A Show of Support For St. Mary's College

By Megan Greenwell, Jenna Johnson and Christy Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 11, 2008

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.

Other events will include a 5K race and golf tournament sponsored by the team and two other fundraisers at the stadium. In addition, the Blue Crabs will let hospice officials use a luxury suite to host donors.

State Champions in High School Football, Golf to Be Recognized

The state champion Westlake High School football team and the North Point High School golf team were to be formally recognized by the county this week.

The Westlake Wolverines upset the favored Wilde Lake High School Wildcats from Columbia 13-0 last week in Baltimore. Westlake won its first 3A state championship after a 12-2 regular season. It was the school's first football title in nine years in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference.

In October, the North Point Eagles won a 2A state championship in golf. Playing on the team's home course, Waldorf's Potomac Ridge, the team beat every competitor in the field -- including 4A state champion Churchill, from Potomac -- and scored a 36-stroke landslide over 2A runner-up Glenelg.

The two Charles County teams were to be recognized by county commissioners yesterday, after the Extra went to press, with members of both teams attending the board's meeting.

Boost in Funding to Help Low-Income Energy Program

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), joined by U.S. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), announced recently that Maryland's energy assistance program is expected to help about 102,400 households this year because of a significant boost in federal funding.

The state has received $110 million in federal money for the Maryland Energy Assistance Program, an increase of $75 million over the past fiscal year.

The state Department of Human Resources operates the program to help low-income residents pay their heating bills and make energy costs more affordable. The program served 89,108 households in fiscal 2006. By fiscal 2008, the number was 93,175. Program officials expect to aid 102,472 households this year.

A Maryland household of four making up to $37,100, or a single person making up to $18,200, is eligible to apply. Applications are accepted from July through May. A turn-off notice is not necessary to apply for assistance.

Applications for energy assistance are available at http://www.dhr.state.md.us/meap. Completed applications must be returned in person or by mail to county offices listed at the site.

For information, call 800-352-1446.

St. Mary's College Plans to Raise Tuition by 5% for 2009-10

St. Mary's College trustees voted this week to raise tuition by 5 percent next year.

The college is the first higher education institution in the state to announce a tuition increase for 2009-10. Tuition, fees, room and board will cost $22,874, up from $21,559.

School officials said the increase is the result of the economic recession, higher operating costs and the college's endowment drop of 9.6 percent in the first 10 months of this year. The college saved about $1.7 million in part by leaving positions vacant through attrition and deferring staff and faculty salary increases.

"We've done the very tough work of finding ways to cut our costs and increase revenues without jeopardizing the academic quality of the honors college or the residential life of our students," college President Jane Margaret O'Brien said in a statement. "We remain firmly committed to our core mission and will not let any budget challenge deter us."

Habitat for Humanity to Open Secondhand Store in Hughesville

Habitat for Humanity will open a secondhand store in Hughesville on Saturday, the group said last week.

The store will accept donated clothes and household goods for resale to benefit home construction programs in the county. Agency leaders said the opening comes at a crucial time, because many residents need discounted goods and the homes that the sales will help fund.

The store is also expected to be a boon to Hughesville, with a commercial corridor that has struggled since construction began on the cross-county connector. Town leaders have pushed for small businesses to open, saying they want to revive the village feeling the town had during the past century.