President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III in the Baltimore Examiner
On March 26, the Baltimore Examiner profiled UMBC about its strong academic reputation in “School Makes its Focus the ‘Life of the Mind.’” Hrabowski said most students choose UMBC because they are “looking for an institution that focuses on the life of the mind.” Engineering major Nick Demianovich was also quoted.
http://www.examiner.com/a-639029~School_makes_its_focus_the__life_of_the_mind_.html

Leslie Morgan, Erickson School, in the Investor’s Business Daily
On March 23, Investor’s Business Daily quoted Leslie Morgan, associate dean of Erickson School, on retirement designations. According to “For Long Haul, Spotlight Shines On The Sun Belt,” the Sun Belt region remains the most sought out destination for retirees.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&artnum=4&issue=20070323

Don Norris, MIPAR and Public Policy, in the Sacramento Bee
Don Norris, director of MIPAR and professor of public policy, appeared in the March 23 Sacramento Bee’s “Return to Paper Ballots Could be on Horizon.” Norris discussed the flaws of reinstituting paper ballots in state elections.
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/143056.html

Robert Provine, Psychology, in the New York Times
Professor of Psychology Robert Provine’s research on laughter was prominently featured in the New York Times on March 13 in “What’s So Funny? Well, Maybe Nothing.” Provine’s research explains that laughter is about social relationships, not humor, and is a powerful tool for investigating many important problems in the brain, behavioral and social sciences.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/science/13tier.html?ex=1175313600&en=cf26e5820e3d7ce6&ei=5070

Tom Schaller, Political Science, in the News
On March 21, Congressional Quarterly’s “Clinton Collects Cash With Husband in Tow” quoted Associate Professor of Political Science Tom Schaller about former President Bill Clinton helping his wife, New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, raise money for her presidential campaign.
http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/03/clinton_collects_cash_with_hus.html

Schaller’s March 21 Baltimore Sun column, “White House Now Exercising Power Without Influence,” focused on President’s Bush lack of influence with politicians and the public.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.schaller21mar21,0,4376269.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

Schaller was interviewed on “To the Point” with Warren Olney, which airs on many NPR stations around the country. Schaller spoke on former Vice President Al Gore's visit to Capitol Hill on March 20. Gore testified before a House committee on global warming.
http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/tp/tp070321house_approves_subpo

Williams Thomas, Erickson School, in Local Media
William Thomas, professor of aging services at the Erickson School, was featured in the Annapolis Capital’s “Lecture to Focus on 'What are Old People For?'” on March 25, on WYPR's Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast March 26 and on the Marc Steiner Show on March 27. He also appeared on Voice of America television and radio Health and Science Report on March 27. In This Week Community News (Columbia, Ohio), Thomas was the primary source in “Expert Optimistic for Future Generations' Aging Experiences.”
Annapolis Capital: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/03_25-54/CBN
Marc Steiner Show: http://www.wypr.org/M_Steiner.html
Maryland Morning: http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wypr/local-wypr-575668.mp3
This Week Community News: http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/032907/GermanVillage/News/032907-News-326001.html

UMBC Chess in the News
Coverage of the UMBC Chess team at the Final Four Collegiate Championships in Dallas appeared in: the Baltimore Sun, ESPN.com and the Catonsville Times. UMBC was defeated by rival team, the University of Texas at Dallas.
Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.chess26mar26,0,7161967.story?coll=bal-education-top
ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2812111
Catonsville Times: http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=351&NewsID=791920

March 23, 2007

Tom Schaller, Political Science, in the News
On March 14, Associate Professor of Political Science Tom Schaller’s Baltimore Sun editorial, “Young County Executive Hits the Ground Running in Howard,” profiled Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.schaller14mar14,1,4698219.story

Schaller appeared as a guest on Warren Olney's "To the Point" on March 9 to discuss the Democratic Presidential primaries.
http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/tp/tp070309the_democratic_presi

On March 8 in the New York Sun, Tom Schaller wrote “Bequeathing the Bush Base,” discussing the declining approval rating among President Bush’s strongest supporters, white southerners.
http://www.nysunpolitics.com/article/9

Bimal Sinha, Mathematics and Statistics, on WBAL-TV
Bimal Sinha, professor of statistics, was interviewed by WBAL-TV on March 7 to discuss the chances of winning the world-record $390 million jackpot in the Mega Millions Lotto. Sinha said that the chance of winning the jackpot was less than 1 in 22 billion.

