Contact:
Dinah Winnick
Communications Manager
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
410-455-8117
dwinnick@umbc.edu

Today, 75 million baby boomers are poised to become the next generation of assisted living residents. The sheer size of this population emphasizes the importance of creating, sustaining and evaluating quality in these settings to ensure that elders can access housing that fits their wants and needs. With this in mind, a team of researchers at the UMBC Center for Aging Studies has published “Quality Assisted Living: Informing Practice through Research” (Springer 2011).

This innovate volume is unique in its approach—explicitly delving into the lives of those who inhabit assisted living facilities, seeking to understand and evaluate their perceptions of what constitutes quality of life. The book also includes staff and family member perspectives, collected through interviews by authors Leslie A. Morgan, Ann Christine Frankowski, Erin G. Roth, Lynn Keimig, Sheryl Zimmerman and J. Kevin Eckert, chair of UMBC’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Looking for a high quality assisted living facility can be a stressful experience for older adults and their families. Co-author Leslie Morgan notes the challenge starts when we ask, “What is high quality?” In a preview video introducing the book, Morgan suggests a more helpful question would be: “What facility would best meet the individual personality and needs of my loved one?”

“Quality Assisted Living” provides accessible discussion of assisted living topics ranging from dining preferences to housing regulations to financial issues. Grounded in rigorous qualitative research funded by the National Institute on Aging, and conveying residents’ own words, the book is of interest to popular and academic audiences alike.

The Maryland Cyber Challenge and Conference (MDC3) will provide an opportunity for students and professionals to network in a fun environment while participating in exciting games and learning about computer safety and cybersecurity skills. MDC3 teams of up to six players will compete in one of three categories: high school, college and university, and industry professionals. High school teams will focus on cyber defense techniques whereas college, university and professional teams will compete in a capture the flag match.

Students must be enrolled at a Maryland high school, college, or university. Professionals’ employers must have an office in Maryland and must be either a company or government agency. This summer’s final free Maryland Cyber Challenge orientation session will be held Thursday, August 25th at UMBC.

• Professional Session: 4:30 – 5:30pm
• High School & College Session: 6 – 7pm

Who should attend an orientation session?
Students, parents, teachers, administrators, cybersecurity professionals or anyone who wants to learn more about MDC3.

Why should I attend an orientation session?
To learn more about MDC3, including rules, format, scoring and CyberNEXS™, the system used during the competition.

Where are the orientation sessions?
The UMBC Technology Center, Main Seminar Room 1450 South Rolling Road Halethorpe, MD 21224

Photo courtesy of the New York Times

Libya may be the next in the wave of successful Middle Eastern revolutions.

Rebels poured into the capital early Monday morning and arrested two of Muammar el-Quaddafi’s sons.

This shift in the six month civil war is due to the sudden defection of the military unit in charge of guarding Tripoli and Qaddafi. The guards allowed the rebels to enter the city unopposed.

Qaddafi, whose location remains unknown, delivered a series of audio messages on state television calling on his supporters to march in the streets and to, “purify it,” from, “the rats.”

Meanwhile the rebel governing body, the National Transitional Council issued a statement saying,

“We congratulate the Libyan people for the fall of Muammar Qaddafi and call on the Libyan people to go into the street to protect the public property. ”

Thus far the latter advisement is drawing far more supporters than the former.

The likelihood of the end of Qaddafi’s 42 year dictatorship has raised concerns over how the rebel government will handle the transition.

Concerns were particularly high after the assassination of a rebel  leader in late July.

The revolution may soon achieve success in toppling the government… but the true measurement of success is how they govern afterward.

Courtesy of Global Voices Online

If you are looking for a nice summer hike, we highly recommend you avoid the mountainous border of Iraq and Iran.

Two summers ago, three young western hikers were arrested in that region for allegedly stepping on Iranian soil.  Their crime? Espionage and trespassing.

The young travelers claimed they saw no sign indicating they had entered Iran and were unfairly tried.

Eyewitness testimony reported by US news magazine The Nation placed the three hikers inside Iraq, not Iran, at the time of their arrest by Iranian troops. The Iranian authorities maintain that they were arrested inside Iranian territory.

One of the hikers, Sarah Shourd, was luckily released last year due to health reasons. She personally thanked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Most recently, the other two prisoners, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, have been sentenced to eight more years in prison with only twenty days to appeal this charge. They have been denied their lawyer before.

We all know that relations between the US and Iran are frosty, at best.

Now it seems these two poor hikers are pawns in a game of international brinkmanship.

Malcolm Smart of Amnesty International reports:

The way this case has been handled from the outset strongly suggests that they are being held as a bargaining chip to allow Iran to obtain unspecified concessions from the US government

The hikers’ website freethehikers.org keeps up-to-date with the latest headlines. What international prisoners’ rights should be granted in the U.S. and abroad?

Exodus 17:8-14

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

Reflection:

One intriguing aspect of this scene is that until now there was no formal “army” of Israel. There has been no enlisting, no boot camp, no weapon making. Moses just tells Joshua to get some guys and go fight! Amazing how there is no reaction from Joshua but just doing what he is told. And at the end of the battle he is given the record of the victory that God brought by Moses raising his hands, so that Joshua would learn that the Lord is the one who fought - a crucial spiritual principle that Joshua learned as he made himself available.

Response:

It’s about making ourselves available – our hearts, minds, all of who we are.  Let’s pray that with open and willing hearts, we would embrace making our lives available to the Lord.