window-stories

Striking a Balance The professional challenges of balancing care-giving responsibilities for an aging parent and a full-time job can be significant and daunting. UMBC’s Wellness in the Workplace program has partnered with the Erickson School to create a workshop designed to help UMBC employees who face difficult caregiving situations related to aging. On April 30, three leading experts from the Erickson School will provide guidance and advice on caregiving in a workshop titled “Striking a Balance: Eldercare in the Workplace.” The workshop will be held in The Commons 331 from 10-11:30 a.m. The workshop will be led by Interim Dean… Continue Reading Research, Scholarship and Creativity

Starbux Starbucks would love to hear your thoughts. That’s what the customer comment card says. And Christine Ferrera ’10, M.F.A. imaging and digital arts, took them up on their offer. “I asked myself: ‘what would I naturally say to a friend?’ and began writing,” she said. Fast forward five years, and you’ll find nearly 2,000 letters from Ferrera to Starbucks – one for every day of every year, ranging from fun and quirky to highly sensitive. In one, she asks, “Has anyone ever fallen in love at Starbucks?” In another, she discusses her pride in buying a new couch. In… Continue Reading Starbux

Chess Powerhouse Continuing its dominating sweep of collegiate chess tournaments, UMBC’s powerhouse chess team won a record sixth “Final Four of College Chess” April 11 in Brownsville, Texas, at the 2010 President’s Cup. The annual President’s Cup tournament, which falls just days after the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament Final Four, determines the top U.S. collegiate chess team in an equally intense round-robin sporting competition. UMBC defeated University of Texas-Brownsville (UTB) by just half a point to clinch its sixth title in the tournament’s 10-year history. The tournament was hosted by UTB, a newcomer chess powerhouse whom UMBC defeated Dec.… Continue Reading Chess Powerhouse

Heritage of Excellence The UMBC community mourns the passing of Albin Owings Kuhn, a lifelong farmer who rose through Maryland’s university system to become the founding chancellor of UMBC. Kuhn died of pneumonia at his Woodbine farm March 24 at the age of 94. “Good gracious, we have so much to thank him for. He was a very special man and a giant, and we’re standing on the shoulders of that giant,” UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III, said in a March 26 Baltimore Sun story about Kuhn. “Dr. Kuhn was our biggest cheerleader. He believed in us. He’d call… Continue Reading Heritage of Excellence

What’s in Your Dinner? Where do UMBC graduate research and local high school students meet? Over slices of caribou. Mix together graduate students from UMBC’s civil and environmental engineering department (CEE), samples of pike and caribou from the Arctic, and a handful of inquisitive high school students, and you get one big prize: The Best Poster Award at the annual meeting of the International Society for Risk Analysis (SRA). The SRA is more than your average high school science fair. This unique group of students was competing with other Ph.D. students at an internationally recognized competition.  In 2009, Upal Ghosh,… Continue Reading What’s in Your Dinner?

Asian Influence UMBC’s faculty experts on Asian cultures are extending the university’s reach across the Pacific. Two books written by UMBC Faculty are currently being translated to Asian languages.  Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military Service in Edo, and the Culture of Early Modern Japan, is by Constantine Vaporis, professor of history, and examines the cultural aspects of Samurais’ tours of duty while in the employ of Japanese war lords.  That book is currently being translated to Japanese, and will be released in Japan in May. Anna Shields, director of the honors college, also has a book in translation. Crafting a… Continue Reading Asian Influence

High Hopes Meghan “Meg” Colabella ’10, history, is about to do what few other athletes have done. She’ll be graduating within three years, all while playing on the basketball team, earning a 3.88 GPA (and writing a time-intensive capstone) and participating in a number of service projects. Originally from Montclair, New Jersey, Colabella played basketball at an early age and up through high school. Recruited by UMBC, she chose the school not only because of the team but for UMBC’s strong academic stance on education. Although most of her time is taken up by basketball, she tries her hardest to… Continue Reading High Hopes

Lucky Number Seven The UMBC men’s swimming and diving team has won its seventh consecutive America East Championship and 13th straight conference title overall after finishing with 926.5 points Sunday, February 28, in Boston. The women finished second for the second year in a row, scoring 681 points. “We are very proud of our men and women. They performed with confidence and pride,” said Head Coach Chad Craddock ’97, who took over at the helm of the swimming and diving teams in 2001. “Our men were the clear underdogs going into the meet and came out proving they are champions. … Continue Reading Lucky Number Seven

Good to be Green Walk past the marquee in The Commons, and you’ll see some new words on the board…. “The hero UMBC deserves. The one it needs. GREEN MAN.” This new mascot is recycling his way through campus, earning popularity, admiration and even respect from students. But the question everyone’s dying to know — who is he? “He’s just like any mascot,” said Donna Anderson, manager of landscape and grounds in Facilities Management. “He can’t speak with you directly, and his identity will remain a secret until the end of the competition.” Green Man is helping get the word… Continue Reading Good to be Green