Students kicked off Career Week 2013 a bit more “dressed to impress” than normal this year thanks to alumni, staff and faculty donations to “Clothes The Deal,” a program through which students improved their career wardrobes (for free!) and better prepared themselves for future job searches.

See the full Career Week schedule here.

Several dozen students waited in line outside UMBC’s Women’s Center Thursday morning for the first crack at hundreds of pieces of donated business attire: skirts, blazers, ties, and suits. By the end of the event Friday afternoon, 362 students had taken at least one piece of clothing, much of which was supplied by staff and faculty, but also UMBC alumni working at T. Rowe Price — the main sponsor of this year’s Career Week — who organized a clothing drive at their offices.

“I think I’m  in love,” cooed senior psychology major Comfort Oke, who had her friend, junior Regine Charlot, take a photo with her smartphone as she tried on a navy blue blazer with shiny brass buttons. “This was a fabulous idea. I think it’s an amazing thing for students, and it’s exciting that alumni helped make this possible.”

Senior theatre major Amalia Mark left “Clothes The Deal” with a cute little number she plans to wear on interviews for jobs in student engagement. “I got the best dress ever!” she exclaimed, showing off her new frock.

Special thanks to the Pikesville ZIPS for donating the cleaning of 300 items for “Clothes The Deal.” Other event sponsors were the Career Services Center, the Student Alumni Association, the Office for Academic and Pre-Professional Advising, UMBC Athletics, Chartwells, the Shriver Center, and the Division of Student Affairs.

The Center for Urban Families will honor Diane Bell-McKoy ’73, sociology, CEO of Associated Black Charities, at its 2nd annual Urban Visionary Award (UVA) ceremony later this month, the group announced. Read more about Bell-McKoy in UMBC Magazine.

CFUF, which was founded in Baltimore by fellow UMBC alumnus Joseph T. Jones, Jr. ’06, social work,  focuses on taking an integrated approach to connecting men and women to career paths and strong family models. Read more about Jones in UMBC Magazine.

Besides Bell-McKoy, who will receive CFUF’s local award, the organization will also honor Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund, and her husband, Peter Edelman, Georgetown Law Professor, that night. Of the awards, CFUF states:

“Out of desire to continue our integrated approach to connecting men and women to career paths and strengthening the bonds between fathers and their children, the UVA was created to honor local and national leaders who have blazed trails in service to their communities.”

Two alumni appear in a new promotional video launched by UMBC’s Department of Physics. The video, which talks about the types of study and research conducted within the department, featured physics alumni Antonia Gambacorta ’08, Ph.D., who is a staff physicist for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Paul Cunningham ’10, Ph.D., who is a staff physicist for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

“Being at UMBC opened a door that proved critical in launching my career,” said Gambacorta. “I had the opportunity to learn from the leading experts in the field of remote sensing and I had access to cutting-edge research topics.”

Watch the full video here.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpv2J6WMyxI&w=560&h=315]

Timothy Lynch ’87, interdisciplinary studies, was recognized at the 2013 Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards, an annual celebration of the accomplishments faculty and staff campus- and system-wide.

Lynch was honored with the Presidential Distinguished Staff Award-Professional Staff for his work as the assistant director of summer, winter, and special programs. This award recognizes exceptional performance, leadership and service by a full-time member of the associate staff. Lynch’s contributions were summarized in the awards program:

“Since graduating from UMBC in 1987, Timothy Lynch’s commitment to student service, has been unwavering in dedication. [. . .] In his role as assistant director, Lynch regularly works between students, faculty and administrators, to make the enrollment process manageable for all of those involved. His high level of follow through and helpfulness continuously assuage the anxieties students hold while attempting to supplement their educations with special programming, or outside of the spring and fall semesters. Additionally, over 500 students each year, the visiting student population, rely heavily on Lynch’s assistance to navigate the enrollment process for all courses. His friendly demeanor and thorough habits make students feel welcome to the UMBC community, and his interactions are appreciated as unmatched in their level of assistance during the college enrollment process.”

Read more about Lynch and the other awards recipients.

An excerpt from Piotr Gwiazda’s translation of Grzegorz Wroblewski’s book of prose poems, Kopenhaga, scheduled for publication by Zephyr Press, is scheduled to appear in the April 1, 2013 issue of The Nation.

Read a translated selection from Kopenhaga at the PEN America Center’s website: http://www.pen.org/poetry/kopenhaga.

http://www.thenation.com/authors/grzegorz-wroblewski

For many of us, a 30th birthday celebration means balloons, presents and parties with friends and family. For Maaden “Madie” Eshete ’07, biological sciences, however, the milestone birthday will also mean a lasting change for hundreds of rural Ethiopians without access to clean water.

A first-generation Ethiopian-American, Eshete is nearing the end of a giving campaign to raise $10,000 for charity:water, which aims to help an estimated 800 million people worldwide without access to clean water by providing freshwater wells, rainwater catchments, sand filters and other lasting solutions.

We talked with Eshete, who is a digital communications manager for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and co-founder of Divas – MPH Making Our People Healthier, as her March 31st birthday approaches about what drove her to donate her birthday to benefit others. See her fundraising page here.

Q:  What inspired you to raise money for your 30th birthday, and what do you hope to see come of it?

