UMBC professor Donald Norris, chair of public policy, appeared on WJZ (CBS Baltimore) last night, commenting on Republican Nancy Jacobs’s campaign for the Congressional seat Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger has held since 2003. “It’s very, very hard to beat an incumbent, and I think it’s going to be very hard for anyone–Nancy Jacobs or whomever–to beat Dutch Ruppersberger,” Norris explained. He argued current public sentiment about politics may not be positive, but “it’s less an anti-incumbency mood than it is an anti-Washington, anti-Congress mood.”

Norris also commented in the Gazette on the possibility of state referendums on same-sex marriage and the Dream Act on the same ballot in 2012, suggesting that could benefit supporters of both issues more than opponents.

Robert Deluty, associate dean of the graduate school, has published a new book of poetry, “A Scratch On The Wall.”
In his review, Ronald Pies writes: “Robert Deluty’s latest collection takes its cue from William Faulkner’s observation that the writer ‘wants to leave a scratch on [the] wall… that somebody a hundred, or a thousand years later will see.’ Indeed, whether it is the ‘renowned scientist/ requesting to be buried/ holding his reprints’ or ‘the frightened man/ wishing he could be bold/ outside his dreams,’ Deluty’s memorable poetic characters often embody the deep desire to ‘leave a scratch’ on the wall of immortality. As a writer and poet more aware of life’s brevity than most, Deluty has already left much more than a ‘scratch’ on that wall. His gemlike poems inscribe both our darkest fears and fondest hopes—and do so with humor and empathy for the human predicament.”

Copies of “A Scratch On The Wall,” as well as of Deluty’s other books, are on sale at the UMBC Bookstore.

While a student at UMBC, Hasina Jamal Stearns ’09, computer engineering, founded the publishing company Fred & Barrel, Inc.  Now, the company’s first book, Guy, a philosophical play by Cinna, is available in the UMBC bookstore. Stearns is the editor-in-chief and illustrator.

Guy—a hybrid novel, play, and movie script—tells the story of Guy, a tall handsome tennis player who thinks deeply about mankind and life. At least, he does in the first act. He would continue to ruminate about such things if he weren’t so swamped with homework and projects. He spends most of his time in an old children’s insane asylum, which is now being used as a studio and research center by architecture students. One day, he decides not to return to campus and instead opts let his whim take him to wherever he is destined.

Other UMBC alumni contributed to the book: Truc Nguyen ’07 helped connect Stearns to its designer; Andrew Shoenfeld ’07 took the cover and illustration photos; Tim Brosius ’08 created the website and Hariklia Karagiannis ’09 edited the website.

Stearns is currently a graduate student at American University studying producing for film and video. One of her inspirations for this course of study is this book, which she hopes to turn into a movie.

Another book that Stearns hopes to eventually publish was written Jamie C. Heard, a UMBC student who passed away in 2008. She is working with Issa Legall ’09 to make this a reality.

– Originally published on UMBC Insights

Work done by Robert Provine, professor of psychology, was recently featured in a film shown on the European television station ARTE. The film, ‘Une Histoire Naturelle du Rire’ was broadcast in both German and French on December 30. It can be viewed for a limited time here.

While a student at UMBC, Hasina Jamal Stearns ’09, computer engineering, founded the publishing company Fred & Barrel, Inc.  Now, the company’s first book, Guy, a philosophical play by Cinna, is available in the UMBC bookstore. Stearns is the editor-in-chief and illustrator.

Guy—a hybrid novel, play, and movie script—tells the story of Guy, a tall handsome tennis player who thinks deeply about mankind and life. At least, he does in the first act. He would continue to ruminate about such things if he weren’t so swamped with homework and projects. He spends most of his time in an old children’s insane asylum, which is now being used as a studio and research center by architecture students. One day, he decides not to return to campus and instead opts let his whim take him to wherever he is destined.

Other UMBC alumni contributed to the book: Truc Nguyen ’07 helped connect Stearns to its designer; Andrew Shoenfeld ’07 took the cover and illustration photos; Tim Brosius ’08 created the website and Hariklia Karagiannis ’09 edited the website.

Stearns is currently a graduate student at American University studying producing for film and video. One of her inspirations for this course of study is this book, which she hopes to turn into a movie. 

Another book that Stearns hopes to eventually publish was written Jamie C. Heard, a UMBC student who passed away in 2008. She is working with Issa Legall ’09 to make this a reality.

Steven Fischer ’98, visual and performing arts, a filmmaker profiled with several other director alumni in the September 2011 issue of UMBC Magazine, has been interviewed by the Lincolnshire Review.

Read the Q&A in the Lincolnshire Review here.

The two-time Emmy-nominated writer/producer and the creator of Steve & Bluey recently released a new documentary entitled “Old School New School” in which he interviews artists he respects about the nature of creativity and how to sustain a career in the arts.

In photo:  Fred Weil, videographer, Steve Fischer, director, Brian Cox, actor and Chris Cassey, director of photography for “Old School New School.” Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

We thought our Phonathon students said it best:

Your support makes so much possible at UMBC. THANK YOU for your year-end gifts!

Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice of English, wrote about books and New Year’s resolutions in his latest column for Style magazine.  Corbett has not resolved to get a Kindle, nor has he resolved to thin his massive book collection.

“Kindle and e-books may be the future, but what kind of future would I have without my boon companions Eeyore and Christopher Robin and Kim and Long John Silver and Squire Trelawney? I still believe we ought to meet them in books, with actual pages,” he writes.

The essay, “One For the Books” appeared in the January 2012 issue of the magazine.

Kathleen Wilson ’03, Ph.D., policy sciences, is the new deputy director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Division of Nursing Homes. In a special profile following the appointment, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News described Wilson as a “health policy powerhouse.”

Read the full story here.

Wilson’s dissertation advisor at UMBC was Cheryl M. Miller, associate dean in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and associate professor of public policy. Miller told McKnight’s she was particularly impressed with Wilson’s ability to juggle her job, family and doctoral degree, saying, “She’s a great example of someone going back to school to become all that they can be.”

– Originally published on UMBC Insights

Kathleen Wilson ’03, Ph.D., policy sciences, is the new deputy director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Division of Nursing Homes. In a special profile following the appointment, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News described Wilson as a “health policy powerhouse.”
Read the full story here.
Wilson’s dissertation advisor at UMBC was Cheryl M. Miller, associate dean in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and associate professor of public policy. Miller told McKnight’s she was particularly impressed with Wilson’s ability to juggle her job, family and doctoral degree, saying, “She’s a great example of someone going back to school to become all that they can be.”
– Originally published on UMBC Insights