Preminda Jacob, assistant professor of visual arts; Christoph Irmscher, assistant professor of English; and Barbara Mennel, assistant professor of modern languages and linguistics, were named UMBC Research Fellows for the 2002-2003 academic year.

Sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Research Fellows Program is part of UMBC's continuing and expanding efforts to support faculty development. It encourages outstanding scholarship and creativity by permitting release time for faculty, for one semester, to devote full-time to their scholarly work. Salary support is provided up to a maximum of $30,000 for one semester. All tenure-track faculty, regardless of rank, are eligible to apply.

Preminda Jacob, assistant professor of visual arts, will use her fellowship to complete the last four chapters of a book manuscript titled "Celluloid Deities: the Nexus of Visual Art, Cinema and Politics in South India." Jacob analyzes the connections between cinema, politics and religion in the south Indian city of Chennai by focusing on massive advertisements - between 20 and 30 feet high - that are regularly commissioned by the cinema industry and political parties. These images of cinematic and political celebrities are hand-painted on canvas and plywood by approximately ten advertising companies in Chennai, each group consisting of artists, carpenters and apprentices.

Jacob says, "There are so many faculty at UMBC who deserve the wonderful opportunity this award provides. When I heard that I was one of the fortunate few to receive the award this year I was overjoyed as well as extremely grateful for the opportunity to focus on my research."

Christoph Irmscher, assistant professor of English, says, "I was delighted to hear that I have received the UMBC Research Award. I greatly appreciate the opportunity of being able to complete my book, 'Longfellow Redux,' a study of a once beloved and now little read 19th-century American poet, whose work raises interesting questions about changes in literary taste, notions of highbrow and lowbrow culture, the status of literature in public life, and multilingualism (he spoke several languages fluently and was an accomplished and dedicated translator, the first American to translate the entire Divine Comedy)."

Irmscher adds, "Since much of my work involves unpublished manuscripts (first drafts of works, diaries, even 'fan mail'), the award will give me an opportunity to travel to special collections libraries, which, of course, I cannot do during a semester with a regular teaching load. As pleased as I am about the award, I also have to say that I love teaching and I'll certainly miss my students.

Barbara Mennel, assistant professor of modern languages and linguistics, will work on completing the last two chapters of her book project, "When History Meets Fantasy: Masochism in Postwar German-language Literature and Film." The book will address the political, aesthetic and psychic dimensions of masochism. It is based on an in-depth study of the works and contexts of Galician turn-of-the-century writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose name was used to label the perversion of masochism, and the application of this research to postwar German-language film and literature.

Mennel says, "I am very excited. Winning the award already has had a positive influence on my research this semester. Just knowing that I will have a significant portion of time in the fall to work on my project enables me to pose my questions in all their complexity and write with more confidence and ease."

The following faculty members served on this year's selection committee: James Bembry, associate professor of social work; Robert Carpenter, assistant professor of economics; Lynnda Dahlquist, associate professor of psychology; Carolyn Koehler, associate professor of ancient studies; Severino Koh, professor of mechanical engineering; and Lena Orlin, professor of English.

UMBC's two art galleries offer shows by prominent Americanphotographers through March 16. The Albin O. KuhnLibrary Gallery's exhibition, Riding theTitanic!, features work by Nathan Lyons and includes 200 black andwhite photographs that reveal the artist's unique view ofAmerica and its social landscape.

The exhibition "is an exhibition ofan epic poem about life, America, the world, and so muchmore," says Tom Beck, chief curator of the Albin O. Kuhn Library."Lyons has long been interested in the relationshipbetween language and images, and how images may be used syntactically likewords to express thoughts poetically."

Nathan Lyons has exerted a profound effect on the field of photographyfor more than forty years. He began to photograph in the late1950s using a view camera to create images that emphasized the medium'sexpressive rather than documentary potential. In 1962, heswitched to a 35mm camera, and along with other photographers of hisgeneration such as Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand, lookedto contemporary culture for inspiration.

As the exhibition's title suggests, shadow is used within the images asa metaphor for the shifting visibility of the black population during thisperiod of political and cultural change. Shot with high-speed film anddigitally printed on drawing paper, the images have a rich pointillisttexture and the depth of ink on paper. Formally, they blend theauthenticity of full-frame street photography with a reductivistaesthetic. In their narrative, they reveal the subtle power of everydayactivities to illuminate a moment in the culture's transformation. Withinthe shallow stage of the picture plane, the viewer enters a space in whichpeople, place, and shadow each play a seminal role.

Lyons will visit UMBC to give a public lecture on Wednesday, February20, at 4 p.m. in the Gallery. A reception will follow. Formore information about the exhibition, visit the online artscalendar orcall the gallery at x52270. You can also read the onlinepress release.

The FineArts Gallery, located in the Fine Arts Building, presentsCasting Shadows: Photographs by Edward West. Shortly afterthe fall of apartheid in South Africa, West traveled thereto create Casting Shadows, a remarkable body of work depicting thedaily lives of black South Africans during this period ofsocietal transformation. A person of mixed race himself, West photographedin the country's communities of color-townships, squattercamps and other locations.

"By concentrating on everyday life being lived within blacktownships inSouth Africa," says Symmes Gardner, director of programs at thegallery, "Edward West's photographs allow us to recognizethe elementsof humanity that are continuously interwoven in the on-going struggle forequality. This exhibition continues our programming dedicated to theexamination of race and gender." Other recent exhibitions inthis series included Adrian Piper: A Retrospective and FredWilson: Objects and Installations, 1979 – 2000.

As the exhibition's title suggests, shadow is used within the images asa metaphor for the shifting visibility of the black population during thisperiod of political and cultural change. Shot with high-speed film anddigitally printed on drawing paper, the images have a rich pointillisttexture and the depth of ink on paper. Formally, they blend theauthenticity of full-frame street photography with a reductivistaesthetic. In their narrative, they reveal the subtle power of everydayactivities to illuminate a moment in the culture's transformation. Withinthe shallow stage of the picture plane, the viewer enters a space in whichpeople, place, and shadow each play a seminal role.

A gallery talk with Edward West will be held on Thursday, February28, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. For more information about theexhibition, visit the online artscalendar or call the gallery atx53188. You can also read the onlinepress release.

