Mitch Case ’11, media & communication studies, and current UMBC junior Caitlyn Leiter-Mason, a Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar majoring in Gender & Women’s Studies and Political Science, are blogging about their experiences as delegates to the Democratic National Convention this week in Charlotte, NC.

Their shared blog, A Tale of Two Delegates, follows their adventures as delegates for President Obama representing Maryland’s 6th and 7th districts (Leiter-Mason and Case, respectively).

Leiter-Mason is the current president of UMBC College Democrats, and Case served as president when he attended UMBC.

Read more at UMBC’s BreakingGround site. BreakingGround is at the forefront of a vibrant, new movement toward increased campus and community engagement—a movement that is now gaining ground nationally. In early 2012, two widely heralded reports called on higher education to play a central role in renewing American democracy and preparing citizens to tackle the challenges of our age.

John Rennie Short, professor of public policy at UMBC and expert on urban and environmental issues and political geography, has published the first general history of Korea as seen through maps. Korea: A Cartographic History, from the University of Chicago Press, provides a visually stunning introduction to how Korea has been represented through maps over the last 600 years. The book description reads:

A common theme running throughout Short’s study is how the global flow of knowledge and ideas affects mapmaking, and Short reveals how Korean mapmakers throughout history have embodied, reflected, and even contested these foreign depictions of their homeland.

Reviewers call the book “superb” and “masterful.” Laura Hostetler (University of Illinois at Chicago) writes, “Both a history of cartography and a cartographic history, John Rennie Short’s highly readable and beautifully illustrated book recounts the absorbing story of Korea’s integration into global space with accuracy and aplomb.”

An article in today’s Baltimore Sun explores the Maryland GOP’s efforts to have a greater impact in the Democratic-leaning state. One aspect of this work could be capitalizing on an open seat for governor and a potentially messy Democratic primary in 2014 by remaining unified behind a single GOP gubernatorial candidate.

“They can hope for a disorganized Democratic Party and fuel that dissension,” UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller told the Sun. This could “put them in a position to be there like a trapeze to catch the governor’s race if it drops.”

During his speech accepting the GOP vice presidential nomination, Paul Ryan used strong language blaming President Obama for the unraveling of the bipartisan Bowles-Simpson Commission, created to develop a policy strategy for fiscal sustainability. Ryan remarked, “He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.”

PolitiFact asked a number of experts, including UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers, for their take on Ryan’s remarks. “‘They?’ ‘Them?’ Why didn’t he say, ‘us?’” wrote Meyers. “It’s beyond hypocritical. It’s repeatedly and cynically dishonest.”

Experts from the American Enterprise Institute and Taxpayers for Common Sense agreed. They cited Ryan’s failure to mention that he served on the commission and personally voted against the group’s proposal, which ultimately did not receive enough “yes” votes to be sent to Congress for action.

On Thursday, September 13 at 8:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall, clarinetist Richard Spece and pianist Nancy Beith join forces to present a program featuring:

• Five Bagatelles, Op. 23, by Gerald Finzi
• Concertino by Giuseppe Tartini (arranged by Gordon Jacob)
• Clarinet Sonata No. 1, Op. 120, by Johannes Brahms
• Duo Concertant pour Clarinette et Piano by Darius Milhaud

Richard Spece regularly performs on modern and historical clarinets around the country and has several recordings available on Crystal Records. He has been a featured performer on the Smithsonian Recital Series in Washington, D.C., Music in the Mansion Series at the Strathmore in Maryland, Alexander Paley Festival in Virginia, Mozart Society of California Chamber Music Series, the Instituto de la Cultura Festival in Mexico, Cascade Music Festival, Capitol Hill Chamber Music Festival, Garth Newel Chamber Festival, the Embassy Series in Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art Chamber Series, and the Festival of Sacred Music in New York City. His teachers included Stan Stanford, William McColl, James Campbell, Alfred Prinz, and Howard Klug. Mr. Spece is a Selmer Concert Artist.

