All posts by: UMBC News Staff

Black and Gold? Try Green and Gold

Black and Gold? Try Green and Gold

Spend a few minutes in Patapsco Hall’s recently-completed addition, and you won’t have to be told it received one of the world’s top certifications for environmentally-friendly design. The large windows reduce the need for artificial light, the heating and cooling system automatically adjusts to your presence and you won’t have to look far to recycle your soda can.

But while all of those features helped the building earn a LEED Gold certification, perhaps the most innovative part of the building’s design is how it is helping shape the future. That’s because residential life is using the building as an opportunity to educate the campus about sustainability.

“We are committed not only to having facilities and practices that lead to a more sustainable future, but also to educating our residents so that they understand our commitment to sustainability and have opportunities to change the culture firsthand,” said Katie Boone, director of residential life.

Education and leadership on climate change are key underpinnings of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which President Hrabowski signed in 2007. Within three years, the university adopted a Climate Action Plan, which among other things, requires new construction to meet at least LEED Silver certification.

Patapsco Hall exceeded expectations for certification – and for student involvement. While the addition was still in the earliest stages of planning, residential life invited students to contribute to conversations about making the building environmentally friendly.

“I was primarily concerned with the green design of the project, the energy consumption of the building, ideas for day-lighting as well as energy conservation,” said Samuel Su ’11, biology, who proposed several ideas for building features at the meetings.  “Because the project was something outside of the scope of my academic studies, it really presented an opportunity to learn something else through self-study.” Su runs the green living website Verno, which he started with several other UMBC students in 2009.

All student ideas were considered; some, such as elimination of actively-cooled water fountains, were implemented, while others, such as liquid discussant waterfalls, were investigated but proved to be too costly. One of the most innovative ideas came from Olyssa Starry, a graduate student at UMBC at the time, who suggested setting up a permanent experiment on the building’s roof.  Building designers incorporated a 600 square foot “green roof” and an identical “white roof” area into the building’s plans, and data are collected from the water that drains from each section of roof.

“Working with them to incorporate research into the design was such a learning process,” said Starry, who is now completing her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, College Park.  “The team did not need a lot of convincing [to implement the plan], and from what I understand that is not typical.”

Starry is using data from the roof as part of her dissertation, a model of green roof hydrology. The data also are available online – and will eventually be displayed on a screen in the Patapsco lobby – creating a valuable resource for students interested in hydrology, said Andy Miller, associate professor of geography and environmental systems.

“Having a monitoring site right here on campus collecting information in real time presents a great educational opportunity,” he said. “It’s always a great advantage for students to be able to get their hands on real data and to see where it came from.”

With more construction and renovation projects on the horizon, the lessons learned through this project will impact the future of sustainability on campus. The next construction project, the apartment community center, will include a green roof, and residential life is looking to harness students’ enthusiasm for sustainability through new programs, such as contests to see who can use the least electricity and a potential geography and environmental systems living/learning community.

“Ultimately,” Boone said, “it is really about partnering with students to engage and educate on sustainable practices.”

(1/30/13)

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For All the World to Hear Storyteller in Baltimore Magazine

FATWTS_rflm121212Janice Grant, Civil Rights activist and storyteller in the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture’s touring humanities project, For All the World to Hear: Stories from the Struggle for Civil Rights, was interviewed for Baltimore Magazine this month. Grant speaks candidly about her experiences growing up in segregated Maryland, and the interview not only provides insight into her life at the time of the Civil Rights Movement, it provides a snapshot of what one can expect to hear at For All the World to Hear. Read the interview at Baltimore Magazine.

For All the World to Hear, is a community outreach project that features approximately a dozen area seniors who speak, write, perform and digitally publish personal stories about their struggle for civil rights, that debuted at UMBC in the fall. A full program will return to campus Friday, February 15. Find out more about the project, and discover other performance dates at foralltheworldtohear.org.

Susan McCully, Theatre, Interviewed for What Weekly

mccully01-sWhat Weekly magazine featured Susan McCully, Senior Lecturer for the Department of Theatre, in an interview for their website last week. In the interview, she discusses the evolution of her work as a playwright and performer, and its influence in the “Baltimore Renaissance”.

“[Interviewer]: What do you think is the over-arching theme of our conversation?
Susan: Emergence. I feel like I’m at a place in my life where I’m emerging. That word is usually attached to someone in their 20’s. And there are all kinds of reasons why I’m emerging now, but I feel emotionally and artistically grown up now and ready to actually talk about things other than myself when I talk about my work. My work is about me, of course, but I’m grown up enough to talk about human beings. I feel like Baltimore theater is emerging. Emerging for a lot of reasons that have to do with the changes in the larger professional theaters, and with the younger groups coming here with the intention to grow together.” Segment from the interview, “Susan McCully, Late Bloomer Extraordinaire”.

For All the World to Hear Featured in Maryland Humanities Council Blog

FATWTS_rflm121212The Maryland Humanities Council featured the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture’s current humanities project, For All the World to Hear: Stories from the Struggle for Civil Rights, organized by Sandra Abbott, CADVC, in collaboration with Harriet Lynn, in their blog this Monday.

