All posts by: UMBC News Staff

Celebrating an Innovative Environment for Learning & Research

 

The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Chemistry Building dedication will take place at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 21. The entire campus community is invited to the event, which will begin in the University Center Plaza and includes a ribbon-cutting, plaque dedication and reception.

When UMBC renames its newly renovated chemistry and biochemistry building as the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Chemistry Building on October 21, the campus will celebrate both a transforming philanthropy and an innovative training center for the next generation of chemists and biochemists.

The chemistry building renovations benefit all UMBC chemistry and biochemistry students and faculty. “The renovations bring world class, state-of-the-art instructional and research laboratories to undergraduate and graduate students,” said Ralph Pollack, chair and professor of UMBC’s chemistry and biochemistry department. “We’re especially pleased that the new laboratories’ layouts allow for improved safety and increased interaction between students and faculty.”

The building design encourages communication, mentoring and shared research through flexible, interconnected laboratory spaces for research, clustered faculty offices, a tutorial center, space for small discussion and problem solving groups and a bridge connecting students and faculty with life sciences colleagues in the Department of Biological Sciences. The facility houses state-of-the-art teaching laboratories and outstanding research and teaching instrumentation, such as a new mass spectrometry facility, a laser laboratory and a suite of nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers.

With the renaming of the chemistry building, the University honors the Meyerhoffs for founding the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program at UMBC in 1988 to address the under-representation of African American men in the sciences and engineering.

Since then the program has produced nearly 600 graduates who are minorities or are dedicated to advancing representation of minorities in the sciences, literally changing the face of science in America. Program graduates go on in large numbers to the country’s most prestigious graduate and professional schools, placing UMBC among the top predominantly white institutions nationally in producing minority bachelor’s degree recipients who go on to earn a Ph.D.

Similar achievements have been made among chemistry and biochemistry students and alumni broadly. The department has been ranked among the top 25 producers of chemistry undergraduates of all backgrounds. Paula Grabowski ’76, now a biology professor at University of Pittsburgh, is a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator, and her husband, Joe Grabowski ‘78, heads Pitt’s National Science Foundation Research Program for Undergraduates. More than 50 of UMBC’s chemistry and biochemistry graduates and postdocs have gone onto faculty positions at institutions including Harvard, Yale, Penn, UC-Davis, Virginia Tech and the Universities of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

These achievements would not be possible without the University’s outstanding chemistry and biochemistry faculty, who are devoted to both teaching and research. Their scientific and scholarly achievements attract almost $5 million in funding per year, resulting in many opportunities for students to participate in undergraduate research in their labs and to gain exposure to cutting-edge science in their classrooms.

The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Chemistry Building dedication will take place at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 21. The entire campus community is invited to the event, which will begin in the University Center Plaza and includes a ribbon-cutting, plaque dedication and reception.

 

 

Creating Clockwork Crab

 

Mechanical engineering major Arthur Gould is proudly checking out his Clockwork Crab, part of Baltimore’s Crabtown Project, when a group of Red Hat Society ladies stop to look at the unusual black and white creature hanging out by Key Highway just behind the outdoor trapeze school. When they find out Gould is the artist, they ask to have their picture taken with Clockwork Crab.

Baltimoreans and tourists have enjoyed looking at the 200 fiberglass crab sculptures since they began appearing in May. But while the Crabtown Project is a benefit for Baltimore City’s Believe in Our Schools fund, Clockwork Crab also represents UMBC’s goal to explore interdisciplinary opportunities for its students. It’s a University where a mechanical engineering major can win an art contest open to students regardless of major and show off his talent to the people of Baltimore and beyond.

“What’s great about UMBC is that there are opportunities to create art even if you aren’t an art major,” said Symmes Gardner, director of UMBC’s Center for Art and Visual Culture. “We opened the contest to design UMBC’s crab to all students, and asked participants to create a design using education at UMBC as a theme. Arthur’s idea was fun and really stood out.”

“I liked the idea of combining my major and the artistic aspects of the project,” said Gould, who admits he is not a fan of the spicy crabs many Baltimoreans look forward to eating each summer. “Engineering has artistic elements too. You have to design and solve problems, and think outside of the box. I enjoy the interdisciplinary opportunities at UMBC and the fact that the arts are open to everyone — I can join the visual arts listserv and art clubs and meet art majors.”

