Tom Schaller, professor of political science, filed his latest Baltimore Sun column from Harare, Zimbabwe. Schaller’s piece, “U.S. seeks to influence a youthful world,” focused on the need for the United States to continue reaching out to global youth around the world with outreach programs concerning issues involving women, technology, education, and health matters.

Schaller concludes his column by noting the need for the United States to engage the world’s young on matters that go beyond the altruistic and into geopolitical necessity:

“Why does any of this matter? Here’s why: At top diplomatic levels, the United States worries about resource-hungry China’s deep investments in Africa. The Chinese are building literal bridges, but the metaphorical bridges the United States builds provide a critical counterbalance in the battle for the hearts and minds of millennial generations in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world.”

In a July 6 Gazette article entitled “Dream Act supporters take to the streets to win votes,” proponents and opponents of the Maryland Dream Act discussed the bill, which will be submitted to a referendum this November. The act allows undocumented workers to be eligible for in-state tuition if they have attended Maryland high schools for three years, then graduated and enrolled at a community college before transferring to a four-year state university, and whose parents have filed state income taxes during the period, among other benchmarks.

Lauren Hussey, assistant professor of political science, said that one factor may be President Obama’s recent suspension of deportations of younger undocumented immigrants, which may spur those supporting the president’s reelection to vote for the Maryland Dream Act. Hussey also noted the differences between the Federal DREAM Act and Maryland’s own proposal, with the former dealing largely with citizenship issues for undocumented students and the latter with tuition rates.

Donald Norris, professor and chair of public policy, was also source for the article, discussing issues involving partnerships between groups such as the immigrant-advocacy group Casa de Maryland and the same-sex marriage-oriented Equality Maryland.

A June 29 Huffington Post blog post focused on Baltimore’s online magazine What Weekly.

“The Baltimore Experiment: Getting Out From Under ‘The Wire'” detailed What Weekly‘s focus on more positive coverage as opposed to the more-or-less expected grim news dispatches so often associated with Baltimore, as well as its strong links with the city’s arts community who work and live there. Among the contributors listed was Lee Boot, associate research professor and associate director of the Imaging Research Center, whose column “Who We Aim” appears in the publication.

Boot’s clog, also entitled “Who We Am,” focuses “on building a transdisciplinary, online discourse about human behavior.”

Alumnus Erick Sahler ’89, Graphic Design and Art History, was featured on the news site Delmarvanow.com on June 28th, with a focus on his latest silkscreen print for purchase. The piece, entitled “Summer of ’61,”  is based on a photograph of the time, depicting the  Chincoteague, VA’s Island Theatre with its marquee featuring the 1961 film adaptation of Misty of Chincoteague, and a ’55 Ford in the foreground.

Sahler, who worked for Salisbury, MD’s The Daily Times as managing editor from 1989 to 2011, currently sells his artwork and screen prints under his “Erick Sahler Serigraphs” moniker, which was launched last year, according to his website. He spoke of his motivation behind his latest silkscreen, saying that he wanted “to capture the excitement of the young girl in the back seat, going to the theater in Chincoteague to see ‘Misty’ for the first time. Fifty years later, it’s still a wonderful thing to imagine.”

This post was originally featured on UMBC Insights.

Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Dr. Charles Brown appeared
on Maryland Public Television’s “State Circle” program on Friday, June 29.
Dr. Brown discussed the effect that Title IX has had on intercollegiate
athletics with host Jeff Salkin. The 30-minute program will be available
for online viewing at http://video.mpt.tv.

“Where Do We Migrate To?”, a national touring exhibition organized by the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC), was reviewed for the June/July issue of Art in America. The exhibit was curated by Niels Van Tomme, director of arts and media at Provisions Learning Project in Washington, DC, and features 19 internationally-recognized artists and art collectives.

The works exhibited deal in various mediums with the subject of migration, ranging from the two video pieces by Kimsooja and Julika Rudelius which anchor the exhibition, to more sculptural and installation-oriented work by Blane De St. Croix and the French collective Claire Fontaine, and photographic prints by Xaviera Simmons, to name just a few. Markus characterized the exhibition as a success, saying that “intelligent curatorial decisions transformed what might have been a straightforward thematic survey into a thought-provoking examination of the discontinuities that persist in our steadily globalizing world.”

“Where Do We Migrate To?” was featured from February 3 to April 15 in the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, which is part of the Parsons New School for Design in New York City. It is being exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans from June 30 to October 7 according to Markus’ review, and will travel from there to the Ruben Center for the Visual Arts in El Paso, Texas, for dates to be announced.

Alumnus Erick Sahler ’89, Graphic Design and Art History, was featured on the news site Delmarvanow.com on June 28th, with a focus on his latest silkscreen print for purchase. The piece, entitled “Summer of ’61,”  is based on a photograph of the time, depicting the  Chincoteague, VA’s Island Theatre with its marquee featuring the 1961 film adaptation of Misty of Chincoteague, and a ’55 Ford in the foreground.

Sahler, who worked for Salisbury, MD’s The Daily Times as managing editor from 1989 to 2011, currently sells his artwork and screen prints under his “Erick Sahler Serigraphs” moniker, which was launched last year, according to his website. He spoke of his motivation behind his latest silkscreen, saying that he wanted “to capture the excitement of the young girl in the back seat, going to the theater in Chincoteague to see ‘Misty’ for the first time. Fifty years later, it’s still a wonderful thing to imagine.”

Cape Gazette, the newspaper which covers the Cape Region of Delaware, published an article written by alumnus and practicing orthopedic physician Ed Becker ’01, biological sciences, on June 24th.

The article, entitled “Tennis elbow: not just for tennis players,” is something of an ABC for the sporting ailment, ranging over such matters as symptoms, contributing factors, and finally offers a few recommendations to lessen the likelihood of tennis elbow occurring, and possible courses of action if it does.

“Always warm up before play,” wrote Becker, “and put all of [the] major joints through a complete range of motion. Lighter racquets and reduced string tension may help alleviate symptoms. Avoid motions that aggravate the problem and reduce wrist motion to a minimum. Any persistent symptoms or worsening pain should be evaluated by a physician.”

Shana Palmer, an MFA candidate with Visual Arts for 2015, is participated in the Invisible Time exhibition at the MUU Gallery based in Helsinki, Finland. Palmer contributed  to the track “Lunar Storm” from her band Secret Secrets’s latest album Chiromagica, to the “Wall of Sound” portion of the exhibit, alongside ten other track by other participating artists. Secret Secrets is a duo of Palmer on vocals and electronics with drums provided by Melissa Moore.

Invisible Time opened at the MUU Gallery on June 8th and closed on June 21st. More information on the exhibit and its participants can be found here.

Josephine Kalema, a senior dance major, will have her piece Past, Present, and Future performed at the Washington, D.C. performance space Dance Place as part of the  annual New Release Choreographer’s Showcase this coming July.

It will feature dancers Arnesha Reives, Jonique Holcomb, Alexis Renee, Candice Grace, and Jasmynn Speight, and  mixes traditional and modern African dance. Kalema dedicates Past, Present, and Future to her Ugandan family, as well as “every culture that has gone through life changing barriers,” according to Dance Place’s website.

The dates for the New Release Choreographer’s Showcase are July 7th at 8 p.m., and July 8th at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at Dance Place’s webpage for the event, located here.