Life on the Edge (With a Safety Net)

Jul 2, 2014 / 5 minutes of reading

Mary Volkman ’92, English, is a Baltimore native who writes fiction under the pen name “Margo Christie.” Her first novel, These Days: A Tale of Nostalgia on Baltimore’s Block, relies not only on the author’s time working in show bars on the city’s most notorious stretch of real estate (right under the shadow of City Hall, hon) in the 1970s and ’80s, but also in her careful attention to the reminiscences of those who’d been there during the heyday of burlesque just after World War II. But Margo Christie wrote the book. So let her tell it: It’s often said… Continue Reading Life on the Edge (With a Safety Net)

How To – Summer 2014

Jul 2, 2014 / 4 minutes of reading

KEEP THE PERFECT BEAT With Steven McAlpine, assistant director of interdisciplinary studies and percussionist with Straight Up Tribal Back in 2008, Steven McAlpine decided that UMBC needed a beat. Right at the heart of the campus. So the director of UMBC’s interdisciplinary studies program sat with his djembe (an African drum) on the UMBC Quad and started to play. He didn’t expect anyone to join in. But his beat proved irresistible and the weekly drum circle that formed around McAlpine quickly grew past double digits. On some Fridays, the gathering of rappers, hoop dancers and other percussionists gets as high… Continue Reading How To – Summer 2014

Up on the Roof – Winter 2014

Feb 17, 2014 / 4 minutes of reading

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, takes your questions. Q. UMBC has made significant investments in creating physical spaces where collaboration in pedagogy and research can flourish. And the movement toward a new Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building promises to take that effort even further. Why is it important that there are physical spaces in which to do this sort of collaboration? And, stepping back and looking at the larger picture: What other research collaboration efforts at UMBC are you most excited about? – Richard Byrne ’86, English A. What’s important as we build a new facility, such as the proposed… Continue Reading Up on the Roof – Winter 2014

To You – Winter 2014

Feb 17, 2014 / 3 minutes of reading

Universities are filled with people who have great ideas. In fact, the view that universities act as a repository of great ideas has a firm hold on the public imagination. Students go to classes to obtain these ideas. Professors pore over tomes or fiddle with knobs and text tubes in traditional laboratories. And universities didn’t gain a reputation of “ivory towers” where ideas were chewed over in isolation out of thin air. Yet I hope this issue of UMBC Magazine may help you rethink the notion of our university as a place that contains ideas Because if the feature stories… Continue Reading To You – Winter 2014

Forget the Smoking Gun… – Gus Russo ’72

Feb 17, 2014 / 5 minutes of reading

Catonsville resident Gus Russo ’72, political science is married to the mob. And to U.S. history. He is a writer and investigative reporter specializing in the shadowy netherworld of American crime and politics. Russo has worked on 15 television documentaries for major networks in the United States and elsewhere, and he is the author of seven books – including “Where Were You? America Remembers the JFK Assassination” (Lyons Press, 2013). The 1960s and 1970s (when I was a student at UMBC) were not just defined by musical revolutions, but also by the tumult of politics and conspiracy – and the… Continue Reading Forget the Smoking Gun… – Gus Russo ’72

Back Story – Winter 2014

Feb 17, 2014 / 3 minutes of reading

Music is more than entertainment. It is woven inextricably into the fabric of our culture – and investigating that complex weave can tell us many things about ourselves. Theodore Gonzalves, an associate professor (and chair) of American studies and Michelle Scott, an associate professor of history, have both received Smithsonian Institution fellowships to study music’s cultural impact. They talked recently about why that research is so important. UMBC Magazine: How can scholarship shape our understanding of music? Theodore Gonzalves: Understanding music actually helps us to understand the kinds of questions we face as families, as nations and as communities. It’s… Continue Reading Back Story – Winter 2014

To You – Fall 2013

Sep 26, 2013 / 3 minutes of reading

I ride UMBC Transit to work every day. Yes, I’m likely helping reduce UMBC’s carbon footprint by doing so. But what I have found over the five years that I’ve been a rider is that the feeling of virtuousness is outweighed by the camaraderie I’ve found with my fellow riders. For a little over four years, I battled the commute by DC Metro and MARC train with the hardy group of souls who ride the Halethorpe Line and the BWI/MARC Line. Students, faculty and staff together – braving the blustery winds at the Halethorpe MARC station, or the crowded trains… Continue Reading To You – Fall 2013

Postcards From Pyongyang – Brian Souders ’09, Ph.D., LLC

Sep 26, 2013 / 4 minutes of reading

Brian Souders ’09, Ph.D., language, literacy and culture, has directed UMBC’s Study Abroad program since 2000. His own travels and study have taken him to (among many locations) Finland and Russia, but Souders spent a week this past spring in one of the most secretive and closed-off nations in the world: North Korea. Officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (or DPRK), North Korea hosts only a few thousand tourists annually – and only a fraction of that number are Americans. A week spent in North Korea in March is not a spring break trip to Cancún by… Continue Reading Postcards From Pyongyang – Brian Souders ’09, Ph.D., LLC

How To Sew (a Flag) and Tell (a Great American Story)

Sep 26, 2013 / 4 minutes of reading

With Kristin Schenning ’15, Mimi Dietrich ’70, and Vickie Greisman ’13 By Meredith Purvis Americans take immense pride in their flag. The simple rectangle of red, white and blue fabric sewn together is a national symbol that helps knit Americans together as a people. But how much does the average person know about the actual flag that “Star Spangled Banner” author Francis Scott Key saw flying over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812? Kristin Schenning, a UMBC graduate student and the education director for the Maryland State Historical Society, and a team of volunteers want to help Americans reconnect… Continue Reading How To Sew (a Flag) and Tell (a Great American Story)

Discovery – Fall 2013

Sep 26, 2013 / 10 minutes of reading

STAYING POWER On May 17, 1968, the eyes of the nation turned to an unassuming two-story building on Frederick Road in Catonsville. The building was the local Knights of Columbus Hall, and during the Vietnam War, its second floor housed Selective Service Local Board No. 33. On that sunny spring day, nine Roman Catholic anti-war activists, including priests Philip and Daniel Berrigan, broke into the draft board, took records outside, and burned them with homemade napalm. The Catonsville Nine, as they would become known, then held hands, prayed, and waited to be arrested. Hit & Stay, a new documentary co-produced… Continue Reading Discovery – Fall 2013

Back Story – Fall 2013

Sep 26, 2013 / 13 minutes of reading

One of the challenges in creating a greener planet earth is to carefully consider what policy initiatives will most effective for achieving sustainability goals. Virginia McConnell, a professor of economics and co-chair of UMBC’s Climate Change Task Force, is an expert on assessing the effects of policies to improve the environment. She talked with UMBC Magazine about her research on fuel regulations for motor vehicles — and the unintended consequences that often arise from well-intentioned initiatives. UMBC Magazine: CAFE is an acronym that one often hears when we talk about fuel economy. What is it? McConnell: CAFE stands for Corporate… Continue Reading Back Story – Fall 2013

Up On the Roof – Summer 2013

Jun 17, 2013 / 4 minutes of reading

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, takes your questions. Q: I want to thank you for making me proud to have a degree from UMBC. The legacy you are building not only enriches students’ experiences, but adds value to their postgraduate lives. How will you continue the momentum you’ve built – and specifically where will additional capital be directed in the coming years? – John Becker ’01, information systems A: Wherever I go in the country, people talk about UMBC as a university that is setting a standard for inclusive excellence. So how do we keep the momentum? First, I… Continue Reading Up On the Roof – Summer 2013

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