’s farewell ceremony before he left for his new adoptive home.

“I continue to serve as a CASA volunteer because I believe it is everyone’s responsibility to help our children, and because I have felt such joy when a child trusts me for the first time,” she said.

Making a commitment Another enthusiastic and dedicated CASA volunteer is Joan T. McGill of Sparks. She has a flexible work schedule as president of the Dillingham Company, a marketing services and real estate management firm, and was looking for a way to help children. McGill wasn’t ready to actually become a foster parent herself, but wanted to make a serious commitment to helping children. So she became a member of CASA’s first training class in 2001. After the mandatory training, McGill was assigned a 14-year-old boy who was sheltered in a group home after his mother died. McGill stayed with his case for six years until he “aged out” of the foster care system. She has been an advocate for several teenage girls as well, and in each case, she said, “I have been one of the few adults in their lives who they can trust not to abandon them.” What keeps McGill passionate and involved after 10 years of service is knowing that she makes a difference. “Just one phone call can change a prob-

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

RSVP TO AN INVITATION TO SERVE

If you’re 55 or older and want to make a difference in Baltimore City, call RSVP to learn about volunteer opportunities that will help meet critical community needs. For more information, call (410) 361-9400.

Ongoing

VOLUNTEER FOR ART WITH A HEART

Art with a Heart works to enhance the lives of people in need through visual art. If you’d like to make a difference to Baltimorearea children, adolescents and adults in shelters, group homes, community centers, schools, senior facilities and hospitals, call (410) 366-8886 or visit www.artwithaheart.net.

lem situation into a better outcome,” she said. What makes it worthwhile is “knowing that the judge respects my opinion and pays close attention to my recommendation. “It is knowing that my child understands that I will be there, no matter what! It is knowing that my child will not be forgotten or slip through the cracks of the foster care system.” CASA of Baltimore County will celebrate a decade of advocacy for abused and neglected children at a fundraising event called A Harvest of Hope for Children. The

event takes place on Thursday, Oct. 28, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Oregon Ridge Lodge, 13401 Beaver Dam Rd., in Cockeysville. The business casual event will feature cocktails and a buffet dinner provided by Kooper’s Tavern as well as a silent auction. Captain Jack will entertain with pop/rock tunes. Individual tickets to the event are $75 in advance and $80 at the door. For more information about volunteering, or to attend the event, call (410) 8280515 or visit www.casabaltco.org.

BEACON BITS

Sept. 25

WELCOME TO FALL Celebrate Autumn on the waterfront at the Fall Harvest Fest in

Harbor East on Saturday, Sept. 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free concerts, refreshments from local restaurants, strolling entertainers and family activities are on tap.

Sept. 27

HELP RAISE MONEY FOR MEALS ON WHEELS “Meals on Reels” will help raise money for Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland. Enjoy a wine tasting, light fare and a screening

of Bottleshock at Charles Theatre and Tapas Teatro on Monday, Sept. 27, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $40 each or two for $70. For more information, call (443) 573-0929 or visit www.mealsonwheelsmd.org.

Baltimore City Health Department Senior Community Service Employment Program • Employment training for seniors • Be placed in non-profit or government agencies to train for a new job • Earn $7.25/hour while training • Required to train a minimum of 20 hours per week • Must be 55 or older, unemployed and a resident of Baltimore City

For more information, call

410-545-7290 or 410-545-7291

Volunteers & Careers

OCTOBER 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; BALTIMORE BEACON

s &LU 3HOTS (EALTH 3CREENINGS s %XHIBITORS s ,IVE %NTERTAINMENT s %XPAND 9OUR (ORIZONS 6OLUNTEER &AIR 7ED A M n P M s 2E (IREMENT *OB &AIR AND &REE *OB 3EEKER 3EMINARS 4HURS A M n P M s &REE 4RAVEL ,OG 'IFT s &ABULOUS 0RIZES 7ED ONLY s ,IVE -USIC s &REE 2EFRESHMENTS s 1UALITY !UCTION )TEMS s &REE !DMISSION TO !UCTION #ALL FOR MORE INFORMATION 3PECIAL 'UEST PRODUCED BY

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Travel Leisure &

Easton, Md. offers arts and inns. See story on page 27.

Eclectic New Orleans endures and entices

Colorful characters When I got to my B&B in the French Quarter in May and awaited a key, I perched on a rickety wooden chair streetside and was soon joined by my next door “neighbor” who emerged for a smoke.

He was a scraggly fellow in a sleeveless, dingy undershirt and loose-hanging jeans. We heard a long tooting whistle. “That’s the paddle boat coming in,” he explained, as colorful characters of every age meandered along the sidewalk and the sweet aroma of baking beignets wafted by. It was a fitting introduction to New Orleans — the Big Easy, a place where you can go from the seedy to the sublime in an instant. Here at the foot of the Mississippi River in a filled-in swamp, the humidity seems to nourish a fusion of cultures and a zany mix of people with a boundless joie de vivre. In Jackson Square, I met two guys, one whose entire body, head to toe, was painted silver; the other was painted gold. Another fellow claimed to be a duplicate (not a twin) of Muhammad Ali and wanted to shed his bathrobe for a fisticuff. It can seem a bit surreal. Maybe it’s because the “Mighty Muddy” Mississippi — a river that drains 41 percent of the United States and is unpredictable — lurks untamable and presumably restrained by a levee. Maybe it’s the backdrop of vapors emanating from the slow-moving, steamy bayous that ripple through the region and the gangly bald cypresses draped in dangly Spanish moss.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU

By Glenda C. Booth Just after the Deepwater Horizon well blowout started spewing crude oil across the Gulf of Mexico in April, New Orleans native Joe Kimbrell had reason to moan. “We don’t need this. Why can’t we just relish being the Super Bowl champs?” Southeastern Louisiana, with New Orleans its heartbeat, has been battered time and again — Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi River floods, Formosa termite invasions, and then, the ruptured well that sent over 200 million gallons of oil onto Gulf shores and into the state’s cherished wetlands. But this time the Crescent City may have dodged a bullet. The actual well is 100 miles from New Orleans, and the city has not been directly fouled. Its seafood is testing safe, city promoters insist. Conventioneers still descend, chefs create mouth-watering gourmet dishes, and jazz reverberates through the French Quarter at all hours. The resilience and enduring spirit of the people of New Orleans are part of its persona. “We may have a bit of insanity, but we never grow old,” touts a video about the city’s most famous festival, Mardi Gras.