In November, the Crabtown Project crabs will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to the Believe Our Schools Foundation, so be sure to check out Gould’s Clockwork Crab (#23) at the Inner Harbor, just east of the Maryland Science Center. A map is available at www.crabtown.org.

(10/3/04)

 

Writing UMBC’s Next Chapter

 

Providing a distinctive undergraduate experience and supporting faculty development and research are an important part of UMBC’s strategic planning process. Two significant steps to enhancing these goals are the recent reorganization of the College of Arts and Sciences into two new colleges:the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and the creation of the Office of Undergraduate Education. These changes also will expand scholarship, research and creative achievement experiences for both students and faculty.

Overseeing these new entities are Diane Lee, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education; John W. Jeffries, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; and Geoffrey P. Summers, dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences. Here, the three new deans discuss their priorities for the coming year.

Diane Lee, Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education, Office of Undergraduate Education

With the creation of the Office of Undergraduate Education, Lee hopes to find new opportunities for collaboration across campus. “We want to bring people together in order to strengthen the undergraduate experience and provide an honors experience to every undergraduate.” said Lee. The Office of Undergraduate Education connects with offices and departments on issues and initiatives such as First-Year Seminars, the Introduction to an Honors University seminar, New Student Book Experience, Campus Connect and undergraduate research, including Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day, Undergraduate Research Awards and UMBC Review The office is also involved with other programs that promote student academic achievement and take a proactive approach to student engagement.

The Office of Undergraduate Education is now responsible for evaluating student academic affairs issues across all of the colleges that cannot be satisfactorily resolved at the department level, a role formerly handled in the college offices. “This change will assure consistency in how policies and rules are enforced, monitored and communicated across campus,” said Lee. In addition, the Learning Resource Center, which provides critical tutoring and other academic support to students, became a part of the office.

A major priority for the office is to work with undergraduate program directors and the General Education Committee in preparation for a fall 2006 launch of the new GFRs. The office is also focused on the development of an academic integrity tutorial and online tracking systems.

John W. Jeffries, Dean, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS)

A major priority for Jeffries for the academic year is examining whether his college should be further subdivided, and he has appointed a committee to study what would be in the best interests of the University. “This is not just an issue for the college but ultimately for the entire campus,” said Jeffries. “We plan to invite college faculty and staff and then the UMBC community to discuss this issue in a variety of venues. The process will be accessible and transparent, and we will continue to keep everyone informed as it progresses.”

Other important priorities for the college include raising the visibility and financial support for CAHSS departments and programs, addressing the need for additional full-time faculty, and enhancing recognition and support of the important research conducted by UMBC faculty in the arts, the humanities and the social sciences.

Geoffrey P. Summers, Dean, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS)

Summers hopes to raise visibility of both the CNMS departments’ graduate and undergraduate programs. One priority is to create two advisory boards, one consisting exclusively of CNMS alumni and the other for leaders in industry and government. The purpose of these boards is to increase opportunities for these groups to connect with the college, to find new internship and employment opportunities for students, and new research opportunities and resources for faculty. Additional faculty and research foci are also goals for the college, in addition to finding ways to attract more outstanding undergraduate and graduate students to UMBC.

Summers added that CNMS is considering new interdisciplinary programs that connect the life sciences to the quantitative sciences, such as biophysics. “With a smaller college, the commonality among disciplines will be more apparent than in the past,” said Summers, who said that he would also like the college to address K-12 teacher training in the sciences by participating actively in the ongoing initiatives on campus.

Read more about the reorganization in Insights online. Watch Insights and the UMBC homepage for future updates.

(9/26/05)

 

Homeland Security for H20

It’s a post-9-11 scenario that most homeland security experts agree is not a matter of if but when: a “dirty bomb” attack in the United States.

Technically known as radiation dispersal devices or RDDs, dirty bombs combine conventional explosives with radioactive material, most likely cesium or cobalt stolen or scavenged from medical or industrial use. Often confused by the public with nuclear weapons, a dirty bomb’s primary impact is psychological, since while they could render an entire city block uninhabitable for quite some time, overall damage would be limited beyond that area.

