For many of us, a 30th birthday celebration means balloons, presents and parties with friends and family. For Maaden “Madie” Eshete ’07, biological sciences, however, the milestone birthday will also mean a lasting change for hundreds of rural Ethiopians without access to clean water.

A first-generation Ethiopian-American, Eshete is nearing the end of a giving campaign to raise $10,000 for charity:water, which aims to help an estimated 800 million people worldwide without access to clean water by providing freshwater wells, rainwater catchments, sand filters and other lasting solutions.

We talked with Eshete, who is a digital communications manager for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and co-founder of Divas – MPH Making Our People Healthier, as her March 31st birthday approaches about what drove her to donate her birthday to benefit others. See her fundraising page here.

Q:  What inspired you to raise money for your 30th birthday, and what do you hope to see come of it?

A:  I love my birthday. Always have! And since everyone was making such a big deal out of the “BIG 3-0” I began to look at it as an opportunity to bring some attention to an issue that I really cared about. I am a first generation Ethiopian-American, so raising awareness around the world water crisis and impacting that crisis in rural Ethiopia was a natural fit.

Q: Is this project a first for you?

A:  Yes and no. I gave up my Christmas presents a few years ago, which funded a water project in part, and I’ve donated to charity: water on several occasion in the past. But this is my first time “giving up” my beloved birthday. This is also my first time raising enough money to fund a complete water project – $10, 000 USD.

Q:  Can people continue to donate to your campaign past your birthday?

A:  The campaign period only last 90 days. I started on New Year’s Day 2013, so it ends at midnight on March 31st. But no worries, because I plan to facilitate regular campaigns through charity: water so there will be more to come.

Q:  You’re a health educator…so how does your work tie in with your birthday project? And what do you like best about your work?

A:  We take it for granted but water changes is everything. With that in mind, I care about water for the same reasons I care about health. Clean water impacts not just sanitation or hydration, but it means relief from water borne illness and decreased infant mortality, it means time spent in classrooms for young girls and not out fetching water for hours on end, and the project means jobs for local community members. Health, education, occupation are all intertwined in how they impact our communities and water is integral to that at a very basic level.

Q:  Do you have any favorite pieces of UMBC (classes, clubs or profs, for instance) that helped you become who you are today?

A:  Mr. (Lamont) Toliver, who worked in the Meyerhoff Scholarship office, and passed away suddenly last year was my dear friend, mentor, and brother. I worked in the scholarship office as a student aide my sophomore and junior years — and he treated me just like he did the scholars — inviting me to events and lectures, letting me know abut opportunities to apply for, helping me out of trouble with my classes, writing me recommendations, and even introducing me to his contacts when I graduated. We kept in touch regularly up until his passing, if I ever visited UMBC I always stopped in Mr. T’s office. He has been a huge motivation and my fondest memory from UMBC.

“Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters” by Kate Brown, associates professor of history, was recently reviewed by Nature.

“A multitude of…harrowing accounts fills the pages of Plutopia, a ‘hidden history’ of two communities — one American, one Soviet — that fuelled the nuclear arms race. Unusually, historian Kate Brown inter­viewed dozens of frontline workers for her meticulously researched account of how these two remote towns became indelibly linked by plutonium, and by catastrophic radioactive contamination,” the reviewer writes.

“Plutopia has important messages for those managing today’s nuclear facilities, arguing for caution and transparency,” the magazine concludes.

The full review can be read here.

Amy Froide, associate professor of history, has been elected President of the Middle Atlantic Conference on British Studies (MACBS).

The MACBS is the Mid-Atlantic regional affiliate of the North American Conference on British Studies, which is a scholarly society dedicated to all aspects of the study of British civilization. The NACBS sponsors a scholarly journal, the Journal of British Studies, online publications, an annual conference, as well as several academic prizes, graduate fellowships, and undergraduate essay contests.  The MACBS annual conference will be held at Lehman College of the City University of New York on March 23-24, 2013.

Sigma Phi Omega (SPO) is the national academic honor society in gerontology, for professionals who work with or on behalf of older persons. The UMBC chapter of SPO, Delta Lambda, has been tremendously active this year with volunteer activities, nurturing an ongoing relationship with Catholic Charities of Maryland, specifically two independent senior living apartment buildings near UMBC: DePaul House and St. Joachim House.

Delta Lambda has been assisting Congregate Housing Services (CHS) with a project to interview residents about their personal journeys coming to live at DePaul and St. Joachim, as well as their experiences utilizing the CHS program. These stories help to personalize the CHS program, which facilitates continued program funding at the local and state levels. Member Jennifer Howard-Doering has also led weekly computer classes for residents, helping the seniors learn to use email and other online tools.

