Making the Most of Summer

 

Employers are more interested than ever in hiring UMBC talent: this year, the Shriver Center coordinated and secured nearly 800 internship and co-op placements in over 360 organizations, an increase of over 20 percent in a two-year period, said Christine Routzahn, the Center’s associate director of professional practice.

These programs help students gain professional skills and insight into a specific industry and establish a network of contacts.

This summer, 210 UMBC students participated in internships or co-ops through the Shriver Center. In their own words, here are just a few of the students who made the most of their summer:

Henrietta Akintoye, biochemistry, Meyerhoff Scholar

Internship: Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Collegeville, Pennsylvania

“Wyeth is truly amazing! I am working on a project related to osteoporosis in the Women’s Health Research Institute. In addition to learning a variety of new skills, I am also gaining a fresh perspective and appreciation for research. Every time a drug gets placed on the market, I can see firsthand how research provides for many, new and innovative health solutions.

“I am also learning a great deal outside of the laboratory scene. I have been able to connect with many Wyeth employees, hear of how they have worked to succeed in the pharmaceutical industry, and also receive pertinent advice as to how I can reach and fulfill my personal goals.”

Jonathan Bratt and Eleanor Pittinger, emergency health services

Internship: London Ambulance Service (LAS), London, England

Bratt and Pittinger worked with the LAS about a month before the London bombings. “We were able to study and experience first-hand the deployment of LAS’ Emergency Medical Services System throughout London,” said Bratt. “We were also given the rare opportunity to ride with London’s Multi-Agency Initial Assessment Team (MAIAT), a specialized team of firefighters, paramedics and police officers that have been trained—around the world—in all types of disaster, WMD and rescue situations. It was an experience like no other, and was definitely one of the most interesting aspects of our trip.

“When we graduate, we will have an excellent resource in our toolbox: the ability to describe and possibly implement another way of organizing emergency services in the U.S,” Bratt added.

“Jon and I have a lot to take back to UMBC and to our respective emergency organizations,” said Pittinger. “The similarities between patients and providers in the U.S. and the U.K. are so hard to ignore that it makes sense for our countries to exchange ideas, theories and methods.”

Cora Morrison, political science, and Edward Warner, M.A. program in intercultural communication

Internship: Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Agriculture Land Preservation Foundation, Annapolis, Maryland

“As a political science major, working with a government agency gives me a valuable experience for future employment,” said Morrison. “I learned several new skills, including cartography and oracle databases, which may also prove helpful. I know that this experience has prepared me for future opportunities in my career and even graduate school.”

“My future academic plans are to attend law school,” said Warner. “In addition, my professional goal is to use my foreign language skills and understanding of intercultural and legal issues to help the needy. In my summer internship I’ve seen how statutes, leadership and security are all connected….I’ve learned the importance of the agricultural industry for societal, political and economic success.”

(8/15/05)

 

Researching a Cure for Alzheimer’s

 

In UMBC’s recently renovated Chemistry Building, Jesse Karr, a chemistry and biochemistry Ph.D. student, is standing over a brand-new electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer, one of the more recent research acquisitions at UMBC and the ‘pride and joy’ of his mentor, Assistant Professor Veronika A. Szalai.

Karr is researching copper-metal ions and the influence they have on the neurodegenerative factor of Alzheimer’s disease. Copper plays a more important role in our bodies than most people realize, he said.

“Copper is actually biologically relevant; we all have a lot more copper in our bodies then most people know,” he says. “It has been implicated in A-beta fibril formation, the possible neurotoxic species and hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. If you can figure out how copper is binding to these fibrils in an AD patient, you can hopefully figure out a way to take the copper out. In other words, if you can prevent copper from binding, you can potentially stop Alzheimer’s disease.”

Karr said he feels drawn to the study of chemistry, a bond that only grows stronger as his research at UMBC progresses. “People ask me, ‘Why are you involved in chemistry?’ And I realize that I’ve met really motivating, inspirational people in chemistry … it started in high school chemistry all the way up to my current advisor, Dr. Szalai. I think she’s a great mentor.”

