“Ace of Cakes” fans who are disappointed about the TV reality show’s cancellation can take heart in knowing that star baker Duff Goldman is expanding a recently launched line of baking and decorating products.

Read the full story in the Baltimore Sun

QUMBC Meeting 3:35pm

Acting Convener, Jonathan Law Presiding   

Introductions; Name, Home Town, & Best Friend from a TV show

13 people in attendance

Agenda

~Transgender day of remembrance: Guest speaker did not show up, but the event still went very well. Event tomorrow 12-5 at a Unitarian church in Baltimore MD

~ World Aids Day:

-Tuesday November 30^th 11am, Woman’s Center, Jonathan would like to put together a work shop on aids activism.

-Aids Testing December 2^nd, 15 min results.

 -Moment of silence will also take place December 2^nd.

-December 1^st world Aids day panel at the Women’s Center. 

-Planning meeting on Monday, November 22^nd in room 318 at free hour. 

-More information to come!!!

~ASB Trip:

-Information on the myUMBC, QUMBC group page.

 -Trip takes place in Manhattan New York.

-Fundraising opportunities; working the concession stands in groups of 6-8 for men and women basketball home games. Working Redskins game concession stand.

-The goal of this ASB trip is to develop service & advocacy around the queer and LGBT community.

**If you are interested in going on the QUMBC alternative spring break trip and would like to fundraise to lessen the cost of your trip, contact William Joyner with your schedule and availability**

~QUMBC Logo:

-By December 3^rd idea should be submitted to Jonathan law. We would like to make this process collaborative, and the logo should be identifiable with the group.

~Elections for annual officer positions will be take place at our next meeting:

-The constitution is online if you would like to view what each position entails.

-The Positions at hand are Representative Liaison, Finance Liaison, Administrative Liaison and Membership Liaison.

~Gender Neutral housing:

                -The general consensus in the room that gender neutral housing is a great program and should be offered to graduate students as well as undergraduates. 

~Dr Householder was present at the last meeting and would like QUMBC to talk to freedom alliance in order to be more socially active and discuss cohesive efforts through both organizations.The next business meeting of freedom alliance is TBA.

~Convener Elections:

-Valery Koury nominated…

-Discussion…

-Valery Koury, Elected as the convener from November 19^th to December 3^rd. 

Meeting Adjourned at 4:35

"A foreign sport to most Americans, cricket finds traction in Prince George's County elementary schools.

By Nate Baker

There's a movement in Prince George's county that is changing the landscape of sport in this community. Cricket is an all-inclusive team sport that isn't just for the strong and athletic; it's also for thinkers and strategists.

In a county where home-grown sports like football, basketball and baseball are king, the sport of cricket is growing quickly in Prince George's County with about half of all elementary schools teaching the sport to its children..."

Link to Part 1 of the article.

Link to Part 2 of the article.

This installment of the AASHE Bulletin Sustainability Student Diary series features the writings of Mary Kohnstamm, a senior at St. Lawrence University who is president of the university's Environmental Action Organization. She details the student apathy experienced by the organization in response to its efforts to ban bottled water on campus. AASHE welcomes questions and invites feedback on each Sustainability Student Diary entry. Submit diary entries of your own for consideration to bulletin@aashe.org.

As a senior at St. Lawrence University, I have seen a multitude of environmental campaigns attempted by the student body. Some have been successful; however most have not. As president of the umbrella environmental organization at St. Lawrence, the Environmental Action Organization, for the past three semesters, I have been struck by the apathy of the student body.

Our current focus has been on banning bottled water on campus. Starting in January 2010, we created posters, collected water bottles, worked with staff to determine the amount of water bought per week from campus vendors, talked with the head of dining services and created a petition against all bottled water on campus that 300 students have signed. (Our student body is around 2,100.) We also hosted the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival this fall with the feature length film, "Tapped," which also gained student interest. In addition, we hung over 500 water bottles from the ceiling of our student center, half of which represented one week's worth of use. These were collected by the separation of the water bottles moving through the recycling center by the facilities crew, from students who had finished drinking the water, and by members of our organization who collected thrown out water bottles.