Like many scientists since 9/11, Brian E. Reed, William and Lillian Hackerman Chair of Engineering and Chair of UMBC’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), has studied how his field can contribute to homeland security. Reed has recently studied a serious side effect of dirty bombs: the toxic trickledown effect on the environment and water supply in the aftermath of an attack.

“If an RDD attack happened in our region, first responders would use water to extinguish fires and control dust at a detonation site, and the contaminants could ultimately end up in the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Reed. “The public health and environmental impact would vary depending on the type and potency of the attack, but the mass psychological impact would be significant, requiring a focused and immediate response.”

Reed realized that many available advanced technologies for cleaning up and limiting damage by dirty bombs were too complex and expensive to be practical in an emergency. He found that adsorbents – materials that cause the molecules of liquids, gases, and dissolved substances to adhere to the surfaces of solids – offered a more robust response and easier disposal of contaminants.

Under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, Reed and his graduate students are testing adsorbent materials in CEE laboratories located at UMBC’s Technology Research Center (TRC).

CEE is part of a growing cluster of collaborative environmental research entities headquartered at UMBC, including the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) (led by CEE colleague Claire Welty) and the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES).

A native of Buffalo, NY, Reed came to UMBC in 2002 from the University of Missouri-Columbia to help build on the success of department founder the late Dr. Severino “Bino” Koh and Reed’s CEE colleague Jack Gwo, a challenge that has him energized.

“It’s a great chance to build a new department that is not constrained by how civil and environmental engineering departments have operated in the past,” Reed said. “Our goal is to produce a different type of environmental engineer – one who is able to work closely with scientists and policy professionals in solving the complex environmental problems facing the nation. Working closely with CUERE, BES and departments such as geography and environmental systems gives our students a much broader outlook on how environmental problems are addressed.”

(9/12/05)

Homeland Security for H20

It’s a post-9-11 scenario that most homeland security experts agree is not a matter of if but when: a “dirty bomb” attack in the United States.

Technically known as radiation dispersal devices or RDDs, dirty bombs combine conventional explosives with radioactive material, most likely cesium or cobalt stolen or scavenged from medical or industrial use. Often confused by the public with nuclear weapons, a dirty bomb’s primary impact is psychological, since while they could render an entire city block uninhabitable for quite some time, overall damage would be limited beyond that area.

Like many scientists since 9/11, Brian E. Reed, William and Lillian Hackerman Chair of Engineering and Chair of UMBC’s Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department, has studied how his field can contribute to homeland security. Reed has recently studied a serious side effect of dirty bombs: the toxic trickledown effect on the environment and water supply in the aftermath of an attack.

“If an RDD attack happened in our region, first responders would use water to extinguish fires and control dust at a detonation site, and the contaminants could ultimately end up in the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Reed. “The public health and environmental impact would vary depending on the type and potency of the attack, but the mass psychological impact would be significant, requiring a focused and immediate response.”

Reed realized that many available advanced technologies for cleaning up and limiting damage by dirty bombs were too complex and expensive to be practical in an emergency. He found that adsorbents ­ materials that cause the molecules of liquids, gases, and dissolved substances to adhere to the surfaces of solids ­ offered a more robust response and easier disposal of contaminants.

Under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, Reed and his graduate students are testing adsorbent materials in CEE laboratories located at UMBC’s Technology Research Center (TRC).

The civil and environmental engineering department (CEE) is part of a growing cluster of collaborative environmental research entities headquartered at UMBC, including the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) (led by CEE colleague Claire Welty) and the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES).

A native of Buffalo, NY, Reed came to UMBC in 2002 from the University of Missouri-Columbia to help build on the success of department founder the late Dr. Severino “Bino” Koh and Reed’s CEE colleague Dr. Jack Gwo, a challenge that has him energized.

“It’s a great chance to build a new department that is not constrained by how civil and environmental engineering departments have operated in the past,” Reed said. “Our goal is to produce a different type of environmental engineer – one who is able to work closely with scientists and policy professionals in solving the complex environmental problems facing the nation. Working closely with CUERE, BES and departments such as geography and environmental systems gives our students a much broader outlook on how environmental problems are addressed.”

