UMBC has been named one of The Baltimore Sun 100 Top Workplaces in the Baltimore region. UMBC ranked no. 11 among large employers in the Top Workplaces list, published on Dec. 8 in a special section in the Sunday Sun and online.

The Baltimore area winners included on the list were selected from employee surveys measuring qualities such as company leadership, career opportunities, workplace flexibility, compensation and benefits.

UMBC was recognized by its employees as an organization with strong leadership, vision and direction and one that operates by strong values and ethics. Some comments shared by faculty and staff include:

“I am provided a great deal of flexibility and respected for my efforts.”

“I get the opportunity to grow professionally and I work with great people. ”

“I use my experience and skills to the fullest and feel a sense of accomplishment in my work.”

“Strong sense of community; high motivation to help students/faculty succeed.”

“The people, the projects, and the possibilities.”

During the summer, UMBC was nominated to participate in The Baltimore Sun Top Workplaces program, which identifies and compares top places to work in the Baltimore Metropolitan area, based solely on the opinions of employees. In late August and early September, UMBC faculty and staff responded to a confidential independent survey conducted by research company WorkplaceDynamics, LLC.

For more information about the Top Workplaces lists and WorkplaceDynamics, please visit topworkplaces.com.

Bitcoin is underpinned by unbreakable codes but the secret keys that protect personal fortunes are easily lost or stolen and impossible to regenerate once gone.

A man showed up at a trash heap in Wales last month with an unusual request: he needed help finding a hard drive he had thrown out weeks earlier that held the cryptographic key to 7,500 bitcoins, currently worth over $6 million.

Bitcoin is underpinned by unbreakable codes, but the secret keys that protect personal fortunes are easily lost or stolen.

A man showed up at a trash heap in Wales last month with an unusual request: he needed help finding a hard drive he had thrown out weeks earlier that held the cryptographic key to 7,500 bitcoins, currently worth over $6 million.

W3C is pleased to announce new leadership for the following activities:

• Wendy Seltzer will be the Technology and Society Domain Lead, focused on Privacy, Security, and potential work around Social Web and Digital Marketing. Wendy will also continue her legal and policy work.
• Ralph Swick will be the Information and Knowledge Domain Lead, focused on data, semantic web technologies, digital publishing, and XML. Ralph will also continue as W3C’s Chief Operating Officer.

Read about W3C’s Activities, and Management Team.

Christine Mallinson, associate professor in the Language, Literacy & Culture Program, has co-authored a new book, “We Do Language: English Language Variation in the Secondary English Classroom” (Teachers College Press, 2014, with Anne H. Charity Hudley of the College of William & Mary).

The publisher’s website notes, “We Do Language builds on the authors’ highly acclaimed first collaboration, Understanding English Language Variation in U.S. Schools, and examines the need to integrate linguistically informed teaching into the secondary English classroom. The book meets three critical goals for preparing English educators to ensure the academic success of their students. First, the book helps educators acquire a greater knowledge of language variation so they may teach their students to analyze the social, cultural, and linguistic dimensions of the texts they read in class. Second, the chapters provide specific information about language varieties that students bring with them to school so that educators can better assist students in developing the literacy skills necessary for the Common Core State Standards. Third, the text empowers educators to build their linguistic awareness so they may more fully understand, respect, and meet the needs o f culturally and linguistically diverse students. We Do Language features concrete strategies, models, and vignettes, as well as classroom materials developed by English educators for English educators. It is essential reading for anyone interested in learning about the role that language plays in the experiences of students, both in secondary and postsecondary environments.”

Professor Shirley Brice Heath of Stanford University writes in an endorsement to the book, “Full of advice and support for walking hand-in-hand with students into imaginative ways of understanding the realities of language variation, this book is pure joy for teachers and college counselors. Even more important is the guarantee that when these educators embrace the humanity and philosophy so touchingly illustrated by the authors, the intrigue of thinking deeply about speaking, writing, and reading is sure to follow for students.”

For more information, please visit the authors’ website, http://charityhudleymallinson.com/wdl

UMBC’s Center for Aging Studies research team attended the Gerontological Society of America’s 66th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans, November 20-24, 2013. They joined 3600 of the world’s leading gerontologists presenting symposia, papers, and posters under the theme “Optimal Aging through Research.”