Originally from New York, Karr received a B.S. in Chemistry from Plattsburgh State, one of the SUNY schools in the New York State University System. While he was hesitant to move, the outstanding faculty and the research opportunities at UMBC won him over.

“I did online searches for graduate schools and UMBC just kept coming up, so I started asking questions about it … I just kept looking into it and decided it was the best fit for me,” he says. “The equipment seemed a lot more advanced, the faculty was nice, I just got an overall better impression from UMBC.”

(7/25/05)

 

 

Inside the New York Times

Last semester, UMBC Retriever Weekly editors were invited to go “Inside the New York Times” to learn about day-to-day operations and to develop their journalistic skills. Joe Howley and Doug Miller, who recently became Retriever editor-in-chief and news editor, respectively, attended the Times’ annual symposium along with editors from over two dozen student newspapers across the country.

Students met with Times’ managing editors and correspondents to discuss how they cover the news and make decisions about editorial content, participated in a workshop on the editing process and exchanged ideas with other student editors.

“To be invited to attend the symposium was an honor,” said Howley. “And to be able to get insight into how such a major organization operates was invaluable.”

Miller added that he and Howley will apply some of that insight to the Retriever. “Visiting the Times was an informative and inspirational opportunity that will help us in our goal to continue improving our product and address the needs of the campus with increasing accuracy and efficiency,” said Miller.

“Joe and Doug have both worked very hard to improve the Retriever,” said Christopher Corbett, Retriever Weekly faculty advisor and English faculty member. “Going to the New York Times conference gave them exposure to serious journalism. They also got to meet and hear from their contemporaries at college and university newspapers—large and small—all over the U.S. We hope to do this again next year.”

Both Howley and Miller credit Corbett for helping Retriever editors and writers get real-world exposure at events like “Inside the Times” and at local and regional papers.

“Christopher Corbett is an invaluable asset to our paper because of his many years of experience working for the Associated Press and other large news organizations,” said Miller. “Thanks in large part to his guidance, members of our staff have been offered exciting internships at the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun and Patuxent Publishing, among other news organizations. A good percentage of the Retriever’s staff gain employment with local papers immediately after graduation.”

(7/5/05)

 

 

Ph.D. Students Analyze Baltimore’s Inner Suburbs

“In scholarly literature, there is a lot of interest about inner suburbs, those older suburban communities near the central city. We found that these areas suffer from increasing poverty and declining incomes. Therefore, we set off to better understand these urban dynamics,” said Bernadette Hanlon, a public policy Ph.D. candidate at UMBC and one of two authors of “The State of the Inner Suburbs,” an analysis of the urban decline surrounding Baltimore.

“There is room for public policy to intervene, to stop this decline, to process and revitalize the suburban communities,” said co-author Thomas J. Vicino, public policy Ph.D. candidate. “We’re at a crossroads, where the suburbs haven’t declined as far as old Baltimore, and there is hope.”

Both Hanlon and Vicino are researchers at UMBC’s Center for Urban and Environmental Research and Education (CUERE). After a year of compiling massive amounts of data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Vicino and Hanlon developed a new system for classifying the suburbs that ring Baltimore’s beltway.

“Because the inner suburbs are juxtaposed by outer suburbs, there’s a lot of talk in Maryland of ‘smart growth,’ and where to direct new development,” said Vicino.

“The State of the Inner Suburbs” is currently under consideration for publication in the Journal of Urban Affairs. The data was presented at the national Urban Affairs Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and to a group of state legislators, politicians and other academics. It was also a front page story in the Baltimore Sun.

The report is potentially useful to legislators, from the migration of work and the composition of the work force to the deflation of property values. “I’d like to see the community and policy makers look to our research as a way to target investment in the communities,” said Vicino, while Hanlon added, “We’ve done analysis on Baltimore, and we hope to continue our research in a comparative context in other urban areas throughout the country.”

