Eleven UMBC student-athletes were selected to the America East winter all-academic teams, the conference announced Wednesday, tying Boston University for most in the league.

Men’s swimming and diving led the way with four team members selected: seniors Adam Blais (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) and Geza Szabo (Szolnok, Hungary/Ady Endre Gimnazium), junior Tim Conway (Brick, N.J./Brick Township Memorial) and sophomore Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson). Blais was on the winning 800-free relay team and the second-place 200- and 400-free relays at the America East Championships in February, while Szabo took silver in both the 100- and 200-fly and 400-medley relay and bronze in the 200-medley relay. Conway placed second in the 50-free and was on the second-place 200- and 400-free relay teams and third-place 200-medley relay, while Auchter took third in the 100-breast and 200-medley relay and second in the 400-medley relay.

Men’s indoor track and field placed three athletes on the all-academic squad: seniors Adam Grossman (Baltimore, Md./Pikesville) and Aaron Smith (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) and sophomore Aaron James (Glen Dale, Md./Duval). Grossman won the 55-meter dash and placed third in the 200-meter dash at the America East Championships in February, while Smith was on the winning distance medley team and James won the 55-meter hurdles.

Men’s basketball and women’s indoor track and field each placed two Retrievers on their respective squads. Senior Jerrell Dinkins (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and sophomore Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) represent the men’s basketball team, while juniors Jenelle Wilson (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) and Francine Ward (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills) represent women’s indoor track and field.

Dinkins was second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and third with 11.9 points per game, and those stats ranked eighth and 13th, respectively, in the America East. Hodges was second on the team and 11th in the conference in scoring with 11.8 ppg.

Wilson won the 400-meter dash, placed second in the 200-meter dash and was on the second-place 4x400-meter relay at the America East Championships, while Ward took silver in the 500-meter dash and was also on the second-place 4x400-meter relay.

With its 11 winter all-academic team members, UMBC tied with Boston University for most in the conference. Binghamton University (seven), University of New Hampshire (seven) and University of Maine (six) followed closely behind. University at Albany (five), Stony Brook University (four) and University of Vermont (two) also boasted all-academic members as well.

This marks the first time the America East has named All-Academic teams for each of its winter sports. The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league’s top athletes that are also quality students.

Each All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletic accomplishment standards vary between team sports and individual sports. For team sports, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the post-season awards ballot, which is determined by the league’s head coaches. For track and field and swimming and diving, student-athletes are required to be a top-three finisher at the conference championship meet. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., five on the court for basketball).

In the event that the number of student-athletes meeting the requirements is greater than the number that participate in a contest at one time, all-conference vote totals were used as the tie-breaking criteria. Team size for individual sports is determined by the number of all-conference honorees who possess the minimum academic requirement.

If there’s one sure way to get more girls interested in technology careers, just show them how computers help design some of the world’s most glamorous clothes.

Cynthia Rowley, one of America’s most honored fashion designers, will show hundreds of middle school girls, parents and teachers from across Maryland how high technology helps create high fashion clothes worn by supermodels as she headlines Computer Mania Day at UMBC on Saturday, May 6.

Rowley, whose signature designs are found in Cynthia Rowley boutiques, better department stores and specialty stores across the U.S. and globe, has won multiple awards from The Council of Fashion Designers of America. Her creations have been featured in Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar and the New York Times. She is also the co-author of a best-selling series of books on personal and home style and an entrepreneur.

Computer Mania Day is an annual day of free, hands-on, high-tech, fun activities for adults and kids sponsored by UMBC’s Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT). The half-day event helps to get girls interested in technology and computing careers while helping parents and teachers sharpen their own computer skills. While boys are welcome, the focus is on girls because of their continuing under-representation in science, technology, engineering and math. The event also includes workshops for adults.

Research shows that the information technology (IT) gender gap opens as early as the middle school years, when girls are most image-conscious and do not want to be labeled as “geeks” or “nerds.” Girls also make up only 14 percent of Advanced Placement students in computer science, a key to success in IT-related fields at the college level.
At Computer Mania Day, kids will get the chance to meet Rowley and participate in workshops led by positive female role models from UMBC along with business, government and education leaders.