CAS participants included Robert Rubinstein, Ann Christine Frankowski, Leslie Morgan, John Schumacher, Colleen Bennett, Michael Brazda , Patrick Doyle, Laura Girling, Regina Hrybyk, Mary Nemec, Amanda Peeples.

The Center presented a symposium entitled “Sex, Teasing, and Constraints: Ethical Dilemmas in Assisted Living” highlighting findings from the study “Autonomy in Assisted Living: A Cultural Analysis” funded by the National Institute on Aging. Kevin Eckert was the discussant and Ann Christine Frankowski and Robert Rubinstein co-chaired the symposium which included the following papers:

• Mental Health Conditions: Unexpected Ethical Challenges for Assisted Living (Leslie Morgan, Mary Nemec, Rosa Perez)
• Family and Resident Conflict in Decision-making: When is the resident “right”? (Mary Nemec, Ann Christine Frankowski, Rosa Perez, Michael Brazda, Regina Hrybyk, Gretchen Tucker)
• All in Good Fun? The Many Facets of Teasing in Assisted Living (Amanda Peeples, Ann Christine Frankowski, Colleen Bennett, Robert Rubinstein)
• Sex in Assisted Living: Conflict over Autonomy (Ann Christine Frankowski, Gretchen Tucker, Mary Nemec, Amanda Peeples, Colleen Bennett, Regina Hrybyk, Michael Brazda)
• Sex, Teasing and Constraints: Ethical Dilemmas in Assisted Living (Robert Rubinstein, Michael Brazda, Regina Hrybyk).

Other papers presented by the CAS research team (noting lead authors only) included:

• Narrative as Science or “Narrative Science” (Robert Rubinstein)
• Into the Light: Understudied Populations and Topics (Robert Rubinstein)
• Professionalism: The Etiquette of Your Being (Colleen Bennett)
• Playing Along: Ethical Dilemmas as a Participant Observer in Assisted Living (Colleen Bennett)
• Deductive Disclosure and Confidentiality in Accessible Digital Media (Regina Hrybyk)
• Posters presented (noting lead authors only) included:
• In the Eyes of the Beholder: Hoarding in Assisted Living (Colleen Bennett)
• You, Me, and We: Positionality and LGBT Aging Research (Colleen Bennett)
• An Iron Cage of Long-Term Care? The Rationalization of Aging (Michael Brazda)
• Vocalized Autonomy in Assisted Living: “Whoever Heard of a Hot Dog Without Onions?”(Michael Brazda)
• Organizational Challenges to Implementing a Person-centered Model of Dementia Care (Patrick Doyle)
• Explanatory Frameworks: Older Women Discuss Planning for Future Health Needs (Laura Girling)
• Negotiating Privacy and Autonomy: Frontline Staff and Body Care in Assisted Living (Regina Hrybyk)
• “They’re really kind of the ‘forget about’ people”: Staff Perceptions of a Dementia Care Unit (Amanda Peeples)
• Health Talk in Assisted Living: Analyzing How Health is Discussed Among Residents, Families, and Staff (John Schumacher)

Bmoreart blog’s Cara Ober interviews Steven H Silberg (Lecturer, Visual Arts) about ‘Mining the Crowd: Artifacts of Crowdfunding,’ A New Exhibition to Explore the Process of Funding with Kickstarter.

Silberg and his research partners have launched a Kickstarter project to fund an exhibition, which will be made up entirely of rewards offered by other crowdfunding artists to their campaign contributors. Their research aims to inquire about the sustainability of a dependence upon the social network for an artists continuing practice in the visual and performing arts. By making their first hand experience public, they hope to offer transparency, informing those who may chose to engage in crowdfunding while highlighting those who have been successful with it.

“Held in the UMBC Skylight Room from 7:00pm Friday to 7:00pm Saturday this past weekend, UMBC’s first-everhackathon was open to all UMBC students of any skill level, from innovators and explorers to designers and hardcore coders. Its purpose was to allow students to mingle and collaborate for 24 continuous hours of community exploration to grow technology projects from scratch while expanding their connections to other students, industry leaders, and faculty. Admission was free and attracted students from across the UMBC campus community, including CS, CE, EE, IS, Biology, Biotechnology, Math, Physics, and Media Studies.”

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