Tracy Tucker ’00 is a special assistant to Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

“A Political Insider”

History and political science major Tracy Tucker ’00 understands the value of the internships and connections that an honors university can provide. A Humanities Scholar, Tucker participated in UMBC’s Legislative Affairs Internship Program, interning with Maryland State Senator Thomas Middleton. “It was exciting to have such an insider’s view of how our state government works,” she says.

Tucker was also one of only 20 students throughout Maryland chosen to participate in the Governor’s Summer Internship Program, coordinated by UMBC’s Shriver Center. She interned with Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s office, an experience which led to her current position as a special assistant to the lieutenant governor.

 
Manil Suri, a professor of mathematics, has received national and international acclaim for his first novel, The Death of Vishnu.

“Death” Sparks a Writer’s Life
 

For UMBC mathematics professor Manil Suri, it was a publishing debut that brought him attention in a host of national newspapers and magazines, including The New Yorker, Time, the Wall Street Journal, and the front page of The New York Times Book Review. There was also a book tour that took him across the United States and back to his native India, where the audience included many members of his family. There are 19 editions of his book worldwide that have appeared or will appear in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in translation in a host of countries in Europe as well as in India, Israel, Turkey, and Japan.

All this hoopla was not about Suri’s work in the numerical analysis of partial differential equations–his area of research expertise. It was the publication of his first novel, The Death of Vishnu, that set the critics ablaze. In a plot that weaves the stories of the apartment dwellers who come upon Vishnu, the building’s handyman, dying on the stair landing, Suri constructs a microcosm of Indian society that is both rich and comic. To read more, visit www.manilsuri.com.
 

 
English Department Chair Jim McKusick’s new anthology Literature and Nature: Four Centuries of Nature Writing, combines his passion for nature with his love of literature.

“Green Writing”
 

It seems only natural that Jim McKusick would find a way to bring together his passion for nature with his love of literature. His achievement can be found in two new books exploring the emerging field of “ecological literary criticism.”

“I’ve been fascinated by the outdoors and the environment since I was a kid,” explains McKusick, chair of UMBC’s English department. “It’s deep in my blood.” As a teenager, he hiked 1,000 miles of the northeast section of the Appalachian Trail, and in subsequent summers, he trekked hundreds of miles of the Sierra Nevada and Pacific Crest trails, as well as led wilderness canoe trips. (“I have a special fondness for swamps,” he admits.) While a student at Dartmouth College, he began mountain climbing, conquering peaks in the Himalayas and Peru.

At the same time, he found his professional voice in literature, most specifically English poetry of the Romantic period, in which he discovered echoes of his own fascination with the natural world and sources that deeply influenced American writers such as Emerson, Thoreau, and John Muir, laying the foundation for the modern environmental movement.

In his newly published anthology Literature and Nature: Four Centuries of Nature Writing, co-edited with Bridget Keegan, McKusick presents a banquet of literary selections–in all genres (poetry, plays, novels, and essays), written by men and women of all races, social classes, and nationalities. His second publication, Green Writing: Romanticism and Ecology, a deeper, more focused treatise on the influence of the English Romantics, took McKusick out into the field, to his great delight. “If you’re going to understand a writer, I think you have to be deeply attuned to their geographical place,” he says.

 
UMBC student Andy Lufburrow, founder and CEO of Digimo, runs his company from UMBC’s Technology Center.

“Growing a Company on Campus”
 

Like many UMBC students, Andy Lufburrow has a job that earns him money and keeps him busy between classes. But Lufburrow’s work is not your usual off-campus employment. He’s the founder and CEO of his own company, Digimo, a web-development firm with a client base of major corporations and headquarters in the UMBC Technology Center. At least it’s an easy commute from work to class.

As a freshman, Lufburrow presented his business plan to the UMBC Technology Center and became the first student entrepreneur to set up shop in the center’s high-tech incubator program. It wasn’t just the economical office space that Lufburrow found attractive about the incubator environment–it was the advice, mentoring, and exposure that the Tech Center could provide. His advisory board includes respected members of the information technology industry as well as the University, and they have opened doors–to clients and to venture capital–for the fledgling firm. And Digimo’s employee base expanded from immediate family and friends to the enormous talent pool of UMBC students. In fact, tapping the creative and technical potential of student employees has become one of Digimo’s prime selling points–it offers clients fresh, eager, young talent to tackle their Internet needs, as well as providing a source for highly trained future employees.

For UMBC students, Digimo offers a tremendous opportunity to learn cutting-edge skills in a real-world business setting. It takes juggling to balance work and academics, but Lufburrow is a good role model.

 
The crew of Aquarius, the nation’s equivalent of an underwater space shuttle, studied how mantis shrimp communicate and see. Research findings were published in the journal Nature.

“UMBC�s ‘Aquamen’ Return From
Undersea Adventure“
 

UMBC�s own aquamen, biological sciences professor Tom Cronin and graduate student Alex Cheroske, have returned from an undersea adventure as part of the crew of Aquarius, the nation�s equivalent of an underwater space shuttle. The two represented UMBC as part of an eleven-member team studying the unique vision and behavior of marine life off the Florida Keys.