Margarita Cardona, Office of Sponsored Programs, in Science Career.org
Margarita Cardona, senior grants and contracts manager in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), appeared in sciencecareers.org’s “Is Grants.gov in the FastLane?” on March 9. Cardona was mentioned in the article because OSP uses both Grants.gov, the U.S. government's central repository for grants, and the National Science Foundation’s FastLane system to apply for and obtain information on the grants issued by these two agencies. http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2007_03_09/caredit_a0700034/(parent)/68

UMBC Women’s Basketball in the News
Coverage of UMBC’s women’s basketball American East Conference championship victory and its historical journey to the NCAA Division I Tournament appeared in several local and national newspapers including the Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, Hartford Courant and ESPN.com. The women Retrievers faced five-time national champion Connecticut in the Tournament on March 18. The team’s Big Dance appearance marked the first time a UMBC women's or men's basketball team earned a bid to the NCAAs since UMBC athletics moved to Division I in 1986. For more information visit http://www.umbc.edu/bigdance.

Don Norris, MIPAR and Public Policy, in the Baltimore Sun
On March 12, the Baltimore Sun quoted Don Norris, director of MIPAR and professor of Public Policy, in “Cardin Tries to Curb Abuse of Voter Rights.” According to the article, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin is “co-sponsoring legislation that would make it a federal crime to make false claims about a politician's party affiliations or endorsements.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.cardin12mar12,1,3626599.story

Michael Summers, HHMI, in the New York Times
Michael Summers, investigator of UMBC’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute laboratory, was featured in the New York Time’s “Goal No. 1: Good Science. Goal No. 1: Diversity” on March 13 to discuss increasing minority representation in science.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/science/13conv.html_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=science&pagewanted=print

CPDM Study in the Baltimore Sun
In the Baltimore Sun’s March 15 “Mayor Uses Study to Seek Funds for Drug,” Baltimore Mayor Shelia Dixon referred to a Center for Health Program Development and Management study that concluded medical costs and hospitalization visits decreased for patients who received drug treatment.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.ci.treatment15mar15,1,3252969.story

Traxion Therapeutics, Inc., ACTiVATE Graduate, in Business Week
Kerrie Brady, CEO of Traxion Therapeutics, Inc., a graduate company of UMBC’s ACTiVATE program, appeared in a BusinessWeek.com feature on women who leave Corporate America to pursue their own ventures. http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/mar2007/sb20070315_768885.htm?chan=search

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/03/0315_women_nominees/index_01.htm

Neerchal, desJardins, in the Baltimore Sun
Children of two UMBC professors captured first and second place in Howard County’s Spelling Bee, according to the March 21 Baltimore Sun’s “Bee's Top Two Spellers Have Ties to UMBC.” Second-place winner Harsha Neerchal is the son of Nagaraj Neerchal, chair and professor of the math and statistics department. Professor of Computer Science Marie desJardins is the mother of winner Heather desJardins-Park.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-ho.beeside21mar21,0,2368740.story?coll=bal-local-howard

March 9, 2007

Tom Schaller, Political Science, in the News
Schaller’s latest Baltimore Sun column, “Giuliani Reminds GOP of the Glory Days - of 2002” discussed former New York city Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s surprising position as the front runner Republican Presidential nominee.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.schaller07mar07,1,5484655.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

An entry from Schaller’s book, Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South, is prominently featured in the “New Frontier,” which appeared in 5280, a life-style magazine about Denver. Schaller provided an explanation of how the Republicans have monopolized the South with electoral votes since 1968.
http://www.5280.com/issues/2007/0703/feature.php?pageID=724

On March 2 in the Politico, Schaller wrote “Do Clinton or Obama Have the Right of Way?” According to Schaller, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barak Obama, who are the leading Democratic presidential contenders, need to plan strategically a non-Southern win for the White House.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0207/2946.html

Andrew Sears, Information Systems, on WYPR
On March 8, Andrew Sears, chair and professor of the Department of Information Systems, appeared on WYPR’s “Digital Café” to discuss outsourcing within the IT industry and the misconceptions about many IT jobs moving offshore.
http://www.is.umbc.edu/news/sears_interview/WYPR/

