A crew of UMBC physicists is living and working 14 miles off the Virginia Coast aboard the Chesapeake Light..

Tracking a Satellite from the Sea

14 miles offshore from Virginia Beach, UMBC Assistant Professor of Physics Wallace McMillan and a rotating crew of scientists are firing lasers into the night sky and launching weather balloons by day to make sure a new multi-billion-dollar NASA research satellite is working properly.

For two months, McMillan and his crew are taking turns living and working aboard the Chesapeake Light, a 1960�s-era U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse platform with a panoramic view of the Atlantic. Chesapeake Light looks a bit like an oil-drilling rig, perched on a rusty steel frame 75 feet above 34-foot-deep waters.

�We provide product validation,� says McMillan. �We�re measuring air temperature, water vapor content, sea surface temperature, and so on, around the clock, and then comparing those to the same measurements taken by AIRS.� AIRS is short for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, which was developed in part by McMillan�s UMBC colleague, Larrabee Strow. It is one of several instruments about AQUA, a NASA satellite launched in May that is designed to give the best looks yet at the Earth�s water cycle.

So what good does an Atlantic Ocean lighthouse do for a NASA satellite orbiting the upper atmosphere? �As it happens, the ocean makes a nice, uniform target in the infrared portion of the spectrum where AIRS sees,� McMillan explains. �Making comparisons over the ocean makes for the easiest, thus the first, comparisons we want to make.�

The accommodations on the Chesapeake Light couldn�t be described as cozy � steel is the main motif. But it does have a kitchen, a bathroom, six compact bedrooms, various work rooms, two generators, plus a rec room with a pool table.

Still, the view here is a lot better than a cubicle or lab. The Chesapeake�s catwalk is the favorite spot to watch some spectacular sunsets, the occasional rainbow, dolphins, sea turtles and flotillas of Virginia Beach-area fishermen chasing big schools near the platform.

When they aren�t working, McMillan�s protégés find ways to keep themselves entertained. A photo gallery kept on McMillan�s UMBC homepage shows grad student Kurt Lightner of Ellicott City, doing a strange dance as he launched the day�s weather balloon. �I was trying to appease Thor. You know, the Norse god of weather,� he says with a grin.

 
UMBC rowers cheer on their fellow teammates at a recent regatta.

UMBC Crew Turns Ten

Every weekday morning at 5 a.m., while the majority of campus is still sleeping, one of UMBC�s most hard-working yet under-recognized sports teams can be found on the water near the Hanover Street Bridge, starting their daily practice.

Like other UMBC athletes, Crew team members sacrifice a great deal of personal time and energy for their sport while representing the University well against regional, national and international rivals. But UMBC Crew does so as a club sport with no scholarships and a modest budget.

Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in America, with roots tracing back to 1854, but it has only been around at UMBC for a decade. The team got its start in 1992 as a joint program with the University of Baltimore (UB), but then purchased four shells (the preferred term for the sport�s signature sleek boats) from UB when their program was phased out.

Since then, UMBC Crew has developed dramatically. UMBC now owns nine very competitive racing shells, including one named after UMBC�s president, the Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. The team practices year round, working in afternoon training sessions three days a week on top of the early morning practices. UMBC shares a boathouse located in South Baltimore�s Middle Branch Park with crews from Johns Hopkins and Loyola universities as well as the Baltimore Rowing Club.

An increasing number of students are drawn to crew as not only a great way to stay in shape, but also as a sport with a rich history and a deep spirit of camaraderie. There is no �bench� in crew, i.e. every member is matched with teammates of similar strength and size so that everyone rows at each regatta (race).

The UMBC program is always one of the top third of thirty programs in the mid-Atlantic region. The team competes against nationally-known universities like Army, Michigan State, Drexel, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Penn State and local powers like Washington College, Johns Hopkins and Loyola. The Crew team travels as far as Boston and Philadelphia to compete, and attends a summer training camp in Clemson, South Carolina each year.