“The State of the Inner Suburbs” is available for download at: www.umbc.edu/cuere/inner_ring.

(6/20/05)

 

A Global Action Plan for Women in IT

 

For the first time, technology leaders from 22 countries and six continents will gather to explore concrete ways in which access by girls and women to technology can be increased in order to effect economic, social and political change. The First International Symposium on Women and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will convene June 12-14 in downtown Baltimore. Participants from developing and developed countries will include leaders from business, government and non-government agencies and educational institutions.

The symposium was organized and is co-hosted by UMBC’s Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT), the World Trade Center Institute, the World Bank and Women in Global Science and Technology; it is held in cooperation with the ACM (Association of Computer Machinery)

Through the exchange of ideas and experiences, the symposium’s organizers expect to create an action agenda to significantly increase the international participation of girls and women in ICT–including leadership of women in technology business–in the next five years.

“This is an important time for women and technology,” said Claudia Morrell, CWIT’s executive director. “ICTs for girls and women will either become a new tool for increased access to education, economics, and social equity or it will create a new form of discrimination. In either case, the ramifications for all of us are vast. The symposium will address topics that we know need exploring, and we have sought out the world’s leading authorities to discuss current hurdles and possible solutions.”

Among the speakers will be authorities on ICT and the global economy, including widely published authors Jo Sanders, Sue Rosser and Sophia Huyer, as well as corporate leaders from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Maryland’s lieutenant governor, Michael Steele, will address participants at an opening reception. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission for Women, Ellen Sauerbrey, honorary chair, and UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski will be keynote speakers.

More information about the symposium is available online.

(6/6/05)

 

Celebrating the Class of 2005

 

This year, UMBC will award degrees to 1200 undergraduates and more than 200 graduate students in the arts and sciences, engineering and social work.

UMBC’s Class of 2005 includes students headed to prestigious graduate programs at Brown University, Cornell University, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics, Stanford University, University of Arizona, University of Cambridge and the University of Westminster (England).

Other students have secured jobs with a wide spectrum of corporations, nonprofits, government agencies and universities, including AmeriCorps, the Department of Defense, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, MIT, the PeaceCorps, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Proctor & Gamble and T. Rowe Price. Many will teach at public schools across Maryland.

Click here to read stories from the Class of 2005.

(5/25/05)

 

Creating Interactive Memories

 

Associate Professor of Visual Arts Lisa Moren was recently recognized for her new media art—including installations, videos, books and interactive multi-media forms—with a 2005-06 Fulbright Scholar award. Moren will lecture at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague, one of the oldest film schools in Europe.

At FAMU, Moren will teach two classes based on DIMINUENTS, which is one project in her three-part series examining memory, place and narrative in former Soviet republics. One class of film students will use new technologies to make their own interactive films, while another will focus on metaphor to create a collaborative film based on their own memories and memories of families and friends.

Moren was previously an artist-in-residence in several former Soviet countries. She presents lectures and exhibits her works nationally and internationally, including an anticipated two-person exhibition at the Frants Gallery in SoHo, New York City. A multiple-year recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council award, Moren has published her work in Performance Research and a forthcoming issue of Visible Language.

In 2003, Moren curated and wrote the exhibition catalog for “Intermedia: the Dick Higgins Collection” at UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery. She received a National Endowment for the Arts award for her research on Higgins and the fluxus art movement. Moren also founded concretestream.umbc.edu, an international netcast of artists’ works, discussions and experimental live exchanges on the Internet. The site has featured live and curated events in collaboration with artists and organizations from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia.

(5/17/05)

 

 

Shared Values Set in Stone

 

UMBC honors Walter Sondheim, Jr., a pivotal leader of school desegregation and economic revitalization in Baltimore, for his achievements in community service, social justice and diversity on May 11 with the dedication of the University’s first named academic building, Janet and Walter Sondheim Hall, and an accompanying sculpture.