6 p.m., Saturday, October 20, 2001, Shanghai International Airport, Pudong: After a 23-hour flight from BWI, I arrived in China for an internship with Maryland Business Center, China. The internship fulfilled requirements for my degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in "Political and Administrative Sciences: U.S./Asian Economic Relations."

My good friends Dr. Fa and Huang Jun, who both studied at UMBC, were there to pick me up. It was good to see them again. The last time I was in Shanghai was the summer of 1999. There was a tremendous amount of construction taking place in Shanghai/Pudong at that time, and I was eager to see what construction progress had been made to this beautiful city near the mouth of the Chang Jiang.

Leaving the airport for my hotel I noticed many new buildings, including a giant new center of buildings across the Huang Pu River from Shanghai in Pudong. It reminded me of lower New York City with its many skyscrapers. Pudong has the tallest building in China (3rd in the world), the Jin Mao building, and the 3rd tallest freestanding structure in the world, the Oriental Pearl TV tower (tallest is the CN Tower in Toronto) in this architecturally stunning part of downtown.

Turning a corner I saw my new home for the next three weeks, the Pudong Sports Hotel. It is part of a sports complex that has exercise equipment, outside tennis and basketball courts, a gym for volleyball and basketball and a health club. The most interesting part of this hotel is that it is built around a stadium, similar to Toronto's Skydome. When I leave my room for the day I often see a soccer team working out on the field below. There is a drawback to living at the Sports Hotel: most mornings I would be awakened by the music from people doing their morning Tai Chi exercises. Oh well, when in Rome!

The Pudong Sports Hotel was a great place to stay. I saw a wedding reception in its restaurant and you could hear live music in the lounge until 4 a.m. It was a convenient five-minute walk to The hotel is a convenient five minute walk to the subway, which I used to go to my internship at Maryland Business Center China (MBCC) in downtown Shanghai, and is located in a mixed business and residential area with stores and shopping nearby, providing a sense of neighborhood.

Greater Shanghai is a world class city of over 13 million people, and has hosted international competitions and conferences, such as the Asian Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) that President Bush attended in October 2001. The Huang Pu River separates Shanghai from Pudong. This city (Pudong), which consisted of farming fields just over ten years ago, has been transformed into some of the tallest and most stunning buildings in the world let alone China. Mere words cannot do justice to the beauty of the view from the Huang Pu looking at both sides of the city.

The staff at MBCC was great and the location-an office in the American International Center at Shanghai Center-with the view of downtown Shanghai, was fantastic. The MBCC office is in the Ritz Hotel complex. (President Bush stayed at the Ritz when he attended APEC 2001.)

On my first day at MBCC Shao Ning, the director, asked me to attend a business lunch with a Maryland businessman in the satellite industry. I cannot go into detail about the conversation but the food was par excellent. Lunch was at one of the four restaurants in the Ritz and consisted of four dishes with some of the best dumplings and soup I have ever tasted.

After lunch Mr. Shao went over some of the details I would be addressing during my internship with MBCC. He told me about MBCC and its role in helping Maryland businesses get started in China. MBCC had assisted RTKL, a Maryland architectural firm, receive the bid for the Shanghai Scienceland project, a beautiful science museum in Pudong. Companies from three countries were in contention for the Shanghai Scienceland contract. RTKL was awarded the project and completed a fantastic building that complements its surroundings in Pudong.

MBCC is also involved with the China Executive MBA Program at the University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business. Shao Ning suggested that I concentrate on these two areas for my internship paper along with helping on a few ideas for MBCCs' future growth.

Later that week I was asked to attend a meeting with a section chief in the Education Commission of Shanghai. Mr. Fu was from the Municipal Peoples Government and wished to come to the United States for study. He told us that he had received funding and wished to improve his English and take some administration courses, but he was not sure where he wanted to study in the U.S. Mr. Fu saw MBCC in the Shanghai phone book, so he came to the office for some information.

During the meeting I informed Mr. Fu that UMBC had hosted several groups from China and I would check with our English Language Center (ELC) to see if they could accommodate him. Several emails to and from ELC in the following day and I had Mr. Fu's information. The emails take time to answer because Shanghai is twelve time zones away, so when you are working at UMBC, Shanghai is sleeping and vice versa. With the information and the positive responses Mr. Fu received, he decided on UMBC and plans to enroll here soon.

My internship at Maryland Business Center China was a once in a lifetime experience. Shanghai/Pudong is one of those places everyone should see and experience to feel the real life pulse of the city.

On Wednesday, February 20, the UMBC College of Engineering Industrial Advisory Board will honor James F. Pitts as the 2002 Engineer of the Year. Pitts is Vice President and General Manager of the Aerospace Systems Division at Northrop Grumman.

Since joining Northrop in 1973, Pitts has spent nearly 30 years building a career and a record of distinguished achievements in aviation electronics. He has worked on systems for the Light Helicopter and Advanced Tactical Fighter and F-22 fighter plane programs. Pitts has also been involved with development and production of combat and transport aircraft tactical and fire control radars, including systems for the F-16, F-22, B-1B and C-130.

Pitts supervised the development of a wide range of classified programs, including the Advanced Air-to-Air Missile (AAAM) for the U.S. Navy. He holds three patents in support of various electronic warfare techniques and developments.

A native of Baltimore, Mr. Pitts earned bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from The Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his professional accomplishments, his civic leadership includes service on the boards of the United Way of Central Maryland, the Maryland Science Center, Carroll County Hospital and the Johns Hopkins National Advisory Council.

Pitts will be honored in a ceremony at the University Center Ballroom from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on February 20. Proceeds from the event benefit the Engineer of the Year scholarship fund.

Ron Schwartz, co-coordinator of UMBC's ESOL/Bilingual M.A. program, will be awarded an honorary doctorate from Sookmyung University (SMU), one of Korea's most prestigious women's universities, on February 25. Schwartz, along with co-coordinator and education professor Jodi Crandall, worked with SMU's graduate program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, to develop the university's new M.A. program, in addition to the certificate program which articulates with UMBC's M.A. program.

In a letter notifying him of the honor, SMU President Kyungsook Lee expressed his appreciation for Schwartz' dedication, explaining "…your vision and belief in us led you to take the initiative in founding the SMU-TESOL program in cooperation with UMBC in 1997. As our mentor and friend, you have stood with us as we developed the SMU-TESOL program to the prestige of the present program."

