All posts by: UMBC News Staff

Donald Norris, Public Policy, in The Baltimore Sun

As Election Day in November nears, Public Policy Professor and Chair Donald Norris has been in the news analyzing statewide races in Maryland. Norris was recently quoted in two articles in The Baltimore Sun about primary campaign spending and candidates hitting the road to visit other states.

On August 27, The Baltimore Sun published an article on June’s gubernatorial primary campaign spending, which was a record of almost $25 million. Norris noted the primaries were competitive with viable candidates in both parties and spending continues to mount: “The competitive primary helps explain part of it,” Norris said. “The rest of it is it costs more every time there’s an election.”

In an article published September 1, Norris commented on campaign visits to other states by lawmakers such as Reps. Elijah Cummings and Steny Hoyer and how they can have an impact on a close contest, especially when it comes to sending a signal to voters that the party takes the candidate seriously: “It shows that the party cares enough to send some big names, whether or not voters know who they are,” Norris said.

You can read both articles by clicking below:
Primary campaigns cost almost $25 million (Baltimore Sun)
Md. lawmakers hitting the road for the midterms (Baltimore Sun)

Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun

In the wake of Horseshoe Casino opening in Baltimore last week, The Washington Post ran an article on September 3 focusing on Governor Martin O’Malley’s ambivalence toward Maryland’s slow embrace of casino gambling. Political Science Professor and Chair Thomas Schaller was interviewed for the story and commented on what the state’s soon-to-be $1 billion-a-year casino industry could mean for the governor as he considers a run for the White House.

“It may not be something he wants to tout, but it’s absolutely part of his résumé,” said Schaller. “Maryland held out for a long time, and it’s now become a real player in the casino industry.”

Schaller also offered insight on what O’Malley’s ties to the casino industry could mean politically as he makes appearances in other states: “It’s hard to project an image as a progressive when you know that this will bankrupt some people and put a dent into some working-class families,” said Schaller. “It’s nice to have the tax revenue, but you wonder who’s picking up the tab.”

You can read the full story in The Washington Post titled, “Governor O’Malley brought casinos to Maryland, but that doesn’t mean he likes them,” here.

In his latest column published in The Baltimore Sun on September 2, Schaller wrote about his view that Maryland’s Republican party has been lacking a charismatic candidate since former Governor Bob Ehrlich left office. You can read the full column titled, “The GOP needs another Ehrlich,” here.

Round Up: UMBC in the News 9/5

One of the things that makes UMBC great is how wonderful our alumni, students, faculty, and staff are. Because of these amazing people, UMBC often finds itself “in the news,” so each week, we’ll be sharing with you a round-up of the most newsworthy achievements from our community.

Lift Off

Kamili Jackson ’97, M.S. ’99, mechanical engineering, has witnessed one NASA space launch in person during her nine years at the agency: the Hubble Servicing Mission 4 in 2009.

Jackson was a contracted materials engineer at NASA for that mission, helping the team make decisions on what metals, plastics and ceramics should be used for the craft. And as she watched her hard work blast off and enter orbit, she was filled with satisfaction.

That same year, Jackson co-founded a project that helps high school students take off into careers in engineering – the Future Innovative Rising Engineers (FIRE), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Junior Chapter in Greenbelt.

“We wanted to have a consistent impact on a set of kids,” says Jackson. The FIRE students come from all over Maryland and even Virginia, and they often stay on the team until they graduate from high school and find a college or university. (In 2013, the program began accepting middle school students as well.)

The competition and mentoring in the program is intense. Professional engineers and parents coach participating students through four national competitions in robotics, model rocketry and math. They also teach them coding, software and building techniques, and also facilitate discussions throughout the process. The goal is for the students to design and build their own robots and rockets.

“We get them to learn by doing,” says Jackson. “We want them to take ownership of what they’re learning.” Continue reading “Lift Off” →

Pres. Hrabowski Discusses Degree to Career Pathways in The Washington Post

Many in the U.S. see focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education as a way to encourage innovation and improve American competitiveness. However, a recent study found that most STEM graduates work in other fields. This has fueled discussion around whether there is a shortage or surplus of STEM workers.

President Hrabowski commented on the debate, saying that the report ignores the realities of the job market. He emphasized the importance of looking at how STEM graduates use their degrees in various fields, stating that many UMBC students receive job offers before graduation because of shortages in fields like information technology, and that, ultimately, we must focus on teaching students across all majors how to find patterns, learn scientifically and collaborate with one another.

Click here to read “Policymakers hail STEM education as a strong foundation, pushing innovation” in The Washington Post.