The article gives an overview of the performance, and comments of the effective quality of the participants’ moving, emotional stories. Read the article at the Maryland Humanities Council’s website: “Marylanders at the Front Lines for Freedom”

For All the World to Hear, is a community outreach project that features approximately a dozen area seniors who speak, write, perform and digitally publish personal stories about their struggle for civil rights, that debuted at UMBC in the fall. A full program will return to campus Friday, February 15. Learn more about the project and other performance dates at foralltheworldtohear.org.

Claudia Galindo, LLC, on “All Things Considered”

On Wednesday, January 23, Claudia Galindo, assistant professor of language, literacy, and culture, spoke with NPR education correspondent Claudio Sanchez for an “All Things Considered” segment about a study showing that Latino children make up For academic shortcomings with strong social skills.

“We found that Latino kids bring to school strong emotional skills and strong social skills, which means they know how to share with their peers. They know how to follow instructions. They know how to listen. And one other thing that we found is that these kids are being raised in very supportive and warm family environments,” Galindo said.

The full segment can be heard here.

Robert Provine, Psychology, on NPR’s Science Friday

On December 7, Robert Provine, professor of psychology, discussed laughter and why tragedy sometimes makes us laugh on NPR’s “Science Friday.”  He was joined on the show by comedian Tig Notaro, who incorporated her breast cancer diagnosis into her stand-up routine.

“We humans, in many ways, are beasts of the herd.  We are not the rational, voluntary beings we fashion ourselves as,” Provine said.

“The essential ingredient for laughter is another person,” Provine said. “In Tig’s audience, you had a group of people, and they’re laughing when they hear other people laugh.  So laughter is contagious. Also, it was a comedy club, so they came with the expectation that they are going to get comedy, and so ‘I’ve got cancer’ ends up being comedy.

The full conversation can be heard here.

Kimberly Moffitt, American Studies, on the Marc Steiner Show

On Tuesday, January 22, Kimberly Moffitt, assistant professor of American studies, was a guest on the “Marc Steiner Show.”  The topic of the discussion was the Presidential Inauguration and Obama’s rhetoric at the start of his second term.  Moffitt was joined by E.R. Shipp, Journalist in Residence and Associate Professor of Journalism at Morgan State University, and Tyrone Keys, political analyst.

“I think that it’s more than appropriate to talk about the speech as celebratory, as ceremonial, and the focus is not about specific politics. Although there are areas of the speech where he is clearly making political statements, I think he was simply saying, as Americans, as all of us, as citizens, there is a place that we need to strive towards, and now is the time for that to happen,” Moffitt said.

The full conversation can be heard here.

Jodi Kelber-Kaye, Honors College, on the Marc Steiner Show

On Tuesday, January 22, Jodi Kelber-Kaye, associate director of the honors college and former faculty member in gender and women’s studies, was a guest on the “Marc Steiner Show.”  Kelber-Kaye discussed the 40th Anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States.  She was joined by Meshelle, founder of Goaldiggers The Sankofa Project; Ruth Rosen, Professor Emerita of History at the University of California at Davis; Andrea Plaid, Associate Editor and Sexual Correspondent at Racialicious; and Maggie Little, Director of Georgetown’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics.

The guests discussed the fact that an entire generation of women have grown up while abortions have been legal.

“College students have grown up knowing that that was an option and not really knowing, until we talk about the history, what it was like to be a woman faced with a decision where she may die, she may not be able to have children in the future. That’s a crushing decision to have to make,” Kelber-Kaye said.

The full conversation can be heard here.

Maurice Berger, CADVC, Interviewed for Maryland Morning

An interview with Maurice Berger, Chief Curator and Research Professor of the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, by Tom Hall of WYPR is scheduled to air this Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on Maryland Morning. In the interview, Berger discusses the exhibition currently on display in the CADVC, For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights (curated by Berger).

To listen, tune in to WYPR on Monday, January 21 at 9:45 a.m.

UPDATE: A podcast of the interview will be available online after the program airs through Maryland Morning’s archive. The interview, “Viewing the Civil Rights Movement through a New Lens,” is available online now, through Maryland Morning‘s website.

For All the World to See is on display until March 10.

Anthony Adams Named One of Nation’s Top Assistant Coaches by College Soccer News

8841For the sixth time since 2000, UMBC associate head men’s soccer coach Anthony Adams has been recognized by College Soccer News as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation.

The web publication cited Adams among 15 assistant or associate head coaches at the NCAA Division I level. He earned his fifth accolade after the 2010 season, and in 2003, he was one of 27 college coaches in the nation (all sports) to be honored as an Assistant Coach of the Year by AFLAC.

Adams earned four letters for UMBC from 1992-95 and was a starter in the backfield in his final three seasons. The Dundalk, Md. native (Calvert Hall) started his UMBC tenure on the bench with head coach Pete Caringi, Jr. in the fall of 1997. The coaching tandem has led the Retrievers to three conference titles (1999, 2010, 2012) and subsequent NCAA Tournament appearances and three additional regular season championships (1999, 2002, 2003) since 1999.

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