UMBC Crew�s four-person coaching staff is one of the largest and most talented in the region. Head Coach Jim MacAlister is joined by assistant coaches Evan Rea, Jennifer Simpson, and Renee Foard. Rea and Simpson are both UMBC graduate students, and Foard is an alumna and former UMBC rower. The coaches are proud not only of their rowers� history of winning medals, but also the team�s average GPA of 3.6.

Rea epitomizes the dedication and passion of UMBC Crew. Recently, in the midst of an eight-mile row in the rain, he said, “I love this sport. How many people can say they woke up and saw something like this today? It�s beautiful.�

The team has four more regattas scheduled for the fall, including this weekend�s Occoquan Chase at George Mason University, and then resumes competition in February for the spring season.

�Crew is unusual among sports in that men and women practice together, use the same equipment and more importantly cheer each other on,� says Lou Cantori, the team�s faculty advisor and a professor of political science at UMBC. �They are a genuine team of brothers and sisters.�

 
UMBC Psychology chair Carlo DiClemente’s work has revolutionized treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse.

The Psychology of Conquering Addiction

Psychology professor and department chair Carlo DiClemente began studying addiction among smokers while completing his dissertation at the University of Rhode Island. Now, more than twenty years later, his research has revolutionized how health professionals treat alcoholism and drug abuse.

In October, 2002, DiClemente’s work was recognized nationally when he received one of five Innovators Combating Substance Abuse awards from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

“I was first drawn to studying smoking because it was a behavior that was easy to evaluate and where it was always possible to find people actively trying to change their behavior,” says DiClemente, “What I found was that many different treatments produced change equally well and that people who stopped smoking without any outside medical intervention could be as successful as those who had.”

From these observations, DiClemente, with colleague James Prochaska of the University of Rhode Island, went on to develop a model for the process of change among addicts. This model, the Transtheoretical Model of Change, identifies stages of change and other factors that predict treatment outcomes.

Previously, treatment for substance abuse was thought to benefit only people who were motivated to enter treatment on their own. The Transtheoretical Model, however, is a more effective treatment developed for the individual rather than a “one size fits all” approach.

DiClemente has also applied the model in studies on alcoholism and will soon use his $300,000 RWJF award to fund a study of the model for cocaine users. The funding will also allow DiClemente to gather a small group of substance abuse researchers and treatment providers who use the Transtheoretical Model to discuss the most effective ways to apply it in treatment.

Since 1984, when DiClemente and Prochaska published their first book on the Transtheoretical Model, it has been incorporated in the treatment of a number of health and addictive behaviors in the United States and abroad. “I’ve been in touch with colleagues as far away as Germany and New Zealand who are using aspects of the Transtheoretical Model to assist patients with a wide variety of health problems such as asthma and diabetes, as well as substance abuse.”

The continuing importance of his work keeps DiClemente excited about his research. “I’ve seen the ravages of alcohol and drug problems. To see the impact this model and my research has made gives meaning to my work. It’s been wonderful to be part of a process of helping people understand how to get from addiction to recovery.”

 
Ram Mohan is UMBC’s 2002 Distinguished Alumnus.

UMBC’S 2002 Distinguished Alumnus

Ram Mohan, who received his Ph.D. in chemistry from UMBC in 1992, has been named UMBC�s Distinguished Alumnus for 2002.

Mohan, an assistant professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, is a recipient of the prestigious Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award given to talented young faculty in the chemical sciences. His work on bismuth compounds in organic synthesis and their positive impact on the environment is highly regarded and well funded by the American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund and the National Science Foundation.

In addition being an accomplished researcher, Mohan is also a teacher and mentor who �finds great satisfaction in each role.� As a researcher, �to know that the research is meaningful and practical.� As a teacher, �to be able to intrigue students about the subject matter so they seek more knowledge.� And, as a mentor, �to see a spark of joy in a student�s eye when he or she makes a discovery in the lab.�

Since Illinois Wesleyan University does not have a graduate program, Mohan conducts his research with undergraduates �only.� As such his roles of researcher, teacher and mentor are intricately intertwined. �I find this the most rewarding of all, though at times it is frustrating,� he says.

