Leading the Maryland Bar Association

Harry S. Johnson, Political Science �76, a partner in the Baltimore law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, became president of the Maryland Bar Association in July 2003. He is the first African-American president of the 20,000-member organization. As president, he hopes to encourage lawyers to be leaders in the community and enhance the involvement of minorities in the legal profession.

After graduating from the University of Maryland School of Law, Johnson joined Whiteford, Taylor & Preston and in 1986 became the firm�s first African-American partner. His legal work focuses on product liability, mass tort, professional liability, and other complex litigation. In addition, he continues to be an advocate for minority recruitment in the state�s law firms and has established a mentorship program pairing African-American law students with Baltimore attorneys.

A student-athlete and former president of the Student Government Association, Johnson remains connected to UMBC. He hires UMBC student interns, taught a business law class in the Department of Economics and was instrumental in helping to establish the Second Generation Scholarship Fund for undergraduates who have demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of minorities.

Johnson credits UMBC faculty and advisors for guiding him in the direction of law and setting him on a path to success. �UMBC provided a network and a support system that have stayed with me to the present,� he says.

Telling the Story of Afghan Women

In the two years since the horrific attacks of September 11 and the ensuing American invasion of Afghanistan, the world�s attention has shifted away from the plight of the Afghan people, who have been ravaged by decades of war. But even before 9-11, Anne Brodsky, an associate professor of psychology and affiliate professor of women’s studies at UMBC, was already risking her life to tell the story of Afghan women under the oppression of the Taliban and other fundamentalist Islamic factions and she continues that fight today.

Brodsky�s research background studying the resilience of women and the role of communities in resisting societal risks such as violence, poverty and racism led to her current work with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

RAWA is a humanitarian and political women�s organization that has operated clandestinely in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the past 26 years. Brodsky has been working with the group for over three years to help raise awareness of the plight of women who still risk their lives when they stand up for basic freedoms like going to school, having a job, wearing modern clothes, and being able to leave the house unescorted by a male.

As part of these efforts, Brodsky has traveled to underground girls� schools, orphanages and refugee camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She has risked her life � both from the dangers facing a Western woman in areas controlled by  fundamentalist groups, and from the ongoing fighting and unexploded landmines and ordnance that litter the countryside.

Recent news items have underscored the relevance of Brodsky�s work: a report released this summer by Human Rights Watch detailed how women are still being raped and attacked by Afghan warlords outside of Kabul and a Newsweek story noted the post 9-11 rise in domestic violence in American Muslim families.

Even worse is the apparent resurgence of the Taliban, who have launched several recent attacks on Afghan border police and girls� schools from just across the Pakistan border, a development that doesn�t surprise Brodsky.

�While schools for girls have reopened, only about 32 percent of the students who returned were girls,� she says. �Girls� schools have been fire bombed and threatened; and forced marriages, imprisonment of girls and women for attempting to escape abusive marriages, forced medical chastity tests and other extreme forms of oppression are ongoing, thus RAWA�s activities and message are still urgently needed.�

Since 9-11, Brodsky has continued her research through multiple trips to the region and by helping to bring members of RAWA to the United States and UMBC to tell their stories. Earlier this year, Brodsky published a book about RAWA and her experiences with the group, With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (Routledge).

Publisher’s Weekly described With All Our Strength as “Groundbreaking…The first writer with in-depth access to RAWA, Brodsky writes a passionate narrative…[S]tands out as a lone and important study of a remarkable organization.” Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban, calls it “A powerful story.”

Brodsky will never forget her five months in the field with the brave women of RAWA. �I gained a much deeper understanding and appreciation for their struggle, and was able to record the in-depth stories of real people�s lives under so many years of oppression, war and trauma,� she says. �But more than being victims, RAWA has empowered women, children and men to use education as a tool to fight for democracy, freedom, human rights and peace.�   

According to Brodsky, the fight for democracy and human rights in Afghanistan is far from over. �RAWA remains a threatened group for their outspoken opposition to the oppression of women and all democratically minded people that continue under the current, warlord dominated government,� she says. �They fervently hope that the rest of the world will continue to support them and will not, once again, turn their backs on the long suffering people of Afghanistan.�   

Brodsky�s work on behalf of women at UMBC and beyond was recognized with the 2003 award from the President�s Commission for Women, one of several presented at UMBC�s 37th Anniversary Opening.