(9/12/05)

A New Look for UMBC’s Homepage

Update: Stepping Back and Looking Forward
(9/8/05)

Okay, we heard you, and here are ways you said the new UMBC homepage and website could be improved:

• Launch both together;
• Improve design to reflect UMBC’s energy and quality;
• Use more campus photos, similar to the new About UMBC;
• Make myUMBC a more prominent homepage link;
• Consider vertical scrolling layout;
• Study peers and competitors;
• Tighten programming to adhere to contemporary web standards.

So, we’re stepping back and will launch a new UMBC web presence in Summer 2006—homepage and all. We’ve turned off comments to the original story below, but if you’d like to learn what we plan to do (and offer new comments) click here. Future updates will appear on the Webteam blog and be linked to About This Site on the current homepage.

---

In late September, UMBC’s homepage will have a brand new design. While the existing navigation and features will not change, the new homepage will have a fresher look and more information about University events and news, as well as photos of the campus. This week, we’re providing a sneak preview of the new homepage at http://www.umbc.edu/index_new.html and an opportunity for the campus community to submit comments at www.umbc.edu/oit/webdev/news.

Designed by Jim Lord ‘99, associate director of creative services, the homepage is the result of conversations between eMedia, the University’s interdepartmental Web team, and the campus community. These conversations were the first phase of discussions with the UMBC community about a redesign of the entire UMBC Web site—including site structure, navigation, consistency and content—that will take place over the next 2005-06 academic year.

The new homepage includes expanded Campus Life and What’s New sections, and photos that promote upcoming events and highlight the campus, in response to comments from the UMBC community that the site should be more welcoming and include more campus images and information that supports the University’s many events and accomplishments. There’s also a new About UMBC site—designed by Michelle Jordan ’93, interactive designer and Jim Lord—with resources for both internal and external audiences, including facts, recent achievements and information on campus governance and administration.

“With the new homepage design and the upcoming site-wide redesign, we hope to improve the quality of content for our users, from facts to features that tell the UMBC story,”said Eleanor Lewis, assistant director of online information, who oversees content development and management for UMBC’s site. “I see my job as a partnership with members of the UMBC community, working closely with them so that I can provide up-to-date information and promote their events and achievements throughout our Web site.”

A similar redesign is occurring with myUMBC, the campus Web portal, to better serve current students, faculty and staff. Launched in 1999, myUMBC was one of the first generation campus portals in higher education. But the site needs a new technical infrastructure to support current and future needs, so the Office of Information Technology will be releasing a working beta version on or around September 19, and plans to launch a new myUMBC by the spring ’06 semester.

“College and university Web sites are challenging because they have to serve internal members of the community who know their institution better than many prospective, external users who don’t,”said John Fritz, director of New Media Learning & Development, and a member of the original Web teams that launched UMBC’s main site and portal. “We’re trying to redesign how all users experience UMBC’s Web presence.”

To help, Fritz and OIT have hired Jackie Ward as UMBC’s first-ever campus Web architect (and full-time Web employee). Ward will have lead responsibility for managing the top-level organization, navigation, usability and content management policies of the University’s main Web site and portal, informed by Web steering and advisory committees consisting of selected campus departments or stakeholders. She will also serve as the primary support staff member for departmental web developers to provide guidance, training and support to help improve their sites.

If you did not participate in our previous discussions about UMBC’s Web site or portal, there are still opportunities to provide input, and we’d love to hear from you. OIT and OIA are launching a UMBC Webteam blog where you can comment about the redesign of each site throughout the year. Alternately, you can send e-mail to webteam@umbc.edu.

(8/30/05)

 

 

 

 

 

A New Look for UMBC’s Homepage

Update: Stepping Back and Looking Forward
(9/8/05)

Okay, we heard you, and here are ways you said the new UMBC homepage and website could be improved:

• Launch both together;
• Improve design to reflect UMBC’s energy and quality;
• Use more campus photos, similar to the new About UMBC;
• Make myUMBC a more prominent homepage link;
• Consider vertical scrolling layout;
• Study peers and competitors;
• Tighten programming to adhere to contemporary web standards.

