Seth Sawyers '99, History, on Growing Up Baseball

Apr 6, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

Seth Sawyers ’99, history, and adjunct faculty in English, has a new essay in the online literary magazine The Millions. This essay, which is a chapter is from his recently completed memoir about growing up in the hills of western Maryland, is entitled “Baseball, Finally.” It appeared on the journal’s website on April 4. “….I can still feel the rhythm of the infield drill. I did thousands of them, the movements deep inside me like the steps of a dance, like the bass lines to certain Beatles’ songs.I loved turning double plays, taking the throw from third or from short,… Continue Reading Seth Sawyers '99, History, on Growing Up Baseball

Bill Shewbridge '80, New Media Studio, in Urbanite

Apr 4, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

Bill Shewbridge ’80, history, director of UMBC’s New Media Studio, spoke to Urbanite about the role technology plays on campus and in the lives of students. “There is a tendency to think that students are digital natives,” says Bill Shewbridge, the director of the new media studio at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). “But uploading a picture to Facebook doesn’t make you a producer, much less an informed consumer.” A television producer-turned-professor, Shewbridge discovered this after embarking on UMBC’s digital storytelling project eight years ago. To tell digital stories—short videos, usually for a particular class, that combine scriptwriting,… Continue Reading Bill Shewbridge '80, New Media Studio, in Urbanite

Alums Make It Easier To Share A Cold One

Apr 4, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

Two information systems alumni are using their entrepreneurial spirit to make happy hour just a little bit happier. As reported in the Arbutus Patch, alums Ryan Bricklemyer ’04, M.S. ’06, and Sean Kennedy ’06, have launched a website called BeerGivr that allows users to buy a beer — or an entire round — for friends at Baltimore bars without being present to pay the tab. “There’s tons of different applications. I’m going to miss a party; I lost a bet. There’s tons of ways… beer is kind of like its own little currency,” said Bricklemyer, who noted that 16 Baltimore-area… Continue Reading Alums Make It Easier To Share A Cold One

Dog Tag: Taking the UMBC Logo to a New Level

Mar 29, 2012 / 2 minutes of reading

Many students broadcast their UMBC pride in traditional fashion – on a black and gold t-shirt, hoodie or ball cap. But UMBC seniors Chris Snyder ’12 and Chris Bowie ’12 have taken their case of Retriever Fever one very permanent step further. “It was my last season of cross country, so I wanted to do something special,” says Snyder, a mechanical engineering major who along with Bowie had the new UMBC retriever logo tattooed on his left calf last spring. Since its debut in summer 2010, the Retriever logo has spread quickly across the university’s walls and furniture, but never… Continue Reading Dog Tag: Taking the UMBC Logo to a New Level

The Surveyor of the Stacks: Lindsey Loeper '04, AmSt

Mar 27, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

Lindsey Loeper ’04, American studies, acknowledges the futility of trying to keep pace with the hands of the watch and the rapidly turning pages of the calendar. No matter how quickly she and other members of the Special Collections team archive the stacks of UMBC documents they receive every day, there are always more coming. History never stops happening at a university that’s still building its story. “We’re often asked when we’ll have everything digitized and we never will,” smiles Loeper, who earned her master’s of library sciences at College Park. “Instead, we try to create an online record that… Continue Reading The Surveyor of the Stacks: Lindsey Loeper '04, AmSt

Aqua Man: George Stover '73, INDS

Mar 23, 2012 / 2 minutes of reading

George Stover ’73, interdisciplinary studies, answers the door at his production studio, Adventure Productions, looking like he’s on location in the wild. A tall man with a full head of silver hair and a boyish frame, Stover is clad in blue jeans, rugged boots, and a black canvas shirt emblazoned with his company’s emblem, a hammerhead shark. Stover’s North Baltimore basement studio is far from the exotic underwater locations where he shoots his kid-friendly weekly television show, Aqua Kids. But the décor of his cavernous subterranean studio illustrates just how seamlessly Stover blends his dual passions for film and aquatics:… Continue Reading Aqua Man: George Stover '73, INDS

