As the new semester brings fresh energy to campus, UMBC is launching BreakingGround: a campus-wide initiative to deepen and share our innovative approach to democratic engagement.

In a time of widespread skepticism about the capacity of our democracy to respond to society’s needs, UMBC’s work is demonstrating the power of individuals and collaborative groups as agents of meaningful change and renewal. This work is deeply embedded in a campus culture that builds community from diversity and celebrates ingenuity and resourcefulness.

BreakingGround features courses developed to promote civic agency; incentives to link community service projects with opportunities for deep learning and engagement; opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners to collaborate on campus and community change projects; and a blog for sharing stories and launching community discussions.

Visit the BreakingGround website to learn how you can get involved and follow/share the initiative on Twitter through #digUMBC.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the state of Maryland has secured $123 million of federal funding to launch its health insurance exchange, the Maryland Health Connection, where hundreds of thousands of uninsured Marylanders will buy coverage. The Hilltop Institute at UMBC suggests this could cut the number of uninsured Maryland residents by half.

The Sun cites a Hilltop report in noting that “up to 150,000 individuals are expected to sign up for insurance through the Maryland exchange in the first year, and up to 275,000 by 2020.” The article continues, “[the Hilltop] review also found that approximately 101,000 will enroll in Medicaid in the first year and up to 187,275 will receive such coverage by 2020.”

An aggressive campaign to educate uninsured residents about the Maryland Health Connection will launch in January 2013.

The impulse small children have towards creating pictures and stories lies at the center of several new children’s books reviewed by Ellen Handler Spitz, honors college professor of visual arts, in a story entitled “Drawn Out” in the August 23rd edition of The New York Times.

I Gotta Draw, by Bruce Degen, and Dog Loves Drawing by Louise Yates deal with the visual side of children’s imagination, while Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills deals with the written word, with all featuring canine protagonists as they go about letting their imaginations run free, even if it causes them trouble.

Spitz praised all three stories in her review, writing that the books “by example and by counsel, empower young children to engage their fertile imaginations: to mark, to match, to make and to record — to become ever more active constructors of their own inner and outer worlds.”

Political science professor Tom Schaller’s latest column on Salon dealt with the run-up to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay.

“Republican National Convention: The heart of whiteness” was published on August 27th, and discussed what Schaller characterizes as the Republican Party’s efforts to present itself as a party of diversity to the American public while simultaneously having difficulty earning the votes of women and minorities.

Schaller described the approach as “window dressing,” and noted that such actions were unlikely to translate into a “winning coalition” this November. To Schaller, Mitt Romney’s choice of ultra-conservative Paul Ryan as a running mate and the party’s controversial support of voter ID initiatives which could adversely affect the voting rights of low-income and minority voters demonstrate the superficiality of the convention’s public face.

Schaller concluded the piece by writing that “[l]est a moving speech by Marco Rubio or Susana Martinez fool anyone, understand that Mitt Romney and the Republicans are not trying to unify America, broaden their coalition very much, move to the middle, or traffic in anything like the electoral kumbaya practiced by George W. Bush or Barack Obama in their first bids for the White House. Rather, in these anxious economic times, and despite a new cohort of female and minority politicians, Romney and the GOP hope to grind out a narrow win by building outward from their older, white male voter base. Any window dressing you see at this week’s truncated convention is just that.”

Based on his experiences studying and researching abroad in Morocco during the 2011-2012 academic year, Interdisciplinary Studies major Asif Majid ’13 published his first book at the end of the summer.

Written in two parts, This Moroccan Life pairs an original Brechtian play providing social commentary on Morocco with an extended analysis that connects the play to the academic research and personal experiences that influenced the writing of the play. Taken together, the two parts address issues related to Morocco including migration, transnational identity, human rights, gender, harassment, and the Arab Spring.

Supported by two Undergraduate Research Awards, Majid aims to produce the play on campus in concert with URCAD 2013. Paperback copies of the work can be purchased by clicking here while hardcover copies can be purchased by clicking here. Any inquiries should be addressed to publishers Bisaouraha Books at bisaourahabooks@gmail.com.

Four UMBC alums competed in Major League Lacrosse’s Championship Weekend, held at Harvard University Stadium in Boston, Mass.

Attackman Drew Westervelt ’09, economics, is a member of the 2012 champion Chesapeake Bayhawks, while Brendan Mundorf ’06, sociology, Peet Poillon ’10, INDS, and Terry Kimener ’09, American studies, competed for the runner-up Denver Outlaws. All four former Retrievers finished the 2012 season ranked in the top-20 in the MLL scoring race.

Westervelt played for the Denver squad in his first five years in the league. A Third Team All-American for UMBC in 2007, the Bel Air, Md. native tied for 20^th in the league with 33 points and has 209 points (134-69-209) in his six years in MLL.

Mundorf was named 2012 Bud Light MLL Season Most Valuable Player just prior to the championship weekend. He also was named to his second All-MLL Team (2009, 2012) as the attackman finished second in the league with 59 points (32-27-59). Denver’s all-time leading scorer has 206 goals, 100 assists and 306 total points in seven league seasons.

The Mount St. Joseph graduate earned America East Player of the Year honors and All-America citations in 2005 and 2006. He suffered an ankle injury in practice on Friday, did not play in the semifinal victory over Long Island and scored a goal in limited action on Sunday vs. Denver.