UMBC’s Department of Theatre’s IN 10 Theatre Festival in Local News
“Women Take Over the Stage -- for 10 Minutes,” published in the Baltimore Sun on March 5, featured UMBC’s IN 10 Theatre Festival. A four-day event, the festival showcased the winners of the IN 10 National Competition, a contest for short plays that feature roles for women ages 16 to 30. Susan McCully, theatre instructor, and Krisha Lewis-Dixon, a senior theatre major, were quoted in the article.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.theater05mar05,0,1987991.story

On March 2, Susan McCully appeared on Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast on WYPR to discuss the Department of Theatre's "IN 10" New Play Festival. McCully conceived the idea for the festival and is its artistic director. She was interviewed for the program by Tom Hall, WYPR's arts and culture contributor.
http://www.wypr.org/MD_Morning070302.html

March 2, 2007

Tim Brennan, Public Policy and Economics, in Bloomberg.com
On Feb. 23, Tim Brennan, professor of public policy and economics, was quoted in Bloomberg.com’s “Lehman Swap Burns New Jersey Residents With Loss.” Brennan discussed the forward interest rate swap between Newark-based Public Service Electric and Gas Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=am3BVJNQmGPo

Christopher Corbett, English, in Baltimore Style Magazine
In “The Waistland” Christopher Corbett, acting chair of the Department of English and journalism instructor, used his recent visit to Lexington Market to explain why Cooking Light magazine should not have ranked the city of Baltimore as one of the top 20 American cities that eat light. This column appeared in Baltimore Style magazine’s March/April 2007 issue.
http://www.baltimorestyle.com/index.php/style/backpage/

Jason Loviglio, American Studies, on WYPR’s “Maryland Morning with Sheilah Cast”Jason Loviglio, assistant professor of American Studies, appeared on WYPR’s “Maryland Morning with Sheilah Cast” on Feb. 26 to discuss the low-power FM movement in Maryland and the United States.
http://www.wypr.org/MD_Morning.html

Tom Schaller, Public Policy, in the News
On March 2, Tom Schaller, associate professor of political science, will be a guest on the Tavis Smiley show, which runs on PBS at midnight and will rebroadcast on other dates.
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200703/20070302.html

Schaller appeared on NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Feb. 22 to discuss his book, Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7543081

In his latest Baltimore Sun column, “Despite Exceptions, New Congress is the Most Pro-choice Ever, Schaller explains that Congress is historically more pro-choice than it has ever been.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.schaller28feb28,0,3196616.story

A review of Whistling Past Dixie was published in the New York Review of Books (Volume 54, Number 4).
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19954

UMBC’s Department of Theatre’s IN 10 Theatre Festival in the Baltimore Sun
On March 1, Baltimore Sun critic J. Wynn Rousuck’s Theater column mentioned IN 10 Theatre Festival.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/stage/bal-to.theatcol01mar01,0,5301891.column?coll=bal-features-headlines

UMBC in the Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun mentioned UMBC in “Gore to Bring Eco-Friendly Message to UMBC” on Feb. 27. Former Vice President Al Gore will speak on UMBC’s campus on May 8 at 7 p.m. as part of the Maryland Forum, also hosted by the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.ar.gore27feb27,0,5028029.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

The Maryland Forum, hosted by UMBC, presents former Vice President Al Gore at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8. The series is presented in partnership with the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce, Inc. This event is now sold out.

Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States, is one of the world's most visible environmental activists. "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary film on his work to raise awareness about global climate change, recently won the Academy Award for best documentary feature. Gore is also organizing the global environmental benefit concert "Live Earth," scheduled for July 7.

All Maryland Forum lectures are held in the Retriever Activities Center. Doors to the RAC open at 6:30 p.m. and the lectures begin at 7 p.m. There will be limited parking on the upper deck of Lot 10.

UMBC community members who have purchased discount tickets must have their UMBC IDs available to show at the door. Backpacks, audio and video devices will not be permitted inside the RAC.

For more information about the Maryland Forum, visit www.themarylandforum.com.

A campus map and directions to UMBC are available online.

Previous Maryland Forum Events

Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Pulitzer-prizewinning journalist Bob Woodward

Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Ehud Barak, former prime minister of Israel

Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken

By Jack Prostko, Director, Faculty Development Center

Two recent initiatives have emphasized the importance of student writing in the UMBC curriculum. First, the increased attention given to assessing student learning outcomes that I discussed in my articles in September and October highlights the role writing can play in measuring student learning. And second, the Writing Intensive Course requirement that will now be part of undergraduate education has caused faculty and departments to re-examine existing courses to see if they fit—or can be made to fit—the criteria outlined for WI courses.

