In the News

Members of the UMBC community in print and digital publications.

Men’s Basketball in the Baltimore Sun
A win by the men’s basketball team over New Hampshire on Feb. 23 gave the Retrievers their first regular-season conference championship in UMBC’s 22-year history as a Division I program. The Baltimore Sun recognized the achievement with two articles on Feb. 24, a game story and a separate commentary by sports columnist Rick Maese.
www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/basketball/mens/bal-sp.umbc24feb24,0,5498441.story
www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/basketball/mens/bal-sp.maese24feb24,0,1546742.column
Christopher Corbett, English, in Baltimore Style
In his regular column for Baltimore Style, Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice in English, described a Baltimore spring ritual: the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. “I’d long thought that the circus had outlived its purpose and that it would soon be no more. But after attending it last March, I realize I was wrong. The circus must simply reinvent itself,” Corbett wrote. “Abandon the mangy lion and forsake the plodding elephant. Make man the spectacle.” The column, “The Back Page,” appeared in the March/April issue.
www.baltimorestyle.com/index.php/style/backpage/
Akshay Java, Computer Science/Electrical Engineering Ph.D. Candidate, in Technology Review.com
Akshay Java, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science/electrical engineering, noted that people’s intentions as they share information through social networks center on finding information, sharing information and having conversations. The March/April issue of Technology Review.com, published by MIT, cited Java in its story, “Between Friends.”
www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/20223/page4/
Tom Schaller, Political Science, in the News
Associate Professor of Political Science Tom Schaller’s latest column in the Baltimore Sun is critical of how Hillary Clinton and her staff have managed her presidential campaign. Schaller wrote that “through a long and growing list of blunders, slights and nefarious maneuvers, Mrs. Clinton has forfeited her right to any remaining benefit of the doubt from Democratic voters.” The column, “Clinton Squanders Support with Inept, Unseemly Campaign,” ran on Feb. 27.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.schaller27feb27,0,2737862.column
Schaller told the Boston Globe that if Clinton or Barack Obama commits to a vice-presidential running mate before the Democratic convention, it could be seen as a desperate attempt to grab delegates. The story, “Risky Strategy that Doomed Reagan in ’76 Could Boost Democrats,” appeared on Feb. 24.
www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/24/risky_strategy_that_doomed_reagan_in_76_could_boost_democrats/?page=1
The Washington Post political blog assessed Obama’s ability to win in conservative “red” states. Schaller said it is “tempting to think that Southern states will be competitive, thanks to a very motivated African-American base.” However, he added that recent electoral history in the South suggested that the higher the black percentage in the state, the higher the percentage George Bush won in 2000 and 2004. Schaller’s comments appeared in the blog (undated), “The Fix.”
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/02/obama_and_red_states.html
John Rennie Short, Public Policy, in Miller-McCune.com
Many “first suburbs,” built during and after World War II, now suffer from old age and neglect. “The suburban inner ring falls between the cracks,” John Rennie Short, professor of public policy, told Miller-McCune.com of the Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy. “It doesn’t have development interests, it doesn’t have obvious minority groups, it doesn’t have a big-city political machine. It’s almost like a silent crisis.” Alumnus Tom Vicino, Ph.D. public policy ’06, was also cited.
http://miller-mccune.com/main/article/175
Manil Suri, Mathematics, in the New York Times Book Review and New Yorker
The New York Times Book Review reviewed the novel The Age of Shiva, written by Manil Suri, professor of mathematics and statistics. “Suri, who was born in Bombay and moved to the United States when he was 20, is fearless in imagining a passionate, confused and not always admirable woman. That striking creation, and his refusal to give in to any hint of the didactic or the predictable, affirms his position as a writer worth serious attention,” the review noted. The article, “A Fire in the Heart,” appeared on Feb. 24.
www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/books/review/James-t.html?ex=1204606800&en=b0a96bcf78cae180&ei=5070&emc=eta1
The Age of Shiva also was featured in the “Briefly Noted” section of the Mar. 3 issue of the New Yorker.
www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/brieflynoted/2008/03/03/080303crbn_brieflynoted2
Bill Thomas, Erickson School, in the Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun profiled the Green House project, a ground-breaking initiative in elder care developed by Bill Thomas, professor of aging in the Erickson School. “That might seem strange for a doctor to say that love comes first, then comes medicine. But if you really want to make a difference in people’s lives, love has to come first.” The story, “Not a Nursing Home, but a Nurturing Home,” appeared on Feb. 24.
www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.greenhouse24feb24,0,7538025.story
Jessy Warner-Cohen, Psychology Ph.D. Candidate, in the Chronicle of Higher Education
Jessy Warner-Cohen, president of the Graduate Student Association and a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology, said many UMBC graduate students oppose unionization despite support for it among graduate students at other Maryland public universities. The Chronicle of Higher Education noted her testimony earlier this month before the Maryland House of Delegates Appropriations Committee. “We are worried about what could happen to our campus,” she said. “We’ve been talking to some of our delegates, and we’ve just been seeing how things are going.” The article, “Maryland Bills Would Hand Labor Rights to TA’s, Adjuncts,” appeared in the Feb. 29 issue.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i25/25a00103.htm (subscribers only)