Julie Rosenthal of the Asian Studies Program was interviewed by Washington Jewish Week about her work fighting hunger in the community.

In neighboring Howard County, Julie Rosenthal, founder of the program Food on the 15th, is working with county parents and student volunteers to fight senior hunger while operating without any overhead. To date, Julie’s teams have delivered nearly 14,000 free bags of nonperishable regular and diabetic groceries and toiletries to low-income seniors right around the 15th of the month, when social security checks often run out.

“What people don’t realize is senior citizens don’t have transportation to food banks,” says Rosenthal. “These seniors look like you and me, but they’re hungry.”

Political science professor Thomas Schaller’s latest Salon column asks, “Will Asian voters swing the election?” Nearly 6% of the U.S. population is Asian American — an estimated 18 million people — but when it comes to elections this diverse group often gets lets attention than African Americans and Latinos. Some are now calling these overlooked voters a “sleeping political giant,” but without a firm sense of how their votes might affect the 2012 presidential race.

Schaller writes, “the Asian American vote remains fluid as a result of its ethnic, religious and national heterogeneity, and the often stark differences between immigrant and first-born generations of Asian Americans.” Large Asian American populations in Nevada and Virginia could have a notable impact on the election, given those swing states’ 19 combined electoral votes. What that impact is may depend on the resources each campaign invests there.

U.S. News & World Report’s “STEM Education” blog recently featured President Hrabowski’s thoughts on the future of science, technology, engineering and math in higher education, including ways to develop a more robust pipeline for students and workers in those fields.

President Hrabowski, who was recently inducted into the magazine’s STEM Hall of Fame, was interviewed along with four other inductees. He spoke to U.S. News about the necessity for greater cooperation across spectrums. “Let’s knock down the boundaries between public and private sectors,” he said.

Doing so, President Hrabowski said, would help businesses better communicate exactly what they need in the STEM workforce, and universities could adjust their programs to incorporate more real-world problems. He also emphasized the importance of helping students with an interest in the STEM fields to stick with those programs of study, as opposed to continuing the current trend of many students leaving those fields before graduating.

“Two thirds of those who begin with a major in those areas are not making it,” he said. “And we assume that’s OK.”

Gul Seckin, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, has contributed a chapter to the Encyclopedia of Cyber Behavior, three new volumes that aim to synthesize the scientific knowledge of cyber behavior across a wide range of disciplines, from medicine and business to the social sciences. Seckin’s chapter is titled “Cyber Behaviors of Self Health-Care Management.” She writes:

As the technologies for health management develop, it becomes more important to explore the health management behavior of computer-connected patients. This chapter aims to serve this purpose by discussing the background and current state of knowledge about how usage of the Internet technology affects individuals’ self health care management behavior. The chapter discusses the health care management behaviors of cyber patients in three subsections: (1) cyber empowerment in e-patient networks (2) digitally connected cyber seniors and (3) concerns around cyber health care management, including implications for medical encounters and online information quality.

Gov. Martin O’Malley has called for a special legislative session on gambling next month in what the Baltimore Sun has dubbed “a high-stakes political bet that he can prevail in a struggle over one of the most contentious issues facing Maryland.” O’Malley would like to expand gambling in Maryland through a proposal that he says would add $100 million in revenue to next year’s state budget. A win could bolster his image as an effective leader both within the state and nationally. But what are his chances?

Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, told the Sun that an outcome in O’Malley’s favor is likely, saying, “It is either a done deal or very, very close to a done deal.” He added that passing the legislation would “show people who are watching that…he’s got the goods.”

Maryland Morning‘s Sheila Kast spoke with Tad Aburn of the Maryland Department of the Environment for a segment entitled “Heat and Air Quality” on July 20th.

On the program’s web page is a link to UMBC’s U.S. Air Quality: The Smog Blog, run by the university’s Atmospheric Lidar Group and which serves as “a daily diary of air quality in the U.S. prepared using information from satellites, ground-based measurements, and models,” according to the website.

That diary has been important in compiling data for Maryland to determine the effect of pollution and other atmospheric elements on Maryland not only from its own contributions, but contributions from other states as well, with Aburn concluding to Kast that “we clearly need help in reducing the pollution that floats in from upland areas [outside of Maryland].”

Don Engel, assistant vice president for research, was interviewed in the August issue of Communications of the ACM, the primary journal for the field of computer science. Engel spoke about his participation in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) “Shredder Challenge.” Engel was half of the two-person team “Schroddon,” which was earned second place.

Former UMBC track and field standout and NCAA champion Cleopatra Borel ’02, INDS, is competing in her third Olympic Games for her native Trinidad and Tobago, once again in the shot put. Borel placed 17th in 2008 in Beijing after finishing in 10th at the 2004 Games in Athens.

“We are very proud of Cleopatra and all that she has accomplished in her career,” said UMBC head track and field coach David Bobb ’02, health administration and policy. “We wish her the absolute best as she continues to represent Trinidad and Tobago and UMBC is the best possible way.”

The first ever NCAA champion in UMBC history, Borel, the lone Retriever in London this summer, holds the school record in both the indoor (17.50m, 57’5”) and outdoor (16.44m, 53’11.25”) shot put , the weight throw (18.03m (59’2”) and the hammer throw (51.28m (168’3”). Her indoor shot put school record distance was at the time her personal-best and won her the 2002 NCAA title. In addition to her championship, Borel was a three-time All-American during her time in Baltimore.

Borel qualified for her third Olympic Games back in June when she bested the field at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Trials with a toss of 17.98m (59’0”).

“A lot of the credit can go to former throws coach Brian King,” Bobb said. “He really worked hard with her and set her on this path.”

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London open on Fri., July 27 with the Opening Ceremony and continue through Sun., Aug. 12. The women’s shot put competition will take place on Wed., Aug. 6 and will be held at the Olympic Stadium.

This story originally appeared on UMBC Retrievers.Com.

This week’s Huffington Post article “Owning Yes We Can” highlights the inspiring work of UMBC’s Student Government Association (SGA), which the authors call “a national model…of student organizing and empowerment.” They focus on SGA’s successful effort this spring to organize student opposition to state budget cuts that would have led to a dramatic tuition increase.

“Many would not have been able to stay in school with 15-20 percent increases in tuition expenses,” explained SGA member Meghan Carpenter. “I am so proud of what students from different organizations were able to start. We showed that students can make a change not just at our college, but in our state.”

Marking the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), yesterday Gov. Martin O’Malley announced the launch of SUCCESS, a four-year post-secondary education program for students with intellectual disabilities. The Maryland Department of Disabilities and UMBC partnered to develop the program (press release).

An AP report on the announcement, which appeared in The Washington Post and on WBFF FOX45, noted that although students will not receive college credit, they will take a seminar with degree-seeking students, lead a service learning project, and intern at departments on UMBC’s campus.

The Baltimore Sun added that SUCCESS will begin with 6-8 students this fall and will be housed in UMBC’s Shriver Center, named for Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.“The SUCCESS program is a natural outgrowth of the Shriver and Kennedy family values,” says Shriver Center Director Michele Wolff. “We want to fully integrate SUCCESS participants into all aspects of collegiate life.”