Some faculty are hesitant to consider developing their courses into ones that meet the criteria of ‘writing intensive’ even though they already include some writing in the class. Their doubts may be that they are not professionally trained to teach writing or that adding more writing will significantly increase the amount of time they will be required to spend correcting and commenting on student papers.

The goal of disciplinary writing courses, though, is to teach content through writing. Our first thought shouldn’t be that we will now endlessly be correcting grammar problems or copy-editing student work. In teaching content through writing, we first focus on ideas and arguments and evidence. If students have difficulty with basic English or grammar skills, these should be pointed out and students should be directed to find a tutor through the Learning Resources Center. We are indeed trained to recognize solid writing in our disciplines—writing that clearly and cogently states information or makes a case. These are the skills we are most interested in cultivating in our students as they take time, on their own, to brush up whatever basic skills are lagging.

Therefore, commenting on papers will focus principally on whether there was a clear argument, whether the structure was effective and whether the evidence supported the thesis. Such comments can be concise—a short list of what is working in a paper and what needs to be improved is far more effective as feedback than a paper covered with detailed comments, corrections, and edits. Research in the teaching of writing has shown that copy editing student work has little educational benefit—it’s not worth the time it takes. Many of our comments can be summarized by a prepared rubric that highlights specific areas (thesis, organization, language, sentence structure, evidence) and explanations of levels of achievement under each. To see examples of or to create your own rubrics, see http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Our goal in WI courses is to help students understand what constitutes good writing in our discipline, which may have more specific requirements for how an idea or argument is presented, including the structure and language appropriate for an acceptable piece of writing in biology or history, for example. As experts in a discipline, only we can provide the relevant models and feedback that directs students as they develop a range of writing strategies beyond what they may have learned in composition classes.

But whether we teach WI courses or not, if we use writing at all in our classes there are some principles that help our students learn the material better and help us provide useful feedback. Rather than assigning papers in the middle or end of a semester, and discovering too late that students need basic help, front load courses with short writing assignments. One- or two-page papers in the first weeks of the semester make students recognize that we are serious about their writing and that they should be prepared to take time for writing throughout the semester. It also allows us to direct students to tutorial help immediately.

Short assignments can be formal or informal but should include student reflection on the assignment itself—that is we should ask them to explain how they went about writing the piece. How did they start? What gave them difficulty? Did they revise at all? What helped or didn’t help in developing the argument or backing up their claims? Reflection on the strategies used to write helps students know that there are a whole variety of techniques for successfully producing writing and that when one isn’t working, they can try something else.

Assessment using writing samples throughout a semester, including reflective writing about how assignments are approached, can be best accomplished through having students gather a portfolio of their work. At the end of the semester students can be asked to write a short summary of what skills they feel they have improved and what they intend to work on in the future. And finally, if we create several courses in our majors that require students to do this, we will have a clear way of assessing students’ learning and writing over the whole of their UMBC careers.

Science, Math, Engineering Students and Alumni Win Prestigious Scholarships
Senior mechanical engineering major and Meyerhoff scholar Jason Reid of Columbia, Md. was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, which will fund tuition, fees and living expenses for his pursuit of a Ph.D. at one of the nation’s top universities. Reid is weighing offers of admission from MIT, Stanford, Northwestern and the University of California at Berkeley. Also awarded the NSF Fellowship were 2005 UMBC graduates Oni Mapp and Chad McCormick. Mapp, who earned a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology, is studying life sciences at the University of Chicago. McCormick, who received dual degrees – a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology and a B.A. in philosophy - is studying biophysics at Yale. Finally, Johns Hopkins University graduate Patricia Ordonez will use her NSF Fellowship to study pervasive computing in UMBC’s Graduate School.

In the 2007 Goldwater Scholarship national competition for top sophomore and juniors aspiring to research careers in math, science and engineering, two UMBC students received Honorable Mention recognition. They are: Philip Graff, an Honors College student with a dual major in physics and math, and Silpa Poola-Kella, a Meyerhoff scholar majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology.

For more information, contact Nancy L. Miller, prestigious fellowships advisor, at ext. 5-6865.

