Speaker calls for increased awareness about the Iraq War's effect on women
By Andrea ThomsonWhat does it mean when a woman's life becomes militarized? guest speaker Cynthia Enloe asked a crowd of curious UMBC scholars during her visit to UMBC last week. During her talk, Enloe presented a fascinating but unsettling analysis of the Iraq War's detrimental effects on women. Cythia Enloe is a Professor of International Development and Women's Studies at Clark University. Enloe spoke at UMBC's first Social Sciences Forum of the year in the A.O.K. library. It was interesting to hear her feminist perspective. She was very personable, and [when speaking] validated the audience's knowledge as much as her own, remarked ... Read More
Forum speaker raises more questions than answers
By Andrea Thomsonat UMBC through such anticipated collaborations as research internships for students, joint research projects between the USGS and UMBC faculty and students, full-time employment opportunities for recent graduates, utilization of USGS staff as part-time faculty or thesis committee members, and joint development of grant proposals. The USGS is even installing a stream gauge in the stream behind its building specifically for the purpose of raining students.Now that USGS is on campus, lack of publicity has replaced distance as the biggest frustration facing the UMBC-USGS partnership. Both Gerhart and Miller expressed concern about the difficulty of alerting students to the numerous ... Read More
Our American empire
By Andrea ThomsonGuest speaker Dr. Dane Kennedy compared the present-day United States to Britain's imperial empire during his visit to UMBC last Wednesday. This visit was the third of UMBC's seven fall Social Sciences Forums and sponsored by UMBC's history department. Kennedy used his lecture to explain how, the ideologies that shaped the British Empire have been echoes in contemporary American history.He made this argument by comparing the two main British groups present during Britain's period of imperialism, the utilitarian rational secularists and the moral reformist evangelists, to the neo-conservatives and Christian fundamentalists of today's America. Kennedy explained how both the British ... Read More
How you can make a safer UMBC
By Andrea Thomson
Newly-instated UMBC police chief Antonio Williams chatted with The Retriever Weekly last week. Williams assumed his police chief position in June. This is his second job as a chief; as a member of the Baltimore Police Department, Williams served as Chief of Detectives and retired as a colonel. I trust that UMBC is a safe campus not because of any of the things I've done, but because you all make it safe, Williams said. If there were 100 police officers walking on campus, we still couldn't stop every crime. It's all up to you.When asked about the adequacy of UMBC's $2.5 ... Read More
Fiscal Wake Up Tour: A call for action
By Andrea Thomson
When you look ahead, it doesn't take a crystal ball to see that we have some problems on the horizon, warned Robert Bixby, one of the speakers at last week's Fiscal Wake Up Tour. The Tour is a bipartisan group of four speakers who have traveled around the country giving presentations concerning what they claim is the American government's impending economic doom. UMBC was the tour's only stop in Maryland. The men spoke to a full house in Lecture Hall 5, and many students were forced to stand outside and listen to the forum through speakers.The speakers explained how America's ... Read More
A new American democracy through media
By Andrea ThomsonMedia is converging, and through this union a new American democracy is rising. Professor Jason Loviglio explained this shift in American culture in Media Convergence, Media Democracy, one of this fall's last social science forums. In his talk, Loviglio spoke about the notion of bringing the machine into the garden, hence combining the best of opposites, the most elegant fusion of these two things being the apple in Apple computers. Loviglio paralleled our generation's convergence of the natural and the artificial with the fusion of various modes of media. Many of these convergences involve increased participation, giving media consumers new ... Read More
Campus Card helps students save
By Andrea ThomsonThe Student Government Association (SGA) is promoting the Red Card and Campus Cash programs in hopes of increasing student utilization of the deals and services associated with these initiatives. The Red Card program, which offers students discounts at selected local businesses for flashing their red UMBC campus cards, is in its third year of existence. Josh Michael, head of the SGA's Student and Governmental Affairs, explained, After launching the program, there was little advertisement outside the maintenance of the website. In January 2007, we kick-started Red Card again, mailing over 100 businesses in the community to get more participants. Many ... Read More
Graduation rates reported for UMBC majors and fields
By Andrea ThomsonWill you graduate on time? Have you considered changing your major? Every few years UMBC compiles statistics concerning student graduation and academic field retention rates. The latest compilation tracked the class of 1997 for six years and was completed in 2003. The areas discussed are: Interdisciplinary Studies, Health Related Studies, Science and Engineering, Social Studies, and Arts and Humanities. According to these statistics, students in the Arts and Humanities field are most likely to graduate in six years. 59 percent of these students will do so, compared to the university average of 53 percent. Students in health-related fields have the ... Read More
UMBC works for a greener campus
By Andrea Thomson