Girls’ events highlights include “Hardware Rocks,” “Google of Opportunities,” digital art and imaging, and the physics of do-it-yourself hot air balloons. Adult workshop highlights include how to prepare your kids for college, “Computers 101,” and “Cyber Safety: Keeping Your Child Protected Online.” All attendees will have the chance to win great giveaways like the HP iPAQ, Dell USB Memory Key and Cisco Routers.

EVENT DETAILS:
Saturday, May 6, 2006.
9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Check-in at UC Ballroom, UMBC. FREE lunch included for students. All adult and student attendees MUST register ahead of time online at www.computer-mania.info. To sign up or for more information, visit www.computer-mania.info or call 410-455-8433.

UMBC Chess Team in the News
UMBC’s Chess Team was mentioned in St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports reporter’s Dan O’Neil’s “O'Neill's Hit & Run: Wed. Edition” on March 22. The brief write-up, titled “Final Four Fever,” highlighted the upcoming U.S. Intercollegiate Chess Tournament to be held in Dallas on April 1-2. UMBC will play against rival University of Texas at Dallas.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/D538213BB6D3AAFD86257139001B59D4?OpenDocument

Robert Provine, Psychology, on WebMD.com
Robert Provine, professor of psychology, appeared in the WebMD.com article, “Why We Laugh.” Provine, who has conducted several studies on the topic and written the book Laughter: a Scientific Investigation, says most laughter is instinctual rather than performed out of humor.
http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/120/113762.htm?pagenumber=1

Thomas Schaller, Political Science, Writes for the American Prospect
Tom Schaller, associate professor of political science, wrote a March 24 online review for the American Prospect on political commentators Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga’s newest book, Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics (Chelsea Green). Armstrong and Moulitsas are known for their online blogs, MyDD and DailyKos. About the book, Schaller said, “Readers can be assured that Armstrong and Moulitsas blog the way they speak, and write the way they blog: In the sometimes caustic but always conversational tone that makes otherwise arcane “insider” topics accessible to non-Beltway readers.”
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=11347

On March 27, Schaller was quoted in the Washington Post's “Ehrlich in Awkward Spot on Rates” about the expected 72 percent electricity rate increase from BGE. According to Schaller, issues similar to the price hike can influence voters’ decisions because it imposes on their daily necessities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/26/AR2006032601035.html

3/10/06

Brian J. Maguire, Emergency Health Services, in the Washington Post
Brian J. Maguire, clinical associate professor and graduate program director for emergency health services, was quoted in the Feb. 25 Washington Post article, “Prepare for Pandemic, Localities Are Warned.” Maguire said that “not enough has been done to help communities prepare [for a flu pandemic] at grass-roots levels.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022401802.html

Rachel Franklin, Music, in The Annapolis Capital
Rachel Franklin, adjunct faculty member of music, was mentioned in a Feb. 26 The Annapolis Capital news story. Franklin will provide a piano concert in “The Art of Music from the Baltimore Museum of Art,” an exhibit that explores the link between music and art. The exhibit runs through April 9 at the Mitchell Gallery, according to “Exhibit Explores the Art, Music Connection.”
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/02_26-14/LIF

Jason Love, Music, in the Baltimore Sun
Jason Love, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Music, was mentioned in the March 3 Baltimore Sun’s, “Young Artists to Play With Columbia Orchestra. Love is the conductor and director of the Columbia Orchestra, a volunteer adult community orchestra.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-ho.orchestra03mar03,0,5596188.story

Don Norris, MIPAR, in the Washington Post
Don Norris, professor of public policy and director of MIPAR, was quoted in “Md. Lawmakers Sharpen Pencils For Ehrlich Budget,” a March 5 Washington Post article about the expected rewrite of Gov. Ehrlich’s budget by Democrats in the General Assembly. Norris said that the rewrite means Democrats are flexing their political muscles in opposition of the budget’s disregard of Democrats’ concerns.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/04/AR2006030401170.html