SMU's graduate level TESOL certificate program is the only one of its kind in Korea and one which was critically needed given the shortage of English teachers to meet the new national requirements for English beginning in the third grade. Each semester, approximately five graduates of SMU's certificate program enroll in the ESOL/Bilingual M.A. program at UMBC.

SMU's TESOL faculty receive the UMBC ESOL/Bilingual program's training orientation for those who are preparing to do teacher-training abroad. UMBC professors work in conjunction with the coordinator and professors in the SMU Korea-TESOL department in monitoring and evaluating the program, and also teach and/or present special workshops.

Schwartz began teaching at UMBC in 1979 and established the university's ESOL/Bilingual M.A. program. Crandall says, "It is clear why SMU turned to Ron and UMBC when it decided to develop its new graduate program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. At UMBC, he has created one of the most respected ESOL teacher education programs in the U.S. and has substantial international experience in helping other institutions develop effective language teacher education programs. Perhaps equally important is Ron's sense of humor, his commitment to his students, and his love of language teaching and learning. These have inspired hundreds of graduates of the UMBC program, as well as thousands of teachers and teacher educators throughout the world."

UMBC's new home for student life, The Commons, opened its doors to the campus community on Jan. 28. UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski welcomed an enthusiastic crowd of faculty, staff and students to the new building. Performances by the UMBC Dance Team and a step show from the UMBC Panhellenic Council added to the festive atmosphere as UMBC students settled into their new home away from home.

Insights brings our readers some photographic highlights of an exciting day for UMBC.

Larry Hern, Classified Staff

Since 1978, Larry Hern, supervisor for the electrical shop, has worked at UMBC in many capacities. He began as a groundskeeper, but after his second year of an electrical apprenticeship, he was moved into the HVAC shop where he worked for two and a half years. After a brief period working for another employer, he returned to UMBC to work in the electrical shop. Since then he has moved through the ranks to become the supervisor, a position he has now held for five years.

In his current position, Hern oversees the campus electrical maintenance and repair operations. This includes daily work allocation to a shop of up to ten employees. He is also involved with the planning and review of upcoming renovation and building projects.

Joe Hill, operations and maintenance manager for the Physical Plant, says, "During his 24 years of service to the UMBC community, I have had the privilege to watch Larry develop into a supervisor we all can be proud of. Starting with the UMBC Electrical Shop as an electrical apprentice, graduating and becoming an electrician, being reclassified to a high voltage electrician, taking on more responsibility as an electrical chief and now as an electrical supervisor in charge of the day-to-day activities of the Electrical Shop. His abilities, knowledge and skills, along with his strong sense of commitment towards ensuring the electrical needs of the university community are being meet, exemplify the employee of the month."

William Cox, Associate Staff

Longtime UMBC employee William (Bill) Cox is comtroller in Financial Services. Tom Vogler, assistant vice president for financial services, says, "Bill Cox has been a mainstay of dedicated service to the financial management of UMBC for 25 years and is well deserving of this honor."

Leland Beitel, associate vice president for administration and finance, adds, "Vice President Mark Behm and I fully support Bill as Employee of the Month. Bill has almost 30 years of service during which time he has made major contributions to the success of the Comptroller's Office and the UMBC campus. He has a very though knowledge of accounting principals and procedures, creating confidence on the campus and earning him the nickname, 'Mr. Accounting.' He has worked tirelessly to develop a knowledgeable staff, a sound accounting system, and audit procedures for all departments. He is well respected by all levels of administration at UMBC and the University System. Bill is truly outstanding and deserving of this prestigious award."

Basketball Player Jessie Brown Featured in the Baltimore Sun
UMBC junior point guard Jessie Brown was the subject of a Baltimore Sunfeature on January 10. "An All-Northeast Conference second-team selection last season, Brown set a school record with 168 assists. She was a preseason all-league first-team choice, and with leading scorer Shalayna Johnsonsidelined by injury, Brown took on an added offensive burden. Bednarek said she believes the 5-foot-6 Brown could have played in the nation's elite programs, but none of the recruiters knew about her three years ago."http://www.sunspot.net/sports/college/basketball/bal-sp.brown10jan10.story

Maryland's No. 1 Team in the Baltimore Sun
UMBC's champion chess team was the focus of a Baltimore Sun editorialentitled "Maryland's No. 1 Team" on Jan. 4. "UMBC has dominated thecompetition over a six-year period as no other university team has -- notHarvard, Yale or Columbia. UMBC won or tied for the championship in 1996,1998, 1999, 2000 and now 2001. In recent years, UMBC has pounded the IvyLeaguers and other schools in this game of brains, not brawn."http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/bal-ed.chess04jan04.story

The Commons in the Sun
The Commons was featured on the front page of the Maryland section of theBaltimore Sun on Jan. 30. "UMBC's transformation from a no-frills, largelynon-residential school on Baltimore's suburban fringe to a traditionalcollege has been under way for several years. But it took a leap forwardwith this week's opening of the Commons, a $35 million center designed todraw students together and give them a place to unwind." The Maryland DailyRecord also featured a front page story on the opening of The Commons.http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.umbc30jan30.story

Fine Arts Gallery Exhibition in the Baltimore Sun
A review of the current Fine Arts Gallery exhibition, "Fred Wilson: Objects and Installations, 1979-2000" appeared in the Baltimore Sun on December 2.http://www.sunspot.net/features/arts/bal-as.wilson02dec02.story

President Hrabowski Q&A in the Christian Science Monitor
President Freeman Hrabowski was the subject of a Christian Science Monitor Learning section Q&A on his work with the Meyerhoff Program and his new book, Overcoming the Odds.http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0115/p15s1-lehl.html

President Hrabowski's McGraw Award
On Tuesday, Jan. 29, President Freeman Hrabowski was in New York to receive the 2001 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Award in Education. TheLos Angeles Times, New York Times, WJZ, WBAL, Education Week, The Birmingham News and others picked up the story.

Jason Loviglio on WJHU's Media Matters
In December, Jason Loviglio, American studies, was interviewed about his new book, Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio (Routledge: 2001) for WJHU's "Media Matters" program (88.1 FM).

