Omar Bukhari ’13, biochemistry and EHS, will soon begin his junior year at UMBC, but for the last several weeks he’s been hard at work for another cause. Bukhari just finished a 4,000 mile bike ride from Baltimore to San Francisco through 4K for Cancer, fundraising and meeting cancer patients and their families across the country. Working as a volunteer EMT in Baltimore and hearing patients’ stories about cancer, as well as researching anti-cancer compounds as an intern, motivated Bukhari to become involved with 4K for Cancer. He documented his journey at omar4k.tumblr.com and since returning home has been featured in the Gazette. There, he discussed an inspiring conversation with one young cancer patient, Jenny, whom he met during his trip.
All posts by: UMBC News Staff
UMBC Men’s Soccer Receives Votes In Two Preseason Polls
The UMBC men’s soccer team has garnered votes in two national preseason soccer rankings and has been tabbed as the second choice amongst America East Conference coaches in the league’s preseason poll.
UMBC was the only America East squad to earn votes in the NSCAA Division I national rankings and College Soccer News’ 2011 Pre-Season Top 30 poll. The NSCAA rankings included 25 teams, plus 14 teams which received votes, while CSN’s poll included 12 squads receiving votes.
The Retrievers open the 2011 campaign at home on Saturday, August 27, against local rival Mount St. Mary’s.
Read the full press release here.
Energizing Maryland’s Workforce
Energizing Maryland’s Workforce
UMBC students were out in full force at top Maryland companies and research labs this summer. Their work as interns not only supported their career skills development; it also contributed to Maryland’s economic success. Each year Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 employers like Constellation Energy, SAIC, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Stanley Black & Decker, Booz Allen Hamilton and T. Rowe Price actively recruit interns through UMBC.
“Internships provide employers with an opportunity to attract and train talent early in their careers,” says Christine Routzahn, director of professional practice for UMBC’s Shriver Center. “Curious, hard-working interns with fresh perspectives enable companies to remain innovative in extremely competitive fields.”
This summer, over 700 graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in the Shriver Center’s internship, co-op and research practicums. Around Maryland, in Washington, D.C., and across the country, these UMBC students linked theory to practice in solving real-world problems. Their experiences enabled them to develop technical expertise and project portfolios as well as cultivate essential soft skills. Additionally, nearly 70% were paid, at an average rate of $14.93 per hour.
Employers like Joe Domiano, operations manager for Siemens Industry, praise the level of talent coming from UMBC. “Siemens has been very fortunate to have a relationship with UMBC,” says Domiano. “Many of our student interns have been hired by Siemens full-time and have contributed to our success.”
Beyond accessing employment opportunities, interns get a realistic glimpse of possible career paths and connect with senior mentors in their fields. Student evaluations show that 89% experienced an increase in self-confidence as a direct result of their placement; 88% indicated an increase in the clarity of their career goals.
In return for supporting their growth, companies, government agencies and research centers benefit from the fresh energy and ideas that young scholars, eager to contribute, bring to their internship sites. Here we feature a few examples of UMBC student interns energizing Maryland workplaces.
Piotr Gwiazda, English, in the Times Literary Supplement
Piotr Gwiazda, associate professor of English, has published a review in the Times Literary Supplement.
Gwiazda says that in his new book, “Unseen Hand” (translated by Clare Cavanagh), Polish poet Adam Zagajewski “shares his fascination with transience and metamorphosis” and “celebrate[s] the twofold pleasures of recollection and meditation”
“Now in his sixties, [Zagajewski] finds solace in the world’s capacity for self-renewal,” Gwiazda writes, noting that “realm, often epitomized by the change of seasons or images of birds and trees, serves as the gateway to epiphany.”
Dennis Coates, Economics, in AP
Councilman William Cole argues that the Grand Prix will change how people view Baltimore and Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, hopes it will draw 100,000 visitors to the city, but Dennis Coates, professor of economics, suggests the economic benefits of the event are far from certain. “If you think the goal of government is to convince people that they live in a quote-unquote world-class city—whatever that means—then it will probably be a success,” he told the AP. “Will people have a good time? No doubt about it. But in terms of actually creating jobs, creating a better business environment? No.” In the past, similar events have under-delivered, he noted, calling into question organizers’ estimate that the Baltimore Grand Prix will have a $70 million impact on the region.
David Salkever, Public Policy, in the NY Times
“Fear-inspired hyperbole about the so-called ‘debt crisis’ and ‘explosion of government spending’ has twisted the public discourse about fiscal policy,” argues David Salkever, professor of public policy, in the New York Times. “The upshot is a feeling that our long-range fiscal problems must be solved today, lest we descend into ‘ruin’ (as Jeffrey Manns warned in an August 10 Op-Ed article).”
Salkever has been a health policy researcher for three decades, focusing on determinants and regulation of hospital cost inflation, access to health care for the urban poor, economic impacts of children’s disabilities and public benefit activities of non-profit hospitals. His New York Times letter suggests that approaching changes to Medicare and Social Security from a perspective of extreme urgency could have negative repercussions. He writes, “It’s too bad that we’re in the midst of a ‘crisis’ and cannot address these problems in a more thoughtful way.”