With the work of 60 active members of the organization, we were able to end the sale of Evian water in the spring of 2010. At the end of the semester, the head of dining services wrote me an email stating that the discontinued sale of bottled water like Desani and Aquafina would be possible this fall (2010), leaving the local bottled water the only type to be sold on campus. However, this did not happen as a result of students' outrage to the possibility of discontinued bottled water on campus. The head of dining services suggested that we further the push for recycling and education on the issue. One-fourth of the student body has agreed to ban bottled water while most students continue to buy it despite our education attempts. We continue to make information of bottled water available to all students, however, apathy is still prevalent.

Currently, our student government's environmental board is hoping to buy a water purification system. However, the Environmental Action Organization worries that this will not end the demand of bottled water, but will instead increase energy use, since those who currently use tap water will use this purified water, and those who buy water will just continue to do so.

The more we learn about bottled water, the more discouraged we are by the environmental, health and social justice effects due to the industry. Currently we are unsure of the next move. We hope to have a private showing of "Tapped" for the dining services staff, and our university president is aware of our work to ban bottled water. He has not pushed the issue in either way.

The reason for continued bottled water sales remains economic. We have lowered campus sales of bottled water, and continue to post information about the negative effects of the industry. Since we receive funding from Coke and Pepsi corporations, it is unlikely that such a ban will be successful. We have studied other colleges that are working to ban bottled water, and would appreciate any further advice.

Editors Note: Visit AASHE's list of Bottled Water Elimination and Reduction Campaigns (AASHE members only) for more information on those institutions that have banned bottled water from campus or have active campaigns to reduce their sale and consumption. 

“So, what are you gonna do with that?”

The question most undergrads, especially those pursuing a degree in the social sciences (like I was a few years ago), dread being asked.

“Uhh, I’ll figure it out when I graduate” was what I usually got out, though on the inside, I had no clue. Part of why I got my English degree was I didn’t really know what I wanted to do and I thought it would be widely accepted. People always need people who can write, was what I heard.

Talking with my wife recently, I realized something about how I felt as I paid my way through UMBC: I had no idea I was making a purchase. I think it felt sort of like it does to pay for a trip on a cruise ship. You’re paying for the room, the food, and the activities/experiences.

Looking back, I wish I’d thought of it more as buying a house. A decision I’d live inside for a long time. One that would directly impact day-to-day comfort.

You know what’s crazy about college? Paying for a semester as a “full-time student” costs the same no matter what courses you take or how valuable they are. Granted, “valuable” in this context is very relative, but I just mean to convey that under the “full-time status” umbrella a 400-level Chemical Engineering course costs the same as ENGL 100. If someone took you to a new housing development, said you had to either buy the model home with bump-outs in every room, upgrades, and professionally landscaped yard for $x, or a different house in the same development that is new and clean, but doesn’t have any upgrades for $x, which are you going to buy?

I’m not going to tell you that you shouldn’t get an English degree. If you really want a degree in something, and you’ve got a vision for where you want to go with that, go for it. But, just keep this in mind: you’re not purchasing a 4 year trip on a cruise ship. You’re purchasing a product, and that product is you.

I wish someone had put it to me this way when I was in school. Maybe they did and I just couldn’t understand it at the time. I think we do a disservice to 17 and 18 year olds when we ask them to start working towards their career, when at that age they have no clue what they want to do or what work really feels like. (But, I think that’s a different post for a different time.) For now, I’ll just ask you, faithful undergraduate reader, to think about how you are going to look on the shelf with all the other products? How are you going to maximize return on your fixed bill? And, though this is a tough question to address before graduation, what kind of life do you want, and are you working towards it?

“Is your ladder leaning against the right wall?”