A:  I love my birthday. Always have! And since everyone was making such a big deal out of the “BIG 3-0” I began to look at it as an opportunity to bring some attention to an issue that I really cared about. I am a first generation Ethiopian-American, so raising awareness around the world water crisis and impacting that crisis in rural Ethiopia was a natural fit.

Q: Is this project a first for you?

A:  Yes and no. I gave up my Christmas presents a few years ago, which funded a water project in part, and I’ve donated to charity: water on several occasion in the past. But this is my first time “giving up” my beloved birthday. This is also my first time raising enough money to fund a complete water project – $10, 000 USD.

Q:  Can people continue to donate to your campaign past your birthday?

A:  The campaign period only last 90 days. I started on New Year’s Day 2013, so it ends at midnight on March 31st. But no worries, because I plan to facilitate regular campaigns through charity: water so there will be more to come.

Q:  You’re a health educator…so how does your work tie in with your birthday project? And what do you like best about your work?

A:  We take it for granted but water changes is everything. With that in mind, I care about water for the same reasons I care about health. Clean water impacts not just sanitation or hydration, but it means relief from water borne illness and decreased infant mortality, it means time spent in classrooms for young girls and not out fetching water for hours on end, and the project means jobs for local community members. Health, education, occupation are all intertwined in how they impact our communities and water is integral to that at a very basic level.

Q:  Do you have any favorite pieces of UMBC (classes, clubs or profs, for instance) that helped you become who you are today?

A:  Mr. (Lamont) Toliver, who worked in the Meyerhoff Scholarship office, and passed away suddenly last year was my dear friend, mentor, and brother. I worked in the scholarship office as a student aide my sophomore and junior years — and he treated me just like he did the scholars — inviting me to events and lectures, letting me know abut opportunities to apply for, helping me out of trouble with my classes, writing me recommendations, and even introducing me to his contacts when I graduated. We kept in touch regularly up until his passing, if I ever visited UMBC I always stopped in Mr. T’s office. He has been a huge motivation and my fondest memory from UMBC.

“Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters” by Kate Brown, associates professor of history, was recently reviewed by Nature.

“A multitude of…harrowing accounts fills the pages of Plutopia, a ‘hidden history’ of two communities — one American, one Soviet — that fuelled the nuclear arms race. Unusually, historian Kate Brown inter­viewed dozens of frontline workers for her meticulously researched account of how these two remote towns became indelibly linked by plutonium, and by catastrophic radioactive contamination,” the reviewer writes.

“Plutopia has important messages for those managing today’s nuclear facilities, arguing for caution and transparency,” the magazine concludes.

The full review can be read here.

Amy Froide, associate professor of history, has been elected President of the Middle Atlantic Conference on British Studies (MACBS).

The MACBS is the Mid-Atlantic regional affiliate of the North American Conference on British Studies, which is a scholarly society dedicated to all aspects of the study of British civilization. The NACBS sponsors a scholarly journal, the Journal of British Studies, online publications, an annual conference, as well as several academic prizes, graduate fellowships, and undergraduate essay contests.  The MACBS annual conference will be held at Lehman College of the City University of New York on March 23-24, 2013.

Sigma Phi Omega (SPO) is the national academic honor society in gerontology, for professionals who work with or on behalf of older persons. The UMBC chapter of SPO, Delta Lambda, has been tremendously active this year with volunteer activities, nurturing an ongoing relationship with Catholic Charities of Maryland, specifically two independent senior living apartment buildings near UMBC: DePaul House and St. Joachim House.

Delta Lambda has been assisting Congregate Housing Services (CHS) with a project to interview residents about their personal journeys coming to live at DePaul and St. Joachim, as well as their experiences utilizing the CHS program. These stories help to personalize the CHS program, which facilitates continued program funding at the local and state levels. Member Jennifer Howard-Doering has also led weekly computer classes for residents, helping the seniors learn to use email and other online tools.

Finally, Delta Lambda hosted a festive St. Patrick’s Day party for residents in mid-March (see photos) and is planning an annual Senior Prom and summer barbeque.

To learn more about this work, contact Delta Lambda at dlspoumbc@googlegroups.com. Thanks to this tremendous group of gerontology students for giving back to our senior community!

Several faculty members and alumni were awarded Individual Artist Awards by the Maryland State Art Council this month. The Maryland Art Council Individual Artist Awards are monetary prizes given to a select group of artists each year. This year the Maryland Art Council welcomed applications from artists working in fiction, painting, media/digital/electronic arts, solo theatrical performance and works on paper. Recipients in the media/digital/electronic arts category include:

• Kelley Bell ’06, MFA IMDA, Assistant Professor, Visual Arts
• Carrie Fucile, Adjunct faculty, Visual Arts
• Agnes Moon ’09, MFA IMDA
• Phil Davis ’07, MFA IMDA
• Christine Ferrera ’10, MFA IMDA

Recipients in the works on paper category include:

• Lisa Moren, Associate Professor, Visual Arts
• Leslie Shellow, Adjunct faculty, Visual Arts
• Gary Kachadourian ’12, MFA IMDA

The Maryland State Arts Council will host an event honoring the awardees in May. Congratulations to all!