Finally, Delta Lambda hosted a festive St. Patrick’s Day party for residents in mid-March (see photos) and is planning an annual Senior Prom and summer barbeque.

To learn more about this work, contact Delta Lambda at dlspoumbc@googlegroups.com. Thanks to this tremendous group of gerontology students for giving back to our senior community!

Several faculty members and alumni were awarded Individual Artist Awards by the Maryland State Art Council this month. The Maryland Art Council Individual Artist Awards are monetary prizes given to a select group of artists each year. This year the Maryland Art Council welcomed applications from artists working in fiction, painting, media/digital/electronic arts, solo theatrical performance and works on paper. Recipients in the media/digital/electronic arts category include:

• Kelley Bell ’06, MFA IMDA, Assistant Professor, Visual Arts
• Carrie Fucile, Adjunct faculty, Visual Arts
• Agnes Moon ’09, MFA IMDA
• Phil Davis ’07, MFA IMDA
• Christine Ferrera ’10, MFA IMDA

Recipients in the works on paper category include:

• Lisa Moren, Associate Professor, Visual Arts
• Leslie Shellow, Adjunct faculty, Visual Arts
• Gary Kachadourian ’12, MFA IMDA

The Maryland State Arts Council will host an event honoring the awardees in May. Congratulations to all!

Several faculty members and alumni were awarded Individual Artist Awards by the Maryland State Arts Council this month.

The Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards are monetary prizes given to a select group of artists each year. This year the Maryland Art Council welcomed applications from artists working in fiction, painting, media/digital/electronic arts, solo theatrical performance and works on paper. Recipients in the media/digital/electronic arts category include:

• Kelley Bell ’06, MFA IMDA, Assistant Professor, Visual Arts
• Carrie Fucile, Adjunct faculty, Visual Arts
• Agnes Moon ’99, MFA IMDA
• Phil Davis ’07, MFA IMDA
• Christine Ferrera ’10, MFA IMDA

Recipients in the works on paper category include:

• Lisa Moren, Associate Professor, Visual Arts
• Leslie Shellow, Adjunct faculty, Visual Arts
• Gary Kachadourian ’12, MFA IMDA

The Maryland State Arts Council will host an event honoring the awardees in May.

Congratulations to all!

Manil Suri, professor of mathematics, was a guest on the Marc Steiner show on March 14 to discuss his new book “The City of Devi.”

Steiner asked Suri how he reconciles his background in mathematics with the spiritual themes that run through his books, which feature Hindu deities.

“There’s a lot of contrast. On the one hand, I’m very enamored by these ideas from spirituality and almost mysticism,” “But on the other hand, the logical part of me says, ‘hey, wait a minute, that’s not really what’s happening.’”

The full segment can be heard here.

Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon will kick off the Associated Black Charities’ speaker series next month, sparking speculation of a possible return to politics. “This is the year I’m going to decide,” Dixon told the Baltimore Sun, of her desire to run for office again after having completed probation following her 2009 embezzlement conviction. “I’m not going to hide the fact that I enjoyed what I was doing during my 27 years in public office.”

Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, told the Sun that the substance of Dixon’s talk might signal, more definitively, her interest in returning to elective politics. “I would be listening for some indication that she is repentant for what happened,” Norris said, “and recognition that she’d made some mistakes.”

Although Dixon still has some supporters in Baltimore, Norris noted that if the city’s voters were to return Dixon to public office, “It would say to the outside world that a corrupt elected official can spend a little time away and get re-elected.” He concluded, “That’s not an image Baltimore wants, or that any city needs.”

On Saturday, April 20, the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum will unveil a wax figure of Freeman Hrabowski during a ceremony at Morgan State University.  The figure is part of a salute to educators, and Hrabowski’s likeness will be joined by figures of Mary Jane McLeod Bethune, the founder of Bethune-Cookman University and the National Council of Negro Women; Benjamin Mays, the former president of Morehouse College; and Benjamin Quarles, the former chair of the history department at Morgan State University.

For more information about the event, including information on ordering tickets click here.

The UMBC English department’s composition course redesign was recently profiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

“In an age when many educators are promoting active learning by “flipping” classrooms, instructors here are rotating them instead. In a novel twist, they are providing composition instruction in three distinct venues.

Previously the classes, of 24 students each, met twice a week in a classroom for 75-minute sessions. The instruction was lecture-based, with time allotted for small-group activities.

Now each section, of two dozen students, meets as a group only once a week. On the other day of class, a dozen students gather in the university’s new writing lab, where they work on short assignments or revisions, guided by a trained undergraduate writing tutor. Meanwhile, the other 12 meet four at a time with their instructor. The schedule rotates so all students have a regular small-group meeting every other week,” the Chronicle reports.

The full story can be read here.