For Cronin, the director of UMBC�s Marine-Estuarine and Environmental Sciences (MEES) graduate program, it was another mission in a long career of underwater exploration around the globe and the continuation of ongoing research.

Cronin led a 1999 Aquarius mission, but this time he stuck to the surface team, giving up his underwater spot to the younger Cheroske, effectively passing the torch of UMBC�s small but talented MEES department to a new generation.

Cheroske and Cronin studied how the fast and powerful mantis shrimp communicate and see. Cronin�s research findings on the animal�s unique, tunable color vision system were recently published in the distinguished journal Nature.

At a depth of 63 feet in a sand patch off the Florida Keys, Aquarius is roughly the size of a large Winnebago and features all the comforts of home: six bunks, a shower and toilet, instant hot water, a microwave, trash compactor, a refrigerator, air conditioning and computers linked to shore by wireless telemetry.

There are more adventures ahead for UMBC�s aquamen: Cronin will soon head off for 10 days of underwater research in the Red Sea off the coast of Israel, and then head to Australia. There, Cheroske will join him for further study of marine animal vision and polarization signaling in a shallow reef ecosystem.

Read more about the Aquarius project in Insights. 
 

 
Karin Readel’s course “Water: an Interdisciplinary Study” introduces students of all majors to science and field research.

“An Interdisciplinary Approach to Science”
 

Hundreds of UMBC undergraduates are fulfilling their laboratory science requirement by getting their feet wet. They are enrolling in Water: An Interdisciplinary Study, a hands-on lab and lecture course that uses the theme of water to explore the process of science. The course, created by Karin Readel, a lecturer in UMBC’s interdisciplinary science program, allows students to work together in small groups to design experiments and analyze results, using the campus as an outdoor ecological laboratory. Student projects have included water analysis of the library pond, the Pig Pen Pond, and the Herbert Run stream on campus, and the course brings together the fields of biology, chemistry, earth sciences, and physics to focus on real-world investigations of water.

The course, which Readel designed for non-science majors (meeting the State of Maryland’s requirement that all students complete a laboratory science course) is proving wildly popular, with more than 400 students signing up each year to get their sneakers soaked.

 
Matthew Levy ’00, was part of an emergency response team that spent 10 days in NY, assisting in the relief efforts following 9/11.

“A Rescue Worker’s Chronicle”
 

Matthew Levy was one of the few people rushing towards New York on the morning of September 11.

A program manager in UMBC’s Emergency Health Services Program and 2000 graduate of UMBC, Levy is responsible for the online training of disaster medical response teams across the nation. On September 11, though, he was called upon not to train, but to serve.

In addition to his duties in the EHS program, Levy is a clinical paramedic and a member of the New Jersey-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team — a group of health-care providers trained and equipped to quickly deploy and set up self-sufficient hospitals at disaster sites.

Levy and the rest of his team, the first federal-level disaster medical assistance group on the scene, arrived at “Ground Zero” at 2 a.m. on September 12 and immediately got to work.

Levy chronicled his experiences in a photoessay, included below.

Reflections on Responding to the World Trade Center Disaster
By Matthew Levy, BS, NREMT-P
Department of Emergency Health Services
New Jersey-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team
National Disaster Medical System

On September 11, I awoke to a day that no one will soon forget. I had fallen asleep about 7 a.m., after working as a paramedic the night before. At about 8:30 a.m. I received a frantic phone call from a friend telling me to turn on the television.

Photo by: Anthony Cascio

After realizing the magnitude of this event I grabbed my disaster gear from the closet and was on my way to Ft. Dix, New Jersey, where the New Jersey-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team is based. Approximately three hours later I arrived at Fort Dix where I found fellow team members. We began readying our U.S. Public Health Service cache of equipment, which includes a field hospital capable of being self sufficient for up to 72 hours.

Not long after, the team was ready to deploy. Because of the massive mobilization effort of all response agencies, not enough vehicle operators were present to move the team and all the equipment. Somehow I ended up driving the bus that we used to move the team. Driving the bus wasn�t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. 

Our team was the first federal level disaster medical assistance team to arrive in Manhattan. It was initially thought that we would get to work, supporting a field hospital, and caring for the injured. By Wednesday, September 12, it was determined that due to the lack of survivors a field hospital was not needed. As a result, we were re-deployed to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, where the federal resources were staged. A C-130 hanger became home until our mission details were finalized. 

My mission assignment was to deploy to �ground zero� along with a six-member logistics task force to provide support to the mortuary operation (DMORT) going on. We were to set up two of the tents that we would normally use as a part of the field hospital. These tents would be used to house the on-scene morgue operations. 

Once the tents were set up, we established a rotating shift schedule to ensure that our personnel were present to resolve any emergent logistical issues.

Other members of the team who were not involved in the morgue operation functioned at several other locations throughout the disaster area, providing medical treatment to the rescuer workers involved in the operation. 

Everywhere around us, we were constantly reminded of the tragedy that had occurred and the humanity that had prevailed. 

