This year, SGA's Prove It! grant competition features many student groups looking to create real change on campus.  On the week of March 24-28, UMBC students will vote for the grant proposals they like the most.  The two winning ideas will receive $10,000 to implement their programs on campus.

One of the campaigns that students can vote for is Veteran Peer Mentor Program.

The student veteran population is one of the fastest growing populations at UMBC.

A solid support system at UMBC has not yet been developed to meet all their needs.

We need to implement a Veteran Peer Mentor Program to help meet those needs and provide the camaraderie many vets miss after leaving the military.

 Transitioning veterans to be successful students adds a valuable resource and benefit to the whole UMBC community.

Having veterans adds depth and diversity to the student body. Veterans are an incredibly team oriented, resilient, and motivated group of individuals.  They bring unique perspectives to the classroom from their experiences.  They understand the importance of cooperation, having been used to working in close-knit teams in the military; their peers were sometimes the difference between life and death.

Their military training prepared them to handle life and death situations but not how to transition to being a college student.  When a veteran doesn't feel connected to their university they may be more inclined to leave school.  Student veterans do not respond to traditional methods of outreach.  A Veteran Peer Mentor Program will enable veterans to achieve a higher level of academic success and smoothly transition to student life which not only benefits veterans but the entire UMBC community

Veterans have invested in our nation.  Now it’s our turn to invest in them.  Vote for the Veteran Peer Mentor Program on the Prove It! poll at http://my.umbc.edu/discussions/11313

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR RESEARCH STUDY.

The Role of Skin Color & Hair Politics in Black Women’s College Experiences

I am a graduate student, in the UMBC Language, Literacy, & Culture doctoral program, conducting research to explore the ways in which Black, female, undergraduate students’ experiences are impacted by hair and skin hue politics within campus culture.  Please contact me for more information if you meet the following eligibility criteria and are interested in participating:

•Black/African American

•Female

•18-25

•Enrolled at UMBC full-time

You will be asked to share your on and off campus experiences, as they relate to hair and skin color, individually or in a small group setting of no more than twelve students for participation in a focus group.  Focus Group participants will receive a free pizza dinner.  Individual Interview participants will receive $20 cash.

Latasha Eley

leley1@umbc.edu  -  757-777-6173

Venture capitalist and browser inventor Marc Andreessen says Bitcoin will soon outgrow the “fringe” politics that helped get it started.

Bitcoin got where it is today in no small part thanks to early adopters of a libertarian bent, who prized the idea of replacing conventional currencies with something that could operate without regulators or central banks. But venture capitalist and vocal Bitcoin bull Marc Andreessen said today that the “fringe politics” would soon be left behind.

A recent Washington Post column explores the possibility of District Mayor Vincent Gray being indicted on federal criminal charges while running for reelection. Gray has said he wouldn’t resign if the charges were brought and would defend himself at trial.

George Derek Musgrove ’97, history, assistant professor of history, was interviewed for the column and offered his perspective on what a trial would mean for Gray if he were to continue governing.

A trial “would be horrible — it would just be a magnification of the current situation,” Musgrove said. He added such a spectacle would hurt the city’s relations with Congress and hamper Gray’s performance.

Musgrove is currently writing a book about race and democracy in the District. To read the full column in The Washington Post, click here.

Economics Professor Dennis Coates was recently a guest on an Econ Journal Watch podcast discussing his research that found economists mostly frown on government subsidies for professional sports franchises, facilities and events. He was a guest on the program with Brad Humphreys, an associate professor of economics at the University of Alberta.

During the interview, Coates commented on claims that sports stadiums bring economic benefits and prosperity to cities and their immediate metropolitan areas.

“The evidence is that they are minimal at best, and may in fact even be negative,” Coates said. “We think of tangible benefits as job creation and income growth, and any benefits that occur, they occur in a form that is not job creation or income growth or tax revenue growth.”

To listen to the full podcast on Econ Journal Watch and for more on the research by Coates and Humphreys, click here.