Dr. Hrabowski was also mentioned an article about the value of universities in America. Click here to read “On the Immense Good Fortune of Higher Education” in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Push the Envelope

Summer interns choose their own adventures, with powerful results.

You’re looking to learn more about a career and gain practical experience by becoming an intern. Do you apply for every available position online and wait to hear a response or do you research contacts, build connections and take action to find or to build your dream internship?

This summer, students across UMBC took action, seeking out faculty, staff, alumni and peers to find opportunities for experiential learning in Baltimore, around the country, and internationally.

Be persistent, said Joshua Dixon 17, mechanical engineering, who worked as a research and development engineer for Power Transmission Solutions. Find an opportunity in the area of what you want to do and be persistent.

All that effort paid off. This summers interns found positions where they could gain hands-on experience and have a tangible impact on issues that matter to them. They conducted research in nationally recognized labs, made meaningful contributions to non-profit organizations and federal agencies, and worked for some of the worlds top corporations, including GE, Amazon and Delphi Automotive Systems in China.

Find something that pushes your envelope all the way open, that you have a passion for, thats a little unconventional, and then go do that, advised Vanessa Barksdale 17, social work, who interned as a caseworker for International Social Services.

Well-prepared and passionate, UMBC interns to stand out from the crowd. A 2014 National Association of Colleges and Employers report found that the number of internships held by college students was expected to decrease by 3.4 percent in 2014. However, UMBCs internship, co-op and research placements have steadily increased, in large part due to student effort, faculty involvement and staff guidance.

Kerry Kidwell-Slak, associate director of internships and employment at the UMBC Career Center, explained, Our goal is to empower students to explore the possibilities while developing their professional skills. We find that many of the students who are successful in acquiring summer internships do so by demonstrating initiative and making the most of the resources around them. These students talk with their friends, family and faculty members, log in to UMBCworks often, have active LinkedIn profiles and attend networking events on campus and elsewhere. Their drive sets them apart to employers.

Are you ready to choose your own internship adventure? Here, a few 2014 summer interns who enrolled in the Career Centers Internship, Co-op, and Research Practicum offer advice to get their fellow Retrievers started.

(9/2/14)

Alexa White

Piedmont Environmental Council

Environmental Science, May 2015

After learning about environmental topics like water quality, land conservation and sustainable development in the classroom, Alexa White was ready to get her hands dirty. She did just that as an intern at the Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia. Every day was an adventure, from taking trips to organic farms to heading to Washington, D.C. to observe policy decisions concerning sustainable development. Those experiences helped her research the EPAs Clean Power Plan and develop materials to encourage public support for the plan. I enjoyed the opportunity to work on a current issue and produce useful materials while doing it, said White.

My Advice: Start early. Have an idea of what to search by the end of Fall semester and start applying to things during winter break.

Catrice Greer

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Psychology, December 2014

As an assistant in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) office at Walter Reed National Medical Center, Catrice Greer was inspired to explore her psychology major from an industrial/organizational perspective. After being trained for EEO intake counseling, she realized that she was in a great position to observe problem solving skills from her insightful colleagues. Working at Walter Reed also deepened Greers sense of national service. There are many servicemen and service women in our installation, she said. I feel fortunate to have such a rare experience to be with them daily and be of some small service to them.

My advice: Specifically, for students that have disabilities and want an internship or a permanent position, I highly recommend considering adding the WRP (Workforce Recruitment Program) to your considerations as another avenue to conduct your career search. It is a way to be considered in relation to what you CAN do as opposed to what you CANNOT.

Celia Drew

GE Healthcare

Mathematics and Information Systems, May 2016

Not only did Celia Drew gain skills in analyzing big data this summer, she also got the opportunity to explore a new city. Her internship in the Information Technology Leadership Program at GE Healthcare took her to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she worked on data to help improve computer system management services. Drew appreciated working for a large company with great co-workers and lots of professional development opportunities. I realized that GE would be a terrific company for me, she says. Its expanding its use of data to make things more efficient in many industries, and it would feel good to help bring down health care costs.

My advice: Get to know your professors because youll need recommendations, and start applying for internships or research experiences right away!

Mai Huynh-Teage

Pixilated PhotoBooth

Graphic Design, May 2015

Dont be surprised if youve seen Mai Huynh-Teages work before. As a graphic designer for Pixilated Photo Booth, she created unique illustrations and videos for big name clients that have been featured on Instagram, Facebook and other social media sites. Her internship challenged her to improve her design work and also gave her skills in networking, communicating and time management. I have been inspired to be more creative, take on new initiatives and gain an understanding of a workplace experience, Huynh-Teage says. I believe I have been given an excellent educational opportunity that will serve me well in the future after I graduate and begin my career.

