Looking East

UMBC’s new Asian studies program will give students the opportunity to learn about Asian languages, cultures and the significant impacts that the region is having on the world. The first public institution in Maryland with an Asian studies degree, UMBC offers a major, a minor and a certificate.

Constantine Vaporis, professor of history and the director of the new program, has been advocating for an Asian studies program on campus for many years. Recently, the right conditions—a cohort of faculty members with expertise in Asia and an increasing focus on making UMBC into a global campus—have come together to bring his dream to fruition.

As the economies and global influence of Asian nations continue to grow, both students and educators are realizing that knowledge of the region can give graduates an advantage as they begin their careers. The program aims to prepare students for various professional paths related to Asia, such as advanced academic research, international relations, international business and trade, governmental service and international law.

Noting the number of Asia-focused classes and events already happening on campus, Vaporis said that “the program will coordinate all of the things that are already going on as well as encourage new ones, and be a voice and organizing mechanism for those elements.”

The program’s value as an organizing mechanism was made clear in the days after the devastating earthquake that hit Japan on March 11. The Asian studies program was able to serve as a central coordinator for relief efforts, working with other departments to quickly organize a lecture, concert and (with the help of the Japanese Culture Club) two fundraisers.

A new course, “Asia 100,” will introduce students to the program. Taught by Vaporis, the course will also draw on participating faculty to show the different approaches to the area of study. Departments that may intersect with the program include history, economics, music, modern languages and linguistics and American studies, and potential courses that can be taught through the new program range from a philosophy course called “The Philosophy of Asian Martial Arts” to a political science course teaching “International Relations of the Asia-Pacific Region.” UMBC is also the only public university in Maryland to teach the three major East Asian languages: Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

Vaporis said that having the program on campus will open up future opportunities. For example, faculty members will have access to resources to help them create courses for the program. “We’ll be able to host faculty development workshops to infuse Asia in the curriculum for people who have the interest but maybe not the expertise,” Vaporis said.

The program will also bring speakers to campus and, Vaporis hopes, expand study abroad opportunities in Asian countries.

 (5/12/11)

Scott Rifkin ’81, biological sciences, a physician and long-term care executive, was interviewed by the Baltimore Sun about his company’s acquisition of a retirement community in Pikesville.

The move, says Rifkin, managing partner of Mid-Atlantic Healthcare, is personal: he and his parents still live in the neighborhood surrounding North Oaks retirement community.

See the full story here.

Rifkin was named a UMBC Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 1995.

A Meeting of the Minds

While cleaning out his closet on a recent visit home, Phillip Fitzgerald found a box of old awards. Flipping through certificates and plaques for various achievements, he noticed a trend: Almost every award was related to science, dating all the way back to his third grade science fair. He realized science has been his life since he was a child.

“It was in the books from the beginning,”he said matter-of-factly.

This summer, Fitzgerald will continue on that path as he travels to Lindau, Germany, to participate in the 61st Meeting of Nobel Laureates. This annual gathering of leading scientists brings together about 20 Nobel prize winners and other internationally recognized scientists with 500 “young researchers” selected from a global pool of the brightest collegiate scholars.

Fitzgerald is the second UMBC student in a row to be accepted; Benyam Kinde ’10 attended the meeting last year.
A senior completing a major in biochemistry and molecular biology, Fitzgerald is also a first-generation college student from Prince George’s County, where he was valedictorian at Suitland High School.

He has flourished at UMBC from the day he was accepted into the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. The Meyerhoff program was founded to increase diversity among young leaders in science, technology and engineering fields. Fitzgerald said the program has had a big influence on him.

Fitzgerald finds a spirit of collaboration through the Meyerhoff program and throughout campus. He said UMBC offers a “safe zone,” which contrasts with the “cut-throat” environments he has seen elsewhere.

