Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Reflection:

Sabbath presents many dimensions to us.  On the one hand, it is a reflective remembrance of all that God has done in the past to bring us into His salvation story.  On the other hand, it is a future hope of the everlasting and perfect rest that we will one day share with our almighty Father God.  But it is also a powerful present-day reality that we can experience through faith in Jesus Christ.  These words are the very words of our Lord Jesus who invites us to come and lay down all of our weariness and burdens.  These words are His promise that we will find real rest for our souls.  How we receive this rest is to come to Him and take His yoke upon us.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and we are to learn from Him.  We can do this because He Himself is our real rest.

Response:

Believing in His gentle and humble heart, let’s come before Him with one specific burden that has been in your heart.  With faith and trust, let’s offer up this burden to Him and trust that He will give us the kind of true rest that our souls really need.

This week, the New Yorker published a letter from Ellen Handler Spitz, honors college professor of visual arts, regarding an essay on the Oxford philosopher Derek Parfit. Spitz compares a literary device used by the writer to one used in “The Tin Woodsman of Oz.”

Her letter can be read here.

One of UMBC’s top revenue-generating technologies has just been licensed for the third time, this time to GE Healthcare. This demonstrates that the University’s strong efforts to commercialize its research are paying off.

“UMBC benefits from technology transfer not just in measurable dollars from licensing revenue but also by building relationships with companies,” said Wendy Martin, director of technology development at UMBC.

The technology allows companies to use an external sensor to measure a range of environmental factors including pH, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in cell culture. The sensor peels and sticks to the inside of the plastic or glassware. The entire vessel is then sterilized and sold to the customer. The sensor works by looking for a specific fluorescent signature associated with each environmental factor.

“It works much like a bar code scanner,” said Govind Rao, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, who developed the technology after almost 20 years of research.

Prior methods required scientists to use something like an “electrical dipstick.” That is, said Rao, “they had to place a corded, electrical probe into the cell culture,” risking contamination of the entire culture. “It’s like moving from a corded phone to a cordless phone,” he said.

Because the adhesive probe allows scientists to avoid costly contamination, it saves companies millions in labor and materials. For the general population this means that the time to market for new drugs can be reduced—an innovation that positively impacts human health.

We are pleased to announce that more than 25 of our PROMISE students and affiliates will be attending the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Compact for Faculty Diversity/Institute on Teaching and Mentoring: http://www.instituteonteachingandmentoring.org/Institute/index.html in Atlanta, GA, October 20-23, 2011. The SREB participants will be discussing some thoughts related to their experiences and plans in this thread.

What makes UMBC offerings in the arts and humanities unique? Why might you choose to attend a UMBC theatre performance, humanities forum lecture or arts exhibition? And, perhaps most important, what does the arts and humanities experience at UMBC feel like?

Read about the new branding campaign for the Arts and Humanities at UMBC at http://www.umbc.edu/window/branding_ah_2011.html

There is a GREAT line up of events for this year's DVAM that we're hoping will generate  some great discussion and awareness. Please save the date and try to come to one or more of these events!

For more questions, feel free to contact the Women's Center!