UMBC 9/11 Commemorative Events

Join faculty, staff and students for a day of inter-cultural drumming for global understanding and peace from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Main Street, The Commons. Performers include the Global Percussion Trio, founded by Barry Dove, UMBC music faculty; Stream Ohrstrom, drummer and peace-builder; Linda Joy Burke, Baltimore poet and performance artist; Sankofa Dance Theater, acclaimed Baltimore organization featuring dance, music and folklore. The UMBC Study Abroad Fair will be held from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the Commons Terrace. 

Expression Boards will be placed on Main Street in The Commons beginning Wednesday, September 10 and will remain up through Friday, September 12.

For more information call UMBC’s Student Life office at (410) 455-3462.  

Discovering Her Direction

Reflecting on her life’s work, Karen Osborne, a senior statistical consultant for Fortune 500 executives for the past six years, made an important discovery. “I realized that, in my career, what I enjoyed most was teaching and training customers and internal staff how to use statistics to enhance their marketing,” she says. Now, Osborne is a Ph.D. student and graduate assistant in UMBC�s mathematics and statistics department, in order to pursue her goal of becoming a statistics professor.

With a B.S. in mathematics and statistics and an M.S. in statistics, Osborne has had a keen interest in the field for some time. As a senior statistician, she applied statistical modeling techniques to analyze the marketing needs of corporate clients and to recommend marketing strategies and solutions. Osborne also has a strong background in computer sciences, and worked as an information systems manager and computer software trainer.

It was the events of September 11th that caused Osborne to carefully consider her life’s work. Working near the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia at the time, she explains, �My company had an office in the World Trade Center.  Everyone was fortunate to get out. The event caused me to step back and look at my life and to think about what is important.

�I looked at my entire life’s work, chronologically, and it sort of hit me,� says Osborne, describing her discovery of her love for teaching. From internal staff training to computer training to cooking classes, she realized �I was always hovering around teaching.� Inspired by her long-time involvement with local clean-up and nature clubs (such as the Appalachian Trail club), Osborne decided to concentrate in the area of environmental statistics.

She zeroed in on UMBC for its well-rounded graduate statistics program and–with her interest in environmental statistics–for its well-known Marine-Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES) program. She is hoping to work with a MEES graduate student in analyzing biological data.

Osborne was also impressed by caliber of the faculty and their research.  �When I looked at the Web site, it was clear to me that they are doing very active and diverse research.�

This summer, before formally starting the program, she took an environmental statistics course co-taught by Dr. Nagaraj Neerchal, professor of statistics, and Dr. Brian Bradley, professor of biological sciences.  “I loved it,� says Osborne. �It was a great class and it served to reinforce for me that this is what I want to do. I can�t wait to get started!� 

UMBC’s Impressive Incoming Classes

UMBC�s reputation just got hotter with the arrival of our incoming undergraduate and graduate classes. This year�s freshman class of 1550 is our largest since 1986. Graduate School enrollment is on the rise, and 500 new graduate students will attend UMBC this year. We also welcome 1100 talented transfer students.  

Our incoming freshman class boasts an impressive and diverse list of achievements.

*Their average SAT is 1220. The average SAT for incoming UMBC Honors College students is 1400.

*They are extremely accomplished, and include: National Merit Scholars, Eagle Scouts, Model U.N. participants, community activists, chess champions, members of all-state choruses, Baltimore Sun and Washington Post 1st -team athletes.

*Their future goals include becoming a member of Congress and joining the Foreign Service.

Our new graduate students are already becoming well known in their fields.

*They come from prestigious undergraduate programs at MIT, University of Virginia, University of Texas at Austin, James Madison University, University of Beijing, University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin. And UMBC, of course.

*They include a principal and co-principal investigator on several NIMH grants; a Fulbright Scholar; a first author publishing in prestigious journals and presenting at international conferences; and a 2002 Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies Cooperative Research Fellow.

Watch this space for individual profiles of the newest members of the UMBC community.

Becoming Her Dream

“Don’t just talk about it, be about it” is Keondra Phillips‘ motto. Knowing that talk can only get you so far in life, Phillips has wisely channeled her dreams into actions that have had concrete results. Her vision was clear: “I knew I wanted to be a psychologist. And I knew that I wanted to go to graduate school.” As Phillips begins her PhD program in Human Services Psychology (HSP) this fall, she is fulfilling this long-term goal of entering graduate school and will soon be well on her way to becoming a psychologist.