Tom Schaller, Political Science, in the Kansas City Infozine
Tom Schaller, associate professor of political science, appeared in the Kansas City Infozine about Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley’s early decision to name his running mate for the state’s top job as governor. In “Picking No. 2 Becomes No. 1 Priority," printed on March 4, Schaller said that the early decision gives O’Malley an edge over his opponent, Gov. Robert Ehrlich, in fundraising and exposure.
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/13405/

Ellen Handler Spitz on KWMR (Point Reyes Station, Calif.)
On Feb. 28, Honors College Professor of Visual Arts Ellen Handler Spitz appeared on “Wake Up West Marin,” a radio program on KWMR, a non-commercial community radio station located in Point Reyes Station, Calif., to discuss her fifth book, Brightening Glance: Imagination and Childhood.

Also, on March 5, Handler Spitz was profiled in the Baltimore Sun’s “A More Creative Approach to Raising Kids.” In the article, the reporter mentions examples from the book that parents can use to encourage their children to think creatively.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/ideas/bal-id.imagine05mar05,1,5900832.story

UMBC in the Baltimore Business Journal
UMBC was mentioned in the Baltimore Business Journal for teaming up with other Maryland universities to form Research Parks Maryland. This new organization, believed to the be the first of its kind, will collaboratively promote their efforts. “State's Universities Create New Research Park Group” was published on March 2.
http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2006/02/27/daily29.html?jst=b_ln_hl

3/3/05

Scott Bass, Graduate School, in the Baltimore Business Journal
Scott Bass, dean of the Graduate School and vice president of research, was quoted in a March 1 Baltimore Business Journal article, “Tedco Seeds Tech Transfer Work at Universities,” about eight university researchers that will receive funding for their inventions. Bass said programs like Tedco, also known as Maryland Technology Development Corp, help fledgling companies develop their products.
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2006/02/27/daily17.html

Christopher Corbett, English, in Baltimore Style Magazine
English lecturer Christopher Corbett’s latest column in the Baltimore Style magazine talks trains in “Train in Vain.”
http://www.baltimorestyle.com/ma06issue/backpage_ma06.html

“Extraordinary Bodies” Exhibit in the Baltimore City Paper
“Extraordinary Bodies: Photographs from the Müter Museum” was reviewed in the Baltimore City Paper on Feb. 22. About the museum collection, reporter Violet Glaze wrote: “These photos could almost be from an undiscovered track of the same-era genre of spirit photography, recording not fairies or ghosts, but chimerical humans blessed in their tragic uniqueness.”
http://www.citypaper.com/arts/story.asp?id=11478

Don Norris, Public Policy, MIPAR, in the Baltimore Sun
On March 1, Don Norris, professor of public policy and director of MIPAR, was quoted in the Baltimore Sun’s “AFL-CIO Backs O'Malley, Cardin,” in which Norris said although “it’s a good thing” the AFL-CIO endorsed the two candidates, some of the union members will not follow suit.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.endorse01mar01,0,6630958.story

Also on March 1, Norris appeared in “Compromise May be Difficult in Port Debate,” a Baltimore Sun article. In regards to whether or not a state-owned Arab company should be allowed to manage some of the country’s largest ports, Norris believes that many politicians and elected officials have genuine concern about protecting the nation’s ports while others may use the current debate to score political points.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.debate01mar01,0,3492916.story?page=1

UMBC’s MIPAR study, which examined if electronic devices attached to state voting machines could effectively produce a paper trail, was cited in “We Can't See as Votes Get Counted in a Black Box,” in the Baltimore Sun on Feb. 23. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-bz.himowitz23feb23,0,2557428.column?coll=bal-mdpolitics-headlines

UMBC in the Baltimore Sun
On Feb. 23 in the in the Baltimore Sun’s “Catonsville Town Center Proposed by Developer,” Fronda J. Cohen, spokeswoman for Baltimore County’s Department of Economic Development, said the proposed town center in Catonsville is expected to attract UMBC faculty, staff and students as patrons.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-md.co.catonsville23feb23,0,7854326.story?coll=bal-realestate-headlines-1

