Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD.

The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers.

These great cartoons are created by Jerry King, an award-winning cartoonist who’s one of the most published, prolific and versatile cartoonists in the world today.

So for a few moments, take a break from your daily routine, have a laugh and enjoy these funny cartoons.

Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own…

Fighting lower with lower

In for the short haul

Inadvertent skill

Can you relate to these situations? Please share your funny stories and comments below…

400+ Urban and Nature Photos from Around Seven – only $8!

Vote here for a thrift store from rescued items!

SGA's Prove It! competition features many student groups looking to create real change on campus. This week, UMBC students 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 Retriever Treasure.

During the move-out period every May, UMBC deals with a significantly larger trash load than average. Much of this extra waste is from residential students cleaning out their rooms. A lot of what students discard isn't trash; materials in good or nearly perfect condition end up being tossed because students cannot bring them home. Come fall semester, students need to buy many of the same things again at full price.

What a waste to throw out materials like bookshelves, coat hangers, garbage bins, and printers! How can UMBC students stop this destructive cycle of waste?

We think Retriever Treasure is the answer!

A group of students from SEA (Students for Environmental Awareness) is working to set up a student-run system of collections to save students' unwanted but usable materials.

The campaign strives to eliminate excess waste while saving students money through a few steps:

1. STUDENTS DONATE: A collections drive will be set up near residence halls and dumpsters during the move-out period in May. This would allow students to donate their gently used, unwanted items.

2. STORAGE: The Retriever Treasure team will rent trucks and storage space to store the collected items over the summer.

3. THRIFT STORE!: Come fall semester, Retriever Treasure will bring the items back to campus during the move-in period to have a yard sale. There, students would be able to buy items that other students/faculty donated at a fraction of the prices found at commercial stores!

The proceeds of the sale go back to the UMBC community by sustaining this program year after year. And additional funds will be put towards a revolving fund for students looking to start their own initiatives to make campus a better place.

You can make Retriever Treasure a reality! Vote for this campaign this week, Monday March 24 through Friday March 28 in the myUMBC Prove It! poll.

***EDIT: Vote for us HERE: http://my.umbc.edu/discussions/11313

We are delighted to share that Michael Moubarek ’15, biochemistry and molecular biology, and Akua Nimarko ’15, biological sciences and psychology, have been named recipients of the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Talmo Pereira ’15, bioinformatics and computational biology, has received an honorable mention.

The intensely competitive Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program offers scholarships for students to pursue research careers in math, science and engineering.

This year marks a record for the number of UMBC students recognized by the program. Special thanks go to the dedicated UMBC committee managing applicant recruitment and nominations, including Stephen Freeland, Jennie Leach, Marcin Ptaszek and David Eisenmann.

Name: Emma Rivera

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: CASA

Major(s)/Minor(s): Psychology

Expected Graduation Year: 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

1. Assist with volunteer screening tasks such as reviewing volunteer applications, conducting reference checks, and conducting in-person volunteer interviews.
2. Attend volunteer training sessions.
3. Observe Child In Need of Assistance (CINA) court proceedings and case meetings in which CASA volunteers are involved.
4. Assist with program evaluation tasks for National CASA Association Standards Self Assessment process.
5. Read CASA cases and proof read court recommendation.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

What I have enjoyed most has been getting to learn how the process works when a child is taken out of their home and placed in foster care, and how there are organizations like CASA that are there for the child to "hold" their hand literally and mentally to whatever next step that might be.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I gained a lot of insight on what children in need of assistance go through, that the system doesn't always work but if you have advocates like CASA trying to ensure that all the steps are followed that a child might get a safe permanent home, be that it might be with their biological parent or adoptive foster parent. What I would have never of gained I believe from another internship is that volunteers really do matter and people who care go a long way for a child in need. I walked away wanting to do more and learn more how to help and advocate not only for children but to tell people to volunteer to be a CASA volunteer.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

I would definitely recommend knowing what it is that you want to learn and come out of the experience with, then vocalizing it to your supervisor for your internship. I was able to tell my supervisor that I wanted to network and pick professionals brains on what they do and their roles in the mental health association. I was able to get personable and ask them if they liked and enjoyed what they did for a living.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

I feel that this experience is super meaningful because I was able to network with so many different other branches in the Mental Health organization in Frederick involving foster children. I was able to sit down and talk with Healthy Families organization and learn what they do. I was able to talk with social workers and the foster children attorneys and court appointed mediators and hear what role they play in a CINA case (Child In Need of Assistance).

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

I enjoyed having to share about what I would learn and do on a weekly basic to my professor.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill that completes Russia’s annexation of Crimea, nearby Poland is keeping a watchful eye on the developing situation.

Brian Grodsky, an associate professor of political science, wrote an op-ed for Al Jazeera America that explores Polish perspective on the most recent developments. Grodsky is currently a visiting professor at the University of Warsaw, where he teaches classes on democratization and comparative politics. 

“Poles are watching the latest developments in their next-door neighbor with a mix of quiet anxiety and resignation,” Grodsky writes in his column titled, “Poles jittery over Russia’s expansion.” In the article, Grodsky argues Poland has cause for concern.

“For starters, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to protect ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine. Securing Kiev, the source of the problems in Ukraine, would be a logical and easy next step for him. Putin has also warned “meddlers” farther west, including Poland and Lithuania, that they are under watch,” he writes.

Grodsky adds, “the West’s halfhearted reaction to Russia’s takeover of Crimea has made it clear to a growing number of Poles that they will be, at the end of the day, largely on their own in the face of a Russian threat.”

To read the full column in Al Jazeera America, click here.

In an op-ed on the Puerto Rican debt crisis published March 20 in Fox News Latino, Public Policy Ph.D. student Justin Vélez-Hagan argues default will be inevitable as a more than $1 billion deficit is expected to round out the current fiscal year. Vélez-Hagan is also executive director of the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce.

“Puerto Rico’s well-known dependency on credit first made public waves when every credit-rating agency gave Puerto Rico a vote of no confidence last month, citing major liquidity concerns as the biggest culprit for the downgrades,” Vélez-Hagan writes.

To dig itself out of the debt crisis, Vélez-Hagan adds: “[Puerto Rico] has to shed its fat by yanking off the fiscal Band-Aid and restructuring its debt. Speculators will suffer the most, and may have the loudest complaints, but after the initial shock Puerto Rico will finally have the chance to break its cycle of deficit-spending and will only then have another opportunity to make the right decisions that ensure long-term economic prosperity.”

You can read the full column in Fox News Latino here.

A family reunion with the Paul Taylor Dance Company 

By Rebecca Ritzel

"After dancing with Taylor’s original touring company for six years, Walton left the troupe to get married and moved to Baltimore. She taught dance at the Peabody Institute and became a professor at UMBC, where she chaired the dance department for two decades and continues to teach. Her former students include local choreographer Daniel Phoenix Singh."

 
http://goo.gl/2Sf0lD