Last summer, before the start of classes and the arrival of UMBC's incoming freshman, President Hrabowski signed the American College and University President's Climate Commitment. This plan calls for completion of a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, the development of an action plan to achieve carbon neutrality, sustainability education, and immediate steps which can bring UMBC closer to becoming climate neutral. The Climate Change Task Force has been formed to help the campus community achieve these goals. It was created in November and began meeting in December. Progress on an emissions inventory and several other short-term steps has been made.As for ... Read More
Elections fuel UMBC political action
By Andrea ThomsonIn the 2004 presidential elections, 47 percent of eligible voters 18-24 years old voted. This year young people represent 25 percent of voters. To register larger numbers of younger voters, an amendment to the Higher Education Act was passed in 1998 to require colleges to "obtain voter registration forms 120 days before the local registration deadline and distribute them to students enrolled in all degree or certificate programs." Only 48 percent of colleges and universities reported following these procedures. According to Josh Michael, the Student Government Association (SGA) Director for Community and Governmental Affairs, UMBC's main efforts during this semester ... Read More
Mind games: UMBC chess
By Andrea Thomson
"I like its logic, irrationality and dynamics. I love harmony between pieces and how one should understand this harmony to succeed in understanding the game," remarked Katerina Rohonyan, chess Grandmaster (GM) and member of UMBC's chess A-team.The A-team, which consists of sophomore GM Sergey "The Stealth" Erenburg, sophomore GM Timur "The Uzebekdragon" Gareev, M.S student GM Pawel "The Polish Magician" Blehm, senior WGM Katerina "The Kiev Killer" Rohonyan, freshman Aaron "The Detroit Destroyer" Kahn, and freshman Alexander "The Washington Wizard" Barnett, is the most highly ranked of UMBC's three chess teams. On April 5 and 6 UMBC's chess team will ... Read More
UMBC volunteers cheer on Special Olympics athletes
By Andrea Thomson
Last week, UMBC planned to host a qualifying Special Olympics basketball game in the RAC. However, due to scheduling errors the event was nearly canceled; a previously unscheduled wrestling match forced Special Olympics staff to hold the event at CCBC. Five of the ten teams that had signed up to compete were asked to participate later this year. The five teams that did participate were visiting from Baltimore City, Washington, Calvert, Charles, and Harford Counties.Joby Taylor, Director of Peaceworkers at the Shriver Center, began the event by sharing with volunteers a brief history of the Special Olympics. Each year two ... Read More
Graduate students fight for the right to unionize
By Andrea ThomsonA bill giving graduate students and adjunct faculty the right to unionize is currently being debated by the Maryland General Assembly. Although students at the University of Maryland, College Park have lobbied for this bill's passage, UMBC graduate students, faculty, and administration display little support for the bill.According to the Maryland General Assembly, the bill "could increase administrative expenditures [throughout the University of Maryland System] by $1.3 million" as of 2010. In addition to administrative expenses, benefits provided to graduate students and adjunct faculty by the bill would costs $400 million to $650 million statewide. So far no action has ... Read More
Career Week teaches students manners
By Andrea Thomson"Less than one percent of you will stay in the same job your whole life, 20 to 30 percent of you will be laid off at some point, and 50 percent of you will change careers," Steve Kozak, Executive Director of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council, began the dinner with a string of career-related statistics. He advised students not to search for that "perfect job," rather to "build that skill set, and most importantly build that network." To Kozak, networking is about "building relationships…not about being salesy" as "none of us like those people." According to Kozak, "You're networking all ... Read More
National Student Engagement Survey reveals UMBC's standing amongst its collegiate peers
By Andrea ThomsonMany seniors and freshman have received an e-mail message from President Hrabowski urging them to complete the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSEE). The survey is used to identify UMBC's strengths and weakness, and administrators use this survey to influence the changes made on campus, thereby allowing UMBC to better serve its students. The survey measures UMBC against its peers in five benchmarks: Level of Academic Challenge, Active and Collaborative Learning, Student-Faculty Interaction, Enriching Educational Experiences, and Supportive Campus Environment. UMBC's peer group consists of several Doctoral and Science and Technology Institutions. This group includes Clemson University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, ... Read More
"Modest Needs" CEO visits UMBC
By Andrea ThomsonKeith Taylor spoke to UMBC students about his experiences as the founder and CEO of nonprofit Modest Needs. Taylor's company, which is now six years old, has grown by 250 percent in one year. Modest Needs distributes small grants to those with incomes, "high enough to exclude them from social services – but not high enough to save." Taylor's goal is to "help people be self sufficient and working all the time." As a graduate student, Taylor was days away from an eviction when a stranger left money for his rent payment on Taylor's work bench. Several years later, Taylor ... Read More
UMBC submits ROTC application