My advice: Work hard, be confident, and prepare any work files before deadlines. Do not procrastinate. Be yourself. Art is subjective, so dont take it personally if someone does not like your artwork.

Abigail Jackson

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, May 2015

Spending the summer as an undergraduate researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) allowed Abigail Jackson to explore how government agencies conduct research. She worked with the American Dental Association to develop ways to improve dental resin composites. Jackson enjoyed learning new laboratory techniques and experimenting with new instruments and materials. I now feel that I have a very diverse set of experiences that will be useful in my career as a scientist, she said.

My advice: I was not sure if my project at NIST would be something that I would enjoy, but I knew I would love it as soon as I learned more about the topic and the specific tasks I would be doing.

Joshua Dixon

Power Transmission Solutions / Kopflex (an Emerson Industrial Automation company)

Mechanical Engineering, December 2017

Daily walks with employees, yoga at lunch and real mechanical engineering work? That was a winning combination for Joshua Dixon, who was a research and development co-op engineer at Power Transmission Solutions. Dixon ran statistical analyses on raw data for new projects in development by the company. Applying his knowledge of mechanical engineering was the highlight of his internship. I was asked to do a calculation and was overjoyed that I had to pull out my Mechanics of Materials book to complete it, Dixon says. I have really gained confirmation that this is what I want to do when I grow up.

My advice: Be persistent. Find an opportunity in the area of what you want to do and be persistent.

Mona Patel

U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command

Chemical Engineering, May 2017

This summer, Mona Patel spent her days teaching students how to create computer games and dissect pigs. Those lessons were part of her job as a Peer Mentor for the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command, where she encouraged students to explore career opportunities in science, math, engineering and technology (STEM). Patel enjoyed making a difference and sharing her passion for STEM with her students. Being a female in the engineering field is difficultbut sharing my experience and talking about my major shows the students that they can do whatever they want in life as long as they believe in themselves!

My advice: Any opportunity that is given to you, big or small, take the chance to try it out.

Aashil Soni

T. Rowe Price

Information Systems, May 2015

Aashil Sonis internship as a Solutions Analyst at T. Rowe Price gave him the opportunity to gain practical experience in his career field. Soni worked on a record keeping system project, testing functionality and performance. He appreciated networking with people on his team and learning about different aspects of the project. Gaining an experience where I am playing an important role in the project is an experience unique to this opportunity. I was actually doing a business analysts work and was given responsibilities that will help me in my career.

My advice: Be enthusiastic for the work assigned to you. If your manager is busy, network with other team members and find work from them.

McCall Freeman

Remix Education, D.C. Public Schools

Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, May 2015

McCall Freeman spent the summer making a difference in the lives of 9th graders. Working as an intern for Remix Education allowed him to teach English at Phelps ACE High School in Washington, D.C. During his internship, Freeman enjoyed encouraging students to confront challenging issues like bullying, peer pressure and gang violence in productive, positive ways. Helping others learn is the ultimate reward for an educator; seeing a community grow one child at a time is the goal of a lifetime, he said.

My advice: Focus on the quality of your work experiences and not necessarily the quantity. By narrowing down what it is that you are really interested in, you will be better able to determine the best opportunities to reach your personal, academic, and professional goals.

Andrew Brow

Schneider Electric

Mechanical Engineering, May 2016

Working with UMBC alumni peaked Andrew Brows interest in research and increased his knowledge of medical technologies, professionalism and life. Interning as an estimator at Schneider Electric, Brow worked with many UMBC alumni, reading plans, tracking project costs and writing project scopes. Spending with engineering alumni also allowed Brow to learn about the different paths his career could take. I am confident about my future goals now, and Ive got a great supportive network backing me, he says.

My advice: Apply to as many programs that interest you and go in with an open mind. Be ready to learn and have your mind blown multiple times.

Stories of a Big-City Farm Girl, Vol. 1

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of three posts from Lexi, our summer intern here in the Alumni Communications office. She’ll be sharing some of her stories and experiences at UMBC over the coming weeks.

Let me introduce myself. Hi, I’m Lexi.
I’m a 21 year old from Camden, Delaware,
where nothing exciting ever really happens, except for a few weekends each year. Slowly but surely, events like NASCAR and the Firefly Music Festival are putting the little old diamond state on the map, and less and less people ask me which state Delaware is in.