A New Orleans river boat cruises down the Mississippi River past the round Aquarium of the Americas.

Taking in the French Quarter The vibrant core of New Orleans is the PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU

A horse-drawn carriage passes in front of the Royal Café in New Orleans’ French Quarter, which is once again filled with jazz and nightlife.

French Quarter, Vieux Carré (old square), 66 blocks of jazz clubs, boutiques, restaurants, shops, art galleries and homes. Visitors can be amused for hours just walking the streets. A stroll on Bourbon Street can be a bacchanalian experience worth doing once. There seem to be minifests always going on somewhere, with blues oozing out of windows and doorways. Jackson Square is a magnet for musicians, buskers, clairvoyants, mystics, dancers, artists, transients, tricksters, odds and ends of people and many curiosity seekers. Some say you could see alligators crossing the square at one time. These reptiles aren’t far away, and they once scampered through the area’s towns. The architecture bespeaks the rich mix of cultures — Spanish, French, German, French Acadian, Cajun, Creole and native American — that have made New Orleans the gumbo that it is. Wrought-iron and cast-iron work decorate balconies and fronts. Double-shotgun houses and Creole cottages are crammed side by side along narrow streets. Tuckedaway inner courtyards beckon. The $15 French Quarter Walking Tour, starting at the 1850 House, 525 St. Ann St., is an informative introduction to the Quarter’s quirks and history. There are also tours for every taste, including architecture, history, food, music, ghosts and voodoo. There’s a “rebirth”

tour on which you can see the levee that breached and areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Cemetery tours explore the area’s unique burial methods. Because New Orleans is below sea level, a grave would fill with water quickly and caskets would float up. So most burials are above ground, and the city’s dearly departed rest in vaults.

Quintessential cuisine “We live to eat. We’ve never heard of counting calories,” Baton Rouge native Whitney Breaux, told me as I downed a two-inch high, spongy bread pudding, after dining on crab claws and catfish Orleans, fried filets with crawfish étoufeé. Food is central to the identity of the City of Chefs. The cuisine combines Cajun, Creole, French, Italian, African and Caribbean dishes from hole-in-the-wall dives to high-end restaurants. In more than 1,000 restaurants, chefs master distinctive dishes like red beans and rice, gumbo, boudin, crab boil, jambalaya, oysters Bienville, various étoufeés, pralines, beignets, king cakes, po-boys and muffulettas. Paul Prudhomme, founder and head chef at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, elevated spicy blackened fish to fame here. A good introduction to eating is the Court of the Two Sisters’ jazz brunch, where you See NEW ORLEANS, page 26

Leisure & Travel

New Orleans From page 25 can tickle your palate with famous New Orleans dishes from a bounteous buffet. At restaurants like Antoine’s, Commander’s Palace, Galatoire’s, Broussard’s and Pierre Maspero’s you’ll rarely go wrong. Check out the back window of the Café du Monde, open 24-7, and you’ll see the chef flinging dough into oil en route to becoming mouth-watering beignets.

All that jazz Jazz seems to seep from every crevice, but in truth, there’s a wide range of music here, including zydeco, Cajun, R&B, bluegrass, rockabilly, reggae and rock ‘n’ roll. Among the greats who have called New Orleans home are Louis Armstrong, Pete Fountain, Fats Domino, and Ellis, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis. The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park offers a self-guided walking tour

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

of jazz sites in the French Quarter. Visit www.nps.gov/jazz. A good nightspot for authentic N’awlins’ jazz is Snug Harbor at 626 Frenchmen St., www.snugjazz.com. There are many museums. For history and local culture, try the Museum Cabildo, which boasts Napoleon’s 1821 death mask made 40 hours after he died. The Presbytere has an excellent Mardi Gras exhibit, including filmed interviews with locals, who explain New Orleans arcana like krewes (organized groups that participate in Mardi Gras parades or balls), king cake (colorful cakes served at Mardi Gras), and the “art form” of building floats. The 100-year-old St. Charles streetcar rumbles along a 13-mile loop and is a convenient way to visit the Garden District, a 13-block area of sumptuous antebellum mansions amid subtropical foliage that evoke the Deep South.

Down in the bayou Getting out of the city and into southeast-

ern Louisiana’s swamplands offers a broader context and saturation in all that is Louisiana. Spanish moss droops eerily from the cypress and tupelo trees, and alligator eyes peek out just above the water. Winding through the bayous with the critters croaking, buzzing, scampering and slithering showcases a key part of the fabric of southern Louisiana. About 30 minutes out of town, in the National Park Service’s Barataria Preserve, you can explore 20,000 acres of swamp and forest on foot or by canoe. Visit www.nps.gov/jela/Baratariapreserve.htm. Fifty-seven miles from New Orleans, and well worth a day trip, is the Cajun Man’s swamp tour near Houma. The drive there is a tour of small town Louisiana, burgs largely dependent on oil and fishing, endeavors not incongruous to locals. In his two-hour pontoon ride, Ron “Black” Guidry rattles on about the native flora and fauna and is often tailed by his two “pet” alligators, who at the sound of

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the boat, speed over for a chicken snack. Guidry plays a guitar and Cajun accordion and treats passengers to tunes, including one about a Louisiana lass who ran off with a Yankee rascal from Baton Rouge. Another titled “Colinda,” begins “Allon, let’s dance, your mother is not here to chaperone.” “The great white egrets come around when they hear me sing,” Guidry quips. Pretty soon, everyone is singing “You Are My Sunshine,” written by a revered former Louisiana governor, Jimmie Davis. Reservations are highly recommended. Call (985) 868-4725.

If you go Visit the New Orleans tourism office at www.neworleanscvb.com for information on lodging, restaurants, museums, tours and other services. AirTran offers non-stop flights from BWI Marshall Airport starting at $169 round-trip in mid-October. Decide if you want to stay in the French Quarter or near it. Staying in it means you might be “treated” to revelers all night. Two hotels on the edge of the Quarter, but accessible on foot to major sites, are the Hotel St. Pierre, 911 Burgundy St. (1-800-6540224, www.FrenchQuarterInns.com, $79 to $169 per night) and the Best Western at 920 North Rampart St, (504-524-3333, www.bestwesternlouisiana.com, $119 per night). Glenda C. Booth is a travel writer who lives in Alexandria, Va.