It was another researcher, teacher and mentor at UMBC who inspired Mohan. �I learned all the tricks of the trade from my faculty advisor Dale Whalen,� recalls Mohan. �He was never too busy to come to lab. His research is first-rate, and he is respected in his field.�

Although well established and accomplished in his own right, Mohan looks back on his days at UMBC fondly. �Those were the most enjoyable days,� he says. �Often I wish I could be a grad student again!�

But better to be the researcher, the teacher and the mentor.

At the annual Alumni Awards Reception and Ceremony on April 25, UMBC also honored:

Outstanding Alumnus

Paul Behrens, M.S. �80 and Ph.D. �83, Biological Sciences

Co-founder and Director of Physiology, Martek Corporation

Community Leadership Award

Elsa Collins, M.A., Instructional Systems Development �95

Academic Director, UMBC English Language Center

Alumni Volunteers of the Year

Michael Rowe, B.A. Psychology �78

Sales Manager, Reliable-Churchill, LLLP

C. Emmerson Small, II, B.A. Economics �74

Senior Vice President, Morgan Stanley

Special Recognition

Angela Houtz, B.A. English �96

Victim of the September 11, 2001 Attack on the Pentagon

The UMBC Alumni Association is seeking nominations for the 2003 Alumna/us of the Year Awards, which are presented in the categories of Distinguished, Outstanding and Community Leadership. Please consider recognizing alumni whom you feel are particularly qualified for special recognition due to their accomplishments.

The Alumni Association also presents Service Awards to alumni volunteers �in recognition of their service to UMBC and its alumni through cumulative service, or outstanding effort for an activity or event.� Please nominate alumni who have provided exceptional volunteer service.

Click here for more information and to fill out a nomination form.

Tom Rabenhorst’s research blends his love of nature with modern technology to provide a valuable service to the community.

Rabenhorst, Director of Instructional Cartography in UMBC�s Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, is also an avid outdoorsman. As Spring draws nearer, the hikers from UMBC and all over Maryland who flock to nearby Patapsco Valley State Park will navigate park trails using new maps developed thanks to Rabenhorst’s dedication.

Rabenhorst combined global positioning satellite (GPS) technology and sweat equity to give the park the most detailed maps in its history. Rabenhorst spent months hiking the trails on his own or with his wife while logging points on a handheld GPS device to plot out the trail maps. GPS triangulates to rapidly and accurately locate geographic positions anywhere on the face of the earth.

“There had been no comprehensive map of Patapsco, and I thought that this would be a real benefit to the community as well as a self-serving thing for myself because I really enjoy getting out in the parks,� Rabenhorst says.

“It�s a good partnership because we�re basically neighbors,� says Lt. Christopher Bushman, the park�s manager. When you are walking on the trails and when you get up on the hills, you can see the UMBC campus. The guides are one of the best things that has ever happened to the park,� Bushman says.

Each year Rabenhorst gets students in his Advanced Cartography Class involved with a local mapping project. The class has worked with many local cyclists and the Baltimore Community Foundation to produce a handy map of bike trails in the city and county, with routes color-coded based on hill steepness. Rabenhorst�s students have also worked on a CD-ROM atlas of Maryland for elementary education.

A Global Perspective on Policy

While many UMBC students become accomplished researchers, not many have the chance to learn in an outdoor classroom with a stunning view of the Swiss Alps in the background. Every summer, the International Field Research Program in Culture, Policy and Practice, created by the Departments of Sociology and Anthropology and Health Administration and Policy, takes a small group of students to Switzerland to gain an international perspective on a variety of policy issues and to give students direct experience with social sciences field research methods.

The program is open to all students and, in the past, has accommodated a diverse group of students, from Provost�s Undergraduate Research Award winners and graduate students traveling as part of a larger research project to undergraduates looking for an exciting way to gain an upper-level elective. Now in its third year, the program, for the first time, is inviting faculty and staff from across the UMBC community to participate in one or both of the two one-week sessions and expects to have its largest student group ever.