At UMBC, Fitzgerald has worked with Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg, professor of biological sciences and Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Chair of Biochemistry. Together they are researching tumor immunology, focusing on how inflammation and a specific type of suppressor cells can promote cancer by inhibiting the body’s immune system. Fitzgerald has also interned at the New York University School of Medicine under Dan Littman, professor of molecular immunology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator. There he studied how certain immune cells, called dendritic cells, can shuttle HIV to target T cells, greatly increasing HIV infection rate. Fitzgerald received this internship through HHMI on recommendation from Michael Summers, HHMI Investigator and UMBC professor of chemistry and biochemistry.  

One key influence in Fitzgerald’s life was his high school biology teacher, who encouraged him to do a summer research project at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“It turned my love of studying science, into a love of researching science,” he said, explaining that he believes this appreciation for science should be shared.

Fitzgerald is a tutor in the chemistry tutorial center, and he has been a teaching assistant for introductory biology. He also volunteers at Prince George’s Tennis and Education Foundation, a non-profit that provides opportunities for young people to excel academically, athletically and socially through tennis. Fitzgerald said he has more to offer with Bunsen burners and Erlenmeyer flasks than he does with a racket.  

With all this on his plate, Fitzgerald still finds time for himself to unwind with his other talents. Fitzgerald is learning to play the piano and guitar, while also taking singing lessons. He says this is a treat to himself for his last semester at UMBC.  It is an artistic release that he hopes will benefit him as he pursues a joint M.D./Ph.D.  at Johns Hopkins University.

“Success is when you reach a point in life where with whatever you’re doing you find happiness in doing it, whether that is career based or not,” Fitzgerald said. “It is not in correlation with income or number of degrees; a successful person is someone who can wake up and be excited for what they are going to do that day.”

He has big plans for his career in biochemistry, and he said UMBC has been just the place to put him on this path.
“UMBC has supported my passion for scientific research so much through its emphasis on research and giving hands-on training,” he said.  

He remembers the overwhelming feeling of getting accepted into the Nobel Laureate meeting in Lindau.

“It means,” he said, “there are people out there that are seeing potential in me.”

 (4/29/11)

Freelance journalist Matthew Van Dyke ’02, political science, is still missing in Libya.

A recent story in The Atlantic magazine about another missing journalist mentions Van Dyke, who was originally reported missing March 13. Read the Atlantic story here.

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued an alert about Van Dyke’s disappearance earlier this month. He is one of 15 journalists currently missing or in government custody in Libya. Read the full story here and please share;  keeping Matthew in the public eye is important!

Boundless curiosity

Can you get high school students to ignore their cellphones during class?

Could wind power off the East Coast greatly reduce fossil fuel consumption?

What can dance tell us about our relationship to water?

These questions may span a wide range of human experience and academic study, but the answers give just a glimpse of the research and creative achievement that UMBC students will present at two upcoming events.

The 15th annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) will be held Wednesday, April 27, followed by the 33rd annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) on Friday, April 29.

More than 120 students will present their work at URCAD this year, highlighting the insights gained from long months spent in the lab, conducting fieldwork or analyzing patterns of behavior or movement. URCAD, presented by the Office of Undergraduate Education, gives students a chance to demonstrate their engagement with a field of study while also helping them develop skills that will be beneficial as they continue their studies or start their careers.

A special session this year features “Action Research” conducted by UMBC education students during their student teaching in local middle schools and high schools. Competitive grants of up to $1,500 from the Office of Undergraduate Research support some of the URCAD projects.

Diane M. Lee, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, said the event recognizes that students gain true mastery of their subjects by wrestling with basic research and creative challenges.

“One major goal at UMBC is to create a vibrant community of scholars that includes undergraduates in all facets of disciplined inquiry,”  Lee said.  “URCAD is the realization of that goal as students share the knowledge they have gained through research and creative achievement.  Their inquiry can, and typically does, use all the ways of knowing associated with the arts and with the sciences. The products of their efforts go beyond the oral presentations, poster sessions, exhibits, and performances we delight in at URCAD.  Through the process of research and its dissemination, our students develop habits of mind that will serve them well in all of their future pursuits.”

