Joseph Gribbin, Erickson School, in the Baltimore Sun
An opinion column by Joseph Gribbin, an affiliate professor in the Erickson School, focused on the threats posed by the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges. The editorial promoted the Concord Coalition’s “Fiscal Wakeup Tour” that came to UMBC on Oct. 29. “As currently configured … landmark entitlement programs that have lifted us up as a people and that continue to provide economic security for older adults represent the most significant threat to our security,” Gribbin wrote. The commentary, “Time to Face Reality of Nation’s Crushing Liabilities,” ran on Oct. 28.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.socialsecurity28oct28,0,1138661.story
Freeman Hrabowski, UMBC President, in the News
A recent report by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shows that the state is falling behind in producing graduates with degrees in science and technology. Part of the problem is the “big-lecture format” in certain college science classes, an issue UMBC successfully addressed by incorporating group work into the teaching structure. “Unfortunately, this lecture and sitting quietly approach is just not effective with many students,” UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski told the San Antonio Express-News. The article, “Students Mostly Not Ready for Math, Science College Courses,” appeared on Oct. 31.
www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/stories/MYSA103007.01A.SCIENCESHORTAGE.346bc07.html
A divided Maryland State Board of Education voted on Oct. 31 to continue requiring high school students to pass exit exams in order to graduate, starting in 2009. In testimony before the board, President Hrabowski said, “This is not about setting the bar where we see it in China. This is at the basic level.” The Associated Press story on the hearing, “State Keeps Tests as Graduation Requirement,” appeared in Maryland daily newspapers such as the Salisbury Daily Times and Baltimore Examiner on Nov. 1.
www.dailytimesonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071101/NEWS01/71101004/1002
Donald Norris, Public Policy, in the News
It is legal for lawmakers to hold fundraisers during special sessions of the legislature, though Maryland bans state officials from holding fundraisers during the formal 90-day session that begins each January. A ban on fundraising during a special session is “less of an issue because special sessions tend to be very narrow in focus and short in duration,” Donald Norris, professor of public policy, told the Baltimore Sun. Norris added that, “in a perfect world,” it likely would be best if no fundraising were allowed during any General Assembly session. The article, “Raising Money Raises Doubts,” ran on Oct. 29.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.md.fundraisers29oct29,0,2750588.story?page=1
Norris told the Washington Post that the special legislative budget session offers Gov. Martin O’Malley the prospect of both political gain and risk. “If he succeeds, he solves a very big problem in state government which no one has been willing to touch for years,” Norris said. “If he is not able to get this through, he loses face and he loses a lot of political capital.” The story, “Session Has High Stakes for O’Malley,” ran on Oct. 29.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/28/AR2007102801525.html
Tom Schaller, Political Science, in Mother Jones Magazine
Mother Jones magazine recognized associate professor of political science Tom Schaller’s research on how the Democrats can capitalize on new demographic trends. “The new strategy, as scholar Thomas Schaller has noted, is essentially the long-overdue progressive response to the GOP’s Southern Strategy, which ripped the South from Democratic control and was critical to the right’s recent ascendancy,” the publication noted. The article, “The 50-Year Strategy: A New Progressive Era (No, Really!),” appeared in the November/December 2007 issue.
www.motherjones.org/news/feature/2007/11/the-50-year-strategy.html