I’ll give you a little background info about myself. I’m an only child, sans the mythical only-child syndrome, and grew up with a veterinarian for a dad and the best mom a girl could ever ask for. My shoes of choice are barn boots, and I have a caught more than a few snakes in my time. My home is more or less a farm. Or a zoo. It just depends on the day. We have five dogs, two cats, a pond full of fish, honeybees, three horses, and a donkey, give or take a wandering raccoon or opossum.

While we don’t actually harvest crops or breed cattle, my home used to be in the agricultural heart of Delaware. Less than a mile away is a massive potato farm. Turn left from there, and you’re surrounded by the biggest stalks of corn you could possibly imagine. Sure, there’s still a pretty big population near us, and we don’t live on a dirt road, but on the right day it’s as if you’re isolated from the hustle and bustle cities are known for. But that’s home to me. So for me, Baltimore was a little bit of an eye-opener.

I came to UMBC not really understanding how close I was to the city. As a freshman, I didn’t have a car, so I relied on upperclassmen friends to take me wherever I needed to go. Come sophomore year when I had my own car, I had no idea where anything was. I never bothered to learn the back roads or highways, because I never needed to know. I used my phone’s GPS to get me to the Arbutus Wal-Mart. I tried to get to an art store for a class, and my lack of knowledge about traffic and the number of different highways there are turned a 20-minute trip turned into a two-hour adventure.

Delaware has one, two-lane highway without stoplights. Route one runs north to south through the state and can take you wherever it is you need to go. Just to get to the art store I had to take four different highways. I learned how to merge really quickly. I also learned that my GPS doesn’t work well in cities. After being told to turn right, go straight and then turn left, and go through a hotel lobby, all while sitting at the same traffic light for five minutes, I finally caved and pulled out the map I stash in my car to find the best back roads. With much honking, yelling, and arm waving, I somehow cut across three lanes to get where I needed to go. Drivers in Baltimore seemed much more uptight than Delawareans. But, then again, I probably deserved all the dirty looks.

Besides the minor directional issues, my trip to the art store was relatively uneventful until I had to park (parallel park, at that). That’s probably a story left for a better time, though.

-Lexi Coon

Michele Osherow, English, Participates in the U.S. Premiere of “The Veil”

This past summer, The Quotidian Theatre in Bethesda hosted the U.S. premiere of Conor McPherson’s play “The Veil,” which debuted in 2011 at London’s National Theatre. The description of the play is as follows on the Quotidian website: “Set in a haunted mansion in rural Ireland in 1822, surrounded by a restive, starving populace, ‘The Veil’ weaves Ireland’s troubled colonial history into a transfixing story about the search for love, the transcendental, and the circularity of time.”

Michele Osherow, an associate professor of English, played the widowed Lady Lambroke, the owner of the Irish country manor where the play takes place. Osherow and other cast members received a strong review in the Washington Post for their work: “LaRocque’s Rev. Berkeley, Decker’s Mr. Audelle, Osherow’s Lady Lambroke and Mayo’s Hannah are all well-rounded characterizations, their lines spoken with unstilted English and Irish accents.“

The play ran from July 18-August 17 and in addition to the Washington Post, it received praise from MD Theatre Guide, DC Theatre Scene, Broadway World, and DC Metro Theatre Arts. To read more of the reviews and find more information about “The Veil,” click here.

Osherow has extensive experience in professional theatre and serves as the Resident Dramaturg for the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C. She received a 2012 best actress nomination from D.C. Theatre Scene for her work in Brian Friel’s Afterplay (Quotidian Theatre).

Tanya Olson, English, Wins 2014 American Book Award

The Before Columbus Foundation has announced the winners of its 35th Annual American Book Awards. The prestigious American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions.

Tanya Olson, a lecturer in UMBC’s English department, received a 2014 American Book Award for her book Boyishly, published by YesYes Books in May 2013. The book is a collection of poems which explores personal and public constructions of gender, violence, and America and it received the following review from “Good Reads”:

“Tanya Olson’s BOYISHLY is a magic book. It casts a spell upon you. Olson uses language like Gertrude Stein does, building large monuments of sound into humming lattices, where a ‘whale will do as a whale will do, ‘ or where ‘tree forms shapes for tiger’ and ‘tiger takes shape / under tree.’ In this book, Olson writes poems to a future America from beyond the planetary gravestone, where there is only a ‘boyish summer’ and the ‘boyish waters.’ The voice says come back to me. I am not done with you. I was waiting for you all along.”–Dorothea Lasky

Olson will be formally recognized for her award on Sunday, October 26 at the SF Jazz Center, Joe Henderson Lab in San Francisco, California. For more information on the 2014 American Book Awards and to see the complete list of recipients, click here. You can read more about the Before Columbus Foundation here.

