With just three weeks to go before Election Day, UMBC faculty have been in the news discussing the state of the presidential campaign.

Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor of American studies, was a guest on The Baltimore Sun‘s “Roughly Speaking” Podcast with Dan Rodricks to analyze the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. She joined other local political analysts in a discussion that covered a range of issues, including the candidates’ appeals to undecided voters.

“To me, at this point in time three weeks out of an election, I do not believe NPR’s most recent discussion about there still being about 25 percent of American voters who are undecided,” Moffitt said. “These two candidates are so polarizing that there is no gray area.”

Moffitt explained that compared to prior presidential elections, she thinks that partisan politics are playing a significant role in this year’s election.

“This is not Mitt Romney and Barack Obama where you can find something of a commonality or connection with either of those candidates. These are clear candidates that either you like or you do not like.”

In other news, in an October 11 article published in The Week, Thomas Schaller, professor and chair of political science, discussed the relationship between Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress and how it could produce a “roll-off” effect in the election where people vote for president but do not vote for other offices down the ballot.

Schaller told The Week that in this year’s election, it “raises the prospect that some of these Trump voters will show up on election day, vote Trump, and spite some or all downballot Republican candidates by skipping these contests. This would magnify the normal roll-off effect,” he said. At the same time, “a significant number of reliable Republican voters may skip the presidential [ballot] but vote for some or all of the remaining races.” The result could be “lost votes for Trump at the presidential level and lost votes at the sub-presidential level for all other Republicans. That is the disaster scenario for the GOP.”

For complete coverage, see below.

Roughly Speaking podcast: American Agony, the Trump-Clinton town hall debate (The Baltimore Sun’s Roughly Speaking Podcast with Dan Rodricks)
Welcome to the GOP meltdown (The Week) 

Top image: Thomas Schaller presents at GRIT-X during UMBC’s 50th anniversary celebration. Photo by Jim Burger. 

UMBC recently had a screening of Afro-Mexican rapper, poet, and director Bocafloja’s documentary, “Nana Dijo.” The documentary, which used first person narratives to examine the African diaspora and subsequent anti-blackness in the Americas, probed many thought-provoking issues surrounding cultural heritage in the United States.

One of the most prevalent issues presented in the documentary was the idea that a person can only truly belong to one culture. For example, an Afro-Mexican women described that when she was a young adult, she was often told she was “too black” to hang out with the Mexican circles and “too Mexican” to be affiliated with the black social circles.

When looking at the immense diversity of UMBC, a general pattern can be discerned: many people tend to stick with their own cultural or ethnic groups when finding friends. Alida Hartwell, a freshman bioinformatics major, said she often sees “one person of a different race in a group where everyone else is the same race.”

Although there is intercultural social contact at UMBC, much work has yet to be done in order to make the university a true mixing pot. As of now, sometimes UMBC is simply separated clusters of different cultural groups.

Scores of UMBC students have multicultural backgrounds, with about 56 percent reporting themselves as non-white. It is imperative that the university finds a way to challenge the notion that a person can only identify and primarily associate with one culture.

Fikir Ejigineh, a freshman biology major and member of the Ethiopian-Eritrean Student Association, described her experiences with this issue in the context of her organization. She said that, “Although EESA is predominantly made up of students of Ethiopian and Eritrean heritage, anyone can come to the club’s meeting to learn about the cultures of the two nations.”

She also noted that despite the fact that people who are not Ethiopian or Eritrean may feel like they are not welcome at the organization’s meetings, EESA welcomes the opportunity to educate people about the many political problems currently plaguing the nation.

UMBC should make a concerted effort to promote more intercultural dialogue between its students. This could come in the form of more events such as the Pangea Cultural Showcase which took place on Sept. 9.

The Pangea event, which included EESA and other cultural clubs, fraternities and sororities, attempted to showcase the many student organizations’ cultural traditions and bring them all together.

The many cultures represented at UMBC deserve to be recognized and celebrated in an inclusive and informative way. For this to happen, all students at the university will have to take the time to learn about one another’s heritages in a respectful and accepting way.

UMBC prides itself on diversity, but its efforts still fall short of a truly intercultural community. The thousands of diverse students and their organizations need to actively work with the university in order to break the ice that separates all of our beautiful cultures.

The post Better intercultural dialogue needed at UMBC appeared first on The Retriever.