New Hall Security on the Front Page of the Baltimore Sun
New Hall's high-tech security system was the centerpiece of a January 7 frontpage Baltimore Sun story on tightened security on college campuses inMaryland. "The security system might seem elaborate for the low-crime campusin suburban Catonsville, but UMBC officials say the high-tech entrymechanism is proving popular - especially with students' parents andespecially after Sept. 11."http://www.sunspot.net/bal-te.md.security07jan07.story

UMBC Chess Champ in the Baltimore Sun
Eugene Perelshteyn, UMBC Chess Team captain, and 2001 recipient of the Samford Chess Fellowship, awarded to the top chess player under the ageof 25, was profiled in the Maryland section of the January 18 Baltimore Sun.

What color do you blush when completely and totally taken by surprise? We know that Bob Dietrich's face turns maroon. In fact, it's a very deep shade of maroon.

Dietrich, laboratory facilities manager in the Department of Biological Sciences and a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, was overwhelmed when his mother showed up at the January 15 board meeting to reveal that she'd secretly established the Robert W. Dietrich Scholarship Endowment in his honor.

His mother, Mary Dietrich, worked on campus from 1971 until 1983 as secretary to the Department of History. She created the endowment in recognition of Bob's lifetime relationship with UMBC. In addition to being a member of UMBC's first graduating class, he has worked in the Department of Biological Sciences for more than thirty years and even married a fellow member of the Class of 1970, Mimi.

Among those also present for the surprise announcement were Mimi (Haw) Dietrich; Lasse Lindahl, chair, Department of Biological Sciences; and Bob Platt, retired professor, Department of Biological Sciences.

With a scholarship endowment bearing his name, Dietrich now claims to be immortal. The principal of an endowment is never spent, but instead it builds interest that can be awarded as scholarship. New scholarship money is generated every year, and thus the award is perpetual.

For more information please contact Gary Rupert at rupert@umbc.edu or David Moore at dmoore@umbc.edu in Institutional Advancement at (410) 455-2904.

Photo: (left to right) Lasse Lindahl, Bob Dietrich and Mary Dietrich

Leading his team to victory in UMBC's fifth Pan-Am Intercollegiate Chess Championship isn't the only recent highlight for senior computer science major Eugene Perelshteyn. UMBC's Chess Team captain was honored with the Samford Fellowship, a $32,000 award from Chess in the Schools, given annually to the most promising player under the age of 25. The fellowship allows Perelshteyn to travel the world and improve his chess game, along with access to top-level coaching, keen competition, technical materials and a monthly stipend for living expenses. Perfect timing, since his goal is to move from his current title of International Master to Grandmaster.

I will be playing in strong tournaments with Grandmasters and try to achieve what is called a Grandmaster norm. You need three of them to earn the title," explains Perelshteyn, who is ranked as one of the top 50 players in the world, and the current U.S. Junior Champion.

In a recent Baltimore Sun profile on Perelshteyn, Alan Sherman, faculty advisor for the Chess Team, said, "[The fellowship] is a tremendous opportunity for an aspiring chess player to devote his life to chess during the crucial years. It's a chance for someone to see how high a mark they can make for themselves in the world of professional chess."

Since the Samford Fellowship does not allow full-time study, Perelshteyn is taking a three-credit independent study in computer science with Sherman. "I proposed the thesis that it is possible to improve at chess by systematically solving specially designed chess problems. Using computer software and a chess database with over 1.5 million chess games, I searched for positions which adhere to specific ideas in chess." He plans to write a paper about his findings and submit it to a chess publication.

Perelshteyn began playing chess at the age of eight, while living in Russia. His father is a professional chess teacher who taught at a chess club in Russia and continues to teach in the U.S. (The family now resides in Swampscott, Massachusetts.)

"My initial fascination with chess was the social part: Going to the chess club with my friends and traveling all over Russia and playing in individual and team tournaments," he explains.

When it came time to choose a college, Perelshteyn picked UMBC because he was offered a chess scholarship. (Currently, UMBC and the University of Dallas, Texas - with whom UMBC shares two Pan-Am Chess Championships - are the only U.S. schools to offer students chess scholarships.) After graduating, he plans to work in the computer science field while playing and teaching chess on the side.

In addition to chess, he plays and follows sports, and especially enjoys soccer. In the past he was active in jujitsu at UMBC.

"Unfortunately chess is not yet accepted as a sport in the U.S., but it is a sport in Europe," he says. "With more and more pros playing for college teams that might change."

Read about the UMBC Chess Team's recent Pan-Am Championship in this month's Insights.

Gail Dupree, Classified Staff

Eight years ago, Gail Dupree began working in the UMBC Bookstore as a part-time temporary cashier for the spring rush. Now she is assistant to Brenda White, the bookstore's buyer for gifts and supplies. White and Dupree purchase everything that isn't a book or a computer, and handle customer service, including newspaper subscriptions, regalia rental for commencement and other services.

"Working with Gail has been a pleasure," says White. "She has accepted every challenge given to her and always exceeds our expectations. Gail is always gracious and considerate to all her fellow employees as well as our customers. I am so pleased that she has received this award. It is more than well deserved."

Bob Somers, director of the UMBC Bookstore, adds, "Gail's commitment to customer service has become a model for all Bookstore employees. She has the unique ability to deal with constant customer service situations while still completing her normal daily responsibilities. Her talent in window displays and the like is a constant reminder of the care and dedication she brings to the entire UMBC community. It is employees like Gail who make my job so much easier, not to mention enjoyable. We are extremely fortunate to have Gail as an employee."

Nancy Young, Associate Staff

Nancy Young, director, Office of Residential life (ORL), came to UMBC in 1986 as the coordinator of marketing and conferences for ORL. She held assistant director and associate director positions in housing prior to becoming director. Currently, she is responsible for managing all of UMBC's residential facilities.

"Nancy's commitment to the students who live on campus is evidenced in her work over the past 15 years," says Kim Leisey, director of residential education. "She has guided the growth and development of the Office of Residential Life into a 3200-bed system, involved students in designing and implementing administrative systems, fostered high service standards and worked collaboratively with other departments to provide a high quality residential experience for UMBC students."

Nobody ever expects a freshman to take a leadership role on the basketball court - especially not one who was considered to begin his career at the bottom rungs of the depth chart. Perhaps this is why Rob Gogerty has surprised everyone, and thus far, has become the only Retriever to start in every game of the 2001-02 season.