BEACON BITS

Oct. 7

A “SWEET” TRIP TO THOMASVILLE

Join the Catonsville Senior Center on Thursday, Oct. 7, for this day-long trip to Thomasville, Pa. Lunch and high tea at the Old Farm House Tea Room are on the schedule, as are visits to local antique shops and the Stauffer’s cookie outlet. Trip fee is $55. Call (410) 744-0170 to reserve your spot.

Oct. 8

SHOP TILL YOU DROP IN EPHRATA

Load up on goodies at the Green Dragon Farmers Market on this excursion to Ephrata, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Oct. 8. Trip fee is $35. For more information and reservations, call the Seven Oaks Senior Center at (410) 8875192.

Dec. 11

RESERVE NOW FOR CHRISTMAS IN GETTYSBURG

Step back in time to see how Christmas was celebrated in the mid-1800s on this family trip to “Christmas in Gettysburg,” on Saturday, Dec. 11, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Cost of the trip is $99 and includes a dinner buffet. Call the Kaleidoscope office at Roland Park Country School at (410) 323-5500 or visit on the Web at www.rpcs.org.

Leisure & Travel

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Easton’s lively arts scene near the shore food at open-air stands, and enjoying a sense of community. A three-day pass for $10 gets you in to events. The collectible decoys fetch hundreds of dollars; talking to the carvers is free.

Exploring Easton Concentrated on Dover Street, art galleries, restaurants, inns, and the Avalon Theatre make for a lively mix. A good place to start your walking tour is the Talbot County Visitors Center, one block over on Harrison Street. Once home of the fire company, the tiny tourist office displays memorabilia of the 300-year-old community, including clothing, products manufactured in the area, and items from the plantation where Frederick Douglass was a slave. On a quiet summer weekend we encountered few visitors. Sidewalk cafes and private galleries on the central plaza at Talbot County Courthouse (circa 1794) had a relaxed buzz. The walkable center of Easton focuses on the historic Avalon Theatre. During the silent movie era, the Avalon hosted the premiere of The First Kiss starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray, filmed aboard a skipjack fishing boat at St. Michaels in 1926. Refurbished with touches of Art Deco

PHOTO COURTESY OF INN AT 202 DOVER

By Bernard Burt Maryland’s Eastern Shore attracts boaters, crabs and tourists galore. But Easton, the historic seat of Talbot County, has neither beaches nor marinas. Unlike other towns near the bay, however, it has lots of art. Movie buffs will flock to the Chesapeake Film Festival, Sept. 24 to 26. The third annual edition of this homegrown event promises a mix of independent productions, documentaries and golden oldies. Inspired by the Sundance festival in Utah, a group of Maryland filmmakers put together an eclectic series of screenings and talks with movie directors. The annual Waterfowl Festival in November makes Easton the capital of duck carving. Twelve venues throughout town feature world-class paintings, sculpture, carvings and photography of waterfowl. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Waterfowl Festival. For three days, Nov. 12 to 14, the entire town will celebrate the fall season. With migrating Canada geese flying overhead, colonial streets are closed and historic buildings decorated with natural greens. While the exhibitions and competitions are ticketed, the festive atmosphere attracts families walking dogs, sampling

Easton’s Inn at 202 Dover, built in 1874, features French and Victorian antiques, along with dollhouses crafted by one of the owners.

decoration, the theater is run by a nonprofit foundation that presents live concerts as well as movies. The 400-seat auditorium has remarkable acoustics, comfortable seats, an elevator and two bars. Upstairs, the Stoltz Listening Room is an intimate venue for jazz, bluegrass and country music groups. On

the ground floor, Legal Sprits Tavern has a lively vibe at the corner of Dover and Washington Streets. Some of the Chesapeake Film Festival’s movies will screen at the Avalon. Paintings by some of the area’s profes-

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See EASTON, page 29

Leisure & Travel

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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Leisure & Travel

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Easton From page 27 sional artists drew our attention at Grafton Galleries, 32 E. Dover St. Landscapes by David Grafton capture the essence of Eastern Shore life. And you may meet the artist in his studio next door. Nearby, South Street Art Gallery hosts shows from across the country as well as local artists. Troika Gallery has impressive work by 33 local artists. Decoy collectors can check out sales at Studio 26, a new gallery on Dover Street. The newest addition to the Academy Art Museum comes from collectors in New York City. Fifty works from the Vogel collection of American modernists, recently documented on PBS TV, were given to the Easton museum by the National Gallery of Art through a grant from the Maryland Arts Council.

An historic mansion reborn Our five-block walk in the historic area ended at Tidewater Inn’s cozy pub, steps from tree-lined streets graced with fine examples of Tidewater homes. Ronald and Shelby Mitchell drove down from Bethesda six years ago to discover a rundown mansion waiting to be reborn as the Inn at 202 Dover. Built almost 140 years ago, the stately Colonial Revival residence had been through numerous incarnations before falling into disarray. Applying creative energy from former careers in advertising and law, the Mitchells brought the mansion back to life, adding a culinary hotspot and design details unique to Easton. Featuring just four suites and one single bedroom, the Inn at 202 Dover offers the best of past and present. Victorian and French antiques harmonize with a piano in the parlor that was created by enclosing porches. Hosting a B&B inn brought out the Mitchells’ artistic flair. Shelby’s handmade doll houses are displayed in public rooms. “We preserved the building’s Victorian origins by theming suites to popular destinations of that era,” Ron explained. Guests choose lavishly furnished Asian, French, English or African Safari suites with spacious parlor, full bath and distinctive décor. The Mitchells added a glass-walled conservatory to expand the dining room, now known as the Peacock Restaurant & Lounge. It is graced by a full-feathered bird found in an antiques shop down the street. Open to the public, the Peacock adds music by a pianist for Sunday brunch. That brunch spotlights chef Mark Knipp, who hails from culinary powerhouses like the Inn at Little Washington, Va. Local farmers supply ingredients for his all-American menu. Breakfast is Ron’s specialty (ask for his buttermilk croissant French toast with orange calvados), included in the cost of your suite. Our host even met me at the Greyhound station in his vintage Mercedes. This is real small town hospitality.