By Andrea ThomsonAfter nearly three weeks of campus-wide debate including two town hall meetings and meetings with the SGA, GSA, and Faculty Senate, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Arthur T. Johnson made the application to the Department of Defense for Army ROTC host site status. A few other schools had been offered this application and it was necessary for UMBC to make its application as soon as possible if it wanted to have the best chance at having its application accepted. In a notification e-mail sent out to the UMBC community President Hrabowski and Provost Arthur Johnson apologized for the ... Read More
Chartwells brings new food venues to UMBC campus
By Andrea ThomsonThis fall, returning students will notice a change in food venues offered by UMBC's dining services. New to UMBC this fall are the following food places: Salsaritas Fresh Cantina, Jow Jing Asian, Olo Sushi, Fresh Fusions, Gelahto, Outtakes Food to Go. For the Fall 2008 only, students will be able to enjoy Sub Generation, Pazzeili's Pizza and the Commons Café. "I liked the pizza place. It's kinda like the same. I think the slices are bigger, though. It's delish, but overall I think the quality is the same," sophomore Jenni Kim said.During Spring 2009, UMBC will be adding Au Bon ... Read More
UMBC is recognized as the fifth "School to Watch" in U.S. News & World Report
By Andrea ThomsonUMBC was recently named No. 5 in the "School to Watch" category in U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges Guide. UMBC was named under George Mason, Arizona State University, and University of Southern California. The article describes UMBC as "a very different school" which has "overcome the limitations of its suburban campus and a high proportion of first-generation college students by forging partnerships to capitalize on job opportunities in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, where local businesses compete for talent with government and the military."UMBC president Freeman A. Hrabowski, III., sent an e-mail out to students saying that the article confirms ... Read More
Student speaks out against loss of merit scholarship
By Andrea ThomsonDuring winter break 2008, then-freshman "Devon C." received notice that she was to be placed on academic probation. She had not earned the 3.0 GPA required to maintain her scholarship during her first semester at UMBC. The scholarship office placed her on probation, which means that if she did not achieve a 3.0 GPA during the second semester, her scholarship would be revoked. At the start of Devon's probation, she was told that she would need to have monthly meetings with the scholarship office to keep her on the track of maintaining her scholarship. Devon recounted, "When I went for ... Read More
Phishing e-mails plague inboxes
By Andrea ThomsonDuring the past few months UMBC students have been receiving phishing e-mails which generally ask for students' username and passwords.Phishing is a criminal action in which fraudulent electronic messages are sent out in an attempt to lure unsuspecting victims into giving out private information. This information is often sold or used with malicious intent. The situation became so bad that UMBC's Office of Institutional Technology (OIT) sent out an alert warning the UMBC community of these e-mails. OIT believes that the alerts are more effective than e-mails since many of the phishing e-mails claim to be from UMBC's OIT or ... Read More
How you can stay healthy in college
By Andrea ThomsonDuring college, many students find themselves getting sick or putting on weight. These outcomes can be the cumulative effect of stressful responsibilities, buffets at the dining hall, busy schedules, and living in close quarters. Below are some tips that can help you keep things under control and remain in the best mental and physical health.1) Bedtime – aim for 1 a.m. or 2 at the latest. Instead of staying up late, wake up early in the morning to complete your work, if you go to sleep late, you'll have trouble waking up the ... Read More
Armed robbery victim speaks about her experience
By Andrea ThomsonTwo Saturdays ago, two UMBC students were the victims of an armed robbery which took place at Hilltop Circle and Hilltop Road. The Retriever Weekly caught up with one of the victims, Virginia Bach, who agreed to speak about the incident:"Me and a friend decided to go on a walk this last Saturday night. We just wanted to get out and stretch our legs. We met up at Erickson and from there walked down past the library. My friend is on the rugby team and we were talking about the different points and ways of scoring. He said that he ... Read More
Professor Schaller makes election predictions
By Andrea ThomsonThomas Schaller is an associate political science professor at UMBC. On ratemyprofessor.com, Schaller's classes have received reviews ranging from, "You learn so much in this class it's crazy. Schaller is amazing at teaching the material" to "Absolutely the worst class I ever took." Schaller has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Salon, The American Prospect and The Nation. He is also author of Whistling Past Dixie, a book which explains how the Democrats can win elections without the support of southern states. The Retriever Weekly had the opportnity to chat with Schaller about his ... Read More
Donating leftover food not so easy
By Andrea ThomsonTom DeLuca, Resident District Manager at UMBC, and several representatives from UMBC recently met with the MD Food Bank to discuss different ways in which UMBC could help the food bank stock its shelves."The food bank reached out to UMBC, so several representatives from UMBC met with the Maryland Food Bank two weeks ago," DeLuca explained. According to DeLuca, the Maryland Food Bank accepts shipments from all kinds of vendors. He continued, "A lot of the food at the food bank is donated from grocery stores suppliers. These foods are usually canned items that are about to go out of ... Read More