So, we’re stepping back and will launch a new UMBC web presence in Summer 2006—homepage and all. We’ve turned off comments to the original story below, but if you’d like to learn what we plan to do (and offer new comments) click here. Future updates will appear on the Webteam blog and be linked to About This Site on the current homepage.

---

In late September, UMBC’s homepage will have a brand new design. While the existing navigation and features will not change, the new homepage will have a fresher look and more information about University events and news, as well as photos of the campus. This week, we’re providing a sneak preview of the new homepage at http://www.umbc.edu/index_new.html and an opportunity for the campus community to submit comments at www.umbc.edu/oit/webdev/news.

Designed by Jim Lord ‘99, associate director of creative services, the homepage is the result of conversations between eMedia, the University’s interdepartmental Web team, and the campus community. These conversations were the first phase of discussions with the UMBC community about a redesign of the entire UMBC Web site—including site structure, navigation, consistency and content—that will take place over the next 2005-06 academic year.

The new homepage includes expanded Campus Life and What’s New sections, and photos that promote upcoming events and highlight the campus, in response to comments from the UMBC community that the site should be more welcoming and include more campus images and information that supports the University’s many events and accomplishments. There’s also a new About UMBC site—designed by Michelle Jordan ’93, interactive designer and Jim Lord—with resources for both internal and external audiences, including facts, recent achievements and information on campus governance and administration.

“With the new homepage design and the upcoming site-wide redesign, we hope to improve the quality of content for our users, from facts to features that tell the UMBC story,”said Eleanor Lewis, assistant director of online information, who oversees content development and management for UMBC’s site. “I see my job as a partnership with members of the UMBC community, working closely with them so that I can provide up-to-date information and promote their events and achievements throughout our Web site.”

A similar redesign is occurring with myUMBC, the campus Web portal, to better serve current students, faculty and staff. Launched in 1999, myUMBC was one of the first generation campus portals in higher education. But the site needs a new technical infrastructure to support current and future needs, so the Office of Information Technology will be releasing a working beta version on or around September 19, and plans to launch a new myUMBC by the spring ’06 semester.

“College and university Web sites are challenging because they have to serve internal members of the community who know their institution better than many prospective, external users who don’t,”said John Fritz, director of New Media Learning & Development, and a member of the original Web teams that launched UMBC’s main site and portal. “We’re trying to redesign how all users experience UMBC’s Web presence.”

To help, Fritz and OIT have hired Jackie Ward as UMBC’s first-ever campus Web architect (and full-time Web employee). Ward will have lead responsibility for managing the top-level organization, navigation, usability and content management policies of the University’s main Web site and portal, informed by Web steering and advisory committees consisting of selected campus departments or stakeholders. She will also serve as the primary support staff member for departmental web developers to provide guidance, training and support to help improve their sites.

If you did not participate in our previous discussions about UMBC’s Web site or portal, there are still opportunities to provide input, and we’d love to hear from you. OIT and OIA are launching a UMBC Webteam blog where you can comment about the redesign of each site throughout the year. Alternately, you can send e-mail to webteam@umbc.edu.

(8/30/05)

 

 

 

 

 

Making the Most of Summer

 

Employers are more interested than ever in hiring UMBC talent: this year, the Shriver Center coordinated and secured nearly 800 internship and co-op placements in over 360 organizations, an increase of over 20 percent in a two-year period, said Christine Routzahn, the Center’s associate director of professional practice.

These programs help students gain professional skills and insight into a specific industry and establish a network of contacts.

This summer, 210 UMBC students participated in internships or co-ops through the Shriver Center. In their own words, here are just a few of the students who made the most of their summer:

Henrietta Akintoye, biochemistry, Meyerhoff Scholar

Internship: Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Collegeville, Pennsylvania

“Wyeth is truly amazing! I am working on a project related to osteoporosis in the Women’s Health Research Institute. In addition to learning a variety of new skills, I am also gaining a fresh perspective and appreciation for research. Every time a drug gets placed on the market, I can see firsthand how research provides for many, new and innovative health solutions.

“I am also learning a great deal outside of the laboratory scene. I have been able to connect with many Wyeth employees, hear of how they have worked to succeed in the pharmaceutical industry, and also receive pertinent advice as to how I can reach and fulfill my personal goals.”