If you go Easton is an hour-and-a-half drive from

Baltimore, located on Route 50 halfway between Annapolis and Cambridge. There is Greyhound bus service from Baltimore. However, the bus stop is not located in town, and a taxi has to be booked in advance. For a community guide and calendar of events, visit www.tourtalbot.org or call (410) 770-8000. Suites for two persons at the Inn at 202 Dover cost $450 per night weekends; $349 midweek, including breakfast. An a la carte menu featuring fall harvest fare from $12 is served in the Peacock Restaurant & Lounge: dinner Thursday through Monday from 5:30 p.m., Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. 1-866-450-7600, www.innat202dover.com. Less expensive accommodations are available at the Comfort Inn, about five minutes from downtown Easton. Rates start at $149 a night. Call 1-800-228-5150. The Waterfowl Festival requires tickets for indoor exhibits. Scheduled are world championship calling contests, decoy auctions, demonstrations by stunt dogs and

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retrievers, fly-fishing, and evening concerts. A three-day pass costs $10; parking and shuttle bus are free. For more information, go to www.waterfowlfestival.org or call (410) 822-4567. For more on the Avalon Theatre, go to www.avalontheatre.com or call (410) 822-7299. The Academy Art Museum Gallery is open Monday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m.

to 7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $3. It is located at 106 South St.. For more information, go to www.academyartmuseum.org or call (410) 822-ARTS. For Chesapeake Film Festival program details, go online to www.chesapeakefilmfestival.com or call (410) 822-1012. Bernard Burt is a Washington, D.C. travel writer and author of 100 Best Spas of the World.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

HELP SHOW OFF BALTIMORE

Volunteers with the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association promote association members (attractions, events, accommodations, restaurants, tours, etc.) to visitors and area residents. Volunteers are the front-line ambassadors for Charm City. To learn more, call (410) 659-7319 or visit www.baltimore.org.

Ongoing

AUGSBURG LUTHERAN HOME SEEKS VOLUNTEERS Augsburg Lutheran Home and Village, a Christian continuum-ofcare facility, is looking for volunteers. Call (410) 486-4573, ext. 147, or visit www.augsburglutheranhome&village.org.

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OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Style Arts &

Walter Wick’s massive pirate ship model is part of his exhibit at the Walters.

Playful photos, props a delight at Walters Accidental artist A native of Connecticut, Wick, now 57, became interested in art in high school, and then went on to study photojournalism and landscape photography at the Paier College of Art in Hamden, Conn. After graduating in 1973, he worked as a lab technician and product photographer. “The work was not glamorous, but I was fascinated with the technical challenges of making the surfaces, shadows and highlights look exactly right in the photographs,” he recalled in his biography. Before long, Wick moved to New York City and started his own studio. With few clients at first, he had time to explore new ideas and techniques, which resulted in a small, but effective, portfolio of seven images. One of these images, he remembers, came about almost by accident. “I was organizing screws, paper clips and other odds and ends. As I began sorting, I liked the way the objects looked spread out on my light box,” he recalled. “After hours of careful arranging, I took a picture. This photograph of odds and ends was the spark that helped inspire the first I Spy book.” This interest in puzzles and optical illu-

By Carol Sorgen If you’ve spent any time with kids in the past 20 years, you’re probably familiar with Walter Wick — if not his name, then his popular book series, Can You See What I See? and I Spy. Both challenge young and not-so-young readers to solve visual riddles or puzzles created from the thousands of props Wick has collected in his studio (a renovated firehouse). Wick’s playfulness will be on full display at the Walters Art Museum from Sept. 19 through Jan. 2, 2011 in the exhibition “Games, Gizmos and Toys in the Attic.” The exhibit, the first museum retrospective of his work, is made up of 55 largescale photographs selected from Wick’s books. There are also six models that he used to craft some of the images — including a four-foot by seven-foot Jolly Roger model pirate ship from Wick’s newest book, Can You See What I See? Treasure Ship. Also in the exhibit are behind-the-scenes video clips that show visitors how Wick creates the images in his books.

Pigs actually do fly in this illustration by Walter Wick from Can You See What I See? Once Upon a Time. Over 50 enlarged and enhanced images are on display at the Walters.

sions led Wick to work for Games magazine in the 1980s. His playful photographs of toys and household objects came to the attention of editor Jean Marzollo, and in 1991 the two collaborated on I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles. Since that time they have co-authored more than 20 I Spy books. Wick has also pursued his own creative ideas with the camera, which have resulted in A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder, Optical Tricks and the Can You See What I See? series.

Larger than life

with details, colors and tones not possible in book reproductions. This will present a “playful sense of scale, space and the unexpected,” said Wick. Adding to that is his 30 years’ experience in tinkering and experimenting — with mirrors, time exposures, multiple exposures, photo composites and other tricks — reflected in his work. Explaining his artistic approach, Wick said, “In my children’s books, props intended to appeal to young readers — toys, household items and found objects — are the primary visual components.

The photographs on view in the exhibition are enlarged to five- or six-feet wide

See WALTER WICK, page 33

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Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Writer needn’t be prolific to be a ‘genius’ By Hillel Italie Author Deborah Eisenberg is in the dining area of her apartment, peeling an orange. She removes a small piece, places it on her plate and peels again. It takes a couple of hours, but when finished, she has an arrangement as artful as a lotus flower. Or, in her case, a short story. For the past quarter century, Eisenberg has created — without hurry — stories.

AP PHOTO/CHARLES SYKES

She has finished just four collections that total under 1,000 pages, enough for an anthology out this spring and for the usual rewards for the short fiction artist: admiring reviews, limited sales, and reliance on teaching jobs to keep going. But last fall, money fell like ripened fruit from a tree. Eisenberg received a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship that honored her for “an unusually distinctive portrait of contemporary American life,” kind thoughts with a check enclosed for $300,000. “I actually don’t know how I was planning to get through the next bunch of years,” said Eisenberg, 64. “I teach one semester a year (at the University of Virginia) and it really doesn’t support my entire year by any means. “And so, since they’ve called me, I’ve had that feeling of relief that you have escaping from a danger that you didn’t know you were in. I simply hadn’t realized how terrified I was just to support myself.”

eral sketches for his best-selling Ford County. Two fiction finalists for the National Book Awards were story collections, and two books of stories were runners-up for the Pulitzer Prize. Sherman Alexie’s War Dances won the PEN/Faulkner prize. The short story “renaissance” has been declared so many times that it’s better to say the form never died. But it is chronically overlooked until an author such as Eisenberg, whose collected stories have just come out, reminds us why we should pay attention. “To be interested in short stories, you have to be interested in fiction as an art form,” said Eisenberg’s editor Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux. “You have to be already inside the tent, as it were, to give yourself over to short stories.” “It always tickles me when people who are starting out as writers say they’re writing stories, but that they’re working toward completing a novel,” said Rebecca Pepper Sinkler, a former editor of The New York Times Book Review who chaired this year’s Pulitzer fiction committee. “Short stories are a very demanding form, and a really good short story can make you feel as if you’ve read a whole novel.” Just as actors must read a line over and over until it sounds unrehearsed, Eisen-

berg labors toward a free, conversational tone that can fool you into believing she simply recites her stories into a recording device. Short story writers must condense, and in “Rafe’s Coat,” Eisenberg sets up a life or two in the first sentence: “One sparkly evening not long after my husband and I had started divorce proceedings, Rafe stopped by for a drink before taking me out to dinner.”

