Check out the evaluations for Tuesday's WIT event. Take a look at the evaluations by clicking the link below.

There were 97 students registered for the first annual WIT: Spring into Leadership Event. The evening included an inspiring keynote address by Ms. Myra Norton, CEO of Community Analytics. Attendees participated in a networking activity where they listed two goals that they are working on this year. All attendees used post-it notes with their contact information  and indicate that they could help another attendee with a particular goal.  Pictures will be posted soon! A big thanks to the planning committe:

Savita Moses-IS COM, Information Systems
Lilian Johnson-SWE, Chemical Engineering
Paridhi Jain-CWIT Student Council
Chitra Gadwal- Computer Science
Yvonne Okafar-Mechanical Engineering
Maria Jose Viera-Information Systems
Jessica Wetterau-Computer Science and Math

The last day of art week! Button making is always a huge hit, but if you participated at all this Art Week (submitted work, performed, volunteered, etc.) then feel free to stop by the Artist Reception for good company and a bunch of free mini desserts! 

What was your favorite part of Art Week 2011? How can we improve for next year?

CYPRUS EXHIBIT

Join the Ancient Studies Department and other UMBC programs at the National Museum of Natural History.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The bus will leave the UMBC Commons Circle at 9:30AM taking us to the National Mall in DC and depositing us at the National Museum of Natural History for the Cyprus:  Crossroads of Civilization Exhibit(http://www/mnh.si.edu/exhibits/cyprus/index.html).  There will be time to visit other museums as well and spend time in DC.  The bus will depart the DC Mall from the drop-off location at 4:00PM.

To reserve a place, sign up with Sara Short (FA 452).  Be sure to include your cell phone number.

DONALD TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT! Seriously?

Japan, already reeling from a devastating earthquake is hit with a giant aftershock

Polar bears beware: More bad news about the melting Arctic ice

Bluetooth for your head: try operating your computer by Brain Waves

Sure… we know crime is everywhere. Still, we at USDemocrazy aren’t sure what to think about this following news article.

According to the Huffington Post, seven states are considering allowing guns on college campuses.

There are some students we know on campus who we wouldn’t trust with a sharp pencil, none-the-less a pistol. So somehow, this new trend makes us a little nervous.

Sure, there was the tragic massacre at Virginia Tech a few years ago… but are student vigilantes the answer?

Should campuses be  gun-free zones? Take a shot at that question.

Ever wondered what life would be like with no federal government?

If budget negotiations go down hill in Washington DC this week…we may just find out.

House Republicans and Democrats are trying to reach a budget deal by a Friday deadline… no one is optimistic that a compromise can be reached.

No deal by deadline… the Federal Government closes down.

The news from Capitol hill suggests that a couple of issues are holding up an agreement. Mainly anti-abortion and environmental measures.

Anti-abortion Republicans want to eliminate federal funding from family planning centers. They also want to prevent the city of Washington DC from spending non federal funds on abortion.

The Republicans also want to target the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They want to prevent the EPA from being strict on environmental enforcement like cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay or controlling water pollution. (Isn’t enforcing environmental laws supposed to be the EPA’s job?)

A full list of hold-ups is available here.

On these contentions differences Sen. Chuck Shumer (D-NY) said;

“It would be a tragic mistake to force a government shutdown, but doubly tragic if the shutdown were on issues not related to spending,”

Marching into the Future

A collaboration between two UMBC faculty members is exploring the potential of a movement known as the “digital humanities” – wherein digital tools are used to explore history and other subjects in all their depth and complexity.

Since 2008, Anne Sarah Rubin, associate professor of history, and Kelley Bell ’05, M.F.A. imaging and digital arts, assistant professor of graphic design, have been putting together Sherman’s March and America: Mapping Memory. The multimedia site launched in July 2010, funded with a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies and support of UMBC’s Imaging Research Center.

Rubin says that the version now online is a work in progress representing about twenty percent of what the creators have in mind. They hope this “proof of concept” will help them to secure the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities when they apply for funding this fall.

The site design is simple and elegant. But closer examination also reveals a sophisticated engagement with issues in historiography (that is, the questions historians ask themselves about the methodology of reconstructing the past).

Visitors to the site are greeted by a map showing the area covered by Sherman’s men as they made their way between Atlanta and Savannah in November and December of 1864. The troops followed two different courses between those points, scorching the earth as they went. At the bottom of the screen is a timeline. Slide the cursor on it and you can trace the progress of each wing of the Union Army. Click on one of the highlighted towns along the way, and there pops up a short video based on events in that area during the campaign.

But the three-minute clips don’t just recite information on the military campaign, as viewed with the benefit of nearly 150 years of hindsight. The stories they tell reflect the variety of groups affected by the march. Yankee soldiers, Confederate citizens, and newly freed slaves, for example, each experienced things from distinct perspectives. And those final weeks of 1864 threw a long shadow, inspiring later generations to create books, films, and tourist attractions. How events were woven into the public memory becomes part of the story. The site looks at General Sherman, of course – but also at Margaret Mitchell, who wrote Gone With the Wind.

“I like big questions, big issues, ‘going wide’ in looking at history,” says Rubin. “What appealed to me about Sherman’s March as a subject was the possibility of using the map as a way to frame the ‘multipositionality’ of events – how they looked from a variety of perspectives. As a digital history project, this isn’t just a collection of facts about the past. It’s also about narrative, storytelling, and memory.”

“Rather than shy away from conflicting interpretations of the past, as many museums do, the modern approach is to embrace them.” says Rick Shenkman, founder and editor of the digital History News Network. “And this Sherman’s March and America does – using digital tools to map both the events and the nature of historical memory itself.

Read the full story in UMBC Magazine.

(4/8/11)