�The origins of this program are in my own research in international health policy,� says Mary Stuart, chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, who co-directs the International Field Research program with Joyce Riley, associate director for health administration and policy. �I saw how important it was to prepare our students to be active participants in the increasingly sophisticated global economy and to see how other nations address policy issues that we share in common.�

Students prepare for their trip through a course that meets seven times during the spring semester and allows them to gain background in qualitative research methods and Swiss society and culture. Once in Switzerland, students apply their new knowledge and conduct a series of field exercises that allow them to interact with Swiss culture while honing their skills in observation, interviewing and conducting opinion surveys. They also have the opportunity to visit places such as the World Health Organization, International Red Cross Museum and the United Nations.

The strongest endorsement for the International Field Research program comes from the student participants themselves. �No class, no homework assignment could ever teach me what I had learned on that trip,� says Anura Desai, whose many adventures in Switzerland included a visit to a refugee camp. �I truly felt like an international public health researcher, venturing out to any corner, in pursuit for my research. It was unbelievable.�

The 2003 Switzerland program for International Field Research in Culture, Policy and Practice will hold two sessions, June 16-22 and June 23-29. Applications and additional information are available at www.umbc.edu/happ or from Cathy McDonnell, ACIV Room 348, cat@umbc.edu, (410) 455-2342. For priority consideration, apply by December 10.

>Bringing Politics Close to Home

UMBC�s resident expert on the American presidency, Tom Schaller, has more than enough to keep busy in these exciting political times. Whether he is drawing comparisons between the presidencies of William McKinley and George W. Bush or guiding undergraduates through internships in legislative offices throughout Annapolis or Washington, D.C., Schaller, an assistant professor of political science, brings his research to the most pressing political issues of the day. more…

    Evolution of an Honors University

Diane Lee, vice provost for undergraduate education and associate professor of education, takes UMBC�s tagline, An Honors University in Maryland, personally. Lee works to ensure that the honors mission has practical meaning in everyday lives for UMBC students, faculty and staff. more…

 
Diane Lee is vice provost for undergraduate education and associate professor of education.

Evolution of an Honors University

Diane Lee, vice provost for undergraduate education and associate professor of education, takes UMBC�s tagline, An Honors University in Maryland, personally. Lee works to ensure that the honors mission has practical meaning in everyday lives for UMBC students, faculty and staff.

Lee came to UMBC in 1986 as a visiting professor. After teaching large lecture classes at another institution, she was excited to find small, seminar-style classes at UMBC. �This campus speaks community to me,� says Lee. �It�s large enough to be diverse and small enough to get to know students beyond their names, as individuals and scholars.� UMBC brings teaching, research and service together, which is very rewarding for me,� says Lee. Her background is human development from prenatal to death and dying.

When UMBC adopted the honors university mission, Lee again revised her method of teaching. �I asked myself, �how do I need to teach at an honors university?� I made a conscious effort to honor my students and what they bring to the classroom. I lectured less and listened more. My student advising focused less on course selection and graduation requirements and more on the students and their career and academic goals,� she says.

Now in her role as vice provost for undergraduate education, Lee continues to ask: �What does it mean to be a student at an honors university?� She meets with students, faculty and staff from across campus and across the disciplines, explaining, �It�s this kind of challenge and opportunity to make a difference that brings us together as a community. It�s the reason I work here. I enjoy working on things I believe in with people I respect.�

Lee is proud of the programs the Provost’s Office has initiated through a university-wide Honors Task Force Report. �The Honors Task Force Report recommendations represent a charge defined by UMBC, and values we share as a university community,� says Lee. These programs include developing an environment of academic integrity, first-year seminars, introduction to honors university seminars and a writing advisory board.

�We�re looking at the entire experience�from Orientation and Welcome Week to Commencement. We�re examining the traditions that hold us together, tweaking existing programs and creating new ones. It�s exciting to be at a university that is open to possibilities.�

 
Mark Terranova is assistant director of service learning for the Shriver Center.

Building Leaders in the Community

Mark Terranova has to think like a sixth grader � literally. As part of a new Shriver Center service-learning program, Terranova is sending a team of UMBC students back to middle schools to share their talents with teachers and children. The program is funded by a three year, $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation called The Teaching Enhancement Partnership Project (TEPP).