Late bloomer Eisenberg, tall and slender with dark, deep-set eyes and high cheekbones, is a contrast in black in her white-walled apartment in downtown Manhattan. She speaks at a deliberate, cultured pace, and has a way of revealing information selectively, in her work and in person. In discussing how she came to write her first story, she refers to “the person I’m still in love with.” Later, she will call him “this wonderful man” and then suggests, “Let’s call him Wallace.” She means Wallace Shawn, playwright, author and actor, and her companion for more than 30 years. Eisenberg credits Shawn as the loving support behind her literary breakthrough. See EISENBERG, page 33

A short story resurgence

Author Deborah Eisenberg received a $300,000 MacArthur “genius” Fellowship for her finely crafted short stories. She teaches a semester each year at the University of Virginia and spends the rest of her time in New York.

The short story has had an interesting run in recent months. Oprah Winfrey chose a collection, Uwem Akpan’s Say You’re One of Them, for her book club. John Grisham put together sev-

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Arts & Style

OCTOBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Druid Hill From page 1 The history of the park lends it special status, agreed Dr. David T. Terry, director of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture. “Druid Hill Park is important, not just as a recreational facility, but as a significant historical landmark,” said Terry, who observed that his interest in the park stems from an appreciation of the history of the enslaved and free blacks who have called the park home. The park wasn’t just an attraction for African American Baltimoreans. Harriet Lynn, artistic director of the Heritage Theatre Artists’ Consortium, grew up accompanying her father, an avid tennis player, to the park. “Back in the day” when kids could roam on their own, Lynn considered the park her “enchantment.”

“I always thought of it as ‘my’ park,” she said and, in fact, credits much of the imaginative bent that led her to a life in the creative arts to the childhood hours she spent in the park creating a vivid fantasy life. In the days when air conditioning wasn’t found in every home, Lynn also recalled how families would sleep in the park to catch the slightest breeze. Lynn’s devotion to the park continues to this day. When she returned to Baltimore after having lived out of town, she moved to the Temple Gardens section of the city so she could be near the park, and several years ago she taught tai chi in the park’s Orchid Room. The park played a significant role in the lives of Jewish families like Lynn’s, many of whom lived in the nearby neighborhoods before “suburban flight” took root in the mid-1960s. “From 1920 to 1960, Druid Hill Park was Jewish Baltimore’s green oasis and the geographic center of the Jewish community,”

said Barry Kessler, former curator of the Jewish Museum of Maryland and the Baltimore City Life Museums. Kessler recently wrote a history of the park as it related to the Jewish community for the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network. (The history is available online at www.bjen.org.) “The history of Druid Hill Park and Baltimore’s Jewish communities are profoundly intertwined,” Kessler said.

The park’s fall and rebirth But that was then and this is now, Kessler added. Baltimore City fell on hard times, as did the park. The surrounding neighborhoods declined, crime increased, and the park was no longer anyone’s oasis. “People aren’t familiar with the park anymore,” said Kessler. “To many, the park seems distant and forbidding.” Kessler believes one reason is that children today don’t have the same interest in or need for a home-away-from-home oasis.

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In-home entertainment is just a mouseclick away, and for those who can be pried away from their electronics, the mom-anddad-escort-service is usually called for. A number of people are trying to show Baltimoreans just what they’ve missing, starting with the 150th Druid Hill Park Anniversary Celebration. The event will include tours, lectures, a tree dedication and sports clinics, as well as a gala for which guests are invited to dress from any period of the park’s 150-year history, according to Rob Brennan, Treasurer of the Friends of Druid Hill Park. Brennan, founder of Brennan + Company Architects and one of the few Baltimore County residents in the group, joined because he has a great interest in the city, in urbanism in general, and in the park as an amenity to city life. Brennan admits that city parks in general, and Druid Hill Park in particular, have not enjoyed a heyday for many a year. But as the city pumps money into the park and residents of the city and surrounding counties look for what Brennan calls a much-needed “escape valve from the hard edge of the city,” the park is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. For example, the city will be opening a phase of the Jones Falls Trail running through the park along the reservoir, past the zoo, and straight to the Woodberry neighborhood of the city. “When you drive by [Druid Hill], you can just feel the draw of it,” said Brennan. “You want to get in there.” For a complete schedule of events for the Druid Hill Park anniversary celebration, visit http://druidhillpark.org or call (443) 469-8274.

BEACON BITS

Sept. 25+

POLISH FALL FESTIVAL

Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church will be alive with polka music and homemade Polish foods on Saturday, Sept. 25 starting at 2:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Sept. 26, starting with a Polish mass at 10:30 a.m. Admission is $1. On Saturday night at 8 p.m., there will be a Polish disco ball. Admission is $40 in advance, $45 at the door. For more information, call (410) 732-3960

Oct. 9+

BALTIMORE ART FESTIVAL

The second annual Baltimore Art Festival brings together talented artists from Baltimore and around the country to take part in “Baltimore Harbors a Love for Art.” The festival is located at The Power Plant, 601 E. Pratt St., on Saturday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (954) 472-3755 or visit www.artfestival.com

Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

Walter Wick

spired by the Walters’ own Chamber of Wonders galleries. An adaptation of the classic folktale In a Dark, Dark Wood, the book combines spooky folktales, clever rhymes and stunning images. Wick’s use of colors and arrangement of objects in his photos fairly jump out at the viewer, as if they were in 3-D. “Yikes!,” from the 1994 I Spy Fantasy, for example, is as vibrant and lively as it must have first appeared 16 years ago, with bright primary colors and ordinary objects such as wooden spoons, blocks and telephones appearing to dance with

each other. And if you’ve ever used the expression, “When pigs fly,” well, take a look at Wick’s “The Three Little Pigs,” from the book Can You See What I See? Once Upon a Time. Cuddly pink oinksters have definitely taken flight, along with wheelbarrows, pitchforks, sacks of apples and more, all soaring over a dusk-lit country landscape. You don’t have to be a kid — or even be accompanied by one — to enjoy this exhibition. But if you do have a pint-sized friend to join you, it will be a treat for both of you.