National Residence Hall Honorary Inductees
The following students and staff were inducted into the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) on March 27. NRHH is a leadership honorary that recognizes the contributions of resident student leaders. Only 1 percent of the resident student population is eligible, in UMBC’s case that means that NRHH can be no larger than 39 students. NRHH is active in the resident student community and provides service to the UMBC community and beyond.

Congratulations to: Nicholas Boss; Peter Cailloux; Natalie Close; Savanna Grotz; Jason Kisser; Katrina Leitkowski; Kelli McDonough; Grace Pak; Lauren Palmer; and Clifford Workman
Honorary Members: Sharon Jacobs and Ali Shahegh

March 23, 2007

Hrabowski, Hemmerly Named 2007 Influential Marylanders
President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III and Ellen Hemmerly, executive director of the UMBC Research Park Corporation and special assistant to the vice president of Institutional Advancement, were among 50 leaders chosen by the Daily Record as Influential Marylanders for 2007. The honorees will be recognized on April 25 at an event held in the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Margaret Nowaczyk, EHS, Named Arbutus Volunteer EMS of the Year
Junior Emergency Health Services major Margaret Nowaczyk was named Volunteer EMS of the Year by the American Legion in Arbutus. She has served with the Arbutus Volunteers for two years.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=805&NewsID=791962&CategoryID=5768&show=localnews&om=1

Anne Spence, Mechanical Engineering, Honored by FIRST LEGO League of Maryland
Anne Spence, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, received the Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award at the 2007 FIRST Chesapeake Regional, held March 15-17, 2007 at the United States Naval Academy.
http://www.umbc.edu/research/blog/2007/03/anne_spence_mechanical_enginee.html

Two techcenter@UMBC Companies Win GBC Bioscience Awards
Two techcenter@UMBC companies - Lentigen Corporation and Profectus Biosciences, Inc. - received Greater Baltimore Committee Bioscience Awards on March 14. Lentigen Corporation won the Best New Product or Process award and Profectus Biosciences, Inc. won the Best Academic/Industry Collaboration award.

Shira Kramer, president and founder of Sterilex Corporation, a former techcenter@UMBC business, won the Entrepreneurial Spirit award.

Details about the awards are online at http://www.gbc.org/news.aspx?id=422.

March 9, 2007

Mosh Pit! Selects Business Ideas from UMBC Students
A record number of 21 students/teams from UMBC submitted business ideas for the Greater Baltimore Tech Council’s Mosh Pit! competition. Eight of the students/teams were selected to compete at the next level of the competition:

Melissa Amor, senior, political science
Jocelyn Desmarais Goldblatt, senior, political science
Onkar Walavalkar, graduate student, computer science, and Amit Karandikar, graduate student, computer science
Sandor Dornbush, Ph.D. student, computer science, and Alark Joshi - Ph.D., computer science
Rad Balu, Ph.D. student, chemistry
Chiedozie Unachukwu, graduate student, information systems
Arthur Gould, senior, computer science, and Paul Oliver, junior, computer science
Wiktor Macura, senior, computer science

The Mosh Pit Finals will be held April 26. For more information, visit http://www.gbtechcouncil.org/events/mp/index.asp.

ACTiVATE Graduate Wins StartRight! Business Plan Competition
Kris Appel, a participant in last year's ACTiVATE program, won 1st place ($10K) in the StartRight! Business Plan Competition. Kris is the CEO of Newregen, a company she formed as a result of ACTiVATE.

Two More Retrievers Selected in MISL's Entry Draft
UMBC senior soccer players Kevin Mezzadra and David Feazell were both selected in the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Entry Draft, held on March 8 via a league conference call. Mezzadra was a first-round (territorial) selection of the Baltimore Blast, who had the seventh selection of the eight teams in the league. Feazell was a fifth-round selection of the Blast’s rival, the Milwaukee Wave.
http://www.umbcretrievers.com/sports/msoccer/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=3296

March 2, 2007

1. Levendusky Named America East Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Week
UMBC junior attack Ali Levendusky was named America East Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Week for the first week of the 2007 season, the conference announced Monday, Feb. 26.
http://www.umbcretrievers.com/sports/wlacrosse/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=3268

2. UMBC Wins 1st Place in Regional College Bowl Tournament; Several Students Will Compete in Table Tennis and Billiard National Championships
From: Charlie Fey, Vice President of Student Affairs
The UMBC College Bowl Team won the Regional College Bowl Tournament, which was held at West Chester University in West Chester, Penn. The team came in first place out of 16 other universities and will be invited to the National Championship at the University of Southern California in May. The team consisted of the following students: seniors Brian Chan and Michael Pollard and sophomores Bryan Wilkinson and Michael Fasulo. College Bowl is the longest running academic competition in the country. The UMBC College Bowl program was sponsored by The Commons, SEB and SGA. This is the first time that UMBC has won the Regional College Bowl Tournament. At the National Championships, UMBC will face 15 other universities across the country including the University of Illinois, University of Minnesota and the University of Southern California .