Initially regarded as a player who would come off of the UMBC bench as a shooting guard, the 6'1" rookie from Cedar Grove, New Jersey impressed the coaching staff in pre-season practice and earned a spot in the starting lineup when the season began in October. As the year has progressed, Gogerty continued excellent play, committing only five turnovers in his first 296 minutes, and sporting a 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. By the time the Rutgers game rolled around, Head Coach Tom Sullivan moved him to the point guard position. "Coming here, I thought I would play more as an off-guard," says Gogerty. "I was a little shocked, but I really didn't have time to be, so I just stepped up and played to the best of my ability by taking a bit of leadership on the court."

With a lack of seniors in the men's basketball team this year, the UMBC coaching staff had high expectations of each player on the squad. Sullivan says, "The only concern was going to be our leadership issue. The decision to move Gogerty to the lead guard spot came after the coaches noticed how much the rookie valued the ball. Gogerty takes care of the basketball to make sure that we always have it in our possession, and I think that enables the other players do what they can do."

Nonetheless, there is no denying that Gogerty is only a freshman, and definitely appreciates the guidance and support provided by the coaches and his fellow teammates. According to him, the lack of seniors on the team has allowed the juniors to step up and become leaders themselves. With three years of Division I experience, Justin Wilson, Kareem Washington (red-shirt sophomore) and Andre Williams all encourage the others to practice hard everyday, and to play with more enthusiasm when game-time comes.

"With everyone contributing, I don't feel that I have to win games for the team," explains Gogerty. "I don't feel a great deal of pressure because I know I have great players around me to help me get through the season."

But pressure is nothing new to the Retriever guard. As an all-conference shortstop, quarterback, and point guard in Cedar Grove High's baseball, football and basketball teams, respectively, Gogerty knows the pressures of controlling the team and serving as a leader both on the field and on the court. However, he admits that Division I play is on a much higher level, and certainly requires a greater amount of quickness and strength. Mixed in with schoolwork, the demands are sometimes overwhelming to the first-year student.

"Getting the time frames together, it's definitely a full day's work. I didn't expect it to be that much. It's kind of like a job - which it is, but you have to just take the job," says Gogerty.

After a semester of college and basketball, Gogerty seems to be doing the job just fine. On January 2, he was awarded NEC Rookie of the Week honors for his performance during the weeks of December 17-30. In that time span, the Retrievers participated in three contests in which he averaged 8 points and 3 assists, while committing only 2 turnovers in 101 minutes of play. UMBC's only loss in those two weeks was a heartbreaking 59-58 defeat to host Santa Clara in the Cable Car Classic, where Gogerty went 5 of 7 from the floor with a total of 11 points and 4 assists. That, itself, is evidence that the rookie practices unselfish play. "I try to run the system, run the offense, play defense - do a little bit of everything, but I'm not trying to carry it all on my back," says Gogerty.

Instead, he looks for the 'go-to' guys. One of them, of course, is Peter Mulligan, who last season merited the Rookie of the Week award several times. Although he missed a few games this year due to a sprained ankle and a pulled groin muscle, Mulligan remains the Retrievers' leading scorer. In games where he's healthy, the sophomore averages 22 points per game.

An additional option is Allegany Junior College transfer Malik Wallace, who reaggravated a preseason groin strain in the game against Robert Morris. The Retrievers are 8-2 with Wallace in the lineup. Yet another contributor is Andrew Feeley, who recently joined Gogerty as the second freshman in the starting lineup. The 6'10" center, who received Rookie of the Week honors in early December, has recorded two double-doubles this season for scoring and rebounding.

Now, with Mulligan and Wallace healthy and back in the starting lineup, the Retrievers have managed to win four of their last five games and are currently tied for second place in the NEC, a game behind Central Connecticut. Since the young UMBC team possesses so much talent, however, Gogerty has managed to stay optimistic. "I think we're really starting to work together and play to the best of our abilities, making us capable of being one of the top teams in our conference this year as well as the next couple of years," he says. "If we keep playing hard, we will be playing for the championship at the end of the season."

When "Three's Company" star and fitness guru Suzanne Somers recently announced on CNN's "Larry King Live" that she had been battling breast cancer, she explained that it was a breast sonographic ultrasound, not mammography, which made her tumors visible.

Sonography affects us in more ways than we ever could imagine. It is deeply woven into our future of non-invasive diagnostic techniques for early detection of many abnormalities. While ultrasound is mostly used to monitor a fetus, it is widely used in other areas, such as enhancing accuracy in liver tumor targeting; detecting rheumatoid arthritis; diagnosing and tracking vascular disease; and assisting early detection and characterization of small ovarian tumors.

Students interested in this expanding field can take advantage of UMBC's full-time, 14-month certificate program in diagnostic medical and cardiac sonography. Offered by the Department of Professional Education and Training, the program is considered one of the best in the country, according to the American Society of Echocardiography Journal.

The program actually began in 1976 at a private career school, the Maryland Institute of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (MIUT). In 1993, MIUT transferred ownership of the program to UMBC.

Students must have at least an A.A. degree and a 2.5 GPA to be admitted into the program. Each year UMBC educates approximately 20 to 30 students, who spend their first month in orientation on campus. The next 13 months are split into two separate tracks of general (abdomen, obstetrics, gynecology, small parts, neonatal neurology, vascular, physics) or cardiac (adult, intro pediatric, stress echo, transesophogeal echo, physics and intro vascular) sonography study. "Our students complete their clinical training in hospitals and imaging centers throughout Maryland," says Lori Hyder, director of the Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program.

Graduates praise the program for its intensive academic and hands-on experiences. "As an international student, I was apprehensive, as it was my first visit to the U.S., and I did not know anybody. However, the school was friendly and helped me settle in quickly. As I did not have my own transportation, the school allowed me to rotate for a few months at a hospital near where I lived. Academically, the course was intensive and comprehensive with regular lectures, assignments, tests and adequate hands-on training. All this helped me pass my board exams on my first attempt," says Kalavathy Vedhachalam.

Sonography students with a minimum of 60 credits may submit a proposal for a B.S. or a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program. "The combined bachelor's degree/Ultrasound Program will allow a student the opportunity to advance in the growing field of ultrasound," explains Stefani Heinlein, B.S., R.D.M.S. "Once the B.S. or B.A. track is chosen, they have a wide range of courses to select from at UMBC. Students can design their own majors. I found my experience in the program to be very rewarding."