The event caps off a successful $6 million campaign to endow the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program at UMBC and rename the former Social Sciences building in honor of Sondheim and his late wife, Janet.

Sondheim is perhaps best known for leading the desegregation of Baltimore City Public Schools as chair of the City School Board and for guiding the “Baltimore Renaissance” of downtown and the Inner Harbor in the 1970s and 1980s as chairman of Charles Center-Inner Harbor Management, Inc. (View an online documentary on Sondheim’s career.)

“Walter Sondheim embodies the values that the UMBC community treasures most,” said UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. “He is a visionary leader who cares deeply about children, families and education in Baltimore. The statue and building we dedicate in his honor will stand for a long time. But a more fitting and lasting tribute will be the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars who bear his name as they serve the public and make a difference to generations to come.”

Founded in 1999, UMBC’s Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, directed by Roy Meyers, professor of political science, supports talented undergraduate students who want to become effective leaders in government, non-profits , corporations and the community. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining service learning, internships and intensive advising/mentoring, over 40 Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars have graduated from the program or are currently receiving training for careers in law, social work, public administration, business, education, environmental policy, politics and other fields.

While Sondheim has received many honors over his career, the UMBC hall is the first entire structure named in his honor and the statue, sculpted from cast bronze by Maryland artist Antonio Tobias Mendez, is the first life-size rendition. Three granite benches for public seating anchoring the bluestone plaza outside the renamed building are inscribed with quotes from Sondheim reflecting his insights and values. Once unveiled, a life-sized likeness of Sondheim stands and invites the viewer to sit on a bench and take part in the community, symbolizing his civic spirit and humble generosity.

More information on the May 11 Sondheim Hall and statue dedication is available online.

(5/9/05)

 

Writing a Biography of “No Place”

 

Assistant Professor of History Kate Brown recently received two significant awards for A Biography of No Place: From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet Heartland (Harvard University Press, 2004). The book received the American Historical Association’s prestigious George Louis Beer Prize, given for outstanding historical writing on any phase of European international history since 1895. She previously received the Heldt Prize awarded by the Association for Women in Slavic Studies.

“Kate Brown is already an extraordinarily accomplished scholar, one of the rare historians to win one of the profession’s major prizes so early in a career,” said John Jeffries, professor and chair of the history department. “She also deserves recognition as an innovative teacher who is committed to enhancing student engagement and learning in her classes.”

A Biography of No Place is a travelogue, an unusual genre for a study of archival history. “I wrote this history as a travelogue because it is about marginalized people who did not leave a mark in archives, and so the historian must go in search of the traces they left behind,” said Brown.

In her book Brown describes her travels throughout the borderland between Russia and Poland, where people later identified as Poles, Germans, Jews, Ukrainians and Russians lived side by side in 1925. Over the next three decades, these cultures were homogenized out of existence, the result of Soviet and Nazi rule. By the 1950’s, this “no place” emerged as an ethnically pure Ukrainian heartland, because the diversity that defined the region was destroyed. Combined with ethnography and research in recently opened archives, her experiences and oral interviews provide a poignant story of the annihilation of a rich, culturally complex borderland.

“If we widen the scope of history to include people at the margins of society, we can see the destruction that lies in the wake of progress,” said Brown. “The deportees are some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met in my life. They are amazed that someone cared about their stories, but they’re not bitter; despite deportation and a life in exile, they carry on.”

(5/2/05)

 

Supporting Undergraduate Research

 

UMBC’s emphasis on undergraduate research is one of its most distinctive strengths. Opportunities to conduct independent research—both on and off campus—are supported with grant awards and faculty support, so that research can be a part of any undergraduate’s learning experience. Each year, the UMBC community celebrates the scholarly and creative accomplishments of its undergraduates at Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD). On Wednesday, April 27, approximately 60 students will present their work to the campus community and the general public. (Events will be held on the 7th Floor of the Albin O. Kuhn Library.)