Will Redman ’98, Music, in the Baltimore Sun
Composer Will Redman ’98, music, was profiled by Tim Smith in the Baltimore Sun.
He went to University of Maryland, Baltimore County to study percussion with notable composer and percussionist Stuart Saunders Smith, who encouraged his student to listen to recordings of jazz pioneer John Coltrane and pathbreaking 20th-century classical composer Luciano Berio.
“I didn’t know anything about avant-garde music or free jazz,” Redman said. “I decided I needed to do both things. I thought of free jazz as sort of like the punk-rock of jazz.”
Convocation (8/30)
You are invited to join us in the culmination of new student orientation at the 2011 UMBC Convocation Ceremony. This annual event includes remarks from President Hrabowski, Interim Provost Rous, faculty awardees and student leaders.
The ceremony will be held in the RAC Arena, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 30. Immediately following the ceremony, there will be a campus-wide community picnic on the Quad.
If you have any questions, contact Lin Guba at ext. 5-5656 or lguba@umbc.edu.
You can find more information on Welcome Week activities here.
We look forward to seeing you at Convocation!
Nancy Rankie Shelton, Education, in Maryland Family Magazine
For some students it’s third grade, for others it’s sixth, and for others it is completely different, but it’s a problem each child encounters at some point in his or her education: a grade that they find uncommonly challenging. Maryland Family Magazine recently reported on the problems children face when a class challenges them an August 15 story entitled “The Grueling Grades.”
What makes a grade tough ranges from lengthy writing assignments to hours of homework. Nancy Rankie Shelton, an associate professor of education, argues that a focus on testing may be part of the problem.
“With the focus on testing the way that it is… it makes it really difficult for teachers and students,” she said. “There’s more and more focus on one right answer and less focus on critical thinking and exploratory education.”
Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun and Sabato’s Crystal Ball
In a new column on the popular U.S. politics blog Sabato’s Crystal Ball, UMBC professor Thomas Schaller considers the electoral chances of 2012 presidential hopefuls from the U.S. House of Representatives, given that the last incumbent House member to win the presidency was James Garfield in 1880. In “From the House to the White House? Not So Fast,” Schaller examines past election data and finds, “Despite some significant and even historic House presidential candidates, there is no modern precedent for the Bachmann-Gingrich-McCotter-Paul quartet running in the same cycle for the same party’s presidential nomination.” In the end, he argues, “none of the House Republican candidates is likely to be the 2012 nominee,” but their impact on the Republic presidential contest might still be quite significant. Schaller’s latest Baltimore Sun column also appeared this week, titled “In Majesty of National Parks, an Argument for Collective Action.”
The Constitution and Civil Rights: The Search for Equality in a Multi-Racial America (9/12)
The Social Sciences Forum fall 2011 lecture series presents Jane Junn, professor of political science at the University of Southern California, Monday, September 12, 4 p.m. on the seventh floor of the Albin O. Kuhn Library.
The Constitution Day lecture, “The Constitution and Civil Rights: The Search for Equality in a Multi-Racial America,” is co-sponsored by the Departments of Political Science, Public Policy, Sociology and Anthropology and the Honors College.
The Social Sciences Forum presents topics and perspectives of vital interest to the social sciences community and beyond. Lectures are free and open to the public and will last approximately one hour, followed by a question and answer period and a reception. For more information, call ext. 5-2916.
If you would like to receive announcements about the Social Sciences Forum, email mailto:socsciforum@umbc.edu.
UMBC Receives Grant to Operate NASA Center Focused on Space Weather
UMBC Receives Grant to Operate NASA Center Focused on Space Weather
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) will administer a new NASA research center focused on studying space weather and the impact it can have on human activities.
The Goddard Planetary Heliophysics Institute (GPHI), operating under a 5-year, $10 million cooperative agreement, will provide support and resources for university researchers to collaborate with scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as they refine efforts to predict the solar activity that ejects charged particles into space. The “weather” created by these events interferes with power grids, telecommunication systems and other activities on Earth, while also threatening spacecraft and creating risks for space travel.
“This agreement offers a great opportunity to continue research that is deepening our understanding of solar and magnetospheric physics,” said Jan Merka, director of the new center. “The main goal is to more reliably predict space weather so we can avoid the impacts on space and Earth activities caused by extreme solar and magnetospheric events.”
The GPHI research portfolio was formerly part of the UMBC-administered Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center (GEST). The cooperative agreement that established GEST in 2000 expired in May, and research now encompassed by GPHI was re-competed separately from the rest of the GEST portfolio. The remainder of GEST is now administered under a new cooperative agreement between NASA and the University Space Research Association.
The research group at GEST that focused on heliophysics has expanded to 16 researchers at GPHI.
UMBC has a long history of working closely with scientists at NASA and the Goddard Space Flight Center. In addition to GPHI, UMBC administers the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), which focuses on geosciences and is now in its sixteenth year. The university is also a partner in the Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST), which focuses on astrophysics.
“We are delighted to continue collaborating with NASA in the area of planetary and heliophsyics research as GPHI scientists work to expand our understanding of space weather,” said Geoff Summers, UMBC’s vice president for research. “This ongoing area of research is particularly exciting as it both increases our understanding of the solar system and helps explain the effect of space weather on Earth.”
(6/21/11)