GRC, sponsored by the Graduate Student Association, will showcase research in a range of disciplines from history to engineering and physics. Ralph Semmel, ’92 Ph.D., computer science, is this year’s keynote speaker.

Semmel became the director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (APL) nearly a year ago. APL, based in Laurel, Md., has close to 5,000 employees conducting and supporting research related to national security.

“We are delighted that Dr. Semmel will speak at this year’s conference as more than 120 graduate students demonstrate their engagement in research,” said Jenness Hall, executive director of the GSA. “This event is an opportunity
to celebrate these students’ achievements as they develop their own careers.”

Selected highlights:

Joshua Francois ’11, mechanical engineering, will present his work modeling the optical stretching produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells through the use of a laser. Given the relationship between cell structure and function, he argues, increased understanding of the elasticity of biological cells can provide insights into the physiological changes they undergo.

William D. Hanchett ’13, financial economics and statistics, challenges the assumption that investors become more averse to risk as they approach retirement. Instead of the gradual decrease in stock holdings and increase in bond investments that financial advisers typically recommend, Hanchett argues that personally tailored portfolio management strategies would benefit older investors with diverse investment preferences.

Emily Kimak ’11, interdisciplinary studies, explores the relationship between humans and nature in her dance composition “Moving to Water.” After expanding her knowledge of ecology and body awareness, and reviewing the literature on performance and visual art related to the environment, she choreographed a piece exploring the motions involved in twisting knobs, washing and drinking.

Christian Solliday ’11, history, will present his  research on “Limiting the Distractions of Cell Phone Use in the Classroom.” Working with Linda Oliva, assistant professor of education, Solliday created a system of rewards and incentives to limit cell phone use in two high school social studies classrooms.

Sondheim Scholar Andrea Thomson ’11, political science, investigates methods for gathering information on the performance of economic development programs and explores how this information is used in policy- and decision-making in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. She will present the poster “Worthwhile or Wasteful? An Evaluation of Techniques for Measuring the Impact of Business Subsidies.”

Salma Warshanna ’11, English, traveled to Egypt, where her parents grew up, to explore how being raised between two cultures has shaped her identity. While writing a series of creative nonfiction essays, she realized that the combination of the first-person perspective and a rich description of memories allows memoir to connect to a reader’s sense of self in ways that no other genre can. She explored these issues in “The Past That is Always Present: The Role of Memoir in Identity.”

(4/25/11)

The Rev. Leo Patalinghug ’92, political science, has taken his passion for cooking to the next level, with the publication of a cookbook inspired by his family and his faith. His book, “Grace Before Meals, Recipes and Inspiration for Family Meals and Family Life,” outlines philosophies he teaches both in church and on his online cooking show, “Grace Before Meals.”

Read more about the cookbook here.

UMBC Magazine featured Patalinghug in its Winter 2010 edition. Read the full article here.

In addition to running his cooking show, Patalinghug teaches future priests at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Last year, he appeared on the Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” on which the reverend bested the celebrity host with a fajita recipe inspired by Asian flavors.

Kevin Cepelak ’05, political science, has a job that comes with a pass that gets him into any Major League Baseball (MLB) park. And when he gets to his office near New York City’s Grand Central Station each day, he rubs elbows with former greats of the game and a chance to work with former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and former New York City Police Department investigators. And he spends his days compiling reports that help MLB officials tackle problem issues in professional sports ranging from steroids to gambling.

Cepelak’s work as an analyst for MLB’s Department of Investigations – professional baseball’s internal watchdog on a variety of issues involving the sport’s integrity – is heady and somewhat surprising stuff for a recent UMBC graduate. After all, the sport that Cepelak played as a Retriever from 2002 through 2005 involved sticks, not bats.

“I never thought in a million years that I’d go from lacrosse to working in baseball,” says Cepelak over lunch at an Italian restaurant near MLB’s Park Avenue headquarters.

Read the full story in the Summer 2011 issue of UMBC Magazine.