Exploring the core of leadership
By Andrea Thomson"Being in a room filled with students eager to expand their understanding of leadership was exciting. I'm really looking forward to seeing how these students take the tools and strategies they learned back to UMBC to improve campus," remarked 'Treeveins,' a May 2008 graduate, and founder of the popular UMBC Underground blog. The six-foot-four English major preferred that The Retriever not reveal his identity. 'Treeveins' was one of several UMBC student leaders who attended STRiVE, this year's SGA-sponsored winter leadership retreat, to offer participants consulting advice concerning student-designed action plans centered upon promoting campus engagement, social justice and environmental activism ... Read More
Climate change task force brings UMBC closer to climate neutrality
By Andrea ThomsonDuring the summer of 2007, President Hrabowski signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. This plan was composed of several immediate and long-term steps designed to bring UMBC closer to its goals of climate neutrality, sustainability education, and the development of publicly available progress reports which would track the development of this plan. These steps included the completion of a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and, in two years, the development of an action plan to achieve carbon neutrality before some date in the future.Shortly after the signing, the Climate Change Task Force was created to help the UMBC ... Read More
Few students aware of UMBC's history of protests
By Andrea ThomsonForty to fifty college students held anti-war signs and sat on the floor of a classroom-lined hallway. The students were staging a peaceful protest in hopes that their "occupation" would bring to mind in passerbys the American lives in jeopardy half a world away. Across campus, hundreds of student sympathizers took note of the sit-in and several faculty members were fired for taking part in the unfolding events. The Vietnam War was close to its end, but students and faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County were determined to speak out against what they believed to be an unjust ... Read More
A class that creates change
By Andrea Thomson
Not many college students can say they've founded a basketball team for recovering addicts. Charlie Rubenstein, a UMBC Senior and American Studies major can. Rubenstein has always felt a connection to the city of Baltimore and hoped to apply team athletics to reduce the city's rampant homelessness. This idea became reality while he was enrolled in a UMBC course designed to equip students to initiate positive change in their communities. "When addressing Baltimore's problem of homelessness, I found basketball, a relatively inexpensive sport, would be a good place to start," the UMBC senior said of his goal.Rubenstein got his idea ... Read More
Few aware of UMBC's history of protests
By Andrea Thomson
Forty to fifty college students held anti-war signs and sat on the floor of a classroom-lined hallway. The students were staging a peaceful protest in hopes that their "occupation" would bring to mind in passerbys the American lives in jeopardy half a world away. Across campus, hundreds of student sympathizers took note of the sit-in and several faculty members were fired for taking part in the unfolding events. The Vietnam War was close to its end, but students and faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County were determined to speak out against what they believed to be an unjust ... Read More
UMBC faculty members take brunt of budget shortfalls
By Andrea ThomsonBefore students flooded back on campus for the Fall Semester, a notice sent out by the University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor William E. Kirwan announced 28 million dollars of budget cuts to the USM. These cuts brought the USM's total budget reduction for Fiscal Year 2010 to nearly $94 million. UMBC's budget for Fiscal Year 2010 will reflect these changes with an additional base budget reduction of $0.8 million, a fund balance cut of $1.8 million, and employee furlough savings of about $2.5 million to be achieved over the coming year.For those less familiar with the terms "base budget," ... Read More
UMBC's CUERE research reduces watershed pollution
By Andrea Thomson
This June, UMBC's Center for Urban Environmental Research Education (CUERE) won $312,177 from the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund. The grant was awarded to finance CUERE Senior Research Scientist Dr. Stu Schwartz's research in preventing runoff in urban environments. "In order to be considered for the grant we had to undergo rigorous peer review by people working on the Chesapeake Bay for decades," Schwartz explained when asked about competition for the grant. He continued, "This particular program was pretty competitive as it offered to fund programs whose undertakings would be expensive. The upper limit to the grant was one million." Schwartz ... Read More
UMBC President to appear on Today Show Wednesday
By Andrea ThomsonOn Wednesday September 23rd between 8:00- 8:30 a.m. UMBC President Freeman Hrabowskiwill be speaking on the Today Show with regards to a recent trend marking thegrowing enrollment of post college-aged adults in higher level institutions.Hrabowski will be featured on the Today Show's "Back to School Again" series whichtakes a look at this trend from a variety of perspectives. During his appearance onToday, Hrabowski will advise adults considering higher education what they ought tolook for when choosing a university and how they can make a successful transitionback to school. Hrabowski will also explain what colleges and universities have tooffer to returning ... Read More
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