The Walters Art Museum is located at North Charles and Centre Streets. Museum hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission to the museum is free, but there is a charge for tickets to “Games, Gizmos and Toys in the Attic.” Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $6 for students/young adults (18-25). Admission is free for those 17 and under and for museum members. Purchase tickets by calling (410) 547-9000, ext. 265 or online at http://thewalters.org/exhibitions/walter-wick.

Eisenberg

insisted I wear that red dress.’”

From page 31

Turning to fiction

He encouraged her to write, then rewrite, and re-re-rewrite. She thought she would kill him. She forgave him (and still does). She had never planned to work so hard. She was born and raised in the Chicago area and showed literary talent at an early age, a high school teacher telling her that her student work was mindful of the great Katherine Mansfield. But Eisenberg, a ready advocate for doing nothing rather than something, chose nothing — for years. “I always need huge amounts of time to do anything,” she said, “enormous amounts of time. I’m happier if I don’t have plans, if it’s a working day. “I know some people work incredibly well if they know they’ll break at 7:30 and have a lovely evening. I just get cross.” As she neared 30, she was in crisis, not because she had no career, but because she had quit smoking and was such a wreck that she worried about her thennew romance with Shawn, who suggested she pick up pen and paper. That’s how Eisenberg remembers it. Shawn says Eisenberg was obviously meant to write. “We often use others as a device to do what we want to anyway,” Shawn said later in a telephone interview. “Sometimes, people say, `Don’t you think I should wear the red dress?’ But then when they tell the story they remember it as, ‘He absolutely

She worked on a piece, nonfiction, about giving up smoking and the people she knew at a local gym. She worked and worked but “it was horrible. I would tear it up and then weep in despair.” She showed a draft to Shawn, who told her it should be fiction. So she wrote fiction. “I gave it to him, he read it, and he said, ‘Well, you’ve turned it into fiction, but now it’s lost its life,’” she said. “So I did it again, and after I don’t know how long I gave it to him. And he read it, and he said, ‘Well, hey, you’ve written a story.’ “I was shocked by how eloquently she wrote,” Shawn said. “Anybody would have been shocked, because it wasn’t like the work of a writer who was just starting out. It was extremely expressive and moving. To use a cliché from the theater, she was writing from a deep place.” The story was “Days,” the diary of an exsmoker. It’s part of the collection Transactions in a Foreign Currency, which came out in 1986 and was praised by The New York Times for a voice that “seduces upon contact.” She has since received five O. Henry prizes for short stories and a Rea Award, a lifetime achievement honor that also has been given to Eudora Welty, John Updike and Paul Bowles. “Every writer I know thinks of her as a kind of model,” said her friend and fellow writer Francine Prose.

“There’s her absolutely precise and original use of language and the freshness of her sensibility, the way in which she renders consciousness and what it’s like to think about and see the world. You can spend all day looking through her work and you wouldn’t find a single cliché.” Discovery is her subject, and her way of working. She begins a story not knowing what will happen and her characters are no more on track. They are leaving relationships, starting new ones, trying out careers, new lives. They seem to reside in the present, but at times they stop and think harder, as in “What It Was Like, Seeing Chris,” when the narrator decides that “every moment is all the things that are going to happen.” Since her first story, she has avoided

being too personal. She might investigate a life of a recovering drug addict who paints houses in “Rosie Gets a Soul,” but she doesn’t have a taste for coming-of-age tales set in Chicago or comic narratives about writers living together in New York. And you can bet she’ll stay away from characters who receive genius grants. “One of the amazing things about writing fiction is that you do get to be other people,” Eisenberg said. “You’re entirely defined by this physical entity that you are, but is that what your very being is? “No, that’s something much more fluid and much less confined. I happen to be a 64-year-old woman who lives in Manhattan, so on and so forth, but am I the sum total of my sort of bodily coordinates? Well, of course not.” — AP

From page 30 The props are also used to serve other purposes: to engage the mind of viewers with games of visual discrimination, principles of cause and effect, mysteries of perception, the complexities of the physical world, and the wonders of imagined realms.” Among the special components of this exhibition are photographs and a model from Wick’s book, Can You See What I See? On a Scary Scary Night, which was in-

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44 47

Across

1. Churches with Sat. sabbaths 5. Drastically reduce prices 10. Communicate with Zeus 14. An underclassman, briefly 15. Chocolate source 16. Damn Yankees siren 17. Brainy host 20. Petting zoo attractions 21. Backs off 22. Windfall 23. “___ the Walrus”: Lennon’s trippy claim 24. Chance to catch up quickly 31. Winna of The Thrilla in Manila 32. Seaweed, for example 33. Back muscle 35. Prepare the salad 37. Bratty kids 39. “This one’s ___“ 40. Newsboy’s shout 42. “___ that kind of girl” 44. Mouser 45. Quiet little spot 48. Solitaire quorum 49. Puzzler Rubik 50. Decouple 54. “Mi ___ su...” 57. Potential dater 61. Start of a root canal doc. 62. Put on cloud nine 63. He lived 905 years 64. Wood shaper 65. Domesticated 66. Seeing double from alcohol withdrawal

Down

JUMBLE ANSWERS

Answers on p. 33.