Jonathan Bratt and Eleanor Pittinger, emergency health services

Internship: London Ambulance Service (LAS), London, England

Bratt and Pittinger worked with the LAS about a month before the London bombings. “We were able to study and experience first-hand the deployment of LAS’ Emergency Medical Services System throughout London,” said Bratt. “We were also given the rare opportunity to ride with London’s Multi-Agency Initial Assessment Team (MAIAT), a specialized team of firefighters, paramedics and police officers that have been trained—around the world—in all types of disaster, WMD and rescue situations. It was an experience like no other, and was definitely one of the most interesting aspects of our trip.

“When we graduate, we will have an excellent resource in our toolbox: the ability to describe and possibly implement another way of organizing emergency services in the U.S,” Bratt added.

“Jon and I have a lot to take back to UMBC and to our respective emergency organizations,” said Pittinger. “The similarities between patients and providers in the U.S. and the U.K. are so hard to ignore that it makes sense for our countries to exchange ideas, theories and methods.”

Cora Morrison, political science, and Edward Warner, M.A. program in intercultural communication

Internship: Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Agriculture Land Preservation Foundation, Annapolis, Maryland

“As a political science major, working with a government agency gives me a valuable experience for future employment,” said Morrison. “I learned several new skills, including cartography and oracle databases, which may also prove helpful. I know that this experience has prepared me for future opportunities in my career and even graduate school.”

“My future academic plans are to attend law school,” said Warner. “In addition, my professional goal is to use my foreign language skills and understanding of intercultural and legal issues to help the needy. In my summer internship I’ve seen how statutes, leadership and security are all connected….I’ve learned the importance of the agricultural industry for societal, political and economic success.”

(8/15/05)

 

Researching a Cure for Alzheimer’s

 

In UMBC’s recently renovated Chemistry Building, Jesse Karr, a chemistry and biochemistry Ph.D. student, is standing over a brand-new electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer, one of the more recent research acquisitions at UMBC and the ‘pride and joy’ of his mentor, Assistant Professor Veronika A. Szalai.

Karr is researching copper-metal ions and the influence they have on the neurodegenerative factor of Alzheimer’s disease. Copper plays a more important role in our bodies than most people realize, he said.

“Copper is actually biologically relevant; we all have a lot more copper in our bodies then most people know,” he says. “It has been implicated in A-beta fibril formation, the possible neurotoxic species and hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. If you can figure out how copper is binding to these fibrils in an AD patient, you can hopefully figure out a way to take the copper out. In other words, if you can prevent copper from binding, you can potentially stop Alzheimer’s disease.”

Karr said he feels drawn to the study of chemistry, a bond that only grows stronger as his research at UMBC progresses. “People ask me, ‘Why are you involved in chemistry?’ And I realize that I’ve met really motivating, inspirational people in chemistry … it started in high school chemistry all the way up to my current advisor, Dr. Szalai. I think she’s a great mentor.”

Originally from New York, Karr received a B.S. in Chemistry from Plattsburgh State, one of the SUNY schools in the New York State University System. While he was hesitant to move, the outstanding faculty and the research opportunities at UMBC won him over.

“I did online searches for graduate schools and UMBC just kept coming up, so I started asking questions about it … I just kept looking into it and decided it was the best fit for me,” he says. “The equipment seemed a lot more advanced, the faculty was nice, I just got an overall better impression from UMBC.”

(7/25/05)

 

 

Inside the New York Times

Last semester, UMBC Retriever Weekly editors were invited to go “Inside the New York Times” to learn about day-to-day operations and to develop their journalistic skills. Joe Howley and Doug Miller, who recently became Retriever editor-in-chief and news editor, respectively, attended the Times’ annual symposium along with editors from over two dozen student newspapers across the country.

Students met with Times’ managing editors and correspondents to discuss how they cover the news and make decisions about editorial content, participated in a workshop on the editing process and exchanged ideas with other student editors.

“To be invited to attend the symposium was an honor,” said Howley. “And to be able to get insight into how such a major organization operates was invaluable.”

Miller added that he and Howley will apply some of that insight to the Retriever. “Visiting the Times was an informative and inspirational opportunity that will help us in our goal to continue improving our product and address the needs of the campus with increasing accuracy and efficiency,” said Miller.

