A Show of Support For St. Mary's College

St. Mary's College officials were convinced that the angry residents protesting the school's construction of a boathouse along the St. Mary's River could not possibly represent all of their neighbors and that most people in St. Mary's County love the school.

To prove their point, they spent $12,000 on a survey and found that, yes, most residents think the college is a good neighbor.

"It's one thing to have a gut feeling about how you think the public perceives the college. It's another thing to have a quantifiable way to evaluate it," college spokesman Marc Apter said. "We wanted this to be scientific, rather than a knee-jerk reaction."

The study found that 90 percent of county residents consider the college "a good neighbor to the residents of St. Mary's County." And 96 percent of those surveyed said the school is an "important educational institution in St. Mary's County."

The college didn't feel quite so loved last summer, when it started building a boathouse that blocked the view of the river from Route 5 and caused a neighborhood uprising. The boathouse and an even larger River Center were built on shoreland usually protected from development.

Often leading the angry neighbors was state Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-St. Mary's), who said that he thinks the college does much for the county and that he's not surprised by the survey results.

"Other than that [boathouse] issue, people are proud of St. Mary's College. I'm very proud of St. Mary's College," he said in an interview.

Dyson said the survey should have included a question about whether it's acceptable for the university to "violate the spirit of the law" and build two structures in an environmentally sensitive area. Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed agreed strongly or moderately with the statement that the college is an "environmentally friendly and sensitive institution."

The poll surveyed 403 St. Mary's residents by phone from Nov. 5 to 11. The survey can be seen at http://www.smcm.edu.

Blue Crabs to Raise Money For Charles Hospice Facility

The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs will raise money next season to help build Charles County's first hospice house, the team said last week.

A partnership between the team and Hospice of Charles County hopes to raise $2 million to build the facility on land donated by the county government on Davis Road in Waldorf.

The fundraising campaign will involve five "hospice nights" at the team's Regency Furniture Stadium. Part of the ticket sales will be donated to the project.