Westervelt and Mundorf both represented the victorious United States squad in the 2010 FIL World Championships.

Poillon scored three goals in the Outlaws’ come-from-behind victory over the Lizards, including the game-tying goal early in the fourth quarter. The sharp-shooting midfielder tied for ninth in scoring in 2012 with 40 points (24-13-40) and surpassed the 100-point plateau (75-32-113) in his fifth MLL season in 2012.

The Cranberry Township, Pa. native was a Second Team All-American for UMBC in 2009.

Kimener just completed his most successful of six MLL campaigns, sparking Denver with 17 goals and 18 assists for 36 total points from his midfield position. The Oakton, Va. native earned three All-America citations at UMBC in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

To learn more about the MLL Championship, click here.

This story was first published on the UMBC Athletics site.

Four UMBC alums competed in Major League Lacrosse’s Championship Weekend, held at Harvard University Stadium in Boston, Mass on August 25 and 26, 2012.

Attackman Drew Westervelt is a member of the 2012 champion Chesapeake Bayhawks, while Brendan Mundorf, Peet Poillon and Terry Kimener competed for the runner-up Denver Outlaws. All four former Retrievers finished the 2012 season ranked in the top-20 in the MLL scoring race.

Westervelt played for the Denver squad in his first five years in the league. A Third Team All-American for UMBC in 2007, the Bel Air, Md. native tied for 20th in the league with 33 points and has 209 points (134-69-209) in his six years in MLL.

Mundorf was named 2012 Bud Light MLL Season Most Valuable Player just prior to the championship weekend. He also was named to his second All-MLL Team (2009, 2012) as the attackman finished second in the league with 59 points (32-27-59). Denver’s all-time leading scorer has 206 goals, 100 assists and 306 total points in seven league seasons.

The Mount St. Joseph graduate earned America East Player of the Year honors and All-America citations in 2005 and 2006. He suffered an ankle injury in practice on Friday, did not play in the semifinal victory over Long Island and scored a goal in limited action on Sunday vs. Denver.

Westervelt and Mundorf both represented the victorious United States squad in the 2010 FIL World Championships.

Poillon scored three goals in the Outlaws’ come-from-behind victory over the Lizards, including the game-tying goal early in the fourth quarter. The sharp-shooting midfielder tied for ninth in scoring in 2012 with 40 points (24-13-40) and surpassed the 100-point plateau (75-32-113) in his fifth MLL season in 2012.

The Cranberry Township, Pa. native was a Second Team All-American for UMBC in 2009.

Kimener just completed his most successful of six MLL campaigns, sparking Denver with 17 goals and 18 assists for 36 total points from his midfield position. The Oakton, Va. native earned three All-America citations at UMBC in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Thank you to the alumni volunteers who helped welcome a new class of Retrievers (and move their stuff!) at UMBC’s Move-In Day, August 25. Pictured below (L-R): Corris Davis ’98 of the Meyerhoff Alumni Chapter; Melissa Evans ’07, president of the Chapter of Young Alumni; Bennett Moe ’88, president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; Donnie Downey ’85 of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; and Yvette Mozie-Ross ’88 of the Chapter of Black and Latino Alumni.

See more photos from Move-In Day on UMBC’s Alumni Flickr site.

All-World

A UMBC lacrosse alumnus has been named to the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) All-World team. Brendan Mundorf ’06, sociology, scored two goals against Canada in the FIL championship game, and scored a total of 17 goals in the six-game tournament. Team USA earned the World Lacrosse title.

Mundorf had the fourth most productive freshman season in the history of UMBC’s Division I lacrosse history. He also received All City-County honors from the Baltimore Sun during his senior season.

Drew Westervelt ’09, interdisciplinary studies, who is also a former member of the UMBC lacrosse team, scored 12 goals in six games with Team USA. Westervelt is a Baltimore Sun All Metro selection, and was co-player of the year in Harford County in 2003.

�It’s absolutely fantastic,� said Don Zimmerman, head coach of the men’s lacrosse program. �It is one thing to have one player to represent UMBC on a national team, but have two is extraordinary. I couldn’t ask for two better alums to represent us. When they were here they were leaders. They had great attitudes and worked hard.�

Mundorf and Westervelt, who currently play for the Denver Outlaws, will compete for a Major Lacrosse League title this month.

(8/20/10)

Missouri representative Todd Akin’s claims regarding “legitimate rape” served as the inspiration for political science professor Tom Schaller’s latest column inThe Baltimore Sun.

In “Todd Akin rape claim is just the tip of the GOP wacko iceberg,” published August 21st, Schaller noted that regardless of how offensive and strange the views of the embattled Missouri senatorial candidate are, they are not so atypical when compared with other views held by far right politicians regarding sex, contraception, abortion, feminism, economic policy, climate change and race.

Schaller concluded the column by making note of Akin’s support for repealing the 17th Amendement, which allows for the direct election of candidates to the United States Senate by popular vote:

“If we followed their reckless advice, imagine what cohort of crazy House Republicans might be appointed by their state legislatures to the Senate — the chamber our founders designed to serve as the saucer to cool the hot passions of the House. Or don’t. Just thinking about it may drive you crazy.”