Former dean Cleghorn dies

Reese Cleghorn, who built the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism into a nationally prominent program during his tenure as dean, died Monday. He was 78. Cleghorn was dean of the journalism school from 1981 to 2000 and had taught courses in commentary and editorial writing until December. Cleghorn was associate editor of the Detroit Free Press when he was named dean at Maryland. He was instrumental in bringing the national monthly magazine American Journalism Review (then Washington Journalism Review) to the college in 1987, and has since served as president, and then publisher of AJR.

GSE Systems reports loss

GSE Systems Inc., of Sykesville, saw a loss for the fourth quarter of 2008, despite a small increase in revenue. The provider of simulation and training software for the energy, process, manufacturing and government sectors reported a net loss of $69,000, or zero cents per diluted share, versus net income of $487,000, or 3 cents per diluted share, in the prior-year period. Revenue was $8.4 million, a 3 percent increase from the $8.1 million revenue reported for the 2007 fourth quarter. The company said the loss was related to changes in the fair value.

Discovery's new deal

Media giant Discovery Communications Inc., of Silver Spring, said it has agreed to turn its entire interactive commerce business over to Delivery Agent Inc., of San Francisco. In exchange for royalties, Delivery Agent will handle all of Discovery's direct-to-consumer operations, including hosting and managing the DiscoveryStore.com Website, customer service, merchandising, marketing, product development and fulfillment. Delivery Agent also will launch shopping Web sites for Discovery-owned cable channels TLC and Animal Planet later this year.

New drug faces delay

United Therapeutics Corp., of Silver Spring, said it will likely face regulatory delays for the inhaled version of its hypertension drug Remodulin because of Food and Drug Administration concerns over patient instructions. The company had expected a decision from the FDA by April 30, but will likely face delays because of questions over instructions for using the nebulizer that delivers the drug. United Therapeutics already sells the drug as an injection called Remodulin. The inhaled version is called Tyvaso.

J. Bank's money-back offer

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., of Hampstead, a manufacturer and retailer of upscale menswear and accessories, announced what it said is a unique program to refund the price of a suit, if the customer loses his job. Bank said it believes it is the only national men's apparel company making the offer to its customers.