“Joe and Doug have both worked very hard to improve the Retriever,” said Christopher Corbett, Retriever Weekly faculty advisor and English faculty member. “Going to the New York Times conference gave them exposure to serious journalism. They also got to meet and hear from their contemporaries at college and university newspapers—large and small—all over the U.S. We hope to do this again next year.”

Both Howley and Miller credit Corbett for helping Retriever editors and writers get real-world exposure at events like “Inside the Times” and at local and regional papers.

“Christopher Corbett is an invaluable asset to our paper because of his many years of experience working for the Associated Press and other large news organizations,” said Miller. “Thanks in large part to his guidance, members of our staff have been offered exciting internships at the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun and Patuxent Publishing, among other news organizations. A good percentage of the Retriever’s staff gain employment with local papers immediately after graduation.”

(7/5/05)

 

 

Ph.D. Students Analyze Baltimore’s Inner Suburbs

“In scholarly literature, there is a lot of interest about inner suburbs, those older suburban communities near the central city. We found that these areas suffer from increasing poverty and declining incomes. Therefore, we set off to better understand these urban dynamics,” said Bernadette Hanlon, a public policy Ph.D. candidate at UMBC and one of two authors of “The State of the Inner Suburbs,” an analysis of the urban decline surrounding Baltimore.

“There is room for public policy to intervene, to stop this decline, to process and revitalize the suburban communities,” said co-author Thomas J. Vicino, public policy Ph.D. candidate. “We’re at a crossroads, where the suburbs haven’t declined as far as old Baltimore, and there is hope.”

Both Hanlon and Vicino are researchers at UMBC’s Center for Urban and Environmental Research and Education (CUERE). After a year of compiling massive amounts of data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Vicino and Hanlon developed a new system for classifying the suburbs that ring Baltimore’s beltway.

“Because the inner suburbs are juxtaposed by outer suburbs, there’s a lot of talk in Maryland of ‘smart growth,’ and where to direct new development,” said Vicino.

“The State of the Inner Suburbs” is currently under consideration for publication in the Journal of Urban Affairs. The data was presented at the national Urban Affairs Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and to a group of state legislators, politicians and other academics. It was also a front page story in the Baltimore Sun.

The report is potentially useful to legislators, from the migration of work and the composition of the work force to the deflation of property values. “I’d like to see the community and policy makers look to our research as a way to target investment in the communities,” said Vicino, while Hanlon added, “We’ve done analysis on Baltimore, and we hope to continue our research in a comparative context in other urban areas throughout the country.”

“The State of the Inner Suburbs” is available for download at: www.umbc.edu/cuere/inner_ring.

(6/20/05)

 

A Global Action Plan for Women in IT

 

For the first time, technology leaders from 22 countries and six continents will gather to explore concrete ways in which access by girls and women to technology can be increased in order to effect economic, social and political change. The First International Symposium on Women and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will convene June 12-14 in downtown Baltimore. Participants from developing and developed countries will include leaders from business, government and non-government agencies and educational institutions.

The symposium was organized and is co-hosted by UMBC’s Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT), the World Trade Center Institute, the World Bank and Women in Global Science and Technology; it is held in cooperation with the ACM (Association of Computer Machinery)

Through the exchange of ideas and experiences, the symposium’s organizers expect to create an action agenda to significantly increase the international participation of girls and women in ICT–including leadership of women in technology business–in the next five years.

“This is an important time for women and technology,” said Claudia Morrell, CWIT’s executive director. “ICTs for girls and women will either become a new tool for increased access to education, economics, and social equity or it will create a new form of discrimination. In either case, the ramifications for all of us are vast. The symposium will address topics that we know need exploring, and we have sought out the world’s leading authorities to discuss current hurdles and possible solutions.”

Among the speakers will be authorities on ICT and the global economy, including widely published authors Jo Sanders, Sue Rosser and Sophia Huyer, as well as corporate leaders from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Maryland’s lieutenant governor, Michael Steele, will address participants at an opening reception. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission for Women, Ellen Sauerbrey, honorary chair, and UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski will be keynote speakers.

More information about the symposium is available online.

(6/6/05)