Focused and determined, Phillips earned her B.A. in Psychology from Hampton University, making the dean’s list every year. She also participated in the COR (Career Opportunities in Research) program, a federally-funded program providing research experience for students in their chosen fields. Under Dr. Zina McGee, Phillips conducted research on adolescent victimization and had the opportunity to present the results at the Academy of Criminal Justice in the Sciences (ACJS) research forum in Boston. “COR exposed me to research and made me a well-qualified candidate for graduate school,” she says.

“UMBC was my first choice,” says Phillips. While she considered other schools, Phillips felt UMBC’s curriculum was superior. “UMBC’s program offers everything I wanted in a HSP program. It’s unique because it offers a combination of both community and clinical training which gives you more career options. I was impressed that I could do both.”

“I’m definitely family and community-oriented. I wrote my high school senior English project on dysfunctional families,” explains Phillips. Her particular interest in community is also what drew Phillips to UMBC and, specifically, to her mentor, professor and director of the HSP program, Dr. Kenneth Maton.

“When I looked up his research on the web page, I felt drawn to his work because of its community emphasis,” she says. Phillips is also enthusiastic about working with Dr. Maton on his research because “it relates to what I have done before—it’s in the same realm”.

 
UMBC was named one of a dozen “Hot Schools” by Kaplan/Newsweek 2003.

UMBC IS A HOT SCHOOL!

In August 2002, UMBC was named one of a dozen Hot Schools� by Kaplan/Newsweek 2003 How to Get Into College� guide.

UMBC joined some prestigious company on the list of Hot Schools, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Boston College, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Washington at Seattle, and Macalester College.

Hot schools were selected based on academic prowess, affordability, location, and, of course, surging popularity. The guide noted, “With a tough economy, the hottest schools may well be the best bargains � those offering excellent academics at more affordable prices. That�s why our list for 2002-03 is dominated by some of the country�s top publics.�

The Kaplan/Newsweek profile references the fact that UMBC is ranked 16th in the country in NASA funding and that 40 percent of students go on to graduate and professional schools right after graduation. The average member of the 2002 freshman class had an average SAT score of nearly 1220 and was a member of the National Honors Society. Incoming Honors College students have an average SAT of 1400 and a high school GPA of 4.2.

The article credits a variety of factors that have helped UMBC build a stronger national reputation, including creating an environment where it�s cool to be smart.� UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski discusses the broad variety of things to do at outside of the lab and classroom. Many students design their own curricula,� Hrabowski says. This is a place where you�ll find students thinking about the hard questions of society.�

The issue marked the second time UMBC has been recognized by the Kaplan/Newsweek Guide. The 1999 issue called UMBC a powerhouse in Baltimore� as part of a list of Schools on a Mission.�

A Scholar and an Athlete

Karl Strauss epitomizes the phrase “student-athlete.” As a swimmer, he was part of four straight ECAC Championship teams and 2003 men’s co-captain, but he worked equally hard academically, and was the men’s winner of the Matt Skalsky Outstanding Scholar Athlete award.

A member of Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa, Strauss compiled a 3.85 GPA and served as the treasurer of the Student Athlete Advisory Council. He was one of two students awarded the Outstanding Scholarly Leader Award by the Political Science department.

Strauss placed first in the 200 meter breaststroke in four NEC dual meets this season and was part of the NEC champion men’s 400 medley relay team. “It’s a lot of work, but the UMBC swim team made things exciting and fun during my time here,” Strauss says. “It’s like a big family.” Strauss also worked as a swim lesson instructor, student tutor and as a writer for The Retriever Weekly.

Now on his way to Law School at the University of Toledo, Strauss credits faculty mentors like Political Science professor George LaNoue as being a vital part of his UMBC experience.

“The open door policy and personal attention from professors here makes a difference,” says Strauss. “I thought I would be a pre-med major originally, but I took some political science classes, got comfortable with the subject matter very quickly, and really opened up and found my motivation.”

Turning Dreams into Plans

Having grown up near the campus of Tuskegee University, Jasmine McDonald was taught the importance of higher education at an early age. “My late grandparents were very college and academics-oriented, so a question that has driven me throughout my education has been ‘How will I make them proud of me?'” she says.