We’re in need of 2-3 volunteers to help out with our Terrestrial Ecology Lab next week. The volunteers will be helping to transplant mangrove seedlings, as part of a project to understand how coastal habitats are changing in response to climate change. We’ll need 2 days of volunteers (Monday [10/17]  and Tuesday [10/18]). There are morning (8am-12pm) and afternoon (1pm-4pm) sessions available. 

Please let Maria Sharova (SharovaM@si.edu) know if you have any additional questions!

**This is not a UMBC Serves Event

Good political knowledge can take you places you never believed possible. Just think of it: walking up on a stage filled with bright lights, waving at thousands of supporters, ready to deliver a major address to the people of the nation.

Ok, so while you may not achieve this, having a decent understanding of our political system as well as the politicians that inhabit it is essential. Some may even argue that it is our duty as American citizens, that we shouldn’t take our freedoms and our right to elect government officials for granted.

UMBC’s administration doesn’t typically delve into the realm of politics or political awareness, especially in relation to its students. So, what exactly are students themselves doing to spread political awareness and inform the young adults attending UMBC?

To find out, The Retriever spoke to Evan Leiter-Mason, President of UMBC’s College Democrats, and James Byrne, chair of UMBC’s College Republicans.

College Democrats has had a rather active role in promoting political awareness of campus, inviting speakers to discuss various important issues including but not limited to environmental protection and the abortion debate in addition to starting their own radio show on WMBC, which airs on Thursdays from 7-7:50 PM.

While Leiter-Mason, a senior political science and economics major, says that college “tends to make people more politically informed and engaged,” he believes that UMBC as an institution could be doing more to foster that growth. “[UMBC] could do a better job of proactively encouraging students to engage in the issues and the election itself, by holding more political discussions, lectures and events,” he said.

To that end, Leiter-Mason also urges that UMBC should close for election day, calling this decision a “no-brainer.”

In regards to why the university appears hesitant to promote political awareness, Leiter-Mason suggested that it’s all about image. “Universities in general are hesitant to insert themselves into the election process,” he said, “Because there’s a perception that universities are liberal havens and will act in the interests of liberal politicians.”

UMBC’s College Republicans have gotten involved with the spread of political awareness in similar ways, just on the other end of the political spectrum.

In regards to UMBC’s role in political awareness, Byrne, a senior biology major, shares the sentiment, similar to Leiter-Mason, that UMBC hasn’t done much. However, Byrne feels that it isn’t “a University’s main role to inform students on Politics.” The issue, said Byrne, is not that information is hard to find. “The main issue is that most people, especially our age, do not care,” he said.

So how can students get informed? Leiter-Mason encourages students to “find news sources that they like and trust to help them stay informed” from writers they “enjoy reading.” Byrne feels that a good way for students to develop an interest and understanding about our political system is to join some of the various political organizations on campus, such as College Republicans, College Democrats, or Young Americans for Liberty (YAL).

However a student chooses to learn, it’s extremely crucial for the future of our country that students and all Americans get involved in the voting process and learn how it works. It’s never too late to learn, and plenty of resources exist to get educated on American politics.

The post Pushing for political awareness appeared first on The Retriever.

Shared Services Centers (SSC) Town Hall Meeting, November 1, 2016

10-11 a.m. – UC312

Join us at our next Town Hall to discuss significant progress on BPI and SSCs updates.  

BPI – Multiple Demos on new Workflows and DocuSign! BPI will be the focus of this meeting.

Phase I & Phase II Updates

 -The following new processes developed within our BPI initiative will be demonstrated.

   Expense Reimbursement with DocuSign!

    New REX-Finance Reports

 -Updates will be provided on the following additional business process improvements:

    PageUp recruiting software

    E-travel Phase II

    PeopleSoft Finance 9.2 Upgrade

    UMBC 101 Training

 -We will update on you on Phase II planning for implementing Shared Services in the College of Engineering and Information Technology and Student Affairs.

 -  We will have open discussion with an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on BPI and  SSCs.

 -  We will share updates of the TAP (Toolkit for Administrative Professionals) website.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Join UMBC student org Culture Shock at their movie night on Friday, October 14th at 6:30pm in PUP 105! See their myUMBC event at the link below.

http://my.umbc.edu/groups/culture-shock/events/44740