"UMBC offers a dynamic, comprehensive sonography program. During the span of one year-most programs take two-it lays the groundwork for a successful career in ultrasound. I passed my cardiac physics and adult echoncardiography national registry exams on the first attempt. More importantly, the program prepared me to perform in the clinical setting at a very high level 'right out of the box.' I was working in the field two months before I had even graduated. Currently, I have six lucrative job offers pending, not including my current employment," says Cole Bevaqua, R.D.C.S.

For more information on the program, visit http://continuinged.umbc.edu/sono/.

Okay, so you've mastered how to send or receive email attachments-a great way to share documents and files with anyone. But if you want to keep the collaboration going, learn how to add comments or revisions to the files you attach. They will provide more context than chicken scratches on a return fax, and it will be easier to incorporate more than one person's set of revisions. Here are some cool tools that can help:

1. Open the "Reviewing" Toolbar in Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint

Go to "View" ' "Toolbars" ' "Reviewing."

You can use the yellow sticky note to add comments (available in all three programs), or actually insert or cut text and have it show up on your screen as well as your recipient's screen (available only in Word). You can even dictate audio comments tied to any part of a Word document. If you repeatedly work with a group of people on the same document such as a brochure, report or presentation, this is a great way to keep track of everyone's revisions and selectively incorporate them. Some faculty are even collecting students' papers as Word files and then returning them as attachments as comments-something you can do anytime, not just the hectic rush before class starts. For examples of comments and edits on this article, click here.

2. Write PDF Files with Adobe Acrobat

Anyone who's surfed the Web is likely to have come across the free, ubiquitous plug-in called Acrobat Reader to read PDF (Portable Document Format) files. But for less than $65 you can purchase the full version of Acrobat to also create or "print" PDF files, which are electronic snapshots of any file that will look the same on anyone's computer. This is a great way to review a brochure before it's printed or even a web page before it's launched. And like the MS Office products above, you can add sticky notes or drawings to elaborate on what your recipient is seeing. The UMBC Bookstore sells Acrobat at a very reasonable educational price, but if you want multiple copies so everyone in your work group can use it, you can get it for as little as $16 a copy. For an example of how you might use Acrobat for more than just reading PDF files, click here.

3. Use Blackboard

In addition to embedding comments or revisions in document files, you could attach them to discussion boards in Blackboard, or clean them up and make them permanent files others can access anytime, anywhere. The advantage of using Blackboard (or any website) is that your colleagues have a centralized, web-based clearinghouse for common files, and don't need to keep their emails to view a document. Also, if your workgroup or subcommittee is willing to use a discussion board, the related threads can be sorted, searched or even saved as text files that might serve as a rough draft others can view later. For more information on using Blackboard, visit http://blackboard.umbc.edu

If you have questions about these tips-or have some tips of your own that you'd like to share-contact John Fritz at fritz@umbc.edu.

Tom Rabenhorst's latest project combines a love of the outdoors, modern technology and community service.

Rabenhorst, Director of Instructional Cartography in UMBC's Geography and Environmental Systems Department, is completing a project more than a decade in the making -- new hiking maps for nearby Patapsco Valley State Park. Rabenhorst used global positioning satellite (GPS) technology to give hikers the most comprehensive maps in the park's history.

"There had been no comprehensive map of Patapsco, and I though that this would be a real benefit to the community as well as a self-serving thing for myself because I really enjoy getting out in the parks," Rabenhorst says."It's a good partnership because we're basically neighbors," says Lt. Christopher Bushman, the park's manager. "When you are walking on the trails and when you get up on the hills, you can see the UMBC campus. The guides are one of the best things that has ever happened to the park," Bushman says.

"I think that when we come out with this new map, it's going to open up the park in a way that the public will now know where the trails are and it may help relieve pressures by distributing people in other areas," Rabenhorst says.

Rabenhorst started mapping the park years ago, but was delayed by a lack of available technology and quality aerial photography. Now months of hiking the trails alone and logging points on a handheld GPS device have paid off. GPS triangulates to rapidly and accurately locate geographic positions anywhere on the face of the earth.

Each year Rabenhorst gets students in his Advanced Cartography Class involved with a local mapping project. The class recently worked with many local cyclists and the Baltimore Community Foundation to produce a handy map of bike trails in the city and county, with routes color-coded based on hill steepness. Rabenhorst's next class will be working on a CD-ROM atlas of Maryland for elementary education.

Technology has been in use in the classroom at least since the invention of the chalkboard. And of course most professors have at some point used more advanced forms of technology in their classrooms, including audiovisual aids such as movie clips, recordings, slides and overheads. But the Web has opened up a whole new realm to complement or supplement what can take place in the classroom, and at the Teaching, Learning and Technology Fair held in January, several UMBC faculty members displayed their latest web-based course innovations.

Preminda Jacob, in the Department of Visual Arts, has begun placing lectures for her art history survey course, Art 323 (Twentieth Century Art) online. As of this spring semester she will have at least five online lectures available. Since the quality of instruction in her art history class is significantly enhanced by in-class discussion, Jacob wanted to have more time in class for student interaction without sacrificing the information contained in her lectures. These online mini-lectures solve the problem by allowing her to carefully cover the same amount of material while giving students an opportunity, in class, to discuss the significance of the artworks.

Working with a team of producers and assistants from the New Media division of OIT (including Bill Shewbridge, Joanna Sakellion and Damion Wilson), Jacob created streaming video lectures synchronized with Powerpoint slides. These lectures are currently available on the course website: http://cgi.umbc.edu/~insttech/arthistory/.

Members of the English department also displayed course innovations at the January Fair. As Professor and Department Chair Jim McKusick explained in a presentation, members of the English department worked collaboratively over the past several months to develop courses. After attending a four-day workshop on "Teaching, Learning and Technology" in July 2001, fifteen English department faculty from both the Literature and Writing and Rhetoric Divisions worked in teams to determine how technology could be integrated into courses to improve the learning that takes place in their courses. Over the course of the summer, every workshop participant designed at least one new Blackboard course for the fall 2001 semester, integrating technology into composition courses, 200 level GFR courses, and upper-level literature courses.

Designing or redesigning courses to include new technologies can be time consuming, which is why faculty who experiment with Blackboard or other web-based courses encourage fellow instructors to plan well in advance of when the course is supposed to be up and running, to start small, and to work collaboratively. It's also wise to seek out help from the resources available from the New Media division of OIT and from the Faculty Development Center.

