Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, offered insight to both the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun this week on what the media are calling Maryland’s “budget meltdown.”

Although state lawmakers passed a budget, the Senate failed to vote on a package of tax increases that would fund it. If the problem isn’t corrected by July 1, it will trigger a “Doomsday” budget that cuts hundreds of millions of dollars from public safety and education.

“If the Doomsday budget stands, everybody gets hurt,” Norris argues, including both interests in Maryland that now lack funding and the lawmakers themselves, who appear dysfunctional. Norris says, “It shows that they can’t function. That they can’t govern.”

John Winder ’12, computer science, has an essay posted on NPR’s “This I Believe” website. Winder’s essay details how an embarassing experience led him to the belief that “we can either take command of our mistakes, or let them command us.”

“I realized I had already screwed up as bad as anyone could, undermining an easy victory, looking like a fool to the world. If I tried again, how could I do any worse? Knowing that, I relinquished my fears,” he writes.

His full essay can be read here.

On April 17, Anne Rubin, associate professor of history, and Tom Beck, chief curator of the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery and affiliate associate professor, visual arts, will discuss the gallery’s current exhibition, “The Photographer’s Eye: Civil War Photographs Selected from the UMBC Photography Collections.”

Rubin will discuss “Myth, Memory, and the American Civil War,” while Beck will speak about “Civil War Photography as Art and Historical Evidence.”  Their talk will take place at 4 p.m. in the Library Gallery.

The American Civil War coincided with the early years of photography, and the images captured by the early practitioners of this art have helped to shape the memories of this central historical event. Technological limitations, artistic aspirations and societal expectations strongly impacted the images produced by photographers “documenting” the events of the Civil War. This exhibition explores the art and artifice of Civil War photography, while revealing something about why each of the selected 81 images was produced. The exhibit runs through May 31.

The discussion is sponsored by the Library Gallery and the Department of History

Maryland State Delegate John Olszewski, a Ph.D. student in public policy at UMBC, has been named to the Daily Record’s “20 in Their Twenties” list, which honors up-and-coming leaders in Maryland “chosen on the basis of professional accomplishment, civic involvement and impact of achievement.”

Olszewski, 29, a second-term Baltimore County Democrat, was a social studies and special education teacher prior to enrolling at UMBC. As a delegate, he regularly comments on state governance in the media, including in the Baltimore Sun‘s most recent coverage of Maryland budget developments.

URCAD: Behind the Research

Diane Lee, Dean of Undergraduate Research, on URCAD:

Madeline Hall ’12, Geography and Environmental Systems, on Concept Maps

Charles Mason ’12, Graphic Design and Philosophy, on Education

Charles Mason ’12, Graphic Design and Philosophy, on Inspiration

Catherine Pasqualoni ’12, Ancient Studies, on Setbacks

Catherine Pasqualoni ’12, Ancient Studies, on URCAD

Macy Bokhari ’13, Political Science, on Grad School

Macy Bokhari ’13, Political Science, on Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia

Macy Bokhari ’13, Political Science, on Media

(4/13/12)

Craig Saper, associate professor of language, literacy and culture, will participate in “Digital Legacies of the Avant-Garde,” a two-day international conference that examines the continuing influence of avant-garde concepts and practices on contemporary digital culture. The conference will be held in the New School in New York on April 20.

Saper will participate in a panel entitled “The Legacy of the AvantGarde between Generative Art and Networked Art.”

Last week the Center for Women in Information Technology (CWIT) held their second annual “Spring into Leadership,” event.

The event which is designed to provide networking opportunities to women majoring in engineering or information technology had 120 registrants up 23 registrants from last year. Registrants included students as well as 25 Industry professionals from Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Harris Corporation, NSA, BAE Systems, UserWorks, JHU/APL, CyberPoint International, General Electric’s Middle River Aircraft Systems, and AAI.

Wendy Martin, a vice president at Harris Corporation, gave the keynote address focusing on her story and the importance of diversity for organizational success. “The fact that you are different from your peers should not be something you shy away from or something that  you shield from others. It’s a gift, especially in the workplace,” she emphasized to the women majoring in engineering and IT at the event.

Following the keynote the participants were split into networking pairs and then groups.
“By all accounts the event this year was a tremendous success because of the teamwork of the student planning committee,” says Susan Martin, Associate Director of CWIT. “This event really contributes to the sense of community among women in the College of Engineering and Information Technology.”

Spring into Leadership was made possible with support from Lockheed Martin Corporation, the 2011-2012 sponsor of the CWIT Affiliates Program, the UMBC Student Government Association, and the UMBC Graduate Student Association. The program was implemented by student leaders from the CWIT Student Council, the Information Systems Council of Majors (ISCOM) the student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) graduate student organization. 

Sara Patenaude ’11 M.A., historical studies, has won the Arnold Prize for Outstanding Writing on Baltimore’s History.

The Arnold Prize is named for Joseph L. Arnold, a professor of history at UMBC who died in 2004.  He was a vital and important member of the faculty for three and a half decades, as well as a leading historian of urban and planning history. He also played an active and often leading role with a variety of private and public historical institutions in the Baltimore area, and at his death was hailed as the “dean of Baltimore historians.” The Arnold Prize rewards outstanding research on Baltimore history.

Patenaude’s essay, entitled “Playing Fair: The Fight for Interracial Athletics in Baltimore,” is a chapter from her master’s thesis at UMBC.   The prize, which comes with a $500 award, is presented by the Baltimore City Historical Society.

Originally published in UMBC Insights.

Sara Patenaude ’11 M.A., historical studies, has won the Arnold Prize for Outstanding Writing on Baltimore’s History.

The Arnold Prize is named for Joseph L. Arnold, a professor of history at UMBC who died in 2004.  He was a vital and important member of the faculty for three and a half decades, as well as a leading historian of urban and planning history. He also played an active and often leading role with a variety of private and public historical institutions in the Baltimore area, and at his death was hailed as the “dean of Baltimore historians.” The Arnold Prize rewards outstanding research on Baltimore history.

Patenaude’s essay, entitled “Playing Fair: The Fight for Interracial Athletics in Baltimore,” is a chapter from her master’s thesis at UMBC.   The prize, which comes with a $500 award, is presented by the Baltimore City Historical Society.

UMBC alumni are stars whose light extends well beyond their graduation. Past award winners include Duff Goldman, founder of Charm City Cakes, Maryland Delegate Jon Cardin, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes medical researcher Crystal Watkins and Baltimore Sun reporter Jamie Smith Hopkins. The UMBC Alumni Association welcomes nominations for the 2012 Outstanding Alumni of the Year Awards.

The UMBC Alumni Association will present five awards to honor alumni for their professional and personal achievements, as well as their service to the community and to UMBC. In addition, the Association will present a “Rising Star” award to a graduate of the past decade. To nominate an alum for this prestigious award, please submit your nomination by May 30, 2012 at this link: http://alumni.umbc.edu/alumniawards.