Nancy Beith has been on the music faculty at UMBC since 1980, serving as academic advisor for the department, pianist for both the Camerata and Opera Workshop, and coordinator of the class piano program. She taught for many years in the Preparatory Division of Hood College in Frederick. As a collaborative pianist, Ms. Beith has worked with many area musicians in recital and chamber performances. She has adjudicated piano competitions for Maryland State Music Teachers Association and has been pianist for the International Trombone Workshop in Nashville. Currently she is a pianist for Holy Family Catholic Community in Middletown, Maryland, and the Maryland State Boychoir in Baltimore. Ms. Beith received degrees from Syracuse University and the Peabody Institute. She also studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Westminster Choir College in Princeton.

$7 general admission, $3 seniors, free for students, free with a UMBC ID. Tickets will be available at the door. Presented by the Department of Music.

Eric Zeemering, assistant professor of public policy at UMBC, has been named this year’s recipient of both the Clarence Stone Young Scholar Award and the Norton Long Developing Scholar Award from the Urban section of the American Political Science Association, in recognition of his scholarship, teaching and public service. Zeemering’s work focuses on public management, intergovernmental relations and urban policy. His research has appeared in journals including Public Administration Review and Urban Affairs Review.

Social Movements and the New State: The Fate of Pro-Democracy Organizations When Democracy Is Won, from Stanford University Press, is the latest book by Brian K. Grodsky, associate professor of political science at UMBC. Reviewers have called it “exceptionally rich” and “theoretically innovative.” The book description reads:

The world’s democracies cheered as the social movements of the Arab Spring ended the reigns of longstanding dictators and ushered in the possibility of democracy. Yet these unique transitions also fit into a broader pattern of democratic breakthroughs around the globe, where political leaders emerge from the pro-democracy movement that helped affect change. In Social Movements and the New State, Brian Grodsky examines the relationships between new political elites and the civil society organizations that brought them to power in three culturally and geographically disparate countries—Poland, South Africa, and Georgia.This book argues that the identities and personal networks developed during the struggle provide “movement activists” with opportunities to influence minor issues, but that new and differing institutional pressures create schisms on broader policy that can turn prior bonds into a liability rather than an asset. Drawing on media analyses and more than 150 elite interviews, Grodsky offers a rare empirical assessment of the degree to which social movement organizations shape activists’ beliefs and actions over the long term.

Chuck Milligan, former executive director of The Hilltop Institute at UMBC and current Maryland Medicaid director, just published a featured post on blog Health Affairs titled, “Expanding Medicaid: The Smart Decision For Maryland.”

The post cites Hilltop’s analysis to explain the economic benefit that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will provide to states and why these findings support Maryland’s decision to expand Medicaid and fully implement the ACA. It also directs readers Hilltop’s Maryland Health Care Reform Simulation reports (1, 2).

Health Affairs is a leading health policy journal and this post illustrates how Hilltop’s work is directly informing U.S. health policy.

Maryland Natural Resources Police are investigating an incident where Republican Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. reportedly drunkenly piloted a speedboat that collided with another vessel and sent six people to the hospital last week. The fallout? “It is possible that this is the end of his political career,” Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, told the Baltimore Sun.

Norris said, of Dwyer, “He comes from a very conservative constituency” that is not likely to overlook the incident. It could take weeks before authorities conclude the investigation. In addition to facing misdemeanor or felony charges, Dwyer could also face a civil suit from those who were injured.

Emerald Christopher has been selected as one of WREI’s 2013 Congressional Fellows on Women and Public Policy. “The Women’s Research & Education Institute (WREI) is an independent, public policy research and information center whose mission is to inform and help shape the public policy debate on issues affecting women and their roles in the family, the workplace, the classroom, the military, and the public arena.

The WREI Congressional Fellowship on Women and Public Policy is designed to train potential leaders in public policy formation to examine issues from the perspective, experiences, and needs of women. Administered by WREI, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, organization located in Washington, DC, this program is unique – the only fellowship program on Capitol Hill directly by, for, and about women.

Congratulations Emerald!

A WREI fellow works in a Congressional office as a legislative aide on policy issues affecting women. Fellows meet weekly for issue seminars directed by the WREI staff. Fellows are selected on the basis of academic competence as well as demonstrated interest in the public policy process. They must be articulate and adaptable and have strong writing skills” (WREI Fellows Brochure, 2013, web).