1. Dir. from Dallas to Austin 2. Homer Simpson’s comment

3. Dogma defenders 4. Civil War battle 5. Pyramid scheme 6. Tra trailer 7. Strong hole cards 8. Charlie Parker’s instrument 9. Pinched Pontiac, perhaps 10. It could be copped 11. Embezzles 12. Away from the wind 13. Chatters 18. Recipient of many letters 19. Clean another glass of spilled milk 22. MS city damaged by Katrina 23. “___ kick from...” (Cole Porter lyrics) 24. Arriving after the curtain was raised 25. Letters on umps’ hats in Cincinnati 26. Start a fire 27. Supermodel Campbell 28. Grp. Bob Hope performed for 199 times 29. Lack of authorization 30. New York senator, first elected in 1980 34. 63 Across’ dad 36. Will probably be sold out shortly 38. Arlo, to Woody 41. Without supervision 43. Bridge support 46. Sandal accessory 47. Miner’s hot spot 50. Top of Germany 51. Gramma 52. Flat screen TV types 53. Peter Cottontail’s favorite breakfast restaurant 54. Overpack 55. First ingredient in the pot 56. Litigated 58. Pay ending 59. Reel partner 60. Blue ribbon text

Answers on page 33.

Answer: She worked as a mattress model because it was a "DREAM" JOB Jumbles: ABIDE JOINT MANIAC EMERGE

BALTIMORE BEACON — OCTOBER 2010

CLASSIFIEDS The Beacon prints classified advertising under the following headings: Business & Employment Opportunities; Caregivers; Computer Services; Entertainment; For Sale; For Sale/Rent: Real Estate; Free; Health; Home/ Handyman Services; Miscellaneous; Personals; Personal Services; Vacation Opportunities; and Wanted. For submission guidelines and deadlines, see the box on the bottom of this page. CAVEAT EMPTOR! The Beacon does not knowingly accept obscene, offensive, harmful, or fraudulent advertising. However, we do not investigate any advertisers or their products and cannot accept responsibility for the integrity of either. Respondents to classified advertising should always use caution and their best judgment. EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE ADS: We will not knowingly or intentionally accept advertising in violation of federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, familial status or handicap in connection with employment or the sale or rental of real estate.

Business & Employment Opportunities OFFER A NEEDED SERVICE VERY FEW KNOW ABOUT! Earn large commissions selling the unwanted life insurance policies of seniors in the emerging industry of Life/Viatical Settlements. Need network of seniors and/or professionals that work with seniors. Call Ray at 877-282-4360. www.AtAge60.com. $$$ 47 PEOPLE WANTED $$$ EARN Up To $4,794 Weekly Working From Home Assembling Information Packets. No Experience Necessary! Start Immediately! FREE Information. CALL 24hrs. 1-866-899-2756.

For Rent/Sale Real Estate

Miscellaneous

Wanted

FOR SALE BY OWNER – 55+ adorable villa in Carroll Vista. 2BR \ Den \ 3BA \ Loft \ Sunroom. 2,127 sqft. $15,000 of recent upgrades. $234,900. 410-925-4300.

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! Graduate in 4 Weeks! PACE Program. FREE Brochure. CALL NOW! 1-866-562-3650 Ext. 30 www.southeasternhs.com.

ABSOLUTELY PAYING TOP CASH for Antiques, Collectibles, Jewelry, Trains, Old Toys, WW2 Memorabilia, Pottery, Glassware, Colts & Orioles items. Call Todd 443-421-6113.

20 ACRE RANCHES ONLY $99 per/mo. $0 Down, $12,900. Near Growing El Paso, Texas. Owner Financing, No Credit Checks. Money Back Guarantee. Free Map/Pictures. 1-800-7558953 www.sunsetranches.com.

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! Graduate in just 4 Weeks! PACE Program. FREE Brochure. CALL NOW! 1-800-532-6546 Ext. 412 www.continentalacademy.com.

ANTIQUE AND QUALITY OLDER FURNITURE and accessories wanted. One piece or entire estate, including Potthast, Biggs, Kittinger, and significant modern furniture and art, Tiffany lamps, toys, dolls, paintings, silver, oriental rugs, prints, pottery, china and glassware. Music boxes, clocks, country store items, paper memorabilia, historical and military items, old fishing equipment, antique firearms and all other items of value. I am a Washington native with over 35 years of experience in this business. I am well educated, courteous and have more experience and pay higher prices than virtually any other dealer in the area. I make prompt decisions, have unlimited funds, pay immediately and remove items expeditiously. No messy consignments or phony promises. References gladly furnished. Please call Jake Lenihan, (301) 279-8834. Thank you.

RENT TO OWN HOMES! Damaged Credit – OK. $850 Special! You Work, You Own – Guaranteed! $3,000 Minimum Combined Income. Co-Applicants Welcome! 1-888-955-3340; www.RealAgentsHomes.com.

For Sale DIRECTV FREE BEST PACKAGE for 5 months + NO Start Costs + FREE HD/DVR upgrade! Buy NFL SUNDAY TICKET, w/2yr agmt. New cust. DirectStarTV 1-800-620-0058. DIRECTV NFL SUNDAY TICKET DEAL! FREE HBO, STARZ, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX for 5 months! PLUS FREE HD/DVR upgrade! New cust. only, qual. Pkgs. Call DirectStarTV 1800-279-5698. DISH NETWORK FREE HD 4 LIFE! 295+ Channels! From $24.99/mo! NFL Red Zone only $7/mo! FREE HBO+Showtime! $500 Bonus! Call Now! 1-800-229-4764. MEMORY FOAM THERAPEUTIC NASA VISCO MATTRESSES WHOLESALE! T-$299 F-$349 Q-$399 K-$499 ADJUSTABLES - $799 FREE DELIVERY 25 YEAR WARRANTY 90 NIGHT TRIAL 1-800-ATSLEEP 1-800-2875337 WWW.MATTRESSDR.COM.

Health LOOK 10 TO 15 YEARS younger in minutes. There is a pain free affordable alternative to injections and plastic surgery. Chrisv20@hotmail.com or call 410-783-5411 for information.

$50/HR POTENTIAL. Get Paid to Shop and Eat. Retail Research Associate Needed. No Experience. Training Provided. Call 1-800-742-6941.

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AIRLINES ARE HIRING – Train for high paying Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified – Housing available. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance (888) 686-1704.

WE BUY DIABETIC TEST STRIPS New, Sealed and Unexpired Boxes. We Pay for Shipping & Pay the Most! Small and Large Quantities Wanted. 1-877-707-4289 www.ibuydiabeticteststrips.com.

GET YOUR DEGREE ONLINE *Medical, *Business, *Paralegal, *Accounting, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. Call 800510-0784 www.CenturaOnline.com. SELL YOUR UNWANTED LIFE INSURANCE! Nationally licensed and insured. Call 877-282-4360 for a FREE evaluation. www.AtAge60.com.