Tower Transformer: Kelley Bell '06, MFA

Mar 21, 2012 / 2 minutes of reading

Picture this: It’s a cool, crisp night and you’re cruising north up Interstate 95, with the city of Baltimore rising up before you. The image of a metropolis can rise and fall with its skyline and its immense iconic representation of the city’s civic aspirations. Much of Baltimore’s story is written in its skyline. There’s the urban renewal that spawned the National Aquarium and the twin stadiums of South Baltimore, for instance. The city’s history is also etched there in places such as the famous and distinctive Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower, which was built in 1911 at the corner of Eutaw… Continue Reading Tower Transformer: Kelley Bell '06, MFA

Leaving a Legacy: George Vitak '73, BioSci

Mar 19, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

“There are not that many of me left,” George Vitak, ’73, biological sciences, says jovially as we walk together from the Library Pond back to his office in the University Center on a blustery late November day. The “me” in this case is a select group of faculty and staff who have witnessed UMBC’s rise to national prominence almost in its entirety. And at least as far as the University System of Maryland payroll is concerned, today is the day that another “me” bids UMBC farewell. On December 1, Vitak retired from his position as director of campus card and… Continue Reading Leaving a Legacy: George Vitak '73, BioSci

Your Support Vital for Higher Education Budget

Mar 16, 2012 / 2 minutes of reading

March 15, 2012 TO: The UMBC Community FR: Freeman Hrabowski, President and Philip Rous, Provost RE: Your Support Vital for Higher Education Budget As the Maryland General Assembly works to address a $1-billion State budget gap, legislators are considering a number of budget plans that would reduce Governor O’Malley’s proposed budget for the University System of Maryland (USM) and negatively impact USM campuses. Budget cuts currently proposed for the System range from $5.3 million to nearly $20 million. It is vital that faculty, staff, students, and alumni take time to urge legislators to continue the strong support they have shown… Continue Reading Your Support Vital for Higher Education Budget

UMBC Magazine Winter 2012 Online

Mar 5, 2012 / 2 minutes of reading

Visit the latest issue of UMBC Magazine online to read some great new stories — and view exclusive web extras! This issue includes features on: UMBC professor of political science Thomas Schaller talking about the success of his book, “Whistling Past Dixie,” and putting the 2012 presidential race into perspective. The coolest jobs (you never knew existed) at UMBC, including a glass blower, rat caretaker and more. (Plus, video!) We’ve also got a story about one of the biggest controversies in UMBC history: the 1969 literary magazine that featured nude photographs from a rising star in the Washington, DC art… Continue Reading UMBC Magazine Winter 2012 Online

LaMont Toliver in office with folders and papers

The Passing of LaMont Toliver

Feb 28, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

February 28, 2012 To: The UMBC Community From: Freeman Hrabowski, President Diane Lee, Dean of Undergraduate Education With great sadness, we must let you know that LaMont Toliver, Director of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program and Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Education, passed away late this morning after suffering a heart attack on campus. This is a tragic loss for LaMont’s immediate family – his wife, Lisa, and his four sons, Jacquet, Tristan, Julian, and Jordan, and a granddaughter, Kamry Toliver. (Both Julian and Jordan are students here on campus.) LaMont’s passing is a tragic loss as well for the Meyerhoff Scholars… Continue Reading The Passing of LaMont Toliver

Slideshow: Alumni Relations Visits Boston

Feb 27, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

Members of the Alumni Relations staff traveled north last week to meet up with Boston-area alumni and cheer on the women’s basketball team as they took on the Boston University Terriers. Enjoy the slideshow below, and check out more photos from the trip on the UMBC Alumni Flickr page! [slideshow]

Alumni

Search UMBC.edu