One of the oddest and most unexpected phenomenons has befallen the United States in the past few weeks: killer clowns. Even just mentioning these usually innocent entertainers is enough to strike fear into the hearts of a good chunk of the population. With the influx of deliberately creepy clowns in our streets and neighborhoods, that fear has further skyrocketed.

One of the culprits for the promotion of this phobia is Stephen King’s novel and film adaptation, “It.” However, the fear of these pale-faced and colorful entertainers goes beyond a single movie. From serial killer John Wayne Gacy (the original “Killer Clown”) to regular circus clowns, coulrophobia has became a creepily prevalent phobia.

While most clowns are of the non-dangerous variety, there have been a crop of intentionally creepily dressed clowns lurking at night in generally low-populated areas intending to scare or even attack their victims.

Although, it seems that most these clowns give chase when spotted without the intention to harm, some are described as violent and dangerous. One of the most disturbing reports came out of South Carolina where clowns have been attempting to lure children into the woods. As a result, these incidents have ignited widespread panic across the country.

Due to the growing fear towards clowns, more seem to be popping up for the sake of trying to scare people for Halloween jokes. This is not only dangerous for the victims, but also for those irresponsibly dressed-up clowns.

With more and more news stories of genuinely violent clowns emerging, everyone seems to be more weary. Unfortunately, a UK boy required stitches after an encounter with a clown. Many people are ready and willing to make the first attack on even non-threatening clowns.

The current climate of apprehension surrounding clowns is bound to create irresponsible behavior and anger. One clown sighting at Penn State University caused mass hysteria as nearly 6,000 students formed a mob with the intention of finding the clown and putting an end to his reign of terror in the area. Moreover, there were reports of this specific clown trying to lure children.

This is just one of many reports of people intentionally looking for and “hunting” the clowns. However, this is an expected development. When a population feels threatened and afraid by an anonymous group of people with the intention to scare or even harm, there will be an eventual backlash against the antagonistic group.

So, here is a key piece of advice: no matter what, do not dress up as a clown this year for Halloween or at least until the clown problem subsides. Moreover, do not dress up as a joke. You are putting yourself and others in harm’s way. This clown craze is not worth your safety and the safety of others.

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When I was little, I used to draw maps of my neighborhood. Once I was done with my neighborhood, I’d move onto creating maps for make believe neighborhoods including everything I thought a community should have – homes, trees, a playground and hospital, a library.

When the Critical Social Justice planning team picked the theme of Home this year, just a few short weeks later, the City Paper published its “Maps” issue. The front cover immediately caught my attention and took me back to my childhood of my own map making days.

As our intro blog post to this year’s theme states: “In honor of UMBC’s 50th Anniversary, this year’s CSJ theme of Home recognizes UMBC as a home to many of us.  As we celebrate and contemplate UMBC as a home for learning, activism, and social change, we embrace the opportunity to invest ourselves in creating meaningful change here on campus in addition to taking our newly gained insights and knowledge with us back home, wherever that may be.” With this in mind, as we read through the City Paper maps issue, we wondered what it would be like to create our own maps of UMBC.

Since the fall semester began, the Women’s Center Advisory Board and student staff have all made their own campus maps. This week all of the Women’s Center discussion groups will also be creating their campus maps. When creating our maps, we asked each person to consider specific prompts such as: What is your favorite place on campus? Where can you can find others in your community or get your needs met? What is something you want to change? 

It’s been fascinating to see the ways in which home has shown up in each of our maps and the ways in which challenges and complexities of home present themselves as well. Each person’s map tells a different story about who they are and what their experience is like at UMBC. It had allowed for us to have conversations of belonging and mattering, discussions of accessibility, environmental justice, and activism, as well as reflections on ways to bridge our home at UMBC with our other homes to include Baltimore.

What would your campus map look like?

Stop by Main Street this Wednesday, October 19th from 11:30-1:30pm to create your UMBC map and pick up a Critical Social Justice: Home events calendar.

Campus maps will be displayed at the “Who Gets a Home on College” CSJ event on Thursday, October 27th which will take place on Main Street from 11:30-1:30pm.

We will be hosting our annual graduate writing seminar, sponsored by GSA and PROMISE AGEP! Our guest speakers will discuss writing topics for professional development. Susan Hindle, Assistant Director of Internships and Employment at the Career Center, will be talking about writing to acquire employment – personal statements, cover letters, resume. Susan will also likely touch on other resources available through the career center. Dr. Kevin Omland, Professor in the Biological Sciences Department, will discuss about writing for publications:  how to choose journals to submit to, how to evaluate those journals to curtail one’s own writing, how to improve one’s chances at finally acquiring publication. Please come to listen to seminars on writing for professional development! Refreshments will be served.

Event Details:

Event: Graduate Student Writing for Professional Development

Date: November 16, 2016

Time: 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Location: UMBC Campus, Performing Arts, Room 214

Agenda:

4:30 – 4:45                             Arrivals & Dinner Service

 4:45 – 5:00                             Susan Hindle

 5:00 – 5:15                             Dr. Kevin Omland

5:15 – 5:30                             TBA

 5:30 – 6:00                             Panel Q&A

Registration: 

Members of the UMBC Community:

Please RSVP at http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/44827

Members outside the UMBC Community:

Please RSVP by writing in the comments section below of your interest in attending the seminar.