Founded in 1997 by the Office of the Provost, URCAD features oral presentations and poster sessions, as well as artistic exhibits and performances. Students can also apply for Undergraduate Research Awards (URA) to fund their research; 28 such scholars received 2004-05 URA awards and are among this year’s URCAD participants. Four students will go on to present their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

“The importance of undergraduate research is re-enforced each year at this time,” said Provost Arthur Johnson, “as I hear about URCAD participants and Provost Undergraduate Research Award winners receiving their acceptances into graduate school or winning their first job, due in large part to their experiences and success with undergraduate research. This is another UMBC opportunity that offers students a learning experience with intrinsic as well as practical value.”

For most UMBC undergraduates, research experience—and support from both the Provost’s Office and their academic departments—is a central part of their education, and begins long before they apply to present at URCAD. What’s more, the depth of the experience prepares them for graduate school and professional careers.

Senior Aaron Ralby, English/modern languages and linguistics, whose research on a poem by W.B. Yeats initially began as a project for the English Honors Program, said, “My undergraduate thesis has not only taught me how to write a longer scholarly work, but has also prepared me to go into graduate school with confidence. Next year, when I work toward a master’s in philosophy at Cambridge University, I will have to submit a thesis of approximately the same length as the one I am writing now. I know that my research has given me the training to succeed in graduate school.”

URA recipient and visual arts major Cindy Claros, who will also present her research on contemporary Mexican art at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, said that receiving financial support from the Provost’s Office provided important travel resources. “The URA gave me the opportunity to visit Mexico last summer. Part of my research included interviews with Mexican artists, and during the ten days I was there, I was able to meet with six of them residing in Mexico City. The award helped me a great deal by taking away the major concern of finances and allowing me to focus on my research,” said Claros.

Undergraduates also appreciate the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom, and work with professors who are experts in their fields. History major Patrick Arnold, who will present his comparison of political cultures and elections in New Hampshire and Vermont at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, said, “My research experience has allowed me the opportunity to apply many of the skills and values taught in the classroom. It helped me to hone analytical and interpretive skills. In addition, my mentor, Professor and Chair of History John Jeffries, provided constructive criticism and endless encouragement.”

Kenneth Gibbs, biochemistry major, agrees. “My research experience has allowed me to apply what I learn in the classroom and develop my critical thinking skills. Professor of Biological Sciences Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg has been a great mentor during my project; she advised me about graduate schools and allowed me to travel to scientific conferences.” Gibbs, who will attend the Ph.D. in immunology program at Stanford in the fall, said his research helped him decide what area to focus on after graduating from UMBC.

Like Gibbs, Elena Spieker, a psychology major, and Stefanie Watson, a music major, said their experiences confirmed their research interests. “I had positive experiences with my research at UMBC, thanks in large part to my advisor, Professor of Psychology Zoe Warwick. Her knowledge in the areas of taste and satiety reinforces my desire to try to discover new connections between food and the effects on satiety.”

Watson, who is studying collaborative piano, said, “Being encouraged to conduct research as an undergraduate has been a very important part of my education, largely because this is an area I intend to pursue in the future. Discovering more about it now has helped me to be sure that I do want to continue.”

For many UMBC undergraduates, their research experiences lead to opportunities to present at professional conferences. On May 1, interdisciplinary studies major Laura Jones will travel to Prague to present her research on Czech and Slovak republics at an international conference on “Redefining Europe.” Jones said UMBC’s study abroad program played an important role in her research success. “My research made use of both Czech and Russian language skills I learned at UMBC and during study abroad—I would not have been able to do this project without them.”

URCAD will be held on Wednesday, April 27 on the 7th Floor of the Albin O. Kuhn Library. The complete schedule is available online.

On Thursday, April 28, the Graduate Student Associations at UMBC and the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) will host the 2005 Graduate Research Conference at the UMB campus.

(4/21/05)