Equal, if not greater, in magnitude of emotion was the sense of unity, camaraderie and dedication to each other that we would get through this difficult time.

Neither these words nor pictures can do justice in showing the horror we witnessed.

I will never forget responding to World Trade Center bombing. My experiences have helped remind me how fragile life is, and how close a society can pull together in time of need.

 All photos by Matthew Levy, except where noted.

 
UMBC students, faculty and staff from the BCURE project participated in the October 13 Race for the Cure in support of breast cancer education and research .

“Fighting Breast Cancer
in the Lab and on the Street”
 

While many college students her age spent their summer folding shirts at the Gap or waiting tables, UMBC student Erika Danna spent her break studying the blood, spleen cells, and immune systems of lab mice as part of the fight against a killer. Meanwhile, Greg Small made the daily commute to the University of Maryland, Baltimore to investigate how cells nurture blood vessel formation in tumors and John Jackson spent long summer days at UMBC examining enzymes that could be used to attack tumor growth.

Danna, Small, and Jackson are part of a group of future scientists getting hands-on experience fighting breast cancer in the laboratory through the BCURE, or Breast Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience, Program at UMBC. BCURE is funded by the Department of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. The Program is directed by UMBC’s Biological Sciences department under the leadership and guidance of award-winning professor and cancer researcher Dr. Suzanne Rosenberg and her colleagues at UMBC and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

This summer, eight BCURE Trainees learned real world research skills through training internships with leading area cancer researchers and stipends supported by DOD and UMBC. From the basic vocabulary of cancer to the fine art of presenting research, these undergraduates have blossomed into budding researchers. Some students continue to get their lab coats dirty, part-time, through this academic year to make significant contributions in the research labs of their mentors. Their research experiences will culminate this spring when the BCURE Trainees present their research projects during the first UMBC Breast Cancer Research Day.

As part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Week in October, these three BCURE  Trainees took the fight to the streets of Baltimore in Oct. 13�s Maryland Race for the Cure to support breast cancer education and research through the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  Danna, Small and Jackson were joined by Dr. Rosenberg and BCURE Program Coordinator Kathy Sutphin for the 5K walk. The BCURE team donned custom T-shirts, met at sunrise, and proceeded to PSINet Stadium to join thousands of Marylanders in the fight against breast cancer. The group raised donations and broadened their awareness of the women and their families devastated by this deadly disease.

 
Tasch’s patented invention may save the dairy and horse industries hundreds of millions of dollars each year. 

“Early Detection in the Field”
  

It’s hard to know if a horse or cow is lame � unlike humans, they don’t complain incessantly about the aches in their limbs � but not knowing is and can be very expensive. Professor of mechanical engineering Uri Tasch has invented a diagnostic device that promises to save animals from pain and their owners from huge veterinary bills.

Tasch estimates that the Maryland dairy industry loses close to $500 million a year to livestock lameness, caused by infection, arthritis, or injury, and the state’s horse racing and breeding industry loses millions more. Nationwide, and even internationally, there are billions of dollars a year at stake.

Tasch’s patented invention promises early detection of lameness: Using a sensitive scale, video camera, and computerized instruments, the device measures the force and duration of the animal’s steps, factors in its weight, and can automatically pinpoint which leg might be causing problems.

Negotiations with corporations interested in licensing Tach’s technology are under way, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recognizing the device’s importance, has helped support Tasch’s research.

 
Anne Rubin was the first-ever recipient of the e-Lincoln Prize, honoring scholarly work in new media.

“UMBC Historian Wins First-Ever e-Lincoln Prize”
  

In Anne Rubin’s office sits a plaster bust of Abraham Lincoln, sporting sunglasses, a plastic bead necklace, and a UMBC cap on his head. The bust, a congratulatory gift from one of her students, is a humorous reminder of an extraordinary accomplishment: This winter Rubin, an assistant professor of history in her first year on the UMBC faculty, was awarded one of the most prestigious prizes in her field, the Lincoln Prize, for scholarly work in Civil War-era history.

Lincoln’s hip attire is also appropriate, as Rubin’s work, Valley of the Shadow: The Eve of War, an innovative website and CD-ROM, won the first-ever e-Lincoln Prize, honoring scholarly work in new media.

Valley of the Shadow is a richly detailed portrait of antebellum life in two rural communities, one in Pennsylvania, the other in Virginia. Rubin joined the project’s staff while a graduate student at the University of Virginia. The original concept of the project, begun by Rubin’s advisor Edward Ayers in the early 1990s, was to produce a traditional scholarly book, but “this is a case where technology caught up with what we wanted to do,” explains Rubin. Combining the power and flexibility of the new digital formats with the depth and detail of primary documents, Valley of the Shadow brings the communities vividly to life, and allows visitors to work with the historian’s tools, including a trove of original letters, diaries, census data, business and military records, even newspaper articles and contemporary music.

As project manager for several years, Rubin supervised the staff’s digging for historical nuggets in the field (tucked away in libraries, tiny historical societies, and house attics) and then oversaw the translation of these documents into digital format. To view the website, visit valley.vcdh.virginia.edu.