Other online resources can also provide insights into the course design process, including the following:

Getting Started with Instructional Design

UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology

Merlot: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
"MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students in higher education. With a continually growing collection of online learning materials, peer reviews and assignments, MERLOT helps faculty enhance instruction. MERLOT is also a community of people who strive to enrich teaching and learning experiences."

The Technology Source
"a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical published by the Michigan Virtual University . . . provide[s] thoughtful, illuminating articles that will assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching."

Stephen C. Ehrmann, "Assess How Much Technology Use Helps Education? Helps It How? A Taxonomy of Goals for Using (and Assessing) IT"

Jack Prostko is director of the Faculty Development Center.

Last semester, CS/EE faculty members Anupam Joshi and Gary Burt changed the way they taught CMSC 421 "Operating Systems." Instead of meeting in a lab to tinker with code, they required students to install operating systems on their own personal computers. The result was a more challenging and rewarding course for faculty and students. John Fritz, director of new media learning and development, interviewed Joshi and Burt about their experiences.

John Fritz: Can you tell us more about your course and key concepts you wanted students to learn?

Anupam Joshi: We teach students about the principles of computer operating systems (OS) as well as how to troubleshoot and fix them. But because operating systems interact closely with hardware and software, you really need to get your hands on the actual code.

JF: Why did you need students to all have their own PCs?

Gary Burt: When it comes to learning OS, the research and pedagogy tells us students learn best by doing. Working at the OS level, you sometimes make mistakes, which often requires "root access" to the computer to fix. Working on a personal computer localizes the impact of mistakes and also gives students the access they need to fix the problems they've created.

AJ: Understandably, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) couldn't dedicate an entire public computing lab just to our course, so requiring students to use their own computer made the most sense, especially since most IFSM and CS/EE students seem to have computers these days.

JF: What worked (or didn't) by having the students do their work in this way?

AJ: It did make the course more difficult because the standard Linux operating system contains 10k to 15k lines of code. That's daunting for students at first and difficult for us to troubleshoot because they may not all have "improved" the code the same way. However, it gave the students a lot of confidence to know they could get in there.

GB: I used to be a defense contractor, and would have given preference to hiring someone with this kind of real-world problem-solving experience. Overall, they were more excited by their projects and enthusiasm was higher.

AJ: One of the projects required putting a layer of encryption on the standard Linux OS. You could tell who was getting started early on the project by the nature of the questions they were asking. I got a lot more sophisticated comments.

JF: How might your experience change the way you teach this class-or others--in the future?

GB: Most students in 300-400 level courses could probably do this. But what if a freshman comes in and installs Linux incorrectly. Who's responsible for helping him or her fix it? As for future courses, we're also thinking about making changes to CSMC 104 "Problem Solving & Introduction to Programming" & CSMC 201 "Computer Science 1."

AJ: If faculty knew they didn't have to worry about installation of software or fixing students' computers, etc., they might do this more broadly. But you need the right support. OIT worked with us all the way and really helped us.

For more information on UMBC's Assured Access Program, visit http://www.umbc.edu/access.

On Friday, February 8, a majority of UMBC's eligible non-exempt (classified)staff voted to be represented by the American Federation of State, Countyand Municipal Employees (AFSCME) for purposes of collective bargaining. Ofthe approximately 375 people eligible to vote, 282 votes were cast -- 175for AFSCME, 95 for no exclusive representative and 12 votes werechallenged.

With this vote, UMBC became the the ninth campus in the University System ofMaryland to vote on representation.

Next steps are still under discussion as the University begins to put together a negotiating team. For those non-exempt employees not eligible for AFSCME representation, University System of Maryland and Board of Regents personnel policies and practices remain in effect. Also as of now, there is no election petition pending for eligible exempt (associate staff) employees.

"Hackers continuously surprise us by finding new ways to break into or interfere with systems. Moreover, most mechanisms are powerless against misbehavior by legitimate users performing functions for which they are authorized, the so-called 'insider threat.' This is a problem not only because of the possibility of malicious actions by true insiders, but because it is not always possible to distinguish between insiders and outsiders," says Peng Liu, assistant professor of information systems at UMBC, and Sushil Jajodia, director, Center for Secure Information at George Mason University. Together they have co-written Trusted Recovery and Defensive Information Warfare (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002)

Information warfare defense not only involves creating proactive ways to protect systems, but detecting and reacting to successful attacks and managing the tracking, containment and damage recovery. Trusted Recovery and Defensive Information Warfare looks at the challenges, principals, models and mechanisms of trusted database recovery, as well as the design and implementation of practical trusted database recovery systems. It addresses how to design and implement a practical, cost-effective system with a new model and set of innovative algorithms.

Liu says he hopes the book will be an important resource in light of recent attacks on computer security. "The visions of Internet applications (e.g., e-commerce) and pervasive computing not only push computations from a computer into everywhere, but also maximize our dependence on networked information systems. Quickly increased complexity, openness, inter-connection and inter-dependence have made these systems more vulnerable and difficult to protect than ever."

"The inability of existing security mechanisms is well embodied in several recent large scale Internet attacks such as the DDoS attack in February 2000," Liu adds. "These accidents convince the people that traditional prevention-centric security is not enough, and the next generation of networked information systems must be attack resilient, that is, they must be able to continue delivering essential services in face of attacks. This book makes a critical step towards attack resilient information systems. I believe that without attack recovery no (truely) attack resilient information system can be built."

PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES AS OF 1/31/02

If you do not see your name here, it was not listed on the current New Hire Roster, but should appear on the next report, depending on your date of hire. Check future issues of Insights.

American Studies
Eva George, instructor

Dance
Julie Peoples-Clark, instructor

Economics
David O'Dea, instructor
John Whitelock, instructor

English
James Joyner, instructor

Georgraphy and Environmental Systems
Lynn Middleton, instructor

Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology (GEST)
Paul Ginoux, assistant research scientist
Xiwa Zhan, associate research scientist

Mathematics and Statistics
Bonnie Kegan, instructor

Psychology
Jeffrey Barnett, assistant professor
Lisa Johnson-Greene, assistant professor

Social Work
Lydia Cornelius, instructor

TheatreCraig Brown, instructor

Visual Arts
Bodil Ottesen, instructor

Could the Comets be too much for the Retrievers?