McDonald, who graduated in May with a B.S. in Chemistry, has done a lot to be proud of during her UMBC years. As a Meyerhoff scholar working in Dr. Michael Summers’ Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) lab, she was part of a research team whose findings were published in The Journal of Molecular Biology.

She also worked in the Boulder, Colorado, HHMI lab of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Thomas Cech. Back at home, she has spent her past year doing research in the Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Department of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Last summer took her to Connecticut, where she worked for Pfizer Global Research and Development.

Over the past two years, McDonald honed her leadership skills as president of UMBC’s Golden Key International Honors Society, which she led through two community service projects per month. She also participated in various service projects through the Meyerhoff program, ranging from picking spinach for the homeless on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to clearing the grounds of a historic park with a machete. Her hard work and dedication was recognized by Golden Key, which awarded her its Mid-Atlantic Region Leadership Award.

As she prepares for her next step, McDonald’s late grandparents indeed have even more to be proud of. She’s headed to Harvard on a Prize Fellowship to pursue her Ph.D. in immunology and infectious diseases.

“During my time at UMBC I’ve been able to turn my dreams into plans,” McDonald says. “I feel fortunate to have made my grandparents’ hard work pay off. They’re looking down right now and glowing.”

Leaping to New Heights

In June, senior jumper Huguens Jean became the third Retriever to earn Division I All-American honors.

The powerfully built Jean, on course to earn a degree in computer engineering next spring, literally leaped to new heights during his spectacular athletic career at UMBC. Jean is the second Retriever track and field athlete to earn All-American honors in two years (the other is Cleopatra Borel), after placing fourth in the nation at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump this past June. Standing just 6�, his effort of 7� 3¼� broke his own school record by two inches.

�I feel like I am just getting started in the sport,� Jean said.  �My ultimate goal is to win a medal in the Olympic Games.  I never would have thought that any of this was possible before coming to UMBC.�

Jean collected numerous accolades this past year. Last January, he competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas and finished 10th in the nation in the high jump, coming up just shy of earning All-American status.  He dominated the competition in the Northeast Conference and was named the NEC�s Most Outstanding Field Performer at both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships after sweeping the high jump and the triple jump events.

In April, Jean sent a clear message to high jumpers around the nation by winning the event at the highly prestigious Penn Relay Games, thus pronouncing himself ready to compete against America�s elite at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

�I was more prepared for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and much more confident,� Jean admitted. �The NCAA Indoor Championships was a brand new experience and I felt like I had to rush to get ready for the event because I had qualified only a week before.�

Success for Jean, who was named UMBC�s 2002-03 Athlete of the Year, is not limited to his athletic prowess. He excels in the classroom, earning a 3.29 GPA in computer engineering. His achievements landed him a spot on the Verizon Academic All District II Second Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) this past year, after earning First Team honors in 2001-02. Jean, who would eventually like to run his own company, is considering attending graduate school for business management after he graduates from UMBC.

One of the most recognizable student leaders on campus, Jean is an extremely active member of campus society and student government. He has served as vice president of the Engineering Council of Majors and is a member of the Presidents� Council for Athletic Awareness. Jean has also been a dormitory resident assistant, and has tutored students in numerous courses. 

�UMBC has given me so much,� said Jean.  �It is only right that I give back and help others as much as I possibly can.�

A Future Light on Broadway

Doug Yetter, who has directed, written and/or conducted over 200 musicals, was one of seven finalists for UMBC’s 2003 valedictorian and graduated in May with a 4.0 GPA. This fall, he begins the world’s only graduate program in musical theatre writing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he has received a full scholarship and housing allowance.

Yetter originally came to UMBC’s music department as an accompanist in 1998 and enrolled in the undergraduate program the following year. He began his career in musical theatre in Denver and has been involved in productions across the United States. He has been named “Baltimore’s Best Piano Bar Entertainer” numerous times, and is the former co-owner of the Chesapeake Music Hall, a dinner theatre in Annapolis, Maryland.

His work has been performed off-Broadway and around the country. Locally, his version of “A Christmas Carol” has become an annual tradition at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, where his adaptation of “Dracula” will also be performed this spring.

At Tisch, MFA students in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program have the opportunity to participate in assistantships at New York theatres, and in their final year they each compose an entire Broadway show, which will be read for Broadway producers. Yetter says, “Without the depth of education I received at UMBC, and the life-changing experience I had in the music department, I would never have been accepted by an institution such as NYU.”