John Rennie Short, Public Policy, to Present Lecture at National Heritage Museum

The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts contains exhibitions, collections and programs based on American history, traditions and culture. It contains the Van Gorden-Williams Library, a research library specializing in American Freemasonry.

As part of the museum’s series on its collection of historic maps, Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short will present an upcoming lecture entitled, “Cartographic Encounters: Native Americans in the Exploration and Mapping of North America.” Short, an expert on the history of cartography, will discuss how Native Americans were an essential element in the European and American exploration and mapping of North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He will use diaries and official reports in describing the role of indigenous people in mapping and exploration. Specifically, Short will focus on Native Americans’ roles as guides, informants and mapmakers.

The lecture is scheduled for Saturday, October 4 at 2:00 p.m. at the National Heritage Museum. For more information, click here.

Round-Up: UMBC in the News 8/29

Student Scholarship Q&A: Randi Lindsay ’16, media and communications, American studies

Every so often, we highlight the importance of student scholarships by introducing you to the very students they help to succeed. Today, we’re featuring Randi Lindsay ‘16, media and communications and American studies, who is an Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship recipient. This scholarship is awarded to an undergraduate student who is a child or grandchild of a UMBC graduate, and who demonstrates great community involvement.

Name: Randi Lindsay
Major: Media and communications studies, American studies
Extra Curricular Activities: Student Events Board, Baltimore Collegetown Leadershape, TOMS Representative
Scholarship received: Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship

Q: Why did you decide to attend UMBC?
I chose to attend UMBC after one visit to the campus. It is so open and so welcoming that I fell in love with it instantly. UMBC is also a fantastic school that is only improving as time goes on. I knew from day one that going to UMBC would be something that I was proud of for the rest of my life and I was right.

Q: What’s been the most amazing discovery you’ve made so far as a student here?
As a student at UMBC, the most amazing discovery I have made has been a concrete idea of what my future would be. I came to UMBC expecting to major in English and receive a teaching certificate, but that sentiment didn’t last long. Almost as soon as I started taking classes in this major I realized that interest in a subject is not the same as passion.

So there I was, 18 and unsure about what the future would hold. I decided to get involved in something: get a job, join a student org, anything. That’s when I found the Student Events Board (seb). I loved everything about the organization, from the people to the planning. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I wanted a career planning events that would make someone happy. I changed my major to media and communications studies and American studies so that I could begin the journey to my future career in Special Event Programming. I may have never known this if it weren’t for my attendance at UMBC.

Q: Tell us about a class or club that has really opened your mind.
Well, I’ve already mentioned the UMBC Student Events Board (seb) and how it has guided me through the crisis that is changing one’s major, but this organization was not the only thing that has influenced me. In 2013 I was one of 70 lucky Baltimore-area college students to participate in the Baltimore Collegetown Leadershape program. This program is dedicated to enhancing the leadership skills of college students and teaching them how they can work to improve their community. At this program’s week-long retreat, I learned more about what I can do to create the change I want to see. It opened my eyes to different areas of need in the Baltimore community and opened my mind to different methods of aid. Before this program, I was supportive of nonprofit work but not likely to participate, and now I am very interested in volunteering and hands-on action.

Q: How important is it to you as a student to get scholarship support?
I come from a single-income household, so paying for my college education is not something that I can just have my parents do. Getting the scholarship support makes it easier for me to attend school as it lightens the load of debt I will be paying off in the future.

Q: What are you most proud of accomplishing in your time at UMBC?
I feel that I have accomplished a lot in my first two years at UMBC. I have a wonderful job, a 3.67 GPA, internship experience, and have found two majors that I am passionate about; but since I have to choose one thing I’ll say I’m the most proud of my position at (seb). There was almost never a time that I was not involved with this organization as I applied for their volunteer committee as soon as I heard what it was. I worked hard to be a productive member of the organization, to always be helpful, and to always exceed expectations. Every semester I found myself more involved in the organization than the one previous, and eventually I was hired to be an event programmer. I worked hard to get where I am now, and it’s not every day that you find a part-time job that really fulfills you.

Q: What would you say to the people who provided your scholarship?
I would say that I cannot thank them enough for their contribution. I’m doing what I love and getting a great education all at the same time, and they’re now a part of that. I know that I make my parents proud with what I do and the people who provided my scholarship are helping make that possible.

Q: What do you hope to do after graduation?
I want to keep planning events! More specifically I want to plan special events and milestone celebrations like weddings and retirements. Eventually though, I want to plan events like galas for local non profits. I want to plan events that will make people happy, may it be because they are moving into a new chapter of life or because it is helping someone in need.