In this first year of the project, Terranova�s goal is to take UMBC students studying math, science, engineering and technology and pair them with under-resourced middle schools in the Baltimore area. �I�m looking to encourage college students to explore teaching as a possible career and show the importance of being connected with their communities,� he says.

�Our students help to motivate and set good examples for the middle schoolers, who in turn find valuable role models in our students,� explains Terranova. UMBC students involved in TEPP also enhance the professional development of the teachers by working with them one-on-one in the classroom. Students are able to supply fresh content and lab work that can bring the subject matter to life.

�I see this providing a structure that can be replicated in countless schools for various subjects across the country,� says Terranova, who knows the importance of service learning in the community. He began working with the Shriver Center�s Choice Program after graduating from college, focusing on the problems of juvenile delinquency in East Baltimore for three years before becoming assistant director of service learning at the Shriver Center.

In fall 2000, Terranova was instrumental in developing the first-ever Shriver Living-Learning Community (SLLC) at UMBC in collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs and the Residential Life Office. SLLC provides 29 undergraduates with a unique and exciting residential opportunity where students live the experience of being a leader in the community. SLLC students live in Erickson Hall and are engaged in service-learning through the Shriver Center.

Terranova was also responsible for helping to build the UMBC Serves program on campus. �I looked at the campus as a whole and tied in all areas of campus who participated in service related activities,� he says. �I was able to partner with many different groups on campus to bring each of their individual activities under a single mission � to promote a continuum of opportunities of service on campus. It was a real institutional shift in thinking about how the university gives back to the community. It�s been an amazing learning experience for me.�

In addition to his work with the Shriver Center, Terranova is a student in UMBC�s M.A. in Sociology program.

 
Rebekah de Wit hopes to turn her love of international education into a career in study abroad administration.

“A World of Opportunity”

Rebekah de Wit has studied and worked abroad in six different countries. She speaks fluent French, is pretty good at Dutch and Italian, and has taught undergraduate Latin. Now, thanks to a combination of programs at UMBC, she is on her way to turning her love of languages, foreign cultures and international education into an exciting career in study abroad administration.

Both a Humanities Scholar and a Maryland Distinguished Scholar during her undergraduate years, de Wit has received numerous additional UMBC and Maryland state merit scholarships since beginning her studies at UMBC. She was drawn to pursue a B.A. in Ancient Studies in part because of the department’s overseas opportunities for archaeology and language study.

“Many students aren’t aware that there are a number of scholarships available at UMBC if you’re interested in international studies,” she says. To date, de Wit has studied or worked in Wales, England, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Egypt.

De Wit presently puts her study abroad savvy to work as International Student Liaison for the UMBC Department of Education. She helps foreign students adjust to life at UMBC and in America. “I help them with everything from academic and cross-cultural issues to where to find the nearest grocery store,” she says. “I even meet them at the airport.”

After receiving her B.A. in 1999, de Wit began work on an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education through UMBC’s Instructional Systems Development program. In 2000, she traveled to the U.K., where she studied languages and education at the University of Wales, Swansea. There she also did two internships, one for the University’s American Studies Exchange Office and another with a Welsh language TV station.

While in Wales, de Wit realized that she wanted to spend her life doing what she loved. “I started out as a participant in study abroad and now it will be my career.”

Upon returning to the U.S., she enrolled in UMBC’s Language, Literacy and Culture Ph.D. program with the goal of advancing her career in study abroad administration. The L.L.C. program helped her to craft an interdisciplinary blueprint for her future career, as her dissertation topic, “The Role of Internships in Enhancing the Cross-Cultural Value of U.S. Study Abroad in Britain,” attests.

De Wit was pleased to find a program that met her unique needs. “To prepare for a career in international education, a degree in education administration wasn’t quite comprehensive enough. The L.L.C. program makes it possible to take classes in languages, education and administration, and at the same time offers exposure to people from all over the world with its multi-cultural enrollment. I’ve learned about other cultures not just from my classes, but from my classmates.”