Eric Dyer, ’95 Visual Arts, Wins Award at Ann Arbor Film Festival
Eric Dyer, ’95, visual arts, associate professor of visual arts, is the winner of the Ann Arbor Film Festival’s 2006 Gus Van Sant Best Experimental Film Award for his film "Copenhagen Cycles." Screening more than 100 experimental films and videos every year, the Ann Arbor Film Festival is the oldest such event in North America and has international stature.

Ph.D. Candidate Christopher Hofmann, Biological Sciences, Named 2006 AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leader
Christopher Hofmann, a Ph.D. biological sciences candidate, is one of two of the 2006 American Institute of Biological Sciences Emerging Public Policy Leaders. As a recipient of this award, Hofmann spoke on Capitol Hill in March about his research which "attempts to understand the diversity of colors found in many birds, as well as the use of color to define species limits—which in many cases will have conservation implications." Hofmann, a recipient of various awards and grants, including two National Science Foundation Fellowships, said his research methods "can provide a better understanding of everything from avian influenza to invasive species."
http://www.aibs.org/announcements/060313_umbc_grad_student_named.html

Anthony Johnson, CASPR, Moderates Congressional STEM Seminar
Anthony Johnson, director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research, moderated a luncheon seminar on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as it relates to U.S. innovation, competitiveness and immigration. Vernon Ehler (R-MI) and Mark Udall (D-CO) gave opening remarks. The presenters included John D. Whaley, senior analyst of Peter D. Hart Research Associates, and Glenn Ruskin, director of the Office of Legislative Affairs for the American Chemical Society. The seminar, held on March 30 in Washington, D.C., was sponsored by the International Society for Optical Engineering and the Optical Society of America, in conjunction with the House STEM Education Caucus.

3/10/06

Christoph Irmscher, English, Pays Tribute to Longfellow
On Saturday Feb 25, Christoph Irmscher, chair of the English department, delivered a public lecture in honor of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birthday in the Story Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass. About 200 people attended the birthday tribute, which offered a fresh and intriguing look at the poet’s domestic life, literary career and connection with readers and family. Irmscher is the author of the forthcoming, Longfellow Redux (University of Illinois Press). He is also serving on the Longfellow Bicentennial Committee, which is planning for the anniversary next year, and has been asked by Harvard University to curate a major exhibit in conjunction with the bicentennial, focusing on the Longfellow Papers at Houghton Library (scheduled to open in February 2007). For the exhibit, he is compiling and writing a catalogue, which will appear as a double issue of the Harvard Library Bulletin in 2007.

For more information about the lecture, visit: http://www.nps.gov/long/pphtml/eventdetail21517.html

Timothy Nohe, Imaging and Digital Arts, Named 2006 Fulbright Senior Scholar
The Board of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission has selected Timothy Nohe, assistant professor of imaging and digital arts, as a 2006 Fulbright Senior Scholar. Nohe will pursue a research project titled, "Sounding Botany Bay," a surround-sound DVD audio-work, and teach at the School of Art and Design of the University of Wollongong, New South Wales.

3/3/05

Meghan Lusby-Treber ‘01, Appointed New Director of Pennsylvania’s Office of Public Health Preparedness
Meghan Lusby-Treber, ’01, emergency health services, was recently appointed by Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Calvin B. Johnson as the director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness for Pennsylvania. Lusby-Treber is also pursuing a master’s degree in emergency health services and preventive medicine and epidemiology, and a graduate certificate in disaster management from UMBC.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=danews.story&STORY=/www/story/02-28-2006/0004308747&EDATE=TUE+Feb+28+2006,+04:50+PM

Paul Silber, In Vitro Technologies, Receives Leadership in Bioscience Award
Paul Silber, CEO of In Vitro Technologies, a techcenter@UMBC emerging technology company, received the Leadership in Bioscience Award from the Greater Baltimore Committee as part of its first Greater Baltimore Region Bioscience Awards.