The UMBC Chess Team rolled into Providence, RI for the 2001 Pan Am Intercollegiate Chess Championships with all the swagger of a championship football team, and with good reason. Prior to the tournament, the team had won four of the previous five national championships, besting teams from Harvard, MIT, and Stanford in the process. It was beginning to seem that no team could match UMBC on the board, that is until the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) came along.

UMBC left Providence with the chess championship, or at least half of it. For the second year in a row, UMBC's Chess Team is sharing the national championship with UTD, a public university eerily similar to UMBC (see similarities). The only teams UMBC and UTD were unable to defeat were each other, and "sudden death overtime” hasn't quite made it to the chessboard.

UMBC's first team included captain and International Master Eugene Perelshteyn, (see "Going for Grandmaster”), International Grandmaster Alex Woitkevich, William "The Exterminator” Morrison,, and Bryan Smith,. UMBC's coach is Master Igor Epshteyn.

UTD's first team included Yuri Shulman, Marcin Kaminski, Andrew Whatley, David John, Andrei Zaremba and Dennis Rylander.

"UTD has developed a very talented team and are becoming a team to beat in college chess,” says Alan Sherman, UMBC Chess Team advisor and associate professor of computer science. Sherman also took home honors as top university faculty/coach in the Open Tournament.

Both teams are stacked with talent, recruited by Sherman at UMBC and his new nemesis, UTD Chess Program Director and Professor of Literary Studies Tim Redman.

"I certainly admire what Alan Sherman has accomplished with the UMBC team.” says Redman. "UTD started later (our first Pan Am was 1996), but we've come up fast and enjoy the rivalry.”

While Redman readily recognizes UMBC's success, he points out that UTD may in fact have an edge over the Baltimore chess powerhouse.

"I believe that UTD and UMBC have drawn all their Pan Am matches at least since Toronto (1999), but UTD beat UMBC when we visited the campus for MindFest in Spring 2000,” says Redman. "And we won the President's Cup tournament last year in the final round, where our 4.5-1.5 win allowed us to win the event by a half point.”

So which team really is the best? We may find out this April at the second annual President's Cup as teams from UMBC, UTD, Stanford and Harvard will travel to the World Chess Hall of Fame in Orlando, FL to face off. The match, also known as the "Final Four of College Chess,” was won by UTD last year, giving them bragging rights going into this year's tournament. And, if you ask them, they plan to do it again.

Seems like a rivalry to me.

	UMBC	UTD
Founded	1966	1969
Location	High Tech Corridor	Silicon Prairie
Size	500 acres	500 acres
Football	No	No
Chess	Yes	Yes
Championships	5	2

"This spring's Humanities Forum will encourage us to ponder a dizzying array oftopics, including food in American culture, the healing power of the bluesand the multiple ways in which humans respond to design," says Thomas Field, director of the Center for the Humanities. "We will have the chance to hear one of Baltimore's most famous artists, John Waters, talk about his career. And two speakers will be addressing our theme for the year, "Information, Knowledge, Wisdom: the Humanities in the Digital Age": novelist Nicholson Baker, who has accused America's greatest libraries of devastating short-sightedness, and physicist Kishin Moorjani, whose life and tastes link the sciences with the arts and the humanities in a unique way."

The complete schedule is available at http://www.umbc.edu/humanities/forum.html.

For more information on the series, call (410) 455-6798.

This month's "Recommended Reads" are contributed by Christel Temple, assistant professor, Department of Africana Studies.

During Black History Month we saturate ourselves in Black history, culture, art and literature in order to familiarize ourselves with resources that can enrich us all year long. The following selection of books offers something for everyone.

Step Into A World: A Global Anthology of The New Black Literature edited by Kevin A. Powell (John Wiley & Sons, 2000): A collection of the most contemporary literature and ideas of Black writers and critics from the U. S., Canada, Europe and Africa, this anthology is modern, hip and interesting. It reads like the pages of Vibe and Amsterdam News, with a touch of Callaloo, has a section on hip-hop journalism, and offers the usual genres, plus emails and manifestos.

Kindred by Octavia Butler (Beacon Press, 1988): A fascinating, nearly sci-fi, novel about how a young Black woman gets snatched back into the past-the antebellum South-to rescue and attempt to reform her white, slaveholding ancestors.

Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America by Rebecca Carroll (Three Rivers Press, 1997): In 15 interview-based narratives, African-American girls, ages 11 to 20 testify about their identities, hopes, dreams, struggles, fears and empowerment. This is required reading for educators seeking to know their students better, and the book could be welcome company to young girls who want affirmation in their own process of growth and development.

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou (Vintage Books Edition, 1991): This memoir of Angelou's years in post-independence Ghana is a thoughtful and emotional rendering of how African Americans can reacquaint themselves with their ancestral homeland.

Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara (Vintage Books, 1992): In 15 short stories, Bambara takes readers on an insider's tour of African-American urban and rural communities. Readers will chuckle lightly, laugh heartily and share this collection with their best friends.

Here I Stand (Beacon Press, 1988) by Paul Robeson: We forget that before the success of modern Black sports heroes, Paul Robeson, born in 1898, was the 20th century's premier all-star Black college athlete who excelled globally in theater, film, musical performance and politics. Through this autobiography, we can reacquaint ourselves with this hero.

Fences by August Wilson (Plume/ Penguin, 1986): This Pulitzer prize-winning drama is engaging reading about Black male struggles and the endurance of the Black family as a former Negro League baseball player comes to terms with denied opportunity.

Still I Rise: A Cartoon History of African Americans by Roland Own Laird, Jr. (W. W. Norton & Co., 1997): Written and penciled in the best tradition of the political cartoon and comic strip, this graphic depiction of Black history is informative and fun reading for all ages.

Hidden in Plain View: The Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard (Anchor Books, 2000): There are more messages and secrets embodied in the African-American and abolitionist tradition of quilting than we ever realized. This book, filled with history, photographs and quilt code patterns is curiously intriguing.

Dinner at Aunt Connie's House by Faith Ringgold (Hyperion Books for Children, 1993) and My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold (Dragonfly Books/Crown Publishers, 1995): These two children's books are must-haves for multicultural children's collections. In Dinner, imagine having an aunt whose paintings of Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Marian Anderson and others come alive and share their stories. In My Dream, Ringgold translates Dr. King's dream and America's racial past into language and paintings that effectively teach all children.

Have a favorite book you'd like to share? Email Insights@umbc.edu.