Nine UMBC students also participated in the Regional Billiards and Table Tennis tournament, held at the University of Maryland, College Park. Over 75 students from 10 universities participated in four different events. Fey congratulates the following students that received invitations to participate in the Table Tennis and Billiards National Championships: Phillip Golden - 2nd place Men's Table Tennis; Anna Yap - 3rd place Women's Table Tennis; and Lai Li - 3rd place Women's Billiards.

Get in on the action and cheer on UMBC’s women’s basketball team as it heads out for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The University will host a send-off for the team at noon Friday, March 16.

UPDATE, Friday March 16: Due to today's bad weather, the send-off celebration has been moved indoors to the Retriever Activities Center (RAC) lobby.

The Down and Dirty Dawg band, cheerleaders and UMBC dance team will help celebrate the team’s trip to the tourney. Charlie Brown, athletic director, will also give brief remarks. Seeded No. 16 in the Fresno Regional, the America East champion will take on top-seeded Connecticut in the first round at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, March 18 at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Conn. The game will be shown live on ESPN2.
For all the latest information and other team highlights, visit http://www.umbc.edu/bigdance/.

A group of 25 students, accompanied by Erin Hood, graduate coordinator for service and volunteerism, and Erin Hundley, coordinator for leadership and involvement, will travel to New Orleans as part of UMBC’s first Alternative Spring Break. Sponsored by the Office of Student Life, the students will help with the ongoing rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city more than two years ago.

The group, in conjunction with the non-profit organization Community Collaborations International, will spend six days in Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes rebuilding homes, planting trees and providing volunteer support to local social service agencies. The group will also participate in nightly reflections about its work and experiences.

Junior interdisciplinary studies major Amy Lynne Bers, who traveled to New Orleans one year ago while at Howard Community College, said the trip can be a hard experience for any participant.

“Mentally, sometimes, I just had to get away,” recalled Bers. “Gutting out a person’s home was physically strenuous for me but it was more difficult to know that I was actually tearing down a piece of someone’s life.”

Financial donations are needed to supplement the cost of the trip. The group will host Katrina Relief Bingo Nite on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Zone, located in The Commons. Prizes will include donations from businesses, movies, gift cards and more. Donations are also being accepted via http://www.firstgiving.com/umbckatrinarelief.

For more information, contact Erin Hood, graduate coordinator for service and volunteerism at hood2@umbc.edu or ext. 5-3457.

The UMBC student organization Music for World Peace (MWP) has spent several months organizing a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina victims, to be held Tuesday, March 27. Now, the group is depending on the UMBC and Baltimore communities to help MWP meet its goal to raise over $5,000 for families in need. Tickets are $10 for the UMBC community (available at The Commons Information Desk), $15 for the general public (online at Walther Productions) and $85+ for VIP seating, buffet and reception. All proceeds will benefit displaced families via the AmeriCorps’ ongoing Gulf Coast deployment fund.

The concert—to be held from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in the UMBC Recital Hall (Fine Arts Building, 1st Floor)—will feature UMBC’s Mama’s Boys A cappella group and the UMBC Gospel Choir, as well as seven-year-old music prodigy and comedian Marc Yu. Yu has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Local congressmen and senators have also been invited to attend.

“As students and members of a global community it is our obligation to remain informed of the needs of others,” said Benjamin Link, MWP president. “The media hype surrounding hurricane Katrina has died down but the need is still great. I am confident that the UMBC community will once again demonstrate its worth in the greatest way possible, by serving others.”

MWP is grateful for generous event support from UMBC’s Office of the Vice-President of Student Affairs, Chevy Chase Bank, Sodexho food services and the Washington Post.

For more information, please email katrinabenefit@umbc.edu or call 443-465-2327.