UMBC College Bowl Team Wins Second Place
Four UMBC students participated in the Regional College Bowl Tournament, sponsored by the Association of College Unions International at Mount Saint Mary's University. The UMBC team took 2nd place, out of 17 universities from Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and New York. The team consisted of the following students: Brian Chan, junior; Bryan Wilkinson, freshman; Michael Fasulo, freshman; and Michael Pollard, junior. UMBC’s team will be the regional alternate for the National Championship, held at Hartford University. College Bowl is the longest running academic competition in the country. The College Bowl program was sponsored by SEB, SGA and The Commons.

UPDATE -- March 17:
CNN will still broadcast Prof. Segall's profile this Sunday, March 19, but the time will now be between 7 pm and 8 pm.

Don't miss a chance to see Zary Segall, distinguished professor of computer science and electrical engineering, and his team of student researchers on CNN this weekend.

Segall's work on wearable, "human aware" computers will be profiled as part of CNN's "Pioneers" series during the 7 pm to 8 pm national news broadcast on Sunday, March 19.

The segment takes a closer look at two prototype technologies being explored by Segall and his students:

"Baby Wear" is a system that could help reduce premature infants' time spent in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) while making that hospital stay less stressful on parents and their babies.

The "XPod" is a smart MP3 player that automatically senses its wearer's mood and surroundings and adjusts song playlists accordingly.

By Jenny O'Grady

Many people claim to know the formula for true love.

In the case of Brian and Annica Wayman ’99, both Meyerhoff Scholars and mechanical engineering grads, however, it’s easy to see how it all adds up. For them, math + science + UMBC = lasting romance.

“I guess it was probably a combination of having the same classes and seeing each other all the time,” laughed Brian, who, like his wife, the former Annica Warrick, is pursuing his doctorate in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech. Married since 2001, they also have an eight-month-old son, Donovan.

Like so many relationships, the Waymans might never have met if not for a particularly well-timed intervention by fate. In this case, fate went by the name of UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski.

Close to graduating from high school, Brian had already decided to attend UMBC, but Annica was far from making the same decision.

“I hadn’t even applied to UMBC,” she said. However, during an appearance by Dr. Hrabowski at a cultural diversity event at her high school, the two met and started talking about UMBC. “He was telling me about the Meyerhoff Scholars and he offered me the scholarship on the spot…I was floored.”

The two met soon after, at the “Summer Bridge” program held for Meyerhoff Scholars in the months before their freshman semester began. From the start, they found themselves working well together.

“We had to get together in groups of four or five and build a portable shelter” for the homeless, said Annica. “We had to work closely together a lot, and it just sort of went from there.”

As students at UMBC, both Brian and Annica stayed very active in campus activities. Brian served as president of UMBC’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Engineering Council of Majors. Annica, a dance minor, also took part in MARC U*STAR, or Minority Access to Research Careers Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research, and acted as president of UMBC’s chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta public service sorority.

They also completed internships, which helped them to focus in on their doctoral research, which for both involves bioengineering. Brian’s research focuses on how mechanical factors such as blood flow affect arteries. Annica is conducting research concerning certain types of cell adhesion. Both of them have received honors in their studies, and both hope to finish their degrees this year and work in the medical device industry.

Despite the pressures of balancing their research and family life, the Waymans seem remarkably cool, calm and collected – just like an average family.

“It’s challenging, but rewarding,” said Brian. “We do our best to balance our work and our family life.”

The best reward, Annica said, is seeing her son at the end of the day.

“The challenges presented to us are the same as those presented to any working family trying to balance their careers with raising a child,” she said. “You can have a day when nothing goes right (in the lab), but then you can come home to see this smiling face who doesn’t care about that at all…It’s wonderful.”

Read more UMBC alumni features online.

By Charles Rose

The 2005 Class of Shriver Peaceworkers and Program Staff

2006 marks the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps, the service program founded by President John F. Kennedy that sent the best and brightest young Americans abroad to help others in the developing world.

