Rachel Brewster, Biological Sciences, in the Baltimore Sun
The research of Rachel Brewster, assistant professor of biological sciences, was featured in “Project's Zebrafish Focus” in the Baltimore Sun on Dec. 15. Brewster is studying the embryo development of zebrafish in hopes of finding ways to prevent child birth defects. Daphne Blumberg, associate professor of biological sciences at UMBC, called Brewster’s work “groundbreaking and exciting.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-md.co.biologist15dec15,0,7470333.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Cheryl Miller, Public Policy and Political Science, in the Capital
Cheryl Miller, associate professor of Public Policy and political science, was quoted in a Dec. 9 story in the Capital, “Call Goes Out for Solutions to Poverty.” The article profiled calls by black legislators and community activists for new policies to address race and poverty. Miller was a panelist at the Poverty, Race and Policy Forum organized by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and held on Dec.6.
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/12_09-42/TOP

“Moving Walls 10: Purple Hearts” in the Baltimore Sun
“Moving Walls 10: Purple Hearts,” a photography exhibition of soldiers wounded in the Iraq War, was reviewed in the Baltimore Sun’s “Photos of Wounded Soldiers Bring War Home” on Dec. 10. The exhibition is located in The Commons and features photos taken by artist Nina Berman.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/custom/aetoday/bal-ae.eye10dec10,0,5938764.story?coll=bal-aetoday-headlines

Two Ph.D. Computer Science Students in the Baltimore Sun
On Dec. 10, Marc Pickett and Sandor Dornbush, both computer science doctoral students, were featured in “Yes, In Fact, There is Accounting For Taste,” a Baltimore Sun article about Web sites that feature technology that caters to a user’s likes. Pickett is part of a UMBC team working on improving a “recommender,” a computer program that deciphers a person’s cinematic tastes. The team is competing to win a $1 million prize offered by Netflix for the program that increases the accuracy of its current recommender by 10 percent. Dornbush’s research was also mentioned. He is working on an XPOD, an MP3 player that chooses songs based on a person’s mood.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.recommend10dec10,0,7593300.story?page=2&coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

Ruckus in the Baltimore Sun
A new work commissioned by Ruckus, the professional contemporary music ensemble in residence at UMBC, was reviewed by the Baltimore Sun on Dec. 14 in “Ignore Science, Listen to Landini.” The piece, “Coming to Life: Generation, Transition, Interlocking of Phases” by Italian composer Carlo Alessandro Landini marked UMBC’s 40th Anniversary.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/bal-to.umbc14dec14,0,2423941.story

The recital also was previewed in the Baltimore Sun in “Mezzo-Soprano Blythe Dazzles” on Dec. 12 as an example of “contemporary music on the calendar worth noting.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/lifestyle/bal-to.musicol12dec12,0,2406772.story?coll=bal-artslife-today

Bruce J. Walz, EMS, in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services
Bruce J. Walz, professor and chair of UMBC’s Department of Emergency Health Services, wrote “But I'm an Educator, Not an Advocate” in the December, 2006 issue of the Journal of Emergency Medical Services . Walz explains the importance of political involvement for EMS educators.
http://www.jems.com/news/244584/

December 8, 2006

ACTiVATE in Society of Women’s Engineer
ACTiVATE and one of its startup companies, Ocelus Technologies, were featured in “Tech Transfer,” an article in the Society of Women’s Engineers about the emergence of tech transfer programs in large corporations other than pharmaceutical and biotech firms, which became the first industries to incorporate university research into products.

“The Faulkner Project: As I Lay Dying” Reviewed on Broadway.com
Broadway.com featured UMBC’s “The Faulkner Project: As I Lay Dying in “ ‘Faulkner Project’: Blazing Theatre at UMBC.” “ … This collaboration between writer, faculty and students is nothing less than a triumph,” wrote the author, James Howard.
http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=14124

The Baltimore City Paper also featured “The Faulkner Project” as a Critic’s Pick.
http://www.citypaper.com/calendar/event.asp?whatID=83396

Fluorometrix, Govind Rao in the Baltimore Examiner
Fluorometrix, a techcenter@UMBC incubator graduate, and Govind Rao, professor and chair of chemical and biochemical engineering, appeared in the Baltimore Examiner’s Dec. 4 “Local Company Sheds Light on Drug Research.” Fluorometrix uses a technology developed by Rao that uses light-based probes that help speed up the production of bacteria or viruses that are used in vaccinations.
http://www.examiner.com/a-435399~Local_company_sheds_light_on_drug_research.html

UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars Program in the Scientist
The Scientist, a publication in the United Kingdom, featured the UMBC Meyerhoff Program in “Hitting the Ground Running.” In the article, Issac Kinde ’06, biological sciences, and Mike Summers, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and principal investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, located on UMBC’s campus, were quoted in the article about the nationally acclaimed program that gives full-scholarships to high-achieving minority high school graduates with an interest in science.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/home/36485/

Tom Schaller, Political Science, in the News
Associate Professor of Political Science Tom Schaller, whose latest book, Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win the South, predicted that Democrats could win the November elections without voters in the South, appeared in a Dec. 7 Washington Post column, “The GOP's Southern Exposure,” which explores the challenges Republicans now face in American politics.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601671.html

Schaller and Whistling Past Dixie were prominently featured in the National Review’s Dec. 4 “Damn Yankees: The GOP and It’s Northeast Problem” about whether or not the Republican party should stray away from voters in the Northeastern states of the country.

On Dec. 3, Schaller and Whistling Past Dixie were the main subjects in the News-Record’s (Greensboro, NC) “N.C. Democrats Deserve Place in National Strategy.” In the article, the author explains why the national Democratic party should not exclude North Carolina from its national strategic plan.
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/NEWSREC010201/612030312/1032/NEWSREC02020404

December 1, 2006

Thomas Blass, Psychology, in the Baltimore Examiner
Thomas Blass, professor of psychology, explains why people donate time and money to charities during the holiday season in the Baltimore Examiner’s Nov. 23 “Holidays Provide Boost to Charities.”
http://www.examiner.com/a-415881~Holidays_provide__boost_to_charities.html

Christopher Corbett, English, Writes for Two Magazines
Christopher Corbett, acting chair of the Department of English, wrote “Strange Brew” in the December 2006 edition of Baltimore Style magazine. Corbett reveals why he chooses to patronize the smaller businesses in his communities and not retailers such as Blockbuster and Home Depot.
http://www.baltimorestyle.com/index.php/style/backpage/

Corbett also wrote an essay in the debut issue of Culture & Travel about the eccentric city of St. Joseph, Missouri - where the Pony Express was born and Jesse James died.
http://www.cultureandtravel.com/

CSEE Sandor Dornbush's in Newsday
Newsday featured Sandor Dornbush, a Ph.D. computer science and electrical engineering student, in its Nov. 22 article, “Thanks for the Memory,” about his invention the XPOD, a “music player that would ‘learn’ users' listening preferences and play the right song for their moods.”
http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-2know4984893nov22,0,5892714.story

Don Norris, Public Policy, in the Baltimore Sun
Don Norris, director of MIPAR and professor of public policy, appeared in “A Trial for High Court's Webcast,” a Baltimore Sun article published on Nov. 27. Beginning Dec. 4, the Maryland Court of Appeals will begin webcasting live proceedings. Known as electronic government, Norris said the webcasts allow “ordinary citizens to get information and see how their government works.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-md.camera27nov27,0,7065312.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

A similar news report, “Maryland Court to Launch Webcasting Plan,” was published in the Monterey Herald on Nov. 27.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/16110015.htm

Tom Schaller, Political Science, in the News
In the New Republic’s Nov. 29 “Southern Discomfort,” reporter Rick Perlstein discusses the absence of media coverage pertaining to the Republican Party’s loss in the November elections. Perlstein said news organizations have excluded Associate Professor of Political Science Tom Schaller, who predicted in his latest book, Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South, that the Democrats would control the House without the South, from much of the media coverage.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w061127&s=perlstein112906
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Schaller and his book, Whistling Past Dixie, were mentioned in USA Today’s Nov. 26 “Election '06: Lessons Learned By Dissecting Votes,” which lists some of the lessons campaign strategists have learned from the November primaries.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-26-election-lessons_x.htm

Kathy Zerrlaut, Athletics, in the Baltimore Examiner
On Nov. 25, the Baltimore Examiner included Senior Associate Athletic Director Kathy Zerrlaut in “Positive Drug Tests at Navy Reveal Far Greater Problems in College Athletics.” In the article, Zerrlaut provided details on UMBC’s drug testing policy for student-athletes.
http://www.examiner.com/a-418829~Positive_drug_tests_at_Navy_reveal_far_greater_problems_in_college_athletics.html