Former professional mountain biker Marla Streb, who earned her M.S. in Marine Estuary Environmental Science from UMBC in 1991, is featured in the Baltimore City Paper’s “bike issue” this week.

To quote the article:

She became a world-class contender in single-track downhill—in which, just as in downhill ski-racing, “you start at the top of a mountain and they time you as you go down, one at a time, a very treacherous course with jumps, and you get to the bottom in about five minutes,” she says. In her 16-year career, she won three national and two world championships, broke 24 bones, and wrote two books about it—a training guide and a memoir, Downhill: The Life Story of a Gravity Goddess.

Since returning recently to Baltimore with her family, Streb says she plans on working with city planners to make biking more accessible to all.

Read the full story in the Baltimore City Paper.

Former professional mountain biker Marla Streb, who earned her M.S. in Marine Estuary Environmental Science from UMBC in 1991, is featured in the Baltimore City Paper’s “bike issue” this week.
To quote the article:

She became a world-class contender in single-track downhill—in which, just as in downhill ski-racing, “you start at the top of a mountain and they time you as you go down, one at a time, a very treacherous course with jumps, and you get to the bottom in about five minutes,” she says. In her 16-year career, she won three national and two world championships, broke 24 bones, and wrote two books about it—a training guide and a memoir, Downhill: The Life Story of a Gravity Goddess.

Since returning recently to Baltimore with her family, Streb says she plans on working with city planners to make biking more accessible to all.
Read the full story in the Baltimore City Paper.

Hands-on History

Marie Spiro had been collecting artifacts to use in her classroom at the University of Maryland, College Park for over 50 years. So when the archaeologist decided that it was time for her collection to find a new home, she looked for a place that would honor her one wish for the objects: that rather than living in cases, the artifacts would be used, handled and studied by students learning about archaeology and the ancient world.

She found such a place in UMBC’s ancient studies department, and the first third of Spiro’s collection arrived in the department—and the classroom—this semester. The collection features Greek, Roman and Byzantine artifacts, and contains mosaics, pottery, figurines and other pieces that date back as far as 15,000 years. The next third of the artifacts will come to campus in early 2012, with the final portion arriving in 2013.

“I’ve always wanted this to be passed on, and I have the opportunity to pass it along to an outstanding department,” Spiro said. “I’m so happy that the collection has found a home. That’s my dream fulfilled.”

The collection also fulfilled a dream for Marilyn Goldberg, chair of ancient studies, who was eager to extend the department’s focus on hands-on learning into the classroom. Although ancient studies undergraduate students participate in internships at places like the Walters Art Museum and digs in locations from Fell’s Point to Transylvania, Goldberg is thrilled that the Spiro collection allows students to physically interact with the artifacts without leaving campus. The collection is ideal for research and teaching because it includes many objects that ancient people used in their everyday lives.

“Students can look at a piece in its entirety, look at the back of it and the profile of it, see how it’s made,” Goldberg said. “You can’t turn a picture over.”

With the financial support of local Greek organizations, including the Baltimore-Piraeus Sister City Committee and the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Associations of Baltimore and Washington, DC, the ancient studies department brought the artifacts to campus this February.

The first students to work with the collection are currently enrolled in the Museum Studies class taught by Esther Read, lecturer in ancient studies. The class is a lecture/lab hybrid, with students spending the first half in discussion about the issues faced by museums and the second half working with the artifacts. Read has worked both in museums and on award-winning archaeology digs.

“I want them to see that these objects are more than just pretty things in cases. Whoever owned that piece originally, it had meaning to them, it had meaning to Marie Spiro when she collected it, it has different meaning now that she’s given it to us, it’ll have a meaning here at the institution and for the student who works with it,” said Read. “You have so many groups and so many relationships with one object. Which story do you present?”

Students will need to keep those issues in mind when Phase II of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building opens: it will include an archaeology lab where students can study the artifacts and space where they can display the exhibits they curate.

“There are so many potential projects,” said Goldberg. “I keep getting ideas about the possibilities for the collection and what we can do with it.”

(4/15/11)