This year also marks the 12th year of a different side of the Corps, the Shriver Peaceworker Program at UMBC. Founded by Sargent Shriver, who served under Kennedy as organizer and first director of the Peace Corps, the Shriver Peaceworkers Program focuses on finding ways for returning Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) to serve their states and communities when their missions abroad are completed.

According to Joby Taylor, director of the Shriver Peaceworkers Program, the Peaceworkers mission was built around the beliefs of its founder. “Sargent Shriver had the conviction that RPCVs would prove a tremendous resource for meeting social needs right here at home.”

In its dozen years at UMBC, the program has produced 80 graduates, over nearly half of whom have remained in the Baltimore region. These RPCVs have brought experiences from service in over 50 countries, from Armenia to Zimbabwe, to UMBC.

Many UMBC faculty members are RPCVs, including Ed Orser, American studies; Kevin Eckert, Erickson School of Aging Studies; Tom Cronin and Robert Burchard, biological sciences; and Ben Ebersole, education.

The program is one of the nation’s most competitive, and UMBC is one of just a handful of universities to host both a Peace Corps Fellows Program and a Peace Corps Masters International Program. The UMBC program prides itself on a graduation rate of over 90 percent and the fact that its graduates tend to stay in service careers.

“We have Peaceworkers doing good works throughout the Baltimore region,” said Taylor. “You’ll find our graduates in the Mayor’s office and City Council's offices, small and large local non-profits, local and regional schools, and at institutions like the Enoch Pratt Free Library system, the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. In my humble opinion, the program is without doubt the City's best unknown force for positive social change.”

During their two years at UMBC, Peaceworker Fellows split their time with local community programs focused on homelessness, educational inequality, micro-enterprise development, public health, youth services and many other issues that impact Marylanders’ lives.

A quick cross-section look at the work of some current Shriver Peaceworkers reveals the Program’s depth of involvement and impact in the community:

• Richard Kimball did his Peace Corps service as an English teacher and community development volunteer in Moldova. He is earning a Ph.D. in Public Policy at UMBC while continuing his nursing career. Kimball also works with Baltimore Homeless Services, where he has been instrumental in leading Baltimore’s homeless census efforts and developing a long range policy plan to reduce homelessness in the city.

• Jeromy McKim drew on his experience growing up on a Wyoming farm during his Peace Corps stint with Honduras’s Hillside Farming Extension project. He is earning a Masters in Economic Policy Analysis at UMBC. McKim also serves with the Patterson Park Community Development Corporation’s Healthy Neighborhoods Initiatives, working to ensure fair housing and preserve the potential of green housing in a rapidly transitioning neighborhood.

• Mi Kim’s Peace Corps service focused on HIV/AIDS education in Belize. Kim is earning a Masters of Social Work at UMB while serving with the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center focusing on decreasing predatory lending practices and home foreclosures.

• Former National Merit Scholar Carrie Wilson served in the Peace Corps in Guinea as a Math and English teacher and also coordinated a number of health and education activities for young girls. Wilson is earning a Masters in Economic Policy Analysis at UMBC. She serves at Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore to support micro-enterprise development as a key path out of poverty.

• Jason Sharp’s Peace Corps service took him to Haiti, where he worked on small enterprise development projects and assessing area educational needs. Sharp is earning his Masters of Social Work at UMB and working at Paul’s Place, a neighborhood services and outreach center in Southwest Baltimore. He has become an integral member of the Center, providing shelter, food, training and other essentials to the surrounding community.
  

According to Taylor, in the face of so much political, ethnic and religious division in today’s world, programs like the Peaceworkers are needed more than ever.

“President Hrabowski often challenges the UMBC community to take opportunities to learn about people different from ourselves because it broadens our understanding of others,” said Taylor. “Peace Corps is this intercultural opportunity par excellence. There is little doubt that in an increasingly multicultural world that Peaceworkers and other programs like it are needed both at home and abroad.”