Miscellaneous REACH OVER 30 MILLION HOMES WITH ONE BUY. Advertise in NANI for only $2,795 per week! For information, call Roger at 410248-9101.

Caregivers

**ALL Satellite Systems are not the same. Monthly programming starts under $20 per month and FREE HD and DVR systems for new callers. CALL NOW 1-800-799-4935.

PRIVATE DUTY SERVICE providing professional & high quality care by a licensed and insured, certified nursing assistant. Because you’re worth it! Great references! Contact Laura 443-630-8453 or ljeancok@aol.com.

ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE from Home. *Medical, *Business, *Paralegal, *Accounting, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. Call 800-510-0784 www.CenturaOnline.com.

Financial Services

CAR TROUBLES? 100% of COVERED Repairs PAID 130,000 Miles or Less 24hr Roadside Assistance/Towing Coverage Rental Car Reimbursement Free Quote 888-364-1669.

$$$ACCESS LAWSUIT CASH NOW!!! As seen on TV, Injury Lawsuit Dragging? Need $500-$500,000++ within 24/hrs after Approval? Compare our lower rates. CALL NOW 1-866386-3692 www.lawcapital.com. CASH NOW! Get cash for your structured settlement or annuity payments. High payouts. Call J.G. Wentworth. 1-866-SETTLEMENT (1866-738-8536). Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. REDUCE YOUR DEBT NOW! $10k + in Credit Cards, Store Cards, Medical Bills? FREE Debt Settlement Matching Service! Settle in 12-48 months Free Consultation 800-593-3446.

For Rent/Sale Real Estate PARKVILLE – Bright, clean, 1 bedroom, 2nd floor. Privately owned by senior couple. References and security deposit. Please inquire 410344-1083.

DONATE A CAR - HELP CHILDREN FIGHTING DIABETES. Fast, Free Towing. Call 7 days/week. Non-runners OK. Tax Deductible. Call Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 1-800-578-0408. DONATE A CAR TODAY TO HELP CHILDREN And Their Families Suffering From Cancer. Free Towing. Tax Deductible. Children’s Cancer Fund of America, Inc. www.ccfoa.org 1800-469-8593. DONATE YOUR CAR! Breast Cancer Research foundation! Most highly rated breast cancer charity in America! Tax Deductible/Fast Free Pick Up. 800-771-9551 www.cardonationsforbreastcancer.org. DONATE YOUR CAR… To The Cancer Fund of America. Help Those Suffering With Cancer Today. Free Towing and Tax deductible. 1-800835-9372 www.cfoa.org.

Personals SINGLE WHITE MALE SEEKS single white female for mutually interesting relationship. Should be healthy, honest, opinionated with a zest for living. Write PO Box 5011, Timonium, MD 21094.

Personal Services LEARN ENGLISH – SPANISH – ITALIAN – FRENCH – PORTUGUESE Conversational. Grammatical. Private lessons. Reasonable Rates. Tutoring students. 443-352-8200. PIANO LESSONS: Start a new hobby or brush-up old skills. Patient teacher with 20+ years experience teaching all ages – 6 thru seniors. Keyboards okay. Near towson. Call Linda at 410-532-8381. GTJCAREERS (Resume Writers) Professional Resume -$69- Special. Affordable professional resumes edited, formatted and created for you. We can jump start your career. We deliver Results! Visit our website at www.gtjcareers.org.

Vacation Opportunities SUNNY FALL SPECIALS At Florida’s Best Beach-New Smyrna Beach Stay a week or longer. Plan a beach wedding or family reunion. www.NSBFLA.com or 1-800-541-9621.

Wanted HIGHEST CASH PAID FOR ANTIQUES AND ESTATES. Serving entire metro area. I will purchase one piece or your entire estate. Including Furniture, Artwork, Glassware, Jewelry, Rugs, Costume, Gold and Silver, Watches, Sterling Items, Flatware, Lladro & Hummel Figurines, All Military Items, Guns, Swords, Helmets, Bayonets, Medals, Scout Items, Clocks, Music Boxes, Toys, Baseball Memorabilia, trains, All String Instruments, Including Guitars, Banjos, Mandolins, Fishing Rods and Reels, Lures, Historical Items, American tools, Posters. I am a very reputable dealer with two locations in Silver Spring and Bowie, MD. Please call Christopher Keller 301-408-4751 or 301-262-1299. Thank you.

OLD GUITARS WANTED! Fender, Gibson, Martin, Gretsch, Prairie State, Euphonon, Larson, D’Angelico, Stromberg, Rickenbacker, and Mosrite. Gibson Mandolins/Banjos. 1930’s thru 1970’s TOP CASH PAID! 1-800-401-0440. SELL YOUR DIABETES TEST STRIPS. We buy Any Kind/Any brand Unexpired. Pay up to $16.00 per box. Shipping Paid. Call 1-800-2679895 or www.SellDiabeticstrips.com.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

BALTIMORE INNER CITY OUTINGS

Love the outdoors? If you would like to share that enjoyment with others, Baltimore Inner City Outings wants to meet you. BICO is a community outreach program of the Sierra Club, which provides urban youths with outdoor experiences and environmental education. To learn more, call (410) 744-0510 or visit www.ico.sierraclub.org/baltimore

BEACON BITS

Oct.

PHOTOGRAPHING BALTIMORE

James DuSel’s day job is teaching Latin and ancient Greek at Loyola Blakefield High School, but since the 1980s he has also been photographing the built environment of Baltimore, New York, Spain, France and Brazil. An exhibition of his photographs, “Bagatelles: Recent Photographs of the Build Environment,” will be on display through Oct. 28 at the AIA (American Institute of Architecture) Baltimore Bookstore, 11 ½ W. Chase St. Gallery hours are Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (410) 625-2585, or visit www.aiabalt.com.

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES

Deadlines and Payments: Ad text and payment is due by the 5th of each month. Note: Only ads received and prepaid by the deadline will be included in the next month’s issue. Please type or print your ad carefully. Include a number where you can be reached in the event of a question. Payment is due with ad. We do not accept ads by phone or fax, nor do we accept credit cards. Private Party Text Ads: For individuals seeking to buy or sell particular items, offer a personal service, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $10 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word. Commercial Party Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing commercial business enterprise. Each ad is $25 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word. Note: Each real estate listing counts as one commercial ad. Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

The Beacon, Classified Dept. P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227

OCTOBER 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; BALTIMORE BEACON

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